Best Buy in Yonkers, NY sells ceramic tiles in hard drive packaging

Going to Best Buy and short of a few ceramic tiles for your kitchen? Next time, you may be able to buy them at Best Buy instead of your Home Depot. The trick is to look for hard drive cases. The catch is you won't be able to get a refund if you buy this way.

Funny? May be.

Joking? No!

Consumerist reports that's what happened to Sam who bought a computer hard drive from Yonkers Best Buy. He later found out that there was no hard drive and the box was instead filled with ceramic tiles.

When Sam brought the matter to Best Buy's attention, they first agreed to help Sam but then snatched the replaced drive and refused to help Sam any more. Best Buy won't give him a refund either.

You should really read the full letter from Sam sent to Consumerist (the link is above), but here is a quick review.

... So I got home, opened the box and found not a 1TB internal hard drive but 6 pieces of bathroom ceramic tile wrapped in last months New York Post. I got into my car, raced back to Best Buy and voiced my complaint. The employee and assistant manager were more than willing to help, saying that it happens. So they set up the return and I repurchased the drive and while I was checking the contents to ensure it was a hard drive this time, the store manager came up, took the box from me and said to take it up with the manufacturer.

Now to my surprise, I argued with the guy saying that they have already accepted the return and I have now purchased the new one. He said I was shit out of luck. I followed up with the manufacturer today and they said they would get the complaint to the Best Buy Purchasing department. Best Buy corporate said that they stand by their manager's decision.

I've told American Express to stop payment and went to the local consumer affairs department and will be going to the better business bureau....

The fact that Best Buy initially agreed to help and then acted in the most juvenile-run-company way makes me feel terribly sick.

I HATE it when our "favorite" retailers abuse their power and try to save a few bucks rather than listen to a legitimate complaint.

Best Buy's management would much rather make a big deal out of the issue and create a disaster for their PR by engaging in shady practices and pissing consumers off, especially when they know what goes on in their stores. Below is a quote from a comment posted on Slashdot discussion regarding this (linked below):

As an ex-BestBuy employee I know a little about the fraud that goes on in that store. During the brief holiday season that I worked there, Packard Bell had a promotion (if that gives you any idea how long ago this was) that you would receive a free OEM-bagged Sound Blaster card with the purchase of every system. We had a case of 100 Sound Blaster cards behind the counter that disappeared overnight.

One of the employees discovered that when you climb the ladder up to the stock area up above the shelves, there are no security cameras to keep an eye on you, so here's what you do... Get a case of printer paper and carefully slip the plastic bands off that hold the box shut. Remove the reams of paper inside and place them on the shelf for sale. Tear open hard drive boxes, sound card boxes, software packages, anything you want and toss the remnants around and pack the contents inside the now empty printer paper box until it's completely full, then replace the lid and plastic bands and carry the box down the ladder and put the box full of "paper" on the back of the shelf behind several boxes that really contain paper. Come to the store on your next day off and pull your box of "paper" from the back of the shelf and pay $19.99 for it and walk out of the store with several hundred dollars worth of gear. You got the BestBuy!

This stupid employee came over to visit my brother and told him (in front of me) how he managed to get away with it and just assumed (incorrectly) that I wouldn't mention it to my manager or the store manager the next day. The store manager told me that they suspected him but didn't know how he was doing it and after hearing how they confronted him and told him that they were giving him one last chance to return the stolen items or they would call the police. His reply was something to the effect of "go ahead, if you had any evidence you would have already called the police." And then they kept him employed!!! They did not fire him!!! He quit on his own a few weeks later when he realized that he was under constant supervision and wouldn't have an opportunity to steal again.

And it doesn't ends here. The more I read through Slashdot comments, the more it made my blood boil.

I was a customer service manager for a Best Buy in Houston, TX for a little over a year. Best Buy Store #291 - "The PowerHouse" Galleria. This store did incredible revenue. My specialty was dealing with overtly horrible Best Buy politics on a daily basis. I sat in on numerous Geek Squad and Home Installation meetings where Management would tell the service sales people to increase their service revenue "by any means necessary." I kid you not, I saw employees express concern about the prices and methods of invoking cash from vulnerable customers, and the management would repeat itself by saying, "by any means necessary." I saw an employee charge a customer $59 to "diagnose" her computer when a CD was stuck in her CD-rom drive, when all he did was pop it out with a paper clip. I saw more horrible Best Buy policies than you could imagine, and I made a good living for a year of my life, trying to negotiate comprimises between customers who had been ripped off bluntly, and Best Buy's corporate ladder, to try and salvage any sliver of dignity that company could possibly salvage, and this speciality of mine only lasted until I'd expressed my concern to the corporate level enough that they realized it would be easier to push me out of their store than it would be to address the concerns that I brought to their attention with regard to their return, exchange, and serviec policies. Being on the inside of that place blew my mind. As for their "service plans," they use the rock-bottom dollar lowest-bidder service centers that broke as many things as they repaired, if not more. Seeing this bit on /. reminded me of the days I spent with customers who were literally crying infront of me because of how this company had wronged them. I'm not saying don't shop there - frankly I could care less and I still buy the occasional item from Best Buy out of sheer convenience, but stories like this one never surprise me, in the sense that Best Buy's business model is to make money by any means necessary.

The fact that Best Buy's management has decided to decline help doesn't make things any better.

So the question is, as the holiday shopping season is on us, are you going to check your packages when shopping from Best Buy or will you prefer to go to a different retailer?

References:
Best Buy Customer Gets Box Full of Bathroom Tiles ... Discussion on Slashdot

Will Vinyl kill CD Sales?

Believe it or not, Vinyl industry thinks that Vinyl will soon take over music CD sales. Some of the reasons being quoted include cds losing their unique advantages of being more portable and having a better audio quality.

Pivo 2: Nissan puts robot in concept car to keep you happy

Pivo 2, a concept car from Nissan, looks like the Wii of cars. Its cabin can turn sideways, parking is a breeze and it aims to keep you, the driver, happy! Pivo 2 features a robot that can help you find directions, talk to you and the passengers. In addition, Pivo 2 robot can recognize signs of stress and irritation on your face and try to establish an 'intimate relationship' by communicating with you.

So are you ready to hear 'calm down' from your car's robot? Or will you thrash the damn robot for messing with you at the wrong time?



Being a concept car, according to Nissan, you can expect Pivo 2 to be on street by 2015.

manhattan exclusive

going to work today I found this breakfast table on 14st between 5tf and 6th ave.

AT&T Sues Vonage

After Sprint and Verizon sued and won patent infringement cases against Vonage, AT&T has decided to go after Vonage for the same reason: patent infringement. Vonage had recently settled with Sprint and there was some hope but this really kills it for Vonage as they seem to have a questionable defense. Source: AT&T sues Vonage.

Google does it again!

Just received email from Google Press and damn, Google has done it again:

"Google reported revenues of $4.23 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, an increase of 57% compared to the third quarter of 2006 and an increase of 9% compared to the second quarter of 2007. "

Recently I found out Google has been sending people Nokia Internet Tablets. I guess they need new ways to spend money.

Mi8 charging $20 per spam filter request?

I just found out recently that Mi8 charges around $20 per spam filter request submitted to them for Microsoft Exchange hosting. I am sure they have their reasons but why don't they equip their customers with an API so they can do it themselves?

today

I am going to partition upload stats. At lunch, I am going to gym. When I make plans, I like to make them and get over them, whereas my lovely wife likes to discuss them multiple times. It makes her excited I guess.

I have a dry-run for my scalability webinar organized by Sun Microsystems on Monday. The webinar itself is on Wednesday. I should actually post the registration information etc about the webinar here on this blog. OK, so the train is here and I am about to hop on.

SWATting - 911 system hacked by a teenager

Randall Ellis, a nineteen year old from Washington hacked the Orange County 911 system and sent cops to a couple that was sleeping at home. Police handcuffed both husband and wife and then figured it was a prank.

The trend is apparently called “SWATting.”

For some reason security breaches like this don't surprise me a lot. I don't have the statistics but I am sure many sensitive systems like this 9-1-1 system are vulnerable to hackers for one reason or the other. One would think that specially after 9/11 the country's 911 systems will be fully secured. How safe does that make you feel?

first mobile blog post

I am happy to finally start using mobile blogging

India backing out of Nuclear deal?

I thought the nuclear deal between US and India was a good thing from India's point of view. I am surprised to learn India may be backing out of the deal. I wonder why?

Random stuff - Eid - Lunch 2.0 - Patents

Yesterday, I went to the first Lunch 2.0 in New York City organized by Brett Petersel and hosted by TheLadders.com. I have posted the photos to http://photos.mashraqi.com.

Friday was Eid. Went with Junad, Zubair and Michelle for Eid prayer.

Oh and yesterday I had a streak of 10 on pool. Yay!

Spent the weekend with Rob and Rachel from Tennessee. It was a lot of fun. We went to Seaport on Friday and Slate Plus on Saturday. Taso, Laura, Meg, Ronald and PJ also joined us.

USPTO finally rejects Amazon's stupid one click patent. It's really sad and shocking that Amazon got this patent in the first place.

Canon 40D Reviews

When I was evaluating whether or not to buy my Canon EOS 40D, I looked at very source of information I could find. I am posting these links in the hope they are helpful to others:

Highlights of Canon EOS 40D:
- 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor can take very detailed photos that can be saved in both JPG and RAW formats. The RAW format files are only editable with the provided software and cannot be edited using Adobe Photoshop.
- Canon's EOS Integrated Cleaning System is great to protect your investment from dust etc
- 3.0-inch LCD monitor makes previewing photos and live view mode so much fun!
- Supported recording medium includes CF Card Type I and II and external media (USB v.2.0 hard drive, via optional Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E3A)
- Canon EF, EF-S, TS-E, and MP-E lenses are compatible with Canon 40D

Reviews:
- Canon EOS 40D review by Digital Photography Review.
- Canon EOS 40D: The official website of Canon EOS 40D digital SLR.
- Canon EOS 40D Review by Roland Lim.
- Canon EOS 40D review by photo.net
- Canon 40D review by BobAtkins.com
- Canon EOS 40D reviews by Cnet.com. Cnet gave EOS 40D 8.1 out of 10.

The good: Generally superior shooting speed among dSLRs; first-rate photo quality.
The bad: Large spot size for spot meter; relatively sluggish low-light focus.

- Canon 40D review by LetsGoDigital.com
- Canon EOS 40D review by Cameralabs.com
- Canon EOS 40D Forum at DPReview
- Canon EOS 40D review by Photography Blog.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System Video

Beef recall: Single recall kills 67 year old Topps Meat

How disastrous one recall in your 67 year industry can be? If I say, "potentially fatal," I won't be exaggerating. After all, that's exactly what has happened to Topps Meat, the largest supplier of frozen ground beef products in the US. They had one recall, just one, and now it has been announced that Topps Meat is going to be closing down. The beef recall consisted of 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products. The recalled hamburger patties were believed to be contaminated with fatal E. coli bacteria strain O157:H7. According to CDC website:

E. coli O157:H7 is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless, this strain produces a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness. E. coli O157:H7 has been found in the intestines of healthy cattle, deer, goats, and sheep.

E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a cause of illness in 1982 during an outbreak of severe bloody diarrhea; the outbreak was traced to contaminated hamburgers. Since then, more infections in the United States have been caused by eating undercooked ground beef than by any other food.

The company issued the following statement regarding the beef recall

“This is tragic for all concerned,” said Anthony D’Urso, Chief Operating Officer. “In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a
company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large. We sincerely regret the impact this will have on our employees, our customers and suppliers, and the community. Most of all, we regret that our products have been linked by public health agencies to recently reported illnesses. We hope and pray for the full recovery of those individuals.”...

As the Company assesses and addresses the impact of the closing on all affected parties, individuals with business-related questions regarding Topps Meat Company can call 888-734-0451 or email info@toppsmeat.com. Employees and government inquiries can call (888) 240-2734.

Information Sources:
- Topps Meat to close after beef recall