In The Big Inning...

I used to say that "There is no such thing as customer service in Boston." And while I'm positive that's still the case (they still charge to give you estimates on construction work, for example), I wonder if the Boston effect is slowly migrating south.

I went to Costco the other day, and bought "The Incredibles" on DVD. It was 19 bucks, and came with a cute little book that I'm never going to use. Regardless, I got home, and realized it was the full screen version, which just wouldn't do. Hell, one of the main reasons to watch a movie like "The Incredibles" is to see it in its wide-screen glory.

So, I decided to return it, although I had torn the outer plastic off the box. Fortunately, it was one of those special Costco extra-wasteful packages, where they repack items into progressively bigger boxes. The outer packaging was useless, but what it means was that the DVD itself was still wrapped as if it had been sold from a normal store. I figured given that it was completely new, I would just take it back to Best Buy. Costco was way too far away, and basically feels like a zoo. I wasn't even sure they'd take returns. To be honest, I'm still not sure why we go there. I mean, it's nice to buy 75 sticks of deodorant at once, and then never have to buy it again, but buying food items there is ridiculous. Anything perishable either has to go into the freezer and take up 50% of the space, or just ends up rotting. Maybe when I own a house and have more space it'll be a different story.

I head to Best Buy and go up to the customer service counter. The two people ahead of me take like 20 minutes, but I finally get up there. I tell the lady I'd like to exchange the DVD for a widescreen one. She asks if I have a receipt, and I say that I don't because it was a gift. She says she can't take it back, and I reply that's absurd, they can just put it on the shelf and sell it for retail value with no problem. She's clearly in no mood to deal with me, so she shouts for her manager.

The manager plods on over, clearly in no hurry. She asks what the deal is, and I explain that I just want to exchange it for a different format, but don't have a receipt. She protests a bit, and finally says, "Oh, just let him do it. He just wants to get a widescreen version." I'm appreciative, but then ask, "Where could I have returned this, then?" She says I could have gone anywhere. I asked her what that meant. Anywhere but Best Buy? She says sure, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. I tell her I'll keep that in mind for next time.

I had never encountered this policy before - no returns at all without a receipt. I can understand not taking back opened items without a receipt, but a new item? It makes no sense. Furthermore, if they're the only store with that policy, I think the choice is pretty clear: Shop somewhere else. Maybe I should be grateful that I got to make the exchange, but really I think Best Buy should pay for having such a customer-unfriendly policy. In conclusion: Go to Circuit City instead.