Why I like big box retailers for ~inexpensive gadgets

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:55:44 -0800

My story is simple. Returns or exchanges can be a nightmare depending on what retailers you shop at, but my best experiences have come from big box retailers like Future Shop, Best Buy, and Staples. Some of my worst experiences have also come from these retailers as well.

But here's one thing that I love about some of these large retailers such as my experience with Staples. I can return or exchange my goods at any location with no hassles.

My Staples experience started off with a quick visit to the Staples downtown near Granville St, Vancouver (just a block down) to purchase a notebook and pen. I had been eying the Logitech VX Revolution notebook mouse for a while but had never checked the price at Staples. So I checked. It was on sale for $30 off and a $20 mail-in rebate. Of course I grabbed it, netting myself a ~$90-100 mouse for ~$50. Beautiful. I got to enjoy my mouse (tis a damn good mouse) for a few days before I gave it a slight bang on the ground :) and the scroll wheel stopped spinning so smoothly. For a bit of context, the VX Revolution scroll wheel feature is a freely spinning wheel for smooth and quick scrolling. It's a great feature, lots of fun to play with.

Now living in Surrey, I had damaged my mouse out there so I took it to my nearest Staples along with my receipt and just my mouse, sans box or anything else at all. I gave it to them, said that the scroll wheel isn't spinning smoothly and within 2-3mins a computer associate came over to customer service and told me to grab a new one and bring it over. So I got it and they wrote replaced on my receipt and let me walk away with a new mouse, still in it's box and all.

It was a quick no hassle process that I have come to love when it comes to small, cheaper inexpensive electronic goods at big box retailers. I hate the regular prices at Staples because they are way over priced, but when I do get a good deal, I would go back just for that no hassle service.

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Why I like big box retailers for ~inexpensive gadgets