Best Buy Accused of Overcharging In-Store Shoppers

Connecticut's attorney general announced a lawsuit against Best Buy, accusing the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer of deceiving customers with in-store computer kiosks and overcharging them.

The lawsuit, which will be filed in Hartford Superior Court, accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a lookalike internal Web site.

"Best Buy gave consumers the worst deal -- a bait-and-switch-plus scheme luring consumers into stores with promised online discounts, only to charge higher in-store prices," Blumenthal said.

Calls seeking comment were placed to the company.

Blumenthal opened an investigation into the Richfield, Minn.-based retailer in March. About 20 customers complained to his office after a columnist for The Hartford Courant reported the experience of one Connecticut man who found a laptop computer advertised for $729.99 on BestBuy.com, then went to a Best Buy store where an employee who seemed to check the same Web site told him the price was actually $879.99.

Previously, the company confirmed that store employees have access to an internal Web site that looks nearly identical to the public BestBuy.com site, but the company's policy is always to offer customers the lowest quoted price unless it's specifically identified as a deal available only to online shoppers.