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Best Buy Apologizes For 360 Bundles
drScott2 writes "During the launch of the Xbox 360, some Best Buy stores created bundles of Xbox 360s and accessories, and would not sell the Xbox by itself. Thus, if you wanted to buy an Xbox 360 you had to buy the accessories too. The president of Best Buy has officially offered an apology. From the Brian Dunn's letter: 'I'm writing to apologize. While all of us at Best Buy were thrilled to be part of the recent launch of Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game system - one of the most anticipated events in the history of electronic gaming - the launch did not go as we had hoped.'"
What is this, like appology number 12? Dang, how many times are they going to appologize for this?
It's very easy to say sorry once the units have left the shelves and the extra money has been pocketed. If they really wanted to say sorry they'd accept returns on the accessories in the bundles for a full refund and just let the customers keep the Xboxes...that is if they aren't defective. :)
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Again another person who didn't read the article before rushing for a first post;
Customers who are unhappy with Xbox 360-related purchases made in November 2005 may return unwanted items for a full refund at any Best Buy store. In addition, if your Xbox 360 purchasing experience did not meet your expectations for any reason, please email us at [email address will be inserted when the letter is posted to the website]. (Employees with information pertinent to our investigation are encouraged to call our Ethics Hot Line instead.)
Of course, you're also a moron if you paid through the nose just to be one of the first people to get an Xbox 360.
I have little pity for people who got "hurt" by this. If you were able to control your consumerism just a little bit, it wouldn't have been an issue.
Its all BS. They're probably gonna do it again anyway.
When you think about it, M$ probably sells it to BB at $375, and BB sells it at $400. IIRC, EBgames gets XBOX 1's at $138 and sells them for $150.
They're just looking for some extra cash. And once they have it, they'll say sorry, and do it again. I'm really sick of bundles. Why should i be forced to buy things i dont want anyway? Like those EU retailers forcing consumers to buy PSP Giga Packs with 2 crappy games, for a total of $400 USD.
Proudly posting without RTFA.
The problem is that people are saying they were "forced" to buy things with their X-Box 360. This is, of course, not the case. No one held their children hostage and demanded a purchase. If someone tries to bundle stuff you don't want with a console, you just don't buy it from that someone. I really don't see the problem here. I can only assume that people wanted a luxury entertainment item SO BADLY that they bought stuff they didn't want and had buyer's remorse later on.
$100+ purchases? What do I care? Any receipt for less than a grand or two gets tossed the moment it is handed to me. Are you poor or something?
Total BS. Does anyone honestly think that the pressure to sell accessories with the 360s as bundles came at the salesperson level or just store management level? They went in knowing this was gonna be a high demand item, and that they would have increased leverage. They also probably knew that there was going to be a supply shortage of new 360s in the near future and didn't want to hold onto stocks of accessories, games and other stuff and let shoppers potentially get their extras elsewhere.
Besides which, what does this cost Best Buy? Issue an apology probably written by his assistant/secretary/lawyer and then agree to give refunds for those people who actually manage to hear about this and bother to take the time to go through the process. I really only accept a corporate "apology" if it means they take a financial hit worse than what they gained through the improper behaviour in the first place.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
I waited outside Best Buy for 5 hours on Black Friday (for the $380 laptop and $150 PC/monitor). Quantities of unbundled items were very limited (the minimum specified in the advertisement) and the employees were trying to sell extremely overpriced "bundles" to drive up the price.
Best Buy is all about upselling - from extended warranties to cables to services, their whole strategy to increase margin is to bundle overpriced junk with anything you buy.
Best Buy is fine as long as you remember one thing - don't believe their lies.
On the other hand, it might not matter if they can get a much better "refund" by selling the accessories on ebay.
You wait in line for 12+ hours expecting to buy an item at $X price. Lo and behold, when you're ready to pay it's now $X+Y. So your only recourse is leave or pay the extra $$.
It's not exactly FORCING you to buy anything, but that's not really the issue. They've wasted that person's time - a good chunk of it - and time is money.
Well that letter was so full of corporate BS it was making my PC steam. And the aroma! At least the flowers will grow.
It's ridiculous that someone in his position wouldn't know about bundling practices, it was probably his idea. He apologises that it happened, he says he'll look into it, but he doesn't actually bother admitting that it was their own idea and they did it to make money. A sales and marketing exercise like the release of a new console is probably almost as important as christmas to these guys. Just like anything that makes customers (aka walking wallets full of cash to take) to line up outside the shop has got to get some special attention at the highest level.
It's purely a PR exercise. They're not really sorry, and if they thought they could get away with it, they would. Heck, from the attitide of that letter, if they thought they could get a good revenue stream from stealing old ladies handbags, they would. Especially if all they have to do afterwards is write a "sorry, don't know what happened to your handbag, maybe it went missing, I don't believe in stealing handbags so I will look into it" letter.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
I tried to order an xbox at ebgames.com - and all they would sell me was a bundle.
I did this with the PSP, and got burned big time (all the games were very bad indeed)
So now, instead of having a pre-orded xbox because I wanted to avoid the bundles, I have a brand new DS with Mario Kart. And you know, I think I may be happier.
You've gotta be kidding me. The X-Box 360 is not a monopoly. It may be the best system available, but there's plenty of other providers of console entertainment.
No, that person wasted his own time by waiting in line for 12+ hours and falling for the hype. Do you see the people who lined up for days to watch the new Star Wars movies suing George Lucas because of the crappy prequals? Of course not.
You can bet they'd complain if they were required to buy a large popcorn and 4 boxes of Good and Plenty to get a ticket.
Sounds a lot like the addage ..its easier to gouge you know, and apoligse later.
Especially if you know what you are doing.
Im sure that most people probably wont bother.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
Of course, MS would argue "the relevant market" is much larger, and includes all consoles of which Xbox has a [deservedly] small share. However logical it might appear, that logic might not prevail. Antitrust law is a particularly aggressive beast.
...when the PS2 released. We did the EXACT same thing. We setup tables, put the bundles together, and WOULDN'T sell a ps2 without them. It is all leverage. BBY knows that the people standing in line to buy the latest and greatest consoles are going to jump a few hurdles, and part with some more cash to get it first.
Best Buy does not condone pressuring customers to purchase items they may not want or that may not fit their lifestyle
The don't condone it, but they do reward it. The sales force at BBY is not on commission, but the management IS compensated for store preformance. An in-store sales manager determines how sales are conducted, and this would not be the first time a manager decided to artificially inflate his numbers. Regional management and upper management only looks at the balance sheet and customer comments. So if the store makes or exceeds expectations, and no one complains, then the store management gets some cash.
Let's see:
1) Over-hype a product because you think people are stupid and will buy it because it's "sold out"
2) Place a few units on eBay for super-high prices, hoping people will believe the 'hype'
3) Make sure you don't produce enough units to meet demand (which _no_ business model ever does, unless it's just trying to push a device down "the people's" throats for marketshare purposes)
4) profit!
5) Introduce a subscription model and increase the price whenever it suits your corporation.
6) mega-profit!
It's the same business model as the Oil/Gasoline companies. That's why you can't "buy" anything anymore, you have to "license" it. Because when you license it, they can make you pay for it forever, and raise the price whenever they feel like it.
Vote Democrat - preserve your consumer rights.
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
http://www.bestbuysux.org/
Well, yeah. OR you could opt to leave the store and buy one somewhere else. It's their store. Their marketing division assumed that bundling would generate more revenue due to the high interest level for this item, and that would outweigh the number of sales lost due to consumers shopping elsewhere for a non-bundled alternative.
I'm betting they were right in that assumption.
VOTE!
"I want to be very clear that Best Buy does not condone pressuring customers to purchase items they may not want or that may not fit their lifestyle."
Since when does MORE gamestation related junktronics not fit the lifestyle of anyone desperate enough to get a 360 to pay for stuff he didn't want in the first place?
Yeah, ok, this will probably be an unpopular position.
BestBuy sucks, but I have no problem with what they did. No one had to buy from them, and they can return it under their normal return policy.
Yeah, if people WANTED one, there wasn't much they could do, but blame Microsoft for that, not BestBuy. There are plenty of annoying practices at BestBuy to complain about, I just don't think this is one of them.
Step 1. Sell a product in an overpriced bundle.
Step 2. Since the buyer already bought the bundle, probably openend the items, and discarded much of the original packaging, offer a refund for the unwanted items weeks later. Not only will many buyers not bother to return an item they really didn't want in the first place, many buyers will not be able to return the items due to the packaging, etc being thrown away.
Step 3. Profit.
I'm not sure what the problem is here. If you're not being forced, it's your own choice to buy or not to buy.
Slashdotted comment board: Written by Starvina on 2005-12-07 20:40:11 Best Buy's are not supposed to do that and I hope the fapers at those stroes that did get in MAJOR TROUBLE! You cannot keep a product from someone b/c they won't buy accesories or the Plan! *hmm* :grin
Written by OneSharpMarble on 2005-12-08 09:45:30
Starvina.........
r u a guurl? O.o
Sigs are for Terrorists.
The store I worked at did the same thing, but they went a step further: They removed the systems from the shelves and placed them off to the side in a display which was manned by a CSR, whom the customer _had_ to speak with in order to get a system.
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men... --Willy Wonka
That was what the punitive damages turned out to be in the "scalding coffee in the lap" case against Mickey-D's. McDonalds was originally assigned damages equal to a few days (IIRC) profit from their coffee sales. The company's own doctors had described the temp the coffee was served at as undrinkable and dangerous given the cups. McD's execs said the higher temperature was a competitive advantage thing, that they'd gained an edge over their competition serving it noticeably hotter. So the jury assigned damages that went to that issue: removing the cash they'd made via that competitive advantage. (After the settlement that followed, we won't know what McDonald's really paid, though.)
Not sure how you feel about that one. It's often used as an example of a frivolous lawsuit, though I think that's a knee-jerk reaction taken from pop media accounts. But it's a decent example of what you say you want...
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
If you advertise a product at a price, and then refuse to sell that product at that price and insist on selling at another one instead, thats a bait & switch and it's illegal in the US. I don't give 2 shits about the XBox and didn't read the flyers or anything else, but it seems like the bundling wasn't Best Buy policy and that it was done at the store level. That means that the advertising would have shown the XBox individually, and anyone who waited in the line for hours and was told they could only buy a bundle instead of the bare XBox has a potential civil claim against that store. Whether they fell for hype or wasted thier time with something you think is stupid isn't the point.
Back in the day, game companies used to pack in games for free as an incentive to buy the hardware (Super Mario, Sonic, etc)... now the retailers use the appeal of the hardware as a way to force consumers to buy games/accessories they don't necessarily want. Interesting how things have changed.
Per ardua ad astra.
This is exactly why I didn't buy my PSP at BestBuy, same deal. Sigh.
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk