This all comes out of a lawsuit that was just granted class action status. Internal documents, plus depositions from past and current Best Buy employees reveal just how evil Best Buy is. A price match is when, say, Circuit City advertised a Sharp HDTV cheaper than Best Buy, Best Buy’s public policy is to match that price.

But Best Buy actually trains employees in New York how to deny legitimate price match requests, and the average Best Buy store denies 100 price matches a week. You even get paid bonuses based on how many price matches you deny!

Here’s how it works, according to Phil Britton, a member of Best Buy’s Competitive Strategies Group:

What is the first thing we do when a customer comes in to our humble box brandishing a competitor’s ad asking for a price match? We attempt to build a case against the price match. (Trust me, I’ve done it too). Let’s walk through the “Refused Price Match Greatest Hits:

“Not same model? Not in stock at the competitor? Do we have free widget with purchase? Is it from a warehouse club (they have membership fees, you know)? Limited Quantities? That competitor is across town? We’ve got financing! Is it an internet price? It’s below cost!…..”

If you live in NY state, and you’ve been screwed by Best Buy’s anti-price matching, HD Guru has further info on the attorney to contact so you can take a piece out of Best Buy. What a bunch of scum.

Update: Giz reader Jake reveals how they scam you on model numbers to avoid price matching:

Example: A few months ago my wife and I were looking at a Frigidaire Washer. The model we were interested was the ATF8000FS. At Best Buy, we found the washer there however it was displayed as the ATF8000FSL. At first I figured “Oh this must be some variation on the original model number, like how manufacturers sometimes add a letter to the end of the model to indicate the product color.” Anyways, to make a long story short, this ATF8000FSL was not available from the manufacturer.

The “L” was added on by Best Buy in order for them to skirt around price matching. This is so no one can come to Best Buy and claim to have found a lower price of this product because no one else sells the product under the model number ATF8000FSL. It’s ATF8000FS everywhere else. Best Buy will tell people that its simply a different product, so therefore, no price matching. Even on the manufacturer’s sticker on the washer, it said ATF8000FS, as it was supposed to. Upon further investigation I could see that Best Buy’s internal computers even listed the model as ATF8000FSL.

Pretty scammy. [HD Guru, Image: bdjsb7/Flickr]

Manufacturers typically set a minimum advertised price, or MAP, that they require authorised sellers to maintain. But online retailers, including Buy.com and even poor, beleaguered CircuitCity.com, often sell products at a discount, and manufacturers believe that steep discounting hurts their brand integrity. These upset gadgetmakers have begun hiring enforcement agencies, like Phoenix’s NetEnforcers, to scour the internet for cheap deals and tattle on authorised dealers. Retribution is usually just a warning letter in this case, asking the seller to bring the prices up to the MAP with the veiled threat that lifting the price is important to maintaining a good relationship. Occasionally, an authorised seller in violation of an MAP will have their contract yanked, stopping them from selling that manufacturer’s goods.

Where this story gets dirty is in the unauthorised resellers. I’m not talking about a dude selling Panaphonics car stereos out of his car’s trunk on that shady corner in West Philly four years ago (I’m not falling for that again!), I’m talking about eBay and Craigslist. Sellers on these sites are under no legal or business obligation to match any price at all, so NetEnforcers and their ilk are attacking them in the time-honoured method favoured by such baddies as the RIAA: threaten the sellers with frivolous lawsuits in the hopes that the victims will just give up in the face of legal might.

NetEnforcers favours threats of copyright and trademark infringement for eBay and Craigslist users, but as eBay’s Tod Cohen says, this is incredibly transparent: “They take down the Web sites only of the unauthorised resellers that are selling at discounts, but don’t bother other unauthorised sellers if they’re selling at MAP. This suggests manufacturers are mainly interested in keeping prices up, not preventing trademark violations.”

A recent court ruling declared MAPs legal, and not in violation of antitrust laws, but representatives from both eBay and Craigslist note that this aggressive policy is effectively price-fixing, which means more expensive products for consumers. As a lifelong bargain hunter, I’m a bit upset that these internet mercenaries are taking away my deals, and their strong-arm muscling really rubs me the wrong way. [WSJ]

Dear Valued Customer,
If you have purchased from us before and feel we did a good job, please use the link below and rate us 10/10 and we will give you $5.00 in credit to use for anything on our website.

Apparently the offer went so far as to provide an invoice number, should the customer not have one. But when called out on this clearly shady practice, TheCellShop.net quickly hedged their intentions:

We worded the email that was sent out improperly. We wanted to offer $5.00 coupon to anybody who submitted a review …We are now offering $5.00 for anybody who leaves a review whether it be good or bad.

Ahhh. Of course! It’s like a multi-word typo.

Then again, $5 isn’t nearly enough to make me (or I’m betting most of you) rate a crappy retailer well, even anonymously. Maybe $50 and we’ll talk. [networkworld]

As you can see, unlike the Sony Bravia ad, this is not just “inspiration”, this is a direct copy in which some elements are copy-pasted. We have to say we had high hopes for the series, but apparently it was headed to the Department of Mleh right from the start. If they wanted to copy something, they could have followed the Terminators’ sex positions. [My Confined Space via Hollywood Newsroom]

Update: We know that there’s the possibility that this may be by the same artist or licensed. But we are reporting on what other blogs are reporting, which is exactly why I wrote “apparently what happened” and “was allegedly copied” in the article. I’ve changed the headline to make this position even clearer.

We wanted to write and let you know that we sincerely appreciate the patience you have shown in receiving your Keyport. While innovative design and quality craftsmanship are certainly tenets to which Keyport is steadfastly committed, it is our customers who serve as Keyport’s foundation, and your satisfaction is our top priority. Therefore, we would like to refund your money in its entirety and hold on to your keys. Once we have completed the final design modifications, we will send you your new Keyport Slide. After you receive it, you may pay us what you think is appropriate. We intend on earning your trust and delivering what we have promised. Again, thank you for your patience over this long haul. We look forward to your feedback once you have received your Slide. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

On the same note, they’ve had my keys since December but haven’t actually shipped anything to me yet. They’re very lax in return emails as well. It’s sad to say this since the Keyport is such a good idea, but you should probably stay away from these guys until they get their manufacturing, shipping, and customer support issues down. [Thanks Josh!]

The Guardian also finds it weird that Apple hasn’t responded at all. Does Apple know that they’re a fake company? Is Apple planning something behind the scenes? Either way, this whole situation smells worse than Benny Goldman in the tub.

Do we have any Giz readers around there? Shoot me an email if you are. Thanks guys! Got your emails. [Guardian]