The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Digital Life

Topics:   Digital Life

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Is Best Buy Playing Web Games?


Posted by Barbara Krasnoff, Mar 5, 2007 03:09 PM

Not long ago, I bought an inexpensive DVD recorder at Best Buy. Being a careful consumer, I first checked the price of the unit I wanted on Best Buy's Web site -- but neglected to print out the page with the price on it. When I got to the store, I found that the unit I wanted cost about $10 more than I remembered. I was in a hurry, the line was long, and the clerk at the register was hassled -- so I let the matter drop. Now I'm sorry I did, because I might have been treated to a view of Best Buy's secret intranet.


According to an article in the Hartford Courant, Best Buy has confirmed that it has an intranet site that looks the same as its public Web site -- except that some of the prices are higher. A customer told writer George Gombossy that when he went to a Best Buy store, and told a clerk that a product was priced for less on its Web site, he was shown the intranet site, which looked the same as the Web site, but had a different price for the product. In other words, the intranet is used to convince customers not to push for the prices they saw on the Web.

Sounds farfetched? Well, apparently not so farfetched that Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal isn't looking into it.

If the story turns out to be true, what disturbs me isn't so much the fact that Best Buy may be trying to rook its customers -- I've always assumed that most major retail chains will occasionally try to pull a fast one, if they can get away with it -- but the blatant wrongness of it. A more accepted approach would have been simply to say (not without a grain of truth) that Web-based sales were only available on the Web because they cost the company less to sell and ship. Or there is that old, tried-and-true strategy of specifying that the sale price is only available on the second Tuesday of the month between the hours of 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for people who buy at least $500 of other merchandise. Either method wouldn't have raised an eyebrow.

But to create a fake Web site and use it to prevent in-store customers from paying prices they found on the company's real site is just tacky. It's like an episode out of the TV show Hustle -- except that the con artists on Hustle have more class.

Perhaps it will turn out that this whole story is a misunderstanding, or the doing of a few Connecticut store managers who, in their eagerness to rise in their profession, played a bit of now-you-see-it-now-you-don't with the company's Web site. Or perhaps this will become a major scandal that will throw Best Buy into the PR doghouse. Either way, the story does serve to remind us that, online and off, consumers have to keep their eyes open -- and not be shy about challenging retailers when something seems to be wrong.

« WebEx Lets You Access Your PC Through Your Mobile Phone | Main | Exposing Second Life's Data Centers »



Sign Up Now
For InformationWeek News Alerts




This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




 
Digital Life Video

 

  1. Sequential Programming: Like Eating Peas with a Straw.
  2. Biomolecular device using self-assembled DNA nanostructures?
  3. Coreinfo v2.0: A Simple Utility to Understand the Manycore Complexity in Windows


Join The InformationWeek Group On LinkedIn


                           


  1. More Reasons Why Linux Misses The Desktop
  2. Too Much Netbook For Too Litl?
  3. Verizon: $350 ETF Is A Go
  4. Motorola Explains Why Droid Doesn't Have Multi-Touch


  1. Florida Hospital Dials Up iPhones For Nurses
  2. Full Nelson: A Web Presence Needs Sizzle, My Nizzle
  3. Is Antivirus Software Dead?
  4. Practical Analysis: The Fastest-Growing Security Threat
  5. InformationWeek Analytics Research: Federated Search
  6. Securing The Cyber Supply Chain

 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  DECEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008
OCTOBER 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
  APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007