Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[imppilot]

Ok so I know a lot of people like to throw that term around, bait and switch, but before I go accussing Best Buy of anything I'll see if this is corp policy or the sales guy being in a bad mood.  I went in to a local BB in PA to buy two U46E laptops, priced online and instore at $779.99.  The store had stock of this laptop.  When I went into the store however I was told that "$100 of labor had gone into the laptop" and I would be forced to pay $879.99 or drive "21.2 miles" to the next BB with stock.  This BB had no other stock of said laptop and told me to drive to the next city to get it if I wanted it for $779.99.

Seriously?  I mean...it's brilliant charging unsuspecting people $100 for a restore disc but no where on the instore little sheet is there a * about may include added services to change the price, etc.  I do believe PA defines bait and switch as "advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised" (UTPCPL,  73 P.S. § 201-1, et seq.).  Now, again, the product was avalible, but not at the posted price...so this might not actually be bait and switch but just shady...I'm not a lawyer I just play one on TV.

So what is BB policy on, lets call them Value-Added, laptops not being marked as such to the general public if the store had no, non-valued added, laptops? 

[TechSavvyChick]

They should have had 2 separate signs posted. One with the add-on already installed and one without. BB geek squad does do "pre" setups on certain computers in order to get the customers in and out faster that are wanting the service. It makes it so they don't have to wait for the setup to be done (obviously lol).
So it is possible that they had the laptop without the service done to it at one point. Then ran out and the only ones left were the ones with the setup.

Although I don't believe that there was any intentional foul play, it can be very risky for the store not to post a sign/tag that states both priced. I'm sure a community connector will address this with your local store.

[imppilot]

Thanks!

Yeah...it just seemed fishy there was nothing posted and no other option for that store

[TechSavvyChick]

I bet! Plus if your talking to a salesperson that doesn't seem to care, it most definitely doesn't paint a pretty picture!

[Jimmienomam]

Yes it unfortunately is one of the things I wish BBY would stop doing. So much bad press comes from these "pre-installs" when they sell out of the normal version.

But this is policies at the stores.

[Mbrguy Community Specialist · Accepted solution]

Actual policy is that if they only have Pre-Setup computers left of a specific model and the customer doesn't want the Pre-Setup service, they are supposed to remove the services and put it back to factory specs.  If the recovery discs have already been burned, then they are to give the customer the discs.  

Policy is that they cannot force anyone to purchase the service.  So, they were going against policy in this instance.

[imppilot]

Thanks Mbrguy! I would have thought this too...

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hi imppilot,

TechSavvyChick and Mbrguy are both spot on: our stores are required to waive the setup fee associated with any pre-configured computer if a customer does not want that service.  Additionally, they must provide the purchaser any restore CDs that were created during the setup process.  I apologize though if you were informed otherwise during your recent visit!  Our sales associates are trained to be aware of this policy, so it’s disheartening to read of situations where misinformation may have been provided.

Where did this occur?

[imppilot]

Store 1197.  Yesterday morning, I posted just after I returned to my office.  The 2 people with me, requiring the laptops, then drove to Store 580 and had no issues procuring the laptops.

I think this employee might have slept through that part of the training as they even offered to "find a manager to lower the $100 fee some"...

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Thanks for the info and update!  I've passed these details along to the store's management team so they have the chance to take advantage of this training opportunity.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you need any additional assistance.