A few weeks ago I went to a local PC parts store to pick up an ATX power supply for a computer I was working on. Easy enough right? In fact it was.
It is unfortunate that the resources to make a quick purchase for PC repairs have really dwindled down in the day and age of all the online retailers and overnight shipping but there are a few Mom and Pop type stores available.
Anyway, when you need a part right now waiting overnight is sometimes unacceptable.
So I went in and made my purchase and took the power supply to my shop to get it installed. Turns out the case was a non-standard ATX and the power supply did not fit. I repackaged the drive with the intent to return it for a cash refund since I paid cash in the first case.
Now it did take me three weeks to get back to the shop because it is in another part of town that I do not frequent and I opted to hold onto it until I went that way again.
That day was yesterday.
I did not expect there to be any issues because I still had the original receipt and the power supply was intact, etc. The moment I walked into the store and presented the power supply and receipt to the owner I was told that all sales were final in this shop.
All sales final? I have been shopping at this place regularly over the last several years and had NEVER heard that line during any transaction. It is not posted at the register, printed on the receipt nor does it appear on the website of the store.
In fact, the website gives a couple of different product return situations that range from 10 to 20 days with the original receipt required. Yes, I am aware that I was outside of those windows and that is on me. I still would have liked to seen that info also posted at the point of sale or on the sales receipt.
However, that is not my issue overall. It was how I was addressed by the shop owner.
When he told me that all sales were final I was blown away because that has never been said to me before before nor specifically during the sale of the power supply when I picked it up.
I told him that was never said to me at the time of sale nor did it appear on the receipt or in the store. At the time I did not know what the website said about returns. He then told me that he offered for me to bring the PC in for a free estimate of the repairs and that he did state all sales were final.
He once again stated I was wrong and that I was told that. So now we have a he said/he said situation with no resolution possible because we were both going to stand our ground. I accepted the fact that I would have a spare power supply around the house which is just fine but I told him it was poor customer service to not have that information printed on the receipt and obvious at the point of sale. I told him I had been shopping at his place for several years for parts because it was a service that was slowly disappearing as I mentioned above.
It was also at this point that I was told I should have known about the power supply size and that it would not fit if I was so experienced around computers as I had said to him earlier in the discussion.
Now it had become personal and I had been insulted for a mistake I made about the size I needed and my knowledge of computers was questioned. If I was never going to come back to the shop again because of their unclear sales are final policy I most certainly was done with them now because of this rudeness.
Yes, I made a mistake on what I purchased and yes I was not eligible to return the item because all sales are final at this shop. However, you might have just kept a customer around if you had not taken to making it personal.
Lesson Learned.
