I’ve read some bad Best Buy stories in my time here at The Consumerist, but this one really takes the asshole cake. To sell its special HDTV calibration service, this Best Buy in NC set up two identical model HDTVs, both showing ESPN. As seen in the picture tipster Robert took, the “calibrated” one is noticeably better. That’s because it’s showing ESPN HD and the one on the left is showing just regular ESPN. You can also see how a set of box have been placed in front of the non-calibrated tv on the left so you can’t see that’s it not ESPN HD. That, my friends, is quintessential deceptive marketing. Robert’s story of what he saw, and the rivers of bullshit and non-answer that came out of the Best Buy employees’ mouths when he confronted them about it, inside…
Dear Consumerist,
While helping my father look for an HDTV at the newest Best Buy in Charlotte, NC this Sunday, I came across their demo display of their color calibration service. On the left side of the demo, they had a HDTV tuned to ESPN, and on the right, there was the exact same model of TV presumably tuned to the same station, but with a far superior picture. The difference between the two was remarkable; the left one was grainy and blurry while the right one looked sharp and detailed. Thinking that something was not right, I took a further look at the demo and realized that the inferior tv on the left was turned to plain old ESPN, and the superior tv on the right was tuned to ESPN HD. What’s even worse is they had a box for their Black Tie TV Protection Plan strategically placed so that when looking at the display from most angles, it covered up the ESPN logo on the left tv as to disguise the fact that it was not an HD channel.
Having figured out the nature of their scam, I went to talk to one of the employees. I showed him the TVs, and he didn’t have much to say besides that the color calibration service would decrease power consumption on my TV by 30%, which if I am not mistaken, a flat out lie.
Another employee overheard our conversation, and would at first, not admit that one tv had an HD signal and that the other one did not. He insisted that the difference was strictly because of their color calibration. Not wanting to let him get away with his BS, I told him that his claim was impossible, and finally got him to admit not only that I was right, but also that the tv with the standard signal was set to stretch the picture out (presumably to make the picture even worse). He then say that it would probably help to set the TVs to the same channel, but he “didn’t know where the remote was.”
By that point I was tired of the crap flowing out of his mouth, so I proceeded to shop around. Ten minutes later when I was ready to leave, I passed by the demo again only to find that the employee had done nothing, and that it was just as misleading as it was before.
This is just a cheap tactic to get people to buy into their crappy calibration service, which I could probably do myself with a half hour of playing with the settings on my TV. While I noticed the scam, I highly doubt that my 70+ year old father would.
Attached is a picture I quickly snapped with my iPhone. It’s not the best, but you can still see that the right one is set on ESPN HD while the left one is just regular ESPN. I guess this is just another example of Best Buys classy business practices.
-Robert
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Let’s have a quick reality check here.
This is NOT a Best Buy sanctioned display. ONE store (maybe more) has chosen to create a deceptive demo (just like with the composite vs. HDMI comparison earlier this year), and everyone’s skewering the entire company for it.
Yes, it’s indefensible. But it’s hardly a directed effort from the CEO down to defraud the public. Let’s get real, folks.
@InfiniTrent: Good point, and I’d like to add something, not necessarily as argument, but something for all to think about.
Best Buy is of course, heavily driven by numbers. One of the biggest things they push are services, as they have very high margin. I have seen employees and managers demoted and fired due to a lack of service sales.
Could these high numbers be to blame for the deceptive display? I know that ultimately it comes down to the person, or people that actually did it, but if such lofty expectations (and bonuses in the case of managers) hadn’t been put on them, perhaps it would have never happened in the first place, which would then mean that maybe it is BB that is at fault.
For everyone who has an opinion without knowing anything about plasma TVs- calibration is real, but you can’t just have any buffoon do it. The average random person with the AVS dvd cannot replicate what a real professional can do by setting your base white, turning down the temperature on your colors, etc… You can’t even set your colors properly with that blue film because it’s set to work specifically with 5k K colors; yours are probably 9-12k. I’ve recently seen some great TVs with pretty good picture come out of the box, but on something that isn’t a Pioneer/Panasonic/Samsung, good luck.
Anyway, people should really research and understand something before giving an opinion. Otherwise you just make yourself look like a fool when someone knowledgeable comes along.
@WBrink: plus if you don’t spend $150 for HDMI cables, you’re an idiot.
This is easily verified, isn’t it? I mean, I’d say that most of us live close enough to a Best Buy that we could stop by on our way to somewhere else, just to peek at their “calibration demonstration” and see what it looks like.
And if they are doing the same thing, well, report ‘em.
That’s lame and all, but why do you have to point out that you took the snapshot on your iPhone? Does owning an iPhone give you elite class status?
Weird,
On my home system, if I show both ESPN and ESPN HD side by side, in fact any SD and HD station, they are NEVER in sync… The HD or SD show always runs a few seconds behind the other.
That should have easily been seen in the store as well….
It’s obvious that the people who fall for this scam know very little about the technical aspects of TV – but these are exactly the people who would be most likely to benefit from a calibration service – even if “calibration” just means using an HDMI cable instead of a composite cable.
We can only hope that the stock market will “recalibrate” Best Buy’s market cap based on this story.
Look – this is WELL documented. Retailers get incentives for particular models at particular times, and they detune/decalibrate/mess with the colors, of the other sets.
@undefined:
save yourself the money and go to:
http://www.avsforum.com
and search for your model of TV
Is this the same as a new car dealer selling you a car with a flat tire but then saying that if you buy our professional “air supply service” for your tire, your car will drive the way it was meant to be driven?
@Blueskylaw: If you read the comments, you would know that the answer is “no.”
Just the fact that the two screens are not showing the same thing at the same time is an issue. How am I supposed to see the benefits of this “calibration” service if I can’t see the two pictures side-by-side?
this is a result of signage coming earlier than support products. I work at a best buy and it’s not meant to decieve, the stores are waiting for demo model blu-ray players and demo discs that will go there to show the difference between the calibrated sets. If the employees at that store tried to use it to sell then they are sleazy, but it was not intended for that purpose. aAs for the validity of calibration, all the techs are supposed to be ISF trained and if you think that the difference is unreal, take a tv out of the box, go to a completely dark room and watch the white ‘construct’ scene from the matrix without changing the television’s settings. If your eyes don’t hurt, salud!
Grasping at straws. Ever consider someone might have played with the front-panel controls on one of the TVs?
The BB near me has two TVs being fed from one Blu-Ray.
As far as I can tell, the uncalibrated set has the settings cranked all the way up, and the calibrated set has them set to the middle of the sliders. It’s not a real calibration, but it’s as close are they are going to get without making the calibrated set too dim.
A real ISF calibration would get the gamma curve as accurate and close to 6500K as possible. My JVC can get eyeball-searing bright, but also lets you dial in factory-preset calibration. It looks superb in my living room, but I had to trust the reviews on that, because it just looked dull and muddy in Best Buy.
Now, walk back to the Magnolia HT floor, and you’ll notice the lighting is much dimmer. Those sets might actually be calibrated.
Hmm…that is awfully shady, butt my question is..who the heck still shops at Best Buys. The only thing they are good for is their return policy. I like to order products online, finding the cheapest price available, usually far below Best Buy’s prices. If I am too impatient or want to try out an item before hand, I just buy it and return to best buy, within the 30 days.
I wouldn’t need to do this if Best Buy had competitive prices, or just good prices period. But they suck! SO wake UP, People!
they push the calibration because it is pure profit…
Anyone else here reminded of the Dead Parrot sketch from Monty Python?
Isn’t this when you call your local news station?
Robert you are the man,
Next time just reach down and change the channels. I used to have one of those little casio watches that did IR, change the channel and leave it be.
I had mine calibrated at home by BBY, but I know the guys that do it, and it was free for me anyways with the BTP and setup. Weather or not it really helped I dunno, but their settings do look better than factory.
A Best Buy used this tactic.
Not Best Buy as a whole, as a company… one Best Buy location.
That display is usually used to show the difference between SD and HD, hence the ESPN and ESPN HD. For them to use that as a calibration selling tool is wrong, but it’s THAT STORE, not Best Buy as a whole.
love this BS. a good friend was just quoted by BB for over $1300 in “Monster cable” install, not even counting the other $1000 in extra stuff like a Universal remote programing fee for $149.00 ! when we people learn to get a second opinion or shop online.
all said and done we saved my friend / mentor who’s in his 50′s well over $2000. with the help of Newegg and a few other online sources.
My inlaws recently bought two huge LCD tvs from Best Buy, and ponied up $600 for this “service” after the Geek Squad people told them that Geek Squad had the only technicians who were certified to do this in the country. When I told them they were getting scammed, they went back to Best Buy and said they wanted to cancel this service and get the $600 back.
Geek Squad refunded their money and offered to do the calibration for free. I told them if it were me I wouldn’t let Geek Squad goons anywhere near my house, but if they wanted to get them “calibrated” for free, it was up to them. I wasn’t there when the service was performed, but as far as I can tell there was nothing changed in the configuration and no difference in picture at all..
This is shady. But why argue with the rank and file? If you are going to make noise (especially if you are there to purchase), just speak to the manager directly.
This is just one of the MANY reasons I just quit my position on Geek Squad after a year of being told to sell ‘valuable’ services…
Reminds me of when my best buy had the HD vs standard video on one single display where half the screen was supposed to be hd and half was standard, an impossibility as far as I know, and the standard side looked as if someone had rubbed half a tub of Vaseline on the lens.
This is the same thing at Best Buy’s Danbury, CT location too!!!!
At CC before someone tried to tell me there was no such thing as HDTV over the air…um…ever major network and the NAB clearly say there is.
BB seems ok at first but if they go downhill after CC closes who knows what might happen. Maybe regional chains will start to grow again. I hear great stuff about HH Gregg.
Sears might be going under soon as well
I just spoke with an employee there, and this is display is only partly set-up. They are waiting for a Blu-ray demo disc to arrive to connect to both TVs to show the difference. It used to be a SD/HD comparison, and someone just forgot to turn it off until the Blu-ray arrived. So chill the fuck out.
I just got back from Best Buy in Phoenix (20th st and Camelback), and those SOB’s were doing it too!
The uncalibrated TV was showing an over the air channel in standard def, the other calibrated TV was showing ESPN HD.
I told them about this article, they laughed. I asked them if there was anything funny about fraud and ripping people off.
NEVER buy anything at BB other than a DVD or software, you will be lied to, hosed and ripped off.
I am a best buy employee and more than likely this is a display that was previously set up to show the difference between HD and standard definition, my guess is that the new signage about the calibration was just put up, as we had recently changed displays, so this was more than likely just a mistake, can’t guarantee it but I don’t think they are tryig to rip anyone off.
Calibrating your tv will save you on power consumption but usually it comes from turning the back light down on it. That is what uses most the power in LCDs.
I had a Best Buy employee try to sell me some $100 Monster HDMI cable. I proceeded to tell him that since HDMI is digital and only sends a ’1′ or a ’0′ any HDMI cable would be fine. However if it were a component video cable quality would matter more since it was a sine wave but I still wouldn’t buy a monster cable. He didn’t have anything to say after all that.
I can tell since I work for bestbuy, the display the Op was looking at was a direct tv one, they have to leave one tv on hd, the other on sd, to show the difference for directv hd, there should be 4 more tvs in a different section, 2 plasma, 2 lcd, 1 of each calibrated. I can tell you the calibration is great if you want the best picture quality and longer lasting tv sicne it does reduce energy use, no real number for it, but it differs on tvs. If you rather just look at a so so high def picture then so be it, calibrations are for people who really want the best, not looking for deals on tvs and stuff. And most likely wouldent get a LCD.
I brought this up before but I saw Best Buy doing it again. They are showing
3 tvs this time one says 480i, another 720p and the last 1080p. The first 2
are using standard dvd and of course the 1080p uses Blu-Ray. I feel it’s
misleading to show 720p upconverted when you could show 720p on a Blu-Ray or
better yet show the same channel with the different settings.
I call BS. I just did a cursory check on “ISF” and it does not seem legitimate at all. What sort of science foundation sells calibration dvds on the front page of their website? There’s no Wikipedia record; it seems really sketch.
If I remember correctly, The Consumerist doesn’t want us to use any dirty words in our comments, but it is evidently OK for the staff to use them. I guess The Consumerist needs an “R” rating on the Internet so kids that haven’t learned the dirty words used in the above article, won’t get an education while reading it.
I am not a church goer, but I have wondered for many years why the cuss words are flowing more freely. I have heard parents bragging about their baby saying their first cuss word, and how excited they were. Again, why are they used so much now?
Yeah, this is pretty much ridiculous. This store in particular is less than a month old. All new employees for the most part. Its the only store open in a brand new shopping center. Its so hard to believe that they got the signs for a display they dont have yet? Practically everyone here is so quick to judge. I don’t agree with everything BB does. This was not done to lie and deceive the people shopping there, its just a display that isn’t finished yet. I would have hoped that they would have been smart enough to NOT put the sign up till they actually had the stuff needed, guess I’ll have to chew a few people out.
Well as a current Best Buy Employee let me say this… that’s freaking shady! the way we do it in our store is we have two reuglar tv’s doing the SD feed/HD feed conparison both from direcTV (that’s what we use to get the feeds). Just as a note we don’t calibrate any tv’s we put on the floor.
We also have another comparison setup where we have two TV’s connected to a blu ray player via component cables. One is calibrate and one is not. This way we can show the diffrence between a calibrated and noncalibrated tv using a blu-ray (since feeds from DirecTV aren’t that good for comparison purposes).
As for this store they wanna sell their services but confuse the customer at the same time. This sucks
People who read Consumerist still go to Best Buy?
I can assure you that there is no memo stating this is proper procedure to sell calibration services. This was something concocted at this particular location by a less-than-ethical employee or manager.
I know a lot of you really like to hate on Best Buy. But realistically, I doubt they have some mandate to fool people out of their money. Instances of this nature are purely on the individual’s part, so take off your tin foil hats, call that particular person on it.
I am a Best Buy Home Theater employee. Just to let all of you informed consumers know this article is incorrect. This demo was originally set up to show the difference between high def and non-hi def. Hence what you see. The new demo is to show the difference between a calibrated television and a non-calibrated television. A LOT of the stores received the signage before receiving the equipment to show the calibration demo.
It’s because of writers like this one who don’t do enough digging to confirm facts that consumers receive false information. The calibration service is an amazing service. I alone sell at least one a day and have never had a complaint about the service. Everyone please go into your local Best Buy and check it out. If your local store has anything but a demo disc playing on it ask to speak to the Home Theater supervisor or the Customer Experience Manager. It is unfair for customers to not be properly shown this demo.
“I call BS. I just did a cursory check on “ISF” and it does not seem legitimate at all. What sort of science foundation sells calibration dvds on the front page of their website? There’s no Wikipedia record; it seems really sketch.”
Better dig a little deeper. ISF (www.imagingscience.com) is a well-respected organization that trains display calibrators and has been doing so for over 14 years! ISF-certified calibrators have an enormous investment of time and money ($3,000 to $20,000+ for their equipment) in their craft and are the best way that I know of to insure that your video display is giving you all of the performance that you’re paying for. ISF calibration is an intensive process (generally taking 3-4 hours per display) that insures your display is adjusted to the same industry standards used by the broadcasters and movie studios to produce the content you’re viewing. In addition to greatly improving your viewing experience, a properly calibrated display will use up to 50% less energy (than a typical set with factory “torch mode” settings) and last up to twice as long (of particular importance if you’ve got a front or rear projector with a $300-$800 bulb that needs replacement every year or so!).
Just like Monster Cables; exploiting consumers who don’t know any better, and laughing all the way to the bank. I only use Best Buy for comparing things in-person and then getting it from Fry’s, Outpost.com or Amazon.
Doesn’t surprize me in the least. These assholes would do anything for a buck. They’ll screw anyone that wants to bend over.
I am a home theater supervisor at a best buy location and this is the most ridiculous sales tactic I have ever witnessed by one of our stores. I understand why the store would do that though when those LGs that we have on display look like a piece of shit anyways, calibrated or not. Best Buy has some good people working for them. Don’t let assholes that care more about their installation attachment percentages ruin your image of our people. Some of us actually do want to help you out.
Damned Sales Managers are so damned freaking greedy
Exactly how is Best Buy any different ethically from a used-car dealer?
Look, If the employee did not know how to use the display, I cannot defend that. On this demo you speak of, there is a bluray player that is hooked up to both tv sets, playing the same dvd to the tv’s (it is going through an amplified HDMI splitter). If the employee worked in that department, they should have been able to change the input on the tv sets to show you a difference using the same source (not an HD/SD sportcenter picture). Now, before you knock the ISF calibration services, you need to speak to somebody that is familiar with the demo at a store, whether it be Best Buy or anywhere else. You can get excellent information at cnet.com or the imaging science foundations website.
I work for Best Buy and after reading this article yesterday, I went and checked out our set-up in Home Theater this morning when I got into work. We have the same set-up as the one you see in the picture. And to be honest, this set-up does look to be deceiving from a customer’s standpoint. It’s really just signnage in the wrong place. There are calibrated tvs in the Home Theater departments of Best Buys. I must admit, the charge for the calibration service is exorbitant. As far as the salesperson saying the color difference was strictly due to the calibration, its obvious that the HD picture looks better. However, many people don’t realize that HD and calibration are completely different things. HD displays a sharper, clearer picture. A calibration adjusts tv settings to make the colors look more ‘dimensional’ — more like you’d see it in real life, rather than just a vibrant and sharp picture. Most people don’t know what a calibrated tv looks like, so they just assume its a waste of money. They’re used to analog or digital tv. Go in to a Best Buy and ask for a calibration demo. You’ll see a difference. Though for most people, HD picture will do just fine.
First off, as a ISF certified tech for Geeksquad (here comes the bashing ) has anyone even taken in account that just because a store display is doing this, doesn’t mean we are crooks? Honestly, this is quite embarrassing to see, but we are 99% independent from the BB stores. We use Sencore Colorpro tools and a calibration typically takes 90 to 120min to do. For people that think you can fully calibrate a tv using the TVs user controls are wrong. Yes it will look better but odds are you are still no where near D65 on your white balance. D65 being the standard for an ISF calibration. I’m not defending the store, that is a horrible way to try to market us, but unfortunatly a lot of us don’t know what scams the stores pull to sell stuff. And to end it, if you do decide to get a calibration with us, hopefully you will be pleased with it. Pricey? sure. A calibration kit from Sencore will run you 10 to 15 grand, plus to be certified to access the service menus on TVs without voiding your manufacturers warranty will cost you another 5 grand, plus if you screw up your TV you can’t return it to Bestbuy or the manufacturer. Where getting a calibration from us, you don’t like it? Return it and we can set it right back to the manufacturers default settings, simple as that.
Well as a current Best Buy employee you really should notice that there is a sign on the right of the TV that says High Definition and an additional sign to the left of the TV on the left that says Standard Definition. The purpose is to demonstrate the difference between standard and high definition and also the benefits of our calibration service. During our demo we set both TV’s to the same high definition signal so you can see that having the TV calibrated by an ISF Certified Geek Squad Installer truly makes a difference. Maybe you should pay a little more attention next time
I used to work at BBY and that behavior doesnt surprise me one bit. I feel the company is filled with dishonest pricks, who get their rocks off by selling higher margin products and services. and low level employees get in trouble if they don’t i quit twice LOL. one i have extreme hatred for that place, i am so looking forward to day after thanksgiving in that i dont have to do that crap anymore
How come no one ever turns on a personal device to secretly record these discussions with the salesmen? Can’t the OP’s iPhone record audio? This would have been a great addition to the story.