How to make $20 at OfficeMax

1. You buy a new Cisco linksys wireless router (WRT160N) before Christmas since your old Linksys (WRT54G v5.0) is showing its age. Cost is $100 – $20 (promotional discount).

2. You realize that the new router is dropping the Internet connection so you decide to return it (but you can’t find the receipt).

3. The nice lady at the Customers Service desk tells you that without the receipt they can only give you store credit.

4. After not having found anything else to buy, you decide to get the next model up of the wireless router since it’s the best, according to the helpful employees (WRT310N). Cost is $130 – $20 (discount).

5. The nice lady at the Customer Service desk swipes barcode of the old router and credits you with $100 (since the system doesn’t consider the original $20 discount, which no longer applies). So you only pay the different of $10. You just made $20 but not in cash.

5. You go back to the car and you come across the original receipt.

6. You go back to store to return the new wireless router and get your $110 back, when in fact you’ve only spent $90.

Well, that’s what could have happened but I am wayyyy too honest to actually go through it without saying anything. When I realized the mistake at step 6, after having checked all the receipts, I actually told them. It was funny how both the nice lady and the store manager, who was called to help, didn’t know how to cope with the situation. At the end, they told me not to worry. They were so nice that I decided to give the new router a chance and not get my money back. So I did get out of OfficeMax with a new router.

I updated the firmware on my old WRT54G so it may do just do after all but given all the HDTV and music that moves around my network, I may just keep the new one depending on its behavior.