Best Buy's Shady Pricing Scam Unravels
Fri Mar 2, 2007 6:49PM EST
See Comments (164)
Reading stuff like this makes me lose what faith I had left in corporate America. You probably won't believe it, but here goes.
Many big box retailers let you use "price matching" when you come into their store, a policy which lets you get the same price that a competitor charges or, in the case of Best Buy, pay the same price in the store that Best Buy charges on its website. Sounds great, but customers were finding themselves puzzled when they checked the price of something they were about to pay for at a Best Buy store. When using the store's in-house computers, the prices on bestbuy.com didn't look quite as low as they remembered at home. In other words: Web prices were somehow higher when you were shopping inside Best Buy.
The answer to this riddle has finally turned out to be something quite noxious: Best Buy has been using a secret intranet site inside its stores. It's a private version of its public website that looks identical to bestbuy.com, with one key distinction: The prices are considerably higher. George Gombossy of the Hartford Courant sussed this out with some old-fashioned in-store sleuthing and reports on it in detail here.
Best Buy has finally admitted that the secret site exists, and it's facing formal investigation by the state of Connecticut. However, Best Buy says it never intended to mislead anyone... perhaps claiming that the prices on the intranet were just mistakes, not intentionally inflated. Hmmm, sounds fishy to me. What do you think?
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47 Posted by pezeveng3319 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:08PM EDT Report Abuse
Best buy is the worst store you can buy electronics from. Their prices are almost always higher then circuit city or other electronics stores. I've had the worst experiences there and will never shop from them again. Circuit city is MUCH better in my opinion.
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48 Posted by ggguy77 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:08PM EDT Report Abuse
Shop at Sam's Club. They may not have as big of a selection, but the return policy is better. Satisfaction Gauranteed or your money back on anything in the store with the exception of computers. Computers may be returned no later that 6 months from the date of purchase. That is better than anywhere. No re-stock or otherwise hidden fees. Just hang on to your receipt.
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49 Posted by floorstreet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:00PM EDT Report Abuse
$100 Millon Dollar fine needed here! Not Negotiable! Fraud! Misreppresentation! Steering! Just another white collar crime with cover up twisted i did not mean it language. Simple facts! Simple answer! You developed your Intranet for this purpose so pay for your crime.
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50 Posted by cookiemandanny on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:29PM EDT Report Abuse
take all of the stores that are doing this and prosecute them to fullest
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51 Posted by dave_penn75647 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:37PM EDT Report Abuse
I don't shop at brick & motor stores any longer if I can help it. Best Buy tried to pressure me into buying a DLP TV for $2100 claiming no one could beat their price! LOL I went home did some research on the net and bought the same TV for $1250 delivered to my home.
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52 Posted by mnadoir on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:24PM EDT Report Abuse
Mistake.......... yeah right........ CAN YOU SPELL " S C A M "..... TALK ABOUT GETTING CAUGHT WIT THEIR PANTS DOWN........... FINE THEM........
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53 Posted by de_atis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:42PM EDT Report Abuse
Everyone needs to understand this. I've worked for Sears in their electronic department. And seeing their prices and Best Buys', Circuit City, and Radio Shack. They all price fix every item that they have. When you go to a small shop that sells the same items. The prices are drastically different. Best Buy isn't the only one who does this.
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54 Posted by gunzo616 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse
Been that route with Best Buy. Best thing to do is print out the item you are interested in from your home computer and take it into the store with you. They will not even go to there website then.
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55 Posted by lukeqotsa on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:00PM EDT Report Abuse
I think Best Buy, Circut City and all thoses store are going to overcharge you for everything. These stores dont want to give you a good deal, they want to make more money. Thats why there one on every block. Its just like Starbucks. Sure the coffee is good, but 5 buck for a cup of joe is absollutly rediculous! Its kind of a trend thing. People want to get a cup of water there just because it says star bucks on the side. Or hang out and listen to some Janis Joplin will surfing the web on thier Macs. Prices would be better in the world if people could make a stand and drink folgers.
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56 Posted by mariovaor on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:07PM EDT Report Abuse
Also, if their's a sale on something(for example, a laptop, TV, etc,etc) at a very low price in their weekly ad, and then you go to the store to buy it(the first day of sale), guess what? they don't have it anymore, so what's the point of having something on sale in their weekly ad if they are out of stock in the store.
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57 Posted by chipermonkey86 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:23PM EDT Report Abuse
I also was a recent best buy employee and had one memorable experience where the price for a computer on the "outside site" was considerably less than the one on the inside site. managers were involved and even contested the customers knowledge of a lower price. As said above, it is no question that best buy knows of the inflated prices on the site but indeed try to cover it up to keep their " good name".
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58 Posted by soheilaangoory on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:31PM EDT Report Abuse
oh my god! Thoses ----- s. Trying to trick the heck out of the customers. i have been a customer of BESTBUY for a long time and i think i am going to check this out for myself! THANKS MAN!
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59 Posted by mitchellmarine85 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:22PM EDT Report Abuse
I am an old Best Buy employee and I am here to tell you that they darn sure knew what was going on because it came up multiple times. And they always pushed the "inside" intranet sales more than anything else.
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60 Posted by registerall2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
Buy from Costco, Price may not be very good, but the return policy is too good to be true.
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61 Posted by dcberberich on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse
I ALWAYS PRINT THE ONLINE AND TAKE IT TO THE STORE WITH ME LIKE COMMORANCY SAID.
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62 Posted by spman78 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:36PM EDT Report Abuse
As a previous employee of Best Buy I know and understand the entire conundrum. Basically Best Buy puts out their primary website that is competitive with every other online retailer. Then at every store Best Buy has their intranet BestBuy.com that is updated by the local store's inventory system that is only competive with local retailers. The setup was put in place to eliminate additional questions for the already overworked and underpaid associates. One advantage to this setup there are in-store only offers and on-line only offers that you can see with browsing the net right in the store and not having to ask some to help you.
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63 Posted by georgeetheridge on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse
it's a mistake???? yeah right this is the geek squad and techies at their best manipulating the consumer. they are worse than used car salesman and attorneys!!!! they call this the bump!!! Best Buy should be ashamed of themselves and it should warrant more than a slap on the wrist.
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64 Posted by jfowl20 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:34PM EDT Report Abuse
Thats messed up
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65 Posted by cismnet@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:25PM EDT Report Abuse
Most businesses are fair. if a small business owner did this, they would be out of business;plus in court for fraud. My question is this, how many more major retailers are doing this?
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46 Posted by rabidlobster on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:25PM EDT Report Abuse
I work for this company. The problem is that most people think that the prices are switched from our intranet compared to the internet site. The intranet site is maintained with our prices so associates can easily access pricing for our customers. The main problem is that just like any other large company (walmart, starbucks, mcdonalds) we also have employees that often do not understand the differences between the Bestbuy Local site (intranet) and the Bestbuy National site when it comes to price matching. I'm sorry to all of those that have had a poor experiance with Best Buy. I cannot defend everything that my company does, but I can say this at least.. I have not seen a single normal customer respond to this posting. Every single person who has responded here has one bad experiance. I've had plenty of other bad experiances, but I at least look at it in an individual location, rather than the whole company. Not all stores want to just steal your money. I have no interest in just taking your money. I am not bonused if you buy the monster cable instead of our brand, and I honestly don't care if you buy virus protection. I offer these things because its something you will need and thats our standard practice. We try to offer the best solution based on what we have to offer in the store. If the prices are too high that is not our fault. We honestly do not skim a lot of money on most of our products. I'll openly tell you that every time you buy a computer on sale we lose 150-300 dollars just to sell it to you. In response to all the complaints that I have seen about the credit card. We do not own the credit company. It is HSBC. They handle all the credit for us and set all financing offers. I'm sorry if their business practices have created problems for you guys as far as your payments go. HSBC will correct most of the problems if you contact them directly. As far as warranties are concerned.. If we don't cover it.. trust me there is usually a good reason. All of the guidelines are spelled out on the pamplet, the employees tell you, and it is all over our website. If you have an issue with the warranty, or feel "screwed" out of your money you can always return it for a prorated amount. I'm honestly just trying to show both sides of what goes on. I don't approve of everything that my company does, but honestly who does these days? We are a business. We're out there to make money. Its in my best interest to keep doing good business and offering my customers the best solution that is available. I just hope that honestly this gives everyone a better idea of what I do at work, along with everyone in my city.. Local Best Buy and Geek Squad Employee.