Another Lie From Best Buy

Not only is Best Buy keeping sale products from customers. Now, they are separating you from the products that you've already purchased. The Post Standard carried the story of Raelyn Campbell, who is suing the retail chain over a lost laptop. When she took it in for repair, Best Buy lost the laptop. They then proceeded to not inform her that the laptop could be lost due to theft or that her personal information was vulnerable for months after it was lost. Best Buy also tried to buy her off with $2500 and a non-disclosure agreement.

I used to think that if I ever bought a laptop, I would get the extended warranty because it's a fairly good protection value. Now, I think I'll take my chances with fixing any prolem myself and keeping the computer in my hands.

Campbell's blog

The Lying Liars at Best Buy

Now, I am aware of the "limited time offer" concept and was not shocked that Best Buy carried the accessories for but not the actual product with the free accessories offer. But what is the point exactly? Is bait-and-switch the backbone of Best Buy's business?

I wouldn't be surprised. Clark Howard recently mentioned a Business Week article that explains Best Buy is sitting on about $500 million worth of gift cards. Even if you assume that a lot of this gift credit from Christmas will be spend soon, the chain is probably earning over a million dollars a month by holding on to these ersatz profits.

However, the truth lies in Best Buy's own employee procedures. People seeking the deals constantly published in the newspaper are considered theives and devils for costing the store money. Ultimately, they want those people to be brushed off and discouraged from coming back. They do a good job, since Best Buy is frequently empty. The customers they like are early technology adopters or buy appliances and devices regardless of cost.

So my questions is, why buy anything there if it's not really the "best" buy?