'AITA for demanding a refund at an electronics store after the staff accused me of trying to scam?'

"AITA for demanding a refund at an electronics store after the staff accused me of trying to scam them?"

I went to an electronics store to buy a TV for my new apartment. I picked out a model, paid for it, and was told to wait while they got it from the stockroom.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, the staff came back and told me they couldn’t find the exact model I paid for. They offered to give me a different model, but it was a cheaper one with fewer features. I told them I wasn’t okay with that and asked for a refund instead.

That’s when things took a turn. The manager came out and insinuated that I was trying to pull some kind of scam, claiming I paid for the cheaper TV and was now demanding an upgrade for free. I was shocked because I had my receipt clearly showing the more expensive model I paid for.

I argued with the manager, showing them the receipt again and again, but they refused to acknowledge their mistake. At one point, I got frustrated and raised my voice, which led to a security guard coming over.

I felt humiliated, but I stood my ground and demanded my money back. After a long back-and-forth, they finally refunded me, but not before the manager loudly said something like, "We don’t need customers like you." Now I’m wondering if I went too far by raising my voice, even though I felt cornered. AITA?

The internet did not hold back one bit.

briiiiiiyonce wrote:

NTA. They were legitimately trying to steal your money. They don’t need customers like you? That’s rich. The world doesn’t need crooks as managers. I’d write a nasty review about them. They probably do this to many people.

Edit: I said right inside of write like a lil goofball.

OP responded:

I felt like something was wrong with the manager, as the situation was quite clear to me ,but yeah just ended up with a bad interaction and spoiled my mood.

Natural-Evidence1957 wrote:

NTA. Stores need to take accountability for their inventory issues. You had every right to ask for a refund, and their treatment of you was completely uncalled for.

Msredratforget wrote:

NTA you get a hold of the company and the district manager and let them know what happened there are cameras you have a receipt and you were treated shamefully when you did nothing wrong you made sure they get theirs.

babyvibesonly wrote:

AITA? More like AITV! Sounds like they were trying to pull a fast one on you. At least you didn’t leave the store with a ‘discounted’ paperweight instead of your shiny new TV!

trolleydip wrote:

NTA. They were trying to scam you. Instead of considering that they had a technical error/computer glitch, etc. They jumped to accusing you of scamming them to try and shame you into backing off. They ended up refunding you because they knew they would arouse more suspicions if they had a complaint or a poor review.

draggar wrote:

I would really question this store. Any half-decent inventory / POS system wouldn't let them ring up an item that is out of stock, doubly so for serialized inventory (and every time I bought a TV the serial number was on there). Strike one.

They didn't have it in stock and offered you a cheaper one at the same price. This points to bait-and-switch. Strike two.

The fact that the manager refused to acknowledge your actual receipt shows how incompetent they are. Strike three.

Plus, the "we don't need customers like you" like means they don't want people calling them out on their scams and/or fraud. This store is shady and scammy AF and borderline illegal (bait-and-switch). You are NTA and need to name and shame the store (and location, especially if it is a chain). if it's a chain, you need to take this up to corporate.

LibraryMouse4321 wrote:

Report what happened to the company. It might be a scam they pull when one of them wants to buy an expensive model of something but pay for the cheaper one. They were definitely in the wrong and trying to cheat you.

In addition to reporting it to the company, write a detailed review on their website. My town has some very active Facebook groups, so posting your experience there might be good, too, so you can warn others.

y0urlover wrote:

Honestly, if you're just trying to get what you paid for and they’re accusing you of scamming, you’re not the problem here. It’s their fault for losing the product and acting shady. Honestly, they should’ve apologized for the mix-up instead of trying to make you feel bad. You had every right to raise your voice when they were treating you like that. Plus, the refund? Totally deserved.

Victor-Grimm wrote:

NTA. If this is a chain store call the regional office above the store one to file a formal complaint. My wife and I did this when a manager literally fired an employee that was in the middle of checking us out because she tried to give a recommendation to diffuse a different situation.

Us and the other customer looked at the manager and said we will never shop here again because your customer service is shit for people like you. The store went bankrupt 3 months later because people stopped buying or working there due to high turnover and constant issues with prices being inconsistent. They also had two lawsuits pending for work place harassment claims.

messgonemad wrote:

NTA. I would contact corporate and give them your receipt number. It comes off to me like this manager was trying to pull a scam on you. No place of business can just replace one model for a different one, it still has to be refunded to regulate the inventory or they are cooking some numbers for their in store theft.

Either way contact corporate because I'm sure their loss prevention would love to know the reasoning behind playing the old switcheroo on you. By doing this you will also prevent other people from getting scammed by these jerks.