Jason_H
Second Unit
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2000
- Messages
- 422
So here's the situation. If you take a peak over in the "Coupons and Bargains" forum you will see a thread about buying Xbox Platinum Hits titles on sale for $5 at Bestbuy.com these games are usually priced around $20. This deal appeared on Sunday night, and was all over the web. Many speculated that this was some sort of pricing error (as has happened on many DVD sites) and like many, I took my chances and ordered some games. I opted for "In-Store Pickup" instead of mail order, since I figured I wouldn't have much of a chance of getting the games that way if everybody was ordering. Lo and behold, I get the notice on Monday to come by and pick up my games. I do so and come home with a receipt where each game is listed for $5 (which I signed in the store) and the games themselves. Everything is peachy, right?
WRONG. Today I look at my order history. I notice that sometime in the last two days Best Buy took the liberty to "return" my games on the same day at the $5 price and then "repurchase" them at the $20 price. In a nutshell, Best Buy decided without ANY authorization from me, and well after the transaction, to fix the prices and charge the difference to my credit card. AND, they out and out lied about me returning the merchandise as the means to do it. As I understand it, this isn't just unethical or borderline, this is highly illegal (extra charges with no authorization). Imagine the next time you went to buy something, that after you walked out the door the store decided that they hadn't charged you enough and re-charged your credit card.
I basically called my credit card company and explained the situation, and they were happy to reverse the extra charge. My question is, do I have any legal recourse beyond this? I am wondering if Best Buy will try to fight this, even though they are clearly in the wrong, did something I think is very illegal, and I have all the evidence on my side. Other people out there are having similar problems. Just wondering if anyone with legal knowledge would like to weigh in on this. I was thinking small claims court might be enough to set them straight if I needed to.
WRONG. Today I look at my order history. I notice that sometime in the last two days Best Buy took the liberty to "return" my games on the same day at the $5 price and then "repurchase" them at the $20 price. In a nutshell, Best Buy decided without ANY authorization from me, and well after the transaction, to fix the prices and charge the difference to my credit card. AND, they out and out lied about me returning the merchandise as the means to do it. As I understand it, this isn't just unethical or borderline, this is highly illegal (extra charges with no authorization). Imagine the next time you went to buy something, that after you walked out the door the store decided that they hadn't charged you enough and re-charged your credit card.
I basically called my credit card company and explained the situation, and they were happy to reverse the extra charge. My question is, do I have any legal recourse beyond this? I am wondering if Best Buy will try to fight this, even though they are clearly in the wrong, did something I think is very illegal, and I have all the evidence on my side. Other people out there are having similar problems. Just wondering if anyone with legal knowledge would like to weigh in on this. I was thinking small claims court might be enough to set them straight if I needed to.