<p>^^ That is the reason why my DW insist on buying from Costco and I kept on skirting with Ebay and other stores. Buying from Ebay is not for the faint hart. PPL just lie there a lot, I bought a “New” computer on Ebay only to find out it has the wrong operating system(XP instead of Windows 7) and wrong battery cell (3 instead of 6)… Never mind the cost of returning, the 20 some email correspondance took me a lot of time and efforts.</p>
<p>I’d say if the price is not too much difference for the same item, buy from Costco.</p>
<p>Went into Costco Friday morning with the bum computer - we basically handed it over, they did a return then purchase of the new one - which they had reserved for us, clearly marked with our name. Even S commented on how kind and friendly each Costco staff person was to us that morning. In fact, even though it was a return and we couldn’t technically purchase it on our AE card to get the 3rd year of warranty, the Costco head cashier worked her magic and so that she gave us cash for the return then let us put it on our AE. Surprise? When they rang it up, turns out there is a $150 rebate on that model so we actually got money back! Since the computer was a gift, will be mailing our generous friends who gifted it to S a nice check. :)</p>
<p>Part two of the story - S is on fall break - over the weekend we got a call from Costco concierge that a new hard drive was FINALLY sent and it should be at his school when he returns Tuesday this week. That will be over 3 weeks from when we first contacted them. We will just mail it back with a note saying no longer needed. </p>
<p>Crazy stuff. Fingers and toes crossed that this one will last.</p>
<p>Great news! Actually at Costco when you make an “exchange,” they have always returned the first item and then you purchase the second item. My son returned his defected iPod years ago and then purchased a new one that held twice as much for less money. He thought he had won the lottery as he left with cash and a brand new larger iPod! Same thing happened with my BIL with a camera; newer model was cheaper and better.</p>
<p>Yay, abasket! Gotta love those brick-and-mortar Costco store employees! I’ve been going to a particular local Costco for almost two decades, and I still see some of the people that greeted us when we just got our membership! Some of the folks got transfered to a new store closer to my house, so now I say hi to them when I shop there. I’ve never seen a retail store with such strong employee loyalty.</p>