Best Buy cancels online orders days before Christmas
Retail giant Best Buy cancelled a number of online orders last week, leaving customers giftless just days before Christmas.
The orders cancelled, which were made in November and December and included many Black Friday purchases, were due to high demand.
"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," Best Buy said. "We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has cuased and we have notified the affected customers."
Best Buy says that under 1% of online orders were cancelled.
In Best Buy's online forum, some customers accused Best Buy of fraud.
The New York Times reported:
"Some customers in the forum accused Best Buy of committing fraud, as the retailer's cancellations could be seen as a deliberate bait-and-switch tactic designed to lure customers into its store with false promises of hot sales, depriving them of the ability to buy the items from a rival store.
Such an action would constitute fraud, for example under Section 17200 of the California business and professions code, which states, 'unfair competition shall mean and include any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrie or misleading advertising.'"
To read the New York Times article go here: New York Times