Hi all,
So, I recently bought a cell phone at Best Buy on my AMEX (S8). Decided it wasn't the right phone for me and went to return it 14 days later, within their return window. They wouldn't accept my return however, because they said it had a scratch on the back and was now considered a damaged item, and they don't accept damaged items for return. I could barely see any scratch, but they said it was big enough to make the item damaged and it must have been accidentally damaged when it was in my possession.
So my question is- does this case fall under return protection, or purchase protection? On the one hand it is damaged, so it's purchase protection. Even though the phone still works, the way I see it- if the store I bought it at considers this regular damage, enough to deny a return based on it, then it should be considered damaged. On the other hand, they wouldn't take the return which is the criteria for return protection.
If possible, I would rather it be under purchase protection, since the purchase was over $300 but under $1,000 (it was about $500) so it would be fully covered under purchase protection but not return protection. How would I go about filing a claim for such a case? Just tell them it has a scratch and is now damaged? Should I even mention that I tried to return it and Best Buy wouldn't accept it due to this scratch? What is the likely outcome here- will they pay the cost of repair- and if so, do I actually need to do the repair? Any chance they will just reimburse the purchase? This is obviously the desired outcome for me, even if I have to send them back the phone.
Any help would be appreciated- I am new to return and purchase protection, and this seemed like a grey area kind of case. Thanks!