A Best Buy customer says they were banned from returning items to the store after purchasing and returning a Sonos Era 300 Speaker. Redditor @jbreeding412 explains the situation in a post uploaded to the r/BestBuy subreddit.
The Reddit user shares they “purchased some Sonos Era 300’s and returned them.” However, upon seeing that there was an open box variant of the speaker for $50 cheaper, they say they “went and bought them.” The speaker retails for $449.
Later, the customer says they went to Best Buy again to return a completely different item. As a store associate processed their transaction, a problem occurred, according to the shopper. The poster recalls the employee telling them that their account was “flagged.” As a result, they say they weren’t allowed to return the item and presumably any others.
Furthermore, OP says they were informed the flag on their account was for “fraud.” In an attempt to try and remedy the situation, the shopper says they offered to return the Sonos Era 300 speaker. Ultimately, this was a fruitless endeavor. “[I] was turned away and said it was from corporate and nothing they can do,” they write.
Wanting to get to the bottom of the situation, OP says they called Best Buy’s customer service line to inquire about the issue. They say they informed a representative that they were slapped with a fraud flag. But upon reviewing their information, the representative allegedly told @jbreeding412 that there were no such flags listed on their account.
Can you get banned from making returns at Best Buy?
Techlicious notes that “you can be banned from making returns at Best Buy.”
According to Best Buy’s website, “Most products can be returned within 15 days for a refund or exchange.” However, Techlicious reports that “the company doesn’t always follow its own policy.”
“The problem is return fraud, where a customer might return a used or even stolen item for a refund, abusing a retailer’s return policies,” Techlicious further reports. The site cited National Retail Federation data that found that 5.9% of all returns involve return fraud.
Best Buy’s return battles
Best Buy’s “answer to return fraud” was reportedly its partnership with the Retail Equation. This third-party research group analyzes a customer’s purchase-to-return ratio as well as how often they make returns. The software has the potential to prohibit specific returns.
However, it seems that Best Buy is no longer working with the Retail Equation. There was a class-action lawsuit against the Retail Equation, according to Consumer Attorneys. Customers accused the software of mistakenly labeling customers fraudsters just for returning items.
Several other outlets have also reported on frustrated Best Buy patrons who claim they were incorrectly flagged for fraudulent returns. MPR News wrote that the store opened a specific hotline number dedicated to customers who were “denied returns.”
This appears to have been a response to a Wall Street Journal piece that reported on the fraud flags in question. The outlet stated customers’ refunds could ultimately be “used against” them.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the Retail Equation and Best Buy via email as well as to @jbreeding412 via Reddit direct message.
Reddit responds
One commenter asked @jbreeding412 if they made frequent returns at not just Best Buy. They implied that the Retail Equation connects shoppers’ purchasing practices at different stores.
Another Best Buy worker said that fraud alerts usually only happen when shoppers try to use a flagged credit or debit card as payment.
Another speculated that the worker probably just lied because they didn’t want to process the return. Furthermore, they wrote that Best Buy doesn’t have a return flag policy in place anymore ever since ceasing their work with the Retail Equation.
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