Argos new policy - Break the seal on games!

Johntea

Went to pick up my Nintendogs DS console plus Mario Kart Game and essentials kit.

Took a while to go through the till at the right price.

Brought the items out and said "We need to check the items to check everything is present!". So the member of staff ripped off the Nintendo DS Nintendogs outer cover, removed all the bits inside the box and showed me they were all present. I knew they would be all present anyway!

Next they take the DS essentials kit to pieces and goes through everything, again surprise surprise everything present!

Then what really annoyed me was that then the member of staff tore apart the Mario Kart DS sealing to show me the game was inside. It removes some of the 'brand new' aspect, and this is quite important if giving as a gift to someone!

Is this a new policy or can I demand them to leave the sealing on? I was going to buy a few PS2 games but if they're going to try and remove the sealing on every one I would rather shop elsewhere!

:mad:

hesjane

Don't know the answer, but this will make it difficult (impossible ??) to return if the item should turn out to be a duplicated gift - which is one of the reasons I prefer shopping at Argos. Aah well....maybe not for much longer.

Hesjane

keithscott1

Mmmm...

I can appreciate your frustration Johntea.

I can only think that perhaps that particular store may have had a few 'chancers' in who have bought sealed stock that was complete, taken out parts that they wanted, then brought the now-incomplete box back alleging that "parts were missing".

I'm between the devil and the deep blue sea here - as I said, I can appreciate your frustration but I can also understand the stores stance; I once worked in retail and you wouldn't believe how many 'chancers' lied through their teeth returning so-called incomplete goods that were complete when they were purchased. It was always fun asking 'probing' questions to make them sweat whilst they were expecting their money back.

I would suggest in future if anyone encounters a similar situation at Argos, insist that none of the boxes are open or seals broken. If they insist, press them for the reason why and if you're not happy - demand your money back and go elsewhere.

spandit

I know they do this for mobile phones to make sure the IMEI matches the one on the box. Maybe they've extended this to handheld games consoles, or probably the member of staff thought they had to do it when they shouldn't have.

executiverocker

usually if i give out a game and its sealed, i dont open it, i think the assistant was wrong to open it, cos its excluded, so if u brought it back it would have to be sealed!

in future maybe make the assistant write that the game itself was opened and get them to initial it

Johntea

Yea they didn't use the "Inspected by" labels, which is totally wrong.

I know they do it for mobile phones, but I assume that is to do with the IMEI (People could stick their broken mobile in the box and take it back). But the console dosen't have a serial number (Well something which could link the box and the console).

Will insist on them leaving the seal on the games as I can tell if they are present just by giving the box a shake!

PhantomPower

That seems absurd. If you took the game back to Argos as a duplicate purchase no doubt they would say "well the seal's been broken so it can't be a duplicate purcahse or whatever". It's a no win situation (I think they exclude software from their normal returns policy anyway). I agree with Johntea that it's not on to open sealed items. I personally don't buy from any store where they don't supply sealed copies, especially seeing the way some staff handle CD's DVD's or game discs so that they're scratched before you even get it out of the shop!

sparkymark_3

Johntea wrote:

Yea they didn't use the "Inspected by" labels, which is totally wrong.

I know they do it for mobile phones, but I assume that is to do with the IMEI (People could stick their broken mobile in the box and take it back). But the console dosen't have a serial number (Well something which could link the box and the console).

Will insist on them leaving the seal on the games as I can tell if they are present just by giving the box a shake!

The phone opening procedure is not 100% as I purchased one last week and they did not open it and store very quiet !

Dalkirst

Well i've bought a couple of phones from them and both times they were opened up to show it was all there but i also bought 2 pink DS Nintendog paks before christmas and neither of them were opened.

Dealmad

Maybe if Argos sold items 100% new instead of passing returns on to other customers stating its new then there would be no need for Argos to do this.

Maybe some people who return uncompleted items are actually uncompleted and if Argos are going to try and palm of returns to customers they should expect people to return them.

I actually stopped using Argos now because of the problem of keep getting sold used goods which they state as new.

Argos should focus on this problem and not targeting genuine customers who do not want there new goods ripped open ,you have a right to refuse and take your custom else where.

GibsonSt19

This really is pretty bad.

Had you paid for the item when they opened it, or was it pre-payment? I would have refused to pay for it, as it could almost be classed as 2nd hand goods. If you had paid for it by that point, it could almost be deemed as damage to your property.

I mean, what if you were buying the item to keep as a collectors item?! Ripped/opened packaging would certainly lower it's value in the future!

Disgusting.