[colug-432] Microcenter

[FiL Farris]

A quick FYI on the new egg & tiger direct match.  This is ONLY at the
Columbus store.
On Dec 11, 2012 4:28 PM, "Angelo McComis" <angelo at mccomis.com> wrote:

> 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.
>
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