[wplug] Best Buy's insanity ...

[Tim Lesher]

On 3/7/07, Michael H. Semcheski <mhsemcheski at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think I interpreted the article differently than you did.

Probably so. I think you have to take into account the source, who has
a vested (financial) interest in exposing evil, vampiric corporations
who prey on innocent, unsuspecting, and fearful consumers, who have no
way to protect themselves except by buying the newspaper or visiting
the website of the aforementioned source. :-)

> But even if it is like you describe, a feature that lets employees check on
> the advertised price, isn't it important to get that right?

Hell, yes.

> Didn't somebody notice before this got to the AG?  Its a
> lot to swallow.

You obviously haven't followed comp.risks for the past, oh, 15 years. :-)

> I'm not going
> to google this to confirm it, but didn't they have a thing where they kicked
> shoppers out of the store for writing down prices?  Didn't they settle with
> the AG of NJ (for a small amount) over rebate fraud?

Contrary to popular belief, a company is not a single organism with a
single brain.  I've worked at places in which a member of the group
did something unethical or illegal, but that doesn't necessarily mean
that I was also doing something unethical or illegal. Of the three
incidents (potential price-comparison fraud, expelling customers for
writing down prices, and rebate fraud), you would have a hard time
convincing me that one, single, malevolent mind was behind all three.
That's good fodder for movies and conspiracy theorists, though.

Now, some companies have a culture that encourages doing the wrong
thing, and it's usually a second-order effect caused by a "thou shalt
produce results, and I don't care how you do it" mentality.  Maybe
that's true at Best Buy.

But it bothers me that, when a self-appointed "watchdog" makes an
accusation of _intentional_ fraud, the burden of proof never seems to
be on the watchdog.

-- 
Tim Lesher <tlesher at gmail.com>