Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[JSLWD]

Is your promotion 18 months no interest storewide on $499 and up for the subtotal (before tax) or for the grand total (after tax).

So far two home theater employees have told me the the total has to be $499 or more before tax.

One customer service employee has told me it  has to be $499 or more before tax.

Two other customer service employees at a diffferent store told me it has to be $499 or more after tax.

Lastly when I called 1-888-BEST-BUY a sales associate tells me it has to be $499 or more after tax.

Sooooo what is it?

[Adamtech Emerging Expert · Accepted solution]

The total must be $499.99 before tax.

[d3]

Becareful with the "no interest".   If you read the fine print they are charging you interest from day 1 it is just deferred.  Basically if you make all you payments on time and pay off the purchase within the no interest window you should be fine.  If you pay off the card even a month after the 18th month you may be stuck with a HUGE bill.   Personally I think this should legally be considered fraud or usery depending whether they want to claim that the interest is being charged from day one or they claim that the interest does not start until month 19, but then charge you for all 18months of interest in 1 month.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Correct me if i am wrong, but isn't it clearly stated as "No Interest financing with payments" however? There is an advertisement on my desk right now that says NO INTEREST STOREWIDE ON ALL PURCHASES $XXX AMOUNT & UP IF PAID IN FULL WITHIN 18 MONTHS.  (I put in XXX cuz its an upcoming ad) 

When I worked in the stores, I would use the example that if it was a 18 month financing, I would suggest taking the total and divide by 17 and paying that every month, because if you pay only minimum you might not get it fully paid off in time.  Its like that with most credit cards from my experience. That gave you one month if you had to pay the minimum, and some leeway. 

[d3]

The biggest problem I had with the BB credit offer was that I relied on the employee to explain to me how the interest was accrued.   The card was clearly explained to me as a 0% interest rate card with no interest until after the 18 months by the employee.  I had asked a number of questions regarding  to how the interest was accrued and what I was told did not match the terms of the card.   If I was provided the correct information I would not have applied for the card.  I do take some fault in relying on the person offering the card to correctly explain the terms vs reading all of the terms myself.  It was not until after getting my first bill was I aware of the fact that the interest was not 0% but it was differed.  Having to pay the amount in full is not a financial issue, do did however had a moral issue with how the card was represented to me.

I am also a little concerned about how the terms could be impacting other people.  After getting the first bill I quickly discovered how the rates are applied, but I wonder how many people are caught off guard by the way the interest is getting applied.   I also wonder how a deferred interest card such as this does not legally constitute usury because after the 18th month all interest is applied at once.  To me that is a very fine line to tread on and I am shocked that a reputable company like BB would allow such practices.

[JM]

---

d3 wrote:

Becareful with the "no interest".   If you read the fine print they are charging you interest from day 1 it is just deferred.  Basically if you make all you payments on time and pay off the purchase within the no interest window you should be fine.  If you pay off the card even a month after the 18th month you may be stuck with a HUGE bill.   Personally I think this should legally be considered fraud or usery depending whether they want to claim that the interest is being charged from day one or they claim that the interest does not start until month 19, but then charge you for all 18months of interest in 1 month.

---

That's common with any in-store financing. It's usually always deferred. The only actual 0% deals out there are usually by Visa/MasterCard/American Express/Discover-based cards. In-store cards, whether it be electronics, furniture, carpeting - you name it - it's usually deferred for a certain amount of time.

And it's stated in the ad, as Dorothy stated, that it is in fact interest free if paid within the allotted time. And it would be usury if the bank was charging 50% (IE, an obscenely high and unlawful interest rate) APR, not how an interest-free deal is applied - it would not apply within the situation. Just fyi.