Best Buy has a lot of ‘splainin’ to do about the company’s in-store look-alike Websites with different prices than what the customers found online. The company will have the opportunity to defend itself in a lawsuit filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
“Best Buy’s Bait-and-Switch-Plus Plan Earns Lawsuit”
We covered this story a while back, so let’s give a quick recap:
Customer finds deal on BestBuy.com, runs to the local store to pick it up and finds that the price is significantly higher. Best Buy rep brings up website and shows customer he was mistaken about the sale price, as the online price clearly matches the in-store price.
After some hounding, Best Buy admits it has an intranet from which its sales reps were pulling the prices, and they were, indeed, different than what was quoted online. They say there was no ill-intent, but there’s trouble now nonetheless.
Blumenthal is calling it “a bait-and-switch-plus scheme” to overcharge Best Buy customers. The lawsuit seeks refunds for consumers, civil penalties, court costs, and a ban on the practice altogether.
I can’t speak about Best Buys in other towns, but it’s clear around Lexington that their company name is only a name. As I shopped for a new HDTV recently, Best Buy was by-far the worst buy in town – the TVs were more than every other retailer in town (the usual crews at Circuit City, HH Gregg, Target, Wal-Mart, Radio Shack – you name it).
It would be interesting to know how many other electronics retailers have their own intranet. During my TV-shopping experience, I printed out a CircuitCity.com page quoting a price on a specific TV, only to find it a different price in the store.
The sales guy said something about prices and specials changing often on the site and brought it up on one of the store’s computers. Sure enough, the price was different. It wasn’t until my fiancée was waiting for the site to load on her BlackBerry that the sales manager spoke up and offered that TV and another one at the discounted rate.
So the next time you’re wrangling a deal somewhere, come equipped with your own wireless device, and be sure to mention the trouble Best Buy’s in now.
