Best Buy's secret intranet site exposed

Those looking for a good buy, nay, the best buy, would be wise to note Best Buy's recently exposed secret intranet site, allegedly used to prevent customers from reaping the benefits of discounts advertised on BestBuy.com. Two Connecticut stores denied customers of discounted prices advertised on BestBuy.com by referencing the visually identical intranet site, which doesn't always reflect the lowest prices. The site, quickly disclosed by a local publication, was then put under investigation, yielding vague answers from Best Buy and no clear explanation of why it even exists. Best Buy issued a statement assuring their intent was not to mislead the customer and that they are "reminding [their] employees how to access the external BestBuy.com web site to ensure customers are receiving the best possible product price." Whether or not Best Buy encourages the ol' switcharoo is still up in the air, with local officials' investigations being hindered by BestBuy's "fuzzy responses" -- but something tells us they're not to be trusted.

[Via Techmeme]

[Vaxalon @ Mar 3rd 2007 7:46PM]

Calvin, do you know what "intranet" means?

If not, maybe you should go look it up before you make a fool of yourself on a public forum.

[Jason @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:00PM]

Do you know what intranet means. I guess not. YOU CANNOT AcCESS THE SITE FROM YOUR HOME COMPUTER! It can only be accessed at a Best buy store

[Mickey Jones @ Mar 4th 2007 12:49PM]

With your kind of technical knowledge, you should get a JOB at BestBuy. You may be management material.

[rickhamilton620 @ Mar 5th 2007 7:23AM]

It's an Intranet site, we couldnt access it from home if we wanted to!

[Dave @ Mar 6th 2007 8:33PM]

lol this guy should be a bestbuy employee...he has the knowledge necessary haha

[akintz @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:11PM]

The sad thing is that I totally believe they have to remind their employees how to access the internet. :)

[swoosh bnd @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:16PM]

Why wouldn't people just use the local pick-up option anyway since you can do that and ensure the price?

[Philip S @ Mar 3rd 2007 7:43PM]

Best Buy's in-store pickup is horrible. It always takes me at least 4 hours to get the confirmation email. Circuit City and CompUSA are light years ahead in this department.

Most of the time, the employees do know to check the external website, but I have had one not do that.

[Tek-E @ Mar 8th 2007 1:44PM]

Wow. Are you defending them? Why should anyone HAVE to do that in order to get the price that can be verified on the external site (and on the registers by the way)? They're shady, and have been for some time. If you do some research, you will see that Best Buy has a terrible reputation; things seen/heard of, and unseen/unheard of to the public. Many State Attorney Generals DO NOT like Best Buy's business practices and haven't for years. Ohio's actually sued them for something (lemon policy & honoring warranty issues).

Intranet sites can only be accessed from inside store. The mere fact that it is made to look identical to the website, with the intent to get customers, who at that point are already there with the intent to buy, to pay a little extra to turn a larger profit, is FRAUDULENT and UNETHICAL period.

I know the store is cool and all, but its like defending the crime of a superstar athlete simply because he's famous. It's silly.

[Godspring @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:23PM]

That is false, in most cases. Their store and their website are like 2 different stores. So what you do, you buy the thing full price at the store, then a day or 2 later you print out the advertised lower price from their website and then show it to them up front at the cashier along with the receipt. They will accept the print-out as a COMPETETERS DISCOUNT. and also give you an aditionsl 10% off that. I got a Zen Vision: M their for 249.99 at bestbuy in store. Then a day later brought the printout and they straight out gave me 70 bucks back.

If you dont want to go through the hassle of driving to town 2 times to get 1 item. Just bring the printout to the store the day you purchase your item, you will not get the additional 10% but you will get the lower price. again, The treat their website and their in-store AS 2 DIFFERENT STORES. they even compete with eachother, its an odd concept. just get used to printing out the price/sale you see online and bring it upfront. Sure its a hassle, but it beats waiting for shipping. and quite often their sales are good. like the Zen VIsion: M i bought. I saved 50 bucks from the printout sale, then the 10% (20) ADDITIONAL SAVINGS...

[Jesse S @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:24PM]

What's the site?

[Curtis @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:34PM]

Intranet site. We cannot access from our home computers.

This is really bad and Best Buy needs to be put through the ringer over this one.

[Eddy Alvarez @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:51PM]

same thing happened to me. I went to buy the sony alpha as a package w/ lens that i saw online...went there, i was told no. I said "it's online" and the guy took me to the comp and logged into something that looked IDENTICAL to the site. i looked at the URL and saw that it obviously wasn't the .com site. Having watched tv all my life and my sister being a lawyer, i knew that is definitely not ok. I told the guy, "do you want me to go to bestbuy.com on my phone and show you?" as i pulled out my BB pearl. He then proceeded to say "no no, thats ok" as he logged into the regular bestbuy.com site on the same computer where he found the package deal. lolol he thought i was a newb.
...shame on bestbuy. but, then again, you gotta love the rewards program. :-)

[Patrick @ Mar 3rd 2007 5:01PM]

>> ...shame on bestbuy. but, then again, you gotta
>> love the rewards program. :-)

No, I don't. They have repeatedly made their rewards program anything but rewarding. It started out like "spend $100, get a $5 coupon." Then they moved to "spend $150 and get a $5 coupon, and we won't count any money you may get back as a rebate." Then they changed it to "spend $250 and get a $5 coupon." In case this isn't clear enough: Best Buy is telling you they would rather you find something for $5 cheaper at circuit city than spend $249 at their store.

F that. Rewardzone is useless. Oh, and the capper: when I called to complain after getting the second letter informing me of the "exciting changes" that they were making to make it harder to get coupons, the support person told me they increased the points required based on customer feedback. Yeah, I bet tons of customers called saying "it's too easy to earn rewards. You should make it cost more."

Whatever. As for price matching, the guy at best buy told me (when I was buying my TV) that they purely price match bestbuy.com and price match + 10% difference of price for competitors. And when I brought in a CC ad showing the same price that best buy.com had, they said they already price matched that price to BestBuy.com and so I couldn't get the 10%. This is on a plasma too, so the extra 10% would have been like $30.

Best Buy can go screw.

-p-

[Dave @ Mar 3rd 2007 2:56PM]

They've always been shady. I bought my sister a computer there once. Our salesperson kept going on about the extended service plan. I refused it. He said, "Well what if lightning strikes and it causes a surge and it blows the computer?" I said, "Well, then the surge-protector company owes us $250,000--in accordance with their guarantee." He said, "Well, what if it breaks?" I said, "We'll send it in for repair." He said, "What if the warranty has expired?" I said, "I'd diagnose the problem and fix it myself." Then, later, some other guy comes by and says, "Nice computer. Did you get the extended warranty?" Our salesperson says, "No. He didn't want it." Then guy #2 says, obviously shocked, "He's doesn't want it?!" I said, "No. I don't." Then HE laid into me about how I needed it. This went on for at least ten minutes as they were "readying" our computer and delivering it to the front of the store. Finally, when there were three salesmen surrounding us and grilling me about it, I snapped. I screamed, "I've had it up to HERE with your service plan!!!" One of the guys took off immediately. The other two looked down and a second slowly backed away. Finally, they shut up, though.

On a different occasion, I heard a salesman say to an elderly woman interested in purchasing a Sony television, "You really should get the extended service plan. Nowadays, these things break after a year or two. Sometimes they don't even last a full year..." I wondered to myself what the people at Sony would think of the way they were being represented by these clowns.

[Rob @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:46PM]

Dude - trust me , the performance plan is a scam. When they sell the performance plan they will give you tons of promises and when you go to use it - they will not honour it. I bought a PSP for my laptop and they gave me a lot of bla bla when they sold it to me. When my adapter stopped working, i took it to them and they told me they cannot cover it under PSP as they think it is User Damaged. I asked them who decides it is user damaged? they said best buy had the last say in this and if they decide it is User damaged then it IS user damaged. This was the second year of my PSP so even if i returned it, i would get back pennies. Dont buy from Best Buy and NEVER buy their performance plan

[goke @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:04PM]

it's true....read best buy employee's comments here
http://www.retailworker.com/node/33404

[Michael @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:05PM]

Absolutely its purpose is to confuse the consumer. Over a year ago I needed to replace my DVD burner. I checked online and saw one on sale for $79. When I got to the store, it was $99 and the salesperson said it was not on sale. When I checked bestbuy.com at the store, it was indeed $99. I did not purchase it. When I returned home, I checked again and it was $79.

Be careful purchasing anything at best buy. After careful comparison shopping, you will find that they often charge higher than manufacturer's suggested retail on many items. For example: Apple's replacement earphones for the iPod (MA9394G) are $39.00 if purchased at an Apple store or online. At bestbuy.com the identical item is $49.99! Even the iPod's are priced $.99 more at the store or online than if you purchase directly from Apple.

Be careful. "Best Buy" is usually the worst buy.

[Lovebaby @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:06PM]

Amen on charging higher than list !!! Watch them like a hawk. Many times you can get cables, accessories , etc. cheaper elsewhere.

Also , regarding that "web site", A few weeks ago I saw that BB showed stock on the Logitech Edge at 5 of the 6 local stores. When I went to one of the stores with stock, the associate pulled up the "same" web site that showed none of the stores carrying it. Thinking I had dreamed the whole thing up, I went home, pulled it up again, and sure enough, they were showing stock? What the f*k?!

My biggest beef with Best Buy....They sold me a $400 Video Card that only contained cables and software disks. That was about 6 years ago. Letters to BBB did no good (don't even bother with BBB) Yeah I got screwed, but I still shop there. Why??? Because I'm an electronics junky.

[zac @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:17PM]

I was (briefly) employed at Best Buy and I can say that there is NO WAY to access the external bestbuy.com site. the only thing you can access is the dupe site this article refers to.

terrible store, terrible sales people, terrible pay, terrible selection. I only buy from there when the price is so low that I know they're taking a loss on it.

[Chris @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:49PM]

Employees CAN access BestBuy.com (the real one) from the store, but customers cannot.

[Bryan @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:20PM]

How ironic. I just recently experienced the woes of this site in my quest to purchase my new Canon PowerShot SD630. The price on the website was $60 less than the one in the store, and when I mentioned it, the sales associate checked BestBuy.com and told me I was mistaken. I drove all the way home, selected in store pickup, and brought the receipt and showed it to them. They said they had seen this happen before, and said they think that they have been denied seeing the web prices in order to keep the customer sale at the store at a higher amount. Now it's exposed, and hopefully, someone will do something about it.

[Will @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:22PM]

I work at Best Buy. There are two sites that we can access from any of the Kiosks in the store. One is going to be the one that you see at your house and will show what we sell in the store as well as online-only deals. The other is the intranet site you can only see in the store, it shows different prices because in most cases you get free shipping. From what I understand, I think every store might have different prices on the intranet site. Im not sure, I've only worked at best buy for a few months. But from first hand experience, I know that we'll honor the lower price in the store as long as it's not a online only deal.

[Aron Trimble @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:35PM]

Worked at best buy for two years. The bestbuy.com accessible by customers at all of the in-store kiosks reflects the prices that are printed on the signs in the store. This causes more harm than good because customers see a price online at home and arrive at the store expecting that price. Additionally, it is difficult for an employee (who doesn't know this) to access the "real" bestbuy.com to verify online prices.
It pisses off every customer.

[Justin @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:40PM]

I worked in customer service at Best Buy for several years, and this is true. However, the price match policy only allows for them to match retail brick-and-mortar competitor prices, which does not include BestBuy.com. Think what you will of that policy, but stores are actually doing more than they should when they match the online price.

[Brian @ Mar 5th 2007 2:58PM]

This is not exactly true. If you look at their Store Price Guarantee on their website, it states: If an item you purchased at Best Buy is advertised at a lower price at another Best Buy store in your local area or on BestBuy.com within 30 days of your original receipt purchase, Best Buy will refund you 100% of the price diffence. To bad the employees are not aware of this as I have been screwed before.

[e_rocm @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:41PM]

I worked at Best Buy for about 1.5 years and most of the employees there had no idea that there was an internal website.

The bad thing about this is about a year or so ago Best Buy changed their price matching policy to include the prices on Bestbuy.com. Before this change the two (Brick & Mortar and Online) were seen as different entities and we normally not match the online price. I have seen a lot of comments about Bestbuy not responsible for matching their website price because they are two distinct entities. While this may be true for some retailers, BestBuy has specifically made it part of their policy to do so.

Whether it's ignorant employees or not, BestBuy has made a big mistake here. My brother just tried to get a price match the other day to BestBuy.com and they totally showed him their intranet price, which was $20 more. He called me and I told him to have them look the price up on one of the Geek Squad computers (these computers are not connected to the internal site). They, at first, looked at him like he was an idiot when he told them about the "intranet site", but they checked the price anyway. Low and behold, the Geek Squad computer reflected the lower price.

Anyway, now that this is out in the spotlight I'm sure the empluyees will be a little less ignorant.

[JehovaHimself @ Mar 3rd 2007 9:29PM]

"I worked at Best Buy for about 1.5 years..."

...now that this is out in the spotlight I'm sure the empluyees will be a little less ignorant."

Oh, the irony.

[FluxCapacitor @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:43PM]

I work at Circuit City and we don't do anything like this. The only intranet site we have is one that employees can log in to to get accommodations, check benefits, download new sales info...it's all non-customer information. When we go online to check an online price...we go to circuitcity.com just like the customer does. 90% of the time we just price adjust the product to the web only price for the convenience of the customer, but thats just my store so others might not be so accommodating. I knew Best Buy was going to try and squash CCity with some big million dollar campaign but I didnt know that million would go towards a fake website.

[OddManOut @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:46PM]

"i looked at the URL and saw that it obviously wasn't the .com site."

Ha...I'm surprised the didn't trick out their router/DNS to take requests for the internet URL to the shady in-house page...I mean in an ELECTRONICS store they'd have to expect at least some of their customers to have a modicum of computer/internet savy and notice something like that.

""do you want me to go to bestbuy.com on my phone and show you?" as i pulled out my BB pearl. He then proceeded to say "no no, thats ok" as he logged into the regular bestbuy.com site"

Double ha...I love it how the sales guy buckled like a belt. I actually applied for a part-time job at my local best buy while I was in college. I'm glad they never called back...

[Chris @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:49PM]

BestBuy.com and Best Buy are two separate companies with separate prices, etc. We used the site to allow people to see if we offer a product but the prices come in as the same as in-store prices. If someone asked, we'd tell them its not the real site, otherwise I didn't honestly care. Its not that hard to order it online and do a pick-up.

And whatever Best Buy actually says, most employees don't know. In the store I was in, I would say half if not more had zero idea, though it has been in effect for a very long time. Of course it is to confuse the customers. In that regard its a great idea. Power to them.

[bblande @ Mar 3rd 2007 11:16PM]

Just print the damn page and bring it into the store. Buyer beware, always!

[ROMVS @ Mar 3rd 2007 3:51PM]

I think they are doing the old switch and bait. Too bad too cause their service is ok compared to CompUSA (which normally doesn't use switch and bait).

[Adam @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:02PM]

When I happened to work there, oh about a year ago, to get to the customer bestbuy.com, we had to log in and go to some manufacturer's page and right click to get to a internet explorer error page. Finally from here, we could type in any url, which is blocked at every other place. I always used this method to price check bestbuy.com. I was even scolded by my some of my bosses (I think there were like 12) for using this method. I hate BestBuy and will never work there again.

[mark @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:03PM]

I work at Best Buy and honestly it doesn't really affect the customer. You can only really access the site through the Employee Toolkit, so employees would be the ones logging onto it.

Just yesterday a guy came in looking for Casper. Casper is $9.99 on www.BestBuy.com (intranet and internet). It's $11.99 in the store. We price matched it for him and he got it for $9.99.

Real misleading. :O

[OG Style @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:36PM]

I got my Zen Vision M from Bestbuy. it was 200 online and when I went in the store it was 250. The lowest that they would go was 215 not 200

[tacos @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:37PM]

This actually did happen to me with best buy. Their website "magically" updated prices from when I got up to go to the store and got to the store. god dammit.

[justin.johnson3 @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:43PM]

As shady as this is, it's an incredible marketing tool and my only question is if there will be some kind of class-action suit that I can get in on? It may not even be illegal though, so maybe not.

[chainsaw830 @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:49PM]

To those who have said its just as easy to order something online and pick it up in store. One of the only reasons they say "hey lets see if we can order this online for you" is because they don't have it in store, or any store in the area. So you wouldn't be able to do a pick up. Its just like ordering something online, except you generally don't have pay shipping.

[Derrick @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:53PM]

This is exactly WHY I order my computer stuff from Newegg.

Best Buy always seems to be more expensive than everyone else...even the name is deceiving...lol.

[Whale-San Diego @ Mar 3rd 2007 5:30PM]

i love when it is discovered when big corporations are dealing from the bottom of the deck. it was only a matter of time. the employees should have spoke up sooner. it goes to their crdibility too....

[Scout650 @ Mar 3rd 2007 5:35PM]

Yeah, I'd be very careful when buying big electronics at BB. What I don't get is why the hell do they charge 2000 Wii Points for $22.99 not including tax. Even EB and Gamestop aren't that shady, at least they sell them for the usual $20.

[Hexidecimal @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:09PM]

This is true, we have them at the store I work at. Mostly the intranet site keeps a more accurate count of what is actually in stock then the Internet site. Ocassionally, out instore RSS item tracker will go down, and the intranet site is our only means of locating in store product.

What this probably fails to say, is that yes, prices can vary from intranet to internet sales, because sales aren't always entered into our intranet site, but, the internet site is accessable at any kiosk, and we will match the internet site no questions asked. It happens, and any honest employee will either take it to a manager, or just price match it.

[Virtuous @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:15PM]

It's Best Buy that should be going out of business, not CompUSA!

[PMoney @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:48PM]

The same thing happened to me a Circuit City when I was trying to purchase a Canon SD600 camera. I didn't get the $30 discount advertised on the website, so I asked about it, but was directed to "the only computer in the store with internet" which was using CC's INTRANET! The discount wasn't listed there, so I called home where my family verified that the discount was still on the external website.

CC employees told me I would have to go home to print the page showing the discount and bring it back just to get the discount. I finally found a laptop in the store that was left logged in to the store's network where I could access the internet. There I pulled up the page and showed an employee the discount.

After 45 mins of trouble, I finally got the discount, but CC DOES HAVE AN INTRANET AS WELL with different prices and discounts. Still, the employees were willing to let me prove the discount existed. Some seemed to know about the intranet and others didn't... so there's my story.

[Chilblane @ Mar 3rd 2007 7:01PM]

I'm gonna copy this from my Download Squad comment so people see it here:

I'm really confused, because this never happens at the store I work at. Nobody tells anybody to do shady things at my stores; maybe you all are the victims of some scheming management.

For example, we often get iPods on sale on BestBuy.com. If a customer finds this and wants it for that price, no problem--I use the Yahoo method to check the dotcom price, bring the product and customer to customer service, that rep checks it on the manager's computer (which runs normal Windows, on normal IE, no fancy Best Buy shell), and pricematches. I really don't even think about it.

I honestly believe this is exaggerating some stupid employees' mistakes. I really doubt there is bad intent, even though a lot of employees don't know the difference. The intranet version is intended to be an information tool for product in the store, and BestBuy.com is an alternative to the b&m store down the street and the one across town. They offer exclusive deals to entice you to not waste our store's labor, so we can focus on people who come in to see and experience products. That's really.. all there is. It's sad to see this get all blown up like this.

[John @ Mar 3rd 2007 7:58PM]

As a former employee of BestBuy, I can tell you that in deed BestBuy does have this site. The site is intentionally set up to rip off the customer. The employees DO have the ability to access the "real" internet quite simply by using a well known back door in the system. Furthermore, the customers can access the "real" internet as well, provided they have some basic computer skills. This is not the only attempt by BestBuy to rip you off, I could name several others, but that's not why you're reading this. My advice to the consumer is to do your research on-line at home first and narrow your search to a few select choices, then print out each one so you have that with you when you go into the store. The employees at BestBuy are going to sell you whatever they have in stock, not what is necesarilly best for you, so try not to let them "up-sale" you to something you don't need or want. And last but not least, when buying their warranties.... BEWARE!!! Read the fine print before you buy it, see what it doesn't cover, the list might surprise you. Good Luck!

[tanstaafl1963 @ Mar 3rd 2007 8:21PM]

What pisses me off about the whole bb.com vs brick-and-mortar, is how this stuff is stocked. On more than one occasion, I've ordered something from bb.com, gotten my confirmation email, printed it out and gone up to the store. Then, when they can't find or just don't have it behind the counter, they go out to the floor and pick it from stock! Certainly kills the idea of 2 different stores!

[Leon @ Mar 3rd 2007 8:21PM]

Seriously who still shops at Best Buy?
They are one of the worst retailers in the US, this type of bullshit just shows how bad they really are. Please people, do not buy anything from them, they don't deserve you as a customer.

[Andrew @ Mar 3rd 2007 8:26PM]

Wow talk about overreaction. This site is not used as a bate and switch for customers. The site exists simply as a reflection of instore pricing. Hence how the site is ONLY viewable by Best Buy employees in the store. It is company policy that we match any price given on the CONSUMER bestbuy.com website. So if any stores are attempting to not do that then they are definitely in the wrong. However believe it or not many in fact most best buy employees are not even aware that there are 2 different sites so it could be an innocent mistake. Nevertheless if you are going to price match the sure fire way is to just PRINT the page you see at home and bring it in with you. In fact in most cases the best buy POS system automatically will retrieve the consumer bestbuy.com price when doing a price match.