Testimonial #1: Brian (site co-founder)

I went to the BestBuy store at SouthCenter Parkway to buy a computer and a monitor, on May 18th 2002. I had already thoroughly researched both, and knew exactly what I was going to get. Both were on sale, and I went in a couple days before the sale ended to buy them. When I talked to the salesman, I told him that I knew what I wanted, and that I was in a bit of a hurry to get them because I had an appointment to get to and didn't have much time. The first man was fairly pleasant; he told me about the extended warranty, which I realize they have to do so I listened patiently. Then I told him I wasn't interested (it was $200 on top of an $800 computer - a bit high). He was OK with it. But, when I went to go check out, three other salesmen came over to inquire about why I didn't want the extended warranty. I shouldn't have to explain why, but I did anyway, saying that usually if something breaks it will break quickly, which would be covered under normal warranty; also, computer parts are fairly cheap, and no one component was worth the $200 price of the warranty. The salespeople kept pushing the issue - one guy started in on the "I've been working with computers since..blah blah blah," as if I myself didn't know what I was talking about (I work with computers and know way more than I should about them). Then, the salesman said that if you bought the warranty, you got a $100 gift card -- I knew this to be false. The deal was if you bought the computer, you got the gift card. When I mentioned this, I could tell he was flustered that I called him on it - he had basically tried to lie about the gift card to get me to buy the warranty. Then, seeing that I was getting angry, they didn't just ring up my $1200 order -- they tried to sell me Norton Anti-Virus for $50. I refused. So they tried to sell me a "Learning to use your computer" CDRom for $20, which I also refused. Then they went back to the extended warranty, asking what was holding me back. At this point I was furious, and said, "Look, are you guys going to sell me this or not?" At that, two of the four guys walked away, and the other two began talking about something completely unrelated, basically ignoring me. I was standing there, computer in shopping basket, credit card out and ready to pay, and they would not ring up my order. So, I told them to keep their lousy computer and I left. One of the men tried to catch up with me, but promptly gave up.

It get's better...

Next, I went home and ordered the exact same computer and monitor online, where I wouldn't have to deal with salespeople. The transaction went through fine. This was on a Friday. The following Monday, I received an email saying my order had been canceled due to a "credit card problem". I called BestBuy.com customer service, rather angry, and they said that the transaction had been cancelled by my credit card company. The representative sounded as if he were making stuff up; he didn't offer to try to re-submit the order, or rectify the problem in any way. And just the fact that my credit card would "cancel the transaction" sounded wrong, as I had bought other things online with this card and never had problems, and I had at least $4000 in credit left. I called my credit card company, and the woman there said that it had in fact been approved, and she proceeded to give me the exact time, date, amount, etc. She said that it was approved, but not charged - it was simply waiting to be charged, but BestBuy had cancelled it. At this point (Monday, May 20th), the sale had ended, and BestBuy was uncooperative in re-submitting the $1200 order.

WHY would BestBuy not want to sell the computer?? I'm still stumped, but my guess is that they won't sell it to you unless you also get the warranty, because as is sale-priced, they lose money. So in essence, the sale is simply a lure to get people to buy the warranty, which is basically 100% profit.

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