Complain about a product or service

CompUSA - Return Policy

Michael of Austin, TX (03/10/08)
We purchased two HP Pavillion laptop computers with extended warranty service plans. They have closed our stores in Austin and now we are stuck with no place to take them for repair and maintenance which was covered under their exorbitant cost.

I'm stuck paying for something I cannot use and I cannot even contact them.

Justin of Honolulu HI (03/06/08)
Although this isn't as bad as other people, I had bought a 100-pack of supposedly blank DVD-R discs. However, when I returned home, I find out that all the discs have been used, and I cannot delete and re-record items.

So in the end, I end up losing my $15 dollars (mind that I'm a high school student), and have a 100-pack of DVDs that'll probably end up sitting somewhere in my house until I decide to throw it away. Since their return policy changed, what's the use of going back?

Terry of Decatur GA (02/24/08)
Tap extended warranty purchase on a lap top. $199.99. Warranty expires 09/2008. Hard drive failure. HP, manufacturer states Comp USA is responsible for the claim.

The laptop is 18 months old. I have lost over 400 client accounts as well as valuable e-mail address.

Rick of Goodlettsville, TN (01/25/08)
I purchased a printer yesterday. After several failed attempts to get it running, I returned it this morning, only to have them refuse to exhange it. I was not looking for a refund, simply a working printer.

I was left to send my new, non-functioning printer back to the manufacturer, and wait till a replacement arrived.

Gary of Tampa FL (01/21/08)
Wow-look at this: all sales final. I purchased an external hard drive case. I chose the one the salesman said would work with my hard-drive. A week later, went to install the hard drive, and it was the wrong case for it. Grabbed the receipt--all sales final stamped on the back of it. What is going on? Comp Usa just cheated me out of $30. Thanks to all the salesman and techs for stating this new policy. If there was any doubt that it may not have been the correct one for my, application it should have been discussed.

Carlos of Sao Paulo OTHER (12/31/07)
I am a doctor in Brazil, traveling (business) in San Francisco, CA and bought on Dec. 7, 07, a Sony Vaio SZ670 for $2, 273.64) in CompUSA at 750 Market St in San Francisco. I realized the price was OK with my budget and took the computer to my hotel (needed it for a presentation) when I realized the computer didn't work - didn't even turn on. I went back to the store in the very next day early in the morning when I met the manager and got the information that it was a FINAL SALE and he would not accept any kind of return--and I was supposed to send the computer to Sony to see what was going on. I was shocked with the information - lacking of time with my presentation and left the computer in his hands. I left with him my personal card with my name, address, phone number in USA and Brazil and have never gotten any extra information from him. I lost the computer and the money.

I am back home now (So Paulo, BRAZIL) and just need a confirmation from them if it is possible: 1) There is nothing I can do anymore about changing or getting a brand new product (I really don't want a refurbished) 2) I lost the money (has been charged on my AMEX card) 3) I lost the computer. This information have been requested by some friends of mine (they are American), and they can't believe I lost THAT money without any product in my hands. I am also sending this message to Sony in USA and in Brazil - I know it will be very difficult to have them send anything back to me but I am writing in case something can be done about this wrong treatment by CompUSA.

Marc of Greenville, SC (12/27/07)
Bought a laptop TAP plan from Comp USA. Now they have closed the store and won't speak to anyone.

My battery died one year into plan. They will not replace it unless I mail my whole laptop to some service center. My laptop has VERY sensitive data on it. I know what the problem is, the battery is dead. I paid $350 when I purchased to insure I get a replacement, and they won't get me one unless I let someone pokes around in my computer.

This is completely ridiculous.  They just blew the whole warranty business, at least from me. I think computer warranties are a scam.

Zia of Pembroke Pines FL (12/22/07)
My brother who is not a tech savvy person decided to buy me a gift. He went to CompUSA and asked the sales people for a Sony notebook. He had with him a minimum set of specs he was after, written on a piece of paper. He was recommended a VGN-CR120E, so he purchased that together with a Logitech bluetooth notebook mouse since bluetooth was one of the features on his list. He gave it to me 3 days ago as a gift. Once I turned it on we noticed that it did not have bluetooth. I decided to take it back to CompUsa and return or exchange it for a unit with bluetooth. Even though their 15% restocking fee sticker seemed harsh, I would rather forgo the 15% than have a system without bluetooth. I took the system in to the store, and explained to the manager that he was assured that the system had bluetooth, and was in fact sold a bluetooth mouse to go with it.

His reply to me was that the sale is final and that he can not exchange or return the unit. This was somewhat of a shock to me since their 15% restocking fee sticker was clearly visible on the box. After I pointed it out to him, he came up with some excuses about central having changed policy. and that after 12/11/2007 that there are to be no exchanges or returns on ANYTHING. No matter what I tried, he would not budge. Therefore I thought it best to inform others so that they may avoid falling into the same trap. I don't understand why they would stick a great big red sticker mentioning 15% restocking fee all over an item and then refuse to exchange it.

Shelly of Coalinga CA (11/29/07)
I bought an Acer Aspire and paid cash for it along with an extended warrenty. A button fell off the first week we had it, then the prong connecting the power bent. They claimed that due to scratches on the case we had abused it and refused to honor the warrenty.

My daughter, who is 18 and in college, is dyslexic and absolutely has to have a computer. We are out the $900 dollars for the laptop and the cost of the warrenty which was another hundred or so dollars.

Jonathan of Waltham MA (11/24/07)
I bought a laptop at CompUSA (Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua) for my wife who is having surgery. I specifically needed a web cam with the laptop. Since I was concerned with processor speeds, I forgot to ask about the web cam, bought the laptop, left the store, but stopped the car to check.  The box photo showed a laptop with web cam, but I opened it to make sure.  It did not have a web cam; I immediately returned it to the store.  CompUSA would only take it back if I paid a 15% re-stocking fee ($120).  I explained the situation to clerks and the manager who was called.

He would not accept the laptop without charging the re-stocking fee, even under these circumstances.  I asked the others in line to be witnesses, and the manager became angry and eventually called the police.  The policewoman was very understanding, had said they'd had other calls to this CompUSA store, but that they could legally not do anything since CompUSA has this policy that once a box is opened, no matter what--they charge for a return. I was even willing to pay for a more expensive laptop if they would not charge the re-stocking for a laptop never used and only looked at to see that it did not have a web cam as was shown on the box.

Sammy of Norcross GA (11/21/07)
I bought a Compaq laptop from CompUSA with 2 year extended warranty. It worked fine for about 14 months before I started having problems with it. Since the location in my area was closed, I shipped it to their repair facility. They replaced the screen with a used one, and replaced the mouse pad. I never knew you paid for extended warranty to get used parts. Approximately 3 weeks later, the screen just went black. I shipped it back to CompUsa repair facility, but this time, they claimed the laptop had water damage and returned it to me. I assured them that can NOT be true, and they asked me to send it back again. It was sent back again to me not repaired, and they emailed me pics showing a motherboard that seems as if it was dipped in water. Extensive rust can be seen.

I contacted their corporate office in Dallas, and a TAP manager agreed that a laptop with the kind of damage shown is likely to have stopped working instantly and that rust can't build so bad in 3 weeks since it came from their repair facility. Once again, I was told to ship the laptop to CompUsa, this time to Dallas. I called few days later to get an update and was told they need to locate the laptop--if it has been delivered. I told them I checked the tracking number, and it shows it was received. However, eventually, the TAP manager told me the damage the laptop shows matches the damage in the pics (she is a genius). 

It is beyond me why CompUSA would have me ship the laptop 4 times only to give me the same answer. Now CompUsa expects me to continue to make payments on a laptop that should be repaired or replaced and also pay for their worthless extended warranty. My next step is to take them to court and have a judge decide. Please avoid CompUsa and spend your hard-earned dollars at a business that respects its customers. No wonder they have to close many of their locations.

Stephanie of Champlin MN (11/14/07)
I went into compUSA looking for a cord and found what I thought was a great deal on a laptop. Had just purchased a JVC digital camcorder and wanted a powerful system to edit the video. I was told by the sales person (Josh) that this system does an awesome job of that and if it didn't I could return it.

I installed the software and began editing the video I had taken. It was super slow, every time I moved anything around I had to wait 5 seconds. Then when I went to produce it the screen went white with zig zag lines. After the second time of this happening, I decided to return it before my flight back home that day. I brought it in and they told me that there would be a restocking fee of 15% if nothing was wrong with the computer. First of all the sales person said nothing about a retocking fee. When I told him that he said it was clearly stated on my reciept, yes, but don't we all get the receipt AFTER we buy the product?

Glenn of Bordentown NJ (11/09/07)
Two times I ordered items on line and when I got to the store for pickup they told me it showed in inventory but they couldn't locate the product. They had to then ship it to me and it took almost 2 weeks to get. Two days ago I had another bad experience. Again, I ordered online for in store pickup but this time they gave me the wrong product. 

This time when I called them and told them they gave me the wrong product they transferred me around the store for 30 minutes. Finally I got a supervisor on the phone who was rude, annoyed and very nasty to me. She put another employee on the phone who was nasty as well and they told me that it's too bad they made a mistake and I will just have to come and exchange the product. I will NEVER purchase again from Compusa.

Robert of Virginia Beach VA (09/28/07)
I ordered a computer bundle from their web site (computer,monitor and printer) plus extended warranty for the computer Total cost 1806.00. My credit card company declined the charge until they contacted me by phone to verify transaction. In the meantime I recieved an email from CompUSA that my original web order was cancelled and that if I still wanted the merchandise, I should reorder which I did.

After contacted CompUSA and following their instructions my credit card was credited with 1252.00 and when I sent a letter to company I was told by return letter from Kevin that a 15% restocking charge had been applied because box was recieved by them opened.  The box was picked up by FedEx just like they had delieved it unopened.

Jason of Bronx NY (04/02/07)

I went to this store on the 31st of March to buy a hard drive. I picked out what I thought was a 200 GB Seagate hard drive. When I got home and opened the package this was not what was in the box. It was an IBM deskstar 20 GB hard drive not in working condition. I went back to CompUSA and was not helped at all. I talked to the manager and he gave me and non working number to a person he said was an operation manager. I expected them to correct this problem right away but no one seemed to care.

Gary of San Diego CA (02/21/07)

I purchased a Fujitsu laptop computer and a service warranty from CompUSA. Unfortunately I found it necessary to take it back to the store to have the CD/DVD drive repaired. The Tech informed me that he could not help me because CompUSA did not sell Fujitsu computers and therefore I couldn’t have purchased a service contract with CompUSA. After a little heated conversation I managed to convince him to look on his computer and of course my computer was in the system.

I was informed by the Tech and a store manager that some of what I was told by the CompUSA sales person was not in actuality covered by the warranty that I had purchased. This prompted me ask the manager why in the world would I waste my money to purchase something that was worthless?

I was continually given mixed stories as to why it was taking an excessive amount of time to replace a CD/ROM in my laptop computer. The people that I talk with cant seem to get their excuses straight. When I used the CompUSA phone number as to the status of my computer it often rolled over to a recorded message requesting that I leave a message and someone would return my call. No one ever did. Now I am told by CompUSA that the repair turn around time for laptop computers is over thirty days. I was also told that my computer is now in Mexico for repair.

R. B. of Roseville CA (08/31/06)
Their time window for returning goods is 21 days. I returned the goods on the 23rd day. They take no circumstances into consideration for waiving the 21 days.(I was recovering from a surgical procedure). I received a store credit but was told by another employee that that was unusual - that after 21 days they take no returns at all: You're simply stuck with the product  (in this case a computer cable)

CompUSA has $65 of mine and they have no goods or products that I want or need. I tried to redeem the store credit for printer ink cartridges but they don't carry the ones I use and they have nothing else in their store that I wish to purchase.

Eleanor of Portsmouth VA (08/02/06)
This is a letter I have sent to Compusa. My daughter went to one of your stores, store # 471 in Norfolk, Virginia and purchased a power pack. The power pack was not what she needed and she did not have the receipt. She went back to the store and asked for a store credit. No one would give it to her because she had used cash. She was given the number for the store manager and we tried to contact him. We reached his voice mail, but he apparently doesn’t return calls when messages are left on his voice mail. We were given the regional rep and she did return our call, but at time when I was on vacation. She was asked to call back on a certain day when I would return to work and she never called back.

This is all over a $30 part, which has your company name as the manufacturer. This means to me that it is your product, but your store will not give a store credit on your product. When I went on line to see what your return policy is I found this statement, “If you do not have the original receipt, you may exchange unopened product for a CompUSA merchandise card. Items must be in new condition, with the original box, packaging, manuals, accessories, and UPC code. Opened software, games, and videos may only be exchanged for the same title.”

The only person who opened the unit was the person at your store to see if everything was in the box. It was not a blister pack, bubble pack, or software that she was returning. The woman, Liz, my daughter dealt with at the Norfolk store told her she was a supervisor and then later denied it. The Sales Manager gave her the store Manager’s name, Mr. Miller, but calling him doesn’t seem to do us any good. I called your customer care department at 1-800-COMPUSA and was treated extremely rudely by your rep, Tanya. I asked to speak with a Supervisor and she said there were none available, but one would call me back. That never happened either.

I called the regional rep, a toll number for me, and left a voice mail message. She called me after my workday was over and left a message, sighing about seeing if she could do anything for me. She called again and was told I would not return to work until Wednesday, 26th, and to call back. But as yet I have not heard from her. Your company is not showing me regular customer service, let alone extra customer service. My daughter is in the market for a new tower for her PC and it won’t be purchased at your stores. You are losing a customer in her and even more when it comes to my family and friends. And this is all over a store credit for a $30 part. Is this truly worth it to you?

Kent of Garland TX (11/30/03):
Bought an Apple eMac on Nov. 6, 2003 and by Thanksgiving week it was malfunctioning. Called the store and was told I would have to bring it in for repair because they have a 14-day exchange or refund policy. I can understand a 14-day policy if a customer just doesn't like the product but not when CompUSA sells me a product that is defective within three weeks of purchase.

Besides the inconvenience, I will be without a computer while my supposed brand-new one is being repaired. As a result, I won't be able to do my job and could lose approximately $100 a day.

Don of Lexington KY (8/27/03):
What a sorry situation to be in, facing a restocking fee on a $29 item, and having spent about $6k in last seven months. Story Follows:

• CompUSA: Sorry, we must charge you a restocking fee. Don: Nope, I want my money back.
• Manager Called: Sorry, this doesn’t even fit an Apple anyway.
• Don: Look, I have purchased an IMAC, plus Warranty, an EMAC, plus Warranty and spend good amount of money here and you tell me you are going to charge me a restocking fee?
• Manager Asst.: Wait a minute, you can’t talk to her like that!
• Don: I have spent too much time in here over this, make me happy and give my money back. Asst.Mgr. – Listen Partner, I have many customers who spend that much in here and we aren’t going to refund your Money. You can call our General Mgr. Goes for card.
• Don leaves – contacts Apple and CompUSA.

What’s wrong here. Training and Commonsense are missing from this scenario. The Customer is wound up and you send in some gasoline for the fire – call him, “Partner?” That’s really stupid or bad business acumen, however you care to see it. A manager should exercise discretion and call the irate customer out of store area to discuss the situation. Friendly like.

Anybody with half a brain, would want to keep a good client, not alienate them over a charge, that by now is hotly disputed. Ever hear of Manager Discretion, take a hit, swallow the whole dollar or two, rather than lose a customer. By now, this is way beyond CompUSA training or understanding -- lost customers means losing entire business accounts eventually.

This organization is in dire need of a wake-up call. Use of CommonSense is lacking. Why do business with CompUSA? No reason I can think of.

Don is director of a major research organization in Lexington.

Edward of San Francisco (6/26/03):

On May 28, 2003, I purchased the SanDisk ImageMate 6-in-1 Reader/Writer, Model Number SDDR-86, from CompUSA in downtown San Francisco. Store #254 located at 750 Market Street, The Phelan Building, San Francisco, CA 94102. The purchase price was $29.99 plus sales tax for a total of $32.41. The same purchase included a 128MB CompactFlash made by Memorex. Upon returning home, I connected the SanDisk ImageMate 6-in-1 Reader/Writer to my computer with Microsoft ME Operating System. The unit was able to read my SanDisk CompactFlash as well as a SanDisk Secure Digital Card and my PNY 128MB CompactFlash. However, when attempting to read the Memorex 128MB CompactFlash, it failed.

I researched this problem on the SanDisk website and called their corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. I spoke with a Supervisor named Kimberly in their Technical Support Department who advised me that SanDisk Corporation is aware of the problem of the SanDisk 6-in-1 Reader not being able to read/write to certain competitors CompactFlash cards and that she did not have a specific "fix date". I advised Kimberly that I wanted to return the defective product and a full refund. She advised me that SanDisk does not provide refunds and I should contact my place of purchase being CompUSA.

On 6/4/2003, I went to the San Francisco CompUSA store and explained this entire nightmare to the Customer Service Department. The representative said I would have to pay a 15% Open Box Charge. I was utterly astonished that CompUSA wanted to penalize me 15% for an admittedly defective product which would not operate and provide the functionality it was designed to provide. I asked to speak to a manager. When I explained the situation to the CompUSA manager, he became extremely defiant and reiterated the CompUSA Store Policy on charging 15% open box charge. He then told me I could exchange it for the same product.

It seems he doesn't understand English as I had explained that SanDisk admitted that this product line was defective. He then told me I could exchange it for a Dazzle multi card reader. When I brought the Dazzle multi card reader back to the customer service department, they advised me that I would have to pay an additional $10 and change. I then explained that I purchased the SanDisk unit due to the lower price and I had no desire to spend $39 on this alternate product. So I told them I wanted a full refund of the $29.99 plus tax for the defective SanDisk product. They outright refused.

I then asked to speak to the 'store manager' on duty. I had to explain the entire situation for the 4th or 5th time to him. I explained that I have been shopping at the San Francisco CompUSA store for years and have spent thousands of dollars there. This did not matter to the store manager at all. He said he would not give me the Dazzle unit as a replacement for the defective SanDisk unit for the same price and that if I wanted a refund, I would be charged the 15% open box charge.

In this time of corporate greed, misgiving and corruption, I found this astonishing that CompUSA would be willing to lose a longtime, good customer who has purchased and would have continued to purchase products at their store, for a paltry sum of $4.50 (15% of the $29.99). This makes absolutely no logical sense to me. I question CompUSA's consumer service practices, honesty and integrity in the business world and CompUSA has proven to me that they have utterly no conscience or appreciation in regards to honest and loyal customers.

Phyllis of Richmond, CA, writes:
I bought an HP Pavilon 8575c from the CompUSA in Emeryville. Got it home and the monitor was defective. Returned to CompUSA, got another monitor (C70) 17 in. After a few days this monitor sparked up and died. Tried to return computer and was told I had to pay a 15% open box fee.

This would have meant at least $300 out of pocket to return product if I wanted to go to another store for a computer. I am now stuck with a computer I feel is faulty. The keyboard is slowly loosing key functions one-by-one. I cannot afford the costly tech help HP offers. CompUSA will not allow me to return/exchange because time is up. No on-line help from HP.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top | Computers