Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[bestpractice]

Good morning!

I woke up to a $757 deferred interest charge this morning after not being sent any notice of receiving this charge or that it would happen any time soon. After flipping through the posts and seeing the discounts doled from HSBC and also private message discounts from the moderators on this forum I would also like to be sent one of those private messages as well so Best Buy can resolve my current situation and keep me as a valued customer.

I appreciate any help in advance and will continue to shop at Best Buy and recommend that others shop there as well once this is resolved. Until then, I will not be shopping there and I will discourage those I know to shop or open lines of credit to make larger pruchases there.

Thanks!

-Nate

[hydrogenwv]

In most cases, you can contact HSBC yourself for the same result, Interest reduced by half. It will take a Community Connector a few days to get to you, so you might want to give it a shot yourself first.

   That said, on the previous 3-4 months statements, the promo expiration notice was on the first page. HSBC doesn't send you any extra notice because they rely on people messing up the promo offers in order to make money and cover the expenses of the people that adhere to the terms and do not pay any interest on their purchase.

[bestpractice]

That is great information. Thank you. I'm contacting them now.

[Ryan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello bestpractice -

Sarah from our Social Media team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern. Thank you for your continued patience!

[bestpractice]

Thanks for that. I called HSBC and let them know I needed to try and work out something besides the interest charge and that I was thinking of cancelling and not shopping at Best Buy anymore and they informed me that not only would I be charged deferred interest on one purchase but I would receive multiple charges on multiple purchases if I did not pay them all back within certain periods of time (depending on when I made the purchases). I thought because of the consistent substantial payments none of thise would be an issue but it turns out I was completely and totally wrong.Maybe you ought to partner with another lender that has a little more straightforward lending practices? I don't mind paying interest on things I purchase but lump sums like this are completely and totally unfair to the consumer.

I feel like a fool because it was totally my mistake but I won't be going back to your store. The card is now cancelled and I'm heading over to facebook and twitter to let everyone I know to avoid Best Buy.

Well played.

[Jimmienomam]

These lending practices that you don't like (substantial payments that didn't pay off the promo purchases) are actually governed by law.


Per Credit Card Act of 2009 sec. 104.164

"‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of a payment from a card-
holder, the card issuer shall apply amounts in excess of the minimum payment amount first to the card balance bearing the highest rate of interest, and then to each successive balance bearing the next highest rate of interest, until the payment is exhausted.
‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION RELATING TO CERTAIN DEFERRED INTEREST ARRANGEMENTS.—A creditor shall allocate the entire amount paid by the consumer in excess of the minimum pay- ment amount to a balance on which interest is deferred during the last 2 billing cycles immediately preceding the expiration of the period during which interest is deferred."

Basically dispursement of payments goes in this order:

1) A minimum to all purchases
2) high interest items
3) low interest items
4) promo (deferred interest etc) items

so if you pay substantial amount it will go first to minimums. Then if you have any left over it will all be applied to high interest items. If you pay of all the high interest items then it goes to low interest items. If low interest are payed off then and only then will it go to deferred interest.

The second paragraph there states that the last 2 months before a promo (deferred interest) is due the disbursement of payment will be as follows:

1) Minimum on each item
2) promo purchases
3) high interest
4) low interest

[bestpractice]

"Governed by law" Now, that is the scary part. Sorry, I don't get paid to troll discussion forums touting the absolute sanctity of credit lending practices in the U.S. so I don't have a lot of time to delve into the intricacies of the materials I received and the size of the font but I fully admit I was wrong for signing up for the card. I just think it would be in Best Buy's better interest to cut ties with HSBC. Then again, I'm sure that doesn't make much business sense.

Save your money folks! Save it and spend it when you have enough saved and buy local first!

[Jimmienomam]

Yes I honestly don't like how the law dictates how payments are disbursed. It sets up people (like you in this case) to default on promo interest UNLESS they specifically know the laws.

Sadly BBY isn't the only one that hears way to many of these complaints. Any store that runs deferred interest (apple included) has a bevy of these complaints

[jdelstrong]

I hope all is well.  I am a new member to the BB discussion board.  I am reaching out to anyone who can help me.  I hope I can sum up my situation as clearly and concise as possible.  

I have been a loyal customer of Best Buy for many years.  Naturally when it came time to purchase a new TV as well as a surround sound system I purchased everything from BB.  Needless to say at the time of purchase I was offered a 36 month interest free plan like so many other faithful customers.  I have since made my payments on time every month and had set aside enough money to pay off my balance in full once the promo had expired.  I have had problems in the past with HSBC. One of the reasons I decided to switch to online payments was due to the fact that on more than one occasion I did not receive my paper bill in the mail.  I was aware that the time was coming where I needed to pay my remaining balance in full. I decide to be proactive and call customer service.  I was misled by one of their agents that I had until the 10th of April to pay in full ($2,399.63).  This morning when I logged into my account it said my balance had ballooned to $5,542.22!  $3,142.57 in deferred interest had been added without any prior notice.  Like I stated before I have always paid my bills on time and set aside the $2,399.63 I needed to make a final payment today and have NO balance moving forward.  Needless to say I am still in shock.  I called HSBC customer service and was told offered a 50% discount on the deferred interest that was added.  I declined and was told a Unit manager would call me back.  As of right now I have not heard from anyone yet.   I do not have another $3K. I was laid off and every penny is crucial.  I need to rectify this ASAP.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

John 

P.S..  I made the minimum payment  this morning to avoid any late fees...

[Kelly-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello bestpractice,

I appreciate you reaching out to our Community to share your thoughts regarding your HSBC account.  I can certainly understand your concerns when you discovered you had interest on your account and I apologize for any disappointment.  

As you may know, HSBC is a separate company from Best Buy that we use to provide financial opportunities to our customers.  Due to privacy reasons, I don't have access to your HSBC account history or the ability to remove charges.  I did work with HSBC regarding your account and I have sent you a private message so we may be able to discuss the details of your account.  To check your messages please ensure you are logged into the forum and click on the envelope icon in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Thank you for your time,