BestBuy.Com

[isabelalberto]

On Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, Best Buy had a Midnight Sale online. One particular item that I really wanted to get was the New LAG XX Phone from T-Mobile. On the website, the phone was being sold for free as long as you got a two year contract. When I tried to buy it, it was stating that it was $199.99.  So I emailed the Best Buy and I said the following:"

"I am trying to get this phone, but every time I added to the cart, it says that its $199.99, when there is a midnight sale for $0.00. I am not sure what to do and by the time you guys get this email, the sale will be over. Can I still get the phone? I've attached a screen picture of the phone(s) and the time is at the bottom. Please help Thanks!"

They replied by stating:

"The T-Mobile phones we sold at Best Buy were for new customers only. If you are eligible for upgrade is why the price was $199.99 instead of the brand new to T-Mobile price of being free. I apologize you were not eligible for the new customer price. Also if you were placing the order and the time expired the price would have increased to $200 if you are new and placing the order right after Am Est."

I replied back by saying:

"That is how I saw it and said nothing about being a new or existing customer. I feel highly mislead and fooled by the lack of full disclosure and at the same time losing an opportunity that seemed to good to be true.

Thanks for your fast reply. That sale was misleading. It did not say anything about being a new customer. All it said, that the new phone required a 2 year contract. My contract with T-Mobile expired in 2009. As a result, I am on a month-to-month basis. This means that I would have to get a 2 year contract if I decided to get a new phone. That is why I wanted to get the LAG-XX phone, which would have been free, as long as I got the 2 year contract."

So in the end, Best Buy falsely advertised by not stating that it was only for "new Customers". I didn't get the phone I wanted for the price they were advertising because it wasn't stated properly. And when I needed help, there was no one to help, but email Best Buy and by that time, the sale would be over.

Recently, Best Buy has let me down and they continue to do so.

[Walrus]

I've come across this many times, whether Best Buy, T-Mobile themselves or other companies. No one ever seems to state what I expect when it comes to the "small print." In your case, you would have expected them to state "new customers only." Personally I would have assumed it was for new customers because it did not state "good for new and upgrades." It made shopping for my last upgrade very frustrating. I ended up going to a T-mobile store rather than buying the same phone at Best Buy simply because the wording made no sense to me at Best Buy.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hi isabelalberto-

Welcome to the forums!

I'm dismayed to learn of your attempts to purchase the T-Mobile Lag XX to no avail during the recent Midnight Sale online.  I appreciate you alerting us of this situation and I'll do my best to provide clarification to your voiced situation. 

I see your contact made with our BestBuy.com team and I deeply apologize for not being able to get your phone.  I have already addressed your concerns internally through Best Buy® .  If you have any more comments or questions, feel free to reply to this topic or send me a private message by selecting the link within my signature bar. 

Thanks for posting,

[isabelalberto]

Hello. Thank you very much for hearing my concern. Is there any way to still take advantage of the sale, even though it is after the fact.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Good morning isabelalberto-

I sincerely apologize, but regrettably, there is not a way to take advantage of the sale as it is no longer active.

Regards,

[shnovak]

This was a complete let down.  So glad I stayed up.  I was not a big fan of Best Buy and I now think you have lost me forever!  I registered to the forum just to complain.  Do bother acting like you have a good sale....you don't

[Audio-Depot]

The entire sale does not appear to have happened.  I logged on at 11:01 CST (since it started at Midnight EST) and checked back several times.  The page never looked any different from what it had been all day long, with seven 'early' sale prices revealed with the phone and (as I recall) camera links on the right.  The deals did not exist, and there were no additional sale prices revealed at midnight either. 

I even perused the site during the sale time slot looking for deals that were not otherwise advertised and found nothing on sale.  In fact, the prices were all at MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) in the Music section, and most companies aren't even enforcing MAP right now (if they ever did).  In other words, I could have purchased these items for cheaper on Amazon or just about ANYWHERE.  It would be more difficult to find someone selling these items at  a HIGHER price than it would be to find them for cheaper!

BestBuy screwed up.  I have to give BestBuy the benefit of the doubt, that they simply screwed up turning the sale 'on'.  That being the case however, they owe their customers an apology and they should be honoring the sale prices that WERE advertised.  If they don't, then I guess I will know better next time and get myself removed from their email list.

PS. I was with a former BestBuy employee when seeking out the midnight sale.  Their words: "When I used to work at BestBuy they screwed up sales ALL the time.  I decided it was time to quit when they told us that they were going to rename Black Friday as 'Green Friday' and told us that we would be written up if we called it Black Friday to anyone."  Give 'em a break, BestBuy.  That is really pathetic.