Do retailers look the other way more often than not? Scary but the answer may be yes.
My girlfriend (aka: the boss) finally convinced me to get out of the house and go get the hair cut I’ve been promising her I would get, the same one I have desperately been putting off. She tagged along of course to enjoy the many wonders of our local mall.
After the cut, a few slices of food court pizza, and a walk through Kay Jewelers I was able to convince her that a quick look inside one of world’s largest video game retail stores would be harmless.
We walk in and after a few minutes of investigating it was easy to see that this in fact was a video game store and I was happy to be inside of it. My girlfriend on the other hand, eh not so much. All that would change in a few minutes time though.
As we stood there at the counter I tried to convince the manager that the Playstation 3 would be dropping in price to $499.00 in just a few days. He claimed he had no knowledge of such a thing. Just as I whipped out my iPhone to bring up some visual proof, in walked a lady holding a brand new unopened Xbox 360. This is where the story gets interesting.
The other associate asks her if she needs any help as the manager, my girlfriend, and I watch. She responds “Yeah, I would like to sell this. I got it as a gift and I don’t play games.” At this point in time I look at my girlfriend who does not play video games and she immediately says what I am thinking, “bullshit”.
I was busy staring at the obvious needle injection scars on the womans arms when I heard the associate say something that shocked me even more. He told the woman that they could not accept unopened merchandise without a receipt (good so far) and then quietly suggests she walk back into the mall and return to the store with the item opened if she would like to sell it (holy shit batman).
The entire time the manager, my girlfriend and I were locked into a three way staring contest. A few seconds later she walks back in with an opened item and is told that the most she can receive for it would be $136.00. She says that would be fine. The transaction is completed and she leaves the store.
On the ride home I decided to call a few other video game stores and ask them how they would handle a similar situation. One associate jokingly said that they are not allowed to take unopened merchandise and usually suggest that the customer leaves the store and comes back the next day with it opened. He admitted though that most opt to return to the store within minutes instead.
