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Every PC enthusiast on the planet knows about Newegg. It's arguably the most popular online portal for PC parts, though the site's selection now deals with all sorts of electronics, including kitchen appliances. Newegg isn't as well known outside of power user circles, and so the company has been promoting itself through a series of TV ads, one of which ended up rubbing Best Buy the wrong way.
In the ad (see embedded YouTube video below), Newegg shows an employee wearing a blue t-shirt working at an unnamed electronics store getting caught with a deer-in-the-headlights look after a shopper asks him what the difference is between two laptops. He looks completely confused, at which point Newegg cuts to the end saying, "Newegg.com. Come for the expert reviews, buy for the excellent prices."
Best Buy apparently felt as though it was hit below the belt and has swung back with a cease and desist letter, which Newegg defiantly posted on its Facebook page. The brick-and-mortar electronics chain says it's "concerned that Newegg's use of the Geek On Logo is likely to create confusion among consumers and to dilute the distinctive quality of the Geek Squad mark in violation of Best Buy's trademark rights," but what really has Best Buy in a tizzy is the advertisement above.
"We also recently learned that Newegg is running a commercial on television and YouTube depicting a blue-shirted salesperson in a store with a similar layout/color scheme to a Best Buy store, so as to represent a Best Buy employee," the letter reads. "The fake Best Buy employee is depicted as being slovenly and uninformed about computer products, in contrast to your employees who are portrayed as 'experts.'"
Best Buy went on to say that it found the campaign "particularly offensive" and that Newegg would be "equally offended if the tables were turned."
Is Best Buy being overly sensitive, or do you think Newegg crossed the line?
Comments are closed on this article
chart2006
June 10, 2011 at 9:55am
Yeah BB is about next to worthless. The only time I go into that store is to check out a product first hand then I buy it on Newegg... HAHA! They lost my business when they screwed me over on a laptop. I purchased a laptop with the extended warranty. It began having problems within a year so I went through the manufacturer to have it repaired. Well instead they completely replaced it. Before the replacement I went into BB to ensure that the warranty would transfer and they said it would. After receiving the new laptop I went back to transfer it over and sure enough, "we're sorry but because your model has a blu-ray player and ours doesn't your warranty will not transfer over." I asked for my money back and they would only prorate it. I said it's an "extended" warranty as in it doesn't start until AFTER the manufacturers warranty ends otherwise that defeats the purpose of an extended warranty. Nope!
Additionally I've applied for a job nearly every 45 days for a year, being a veteran and an experienced technician, you'd think I'd have a chance but I'd see worthless people come and go but I'd still never receive a phone call for an interview. This tells me they don't like military and if memory serves me correct I remember hearing about there lack of support in an article I read a long time ago.
One night I needed to price a cheap audio card for a build I was doing for my brother so decided to poke into BB. Well over hearing a "Geek Squad" employee speaking to a customer and her son pulling $#!% out of his @$$ to answer her I stepped in and answered her questions. Then I began bringing in quite a crowd asking for help. I ended up spending an hour there answering questions. Within about 5 minutes the employee was so pissed he stormed off and mumbled "f-you" in the process. When I intervened we had an argument about video cards. When the consumer realized he didn't know what he was talking about that's when she began directing her questions towards me and that's when he felt belittled because he was/is an idiot.
PS: Didn't BB do the same the same thing to Wal-Mart in one of their commercials??? I think so!
bling581
June 10, 2011 at 9:56am
I said it's an "extended" warranty as in it doesn't start until AFTER the manufacturers warranty ends otherwise that defeats the purpose of an extended warranty. Nope!
I'm not claiming to be an expert and haven't read their fine print, but I think you are misinterpreting the term "extended warranty" here. I think by extended they really mean "additional". It eliminates the hassle by allowing you to take an item directly to their store if it breaks or there's defects instead of having to deal with the manufacturer. When you deal with most manufacturers you can expect several weeks between returning your item, having it repaired and then getting it shipped back to you.
chart2006
June 10, 2011 at 10:17am
You are correct! However at the time I purchased the laptop extended warranties were as they are extended upon the manufacturers. It's now that many retailers are creating in-house warranty programs that start the day of purchase as they make substantial revenue on those warranties. Generally the in-house warranties cover more than what the manufacturers does but in my case after 10 months they gave me a brand new laptop which made the BB warranty useless. At the time I knew of no extended warranty that starts the day it was purchased so in their defense I was ill informed however if I were informed of the details in the start date of the warranty I would have declined the purchase as the price of just a 2 year extended warranty was nearly 50% that of the price of the laptop.
With my laptop we troubleshooted it over the phone and sent me a brand new one in the mail of which I used the same box to ship my old laptop back which resulted in no down time between repairs. The point is the manufacturer did more in their warranty then what BB would have in theirs. I think using the term "extended" warranty should no longer be used in these cases as it is NOT an extension onto the current warranty. I think it's false advertizing and that "additional" as you suggested should be used.
In other cases sometimes in-house warranties are better but in my case it was a waste and BB as far as I'm concerned ripped me off. The fact that the warranty didn't transfer after they told me it would is what I was upset about.
sean.h.freeman
June 10, 2011 at 9:40am
I live overseas, and I remember a few years back on one of the rare occasions I made it back home for Christmas I went with my Dad to "Best Buy", with the goal of finding him a Blu Ray drive for his PC. After searching and searching through their pathetic offering, I asked one of the "Geek Squad" (please read that as COMPLETE DUMBASS) what isle they might be located and was given a reply of "Blu Ray doesn't exist". Uh.... yeah...
I don't get to take much advantage of NewEgg since I live overseas, but I still love checking out the sight and often reference reviews for parts I'm interested in. Screw Best Buy and the brain dead waste they try to pass off as experts, NewEgg for the win!
yackman01
June 10, 2011 at 9:34am
Ok I USED to work at a Best Buy in Northern Minnesota. I caught a couple of my co-workers stretching the truth and capabilities of a product several times. I even caught some one up the chain doing it. Several times i have walked in the store acting like a common person (which fyi i run a computer repair business now) and i have seen many of them get deer in headlights look and making stuff up. Its to the point where when someone asks me for help i'm only going to accept it when i can't find a cd, dvd, or console game. If i'm looking at computer components, or televisions i tell them blatently i run a computer repair shop and I have military experience doing computer repair (which is true). Gets them to walk away fast.
Marthian
June 10, 2011 at 9:21am
something like this happened awhile ago in video games. EA made a fake game called Duty Calls that directly insults Activision's Call of Duty, but I haven't heard them do something like this.
Slugbait
June 10, 2011 at 3:20pm
I thought the fake game they made was Booty Calls.
Oh wait, I must be thinking of a different gaming company.
Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't a gaming company.
Hmmm, now I'm thinking it didn't have anything to do with computers, either.
See kids? Beer does kill brain cells.
Mastro Antonio
June 10, 2011 at 9:23am
Well Activmurder knows it's going to make money if you make fun of their games or not.
Hg Dragon
June 10, 2011 at 9:16am
then they'd fix it so that I wouldn't have had pretty much a similar experience as what was in that video anytime I went into a Best Buy. Or, I wouldn't have heard employees tell absolute lies to customers (whether intentional or not) simply to make a sale.
These are the same reasons I loathe to go into Gamestop. I've never heard so much misinformation and outright lies from sales people to customers as I do in those two stores...
justinmalek0
June 10, 2011 at 9:09am
Having worked at Best Buy previous to becoming a "power user" and using newegg almost exclusively for tech related purchases, I know for a fact that employees there no nothing about hardware or comparisons other than what is listed on those cards that have the price. They used to coach us to read off the cards to sell products to even less informed customers. If you have ever built a computer, installed an OS or removed malware for friends and family, you know as much if not more than most "Geek Squad" employees. Newegg FTW.
Mastro Antonio
June 10, 2011 at 9:19am
Go Newegg! I am always going to buy from Newegg because they don't have employees to describe their products, they have the nerds who buy and review them. That's why I like it and that's why I urge people who have superior knowledge about a product to take the time and review it.
michaelh
June 10, 2011 at 8:54am
I'm not sure that Best Buy has any right to be upset about the commercial. The reviews on Newegg are unhelpful much of the time but at least they trend towards pointing out glaring deficiencies and flaws.
When I'm in a pinch and I need some small bit of hardware immediately, I always dread having to go to Best Buy. The only place worse to ask an employee a tech question is Staples (The megamart employees seem unenthusiastic enough to at least not bother approaching customers).
Archtard
June 10, 2011 at 8:54am
I stopped shopping at "that store" when they started treating every customer like a thief. In addition their computer hardware is subpar.
BB should take it as constructive criticism and hire informed employees.
Silver925
June 10, 2011 at 9:35am
No potential "informed employee" wants to work for the low pay that 'big box' tech stores are willing to pay. Minimum Wage is modern slavery (just try living on it as your only income) and that's all they'll get.
Can't speak for Best Buy, but that's the problem with Staples when I was working there. I'm sure Best Buy is no different. Low pay, no incentives, and they encourage you flat out lie in the name of sales. Usually to make the management look good and net them a bonus, because they 'ran the store profitably'.
You don't need knowledge of a product to be a good sales person, I learned very quickly. You just have to be good at sounding like you have a clue, and have no scruples. Oh, and don't forget to cram the 'extended warranty' down the customers throat. A big ticket item sale without an 'extended warranty' on is is almost worse then no sale at all.
Sith_Happens06
June 10, 2011 at 8:53am
Nobody likes to have their problems shown in the spotlight for millions of people to see. That is exactly what hapened with this ad, Best Buy is only mad because there is turth to this ad, if there was not then they would not care.I loved how they stated that people may get "confused" well if your employess had a better rep Best Buy then there would be nothing to get confused about problem is we all know that while the geek squad and the rest of every Best Buy store seems to have only a select few employess who number one seem to actually know what they are talking about and two actually care about your what you want and not what will make them more comission. I only very rarely shop and at Best Buy and the most technical thing I have bought there in the past five years was a headphone extension cord which cost five bucs. Most often I am there with friends of family and almost everytime I save them from being tricked and yes I said tricked into buynig something that they didnt need or didnt really want. I say its a free country and just becasue Newegg may have seemed to imply that the said employee worked at Best Buy nothing was specifically mentioned so why should they have to stop. Best Buy should grow a pair and stop being butt hurt cuz no offense to anyone that shops there but I think that a majority of the people that do wont even understand what this ad is infering anyway. Best Buy you still have loads of fools at your mercy who come to your GEkk Squad for every technical issue they encounter and you are always happy to fix the problem for a slightly exorbitant fee.
r1davis74
June 10, 2011 at 8:38am
Yeah I don't feel bad at all for BB....I constantly go into that store just to see what their employees know and don't know about the hardware and I am constantly amazed at the BS that I am fed. Working in a data center, we hired a former "That Store" geek for our Level 1 helpdesk and he didn't even make it a month. It was scary to hear the stories of what they would tell customers to do with their machines in order for "that store" to make extra money. By the time the customer was done, they could have damn well bought a brand new machine.....Good for New Egg on that commercial. Like one reader posted, I hope "that store" ends up like Circuit City.....
Someone should do an undercover story like Dateline did a while back showing different computer vendors diagnosing problems for customers and then showing the bills.... I bet people would be amazed at the crap those guys say to customers to make them spend more money.....tsk tsk tsk
Jyckle
June 10, 2011 at 8:38am
Last time i went to BB for some small odds an ends for my TV and the sales rep tried to get me to buy the Gold plated gas filled HDMI cords. All i stated is that i have one and BB's price for a standard HDMI cable is extremely over priced. His answer.... " It cost more to get it to the store". Never knew shipping an HDMI cable to the store would make that cable cost $45+ then at New egg for the same damn one...
Wingzero_x
June 11, 2011 at 1:03am
Plus there's that whole digital concept...Either you have a signal or you don't there is no middle ground on HDMI, so they could just as well had said they waved a magic wand over it.
Caboose
June 10, 2011 at 1:08pm
Gas filled eh? Would it give your video packets more horsepower to increase the bandwidth of the display processor on your TV to make the colours more vivid and the action more vibrant, while making the audio quality give a near or exceed real life experience?
Fivo
June 10, 2011 at 8:15am
Betbuy defaulted on one very expensive camera warranty stating that in their (teenage assistant's) opinion we had forcibly broken a camera lens. Beyond the idiocy of that statement, I found it silly that some child's cursory and wrong analysis on the spot invalidated the $470 I paid for a warrantee on that camera.
Never again will I buy from Best Buy. Ever.
I've used Newegg since 2002 and never once had an issue with a single one of their policies. Newegg goes out of the way to sell effectively and provide the products I want. No contest.
Jox
June 10, 2011 at 8:25am
"$470 I paid for a warrantee"
I'm sorry, but you don't get to call anyone, anywhere, an idiot. Ever. You have lost that right.- Jox
JohnnyCNote
June 10, 2011 at 9:49am
This is totally unnecessary. While I rarely every buy them. there are a few items for which I think they're useful, and I'm glad I've had them . . .
Red Ensign
June 10, 2011 at 8:15am
Newegg is attempting to go after the simpleton market that Best Buy has preyed upon uncontested for years. Good for them and too bad for Best Buy. Soon the ignorant masses will learn what we all know and BB will find itself faced with the Circuit City scenario. Was BB really dumb enough to think that a Cease and Desist would scare Newegg?
DDRDiesel
June 10, 2011 at 8:12am
The worst part is that Best Buy themselves is misinformed in the Cease-and-Desist letter. They assume that Newegg is saying their employees are the experts, yet that is not what Newegg is saying at all. Instead, Newegg's commercials imply that the experts are the ones buying the products, and leaving the reviews. Best Buy fails again
Vernak
June 10, 2011 at 8:55am
While I agree with part of what you're saying, Newegg does use the tagline "Take it from a Geek" in some of their newer commercials. I can see the implication here that Newegg is saying they have "real" geeks and Best Buy has "fake" geeks.
DDRDiesel
June 10, 2011 at 9:07am
"I can see the implication here that Newegg is saying they have "real" geeks and Best Buy has "fake" geeks."
Because it's true. The "Geeks" at Best Buy are nothing more than barely-educated high school kids that can't find a real job. I did work for Best Buy in the past (FOR Best Buy, I was not employed by them), and during the project, one of the Geek Squad employees asked me what was in the new machines they were getting. I simply said it was a Core i5 with 6GB of RAM, which is a little overkill for a thin-client type machine (They were using the computers to log into the main server through terminal services, why is so much power necessary?). He then asked, "What's a Core i5?"
I rest my case
travelsize
June 10, 2011 at 8:11am
"The fake Best Buy employee is depicted as being slovenly and uninformed about computer products, in contrast to your employees who are portrayed as 'experts.'
Yes, because I'm always getting information on components from the expert employees at newegg and not other customers who post reviews.
Holly Golightly
June 10, 2011 at 8:11am
I do not think NewEgg crossed the line, I feel that they are being overly sensitive. Fact is, while going to "that store" I have noticed they they do not always know everything. Their PC Gaming section is rather small, and I feel catered with NewEgg. Sometimes I save even more with NewEgg then "that store" which makes the competition better for the customers. "That Store" should work on expanding their section for the geeks. Particularly gaming computers and gaming monitors. Although in my opinion, NewEgg can not beat MicroCenter, which is also a brick and mortar. At least there you can speak to an actual geek, and see the products we dream of.
Mastro Antonio
June 10, 2011 at 9:18am
No, there's idiots in Microcenter too. I had a classic moment like that in the Newegg ad at Microcenter in Chicago when an employee and her department supervisor didn't know what Blu-Ray play back software was at all. The girl had gotten frustrated with my request and left her supervisor to do all the work. It was ok because she was way too good looking to be knowledgable about computers, but anyways I had to tell the supervisor the definition of the product I was looking for. He then told me that Windows Media Player had Blu-Ray playback which I flatly said was wrong. I had just then decided to go into the aisle and sort through the hundreds of software and found what I was looking for. The supervisor said " Oh that was what you were looking for. " I then said smugly " Well now you know for next time, huh? "
Wingzero_x
June 11, 2011 at 1:40am
A couple of months ago I was looking over a laptop for my neice and her boyfriend at Microcenter. Anyway one of the salesmen comes over and I tell him we're fine, but he sticks around anyway. Anyway we start talking about a laptop for gaming with discreet graphics. He tells me there are very few options for dual core gaming laptops, and they didn't carry any. So I ask him about the i3 based Laptop with the Nvidia 400 series GPU. He tells me that i3's are single core!
I also had issues when I tried to take advantage of one of their combo deals. When you bought an AMD processor you got a free motherboard or get $50 off better one. I buy an Phenom 955, and 880G. When it rings up it comes up full price, and unfortunately I had already swiped my card before it hit me. The cashier tells me to go to CS, who first says the processor was part of the deal, as it had to be an "AMD" processor. Once that was established, they then they the processor was inelgible because of it wasn't in the ad. (So I walked out the door, and dragged in the sign thay had in the vestible), that plainly said "Phenom 955. So then they call up the salesman, he says the motherboard isn't valid because it isn't compatible.
But for the most part most the ones with the exception above are very knowledgable, and one I found to be extremely honest as Nvidia released the 9000 series GPU's, when I asked what the big difference in them and the 8000 series, his reply "9", and told be he really didn't know other than the 9000 series seemed to have faster and more RAM.
Mastro Antonio
June 11, 2011 at 8:58am
What a bunch of stupid jerks they can be, and yes I am still lurking here to see everyone's replies. This story is pretty hot.
bikerbub
June 10, 2011 at 8:17am
I'm not sure where MicroCenter does business, but the closest i can get in indiana is Fry's Electronics. they deal in all kinds of fancy gear, unlike "That store", which has 2 or 3 power supplies, a dozen hard drives, and a low end video card on the shelf. If i need something obscure, like a specific brand's videocard, then i'll go to newegg, but if it's just general things, i'll go to Fry's and save myself the shipping cost.
Holly Golightly
June 10, 2011 at 8:47am
Finding a MicroCenter is hard. I only know one, which is in Yonkers. I go there to see the products in real life, and if I like it, I will buy it. They also have a great amount of used high end video cards. NewEgg is the place I go for the sales. Shipping is very affordable. I like both stores really, but really hate Best Buy, since they only focus on mainstream level stuff. None the less, I like going there to but just to browse.
Jongalt26
June 10, 2011 at 8:09am
Hahahahahhahahahahah Screw Besty Buy, they've been screwing consumers for years!
Praise be to Newegg!
Strongbad536
June 10, 2011 at 8:05am
If i was newegg, I would welcome best buy to "turn the tables." Newegg is one of the best places to go for computer hardware and general electronics, and I think most people love the site. Best Buy would have no ammo against them.
Darth Do'Urden
June 10, 2011 at 8:04am
I've been to Best Buy. "Slovenly" and "uninformed" seems rather accurate to me.
