BestBuy.Com

[mgg]

Old rant first.  Reward cards:  Get a coupon in the mail - (why not electronically), have to hoof it to Best Buy - but if you don't read the fine print first you get there and find out that the brand or model you picked up isn't actually covered by the sale.  My card went into my shredder some time back.

Today's rant.  I'm at checkout with $150 worth of merchandise.  Swipe my charge card and an almost familiar screen comes up with Decline and Accept buttons at the bottom.  Almost hit Accept when the actual fine print (as small as they could print on the little screen) caught my attention.  It was asking me if I wanted a Best Buy Charge Card!!!!  I protested to the guy at the check out and he said - well it woudln't actually give you one, I'd hand you the form to fill out.  YES, BUT, at that point, the person who clicked accept now feels like they have to take the form.  

Then the really fun part - I hit decline - and it "forgets" my charge scan and I have to pull out my card AGAIN and reswipe in order to finish my purchase.  

This is just one more of the aggressive tactics I've seen retailers  adopt in the last few months.  It is one more reason that BB is at the bottom of my list for places to go.  There are limited options for buying electronics in my town - but most of the time I'll drive the extra mile or wait a couple of days for Fedex before I'll go to BB.  

If a retailer has to resort to tricking customers to gain an advantage - there is something fundimentally wrong with their business.  So, BB, going the way to Circuit City soon?

mgg

[Ryan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello mgg -

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

[ncoclub]

You sir are a savy consumer!!! Great post and thanks for the info. I have passed it along to all my friends. THIS is just the type of information the public needs to be made aware of. I may even go to my nearest BBy today, buy a few items and see if this appears on my checkout screen as well. If it does me and the manager are going to have a talk. (I am going to carry a print out of your post for him/her to read as well). Thank You...

[bajarider]

didn't notice that on my last trip a couple weeks back. I wonder if this is done on only certain transactions or a new tactic that was just implemented? I make sure to always read everything before agreeing to something but it does get harder with fine print

[rwe528]

Next time just hit decline and swipe your card when the cashier tells you too. Not that big of a deal.

[Area51Kev Regular Contributor]

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rwe528 wrote:

Next time just hit decline and swipe your card when the cashier tells you too. Not that big of a deal.

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Sorry rwe528, but your response / suggestion involves an excessive amount of common sense. Thank you for playing, next contestant please.

Btw, Ambush at the checkout sounds like an updated western movie. Just sayin'. 

[ncoclub]

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Area51Kev wrote:

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rwe528 wrote:

Next time just hit decline and swipe your card when the cashier tells you too. Not that big of a deal.

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Sorry rwe528, but your response / suggestion involves an excessive amount of common sense. Thank you for playing, next contestant please.

Btw, Ambush at the checkout sounds like an updated western movie. Just sayin'. 

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Neither you nor RWE528 have the beginning of a clue of the point of the Op..if anything both of yours lack of understanding was abushed

[DanK Best Buy Employee]

The message on the signature pad asks you to wait before swiping your card. The invitation to sign up for the RewardZone Credit Card did not come up as a result of you swiping your card, you just swiped too early so that the system did not recognize it.

Is this a perfect system? No. But was it an "ambush"? No. Even if you had hit "Yes" on the message asking if you want to sign up for the credit card, this doesn't automatically apply you for it... it just signals the cashier that you are interested in applying -- all they have to do is hit "Cancel" if it was a mistake.

[mgg]

ok, lets clarify a few things.  I had ONE piece of merchandise.  It was scanned already when I scanned my card - when was I supposed to wait to scan my card - oh, after I was forced to answer a question about whether or not I wanted a credit card - which by the way, many other stores ASK me verbally.  I'm happy to just say no, or to ignore the question the checkout person has asked, without enthusiasm, 500 times already that day.  The point here is that *I* am at check out.  My ONLY concern is paying for my merchandise.  If I wanted a credit card *I* would NEVER make the decision at a checkout.   Putting a screen up that is in ANY WAY like a screen I use to pay for my merchandise, but has ANY OTHER USE is an ambush.

This is no different from web popups that jump up at a time when you think you want to answer yes to Question A, but find later you are really answering question B.  

Then I have to listen to people tell me I'm over-reacting or mis-understanding.  It goes like this - either best buy extensively tests their check out software for what "works best" to sell their products OR, Best buy haphazardly tosses together check out software based on the whims of some programmer.  If the former is true - then I was ambushed.  If the latter is true - then Best Buy doesn't care about the customer experience - whoops - that applies to the former too doesn't it?

As I may have indicated - this was just one more of many similar experiences I've had in the last week from retailers.  "you all" are using these tactices.  Lets not pretend otherwise, its disingenuous.

[Jimmienomam]

I see your concept behind it, but like others here I don't see it as an ambush for 1 simple fact.

You are stating that those pads are ONLY used for payment methods and you were ambushed because you were expecting it to pertain to your payment method. This is just an assumption. It's like saying when going on the Internet you are going to look at adult material, because a majority of the Internet is connected to adult material.

I don't know if that was a good analogy or not, I'm just trying to say that BBY is choosing to use those panels for things other than your used to. This doesn't make it an ambush.

I do agree that you should voice your opinion on how you feel. Basically that the panels should ONLY be used for payment as apparently this has put a bad taste in your (the consumer) mouth.

I personally don't care that much. I would have had a major problem if it would have signed your email up for CC offers, auto started the paperwork or anything like that. But as it stands it's basically just an advertisement for their card and takes 2 seconds to say no.

I actually prefer it to the verbal offer of the card as this way you don't have to listen to the cashier tell you the benefits and how you can save etc. You just hit no with little to no interaction.

I do think it was a planned out thing as each cashier is ALWAYS supposed to offer the CC to every customer (my local BBY even had a $10 GC for anyone that wasn't offered the CC). This just makes it a fail safe.

Again please voice your opinions as you are the consumer. They may or may not take your advice, but they will never take your advice if you never give it to them.