So I was sent a link to buy Metro:Last Light from Best Buy for one penny. Yup, one cent. I didn't really want the game but I figured hey nice GOG giveaway or gift for my son. So of course I went to the link to see if it could be true and sure enough, Best Buy allowed me to process an order on my credit card for one cent. I even received a confirmation of my order via email with a valid order number.

Now I wasn't born yesterday so I suspected that Best Buy had made an error by allowing this link to be public instead of linking it to whatever promotion they were doing. But stupid is as stupid does. Best Buy has regularly screwed customers in the past - me included. So this sort of felt like a certain kind of rude justice... one which I was happy to invest a penny in to see how it turned out. And of course it turned out exactly as I suspected - Best Buy has no intention of making good on their valid order.

When speaking with customer service chat, I was fed a PR line about how their support guys are working to fix the problem! I had to laugh - clearly they are working to fix THEIR problem not their CUSTOMERS problem! Hilarious if you ask me ;-)

Now you may ask, if I knew they'd made a mistake and this one cent game wasn't really intended to be sold to me - a person that did not buy whatever item this "one cent gift" was actually intended for, why did I participate? Well I truly think Best Buy needs to reconsider how they do business - they are way behind the times when it comes to what they sell, how they sell it and mostly their abysmal customer service. By actively participating in showing them an error in their system, I consider my act to be helping them on board qualified programmers that don't screw up. I then challenge their customer service chat to be honest instead of feeding the public a blatant, self-serving PR line. And I force them to face up to a level of personal responsibility - if you screw up and allow a link to a one cent game to go out to the public and then renege on those valid orders then publicly and personally apologize OR make good and eat the cost of your mistake. Hey, Best Buy customers put up with crappy service, crappy box stores full of nothing and crappy products every day...

If you don't believe me check out these sites full of customer complaints;
http://www.pissedconsumer.com/reviews-by-company/best-buy.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/best_buy.htm
http://best-buy-reviews.measuredup.com/1733/Reviews/Consumer-Complaint-1
http://mythreecents.com/reviews/best_buy

anyway, I'll post any updates as they happen but mostly I find this to be a sad state of affairs that a huge company like Best Buy cannot get their act together. And that their PR response is all about taking care of their own corporate interests. Sigh, American business at it's finest :-(

I already saw this coming. That is why I didn't purchase the 1 cent Metro game for someone. Best Buy is a douche bag corporation so of course they won't make good. After walking into one of their stores, you can see how they do business... You should of seen this coming. Would you trust a scorpion to not sting your ass?

I went through this too. I received a confirmation email telling me an activation code email was forthcoming. That's it - no cancellation email or anything. They are just being quiet about it. My Order History shows it as "Order in process".

It's not that big of a deal to me, but I would at least expect an email or some notification that an error was made with some sort of apology. Right now I am thinking, "Fat chance."

I knew they'd nip this once the run-out-of-keys line came out. But I, at least, expected they'd send out the ones they processed.

Well, can't really be surprised, BB is as crap as retailers get. Just hire the most clueless people with the biggest and most grotesquely static smiles to sell you overpriced crap, courtesy of a near-monopoly.

They did fulfill some orders (I managed to get a key), but once they caught onto the price mistake, they stopped delivering. Took maybe 30 minutes or so for them to catch on.

*hug*
You needed it Spinorial, and Alan Rickman IS the man. =))

The truth... And another reason, living in MERICA, pisses me off. Corporations like BB took over completely, leaving us Americans with few options. Support this shitty corporation, support that shitty corporation. I miss the good old days before a handful of corporations took over 100% of the USA. When there were many different stores you could go to for computer related stuff, TVs etc. Now, everywhere, there is a BB(Best Buy) and nothing else. Fortunately, we still have the internet to turn to.

I also splurged on the one cent sale without being emailed the product. Best Buy sometimes has penny clearance exclusives in store when they get deleted from inventory so I figured they were just burning off "overstock." If penny sale was a mistake that's understandable but it's not cool for them to send confirmation emails promising the product then just not respond any further.

Nah, give the hug to momo, she's righteously pissed right about now. Me, I've long since wizened up on BB and only ever buy stuff I can return in 30 days.

Write a complaint to BBB about BB

And that'll do them in. Already they've had to close down a number of stores up here, that should continue as Amazon et al grab bigger chunks of their market.

*Hug for Momo!*
At the request of the most exalted Spinorial.
Sorry for your troubles Momo. :(
Tomorrow is a new day! Hopefully it will be great for you. =D

Actually I'm not pissed at all - I long ago learned not to shop at Worst Buy ;-)

But thanks for the hugs!!

muhehehe, Best Buy now has dozens of pennies for free! why didn't I think of such a cunning plan?

Did you buy the extended warranty? It's only $25 more, and they STRONGLY recommend it for your purchase.