[colug-432] Microcenter

[Joshua Kramer]

I had a circumstance one day where I went to MC and had them e-mail me a
receipt.  Later in the day, I received an e-mail receipt for somebody
else's order...


On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 5:28 PM, FiL Farris <philipfarris at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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