Best Buys deal was too good to be true.

[tholly]

I'm sure everyone has heard about the bestbuy.com put Splinter Cell in you cart and get it and all Platinum Hits games for $5. Well, tonight I got my e-mail from them that said that it was a mistake and that they were cancelling all orders and offering everyone 10% off of their next purchase.

I got e-mails that 2 of my games were shipped out. I have tracking and everything for them. My credit card was also charged $5.30 a piece for them. I have 4 more that they said I won't get. So I have a few questions.

Is there any way that best buy can get the games that were already shipped returned to them through the mail before I ever see them, or am I guaranteed the 2 that were shipped?

Should I call the 1888bestbuy phone number and ask for a supervisor and complain?

Should I contact the Better Business Burerau office that would deal with the best buy corporate offices and see if they can get me my other 4 games for the cheap price?

[maxlords]

They can do whatever they want. If you read their terms of service agreement, I'd bet it says that any mistakes are subject to correction and if you don't return em they can charge you full price on your credit card. That's how most of em get out of it!

[tholly]

Well, if they try to charge my credit card full price for them I will just call up my company and have them hold the charges. I mean, I have my receipt printed out as proof that they were only priced at $5.30.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Have you ever run a business before? Have any of you complaining about this ever run a business before, even a small one?

They have the right to protect themselves from an honest mistake. Hence the clause about reserving the right to end or alter their special pricing without advance notice.

Stuff like this and the "failed to swindle EB Games" thread make me wonder if anyone's got any kind of honor system in place anymore. If not for others, than just for living with oneself. I don't mind when people come here with news of upcoming sales, etc., but no one should really expect to get very far trying to exploit a loophole that's blatantly, obviously, a mistake.

Damn, but I'm getting old.

[crashdummycow01]

i think they should sell the games to yall for the price that was displayed.. but then again if its in their TOS then they dont have to do shit for ya lol.. but in my opinion it kinda seems like false advertisement..

all i know is.. if i had a gaming store.. and some douche that i hired to run a website for me accidentally put my $20 stuff for sale for $5.. i sure as hell wouldnt send the stuff to the people.

not sure how they would get the already shipped packages back after its in the mailing system.. but this is probably how they'll get it back.. ..your at your house.. playing ur new games.. thinking man i got one over on Best Buy.. then all of a sudden 5 swat guys dive in through your window, do a barrel roll.. 1 snatches the games, another snatches the game out of the xbox.. the others watch their back.. and in the meantime one of the others takes out a can of spray paint and sprays "All your games are belong to us [bestbuy]" on your wall.. they run and jump out the window and you never see the games again..

... or atleast thats how i picture it happening

also i'd like to lastly say.. i hope that maybe one of you gets atleast ONE of your games lol.. yall shoulda ordered them in like.. a bunch of diff accounts so they'd like kill theirselves trying to track all the shipped ones down.. then i'd take em alot more swat guys

[tholly]

But what about the old saying "The customer is always right." When I worked (no job now until the summer because of school) if a price was wrong but a customer caught it at that price then they got the item at that price. None of this "We will sell it at this price and then take it back from them later shit." When the store I worked at made a mistake we took that price down, but anyone that saw it at the low price got it at that. That is just common sense. When a price tag says something then that is what the item costs. What Best Buy did is like an actual brick store catching a mistake and then going around looking in everyones cart for the mistaken item and then taking it out of their cart.

[crashdummycow01]

also... this kinda reminds me of the time walmart had a portable ps2 screen for sale on their website.. and it stated that it comes with the sony ps2 console, a ps2 controller, and the lcd screen.. and it cost the price of just the lcd screen.. then i got all excited.. then realized that i wouldnt end up getting it even if i did order it lol..

[tholly]

not sure how they would get the already shipped packages back after its in the mailing system.. but this is probably how they'll get it back.. ..your at your house.. playing ur new games.. thinking man i got one over on Best Buy.. then all of a sudden 5 swat guys dive in through your window, do a barrel roll.. 1 snatches the games, another snatches the game out of the xbox.. the others watch their back.. and in the meantime one of the others takes out a can of spray paint and sprays "All your games are belong to us [bestbuy]" on your wall.. they run and jump out the window and you never see the games again..

If that happens I'll take some pictures of the whole thing for ya. Hahah.

[crashdummycow01]

yea tholly.. buuut... i'm more than likely that the people who own best buy probably dont manage their own website.. they usually hire people to manage the website.. that would be like them hiring me to go around the store and stick the price stickers on all the games.. and then me sticking a $5 stick on the game.. as soon as somebody tries to buy it, they will realize that something isnt right and they'll fix the problem, they're not just gonna let people buy it because of my mistake.. i would probably get fired or get in big trouble.. and nobody would get their games..

also i'm sure the correct prices are in their computers.. like if i pick up a game at the store... and some little kid has taken a price tag that says $1 on it and puts it on a game.. and i pick it up and run to the counter with it.. and it scans it and the computer tells the cashier that its $19.. she's not gonna say.. well the price tag says $1 so i'm gonna give it to u for $1..

i think yall should just move on.. yall did it with a HOPE that BB wouldnt realize wat was happening.. and most of yall knew that if they did realize, that you wouldnt get your game.. a few people even posted that this happened to them before.. so yall apparently knew that it more than likely wouldnt work out.. yall gave it a try, it didnt work.. move on

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

What Best Buy did is like an actual brick store catching a mistake and then going around looking in everyones cart for the mistaken item and then taking it out of their cart.

No, I believe in this day and age they'd make an announcement on the PA system. "The customer is always right" is a good way to operate, but you also have to protect yourself from preventable losses. I'd rather let folks down and offer them something for their trouble - i.e. the aforementioned 10% discount. There's a line you have to draw there.

The ones who are really pissed here are just stamping their feet because they didn't get to exploit the loophole.

Sorry about that.

[bargora]

Dudes, if your store sold items at mistakenly low marked prices, then it was as a matter of customer relations, not because they were legally obligated to do it. They just didn't want to have to put up with a stink being thrown by whiny asses, especially inside the store in front of other customers.

Since you are alone in front of your computer, Best Buy doesn't care quite as much, methinks.

As my contracts professor used to say, an offer that is too good to be true can not be accepted. $50 Corvettes, $5 new PS2 games en masse, your mama for $0.50. All of these, with the possible exception of the last, are just too good to be true.

Go ahead and sue if you think it will do any good.

[tholly]

also i'm sure the correct prices are in their computers.. like if i pick up a game at the store... and some little kid has taken a price tag that says $1 on it and puts it on a game.. and i pick it up and run to the counter with it.. and it scans it and the computer tells the cashier that its $19.. she's not gonna say.. well the price tag says $1 so i'm gonna give it to u for $1..

Now, I knew it probably wouldn't work and I am a little mad that it didn't but I'm not running around pissed off screaming how I hate Best Buy. I will continue to shop there and will probably use my 10% off to buy something else so it's not that big of a deal.

But, where I used to work if the store had an incorrect sign up but the price scanned in what it should be we would still give it to the person for the lower price even though the computer would show what the correct price was. And I mean, the owners of the store are probably the top 1% of the wealthiest people where I live so they are not losing money on this. The same people that this would happen to would be happy and would continue to come back to the store day after day and always buy more stuff.

[tholly]

Go ahead and sue if you think it will do any good.

Naw, I won't do that. It's not that big of a deal. I guess my view on this from my experience with the store that I used to work at is just different that most peoples views. I mean where I used to work they had a big sign up front that said " Store Rules: 1. The customer is always right. 2. If the customer is wrong, re-read rule 1."

[Half Japanese]

They should abolish the "customer is always right" in favor of something more modern. It's just not realistic anymore for businesses. I have to say that a majority of those people that exploit these and other CheapAssGamer loopholes are just assholes out to make a buck. Not saying you are, but in about 80% of the cases I bet I'd consider the consumer an asshole. I know everyone likes to think that they can always get what they want and they're always right, but working in retail yourself (as I assume, from your descriptions of your summer job) you must realize how many dumb bastards walk through your store every day wanting everything for nothing. If the customers were always right, the businesses would all be bankrupt.

[Flack]

I'm on the fence on this one.

I used to work at Best Buy. If we put up an incorrectly priced sign in front of an item, we were OBLIGATED to sell it at that price. This has happened to me as a shopper before as well. When I bought my DVD+-R/RW drive, there was a sign in front of it that said $349. Actual price was $449. I took it up front, and when they rang it up as $449 I said no, it was $349. I went to the back with someone from computers, they saw the sign, pulled it off the shelf, grumbled, and sold me the drive at $349. I know that when I worked there there were always sales prices that people forgot to pick up, and the first time someone took that item up front and the problem was discovered you were supposed to pull the price tag immediately, but they did get it at the sale price.

Now I do know for a fact that Best Buy's (and all the other) circular says "not responsible for mistakes". That's one thing, and if you were in the store, they would either sell it to you if they didn't catch the error, or refuse to sell it to you if they wanted. But once you walk out the store, the deal is over in my eyes. You named a price, I paid it, we exchanged goods, and I walked away. In my eyes, it's too late to ask for more money at that point. That's what's interesting about this deal. When you buy something online, at what point is the deal "finished". I fully agree that they have the right to stop selling them at that price, but do they have the right to demand more money from people who have already completed a transaction? That seems a bit more gray area to me. If you were in the store and paid cash they wouldn't come to your house next week and hit you up for the extra money.

[Flack]

One other humerous anecdote.

Years ago my good friend got a job as a manager at McDonald's. He had to go to that manager college and all that. During his training, he was told "the customer is always right." The example they used in class was, say a customer orders a Big Mac. Then the customer comes up to the front counter, carrying his tray with a Big Mac on it. He then complains that he never got his Big Mac, although you can plainly see it sitting there on his tray. What should you do?

The correct answer was, apologize to the customer for not receiving his Big Mac, get a new Big Mac from the bin, and place it directly on top of the other Big Mac which the customer said he did not receive.

Big Mac's aren't software, but ... I always liked that story.

[tholly]

I have to say that a majority of those people that exploit these and other CheapAssGamer loopholes are just assholes out to make a buck. Not saying you are, but in about 80% of the cases I bet I'd consider the consumer an asshole.

Yea, I was not going to sell any of these games. I only ordered 6 and they were all different games that I did not own. I was only buying them for the purpose of you cant pass up buying games for $5 a piece that you have never owned or played.

Now, I know a lot of people were buying tens of copies of each game in hopes of selling them and I totally agree that that is an asshole thing to do and people like that should never be allowed to buy or sell another video game again.

[punkoffgirl]

But, where I used to work if the store had an incorrect sign up but the price scanned in what it should be we would still give it to the person for the lower price even though the computer would show what the correct price was.

Re-read this part here.
The PRICE on these games wasn't marked wrong on the webpage. There was some glitch that CHANGED the price of the games when you added them to your cart. Best Buy did not advertise the price of these games as $5, remember? They were "scanning in wrong," so to speak. They don't owe anyone anything, because they didn't promise anyone anything (like promise in the form of a sign up with the wrong price).

[Charlesaway]

Any games that were already shipped should be honored at the glitched price. Any that were on back-order, or were caught before they were shipped, should be cancelled, and the consumer should be notified of the error and given a 10% discount on a future purchase.

I, for example picked up 7 copies of Descent PSX at christmas at a Zellers department store for $1 each. The items would price check at $1, even though the sticker price was 14.96 and they were advertised at 50% off the sticker price. What had happened is that the games had been transferred from a defunct division of Zellers (Best Value), where they had been cleared for $1 a few years before. It's like the actual price was hidden. When the items were scanned, they came up as PROMO with no price, so the guy started manually typing in the $7.49, but I said they scanned at $1 each, and he did a price check, and they were a buck each. I'm certain it was fixed shortly thereafter.

[davidbrit2]

Okay, I remember a similar discussion a while back that addressed a related issue: mispriced items in a video game shop. The legalities were explained thusly...

The advertised price is an invitation for you, the consumer, to offer to buy the item at the marked price. The store may then accept this offer and complete the transaction. The legally binding contract is not created until receipt of the transaction.

So if that's the case, for the web site catalog issue, you are being quoted a price. You offer to pay this price, and they accept, whether through automated means or otherwise. Upon receipt of payment, and out-processing the item, the legally binding sales contract will be created. They have the right to refuse up until the sale is finalized, but after that, they have entered into a legally binding mutual agreement.

If Best Buy were to attempt further compensatory billing to your credit card, it would suggest that they are violating the terms of the sales contract, or worse, implying that a sales contract is not legally binding, nor final. If they tried to do this, it would almost be worth taking them to court just to make sure you can get a proper precedent set on the books, never mind the money at hand.

Ow. I think I pulled my brain muscle.