Best Buy Web site pricing probed

[onehandle]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Best Buy is under investigation by Connecticut's attorney general after consumers complained they were denied deals found at the electronic retailer's Web site by store employees who pulled up a lookalike site that listed higher prices on some merchandise.

'The key question is whether consumers were advertised one price, and then denied that price when they got to the store,' Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday.

Blumenthal said his office received at least 20 complaints after a columnist for The Hartford Courant reported the experience of one Connecticut man who found a laptop computer advertised for $729.99 on BestBuy.com, then went to a Best Buy store where an employee who seemed to check the same Web site told him the price was actually $879.99.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-15009112.htm

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Cue the J. Geils Band song:

"Caught with The Meat in Your Mouth"

[kickysnana]

2. Sears and the 70 pc kitchen set

I found a deal site in the frugal group awhile ago and have been checking it daily. I was up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago and found a $70 Kitchen set advertised at Sears.com for $13.XX that also had a $20 rebate. I ordered one for store pickup and printed out the listing page and the receipt for a family member that was sleeping. Shortly after nine AM I got a call from Sears saying they had none in stock. They also said would not check other stores for me when I asked. I called two stores found one and was immediately transfered to a manager when I asked about the set. She said they had one but would sell it for $29.99 with no allowance for the on line error because "nobody was allowed to buy at that price". I declined but did not cancel the original order nor did Sears. One week later I received a call saying my set was ready for pickup at the original store. I went to the store and presented the paperwork and waited, and waited and waited. They came out and verified I had been called to pick it up that day and then called me in and told me they had none there but had made arrangements for me to pick one up at another store at the price I had originally seen on line. They also gave me a $10 gift card for my wait as they were advertising you could pick up in 5 minutes at the store or get a $5 gift card. I got the set, it was nice and sent in the rebate. I will see if it is honored.

Later on the day I ordered there was a huge discussion on the deal site on how it was handled. Some people got the set in the mail some people picked it up. Some were told it was not available when it was and others like me were told they could not have it at the on line price. Since it was my first experience with on line order/store pickup at Sears I was not impressed with how it was originally handled. It was not a wide screen TV, an appliance or huge set of tools it was a cleranced kitchen set. After reading this I now wonder if I had not printed out what I had seen that night if I would have gotten the set and if this is now Industry standard merchandising and what the industry term is for "lying to the customer".

[Rowdy Church]

4. Nothing New Under the Sun

After reading this I now wonder if I had not printed out what I had seen that night if I would have gotten the set and if this is now Industry standard merchandising and what the industry term is for "lying to the customer".


It's just the e-Bait-n-Switch.

The new and improved electronic version of an old favorite.

[Eugene]

3. It's the old bait and switch with a new twist.

Best Buy says it should have been "more clear" to its employees
about its pricing policies and that it never meant to mislead.
The dual website trick was dishonest at best.