How bad is Factory Direct?

[krozet]

I received their flyer today and I can find a couple things I would actually consider buying from them if not for the couple horror stories I have heard. Mind you I am not looking to run out and buy a refurbished computer or hard drive from them but :

6 foot HDMI cable $9.99 Brand New. How can you screw up a cable?
4GB MicroSD card $9.99 Brand New. For transferring maps to my GPS, nothing critical.
4GB SanDisk Sansa Fuze Media Player $39.99 Brand New. Its Brand New?
Universal Laptop Power Adaptor $19.99 Brand New.

You get my point, some good prices on a few trinkets I could find a use for but why is it that whenever I hear their name people groan or roll their eyes?

[squall458]

Yea those look fine. Just make sure its sealed and that you have no intentions of returning it. I get stuff from there and it works fine. Buying refurbished stuff or open box is what you should look out for.

[krozet]

What is there return policy? You bought it, it's yours?

[brown_wall_street]

have fun returning anything , your fault or there's

[NG]

Yea those look fine. Just make sure its sealed and that you have no intentions of returning it. I get stuff from there and it works fine. Buying refurbished stuff or open box is what you should look out for.

Which is about 90% of what FD carries.

[NG]

4GB SanDisk Sansa Fuze Media Player $39.99 Brand New. Its Brand New?

Should be fine but still I'd be worried about buying anything there that uses a special battery.

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with thier Fuze players however for all we know Sandisk dumped these units because they realized the batteries were duds and FD picked them up somehow.

[alkaseltzer01]

Think about the most amount of money you wouldn't care if you lost, then that's the max amount you should spend at FD.

[TCWeasel]

They have no return policy. You can't return anything. You can exchange something, but often they've a limited supply of whatever product it is, so if you buy something that doesn't work and they no longer have any in stock, you're SOL outside of getting a store credit.

I no longer will shop at the store regardless of what deals they offer, it's just not worth the trouble and not worth giving them any business, as they just don't deserve it.

Shop somewhere else even if it means paying extra. Consider it insurance against any product defects.

I won't stop you from shopping there, I'll just consider you to be a dumbass for doing so.

[tomtomtom]

I won't stop you from shopping there, I'll just consider you to be a dumbass for doing so.

There is no dumbass-ness from shopping at FD. I go there from time to time for some cheapo accessories.

The bottom line, you get what you paid for.

[arsalanmustafa1989]

Factory direct in my opinion is a decent alternative store for some things, just be smart about it. just like you wouldnt buy clothes from wal-mart, dont buy hdds, stereos etc from factory direct. for cables, and other cheap things they are fine even the refurbished stuff is fine

[CougChaos]

I tried to shop there recently. I arrived about 5-10 minutes before their posted closing time... they had already locked the door. They still had customers inside and it wouldn't have taken me 5 minutes to checkout the item I was interested in.

[JWL]

They have no return policy. You can't return anything. You can exchange something, but often they've a limited supply of whatever product it is, so if you buy something that doesn't work and they no longer have any in stock, you're SOL outside of getting a store credit.

In limited circumstances you can return things but they charge a 30% restocking fee!

I tried to shop there recently. I arrived about 5-10 minutes before their posted closing time... they had already locked the door. They still had customers inside and it wouldn't have taken me 5 minutes to checkout the item I was interested in.

My son works in retail and people will pop in at the last minute before closing time and then have a leisurely shop for 30 minutes. Unfortunately not everyone is as reasonable as you so this is what happens.

[supsx]

I only had good experiences with Factory Direct, I bought a RF Modulator once and it was defective had no problems returning it and getting a new one. Bought HDMI cables when they are on sale for like $5 with coupons I get in my email, cheaper then Monoprice that everyone is so happy to promote on here no problems with them. I also bought a refurbished cell phone that I needed a backup for a while, the battery started messing up sometime within the first month and the instore warrenty got me a replacement battery from another phone.

[Cheap Cat]

My son works in retail and people will pop in at the last minute before closing time and then have a leisurely shop for 30 minutes. Unfortunately not everyone is as reasonable as you so this is what happens.

If the store is open unit 9 pm, they should keep their doors open until 9 pm. I too have worked in retail and we have always had the door open until closing time. A good manager will schedule and pay staff for at least 30 minutes after closing or whatever time it takes to get rid of customers and clean up. I worked for a large grocery chain and we were always scheduled for half an hour after closing and on Saturdays for an hour after closing. I worked for another large retailer and we were only scheduled and paid until closing time so we were eager to get rid of customers. I suspect that FD only pays staff until closing time.

[felixmo]

I've had a pretty good experience shopping at their Markham location. I've bought an refurb wireless mouse, used for 2 weeks, then returned it for store credit and got something else. I've done this a few times.

[NG]

I've had a pretty good experience shopping at their Markham location. I've bought an refurb wireless mouse, used for 2 weeks, then returned it for store credit and got something else. I've done this a few times.

Good point. If you live near a store and not using the website and they carry stuff you'd usually want to pick up anyways I could see how that'd improve the FD shopping experience.

[NG]

If the store is open unit 9 pm, they should keep their doors open until 9 pm. I too have worked in retail and we have always had the door open until closing time. A good manager will schedule and pay staff for at least 30 minutes after closing or whatever time it takes to get rid of customers and clean up. I worked for a large grocery chain and we were always scheduled for half an hour after closing and on Saturdays for an hour after closing. I worked for another large retailer and we were only scheduled and paid until closing time so we were eager to get rid of customers. I suspect that FD only pays staff until closing time.

True. Plus this is FD. Being able to walk in 10 mins before close is the type of thing I'd expect from a first tier retailer but, since the whole point of the store is the bottom line, it'd just add to overhead to pay to have staff hang around while customers milled around after close.

[ericdraven]

I've never had problems buying refurbed stuff there...

Last major purchase I made there was 2 1/2 years ago Canon Xti DSLR...
Refurbed by Canon and no problems with it at all...

Just know what you are buying because the sales staff aren't very knowledgable in what they are selling...