But the real kicker was when she flipped it open to set it up, 'Steve H's account (the previous owner) was prompted to enter the password to login. The computer had been left powered on in the box and was clearly overheating or close to it. When she received the product yesterday, however (After I did pay for 2 day shipping), the nightmare began. I read every fine print on that page to assure that the item would a) be like new physically and b) The computer would be wiped clean and prepared for her to take overseas tomorrow. I bought a computer for my sister's graduation present. No hacking required,' the article said.Ī little Google searching turned up another incident from June of this year that was detailed on a Best Buy customer forum: Not only did they sell me a computer with someone else’s data still on it, they gave me the password as well. The computer even came with a slip of paper on which the previous owner had written down his password. We also asked Best Buy if it's taking any steps to make sure these apparently isolated incidents don't happen again, but the company didn't answer.īesides the Apple TV incident, we published a story last month in which the author purchased a returned computer from Best Buy and was able to log in as the previous owner. If that doesn't happen, it runs counter to our company values and how we expect to handle customer data.' 'Our stores wipe thousands of devices and return them to factory settings each year. 'We have detailed procedures in place to wipe client information from the devices that are returned to our stores,' Best Buy told Ars. We contacted Best Buy's public relations department to find out what Best Buy's policies are for erasing returned devices.

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