Best Buy Bait and Switch (almost)
Published Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Please see the update at the end of this post.
I’m in the market for a new PC. One of the machines I’m considering is the Dell XPS 420. Dollar for dollar the XPS 630 looks like the better deal but the 420 is still in the running (as is building my own). While looking at what Best Buy has to offer online I noticed for the first time that they sell Dell machines including a couple of XPSs. I had no idea that best sold Dells.
The best buy site is offering a XPS 420 for $899.99 (image here in case it gets changed), only 99 cents more than the base model at dell.com. But wait… that’s not the base model. The one at bestbuy.com is 2.66 GHz quad core, a $200 upgrade to the base model’s 2.40 quad core. It has a 500 GB hard drive, a $50 upgrade to the base model’s 320 GB. It has the ATI RADEON HD 2600 XT upgrade, another $100 addition to the base model. It also is listed as having a media card reader ($20) and a 56K modem ($20). All told I priced the equivalent machine on Dell.com for $1,309 (image here).
Sounds like a great deal and with a best buy only a block away I decided to take my son for a walk and see this monster in person. It looked like a nice machine. I was impressed with it’s size (big like I like my PCs). First thing odd I noticed was that there was no media reader. Ok, then I opened the system properties dialog and noticed the machine was listed at 2.40 GHz… what? I didn’t look at the other items because I frankly had forgotten.
I then asked a blue shirt for the specs on this machine. He returned a minute later with a print out from the website. I told him that the machine is listed as at 2.66 GHz but the display model was only 2.4. GHz. He brushed it off as a misprint. I then pointed out the missing media reader. He then proceeded to look everywhere for the media reader (including inside). In then end we agreed the website was wrong and that buying it in-store or online will result in the same base setup.
Returning home I see now that two people reviewed this machine online mentioned that they got a 2.4 GHz model. No mention of the other features. Surprisingly they all still give good ratings. I would have been pissed off if I had purchased this machine online and received the base model.
Update (5/18/2008): I managed to take a look at the box for this computer today. The label on the box lists all the same specs as the website minus the 2.66 GHz processor. Apparently the only thing missing if this machine if purchased in store or online is the CPU upgrade from 2.40 to 2.66 ($200 value). The display model in the store, however, is the base model missing all the extras.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Sounds familiar. See the national ad for 06-15-08, page 13. It says SONY XBR 52” LCD $2,999.99 , when you look at the sku it is actually not a XBR. They said it was a misprint. The consumer would think they are getting a XBR top of the line Sony when they are not.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I suspected BestBuy of bait & switch for a long time– it seems that the on-sale products are never in stock when you get to the store. But I thought maybe I just wasn’t quick enough on the draw.
But I directly witnessed a genuine (and grossly illegal) act of bait & switch at my local BestBuy store a few months back.
I was hidden from view trying to do a price comparison of items near the digital camera. A customer arrived at the counter with a BestBuy circular in her hand and asked to see a certain camera advertised on sale. The sales girl (who had a trainee with her) directed her to the display model of the camera. The display model was in terrible shape– the lcd screen was broken off, it was dented and dinged and wasn’t plugged in to the power supply. The customer asked if it could be plugged in so she could check it out, but the sales girl told her that it was broken. She went on to say that it wasn’t a reliable product– that many customers returned it. She then directed the customer over to another (much higher priced model) and told her that most customers bought the higher priced one instead and were very satisfied.
Undeterred, the customer said that the advertised camera had been highly recommended by someone she trusted, and she wanted to buy it anyway. The sales girl went down into the glass display case, and after poking around a bit, announced that they had no more of the on-sale camera in stock. She then reiterated that the customer should consider the other, higher-priced model. The customer left.
The trainee stood there quietly during the exchange, but after the customer left, confronted the sales girl. On the store manager’s instructions, before the store opened, the trainee moved 6 boxes of the on-sale camera out of the glass display case and locked them away in an opaque storage bin. The sales girl told her that she wasn’t allowed to sell the on-sale camera– and that it happens all the time.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Caveat Emptor
August 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I was ripped off just today. My daughter was told last May that she’d need a certain graphic calculator for school this fall. Since it was expensive, I’ve been watching the prices all summer waiting for a sale. Today, I saw Best Buy’s website listing it on sale (for $20 off). But it said that it was ‘out of stock’ online and would I would have to go to the store to purchase it.
I went to 2 Best Buy stores nearby listed on the website as having it in stock– neither one did and the sales staff tried to ‘upsell’ me to another model. But I needed the specific model so I left in each case.
Finally, at a third store, I was also told that they were out of stock. But while browsing around, I found a laundry crate filled models of the calculator I wanted left outside a stockroom door. I happily picked one out of the crate and brought it to the register.
At the register, it rang up at retail price. So I argued that it was advertised online on sale. We got a manager involved who took me to a computer terminal and showed me what was allegedly the bestbuy website listing the calculator at the full price. He told me that I must be mistaken. Grudgingly, I bought the calculator because I was out of time.
When I got home this evening, I went to bestbuy.com. And guess what: the website listed it at the sale price! Surfing the web I found that they pulled this same bait and switch trick in connecticut. Tomorrow I’m going back with my receipt and a copy of the web page and demanding my discount. If they don’t give it I’m filing a complaint with my state attorney general’s office.
James S.: this isn’t just caveat emptor, it fraud.
November 28th, 2008 at 11:46 am
^ Sounds like a lot of work for $20.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
AGREE! On 9/27/09 I went to purchase a low end gateway laptop. As many of the previous stories mentioned, there were none in stock. I was showed some other models but decided to wait for the one I went in for. I went back a few days later and got a raincheck. (it stated that I would receive something in the mail when it became available) I checked back several times and today (2/10) I noticed that the display they had was missing. I was informed by the blue shirt that the model was discontinued - “SORRY”.
I requested a substitution and someone else came and said they would give me a substitute. When he came back to override the regular price another person Katlyn who represented herself as the manager told me that the raincheck is good for only 15 days and they could not do ANYTHING for me. She admitted that the circumstances were unfortunate but too bad (basically) She was very polite but lied to me several times during the conversation. I called corporate who is currently working with the store to get me a comparable item. (supposedly – although I have not heard back from the store today as I was told)
I feel like I was misled from the beginning and the girl KKatlyn who initially represented herself as the store manager was not. The 14 day limit on the raincheck was also a lie. They, in my opinion have deceptive sales practices – at least the Best Buy in Clearwater Florida.