Best Buy Attempts to Make Good Following Mobile Site Snafu

Best Buy says it’s working to make things right with consumers who may have been misled by a free tablet promotion that ran on the company’s mobile site over the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend.

Advertising on the mobile site had indicated that certain Samsung appliances — including some best-sellers — came with a free Samsung Galaxy tablet.

But that was only a half-truth as the promotion required the additional purchase of a $2,100 French door refrigerator — a stipulation that was not made clear on the the mobile site, which, unlike the desktop version, did not readily link to the terms of the promotion.

(TINA.org first alerted readers to the tricky promotion earlier this month.)

“The terms were not as clear as we would have liked on our mobile site,” Jeff Shelman, a Best Buy spokesman, said in an email. “We are reaching out to customers who used their mobile device to purchase one of the Samsung appliances in the offer during the promotional period.”

Shelman said Best Buy will offer customers the same Samsung Galaxy tablet featured in the promotion. Only those who made the purchase on their smartphones are eligible. So consumers such as the two who contacted TINA.org late last month and said they were lured to the store after seeing the promotion on their smartphones, won’t be getting a call.

But those consumers can call Best Buy Customer Service themselves, at 1-888-237-8289.

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