Best Buy scam will work?

[MikePizzoff]

A friend of mine recently had his (cough) XBOX 360 break and he was thinking about going to Best Buy and purchasing a new one. Once he takes the new one home he then plans to put his broken one in the new box. Then, the following day, he is going to take his broken 360 back to the store and claim it's the one he just bought and it's defective and demand a refund. Do you think this will work?

He also says if they refuse a refund and will only do an exchange, he'll throw a fit and tell them he already took his business elsewhere and bought a 360 because he no longer trusts how Best Buy handles their products.

EDIT: And don't give me that crap that it would be considered stealing. Because Best Buy would just send it back to Microsoft, who would send them a replacement console. The money would come out of Microsoft's pocket, and that's what they deserve since they have ripped hundreds of thousands of people off by putting out a faulty system.

[Andy]

When it comes to faulty electronics, most places will only do exchanges and not refunds :p

[darth los]

A friend of mine recently had his (cough) XBOX 360 break and he was thinking about going to Best Buy and purchasing a new one. Once he takes the new one home he then plans to put his broken one in the new box. Then, the following day, he is going to take his broken 360 back to the store and claim it's the one he just bought and it's defective and demand a refund. Do you think this will work?

He also says if they refuse a refund and will only do an exchange, he'll throw a fit and tell them he already took his business elsewhere and bought a 360 because he no longer trusts how Best Buy handles their products.

EDIT: And don't give me that crap that it would be considered stealing. Because Best Buy would just send it back to Microsoft, who would send them a replacement console. The money would come out of Microsoft's pocket, and that's what they deserve since they have ripped hundreds of thousands of people off by putting out a faulty system.

I'm just mad that i didn't think of it first. Of course it's not stealing. These companies charge us every penny they possibly can even though the products they sell only cost a fraction to produce compared to what's actually on the msrp.

[slickwilly13]

Hey, make sure the serial numbers match. Just to let you know...:sneaky:

[capncnut]

He should be okay doing that Mike, I have pulled off one or two similar scams in the past with no trouble. However, I highly doubt he will get a refund in cash.

Also, was his old 360 registered? When you register Microsoft take your serial number details and they WILL investigate the returned machine to see what was wrong with it. There is a small chance he could be contacted if they suss out the scam. And in the eyes of the law it IS stealing, bro.

[DeadJonas190]

It will not work, Best Buy records serial numbers which are unique to each Xbox 360. Unless he switches the stickers on the back to make them match it will not work... but also if the sticker is tampered with they will not take it back.

So you friend is out of luck.

Unless he happens upon an employee who doesn't know the return process.

[Danny]

i doubt it would work, even just by resgistering on xbox.com you must give the serial number unique to that machine you own so im doubtful ,as theyd send it off to microsoft and then theyd find out.

-and technically if he can just send his off for repair than he might just be taking some kids christmas present or something, jjust a little downnote point:lol:

[slickwilly13]

Hey, it might work, but its risky. You're best off removing the serial number. I mean your friend. :shifty: Btw, it worked for me...I mean this dude I know. *L* Same scenario, but with a PS2. I was taken to a local Target where another friend had bought one. The old unit was cleaned up and traded in for a new one. The lady at customer service didn't care if the numbers matched and let the 2 friends get another one. But this was for a switch off and not a cash back deal.

[bassman]

I don't think it would work because of the serial numbers.

I wouldn't do it for the moral issue of it all. Karma is a bitch and this would just beg the bad side of it to find him....

[MikePizzoff]

But my friend is on his second XBOX. When he registered with XBOX.com it was with the first XBOX, which got sent back to Microsoft. Do you think there's any way they'd know the serial number of the system he has right now?

[slickwilly13]

Unless your friend gave them that 2nd number then they're fine.

[acealive1]

exchange or store credit. better go with the second option as they never check to see if you're telling the truth.......unless its smashed to smithereens



-and technically if he can just send his off for repair than he might just be taking some kids christmas present or something, jjust a little downnote point:lol:


parents shoulda saved up earlier then :lol::lol:kids should get a PS1 :lol::lol:

[MikePizzoff]

I, I mean my friend, decided to just sell his busted one to Gamestop, without the hard drive, and hope they don't check to make sure it works (they didn't when I traded in my PS2, years back when it was still a popular system) then take that money somewhere else and put it toward the 360 Arcade Console, because it's the cheapest version.

[capncnut]

I'll be honest, that's the best move. I've outed a couple of dodgy systems to these game shops before (what? so I'm supposed to just lose my money? :rolleyes:) and I've had no comebacks yet.

[Danny]

you couldnt do that at the stores near me, they have an adaptor for each console attached to a tv at the till and they plug it in there adn then to see if it works.

[Eyebiter]

Mike are you aware M$ updated the warranty on the XBOX360? So your friend could simply send it in for repair. Usually the console is back to you in six weeks or so. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/resources/warrantyupdate.htm

[DjfunkmasterG]

Every Best Buy I have been at matches Serial numbers for everything. I recently bought a 10" portable DVD player (I use them as field monitors) and when it busted they took it out of the box and matched up the serials.