re:Stocked

So on my way home last night I finally decided to pick up a large external USB Hard Drive. I need something like this as a backup for my ever-growing digital photography collection. Never really having any problems before I decided to stop in at Compusmart at Yonge and Richmond, as I have done so many times before. Needless to say I picked up a dirve, brought it home, and it didn't work (else why this post?). That's when I read the fine print on my receipt: "Opened hardware subject to a 15% restocking fee". So this means I'm shilling out around $30 just for the priviledge of carrying this brick home and back.

See that's about it. I feel really ripped off by this policy. So much so I will never shop there again. The truth is I probably "suspected" Compusmart had a policy like this, most sellers of Computer hardware do. It still pisses me off though. So it looks like now (or more, when I get back from Holland) I'll be heading over or up to a Futureshop or BestBuy; both have unrestricted 14-day return policies. $30 is certainly not the most expensive lesson I've had to learn, but I hate paying anything for shit that doesn't work.

Of course by the time I get back from Holland I'll probably have convinced myself it's just time for a whole new computer, or maybe just a Dell. Once all my expense checks arrive anyway :)

So A) How do you feel about restocking fees? and B) How do you keep all your most important digital data safe?

UPDATE: Okay so it turns out the restocking fee must be "optional" or something, because I didn't get charged for it. I guess it's one of those things like Max Rate on Hotel rooms.

Posted at 12:50 AM to Personal By: John Fairley