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PM'ing at BestBuy might get you arrested

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The bottom line is this: Store manager lied twice at least to infringe on the guys liberty and rights which eventually lead to his arrest and his ass could be held liable as well as his employer..

1. The whole crimminal tresspass is a total lie since the manager "asked" him to stay and wait. I would'nt be surprised if some coersion was involved like what purpose did the second individual serve?

2. As Ravin said he lied about the individual commiting fraud since it could trivially be proven whether the reciept was legit by simply looking in the sales computer.
 
That really sucks. I now feel good that I keep buying stuff from BB and returning it a few weeks later. I believe that I will shop at CC from now on
 
I'm not going to debate whether there was fraud involved or not....

However, based on my experience with BB, I have no doubt the amount of sheer stupidty of BB portrayed by Johnny is entirely possible by any CS rep or Manager at BB.

To sum up my past experiences:
1) Store CS rep and manager "could not" find a record of my purchase of an extended warranty on a scanner in the computer. We called the BB-HQ found it in less than 5 minutes and faxed it to the store. It then took another 3 hours to process the refund (no exact or reasonble comparative model was available).

2) After T-day the store manager refused to pricematch any purchases made before T-day, regardless of posted policy. He actually insisted that the posted had to EXPLICITLY say that BB would price a particular product under particular for him to have to follow the posted policy on the wall or reciept. One of his quotes was "it does not say that we will pricematch any product after Thanksgiving".

The other BB in town gladly PM'd the product. I have not spent a cent in BB since that day.
 
The last order I place with BB was for some black CDRs using a coupon they sent me. The CDRs went out of stock and stayed that way for three months. About two days after BB canceled the order they were back in stock.

I haven't ordered from BB since.
 
Here's a thought:

Forget about whether he was arrested or detained.

Forget about whether the reciept was a fraud or legit.

Forget about "Rod" over-reacting.

Maybe since this was a known issue that has been on going since feburary; Maybe, just maybe the guy shouldn't have tried to PM to an obviously contested price in the first place.

At this point, it would seem that any PM's that are honored are by employees or managers that are just not privy to what's going on. From what this guy (johnnymnemonic) said it seems that he knew this was a hot topic and understood that there's a controversy surrounding it and yet he still tried to PM it. And while it's too bad that Rod had him arrested, johnnymnemonic should known better.

I do hope, however that Rod is held responsible for changing his story. What I wonder is, what is he told from upper management? Or are the store managers left to their own discretion for how to handle situations.

db said:

<< People, you're getting completely off the point. This guy was ARRESTED just b/c he was trying to pricematch, greedy or not. All the manager had to say is "Sorry, can't do it" and there would have been no story.

This self-righteous crap is nauseating--like you're perfect in God's eyes and always have been. >>

Actually it has nothing to with being self-rightous, although Johnnymnemonics claim about everyone defrauding AMEX with a PM and getting a rebate on the side doesn't apply to me. My point , I guess, is more about putting yourself in stupid situations. PM-ing for an already contested price at a place where the clerk just told you that 5 other people had asked the same question and then proceeding to ask to talk to the store manager is just asking for trouble. This is especially true if you believe that BB is evil because then why would you do that in first place? To screw BB? To get one more "BB is evil" story? Getting arrested isn't necesarily expected, but stupid things happen when you place yourself in stupid senarios. And then, instead pursuing legal action, which he's well within his right to do, he posts it online as though it's a badge of honor or as though he' a martyr for the crusade. In the end the card won't be worth more than $129, a couple of BB managers will get fired, PM-ing will either be ended or severely restricted, and the wording of online purchase agreements will be more convoluted/complex/binding/corporate friendly. And the only people that'll really know are us. The rest of the online purchasing world will never be the wiser because they don't care. They don't PM, they're not tech bargain hunters, and they rarely if even read the fine print. So then what have we gained. Nothing. Maybe a notch on our moral belt and less opportunities for deals. That's it.

*steps off soap box and proceeds to burn it*

That was way more than I meant to type...

cheers 😀
 


<< The all black cops adds to the story in no way.

So I guess this guy printed a receipt up from the net and tried to PM with it? You know I can see in fact how that could be considered fraud... >>





<< By DevilsAdvocate:

I will continue to PM at BB - with legitimate printouts or ads from legitimate sources.

His source was not legitimate. >>



That is not what happened. That reciept was mine. I was able to price match my original online order for $129 at that same best buy not 17 days earlier. The scan of that reciept on hypothermia is in no way forged. The only changes made to it are the blocking out of my personal information.



<< By Pulse8:

Unless someone shows me an actual, real life receipt, all of those are fraud. It's the Internet, so I tend to take everything with a grain of salt. >>



I've got my honest-to-god hard copy of my reciept sitting right here infront of me. It is the one on hypothermia from the Tucker, GA store, sold on April 2nd, for a price of $129. You wanna call my bluff, go ahead. You want proof, just ask for it. Although unless I meet you in person, I don't know how much more of a "real life reciept" I can produce for you other than another scan of it. And as for bestbuy jumping to the conclusion that the reciept was fake, all they had to do was look in their files. They have hard copies of EVERYTHING I showed them when obtaining my pricematch, including my reciept.



<< By PG:

But when you click the link to the receipt it doesn't have anyone's name on it so it's hard to say who really approved the pricematch 10 days earlier. >>



Rod was not the one to actually sign my reciept, that was the Coustomer Service person who rang it up. Rod WAS the one however that ok'ed my raincheck for the card at $129 when I was standing in line, waiting to pay for my item. The manager that originally approved the PM was Jeff Ross, but Rod was the one who was the last person to OK the PM before I paid for the card.




<< By UberNeuman:

Why? Because he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on and if he had such a great case, he would have went to a lawyer by now and not start whining on a message board. >>



Yea, which is exactly why he has a lawyer and has been talking with her for the past few days. They are currently gathering information inorder to proceed with whatever course of action she reccommends.




<< By Jzero:

Apparently you pushed a little too hard and someone decided to push back. >>



That's the point, he never had a chance to push. He simply walked in, asked a few questions, and they had him arrested. Did they ever once just say, "I'm sorry. We can't sell it at this price. I wish there was something we could do but it's out of my hands." Had that been the case, Cherian probably would have just accepted the fact that they weren't going to honor his order, and left. But instead, they decide to lead him on, take him to a back room, and stall him until the cops could arrive.


Look, regardless of what you think about the whole GF4 fiasco, that is not what the problem is here. The problem is how the managers at BB chose to handle the situation presented to them. Why did they choose to have the Cherian arrested for nothing more than asking a few questions? Why couldn't they have handled it as this manager did:

(posted by gentelman in Illinois)
"I spoke with a customer service lady, who was really nice, and she went to talk to the manager, Charles. Charles came out and explained to me that his general manager had said they could not price match it because $129.99 is below their cost for the card. He said nothing about not being able to pricematch BB.com. Charles was really nice, and I explained the whole situation, and he said that BB.com not responding to email was really crappy service. He also said he was going to try to contact BB.com management to discuss my situation with them.

He said to make sure to hold onto my printed out order form, since that should really help me in a class action suit. I don't know why he mentioned that, but he did.

He also offered to sell me one of the cards at their cost for it, but I politely declined. Much better treatment at this store than the Springfield, Illinois one. All in all, I understood his reasoning, and since he was so nice and helpful, I couldn't get upset with him."

Now why couldn't Rod have acted in a mature manner such as this instead of calling the police on an innocent man that wanted nothing more than what he originally ordered? Knowing that they called the cops on Cherian claiming that a reciept (that they have in their records but were too lazy to look up) was fradulent is what is the problem here. Cherian is doing the right thing by taking action against the wrongful arrest that Best Buy caused.
 


<< << By Jzero:

Apparently you pushed a little too hard and someone decided to push back. >>



That's the point, he never had a chance to push. He simply walked in, asked a few questions, and they had him arrested. Did they ever once just say, "I'm sorry. We can't sell it at this price. I wish there was something we could do but it's out of my hands." Had that been the case, Cherian probably would have just accepted the fact that they weren't going to honor his order, and left. But instead, they decide to lead him on, take him to a back room, and stall him until the cops could arrive. >>


Actually, according to his story he was told by the cashier that a number of people had attempted the PM and that it was not valid.
Now according to his story the first CSR asked him if he wanted to speak the manager about it, so he didn't push in that way, but as someone who worked in retail, I usually "offered" my manager's services when I started to get the impression that the customer wasn't going to accept my word.
It was wrong and shady to have him arrested. True, true.
But two wrongs don't make a right. It was wrong and shady to attempt to make this deal in bad faith. Anyone who says they didn't know this was a pricing error is either a liar or an idiot.
If you think it was a bait and switch tactic, unfortunately, welcome to America where the onus is on you the accuser to present proof that it was.
 
Anyone who says they didn't know this was a pricing error is either a liar or an idiot.


Did you realize that Best Buy.com employees said the $129 price was correct when people called them? Yes, people called them at the time to ask if the price was actually correct even before they ordered.
What are we all supposed to believe if we are told the price is correct?


 


<< Here's a thought:

Forget about whether he was arrested or detained.

Forget about whether the reciept was a fraud or legit.

Forget about "Rod" over-reacting.

Maybe since this was a known issue that has been on going since feburary; Maybe, just maybe the guy shouldn't have tried to PM to an obviously contested price in the first place. >>


It is easy for YOU to "forget" about these "details" since they did not happen to you. However they are critical to this story.

As for attempting a "questional" PM at BB - it was up to the manager to just say "No". A false arrest charge was stupid - not just "over-reacting".

The blame for this incident can be placed squarely on Beast Buy. Shop there at your own risk!
 


<< Did you realize that Best Buy.com employees said the $129 price was correct when people called them? Yes, people called them at the time to ask if the price was actually correct even before they ordered.
What are we all supposed to believe if we are told the price is correct? >>


Oh, I didn't realize those telephone CSRs had the definitive word on whether a price was correct or not. You know since when you call and they say your item is backordered, it's not like you really believe them when they say it will be restocked next week, so why should you believe them when they say the price is correct? They're probably looking at the same website you are.

 


<< Anyone who says they didn't know this was a pricing error is either a liar or an idiot.


Did you realize that Best Buy.com employees said the $129 price was correct when people called them? Yes, people called them at the time to ask if the price was actually correct even before they ordered.
What are we all supposed to believe if we are told the price is correct? >>

I would think that Best Buy has a central pricing system and since it was on the web site, they had the same information as well. Hell, maybe even the stores had the same price, but didn't put it out fast enough for people to notice. It still doesn't mean it's not a mistake.
 
apoppin said:

<< It is easy for YOU to "forget" about these "details" since they did not happen to you. However they are critical to this story.

As for attempting a "questional" PM at BB - it was up to the manager to just say "No". A false arrest charge was stupid - not just "over-reacting".

The blame for this incident can be placed squarely on Beast Buy. Shop there at your own risk! >>

You're missing my point. I'm not implying that what happened was insignificant. What I wanted to point out, however, is that no one forced him to go to Best Buy and try an make shady a pricematch. You say it was up to the manager to just say "No" and I agree with you but I want to suggest that it is also up to the consumer to not be an idiot in the first place and pricematch to a price that Best Buy has already said that they do not intend to honor. I'm also suggesting that actions like this are going to hasten the end of pricematching for people looking to do it legitimately and in the end we will be stuck with more stringent and corporate friendly purchasing agreements.

It boils down to common sense. In this case niether side showed it, but what irks me is that Johnnymnemonic is now being shown as a victim of Best Buy's tyranny when in fact he was acting just as shady by attempting to make a PM in bad faith. And don't tell me he was acting polite and such garbage because that's not the point I'm making. Whether he was as humble as a mouse or an argumentative prick, the intent was still the same.

Stealing is stealing regardless of whether you smile when you do it.

EDIT: I'm just going to reiterate that I don't think that "Rod" was acting sensibly at all, but I can't stand the notion that this guy was some sort of victim. It's like people getting shot while robbing a quickie mart and then claiming that they were the victims of excessive force.
 


<< You're missing my point. I'm not implying that what happened was insignificant. What I wanted to point out, however, is that no forced him to go to Best Buy and try an make shady pricematch. You say it was up to the manager to just say "No" and I agree with you but I also suggesting that it is also up to the consumer to not be an idiot in the first place and pricematch to a price that Best Buy has already said that they do not intend to honor. >>


Nope, I'm not missing your point, I am saying it is irrelevant.

You keep talking about a "shady pricematch". There is no shady PM. Do your research. BB is - first of all guilty of Bait & Switch. This fellow simply did what hundreds of other people attempted to do with varying results. Many WERE successful in getting the PM. Many were turned down but only one was arrested.

There is NO way Cherian could have forseen the consequenses of asking for a PM for what BB's manager did was shocking!

You can keep defending Beast Buy all you want. What they did was reprehensible and they should be held responsible for it.
 


<< BB is - first of all guilty of Bait & Switch. >>


Oh really? Can you prove that? Somehow I doubt it.


<< This fellow simply did what hundreds of other people attempted to do with varying results. Many WERE successful in getting the PM. Many were turned down but only one was arrested. >>


Now you're arguing for the sake of arguing (or because you seem to enjoy grinding your axe with BB). I don't think anyone here said that they were justified in arresting that guy.
Everyone agrees on that point.
[qThere is NO way Cherian could have forseen the consequenses of asking for a PM for what BB's manager did was shocking!

You can keep defending Beast Buy all you want. What they did was reprehensible and they should be held responsible for it.[/i] >>


No, but there is every way Cherian could have forseen that it was a pricing error and was not going to be honored. The people that DID get the PM honored LUCKED OUT when they happened to get employees who didn't know any better to do the PM. He knew the deal was a sham and he could have saved himself all of this trouble by being honest with himself and realizing that it just wasn't going to happen.
 
mista apoppin said:

<< Nope, I'm not missing your point, I am saying it is irrelevant.

You keep talking about a "shady pricematch". There is no shady PM. Do your research. BB is - first of all guilty of Bait & Switch. This fellow simply did what hundreds of other people attempted to do with varying results. Many WERE successful in getting the PM. Many were turned down but only one was arrested.

There is NO way Cherian could have forseen the consequenses of asking for a PM for what BB's manager did was shocking!

You can keep defending Beast Buy all you want. What they did was reprehensible and they should be held responsible for it. >>

Oh, I think you are still missing it.

I'm agreeing with you. Did Best Buy pull a bait-n-switch? Fine. Yes. Was it reprehensible? Yes. Should they be held responsible? Yes. Could Cherian have forseen the consequenses? No.

But, and this my point so read slowing and carefully:

Should Cherian have known better? YES

Cherian should not have attempted the pricematch in the first place since it is apparent that this fiasco was/is not resolved. Period. End. And YES that was a shady pricematch because it's obviously in dispute and to try only means you're hoping to get a gulible Best Buy employee. So, YES it was shady. And if you don't like the word "shady" how about deceitful? or underhanded? or maybe defraud.

According to Webster's it mean to deprive of something by deception or fraud

It would seem to me that he was attempting to deprive BB of money by saying that $129 is a legitimate price for that card.

See, what's happening now is the equivalent of kids going to the other parent after they've been turned done by the first. So geek A goes to Bestbuy #2600 and gets turned down on the PM. So then A he goes to Best Buy #666 and gets them to do the PM. Hurray for A. Now, A goes and posts the receipt online. Geek B then goes to Best Buy #911 and says, "See, this Best Buy PM-ed it and so should you." Well, poor old B, he gets turned down and decides to go to Best Buy #1900 and gets them to do the PM. He's posts it online and then geek C prints out the reciept.... do you see where I'm going with this? They're just preying on stores that either don't know or aren't following BB's rules and then turing around and using that as more fuel for the fire. It's self-perpetuating.

In this case Cherian got burned. Bad. And it's good that he's seeking legal action for the mistreatment. But I can't feel bad because he knew the situation.

And that's why I say "shady."

*phew*
 


<< Oh really? Can you prove that? Somehow I doubt it. >>


Not to you.
rolleye.gif


The class-action suit will provide all the necessary "proof" to a judge or jury.

Cherian may have been guilty of naivety but not deserving an arrest.
 

In-Store Price Guarantee
If, within 30 days (14 days for computers, monitors, printers and notebooks, camcorders, digital cameras and radar detectors) of your purchase from Best Buy, you find a local competitor offering a lower price on an available product of the same brand and model, we'll refund the difference plus another 10% of the difference. Bring us verification of the lower price, plus your original Best Buy receipt to claim your refund. Does not apply to special, bonus or free offers, and in California cellular phones and pagers. Does not apply to products with special financing offers. For complete price guarantee details, please see a customer service representative. We reserve the right to limit quantities. See store for complete details.

Price guarantee found here.

Does that price match guarantee say they will match prices as a result of error? I don't see that anywhere.

The fact is that Abraham didn't take an acceptable route--that being our legal system--to resolve his dispute with BB. Instead he tried to illegitimately use the price match policy to try to force a local store to pay for an error of bb.com. He's a liar because he says he didn't do this out of "greed" and this action of trying to extort a pricematch also makes him a thief.

I don't believe his story about the events of his arrest for a second. After witnessing how most of the greedy geforce children proclaimed in the big [Hard] BB thread how they verbally abused BB customer service when they didn't get their pricematches (enough so that Stevo et al had to "instruct" the children to play nice) my money says that this chump was a belligerent asshole and wouldn't leave the store until he got his satisfaction. Most likely the cops were called to remove him. The cops were called for criminal tresspass, as is clearly stated on the arrest record.

We've only been presented with the side of an admitted wannabe thief and a liar and some of you are just willing to believe him. LOL, join the anti-bb parrot patrol: "braack.....best buy sux0rs......braack......make 'em pay.......braack....".



<< Do your research. BB is - first of all guilty of Bait & Switch. >>



Prove it chimp. You don't even know what "bait & switch" means. So far the children haven't even proven the existance of the "$200 savings" yet (evidently this is their proof of B&S)......I wonder why? Because it doesn't exist.

Hey apoopin, are you keeping a list of the people who have managed to get BB to PM the card to exclude them from your supposed class action suit. Who's the lawyer heading the class? Have you filed yet? Nope, of course not. Your as full of sh1t as the rest of the ferengi, liar.


 


<< Prove it chimp. You don't even know what "bait & switch" means. So far the children haven't even proven the existance of the "$200 savings" yet (evidently this is their proof of B&S)......I wonder why? Because it doesn't exist. >>



You ARE a BB manager. Talk about a monkey. 🙂
 


<< You ARE a BB manager. Talk about a monkey. >>



Being mistaken must be a habit for you, eh? There are a couple people here and more over at pcabusers.com that know me in RL and can vouch that I'm not a BB employee. Sorry, I work in "fraud control" for a financial company owned by one of the "big 3".
 
BB could have saved themselves a lot of heat and potential future litigation if they would have just sucked it up and sold the cards to the individuals who bought them at the agreed contract price of $129.99.

If you buy an item at their B&M you'll pay whatever it rings up at the register. There's none of this: "Oh, no, sir. That's an error." Nope, what the register says is the price you pay. Treating their e-tailing operation differently is running amok with contract law.
 


<< BB could have saved themselves a lot of heat and potential future litigation if they would have just sucked it up and sold the cards to the individuals who bought them at the agreed contract price of $129.99.

If you buy an item at their B&M you'll pay whatever it rings up at the register. There's none of this: "Oh, no, sir. That's an error." Nope, what the register says is the price you pay. Treating their e-tailing operation differently is running amok with contract law. >>

Speaking of contracts, do we know if they are under contract to sell the cards for a certain price? I ask that because maybe it would be more costly to pay a penalty for selling them for too little than to sell them at the disputed price.
 


<< .....if they would have just sucked it up and sold the cards to the individuals who bought them at the agreed contract price of $129.99. >>



You're talking about a $500,000 mistake, it must be easy for you to spend someone else's money like that.



<< If you buy an item at their B&M you'll pay whatever it rings up at the register. There's none of this: "Oh, no, sir. That's an error." Nope, what the register says is the price you pay. Treating their e-tailing operation differently is running amok with contract law. >>



The difference between your B&M scenerio and the real world of e-taining is that if the price is mis-marked on the shelf and it's honored, the clerk/manager can immediately pull the tag of the shelf--thus you have a loss only on single item. With today's HD forums on the net, even though BB noticed and corrected the error winthin an hour or so--they were innundated with over 2000 orders.

What if it wasn't a company that had deep pockets like BB, but a smaller mom and pop shop and the $500,000 error would cost them their business and possibly their life savings. I know this wouldn't matter to you, you'll have got your goodies, right?

I can only pray that one of you morons makes a typo and it costs you $500,000 of your own money. Consumer protection laws are needed to protect consumers--but not against honest mistakes. There isn't a law in the land that forces a retailer to honor an advertised price in error--as there are grace periods (usually a day or so) alloted to allow a retailer to publish retractions/corrections to protect themselves against these types high impact errors.

Perhaps there needs to be a few additional laws that protect businesses from the likes of you.

 
There was no contract of sale. Even if the price rings up as wrong on the register the store can change the price on the spot. There is no contractual obligation until a contract is made and in a sales situation there is no contract until compensation trades hands or a written or verbal agreement is made. In the case of BB, there is no written contract because they reserved the right to change prices or refuse orders, this applies until the moment they get money from you. In effect the disclaimer prevents a sale contract from being formed until the exchange of compensation.

A lot of you are confusing consumer protection laws with contract law. Consumer protection laws cover things like bait and switch and switching prices at registers and such are on a state to state basis going to be different. There is a big difference here. Depending on state law, without the charging of accounts there could be no basis for a class suit. In fact in some states the most you can hope for is for your AG's office to fine BB for a violation of the consumer protection laws of your state.

A lot of people look at this and think, well a lot of people won the class suit with buy.com, but there is a major difference between that situation and this. Buy.com at the time of "monitor" incident actually charged cards when you ordered regardless if they shipped. This charging of the cards was the exchange of compensation needed to enact contract law and win lawsuits. BB did not do this and as such you will see very little success in the courts over this.
 
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