TechFoward Sues Best Buy Over Buy Back Program

Wow… that didn’t take long. Only a couple of weeks after announcing its Buy Back program, Best Buy is being sued over the plan — and not because it kinda stinks.

TechForward, which our cohorts at Consumer Reports mentioned in its breakdown of the Best Buy program, has filed suit against Best Buy, alleging that the big box retailer stole trade secrets.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

TechForward Inc. alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal court in California earlier this week that Best Buy officials turned to TechForward for help in designing the program but eventually took the California company’s proprietary information “and then cast the company aside while using TechForward’s trade secrets to implement its own buyback program.”

“Best Buy looked to TechForward for a solution,” the lawsuit states. “Unbeknownst to TechForward, however, Best Buy had no intention of paying for TechForward’s help.”

TechForward says Best Buy violated confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements when, only six months into their relationship, the boys in blue walked away, only to show up a short time later touting their own program, “which is virtually identical to TechForward’s Guaranteed Buyback Plan.”

The only difference noted between the two plan in Consumer Reports’ write-up is that the TechForward plan costs less up-front and the customer is not necessarily stuck with a store gift card for their efforts.

Best Buy sued over new buyback [Startribune.com]

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