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Unethical Futureshop

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Newbie
Nov 10, 2004
24 posts
1 upvote

Unethical Futureshop

Went to Stn Sq. Futureshop in Burnaby at 5 AM, hoping to get that $499.99 Toshiba Notebook. When they opened, I headed straight to the cage where they locked all the laptops.

They had about 10 units of the $499.99 Toshiba there. Guess what? They had pre-installed a "Recovery" CD on all the units - Which was $99 extra.

That had killed the deal for me. So slimy :evil:


UPDATE - Dec 27, 2007

Mike Chuback, VP of Services and Sales Development at Futureshop, called me earlier tonight. He promised to send me an email later on this. Let's hope there is a "solution" for everyone. Stay tuned.


UPDATE - Dec 28, 2007, 6:00PM

Good news! I just returned from Futureshop, Burnaby location. They sold me a HP laptop (DV6642) for $499.99 (They also gave me a 1% GST rebate - I believe they have a 1% GST rebate special on right now).

Earlier this afternoon, I talked to Joe Strigl, Futureshop's Director of Operations, Western Canada. He asked me to meet him in the Burnaby store. He said that they have obtained a new HP laptop from a Vancouver store and that they would sell it to me at $499.99 (I think many locations have depleted their laptop inventories). Needless to say, I wanted to buy that laptop.

Inside the store, the store GM (?), Dept Sales Manager, Joe Strigl, and another Manager was there to meet me. They all apologized and explained that they took this issue very seriously. This Recovery CD incident had reached the company CEO. They stated that they cared about their image and there was no direction from upper management to pre-install this recovery CD on the laptops.

They also asked if I remembered the salesperson that wouldn't sell me the Toshiba laptop on Boxing Day without the recovery CD. I told them that I did remember that person. However, I explained that I did not want anyone to get into trouble. I stated clearly that it was not the individual salesperson's fault. Rather, it was the culture of the business. They were just following directions.

I reminded them that there are many angry people out there (as could be seen from the replies here). I told them that many people started to line-up the night before, in the cold. This recovery CD thing was absolutely unacceptable.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who replied and gave advice, I now have a laptop. I wish everyone the same luck. My complaint has come to a satisfatory resolution. My first step was to email Futureshop. I then followed up by calling their 1-800 customer service line, where I filed a store complaint. I then emailed Susan Kirk (her phone number was on one of the replies here - thanks to that poster). On my email to Ms. Kirk, I had attached a link to this thread. I guess the replies here made the difference (they must have gotten their attention with all the angry people here).

Again, thanks to all and good luck. My complaint would not have come to a satisfactory resolution without RFD and the members here.
1267 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 22, 2005
3286 posts
46 upvotes
Ottawa
I'd email their head office about that. Just because it's a loss leader/low-margin product doesn't mean they can force you to buy extras with it...
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 21, 2004
2220 posts
210 upvotes
Vancouver
My friend's gf was forced to pay the extra $100 for that ****. I told her she should have said no because that is such a slimeball move by forcing them to pay for that or they won't sell the laptop
Member
Jul 25, 2007
492 posts
149 upvotes
And people stick up for Future Crap/Shop on here, lol.

Another gimme your money move.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Mar 18, 2005
23686 posts
5125 upvotes
Niagara Falls
That is very cheap. You really should call head office and complain like crazy. That actually is slimeball cheap unlike some of the complaints some people have had about FS today.
Newbie
Nov 10, 2004
24 posts
1 upvote
Ch28 wrote: My friend's gf was forced to pay the extra $100 for that ****. I told her she should have said no because that is such a slimeball move by forcing them to pay for that or they won't sell the laptop

They had already pre-installed that "Recovery" CD on all the units. No choice.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 21, 2004
2220 posts
210 upvotes
Vancouver
adanac wrote: They had already pre-installed that "Recovery" CD on all the units. No choice.
Don't f*cking advertise the price at $499 if you're going to install some bullsh*t recovery disc onto the computer and having to FORCE THE CUSTOMER TO PAY FOR IT

[edit] I didn't have a need for a laptop so I could care less but the fact that they would pull something like this is disgusting.
Newbie
Nov 10, 2004
24 posts
1 upvote
Could I have bought the laptop and then go back (at a later date) and tell them that I don't need the Recovery CD and want a refund on that? It might work if I complained loud enough. But that's a moot point now.

Several customers didn't realize that extra $99 until they were paying.
Newbie
Oct 14, 2007
35 posts
Not to mention someone has now opened up your supposedly new laptop, set it up, installed something and then unplugged it and repacked it without setting up the battery properly etc.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 21, 2004
2220 posts
210 upvotes
Vancouver
68style wrote: Not to mention someone has now opened up your supposedly new laptop, set it up, installed something and then unplugged it and repacked it without setting up the battery properly etc.
Hello fellow RSer

What did you buy? :D
Deal Addict
Dec 25, 2007
1353 posts
861 upvotes
GTA
dahurricaneg wrote: I would have demanded the MANAGER in the ghey store, especially since it is technically false advertising.
Yes. Id say there is a good case for false advertising. Bring in the original flyer that says $499, and show there is nothing that says an extra $99 for some POS software bundle. Contact the store GM, if that doesnt work, ask a CSR for the phone number or contact info for the district manager.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jun 22, 2007
1504 posts
943 upvotes
London, ON
I was one of the first few in the store and I had prepaid for it in advance. All I had to do was pick it up as soon as they let us in the door. Well I shopped and went to pick up the laptop and voila, after 10 mins of looking for it they couldn't find it. One of the techies came over with an acer and said he could let it go for the same price. The acer has a little better set up on it then the toshiba so I said why not. Now I understand that they probably had the $99 feature already added on and had no regular deal. Wonder what the other people did cause they said they didnt want the $99 bs. The acer he gave me seems like a decent deal. Only difference is it has 250g HD instead of 200 and the processor is a core 2 duo instead of the amd. Almost the same set up as the toshiba. The acer is the one that is listed as $599 as a boxing day deal. So Instead of the toshiba I saved $100 on the above acer. Hmmmm. I dont know if i'll keep it as they said I could take it back when the toshiba comes in stock and get that one.
Deal Addict
Aug 24, 2002
3569 posts
40 upvotes
Sask
adanac wrote: Went to Stn Sq. Futureshop in Burnaby at 5 AM, hoping to get that $499.99 Toshiba Notebook. When they opened, I headed straight to the cage where they locked all the laptops.

They had about 10 units of the $499.99 Toshiba there. Guess what? They had pre-installed a "Recover" CD on all the units - Which was $99 extra.

That had killed the deal for me. So slimy :evil:
I don't understand what a $99 recover CD is... but that sounds really bad. I can't believe they did that!
Sr. Member
User avatar
Dec 12, 2005
948 posts
173 upvotes
The 905
isn't this illegal?
Banned
Sep 2, 2006
5645 posts
3 upvotes
did all stores do this?
ItemFinder wrote: Let me point out that the only people that like China are the mainlanders. Chinese from elsewhere refuse to be associated with China.
I always knew you were a genius.
Deal Expert
Mar 22, 2004
16012 posts
7474 upvotes
RFD
davethegr8 wrote: I was one of the first few in the store and I had prepaid for it in advance. All I had to do was pick it up as soon as they let us in the door. Well I shopped and went to pick up the laptop and voila, after 10 mins of looking for it they couldn't find it. One of the techies came over with an acer and said he could let it go for the same price. The acer has a little better set up on it then the toshiba so I said why not. Now I understand that they probably had the $99 feature already added on and had no regular deal. Wonder what the other people did cause they said they didnt want the $99 bs. The acer he gave me seems like a decent deal. Only difference is it has 250g HD instead of 200 and the processor is a core 2 duo instead of the amd. Almost the same set up as the toshiba. The acer is the one that is listed as $599 as a boxing day deal. So Instead of the toshiba I saved $100 on the above acer. Hmmmm. I dont know if i'll keep it as they said I could take it back when the toshiba comes in stock and get that one.
sounds like you got a better system though. intel over amd is a win for laptops, and bigger HD.
Member
Sep 22, 2007
308 posts
31 upvotes
there is no reason anyone should pay the $100 for the recovery cd, ask them to either drop the charge, remove the bs they did, call the manager, or give them hell. The last point works really well for me, especially when my brother is a huge guy.
Deal Addict
Nov 30, 2002
1606 posts
1 upvote
Edmonton. Äl-Berta
this is totally BS.

mail and complaint to the head office imo.
Newbie
Dec 6, 2007
99 posts
18 upvotes
I would ask for "Open Box" pricing at this point, as some kid with his A+ cert opened the box, installed crap (recover CD, lmao) and repacked it ..

So the battery will likely suffer from improper setup, etc ..

This is over the top, and if I was any of you folks that got cooked for 99.00 , I would scream REALLY LOUD at FutureShop ..

Highly illegal.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Jun 28, 2004
10349 posts
8 upvotes
Kosaic wrote: So the battery will likely suffer from improper setup, etc ..
:confused:
So long. I'm outta here.

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