Radio Shack resold the Faulty EVO that I Returned!

[sean76]

Ok, this is a long one people, here it goes.

So I pre-ordered the EVO at both Radio Shack and Best Buy, Just to make sure I got one Friday. Anyway decided to go to the Shack cause they were opening early and the $50 was non refundable there, unlike best buy which was refundable if I decided not to get the EVO. Plus the Shack is about 5 min from my parents house. Anyway, got the EVO at about 7:30am on Friday and that was that. Opened up a new account, and was on my way after about 20 min in the store. I didn't like the cases they had, so I told the rep I was going to shoot to Sprint to get a silicon case. He said tell some people on line to come through here and get the instant rebate, so I said you have extras? And he said, YES we have plenty in addition to our pre-orders.

Got my case at Sprint and was as happy as can be. Set the EVO up when I got to my office, apps, wallpaper, rings, etc... I was on my way to Android Bliss! Plugged that baby in for a while and left her to charge. Later I dug into using this beast, and let me say the phone is awesome, some minor flaws are present, but none to sway a buyer away. Anyway after putting the case on I noticed the sleep button was near impossible to press because it's so sunken in (not cool HTC,). The more I pressed, the more sunken in it felt. I thought this was crappy, because now I couldn't use the case, just to much of a pain to turn on and off, so I ordered the In case from Seidio because it has the cut out on top and I like there stuff. After some test calls and what not, I started using the web and stuff, and the phone just went black, but it was still on, very weird! Did a battery pull, and all was good again. About a half hr later it happened again, this time while I was on a call. No screen life at all, looked weird, kind of smokey. So I did a hard reset, and was starting to become unsettled with my new Toy. After the reset it seemed fine, until it happened again while I was on the web again. So I grabbed the box and headed back to the shack, Black screen and all. Wanted to show them first hand.

I get there, and it was empty by the way, this was at about 2pm. The rep and the manager looked puzzled, he did a battery pull and started messing around with it. I told them it happened 3 times today and that I wanted to return it for a new one. Well Well Well, I was hit with let us do some trouble shooting and we'll go from there? Ok no problem I said, and after about 10 min of them playing around the rep says here you go, it works now. I told him between that and the sunken in sleep button, I wanted to exchange it. Proceeded to talk to his Manager, and he came back and said we sold out already...Hmmm, didn't you tell me you guys had plenty? Said they sold the last one 5 min before I came in. He said maybe call sprint, and they'll send you a replacement. No prob, lets just return it and you can give me a refund I said! He tried to talk me into keeping it, and that's when I realized the mistake I made by going there instead of Sprint or best buy. So I got a refund and they called Sprint to cancel the line, I spoke to them, and Sprint said feel free to re-activate the account within 30 days if you like. Thank You, took my $150 and walked out. So EVO-less I was until I called best buy and briefly told the very nice girl what just happen. She said they were swamped, and the systems were terribly slow, but to come in around 7pm tonight with my gift card and I'll be good to go. I did just that, was there for about an hour or so, they called Sprint to re-activate the line and give them a new ESN Number, and I was out the door in Android Bliss again.

Well the new one works good so far, and I'm having no issues what so ever at this point, hope it stays that way! Anyway I went to Radio Shack tonight to grab a pair of new earphones with the Gift card, picked a nice pair out, and proceeded to pay. As I'm paying the rep goes, SO I SOLD THAT EVO TODAY THAT YOU BROUGHT BACK! I said what? Nastily, He goes yea, it was fine and good to go, and my manager said to go ahead and make a sale. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said you sold it as new? He said yea, since you didn't open the charger and stuff it looked totally new and un-used. (I didn't open it cause I have the charger from my HD2). Anyway, I payed with the card and walked out, didn't even get into that I got a new one at best buy.

All I can say is, if that's the way Radio Shack rolls, its a Scary thought to buy anything from them. Honestly, I'm not a new jack and I now the deal when a phone is not working right. And for them to Lie and sell it as new to a person (just to make sale) all while knowing it was pretty defective, is WRONG! The lesson learned here is that I'll never buy a phone from Radio Shack ever again!

 

[jazzman09]

wow that is criminal

 

[scott314]

I hope you cleared all of your personal information off of it before you handed it over to them. You may want to think about changing some of your passwords that may have been stored in the phone.

 

[Xadeus]

yet another reason why i avoid that place.

 

[cary328is]

Yes that is indeed illegal. Any return is considered a refurbished item and can only be resold after all the defects have been resolved - but in that case the customer has to still be notified that the product has been refurbished. Wow this is shady. Thanks for posting this - I'm very tempted to tweet this information to RadioShack: RadioShack (The_Shack) on Twitter

But I'll leave that up to you OP. I think that corporate deserves to hear about this so no one gets screwed with this kind of poor service

 

[koolhand79]

WOW!!!!! Thats horrible that they would resell the phone after being informed it was no good. Goes to show what they think about their customers

 

[ARR22]

Ok, this is a long one people, here it goes.

So I pre-ordered the EVO at both Radio Shack and Best Buy, Just to make sure I got one Friday. Anyway decided to go to the Shack cause they were opening early and the $50 was non refundable there, unlike best buy which was refundable if I decided not to get the EVO. Plus the Shack is about 5 min from my parents house. Anyway, got the EVO at about 7:30am on Friday and that was that. Opened up a new account, and was on my way after about 20 min in the store. I didn't like the cases they had, so I told the rep I was going to shoot to Sprint to get a silicon case. He said tell some people on line to come through here and get the instant rebate, so I said you have extras? And he said, YES we have plenty in addition to our pre-orders.

Got my case at Sprint and was as happy as can be. Set the EVO up when I got to my office, apps, wallpaper, rings, etc... I was on my way to Android Bliss! Plugged that baby in for a while and left her to charge. Later I dug into using this beast, and let me say the phone is awesome, some minor flaws are present, but none to sway a buyer away. Anyway after putting the case on I noticed the sleep button was near impossible to press because it's so sunken in (not cool HTC,). The more I pressed, the more sunken in it felt. I thought this was crappy, because now I couldn't use the case, just to much of a pain to turn on and off, so I ordered the In case from Seidio because it has the cut out on top and I like there stuff. After some test calls and what not, I started using the web and stuff, and the phone just went black, but it was still on, very weird! Did a battery pull, and all was good again. About a half hr later it happened again, this time while I was on a call. No screen life at all, looked weird, kind of smokey. So I did a hard reset, and was starting to become unsettled with my new Toy. After the reset it seemed fine, until it happened again while I was on the web again. So I grabbed the box and headed back to the shack, Black screen and all. Wanted to show them first hand.

I get there, and it was empty by the way, this was at about 2pm. The rep and the manager looked puzzled, he did a battery pull and started messing around with it. I told them it happened 3 times today and that I wanted to return it for a new one. Well Well Well, I was hit with let us do some trouble shooting and we'll go from there? Ok no problem I said, and after about 10 min of them playing around the rep says here you go, it works now. I told him between that and the sunken in sleep button, I wanted to exchange it. Proceeded to talk to his Manager, and he came back and said we sold out already...Hmmm, didn't you tell me you guys had plenty? Said they sold the last one 5 min before I came in. He said maybe call sprint, and they'll send you a replacement. No prob, lets just return it and you can give me a refund I said! He tried to talk me into keeping it, and that's when I realized the mistake I made by going there instead of Sprint or best buy. So I got a refund and they called Sprint to cancel the line, I spoke to them, and Sprint said feel free to re-activate the account within 30 days if you like. Thank You, took my $150 and walked out. So EVO-less I was until I called best buy and briefly told the very nice girl what just happen. She said they were swamped, and the systems were terribly slow, but to come in around 7pm tonight with my gift card and I'll be good to go. I did just that, was there for about an hour or so, they called Sprint to re-activate the line and give them a new ESN Number, and I was out the door in Android Bliss again.

Well the new one works good so far, and I'm having no issues what so ever at this point, hope it stays that way! Anyway I went to Radio Shack tonight to grab a pair of new earphones with the Gift card, picked a nice pair out, and proceeded to pay. As I'm paying the rep goes, SO I SOLD THAT EVO TODAY THAT YOU BROUGHT BACK! I said what? Nastily, He goes yea, it was fine and good to go, and my manager said to go ahead and make a sale. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said you sold it as new? He said yea, since you didn't open the charger and stuff it looked totally new and un-used. (I didn't open it cause I have the charger from my HD2). Anyway, I payed with the card and walked out, didn't even get into that I got a new one at best buy.

All I can say is, if that's the way Radio Shack rolls, its a Scary thought to buy anything from them. Honestly, I'm not a new jack and I now the deal when a phone is not working right. And for them to Lie and sell it as new to a person (just to make sale) all while knowing it was pretty defective, is WRONG! The lesson learned here is that I'll never buy a phone from Radio Shack ever again!

Trying to assess that Radio Shack rolls that way by one employee and one manager is absolutely bogus. Its like saying that the U.S military is evil just cuz some bad apples ruthlessly killed civilians. I as a former RS employee do not appreciate such slander. I guarantee you BB has their bad apples along with sprint. I have come to learn that I cant trust everything I read on the Internet. If what you say is true I completely concur with the rest of you that its shady practice. I suggest that you contact their district manager to bring it to their attention.

 

[Zardos]

This wouldn't stand where I sell phones. We are required to claims out all returns. I wouldn't even dream of trying to resell a phone.

Guess I won't be going to Radioshack anymore. Though, I haven't gone there in over 2 years anyway.

 

[alan2nice]

I registered just to respond to this. Your story is the exact reason I do not buy phones at brick and mortar stores and order directly from Sprint. Best Buy and Sprint stores will slap the phone back in the box and resell it too.

 

[dandm4life]

Trying to assess that Radio Shack rolls that way by one employee and one manager is absolutely bogus. Its like saying that the U.S military is evil just cuz some bad apples ruthlessly killed civilians. I as a former RS employee do not appreciate such slander. I guarantee you BB has their bad apples along with sprint. I have come to learn that I cant trust everything I read on the Internet. If what you say is true I completely concur with the rest of you that its shady practice. I suggest that you contact their district manager to bring it to their attention.

In the eyes of the consumer, 1 employee represents the entire company. If radioshack has 2 employees that are doing this, then there is a district manager that needs to get his ass in gear and hire someone else. There are far too many people without jobs for a company to let crap like this slide.

 

[modern]

Here's a similar story.
RadioShack Sells Defective Pre As New, Gets Caught - The Consumerist

 

[vkdroid]

Here's a similar story.
RadioShack Sells Defective Pre As New, Gets Caught - The Consumerist

+1

Was just going to post that. Maybe you should submit your story to the Consumerist too.

 

[DROIDdidME]

That's insane and certainly doesn't give people good vibes about RS! I feel bad for the poor guy/gal that bought the "new" Evo

 

[sean76]

I know there are a lot of good people on this Forum, so the Thread is pretty much for people to second guess if they step foot in Radio Shack for a phone, and to just help put the word out there to keep your guard up with these places. I for one would be pissed if I found out I bought a phone that someone else returned because it was defective.

as for the Shack, I'm not saying the whole company is bad. but they didn't help me out at all when I brought the phone back, they just had dollar signs there eyes, and couldnt wait to re sell that EVO to someone else. Either way I'm calling over to the corporate office on Monday, and telling them this story. I agree as to what was said here....a district manager is definitely not doing there job correctly, and I will make sure the proper people know what went on here. I also wonder what Sprints take on this would be?

Now back to enjoying my New EVO.....

 

[ashykat]

Wow good to know. I'm never buying from Radioshack again.

 

[gsujoe]

I used to work for Aaron's Sales and Lease, and this kind of thing happens all the time. For instance, when a customer fails to make consistent payments, accounts have the right to repossess a computer. The sales department would then return it in the system and then price it as good as new. When a new customer comes in, they would try to sell pre-leased before brand new. We could have the same computer brand new in the back, but if we have five of the same pre-leased, that would be sold before the new.

I've seen countless times when pre-leased tvs were sold on lease even though they aren't 100% functional. It's all about trying to get over on the customer, and it's not right. The manager saw dollar signs and convinced the customer the EVO is as good as new.

To the OP: I'm glad you were able to get a better phone at Best Buy. I got mine at Radio Shack, and I've had zero problems so far.

 

[saigon]

Horrible story buut these reps main objective is "anything for the money".

 

[Sketchr]

Well, when there's a choice between RS and BB I'll choose RS every time. And, I live in BB HQ land. The reps at RS are far more knowledgeable with all products. Oh, and RS rarely makes the headlines with bad practices.

 

[CoolBlue87GT]

Ok, this is a long one people, here it goes.

As I'm paying the rep goes, SO I SOLD THAT EVO TODAY THAT YOU BROUGHT BACK! I said what? Nastily, He goes yea, it was fine and good to go, and my manager said to go ahead and make a sale.

All I can say is, if that's the way Radio Shack rolls, its a Scary thought to buy anything from them...... The lesson learned here is that I'll never buy a phone from Radio Shack ever again!

Hi sean76

Let me start by saying, I work for RadioShack as a salesperson, 11 years now. I am very sorry that store choose to handle your problem in that way.

It makes me furious that they did this, now your post is turning away many people from RadioShack because of those {words deleted} idiots.

The store manager and the employee you worked with are morons.

They did not follow the proper procedure for helping you.

1. They should have contacted their District Manager, in turn that DM would have put out a search for any location that might still have a unit in stock to replace yours. The DM can pull from anywhere in the country for a replacement.

2. The defective phone should never have been resold, it's not aloud, the store manager & employee should be reported, and the DM to decide if they should be terminated.

3. The system is designed, once a phone is activated, the ESN is locked and the stores computer system is not aloud to resell that phone. I'm not sure how they went about reselling that phone.

I vote for instant termination. Please report that store to their District Manager.

I ask you to do this for a couple of reasons, the main one is, my job is hard enough to do now, the people that trust us and shop in my store are keeping me employed.

If you look at how many people jumped in with comments against RadioShack in this post, we can't afford to loose the publics trust over those morons.

It does not reflect how the rest of our employees try to do the right thing day in and day out.

All the employees in my district got formal warnings that we'd be fired if our sales numbers did not improve in the next two weeks.

The companies view is, "It's the employees faults that the customers aren't comming in the doors".

My view is, "it's the advertising department fault that customers arent comming in, but lets still blame the employees." {Ill save the rest of this rant for another forum}

Bottom line, Please accept my apology for the morons in that store. I'd love to earn your trust back, were not all as bad as that store. If you email med the store location, I'll report the {word deleted} store.

 

[MrTankJump]

I registered just to respond to this. Your story is the exact reason I do not buy phones at brick and mortar stores and order directly from Sprint. Best Buy and Sprint stores will slap the phone back in the box and resell it too.

When phones are returned at best buy a big sticker is printed at that says "PRC" (Product Return Center?). Unless the box was never opened phones are never resold.

 

[sean76]

Hi sean76

Let me start by saying, I work for RadioShack as a salesperson, 11 years now. I am very sorry that store choose to handle your problem in that way.

It makes me furious that they did this, now your post is turning away many people from RadioShack because of those {words deleted} idiots.

The store manager and the employee you worked with are morons.

They did not follow the proper procedure for helping you.

1. They should have contacted their District Manager, in turn that DM would have put out a search for any location that might still have a unit in stock to replace yours. The DM can pull from anywhere in the country for a replacement.

2. The defective phone should never have been resold, it's not aloud, the store manager & employee should be reported, and the DM to decide if they should be terminated.

3. The system is designed, once a phone is activated, the ESN is locked and the stores computer system is not aloud to resell that phone. I'm not sure how they went about reselling that phone.

I vote for instant termination. Please report that store to their District Manager.

I ask you to do this for a couple of reasons, the main one is, my job is hard enough to do now, the people that trust us and shop in my store are keeping me employed.

If you look at how many people jumped in with comments against RadioShack in this post, we can't afford to loose the publics trust over those morons.

It does not reflect how the rest of our employees try to do the right thing day in and day out.

All the employees in my district got formal warnings that we'd be fired if our sales numbers did not improve in the next two weeks.

The companies view is, "It's the employees faults that the customers aren't comming in the doors".

My view is, "it's the advertising d
epartment fault that customers arent comming in, but let
s still blame the employees." {Ill save the rest of this rant for another forum}

Bottom line, Please accept my apology for the morons in that store. I'd love to earn your trust back, were not all as bad as that store. If you email med the store location, I'll report the {word deleted} store.

Thank you for your input, I agree with you, a couple of morons should not ruin it for everyone or a whole company. I will email you later today, and you can send me the correct channels and info to report these guys. The more I think about it, the more pissed of I get at how all they had to do was pick up the phone and locate another from another store. But to be honest, I think they had more in that store, they just didn't want to look like stupid liers after saying they had no more In stock. All along they were just trying to make me keep the one I had. Either way, bad business practice. But yea, I'm with it to report these guys.

 

[sean76]

When phones are returned at best buy a big sticker is printed at that says "PRC" (Product Return Center?). Unless the box was never opened phones are never resold.

Well mine was open of course. I used it for a few hours before I brought it back. However, these new boxes are not sealed anymore. And I didn't open the charger or cable, because I am using my HTC charger from my HD2. And the bag from the battery and phone were in the box when I returned it. So I guess to the average person they would never know if was used, or defective.

 

[BetterMost]

I'm not surprised one tiny bit. I only got my phone there because it was close to my house. Back in the day we used to call them "Radio Sh!t"

 

[n7vdr]

Radio Shack you got questions we got puzzled looks!!!

 

[royal42crown]

Ok, this is a long one people, here it goes.

So I pre-ordered the EVO at both Radio Shack and Best Buy, Just to make sure I got one Friday. Anyway decided to go to the Shack cause they were opening early and the $50 was non refundable there, unlike best buy which was refundable if I decided not to get the EVO. Plus the Shack is about 5 min from my parents house. Anyway, got the EVO at about 7:30am on Friday and that was that. Opened up a new account, and was on my way after about 20 min in the store. I didn't like the cases they had, so I told the rep I was going to shoot to Sprint to get a silicon case. He said tell some people on line to come through here and get the instant rebate, so I said you have extras? And he said, YES we have plenty in addition to our pre-orders.

Got my case at Sprint and was as happy as can be. Set the EVO up when I got to my office, apps, wallpaper, rings, etc... I was on my way to Android Bliss! Plugged that baby in for a while and left her to charge. Later I dug into using this beast, and let me say the phone is awesome, some minor flaws are present, but none to sway a buyer away. Anyway after putting the case on I noticed the sleep button was near impossible to press because it's so sunken in (not cool HTC,). The more I pressed, the more sunken in it felt. I thought this was crappy, because now I couldn't use the case, just to much of a pain to turn on and off, so I ordered the In case from Seidio because it has the cut out on top and I like there stuff. After some test calls and what not, I started using the web and stuff, and the phone just went black, but it was still on, very weird! Did a battery pull, and all was good again. About a half hr later it happened again, this time while I was on a call. No screen life at all, looked weird, kind of smokey. So I did a hard reset, and was starting to become unsettled with my new Toy. After the reset it seemed fine, until it happened again while I was on the web again. So I grabbed the box and headed back to the shack, Black screen and all. Wanted to show them first hand.

I get there, and it was empty by the way, this was at about 2pm. The rep and the manager looked puzzled, he did a battery pull and started messing around with it. I told them it happened 3 times today and that I wanted to return it for a new one. Well Well Well, I was hit with let us do some trouble shooting and we'll go from there? Ok no problem I said, and after about 10 min of them playing around the rep says here you go, it works now. I told him between that and the sunken in sleep button, I wanted to exchange it. Proceeded to talk to his Manager, and he came back and said we sold out already...Hmmm, didn't you tell me you guys had plenty? Said they sold the last one 5 min before I came in. He said maybe call sprint, and they'll send you a replacement. No prob, lets just return it and you can give me a refund I said! He tried to talk me into keeping it, and that's when I realized the mistake I made by going there instead of Sprint or best buy. So I got a refund and they called Sprint to cancel the line, I spoke to them, and Sprint said feel free to re-activate the account within 30 days if you like. Thank You, took my $150 and walked out. So EVO-less I was until I called best buy and briefly told the very nice girl what just happen. She said they were swamped, and the systems were terribly slow, but to come in around 7pm tonight with my gift card and I'll be good to go. I did just that, was there for about an hour or so, they called Sprint to re-activate the line and give them a new ESN Number, and I was out the door in Android Bliss again.

Well the new one works good so far, and I'm having no issues what so ever at this point, hope it stays that way! Anyway I went to Radio Shack tonight to grab a pair of new earphones with the Gift card, picked a nice pair out, and proceeded to pay. As I'm paying the rep goes, SO I SOLD THAT EVO TODAY THAT YOU BROUGHT BACK! I said what? Nastily, He goes yea, it was fine and good to go, and my manager said to go ahead and make a sale. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said you sold it as new? He said yea, since you didn't open the charger and stuff it looked totally new and un-used. (I didn't open it cause I have the charger from my HD2). Anyway, I payed with the card and walked out, didn't even get into that I got a new one at best buy.

All I can say is, if that's the way Radio Shack rolls, its a Scary thought to buy anything from them. Honestly, I'm not a new jack and I now the deal when a phone is not working right. And for them to Lie and sell it as new to a person (just to make sale) all while knowing it was pretty defective, is WRONG! The lesson learned here is that I'll never buy a phone from Radio Shack ever again!

This is not the way it should have happened. I currently work for RS and when any phone comes back we are suppost to return these to ensure proper removal of any customer info. One thing alot of people dont know is there are two types of RS. There is corperate stores and privately owned stores. We get alot of people traveling coming into our store here in texas very upset about one of these privately own stores were I'm at. Yes the name is the same but its very hard to get past that sometimes to try an help the customers out even when we have to send them back to the store they came from due to private owned stores set there own prices.

I am sorry this happened for all partys involved but I have noticed some employes tend to only want the sales more then making the customer happy.