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Where's our canceled orders? Electronics retailer Best Buy has announced that, due to tremendous demand, it wouldn't be able to fulfill some online orders placed with the store in November and December.
Retailers have offered special Internet deals and free shipping for online purchases as a means to entice shoppers to make ample purchases this holiday season.
But that strategy may have backfired for at least one retailer. Electronics retailer Best Buy announced late on Wednesday that, due to tremendous demand, it wouldn’t be able to fulfill some online orders placed with the store in November and December.
"Due to overwhelming demand of hot product offerings on BestBuy.com during the November and December time period, we have encountered a situation that has affected redemption of some of our customers' online orders," the company said in a statement. "We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and we have notified the affected customers."
Like many retailers, Best Buy had offered free shipping on all orders through December 27, without any minimum purchase requirements, which may have contributed to a high volume of purchases.
The company didn’t specify how many orders would be canceled or which products it had run out of. Best Buy also released a statement on its website Thursday that promoted savings on a “wide selection” of tech-related gifts, both “in-store and online.”
TheStreet.com reported on Tuesday that some Best Buy customers had received email notices from the company informing them that their orders would be canceled, and some users took to BestBuy.com message boards to discuss the issue.
For example, user Wavelandscott said that he had ordered a Playstation 3 console from BestBuy.com on Black Friday, only to receive an email from the retailer weeks later that his order had been canceled because it wouldn’t be receiving any more of the product from the supplier. “Are you trying to get everyone to shop at Amazon instead?” he complained.
CNBC's Jane Wells explains why the electronics retailer won't be able to fill some of the customers' online orders, just days before Christmas.
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This gives new meaning to "Bait and switch". Happy Holidays from your Best Buys.........
Even clothing outlets will tell you if something is in stock when you try to order it. Best Buy got greedy.
Bye-bye Best Buy!
Best Buy probably just made an honest mistake, and it happens, but ToysRUs is THE worst.
You order, let's say, 5 items. One hard-to-find, but it says "in stock" momentarily, and maybe three more to meet the $40 free shipping threshold, and the fifth? It is a freebie because you bought item number one and spent $50. This is all done very quickly.
You place the order, and then you get an e-mail telling you that only the three items are being bought. They are not the reason you bought at all, but they ONLY ones they have. They don't have the hard-to-find item, and you lose the freebie, but they have no problem charging your credit card for the crap you don't really want like the clothes for the doll you can't get. Then it is hard to cancel the order.
This happened to me twice.
Honest mistake my ass -- they do this more often than not. I wrote an article a year ago about how they sent my Despicable Me DVD -- then cancelled my gift with purchase part of the order AFTER the DVD had been received. This is SOP for them, especially for their online purchases!
Seems to me that Best Buy could fulfill all of the orders if they were willing to purchase the merchandise from sources other than their usual "suppliers", but that would ruin their profit margins now wouldn't it.
Not only is allowing inventory to be ordered that doesn't exist extremely stupid, cancelling the orders and taking the wrath of the public (deservedly so) rather than finding the product and taking a small internal loss is monumentally stupid.
"Lets cancel all of these holiday orders for items we oversold.... brilliant idea! Problem solved! now lets go play golf."
Best Buy investors sell now... the management is obviously woefully incompetent.
I ordered online products with delivery to Best Buy store twice. Both times I received defective products that failed within 24 hours. Both times I had to go through hell to get licenses bought with the products cancelled and refunded after I had returned the defective products. They make that as difficult as they possibly can, requiring multiple trips back to the store. I learned my lesson and I hate Best Buy. Will most likely never purchase anything from them again if it's not a CD or DVD in stock in the store. Never anything online again!!!
@Kevin-C. Really?! Guys making decisions at stores like Best Buy have 140+ IQ. That is how they out compete and outperform everybody else. "Honest mistake"? I doubt.
The way BB makes more money and out preforms everyone is by pushing extended warranties. Extended warranties that are no good. extended warranties are for BB a big profit cash cow.
This gives new meaning to "Bait and switch". Happy Holidays from your Best Buys.........
So a huge retailer is unable to project the number of units available for each product and then cap sales at that number? Gee, be conservative and cap it a percent or two lower.
If their accounting department can't do any better than that I think the financial statements should be examined a little more.
Isn't this in Business 101?
Proud former customer since 2008.
Anticipating as yet unordered stock from a supplier at Christmas time is just plain stupid, and it looks as if that is precisely what happened. They should all get a $50.00 or more, gift card that is good anywhere.
Not the best advertisement though.
People generally have short memories,they may get a temporary black eye and lose some customers for good,but I don't think it will do them any long term damage.
I'm afraid you're correct. Even if customers did complain and stop shopping there, management won't take the hint and find a way to blame anything else for their bad decisions then promptly lay off the workers who actually work and give a bonus to the management that doesn't.
I think that may have been the case a few years ago, but not now. I think consumers are sick and tired of getting used and abused. Every company needs to hold on to any customers they have because the next few years don't look that great.
That's the problem with the big box business plan. They really don't care if you are loyal to them. Once they book revenue from you, they are on to the next suck -- er, customer. That's why they make it so hard to return defective products. They really DON'T care.
I think I'm just going to write off Best Buy and not even step foot into their stores. They seemed very talented at screwing over customers. God I miss Circuit City. The Circuit City in my city was much better than the Best Buy. Nicer and more knowledgeable. It wasn't built in the greatest location which probably hurt sales.
It's a sad day when even Fry's outshines Best Buy.
I'm through with Best Buy also. They did me dirty in October, and I told the manager I will never step back inside. I travel a lot, and it every town I've been in, Circuit City was located either across the street from Best Buy or a couple blocks away. They only had 1/3 the inventory of Best Buy and higher prices, but it was easy to haggle them down a few hundred on expensive electronics. I did the same at Best Buy.
The last word I had with the Best Buy manager was when he told me I was a thief for buying online if I didn't add the sales tax I didn't pay on my tax return.
Legally you are required to add the sales tax you didn't pay on online sales on your tax return. Most states have a sales and use tax which means that if the retailer didn't charge it at the point of sale, you are still on the hook as the user. Does anyone actually comply with this? Nope...which is why states are trying to get a law passed to require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes on all purchases and not just in states where they have a physical presence.
Still, the manager who said that to you was wrong. That makes you a tax cheat, not a thief.
Circuit City is still operating on-line, as is Montgomery Wards.
It's not the real Circuit City, just the company that bought their name.
I've run into this before with Best Buy and it wasn't at the holidays either. That is why I won't shop online with them at all regardless of the incentives they offer.
I am waiting on a refund for a very expensive coffee grinder/maker which arrived busted up, packed in only a plastic bag around the untaped box you buy off the shelf.
When I saw the article, I thought the scathing letter and opinion polls they received from me scared them...
;-(
Never again.
Silly folks! Had you bought your stuff on Amazon, you wouldn't be having these problems! Shame on you Best Buy!
How long do you think it will be before Amazon gets to be as bad as BB?
Amazon will never get that bad, Amazon's business IS online orders. Best Buy considers brick and mortar business it's primary business.
I've already started having issues with Amazon. An order that was "lost" by some sub-par shipping company that they used, then the replacement (after much hassle) didn't get sent on time.
Amazon is the leader and the top bar for online sales... sorry, there will ALWAYS be an exception bad story, but when it comes right down to it....AMAZON IS A PROBLEM FREE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!!!
One year after my bad experience with them and they're STILL doing this? Will they never learn?
"Game on Santa". Santa WON!
I HATED those commercials! What the hell were they thinking?
I've never had a problem with best buy, but then again, I actually shop at the store and help support the job market!
The rest of you got your lump of coal for christmas, enjoy!
so delivery people aren't part of the job market? wow, I'll have to tell FedEx and UPS that!
So you're one of the ones the drive to stores wasting gas and clogging roads? You one of the people who must shop at stores where they pay their clerks barely above minimum wage and rarely any benefits.
Thanks....for nothing.
Ordering online requires items to ship from warehouse to warehouse, on a plane, onto several trucks, and then driven to your specific location. So somehow buying online means you are buying from people who make $200 an hour?
Nobody cares about supporting brick and mortar stores or their employees. The only things that matters to people who are purchasing high-volume, nationally marketed products are:
1. The UPC is the same as the one they saw in the brick and mortar store (or elsewhere)
2. The price is the lowest
3. The vendor is trustworthy
4. The delivery arrangement is within expectations
These days these are hard-earned dollars, so adjust or go out of business. Good bye Best Buy!
I've never had any issues with Best Buy either...online or in store. I usually only go to the store when I want to see and hold an item before ordering...just to see if it feels cheap or if it's too heavy, etc. I even had a Best Buy employee fix a glitch on my phone that I didn't even get there. We were just talking and I mentioned a problem I was having and he asked if he could take a look. A few minutes later....problem solved. The only gripe I have ever had with them is the Direct TV salesmen lurking by the TVs. Sometimes they are overly aggressive and won't go away. I had to get ugly with one once because he was hindering my TV shopping and I was on a mission! Other than that...they have been great.
Amazon + Amazon Prime means anything I order shows up at my door within 2 days and usually at a lower price. Why would I ever set foot at a Best Buy?
I hate their commercials - they disrespect Santa and now they have committed an EPIC FAIL! HAHAHAHOHOHO
I love those ads. The one where the mom looks Santa dead in the eyes and drinks the milk is classic. But I didn't realize they were for Best Buy.
The more i read about Best Buy and some of it's business practices the less likely i will consider them when making purchases. Read about their buy back program and how it's a huge scam.
I guess it would make too much sense to build into the online order software the ability to know how many of each item is in stock and to cut off the order process with an "OUT OF STOCK" notice placed over the "Order Now" button.
You mean gambling with other peoples money on the possibility that you could possibly get more product is not an awesome idea? You are clearly not greedy enough.
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I placed online order with best buy Tuesday. They advertised free shipping and promised xmas arrival. When I go to checkout, I'm informed that half my order would have to be picked up at a store. Each item I ordered had free shipping in big red letters. To make matters worse, every item that I truly had a "great" deal on ended up saying out of stock at check out. Why not have a website that disables the purchase button if you can't buy the item. Anyway, I ended up having to drive over 200 miles round trip to pick up half my order. I guess the shipping cost was actually about $60 in gas. Turned out best buy was the one with free shipping. They made me come pick it up.
You only get around 10 miles a gallon? Bummer.
We live, we learn; Best Buy Sucks.
It's astounding with the economy in the shape that it's in, that retail stores are continuously out of popular items; I'm not just talking about electronics or hot games, but I rarely can find pants or shoes in my size (they are not unusual - just popular). Yes, I understand how lean the supply chain is kept; however, when you are so often out of the most popular consumer goods, one has to wonder if you're management or IT department or maybe both are not effective.
I agree it is amazingly difficult to find a decent pair of pants at Best Buy.
Just ask Geek Squad - they are always looking dapper.
I've never done business with Best Buy, online or otherwise, simply because everything I ever hear or read about them is negative. I've never heard anything positive from anyone, employees included.
The only reason I use them is for the free financing. From my experience they truly are a dirty outfit. They actually even screwed me on the free financing offer once. lol The final payment was not due in 12 billing cycles, it was actually due exactly 12 months from purchase. Even though I paid off the balance when I received the bill that arrived during the 12 month time frame, I was informed that I had to pay weeks before the due date to not have interest added. Even though the statement had a big due date on it, in small print at the bottom of the statement it said that finance would be added if not paid before a specified date. The confusion was that the date was in between billing cycles. I guess I tried to play the game and they won.
Toys R Us has done this to me twice in the past few weeks. And, after they cancel my orders, it takes days for the hold to come off my PayPal account. Toys R Us is the worst.
So many other choices. All the inexpensive stuff, like a nice 42 inch TV or a washer or dryer, you can do so much better even at sears. Phone Cases and supplies are a fraction on amazon and ebay. Best Buy is a warerhouse dumping ground that actually is a lot of overstock. It's AMAZING they have survived this long in the internet age. Their common stock must be so over inflated. Every single thing they sell can be had elsewhere for better prices. If you buy a laptop there they offer a service where they will charge you to clean off the preinstalled junk they put on. Who the heck would get a phone there when you can do it on the internet for less everytime VIA the carrier. Unless you are trying to launder cash, I don't get it, why go there? How are they still open? Go to JandR anyway and they will beat bust buys price everytime even on on internet deals.
This appears to be commonplace with BestBuy.com. It's super-shady. They did the same thing to me almost three years ago. I bought a LCD tv during their pre-Super Bowl sale and scheduled delivery for a few weeks out. No problem. The day before my delivery date, I got a call saying my tv was out of stock, they weren't getting any more in, and they cancelled my order -- but I was welcome to buy a different tv at current prices. I went online and found my exact tv available for purchase at just about every Best Buy store in my area, but of course BB.com couldn't deliver one of those to me. I went to a BB store a few weeks later, though, and they were great -- they honored the price and financing terms from my BB.com attempted-purchase.
This BB.com "oops, we can't actually sell you our stuff at that price right now, even though we advertised it and said we could" tactic also happened to my mother and to friends of mine. None of us will shop at BB.com anymore.
Best Buy outsourced their IT a couple of years ago. Best Buy hates Christmas and loves Holidays.
Haven't shopped there for years and would do without rather than contribute to these bigots.