[colug-432] Microcenter

[Angelo McComis]

So - the list is showing some love for MicroCenter. I have to admit -
the last "pre-built" PC I bought was from there. I got a deal that I
felt was fair, so no complaints.

To keep my note Linux oriented, it makes me laugh when I go in there
and they are "selling" boxed Linux. Anyone buying Linux probably has
no business buying Linux.

My earlier note about potentially not being returnable stems back from
the days when the stuff was more delicate and most places would flat
out not accept returns on it. I will accept that places do take
returns on this stuff now, although sometimes some places ding you
with a restocking fee. And kudos to Micro Center for matching price
with NewEgg.  I always hate it when places say "well, we don't match
internet prices."  I tell them they should take down their internet
store if they're not going to be competitive. They never appreciate
that. :)

But, my real complaint about Micro Center, and I think this list will
understand, is this:

It seems that they somehow link payment card information to other
personal data, used for confirming at the point of sale, and within
their own systems. Confirming which name/address record goes with a
given credit card at point of sale further injects data/shopping habit
into their business intelligence systems. So what, everyone does that,
so why is that bad? Because they aren't careful with their data, in my
opinion.

So what do you mean they aren't careful with their data? Glad you
asked.  You see, I have a specific email address I use for specific
merchants (we all do this, right?).  A couple years ago, my Micro
Center email started getting hit with odd spam. At first it was the
penny stock stuff. Then it went to the XXX spam. I deactivated that
email. I further wrote it up and explained it in a nice letter to the
State of Ohio Attorney General as a Consumer Complaint. Unfortunately,
they just blindly forwarded it to Micro Center, and they "assured us
our data was safe" without further investigation. I call BS, because I
know that address wasn't simply guessed. And it wasn't extracted from
me via a worm/trojan. (If it had, other addresses would have been
affected.) None of my other merchant-specific emails have ever had
this happen, so what makes them special?  If the data is all linked,
and the email address is out there in the wild, it's a foreign key
link to other personal data, and only a table link or two away from
credit card data.  It has either been exploited already, or is an
accident waiting to happen.

Because of this, I'm very careful at their stores, and always decline
their information matching at POS, or pay cash.

Anyhoo....

Thanks for the heads up on NewEgg price match, Aaron.

-Angelo


On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 3:43 PM, Aaron Howard <archanoid at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> They will also price match newegg and a few other web stores.
>
> On Dec 11, 2012 3:41 PM, "Jeff Frontz" <jeff.frontz at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> While I don't have any experience with returning big-ticket electronics, I've returned (what I felt were) defective consumables-- screen protectors for an iPad that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get to be completely lint- and bubble free and that ended up in a frustration-induced wad.  They were pricey enough that I wanted to take them back.  I expected to have to go into histrionics to show just how bad they were and how much product I've bought from them over the years (ever since they were in the single-floor store on Lane Avenue) and why I deserved to have my money back and if they didn't, I'd have the credit card company refuse payment and...
>>
>> The guy at the returns desk basically looked inside the package to make sure there was something inside resembling the product (or to make sure they were truly beyond re-sale?), looked at the receipt, and processed the credit.
>>
>> And now they're getting all sorts of good marketing.
>>
>> I think they came out ahead.