[colug-432] Microcenter

[Chris Embree]

And your issue is what?  Print that bad boy, go to the store, pick up the
items on the list and return them for cash or in store credit.  Seriously,
I thought colug members were supposed to be smart!  Sheesh.

For those of you who are humor impaired, that was a joke.  As an aside,
when I first started reading your reply, I read circumstance as
circumcision.  I've got to have my eyes checked... and get more sleep.
Yikes!

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 9:05 PM, Joshua Kramer <joskra42.list at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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>>>
>>
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