Connecticut Sues Best Buy Over Website Scam

Hartford, CTThe attorney general of Connecticut has filed a lawsuit against Best Buy Co., Inc. alleging the company pulled a bait-and-switch and overcharged customers, using a website scamto do so.

The lawsuit claims that the company managed to deceive consumers by running an internal Web site that looked identical to a public Web site. The internal site actually had higher prices than the Web site that consumers could access at home. When customers came into the store looking for an item they found online, employees would access the internal site and charge customers the higher price. In some cases, the higher prices reflected the individual store's prices; however, since 2005 Best Buy has promised to honor the public Internet prices.

Customers who went into Best Buy looking for Internet prices were told that either the sale was over or they had misread the advertisement. According to a few Best Buy sources, some workers knew they were misleading customers while others did not.

In announcing the lawsuit Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, "Best Buy gave consumers the worst deal - a bait-and-switch-plus scheme luring consumers into stores with promised online discounts, only to charge higher in-store prices."

The attorney general had offered to settle the lawsuit for several million dollars but Best Buy insisted it has done nothing wrong and refused to settle. Best Buy claims that the intranet site was set up to let people know which products were available in store rather than to cheat customers. The lawsuit could cost Best Buy millions of dollars in penalties and refunds. Under Connecticut law, a company can be fined $5,000 for each instance of a customer being cheated. Other states may file their own lawsuits or join Connecticut's suit.

Blumenthal filed the lawsuit following an investigation into the Best Buy's practices that began in March. Consumers had complained to the attorney general's office after a columnist publicized the story of a man who found a computer online at Best Buy's website for $729.99 but was charged $879.99 in-store.

Meanwhile, Blumenthal said his office is still investigating complaints that Best Buy sent customers used merchandise when they purchased new products as well as complaints about being tricked into purchasing unnecessary software, selling defective products, and not honoring rebates and rain checks.

If you purchased merchandise at Best Buy for a price that was higher than advertised on the Best Buy Web site, contact a lawyer to discuss your options.