The ad here was printed Monday,
February 23, 2015 from the www.BestBuy.com website, and the phone number
written on it is for their store in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, the local store
where the customer wanted to make the purchase. When a customer called to see
if there were actually any in stock, the customer was told there would be some
in Wednesday or Thursday (February 25 or 26, 2015), and that the advertised
sale price would be honored.
 When the
customer arrived at the store the afternoon of Thursday, February 26, 2015, the
item was in fact in stock, and the computer sales associate retrieved one from
the locker above the display along the wall. Unfortunately, the sales associate
refused to honor the advertised price. The customer explained that he was told
the price would be honored when the computers arrived, but the sales associate
still refused to honor the advertised price, or for that matter even the
rain-check offered.
The customer asked for the
manager, and a man with 'Dave' and 'Manager' on his badge arrived. The customer
was told the sale price was a "Monday only sale" and the store will not honor
the price. When the customer pressed on the issue, called it "bait and switch"
and refused to buy the same computer at the regular retail price which was one
hundred dollars more, the manager escorted the customer to the front of the
store and out the door. All the while the customer was asking the customer was
pressing the bait and switch question.
According to
consumer protection laws, if an item is advertised, the price in the ad must be
honored. When a rain-check for the item is offered the rain-check must be
honored. When the customer called the store on the Monday, the person on the
phone clearly stated four were arriving Wednesday or Thursday, and sure enough
the computers were available for sale, but not for the advertised price.
This is a clear case of bait and switch, which
dictionary.law.com defines as "bait and switch. n. a dishonest sales practice
in which a business advertises a bargain price for an item in order to draw
customers into the store and then tells the prospective buyer that the
advertised item is of poor quality or no longer available and attempts to
switch the customer to a more expensive product." In this case, a customer was
lured into the store for an advertised item, was promised the advertised item
was in fact going to be available at the sale price, but was then denied the
advertised sale price. Boycott Watch sees this as a clear violation of federal
consumer protection laws.
The customer drive for
thirty minutes each way to the store, the called the corporate help number,
1-800-Best-Buy, and spent forty minutes getting run around. When transferred to
a supervisor, the photo of the ad was emailed to the supervisor per her
request, but so far nothing has happened.
The fact
is, the customer spent more than two hours attempting to have Best Buy fulfil
their ad, but after one week Best Buy has only remained silent. Boycott Watch
will be filing a complaint to the Ohio Attorney General and the Federal Trade
Commission. Updates will be posted as available. |
| |
|
|
|
| Advertisement: |
 |
| |
|
|
