Why I Got Kicked Out of Best Buy, Why I Hate Best Buy, or Why Best Buy is Corrupt

So.

Got kicked out of Best Buy today. Jeremiah says we weren't, but I say that anytime security comes and tells you it is time to leave and walks you out, that's getting kicked out. He's so much more innocent than I am. One of us has to be the nice one.

Let's back up, shall we?

Last weekend I broke out a giftcard that someone in my family had given me. It was for Itunes. After typing in the code (which I had to scratch off the back to find), I was informed that this gift card had been canceled and refunded.

Interesting. Because I had the card and there is no way a store would take a refund on just a receipt. So, no one had used the card. No one had returned the card. But someone got fifteen dollars off my non-expiring gift card.

Contacted Itunes via email and they sent me a response that Best Buy had a problem with these particular cards, that they were aware of the problem, and that I needed to take the card to them to resolve the problem. They would reissue me a card.

Ten-Four.

Into the store we go. Told the story to the customer service girl. No help. Speak to twitchy-McManager. No help. No receipt, no refund. Plus I had scratched it off plus they said that it needed to be a receipt within the last thirty days. On a non-expiring gift card. Interesting. Plus, I don't typically receive receipts with my gifts. So no deal. So then Jeremiah was ticked and asked to speak to the higher manager (I didn't even know this existed.) This woman came out and you could actually SEE the word BITCH on her forehead. She didn't listen to anything we said, she wouldn't look into it at all, nothing. Would not work with us at all.

She was basically all, "No receipt, no help" and she got in my face. Like, right there. Jeremiah told her she needed to back up and she told him no. So she was intimidating me IN HER PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT. At one point an older teenager came up and tried to give me fifteen dollars. He was visibly upset. I told him I had fifteen dollars and this was about principle. And I thanked him for the offer, of course.

My shining moment was pulling up the email (using my phone) from Itunes which stated, "Emily, certain gift cards sold at Best Buy in USA and Canada were canceled. Best Buy/Future Shop is aware of the issue and will be replacing these cards for the customers.I recommend you contact Best Buy to obtain a refund or have the card activated."

I read it nice and loud, and afterwards said, "So you are telling me that you WON'T refund my card that your company has canceled and that you are keeping the money on a non-expiring giftcard that has been unused?"

At which point Jeremiah and I were walked out by security.

That was my Norma Rae moment, people.

Think of all the money Best Buy gets. Jeremiah and I went online and this is happening to LOTS of people. Fifteen dollars here, fifteen dollars there, they keep the money.

Check this out, direct from Best Buys website:

• I have the exact same problem. My daughter sent my son an Itunes gift card for Christmas. After typing in the card number multiple times and it would not redeem, I sent Itunes and email to their support (codes and cards redemption). We received an email back saying that Best Buy had cancelled the card.

• open Complaint to Best Buy and Apple i Tunes: Best Buy cancelled a valid and actviated iTunes gift card with out the sellers knowledge. It was a a Xmas present. iTunes stated the money was returned by Best Buy and BB had cancelled the card. No record of that refund can be found. On the internet many people that used their iTunes cards bought at BB at a later date found when going to the iTunes sight that Best Buy cancelled their gift cards (which have no expiration dates.) WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? Is this a SCAM????? Is Best Buy keeping the money? Does Apple iTunes know of this policy? Best Buy had no right to cancel a gift card just because it was going to be used later. l want people to know of this problem. This all sounds fishy to me and I don't like it.I could not post this concern on the Best Buy facebook sight 
• I just tried to use a $25 iTunes card that my wife gave me for Xmas a few years ago, but the code wasn't working, so I contacted Apple, who indicated that the card was canceled by Best Buy on the same day that the card was purchased!  (No indication of any refund to my wife's credit card either).
• Okay, so I contacted Apple again and they were able to tell me when I bought the card and I found the receipt.  I went back to Best Buy today with the receipt and the email from iTunes.  I knew they were just trying to get rid of me the first time.  This time they said I had to call the Corporate number 1-888-237-8289.  Couldn't they have told that to me on the first attempt?So I called, dialed 1 for English, 4 for the operator and got transferred to Nikki in Consumer Relations.  She hmmm'ed for a while and then transferred me to the Gift Card Department, #1 for English, 2 attempts to enter a gift card number and finally it automatically tried to transfer to a person.  After several minutes of waiting, "I'm sorry, we can't process your call at this time.  Try again later."
• My daughter purchased a Itunes gift card for me awhile ago and I want to use it; however, it states on the Itunes web site that the card has been cancelled! I have never used it.
• I received a $25 iTunes gift card a year or two ago, and when I went to redeem it today, iTunes indicated that it had been canceled.  When I wrote to iTunes customer support they indicated that Best Buy had canceled my giftcard.  This is apparently a frequent occurrence with iTunes gift cards purchased at Best Buy, and can occur as early as the day of purchase.  There is no expiration date on the card, so I don't see how this could possibly be legal. 
• "The Gift Certificate or Prepaid Card code you entered has been cancelled."
  This happened on both cards. The cards were gifts to my son for birthdays and christmas.
  
  There are many more complaints like these.
  
  
  And yet no one in the store was willing to look into it. No one in the store was willing to help me.
  
  Something is wrong here.
  
  
  
  p.s. I heard Jeremiah say swears in public!