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Let me start by saying that I screwed Walmart out of a brand new IPOD. Let me explain.
Last March, my girlfriend bought a 4 GB Nano from Circuit City. A couple months later (and this is before we were dating), it mysteriously stopped working. Possibly, that had to do with her carrying it around in her tennis bag with all of her gear for those couple of months, but I digress.
Anyway, she's had a broken Ipod ever since we've been dating (July-ish), and she has always said she needs to "take care of it". Finally, last week while she's at work, I take the Ipod into Circuit City with her receipt to see if they will do something for me. Unsurprisingly, they refuse to exchange an almost year old Ipod. Surprisingly, they did not have a way to charge me to repair the Ipod under Apple's warranty.
Well, Walmart is right next to Circuit City, and knowing what I know about Walmart, I figured I'd have a decent shot of getting a new one. I walk into Walmart, skip the Customer Service counter and go back to Electronics. I tell the clerk I have a defective Ipod without a receipt, and let her know that all I want to do is exchange it for a new one, and possibly even upgrade it (I've found that you can avoid hearing "no" if, rather than asking, you very politely say what you want and be confident while doing so). The clerk hems and haws for a second, and calls the manager over. I introduce myself to Chris, who is probably the youngest manager in the history of retail. If he was old enough to drink, I would have been surprised. I explain my situation - defective Ipod, no receipt, want a new one - and he immediately says "yes". However, there are none in stock, so he takes my name and number and promises to call me when they get some in.
I was a bit apprehensive about this plan, but still, I had the name of a manager who promised to exchange an Ipod that didn't even come from Walmart and was otherwise a useless paperweight, so I chalked that one up in the "W" column.
The next morning, I get a call confirming that Walmart received a shipment of 4 GB Nanos and 30 GB Ipods. I go into the store, back to Electronics, where they remember me, and let them know I decided to upgrade to the 30 GB Ipod. They take it up to Customer Service, which is where I encounter my first snag. The Customer Service rep says that all electronics returns require a receipt, and that they could do nothing for me.
I wasn't taking no for an answer at this point, though, so I explained to them that Chris had already approved the exchange. After a few phone calls and much whispering, along with a bit of groaning and not a few eye rolls, this was confirmed. The Customer Service manager let's the rep know that Chris approved it, emphasis on "CHRIS approved it". I got the distinct impression that Chris is the guy that every retail store has that, rather than standing up for policy, just tells every customer yes because he doesn't want to fight about it.
In the end, I handed Walmart a broken 4 GB Ipod that is not a model they even carry anymore, along with $50. In exchange, they handed me a brand new 30 GB Ipod. As an interesting aside, they offered me the extended warranty. Choking back a laugh - because obviously when this one breaks I'm just going to go back and talk to Chris again - I declined, took my receipt, and left.
David's girlfriend gets a brand new Ipod, David gets credit for it, Walmart gets shafted.
Last March, my girlfriend bought a 4 GB Nano from Circuit City. A couple months later (and this is before we were dating), it mysteriously stopped working. Possibly, that had to do with her carrying it around in her tennis bag with all of her gear for those couple of months, but I digress.
Anyway, she's had a broken Ipod ever since we've been dating (July-ish), and she has always said she needs to "take care of it". Finally, last week while she's at work, I take the Ipod into Circuit City with her receipt to see if they will do something for me. Unsurprisingly, they refuse to exchange an almost year old Ipod. Surprisingly, they did not have a way to charge me to repair the Ipod under Apple's warranty.
Well, Walmart is right next to Circuit City, and knowing what I know about Walmart, I figured I'd have a decent shot of getting a new one. I walk into Walmart, skip the Customer Service counter and go back to Electronics. I tell the clerk I have a defective Ipod without a receipt, and let her know that all I want to do is exchange it for a new one, and possibly even upgrade it (I've found that you can avoid hearing "no" if, rather than asking, you very politely say what you want and be confident while doing so). The clerk hems and haws for a second, and calls the manager over. I introduce myself to Chris, who is probably the youngest manager in the history of retail. If he was old enough to drink, I would have been surprised. I explain my situation - defective Ipod, no receipt, want a new one - and he immediately says "yes". However, there are none in stock, so he takes my name and number and promises to call me when they get some in.
I was a bit apprehensive about this plan, but still, I had the name of a manager who promised to exchange an Ipod that didn't even come from Walmart and was otherwise a useless paperweight, so I chalked that one up in the "W" column.
The next morning, I get a call confirming that Walmart received a shipment of 4 GB Nanos and 30 GB Ipods. I go into the store, back to Electronics, where they remember me, and let them know I decided to upgrade to the 30 GB Ipod. They take it up to Customer Service, which is where I encounter my first snag. The Customer Service rep says that all electronics returns require a receipt, and that they could do nothing for me.
I wasn't taking no for an answer at this point, though, so I explained to them that Chris had already approved the exchange. After a few phone calls and much whispering, along with a bit of groaning and not a few eye rolls, this was confirmed. The Customer Service manager let's the rep know that Chris approved it, emphasis on "CHRIS approved it". I got the distinct impression that Chris is the guy that every retail store has that, rather than standing up for policy, just tells every customer yes because he doesn't want to fight about it.
In the end, I handed Walmart a broken 4 GB Ipod that is not a model they even carry anymore, along with $50. In exchange, they handed me a brand new 30 GB Ipod. As an interesting aside, they offered me the extended warranty. Choking back a laugh - because obviously when this one breaks I'm just going to go back and talk to Chris again - I declined, took my receipt, and left.
David's girlfriend gets a brand new Ipod, David gets credit for it, Walmart gets shafted.
That's cheating.
I wonder if Walmart has a way to return their defective iPods to Apple; as a book retailer, my company will happily take back defective books without receipts, because we can just send them back to the publisher.
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