In 2011, Best Buy joined the exclusive club of Super Bowl advertisers to promote a buy-back program (which we spoiled weeks in advance) that has all but vanished. Last year, it hired a roster of tech biggies to bolster its image as a knowledgeable electronics retailer — and was greeted by chirping crickets. [More]
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Best Buy Posts 50% Off Coupon On Internet, Forgets How Internet Works
By 1.22.13 — Updated: 7.15.15
It’s happened over and over again, and retailers never learn their lesson. A big-box store e-mails a coupon to their customers, then freaks out and backpedals when customers actually show up at the cash register and try to use it, withdrawing the coupon and accusing customers of trying to scam the store. This time, the retailer was Best Buy, which offered a coupon for $50 off a purchase of $100 or more as long as the customer used a Mastercard. The coupon excluded most of the items you’d expect it to exclude: prepaid cell phones, iPods, certain brands of TVs and cameras. One very key thing that it didn’t exclude: gift cards. [More]
Why Some Best Buy Stores Need Two Forms Of ID To Give You $5 For A Junk Cell Phone
By 1.17.13
You may remember the adventures of S., who wanted to turn a drawer full of junky cell phones into Best Buy gift cards, but ran up against a baffling store policy that requires two forms of photo ID to do so. He complained, then flounced to another store that didn’t have this inexplicable policy. Turns out that this policy is pretty explicable: it involves local laws regulating pawn transactions. [More]
Best Buy Gave Me A Free iPhone. What Should I Do?
By 1.15.13
After he had already picked up his iPhone 5, Edmund got received an e-mail from Best Buy reminding him to come get the phone that he had ordered. He didn’t think much of it until he received another e-mail telling him that his preorder was canceled…and then he got a refund of the purchase price of the phone that he allegedly didn’t pick up. He’s not about to take the phone back, but he wonders: is he obligated to even let Best Buy know? [More]
Best Buy Needs 2 Forms Of Photo ID To Give You Five Bucks For A Broken Cell Phone
By 1.14.13
Quick: in your wallet right now, do you have two photo IDs? I do, but only if you count a BJ’s card. If you don’t, don’t visit Best Buy to trade in your junky old cell phones. In the subject line of his e-mail to us, reader S. declared his weekend to be the “Worst Best Buy Experience Ever.” We wouldn’t go that far, maybe because our bar is set a little low for what the “worst” experience at any given retailer should be. It was pretty irritating, though.
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Best Buy’s Holiday Sales Flatten Out, Which Is Not All That Horrible
By 1.11.13
Following a year in which the nation’s largest electronics retailer saw both its CEO resign under the cloud of scandal, its founder step down in order to attempt to buy the company back, and three quarters of declining sales, news of merely flat holiday sales is good news for Best Buy. [More]
Hurry Up And Get These Best Buy Year-End Deals If You Want To Buy Stuff At The Full Retail Price!
By 1.4.13
If you’re tired of looking for bargains and want to spend the full retail price on electronics, we have found a great sale for you! [More]
Competitors Accuse Walmart Of Providing Inaccurate Price Comparisons In Ads
By 1.4.13
For several months, Walmart has been running a series of ads touting its Low Price Guarantee and calling out specific competitors for their higher prices. But those retailers are now fighting back with complaints in several states. [More]
Best Buy Screws Up, Now I Can’t Get A T-Mobile Account
By 1.2.13
More than a year ago, Consumerist reader Freddy took advantage of a Best Buy/T-Mobile promotion and switched to the carrier’s family plan. But his family immediately disliked the phones that came with the deal, so Freddy canceled the switch within 30 days and everything seemed okay. [More]
Best Buy Makes Sure Gift Card Arrives Safely, Sends It Packed In Air Cushions
By 1.2.13
Kevin took advantage of a totally amazing Best Buy deal where he could buy a $100 iTunes gift card for only $80. The card came in the regular old mail instead of being virtual, though, and Kevin assumed that it would arrive in some sort of envelope. What with it being a small, flat object and all. But no! Instead, Best Buy sent it along in a cardboard box filled with air pillows. [More]
Mutiple Best Buy Pricing Errors Are A Reminder To Always Keep An Eye On The Checkout Scanner
By 12.26.12
Given the number of items sold at big box stores and large retailers — and how frequently prices are changed during this time of year — the occasional pricing error is inevitable. But one Consumerist reader had a trio of bad barcodes at Best Buy. [More]
Couple Arrested Following Physical Confrontation With Best Buy Receipt-Checker
By 12.21.12
No one really likes to have their receipt checked when they leave a store — and some people will outright refuse to show the receipt if their local laws say they don’t have to. But there’s really no need for receipt-checking incidents to get physical. [More]
Another Top Best Buy Exec Flees The Ship
By 12.20.12
Less than a year after joining the company, Stephen Gillett, the head of Best Buy’s digital team — which includes BestBuy.com — has left the electronics retailer for a gig at Symantec. [More]
Best Buy Charges Me Twice, Now I’m Stuck In Refund Limbo
By 12.19.12
After being misled and provided incorrect information about her purchase, Nicole says Best Buy then managed to charge her debit card twice. Now she’s stuck waiting for a refund and there’s not much anyone can do about it. [More]
Best Buy Charges Me For Laptop That’s Not In Stock, Doesn’t Really Care
By 12.17.12
Consumerist reader Scott says he should have listened to those people who have told him not to shop at Best Buy. I he had heeded their words, maybe he’d have his new laptop instead of having to deal with a store full of employees who apparently don’t care about fixing his problem. [More]
Best Buy Founder Gets A Little More Time To Figure Out How To Buy Company Back
By 12.14.12
Just yesterday it seemed Best Buy founder Howard Schulze would have a stressful weekend, as he was supposed to come with an offer, any offer, to buy his company back by Sunday. But it seems he’s been issued a bit of a reprieve, as the electronics retailer said today that it will give Schulze until Feb. 28 to make his bid for the company. We can feel the relieved exhalation from here. [More]
At Best Buy You Can Pay $3 More For Someone Else To Open A Product For You
By 12.14.12
Consumerist reader R. came upon quite a non-deal at his local Best Buy and simply had to snap a photo using our mobile tipster app. Because otherwise how could we believe that Best Buy would display a higher price for an opened item than for a brand new one? Well, actually, we’d believe it anyway but proof is always fun. [More]
Best Buy Customer Returns Extra iPads Sent By Accident, Feels Like A Sucker
By 12.14.12
We were surprised, last week, to hear about a Best Buy customer who ordered one iPad, then received a box of five. It was even more surprising when we heard from another customer who had the same problem. We keep hearing from more people who have received iPacks instead of iPads. One of them was Eric, who took them back to the local Best Buy and received a $50 iTunes gift card for his trouble. He was surprised to learn from a fellow commuter about our series of posts. Especially the part where Best Buy offered to let the other customers keep the four bonus iPads. Now he feels like a sucker. [More]
