Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

It has come to my attention that several of the big box retailers in my area have discovered a new vacuum scam perpetrated by some deceitful customers.  The buyers are purchasing high end vacuums, new in the boxes, and then returning for full refunds.  Why?  They claim when the vacuums are returned that several attachments, usually 2 or 3, are missing from the cartons.  Rather than obtain the missing attachments from the retailers/companies, these buyers opt to get full refunds on the purchases.  One customer has perpetrated this scam 3 times at the same big box store location in the last several months.  Wonder what the persons are doing with the "slickied" attachments?

Carmine D.

vacmanuk wrote:

In this most recent LV retailers' scam, there is no record of the customers because cash is tendered for the purchased and returned for the refund.  Retailers, like the one I mentioned, who was hit by the same customer 3 times, will have to devise a method to track these scammers and put an end to the nickel and dime-ing.  In good times, big box retailers write it off as an operating expense.  Not worth the bother.  In bad times, they crack down.

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

Last year, a couple was apprehended for this and a slot machine scam.  The slot machines accept cash and at any point a player can cash out and get a paper voucher for the cash which is redeemable at a kiosk for cash.  Using counterfeit bills, the couple traded in the funny money for the real thing.  They would have gotten away with the ploy too.  Except, they used their player cards in the slot machines.  The casinos had all their personal information, deployed the local authorities and napped them at their home.  They were not too bright.

Carmine D.

Stores that have or have had liberal return policies figure these scams,or scheems into the  overhead or cost of doing business.The best one i have ever seen was with K-MART and eureka ,customer has a eureka canister or upright  blows the motor out of it, goes to K-MART takes the motor out puts it in his machine returns the machine toK-MART gets a refund and K-MART returns the product back as defective, I seen this done with HOOVER also .

I must say some people are very creative,

CRIME WOULDNT PAY IF THE GOVERNMENT RAN IT, how untrue of a statement has that become.

Regards

MOLE

Hi MOLE:

A poster with a dyson explained on a site awhile back his problem with BEST BUY and his solution.  He bought a DC07 new and after a month it had no suction.  He goes back to BB but no one there could get it to work properly!  He would have to leave the DC07 which BB would send off to dyson for repair.  Estimated time of about 2 weeks to get back.  He said this was unacceptable because he couldn't be without a vacuum.  His dear Wife would be livid.  BB wouldn't budge.  He eyes a new DC14 while he's there, which just came in, and he puts an offer on the table:  May I return the defective DC07, add the difference in price, and buy a new DC14.  BB said H-E-double hockey sticks no.  He counteroffers:  OK, let's do this instead:  I'll buy a new DC14 now for full price and then I'll return my defective DC07 for a full refund.  In that context, BB agreed to take the bad DC07 back immediately and he paid the difference and left with a DC14.  Likely his defective DC07 became a dyson refurb.  I thought the gent gave BB an opportunity to make good before he resorted to more hard nosed tactics.

Carmine D.

In my town of Ft wayne, IN, population 330,000 including surrounding area, there are 5 Wal-Marts, 3 Menard's (Lowe's competitor) 3 Lowe's, 1 Home Depot, 2 Best Buy, 1 Macy;s, 1 Sears, 3 Targets, 3 Meijer's, 3Kohl's, I Bed,Bath & Beyond, and 2 K-Marts. That I can think of right off the top. Someone could buy a vacuum and return it within 30 days, and never have to visit the same location within 30 months! It may be as simple as just tearing up a vacuum and returning it when the filter is plugged. With that many locations to scam who is going to know, or bother to check. With a line a block long of disgruntled customers, it ain't gonna be the poor frazzled gal at the customer service desk! I have seen people do this that I know I have seen in other stores returning vacuums again and again,

Hello Trebor:

Welcome back.

With more retailers using "roving" employees who work at different store locations, the same occurs.  Retailers have to ask customers with returns for refunds of a prescribed threshold amount to complete a form either in hard or soft copy.  No confidential information but certainly name and address/zip code.  The refund information [item, date and amount] can be warehoused on line for tracking and audit purposes.  This serves as a deterrent to those so inclined to scam the retailer.    Of course, customers can make up information and circumvent the reliability of the refund form.  But this can be eliminated by asking for a driver's license or form of ID to verify the name on the form. 

Tough times call for tough actions.

Carmine D.

either way,in the end ...they inflate prices to adjust for any and all losses across the board....pass them on to us. And all is good again....in wallyworld

So true, retardturtle1.  BTW, I messaged you privately.  Enjoy.

Carmine D. 

CarmineD wrote: in this bleek economy we live in....youll notice all has been wonderful at  WALLYWORLD ..and only WALLYWORLD....btw..i mesgd u back carmine...not sure if it went thru.

retardturtle1 wrote:

Hello retardturtle1:

I rec'd it, thank you.  A bit of ancient history before your time here:  A regular poster, no longer here, and I had a running debate on retailers.  Two in particular at the time were neck and neck on stock price:  Best Buy and Wal*Mart.  Tho, not a Wal*Mart shopper/buyer, I liked the future prospects from a financial news perspective: future sales, profit and stock price.  Why?  The USA was at the tippy top end of an unsustainable bubble shored up by bloated housing prices, greedy banks and run-a-muck deregulated investment firms.  A very bad mix for financial stability.  It all had to burst.  When it did, I opined that Wal*Mart, the oft ridiculed budget basement non-union China sourced vendors conglomerate, had to clean up.  It did and it has.  Sadly, some few people equate respect for financial success in bad times as admiration/support for the company.  Very different things.  One can admire and praise its success w/o liking and supporting it. 

Carmine D.