Scumbag Alert: Hello, Best Buy
Thanks to DQ reader Justin for letting me know about this.Best Buy is under investigation in Connecticut for some elaborate scumbaggery: an intranet site that looks identical to www.bestbuy.com, except the prices don't always match. Oh, and big surprise: when they don't match, the prices on the intranet are amost always higher. Sales people look up prices on this intranet when customers mention a price they saw on the Best Buy website.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
Under pressure from state investigators, Best Buy is now confirming my reporting that its stores have a secret intranet site that has been used to block some consumers from getting cheaper prices advertised on BestBuy.com.
Company spokesman Justin Barber, who in early February denied the existence of the internal website that could be accessed only by employees, says his company is "cooperating fully" with the state attorney general's investigation.
...even when one informs a salesperson of the Internet price, customers have been shown the intranet site, which looks identical to the Internet site, but does not always show the lowest price.
[Connecticute State Attorney General] Blumenthal said that because of the fuzzy responses from Best Buy, he has yet to figure out the real motivation behind the intranet site and whether sales people are encouraged to use it to cheat customers.
All I can figure is that lying must be really, really successful most of the time. Otherwise, why would so many people tell so many stupid lies? How hard was it going to be to find a Best Buy employee to confirm the existence of the intranet?
Um, not very.
So Best Buy looks like they are some hot water, and you can read about it here. That column, by George Gombossy, also references an earlier column, and you can find that first column here.
In the meantime, if you go to a Best Buy and they tell you that a price you saw on their website is incorrect or no longer available, and they "show" you the Best Buy website to "prove" it, be prepared.
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