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
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.
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
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.