I sense a subpoena on its way...

I worked at CompUSA and this true there too. I never did good in computer sales because I hated, hated selling things people didn't need. Which is why I didn't last in sales.... I feel quiltier than shit selling re[air plans now that the store went belly up....

Wow. Say, Meghann, if I have a startling confession to send you, you're willing to go to jail in order to not disclose my identity. Right?

That confession was administered under the influence of a mighty powerful stimulant. Take a breath next time.

What's sick is that if this ever goes to trial, Best Buy will beg and plead to end the case with that ever-so-famous coda, "...admit no wrong-doing."

I just threw up a little inside reading that.

I don't give a damn about your "numbers". You are an IDENTITY THIEF and you are guilty of FRAUD.

You are nothing better than a scum sucking bottom feeder.

Oh wait, that's not fair.

To the bottom feeders.

If and when this every goes to trial, BB will pull the old "it was not policy" stunt. They'll claim anyone doing this was not instructed to do so, and was acting on their own. They'll be very sorry for it, will pay a small fine and move on with their lives.

That adds extra data to my wife's surprise subscription to Sports Illustrated last year. She had NO idea why the mag was showing up in her name. Si was helpful in processing the cancellation immediately (via EMAIL!) and without charging us. But still...

I wanted to buy a cell phone charger the other day and passed on the Best Buy to pick one up at Target. Sorry, scumbags!

That sounds remarkably similar to the tactics pushed when I worked at Suncoast. We weren't encouraged to lie or sign someone up if they didn't want to be, but we were definitely downplaying the fact that you'd be charged for the EWs that showed up after the free trial period was up, and had to push this onto everyone using a credit card. Our "profit" was tracked closely, with the items per transaction counting for something, the add-ons like batteries and disc cleaners and furniture counting in another column, the loyalty cards and movie reservations in another, and the magazine signups in a fourth. All of these contributed to an overall weekly rating, and the ones with the best ratings at the end of the month got Employee of the Month.

Between the above being shoved down their throats, the higher prices and the depressing decor, I'm sometimes surprised to see there are any Suncoasts left at all.

is bestbuysuxs.com still around? that site had a lot of this crap on there.

@scoobydoo: They'd have a hard time explaining how something that "wasn't policy" magically programmed their checkout system to automatically forward specific information to Microsoft.

I have to admit, I was shocked some time back to go to Best Buy and purchase something, only to have them try to peddle 'free' magazine subscriptions at the register. "Have they really sunk this low?", I asked myself.

Best Buy is falling into the trap that so many publicly owned corporations are falling into right now. In order to please their investors, they're directly or indirectly squeezing the customers. (Example: this very topic, even without diving into the whole fake subscription thing. But certainly an unofficial corporate culture that supports mining the customers for profit is part of the problem.) So they're going for a short term win.

In the long term, even with the above-board action like magazine pushing at registers, they're alienating customers and causing slow, small, and gradual damage to their brand.

This wave of 'pleasing the shareholder' is going to be replaced with a new way of doing business. "Meet the needs of your customers, even please them, but don't harass them, and the profits will follow." Sounds outrageous, doesn't it?

It is until you find a company that you actually _like_ and want to do business with. I have a few of those on my list.

When I worked at Gamestop in Grand Rapids Michigan, we were encouraged to add reservations and subscriptions to the bills of non-English speaking customers.

@mantari: I really hope you're right. I work someplace now (locally-owned) that focuses on helping the customer and answering their questions, rather than pushing them to be more profitable. Employees are ENCOURAGED to stay and chat with a customer, rather than just try to sell them stuff they didn't come in for.

Sadly, we're getting an REI in Asheville, so we'll see how well this company weathers that kind of competition.

Oh, and why is there a notebook running Ubuntu in a Bestbuy store? I've never seen them sell those before :)

This is why I delight SO much in watching for a manager (no point in doing it to some poor employee) in the middle of a sale and trying to upsell some poor customer that doesn't know any better on a bunch of crap they don't need, I freely offer my expertise in the field.

Usually I can get the customer out of best buy without any additional purchases and I'll give them a list of websites (AVG, ad-aware, etc etc) and the contact number of a friend of mine at (local cable company) that will sign them up for the 19.95 cable modem for a year plan with no hassle.

The member of management is never happy with me, but I'm always pleased with myself ;)

"It was really easy when a customer would buy that cheap eMachine that was in the ad for the week. eMachine computers always had the "Included Inside: AOL Dialup Service" stickers on the side of the boxes."

Couldn't this be considered bait-and-switch or incorrect advertising?

@xamarshahx:

http://www.bestbuysux.org

I started buying everything on Amazon so that I don't get hassled for stupid subscription shit at the register.

@BillyShears: Nobody magically programmed anything. In order for any info to be sent to any third party (MSN, AOL, Sports Illustrated, whatever), the customer is first:

* Prompted to swipe their credit card, while being presented with a screen explaining why they are doing so, and
* Asked to sign the electronic pad, which again displays the reason you are signing.

I worked for Best Buy for four years, and that was always the case with these subscriptions. I'm not saying that nothing shady ever went on, but the fact is, it's not policy to do so, and yes, I've seen people fired for doing it.

The fact is, the customer is presented with all the necessary information, and there's almost nothing the employee can do to hide it.

I'm not saying Best Buy is blameless, but seriously, folks need to learn to read what they're signing before they sign it.

BEST BUY SUCKETH.........................

One of the main reasons I quit working at Best Buy was the pressure put on floor associates to push just about everything, so that Best Buy could get a better margin. I refused to sneak a subscription with a computer purchase. I could tell I was on my way to be "let go" for that, however I quit before giving them the chance.

@Indecision: So I guess all the people who specifically stated they never signed up for any such thing are liars?

Sorry. I'm much more inclined to believe real people rather than a corporate "person" who has financial as well as "saving-face" interest in lying.

I can't help but feel, reading through the comments, that people are very disconnected with the economic system that we have here in the States. A show of hands of the people that own stock in large corporations? Good. Now understand that the stockholders are very demanding that they get a good return on those stocks. If a company fails, people lose money and they bitch and moan about the economy, and no doubt, insist that something "needs to be done". Executives are fired, action plans are drawn up and the pressure from upper management starts to build on the people underneath them. All because stockholders needs must be met. The beast needs to be fed, and margins need to grow.

Now, where do you think that money comes from? It comes from you and me. Sure, most companies are legit in their business practices. But most are not willing to let chance decide their fate, especially if there are every increasing demands placed upon them. Retail managers want to keep their jobs. Upper management makes it clear - perform or get canned. The pressure to keep your job is huge - house payments, car payments, debt etc.. all need to get paid. All this pressure is coming from the very top, the stockholders who will jump ship the minute they start to see the price drop. The temptation by people to act in unscrupulous ways to survive is understandable to me. I understand that if I want things to be different then I can't just complain about the latest company to fall prey to this. Its systemic. We can't have it both ways - companies that only sell us bargains, return anything we wish at any time, and never pressure us to buy anything, AND great performing stocks. Its all about making money and you can't do that by giving product away!

I worked for Best Buy for four years, and that was always the case with these subscriptions. I'm not saying that nothing shady ever went on, but the fact is, it's not policy to do so, and yes, I've seen people fired for doing it.

This is a standard defense in most corporate wrong-doing cases. "...it's not policy to do so..."

Of course it's not "policy" in the written-on-an-official-document sense of the word. If there was a memo saying "sign folks up whether they want to or not", cases like this would be easy. But there never is.

Instead, we have several inter-related items:
*Employees and store managers are all told about the importance of keeping a high margin.
*Employees and store managers are judged on the accessories sold with laptops, and encouraged to bundle as much high-margin product with the laptop as they can.
*Employees and managers are told about the high margin subscriptions, which are positioned as the ideal bundled item.
*Company systems are created for an 'opt-out' approach, where all customer information is recorded (and retrievable!), and the default assumption is a purchase unless the customer rejects it.
*Somehow, someone discovers that unactivated Best Buy Gift cards will work as a payment for these 'D-SUBS' in place of the customer, allowing the employee and store to get credit for the margin, but not charging the customer directly.

The claim of 'there's no policy' isn't a good defense if there are plenty of other policies that direct, encourage, and allow bad behavior to occur.

It's a bit like saying "Yes, officer, I proppped the back door open, piled all the cash on a nearby table, called one of my employees back here and told him about our huge insurance policy in case of burglary or theft, then turned my back on the table and the door, and stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed loudly. But I never intended for that money to be stolen! My company has a strong policy against theft! And no, I don't see why you need that employee's address and phone number. All I want to do is report this loss to my insurance company!"

It's akin to the Taco Bell overtime lawsuit a few years back. Taco Bell paid managers bonuses for using less overtime, and it just so happened that the managers recieving the bonuses were also the ones filling out the timesheets showing how much overtime was used. There was no "policy" by the company to short employees out of overtime pay. It simply provided the means for franchise owners to so do, and then rewarded those that did, and did not attempt to investigate or punish wrongdoing. Which, for all practical standards, is the same as having an 'unwritten policy'.

see, the problem is that in corporate america, the punishments for crimes committed do not exceed the profits gained from such a measure. no one goes to jail. the company does not lose its reselling license. the case is settled & everyone pretends it never happened.

start holding executives criminally accountable - that's what sarbanes-oxley was created for. start imposing penalties that are calculated in relationship to money earned from illegal ventures (i like the number 150% of revenue). do this a few times & companies will learn.

I always suspected that they signed me up for their scam credit protection plan when I bought a TV from them a number of years ago. I wonder if someone was trying to make his numbers... Bastards.

@mantari: Anyone else waiting for the day when someone goes postal at a checkout register?

(This script is only slightly modified from my actual interactions at many Best Buys. I -- thankfully -- don't bring guns to Best Buy.)

Cashier: "Thank you for shopping at Best Buy, did you find everything you needed?"
Customer: "Yes"
Cashier: "Will you be paying with your Best Buy Credit Card today?"
Customer: "No"
Cashier: "Do you have a Best Buy Rewards Zone Card?"
Customer: "No"
Cashier: "Well, we're having a special this week, and we're waiving the sign up fee...you get all kinds of bonuses just for shopping at Best Buy."
Customer: "No, thank you."
Cashier: "Ok. With this battery charger, you have the option of a 3 year or 5 year warranty plan. Which would you like?"
Customer: (Growling) "Neither"
Cashier: "You also get 8 free issues of Entertainment Weekly with this purchase. May I have your address?"
Customer: (Getting more agitated) "No, I'm not interested. Would you just ring me up please?"
Cashier: "Sure, may I have your phone number?"
Customer: "No, no NO! I came here to just buy something? This is ridiculous!!!"
[Customer pulls out shotgun and starts mowing down anyone with a blue shirt]

Wasn't Ben in touch with some high falootin' yahoo at Best Buy who said he personally wanted to fix every problem thrown his way? That might have been the day I was smoking all that crack, so forgive me if I have the wrong company. But it would be interesting to get that guy's opinion of these recent Best Buy posts.

@dbeahn:

This makes me want to make a set of CDs with free, useful software (AVG, Spybot, etc) and an info sheet and start handing it out in front of Best Buy to ward off these morons.

Hell, they offered me a two year replacement plan on a $25 alarm clock.

By the time a customer gets to the register, he's already mentally out the door. It was sheer idiocy on the part of whoever came up with the policy that this stuff gets pushed at the register.

Of course, the alternative is to be attacked with it while you're shopping.

Personally, I'd be pretty happy to shop at a place interested in selling me the stuff I wanted to buy, nothing more, nothing less. A smile and eye contact from someone with a name badge would be nifty, too, but I don't consider it a requirement.

yea....postal at best buy....yea....

Another reason I buy techie stuff at Office Depot. Anyone had probs there?

Of course no one is going to want to hear this since I'm an employee and clearly a liar and a thief but neither of the two stores I have worked at in the last two years have tried to do that. I have not even heard of this gift card is an Amex thing.
I am not at all saying it isn't happening, I am just saying it definately is not a company wide thing.
We are definately asked to sign people up for the credit cards, reward zone, the magazines, fios, and comcast but I have never been told or heard of just adding it to the sale without telling the customer.
However, there was a period last year where GS in home network setup with the purchase of a computer and a router ended up working out to making the service free and some people were just adding it without telling the customer. I never did it because in my opinion it was fraud and I will never risk it but I know some people in the store I worked in had done it before corporate came down saying it was wrong.

@Buran: "So I guess all the people who specifically stated they never signed up for any such thing are liars?"

The customers -- yes, even the ones stating they never signed up for such a thing -- were all presented with a screen on the electronic signature pad that plainly explains what they're signing for. There is no way for the cashier to override this.

It's entirely possible they did not knowingly sign up for the deal. They could have been lied to about the purpose of the signature, and then not bothered to read for themselves. But that screen popped up for all of them, on a display that was facing them.

Once again, I'm not saying Best Buy is not without fault. I'm just pointing out that the accusers aren't presenting the whole picture either.

Ah Best Buy, the land of scams and poor selection.

I'm more disturbed that the "extended warranty" game has spread to so many other places.

Case in point: why does Guitar Center try to sell me extended warranties? I mean people have been buying amps for ages and they haven't even changed. Right and that Big Muff pedal is going to go out on me... the one that hasn't changed in 30 years... you can still get originals on ebay that work fine.

As a former employee at Best Buy ('02-03), I can vouch for what's written here.

I always found it amusing that we were supposed to mention that we were "not on commission", because at the time, Circuit City still was. CC later reversed that trend and went non-comm as well, leveling the playing field a bit. In return, we were told to push all these things on our customers, which were MSN and AOL subscriptions back then. We never got any perks for selling these except for the fact that we wouldn't get yelled at or written up. Speaking of which-- I don't know if it is still done the same way, but department supervisors used to walk around with a clipboard on days when it was time to evaluate the effectiveness of a "Product Specialist". The PS is graded on a scale from 1-5, representing whether or not the employee needed to improve in an area. If he needs improvement (which usually means he did not upsell an item, offer two ink cartridges with a new printer, push the AOL sub, etc.), the sup will bring the employee aside after the sale and make him go through a mock item sale. Humiliating.

Back to the subscriptions. We had departmental meetings where the supervisors and seniors would discuss our metrics, which always included attaching subscriptions, and we were encouraged to find whatever method possible to overcome objections and attach it.

One guy in the department did the following:
1. Buyer brings an eMachines POS to the register.
2. Salesman rings up the purchase and scans the AOL or MSN CD.
3. Salesman prematurely asks for user's credit card to be swiped, claiming it is for "age verification".
4. User typically swipes card, unknowingly signing up for service.

An alternative in step 3 is that the salesman swipes the card early for the subscription, then again at the end of the sale, claiming the transaction "did not go through the first time".

I got out of there after 7 months and a few choice employee purchases :). Folks, if you're going to buy accessories, like cables of any kind, go to eBay or an online retailer that doesn't price the item out of the stratosphere.

Employee discount equals roughly the following:
Home audio - 50%
Car audio - 50%
Computers - 10%
TVs - 10%
Accessories - 80%+

We could buy Monster Cable at 60% off the retail price, $40 audio cables for $6, USB cables for $2.50, and the list goes on. I got my $1000 home theater setup for a mere $500. If "Little Boy Blue" in TVs says you need the $200 Monster Cable power surge protector, leave the store. You don't need that much, and if you do, buy it online. You'll get a heck of a lot better deal.

I grew up in car dealerships in the 50's and 60's. the worst of the places I saw (or heard about from my dad) would be so proud of the sales force at Best Buy. The shady, rip-off practices of the car industry seem to have infected all of American business these days.

@jurgis, while I personally would never buy an extended warranty, they work great for cymbals.

@Indecision: So this screen should look like:

DVDR - 10 pcs $5.95
Newsweek - 2 issues FREE $0.00

Total $5.95

plus tax etc etc... sign here?

I'm asking because I've never seen it itemized this way as I think you're saying. But I always refuse D-SUBs. I no longer shop at Best Buy but Ulta, the makeup store, does the "Would you like two free issues of In Style magazine?" thing too.

"I'm not saying Best Buy is blameless, but seriously, folks need to learn to read what they're signing before they sign it."

Well, Indecision, your interpretation would not pass legal muster. Under the FTC Act, such practices are considered "misleading and deceptive."

They're illegal. It doesn't matter, as you point out, that the salesperson may be informing the customer of one thing and the screen may be saying another. It's not the consumer's burden to decode misleading and deceptive sales practices.

They are, by definition, misleading the customer. That's why, unfortunately, it works.

If, say, salespeople are telling people they must sign up for AOL to get their Wii - and that's not true - then it doesn't matter what it says on the screen. It could even say: "I understand I am not required to sign up for this and I agree to do so voluntarily."

Don't matter. The FTC doesn't care about the fine print. The first act of deceiving the customer is the illegal action. The second doesn't "heal" the first.

@Seth_Went_to_the_Bank: "Well, Indecision, your interpretation would not pass legal muster."

It's not intended to "pass legal muster", or to be any legal statement of any sort. People need to learn to read things before they sign them. That's not a legal defense, or even a moral one. It's a statement. People need to learn to read things before they sign them. Period.

@MissedTheExit: "So this screen should look like..."

It's been a while since I worked there, but roughly, there is a signature box at the bottom, two big buttons labeled "OK" and "Cancel", and text to the effect of "By signing below I agree to sign up for a 30 day free trial of AOL. After the first 30 days, my account will be charged at the normal rate." There is nothing else on the screen.

Once again, because people are horrifyingly nitpicky: It's been a while since I worked there, this is only ROUGHLY what it says (or said, at the time), I may be forgetting (or even making up) parts of it, but the point is that the text was clear, and it wasn't buried in the middle of an invoice.

@G-Dog: I never realised that preying on those who don't speak English (or don't speak it well, or can speak fine but just can't read) was so widespread in the commercial world until I became an adult literacy volunteer. Part of our training was about teaching people to understand contracts, and even included accompanying our students when they went to sign leases, rental agreements, etc... Even so, I don't think I would have considered the risk your average retailer (like Gamestop) could pose.

As for add-ons in general--up-selling is almost universal at this point. The bottom line IS the bottom line--it's all about profit. Once can scarcely go up to the cashier at any shop without being surrounded by impulse items and asked if you would like to add x, y or z to your purchase today. At the very least, they're angling for your phone number, your email, etc... so they can advertise to you via those methods when you're not even in the store. Capitalism means that there is competition for market share--it promotes innovation to stay one step ahead of the competition, but it can also mean aggressive marketing and up-selling techniques aimed at consumers.

I cannot tell you the amount of calls we had EVERY DAY from customers asking why they were being charged for Entertainment Weekly. We'd tell them that they "forgot to cancel the free subscription" and to call the company (we had the number posted by the phone). What I really wanted to tell them was "We 'forgot' to tell you that it truly isn't free and they you have to cancel it."

By the way, if you ever see employees wearing jeans or pajamas (basically anything that isn't a BB blue and khakis) in the store, know that they had to pay to be able to wear jeans/pajamas for the day.

Also, if you are suckered into buying that protection plan and realized that you really don't want it, you can return it.

Best Buy sure does get a lot of negative chatter around here. If there's so much hatred, why are they are such a huge company, and why do people still go there? Maybe it's because some people love the prices, but wait...that doesn't make sense. Every electronics store has a price matching policy; they have to price match competition in order to stay in business. I think people still shop Best Buy because, whether you agree or not, it seems like most customers do get a good shopping experience. ah... I know I'll get laughed at, but i'm going to post this anyway.

What's that saying?

oh yeah...Don't hate your haters.. They're your biggest fans.

I want to stab someone right now.

Huge, huge, HUGE kudos to this Best Buy-employee for blowing on the whistle on this fraud. It's fraud, plain and simple. It's probably been happening Best Buy wide, and to thousands -- maybe millions -- of consumers.

What does that Geek Squad CEO guy have to say about this?

Can he deny that these kinds of games have gone on at Best Buy, and that that thousands of employees have been pressured or induced to behave dishonestly, and thousands of customers have been deceived? And don't pull an AOL-style lie that "it was just that one rogue employee that Vinny happened to call."

Best Buy is culturally corrupt. And corporate culture is the responsibility of the people at the top.

Best Buy's suppliers (e.g., eMachines/Gateway) should be enraged as well. Their using Best Buy for retailing affects their own reputation. Does Gateway want Best Buy to play games with the price of eMachine computers?

I hope other Best Buy employees, former and/or present, will come forward.

I seriously think this is digusting. Best Buy should be fined out of business. What's 150% of revenue generated by fraud? The fine should be set at 15,000% and if the company can't pay it, they should garnish the executives' stock options.

And people should refuse to be bothered by salespeople. I actually ask salespeople where things are and then when they show me all sorts of stuff, I say I'll think about it and never look back. Oh yeah, and I would actually WALK OUT without buying if they hassled me with upselling. Like, leave the item at the register and say "Since you're harassing me for giving me your business I'm not going to buy these things anymore." and get in the car and drive away. And when I get home, I WILL yell at the manager.

My mom does that all the time....once she got hassled by a floor employee at a Ralph Lauren outlet store, she yelled at the manager that afternoon, and I bet that employee isn't working at Ralph Lauren anymore.