You can't install the apps you want on your smartphone. You can't play the movies you bought on your PC. You can't even walk into a store without getting upsold, enrolled, restocked, and recalled. Welcome to the world of tech in 2010, where your phone doesn't work--and companies tell you that "you're holding it wrong."
Just because you venture into the tech marketplace with a credit card in your hand doesn't mean you deserve to get screwed. Check out these 12 ways that the tech industry is pulling a fast one on you--and learn how to fight back.
Ridiculous Restocking Fees
Bought a laptop and realized it wasn't for you? No problem, you can return it within 30 days--that'll be $150, please.
Restocking fees are an easy way for vendors to make a tidy profit from a consumer's buying misstep. The rationale for such fees may be to discourage cheapskates who have no intention of keeping a device from buying it, using it for a short time--say, for the length of a vacation--and then returning it; but the practical result is that you can get slapped with a fee ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent of the purchase price just for the privilege of returning a gadget you're not happy with.