Lunar: Silver Star Harmony LE 29.99 available for pre-order on BestBuy.com <DEAD>

DKRobbie

DKRobbie

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Was browsing for the cheapest price for the limited edition of this RPG classic and lo and behold, 29.99 for preorder available 3-15-10 on Best Buys website. Granted they'll factor in 3.00 shipping and tax, but I'm sure on the release date in store pick-up will be available negating both of those for people like me who despise the double whammy of shipping and tax.

****************EDIT 3-15-10******************************

False advertising on Best Buys part. Shitheads advertise the LE but are only selling the standard edition at 30. No luck guys.
 
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Not to bust your balls here because while you may be right....
Everybody is always going to go after some gimp in a video game or electronics store because of some wrong that's been done. Everybody knows it's bullshit, the store knows it's bullshit, but nothing is going to be done. At best you'll get a 10% off coupon and a pat on the ass to run along.

You have to realize that the chances of getting somebody in customer service that gives a crap is very unlikely. Or....if you mention FCC they are gonna ask if that's a new music group.

I wish you luck though. :)


[quote name='Krazer']Hey guys. I just wanted to bring something up... Best Buy doing what they're doing are technically violating FCC trade regulations.

What they are doing is technically considered "bait advertising."

What is bait advertising? According to the FCC...(Google "Guides Against Bait Advertising 16 CFR PART 238" for more)

Sec. 238.0 Bait advertising defined.
Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised.

I'm no lawyer, but what they're doing is pretty clear, read on...

Sec. 238.3 Discouragement of purchase of advertised merchandise.
No act or practice should be engaged in by an advertiser to discourage the purchase of the advertised merchandise as part of a bait scheme to sell other merchandise. Among acts or practices which will be considered in determining if an advertisement is a bona fide offer are:
(c) The failure to have available at all outlets listed in the advertisement a sufficient quantity of the advertised product to meet reasonably anticipated demands, unless the advertisement clearly and adequately discloses that supply is limited and/or the merchandise is available only at designated outlets.
​

Sec. 238.4 Switch after sale.
No practice should be pursued by an advertiser, in the event of sale of the advertised product, of "unselling" with the intent and purpose of selling other merchandise in its stead. Among acts or practices which will be considered in determining if the initial sale was in good faith, and not a stratagem to sell other merchandise, are:
(b) Failure to make delivery of the advertised product within a reasonable time or to make a refund,
​
I doubt this is the first time they've done this sort of thing.

Maybe if we show this to Best Buy Customer Service and ask nicely, we'd be able to come to some sort of mutual agreement?

Best Buy is clearly liable in this case. My 2 cents here.[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='howlinmad']Not to bust your balls here because while you may be right....
Everybody is always going to go after some gimp in a video game or electronics store because of some wrong that's been done. Everybody knows it's bullshit, the store knows it's bullshit, but nothing is going to be done. At best you'll get a 10% off coupon and a pat on the ass to run along.

You have to realize that the chances of getting somebody in customer service that gives a crap is very unlikely. Or....if you mention FCC they are gonna ask if that's a new music group.

I wish you luck though. :)[/QUOTE]

Haha. What you say is probably be true, no one's probably gonna bust a wall over a game. Still a dick move on BB's part, they could have at least let you cancel the order before it shipped. They did delay orders for a week.
 
[quote name='Krazer']Hey guys. I just wanted to bring something up... Best Buy doing what they're doing are technically violating FCC trade regulations.

What they are doing is technically considered "bait advertising."

What is bait advertising? According to the FCC...(Google "Guides Against Bait Advertising 16 CFR PART 238" for more)

(CFRs omitted)

I'm no lawyer, but what they're doing is pretty clear, read on...

(More CFRs omitted)

Best Buy is clearly liable in this case. My 2 cents here.[/QUOTE]

First, it's FTC, as in the Federal Trade Commission, which is a federal consumer protection agency. The FCC is the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the airwaves.

Second, you're not a lawyer, but you're going to offer your interpretation of the CFRs, and offer an opinion that Best Buy clearly is liable? So what kind of action are you proposing? A breach of contract suit? A criminal prosecution under 15 U.S.C. 54? So you have evidence that Best Buy is intentionally misleading people to make you buy a more expensive product, and that it's not some stupid mistake? So which more expensive product did Best Buy sell to you? Have you spoken to general counsel at Best Buy? I'm sure you've thought this all through.

Yes, Best Buy screwed up, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to call it bait advertising and pursue some legal action based upon that.
 
[quote name='Seburo']First, it's FTC, as in the Federal Trade Commission, which is a federal consumer protection agency. The FCC is the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the airwaves.

Second, you're not a lawyer, but you're going to offer your interpretation of the CFRs, and offer an opinion that Best Buy clearly is liable? So what kind of action are you proposing? A breach of contract suit? A criminal prosecution under 15 U.S.C. 54? So you have evidence that Best Buy is intentionally misleading people to make you buy a more expensive product, and that it's not some stupid mistake? So which more expensive product did Best Buy sell to you? Have you spoken to general counsel at Best Buy? I'm sure you've thought this all through.

Yes, Best Buy screwed up, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to call it bait advertising and pursue some legal action based upon that.[/QUOTE]

My bad on the typo, but no where did I say that I was going to sue BB for anything (I'm not the one jumping the gun here). I'm just pointing out that this can be used a leverage in case a BB manager/rep tries to stonewall you. I mean you might be able to get them to refund your shipping if you ordered online. I've recently called BB customer service and they're not quite sure what's going on. If you look on best buy online (as of this message) you'll notice that the LE ver. is still advertised online (albeit sold out), even though it's the only version they sell online.

It's fair if they corrected this error and offered refunds to the affected customers, but they did not. Just trying to let ppl get a fair deal here.
 
[quote name='Krazer']My bad on the typo, but no where did I say that I was going to sue BB for anything (I'm not the one jumping the gun here). I'm just pointing out that this can be used a leverage in case a BB manager/rep tries to stonewall you. I mean you might be able to get them to refund your shipping if you ordered online. I've recently called BB customer service and they're not quite sure what's going on. If you look on best buy online (as of this message) you'll notice that the LE ver. is still advertised online (albeit sold out), even though it's the only version they sell online.

It's fair if they corrected this error and offered refunds to the affected customers, but they did not. Just trying to let ppl get a fair deal here.[/QUOTE]

He just wanted to throw about a bunch of stuff to make himself look smart and criticize you.
 
Just wanted to point out that at my local Best Buy someone put a handwritten price marker showing the correct (non LE) version of the game. So either Best Buy as a whole knows about this mistake and is trying to correct it, or my local store did.
 
[quote name='Green Card200']He just wanted to throw about a bunch of stuff to make himself look smart and criticize you.[/QUOTE]

Yes, it was criticism, but not to make myself look smart. I was offended that someone did a Google search, did a copy and paste of the CFRs without understanding any of the background or the law, and offering an inaccurate analysis. If you're going to go to a Best Buy store and mutter stuff about bait-and-switch advertising, the FTC, and legal liability, and know little of what you're talking about, then you're just being a bully.
 
[quote name='Seburo']Yes, it was criticism, but not to make myself look smart. I was offended that someone did a Google search, did a copy and paste of the CFRs without understanding any of the background or the law, and offering an inaccurate analysis. If you're going to go to a Best Buy store and mutter stuff about bait-and-switch advertising, the FTC, and legal liability, and know little of what you're talking about, then you're just being a bully.[/QUOTE]

Or trying to get them to honor the deal the posted or at least give a full refund.
 
[quote name='Seburo']Yes, it was criticism, but not to make myself look smart. I was offended that someone did a Google search, did a copy and paste of the CFRs without understanding any of the background or the law, and offering an inaccurate analysis. If you're going to go to a Best Buy store and mutter stuff about bait-and-switch advertising, the FTC, and legal liability, and know little of what you're talking about, then you're just being a bully.[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry, seeing as you yourself seem to be more qualified than any of us at interpreting this situation... what should we have done? Just sit around and the them do their thing? To what extent?
 
I had a manager from the Best Buy call me today about the dispute, says what a lot of you are saying about the corrections but wanted to talk to me about the guy who was giving me shit over the difference between the LE and standard edition. Almost a week has passed, I wasn't really out to get anyone in trouble...bleh. Just won't be ordering for in store pickup again.
 
My on-line order arrived yesterday and it's the damn regular edition :whistle2:(

what's more insulting? Right after BB sent out the shipping confirmation for the "LE" (clearly says on the confirmation), they sent me an e-mail saying they don't carry LE at all. WTF? Shouldn't be sending me the "no LE" notification first and then allow me to manually adjust the order (to cancel or to ship the regular edition)?

But no... stupid BB shipped the non-LE anyway, knowing that it's the wrong item! Anyhow, I got the damn order returned to the store and called the BB 888 number to get my shipping charges back.
 
Got my copy a day or two ago and went in to Best Buy Yesterday to return it. I handed the game to the clerk told them what happened and they returned it without question including my shipping!
 
What a load of bullshit. I agree with all the talk about bait advertising. It would be one thing if Best Buy had just shipped out regular edition copies instead of the Limited Edition, but according to all the e-mails people have been getting, Best Buy didn't even have any. So not only were they falsely advertising for a product they didn't have- they slapped a good price tag on it, and as a result, a lot of people got stuck with something they didn't buy. That's ridiculous.

If I had bought this (which I came very close to, had I worked an extra day last week), I would have threatened legal action. Even if it was unintentional (which seems very unlikely, given the culmination of circumstances), Best Buy should at least compensate their customers who got shafted with this a coupon or something. But even then it wouldn't be worth it for me, since I'd have to drive 45 minutes to a Best Buy to return my game or pay for return shipping.

If I were you guys who ordered the LE and got the RE, I wouldn't let myself go unheard. The more people who make themselves heard, the more likely Best Buy will offer some form of compensation, and likely take steps to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.
 
[quote name='Jackie Chandler']What a load of bullshit. I agree with all the talk about bait advertising. It would be one thing if Best Buy had just shipped out regular edition copies instead of the Limited Edition, but according to all the e-mails people have been getting, Best Buy didn't even have any. So not only were they falsely advertising for a product they didn't have- they slapped a good price tag on it, and as a result, a lot of people got stuck with something they didn't buy. That's ridiculous.

If I had bought this (which I came very close to, had I worked an extra day last week), I would have threatened legal action. Even if it was unintentional (which seems very unlikely, given the culmination of circumstances), Best Buy should at least compensate their customers who got shafted with this a coupon or something. But even then it wouldn't be worth it for me, since I'd have to drive 45 minutes to a Best Buy to return my game or pay for return shipping.

If I were you guys who ordered the LE and got the RE, I wouldn't let myself go unheard. The more people who make themselves heard, the more likely Best Buy will offer some form of compensation, and likely take steps to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.[/QUOTE]

Meh customer service was nice and I got all my cash back. If they would have not refunded my shipping id have threatened bait and switch, but as it stands alls well that ends well.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Meh customer service was nice and I got all my cash back. If they would have not refunded my shipping id have threatened bait and switch, but as it stands alls well that ends well.[/QUOTE]

Not for me though... it was not 1 2 and bam 3, done.

I got a case# and told the BB "head" cashier at the customer service about the whole thing. She's like, "you gotta return this using the label." "No, you can't return it here, you bought this on-line..."

I have to make two phone calls, one trip and taking crap from a "head" cashier to get my money back. All BB had to do was to send the damn "no LE" e-mail before shipping the order, which should give people enough time to cancel, duh!

P.S. the "head" cashier isn't even cute...
 
[quote name='Serpentor']Not for me though... it was not 1 2 and bam 3, done.

I got a case# and told the BB "head" cashier at the customer service about the whole thing. She's like, "you gotta return this using the label." "No, you can't return it here, you bought this on-line..."

I have to make two phone calls, one trip and taking crap from a "head" cashier to get my money back. All BB had to do was to send the damn "no LE" e-mail before shipping the order, which should give people enough time to cancel, duh!

P.S. the "head" cashier isn't even cute...[/QUOTE]

heh my cashier looked like they had taken the most adorable child ever and turned her into a sexy 16-22 year old hottie....but one you felt odd checking out since she looked like an adult child....
 
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