Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

360 Bundles Lead To Best Buy Housecleaning

Posted by Zonk on from the making-money-like-jerks dept.

Groo Wanderer writes "At the launch of the XBox 360, there were reports of forced and unwanted bundling by several companies, most notably Best Buy. There were things said back and forth, and the usual corporate banter. They have followed through, this time, and a good number of people lost their jobs." From the article: "We are told a manager that started the procedure is no longer employed at Best Buy. At least one senior district manager is no longer employed, and some of the nailings are rumored to have gone even higher. The big yellow inquisition did not stop there, and several other managers and assorted white collar workers were given an escorted walk to the parking lot."

4 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Why is bundling wrong? by Fatchap · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't get it, what is wrong with a store saying "Sure I will sell you this thing you really want, but at the price I want to charge. I will even include some crap you don't really want, but you still have to pay the price I want to charge"

    Seems that if you don't want to pay the price you go elsewhere or you don't buy the product.

    --
    The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
    1. Re:Why is bundling wrong? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      From a consumer perspective, the store is misusing its position (being one of the few stores with a limited stock of the product) to force you to pay higher costs that you don't want to pay to get extra products you don't want just so you can have the core product that you DID want. This is different than just charging a higher price due to limited availability.

      From the store's perspective, this is bad because it probably drove a lot of customers into the arms of competitors. Which means that customers they might have counted on to come back to purchase games and accessories will now turn to online stores or other retailers for their needs.

      THAT is what's so wrong.

      Oh, and it can attract the attention of the Federal Trade Commission for anti-consumer practices.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    2. Re:Why is bundling wrong? by bVork · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is that they advertised the real $399 price and didn't honour it. This is a classic bait-and-switch.

      There were also rumours that some EBs and GameStops were fiddling with the pre-order wait list based on how many games and peripherals were also pre-ordered. Does anyone have more information on that?

  2. Re:Lemme git this straight... by ThePlague · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's the classic "bad apple" tactic. Just have very stringent policies in place, but make the goals such that it's either difficult or impossible to meet without breaking those policies. If no one notices, promotions all around. If someone calls them on it, then an easy scapegoat and much haughty pointing to the policy. Either way, the organization wins. Abu Grahib was a perfect example of that and this Best Buy ploy is another. Of course, I'm not saying they are of equal importance or ramification at all, rather the technique is identical.