Angry Consumers Prompt Best Buy Lawsuit

By George Anderson


Executives at Best Buy, the Minneapolis-based consumer electronics chain, couldn’t be blamed if they were feeling a little like Lucy Ricardo this morning. Yesterday, the Ohio attorney general’s office said the retailer has “a lot of ‘splaining to do” when it filed a lawsuit against the chain for allegedly repackaging used product and reselling it as new, failing to honor extended service contracts and other violations of the state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act.


Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said in a released statement, “The sheer number of complaints coupled with the types of allegations my office received prompted us to file this lawsuit. The primary objective of this lawsuit is to bring Best Buy into conformity with Ohio’s consumer protection laws and ensure that Best Buy’s Ohio customers receive the service they deserve.”


Mr. Petro’s office says it has received hundreds of consumer complaints against Best Buy over the past several years.


A spokesperson for Best Buy, Susan Busch Nering, said, “We are aware of the lawsuit and are investigating its claims. However, we cannot comment because its pending litigation.”


Moderator’s Comment: What impact will this lawsuit
have on Best Buy’s business inside and out of Ohio? What should the retailer’s
response be to the charges if they turn out to be true?


If the charges are true, and we’re not presuming they
are, then Brad Anderson can stop evangelizing about Best Buy’s consumer centric
initiatives and prove it. Make things right with every single customer that
was taught the lesson of caveat emptor by Best Buy
.
George Anderson – Moderator

BrainTrust

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