Best Buy secret web site

This kind of thing makes me reconsider whether or not I should ever shop at Best Buy again. I don't go there much but if I ever wanted to bargain with them based on a price on their web site, this would not make me happy. Best Buy maintains a secret web site with higher prices than you find on their public site, so when a customer comes in and asks for a price reduction based on what they saw online, a Best Buy sales person accesses the hidden side and shows that the allegedly lower price doesn't really exist.

From the Hartford Courant (via BoingBoing):

Under pressure from state investigators, Best Buy is now confirming my reporting that its stores have a secret intranet site that has been used to block some consumers from getting cheaper prices advertised on BestBuy.com.

and

This is not the first time the giant electronic retailer has gotten into trouble misleading customers. The firm, based in Minneapolis, operates more than 1,100 electronic retail stores in the U.S., Canada and China. It has more than 125,000 full-time employees.

Attorneys general in New Jersey and Ohio have accused Best Buy of deceptive sales practices, repackaging used merchandise and selling it as new, and failing to pay rebates and refunds. It paid $135,000 in New Jersey three years ago to settle that state's suit, which was based on hundreds of consumer complaints. The Ohio case is ongoing.