Terry Heaton And The Empty Box

Terry Heaton was sold an empty box by CompUSA for $269.  When he let them know about the issue, the first letter he received read as follows:

"Dear Mr. Heaton:

Thank you for contacting compUSA regarding your purchase at our
Lewisville store; we regret any difficulty you encountered or
misinformation you may have been given.

The Lewisville CompUSA was one of 126 stores that was liquidated and
closed on 5/7/07. The return policy for all merchandise, as printed on
your receipt and posted throughout the store, clearly stated ALL SALES
FINAL.

Keep in mind, new digital cameras are usually sold in a factory
sealed box; if the camera you purchased was a clearance item, you
should have inspected its content prior to purchase.

Although we apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused, we cannot honor your request for return or exchange.

Thank you,

Kevin Hain
Escalations Supervisor
CompUSA Executive Care"

"The web is changing the nature of authority. Businesses have black and
white rules, but the public isn’t black and white. This mentality is
fostered by a top-down, modernist culture that needs absolute adherence
to rules in order to function. But nobody consulted the people on this." – Terry Heaton

Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with Terry, who blogged it. His post was then picked up by the usual channels (Digg, etc.) and eventually must have been read by someone with a modicum of authority at CompUSA who finally recanted.  (Heaton now has a $300 gift certificate.)