Best Buy issues cease and desist over Newegg ad, logo

Matthew DeCarlo

Posts: 5,271   +104
Staff

Although Newegg has long been the one-stop-shop for system builders and hardware buffs, the California-based e-tailer is still relatively unknown among less tech-savvy crowds. In an effort to attract such customers, the company recently launched a new marketing campaign that compares the quality of Newegg's service with major brick-and-mortar chains such as Best Buy -- a common destination for typical electronics shoppers.

The commercial shows a customer asking a blue-shirted employee for a comparison between two notebooks. The worker stumbles for a few moments before admitting he doesn't know and the clip ends by saying "Newegg.com. Come for the expert reviews, buy for the excellent prices." A second commercial sends the same message: retail sales staff are uneducated and unhelpful, while Newegg offers the opinions of bona fide geeks.

Unsurprisingly, Best Buy hasn't taken kindly to the advertisment. The company has issued a cease and desist demanding that Newegg "promptly" and "permanently" abandon the commercial as it depicts Best Buy's employees as "slovenly" and "uninformed." Frankly, we think "slovenly" is somewhat of an exaggeration, but most tech enthusiasts would agree that the average Best Buy employee isn't particularly knowledgeable.

Along with the commercials, Newegg's campaign includes a new "Geek On" logo, which uses an orange, black and white color scheme and features a power button in place of the "O" in "On". Best Buy has an issue with this too, noting that it's awfully similar to various Geek Squad trademarks. Not only does Geek Squad use the same colors for its logos, but it also uses a power button design for its "Black Tie Protection" service.

Best Buy demands that Newegg cease all use of the Geek On logo and any other mark that combines the word "geek" with the color orange or a power button. "Your misuse of our valuable trademarks and your negative portrayal of our employees violate our trademark rights and misleads consumers about ours services," Best Buy said. It's unclear if Newegg will comply, but the e-tailer has defiantly posted the letter on Facebook.

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Usually *I* try to leave a more thought provoking comment but alas the dumb in the air around best buy is self explanatory and I'd merely be insulting reader intelligence if I explain something so obvious. So...

Screw Best Buy.
 
I think the commercial are being nice to Best Buy workers at least they admit they don't know.

All of the BB's I've ever been in, when I ask a question or listen in when a friend ask a question they normally out and out lie to get people to buy something that is overpriced and lower quality.
 
If they didn't have such crappy customer service and "technicians" to begin with, they wouldn't be made fun of. Instead of whining about it like a little girl, I'd see it as a professional challenge to get their collective act together.

But that's the difference between me and Best Buy. ;)
 
Can I join the mob?

Screw Best Buy

I'd like to add that the geek squad is an absolute joke... a bad one at that. :(
 
I wonder if Best buy feels they can strong arm new egg because correct me if I am wrong this is done all the time with commercials. Most commercials blatantly call out their competitors. And it is not like they are lying. They should have just walked into a Best Buy and actually asked an associate and they would have gotten the same answer.

Plus walmart employees wear blue shirts too so how do you know it is not against wally world Mr Best buy attorney man.
 
I just bought a 21.5 inch widescreen Full HD, LED- Backlit, LCD monitor from Newegg for $105. I buy almost all my electronics now from Newegg. They have unbeatable prices with a wide variety of choices, BestBuy can go kiss some *** and stop complaining that a smaller company such as Newegg is gonna surpass BestBuy in the near future.
 
Honestly I rather they say at the end, "Take it from a Nerd" since Best Buy ruinned the term Geek for me. I still like Think geek though :)

But I do hate negative ads and I REALLY hate Best Buy so I'll let this one slide.
 
Best Buy is pretty good. Go in the store, see the products you can get on NewEgg in reality. Then compare the prices in your smart phone. If NewEgg is more (including shipping), buy it right there in the Best Buy store. If Best Buy is more, see if you can buy the display model for 15% off. If it's still not cheaper than NewEgg then just go with NewEgg.

This is how I got my 22" monitor for a price even NewEgg couldn't beat. I wanted an ASUS 22" monitor from NewEgg so I went to Best Buy after I was buying groceries just to check if they had it there. They did in fact have the same monitor, but they were out of stock besides the display model. They also lost the display model's VGA cable and power cable, and I already had DVI/HDMI cables and a power cable, so that was another 10% off. So I got a total of 25% off my 22" monitor because I went to Best Buy just to check out if they had the same one from NewEgg.

Don't hate on Best Buy, they're a solid store.
 
I'm sure glad there's a Micro Center in my neck of the woods. They have better prices than both and offer competitively priced warranty/replacement plans. I used to swear by the egg, but abandoned them when they stopped offering a 1 yr RMA on most items. I actually discovered Tiger Direct before newegg and would say they are a decent e-tailer as well.
 
veLa said:
Best Buy is pretty good. Go in the store, see the products you can get on NewEgg in reality. Then compare the prices in your smart phone. If NewEgg is more (including shipping), buy it right there in the Best Buy store. If Best Buy is more, see if you can buy the display model for 15% off. If it's still not cheaper than NewEgg then just go with NewEgg.

This is how I got my 22" monitor for a price even NewEgg couldn't beat. I wanted an ASUS 22" monitor from NewEgg so I went to Best Buy after I was buying groceries just to check if they had it there. They did in fact have the same monitor, but they were out of stock besides the display model. They also lost the display model's VGA cable and power cable, and I already had DVI/HDMI cables and a power cable, so that was another 10% off. So I got a total of 25% off my 22" monitor because I went to Best Buy just to check out if they had the same one from NewEgg.

Don't hate on Best Buy, they're a solid store.
from what i've heard best buy sells common things like HDMI cables for ridiculous prices and the thing most people are complaining about is how their employees have no idea what they're talking about.

FYI: shopping online is almost always cheaper. i don't see best buy selling SSDs for $1/GB, A 21.5" 1920x1080 ips monitor for $150, or a 700W modular PS + cd drive for $55 regularly.
 
I would like to suggest a fact-finding mission: take your cell phone cameras to Best Buy and take pictures of all the employees. Upload to photobucket or similar, and link them here.

My hypothesis: slovenliness among Best Buy employees will be found to be the norm rather than the exception.

Buck Fest Fuy.
 
I actually find the best buy employees to be quite well kept in the two locations that are in my city. They don't tend to know anything but they are at least well groomed.

Personally I frequent my local best buys for deals on movies, games and cd's. I do warn people about their extended warranties and geek squad (they overcharge on both).
 
From what I hear the problem at bestbuy is the management won't let the employees give there honest opinion. They are there to sell not to help.
 
fFYI: shopping online is almost always cheaper.
Well, like the childen used to say, "almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

On selected items, at selected times of the year, BB kills New egg. I try to never miss Black Friday at BB.

Granted, the other 365 days of the year "The Egg" is the way to go.

Microcenter, kills Newegg all year on selected CPUs, so if you're near one of those you should check it out.

In certain aspects of their ad campaign. New egg is overstating the value of its, "expert reviews", for several reasons. I've seen hundreds of people with "high technical ability, rail on about how hard it is to get an Intel push pin HSF on. Yeah well, imbecile isn't even expert spelled backwards.

Newegg is marching towards paranoid delusions of Amazon.com-hood. I find this overreaching a bit disturbing, as it takes their eyes off the prize, which is for them to be the "best computer parts store ever", at least IMO.

I haven't seen a "shell shocker" in a couple of months that provoked even a slight salivary reaction.

All that aside, Newegg is my go to resource for all things computer. Their service is superlative, and by a trick of location, I can place most orders on a Monday, and have it on Tuesday, with UPS ground shipping.

What I don't understand here is why they deem it necessary to precipitate the early demise of BB. After all, if your dumb enough to insist on "Monster Cables", Newegg will sell those to you with alacrity, and without remorse.

The "expert reviews" issue, I find a bit offensive. I've read more than I care to admit, and most of them are published by a bunch of egomaniacs, who merely think they know it all. Since Newegg doesn't accept orders by phone, I tend to count that as a bit of a strike against them.

To sum it up, Newegg isn't all things to me, and it isn't very likely that they ever will be.

For electronics, J & R is my first choice. (by phone)

For camera equipment, it's Adorama or B&H Photovideo (by phone)

And for all things musical, it's "zZounds" (again by phone).

All those places are in the same general location as Newegg's No Jersey warehouse, and all offer ship the day you call, and UPS will have it to me the next morning service.

From what I hear the problem at bestbuy is the management won't let the employees give there honest opinion. They are there to sell not to help.
Perhaps this is so, but keep in mind that Newegg employees aren't allowed to give any technical assistance whatsoever, period.

So, you can't give the point to Newegg on that.
 
I use Newegg and Microcenter. However, I go into BestBuy occasionally to physically hold and examine a product if they have it and its a large ticket item just to be sure I actually want it, but I never buy cause taxes on an expensive item + overpriced already is annoying.
 
To: veLa, when Best Buy has stuff on sale, their prices are better than newegg (i've witnessed it multiple times)

To: zecias, all retail stores (that I have walked into [Best Buy, Target, Walmart etc...]) the cables are all over priced.

To: captaincranky, B&H is my camera shop too ;) where I got my DSLR from. So yea I agree Newegg isn't my all around shop either. LIke for pre built computers I usually look at Tigerdirect instead (It's usually for other people) but For computer parts and cables I go to Newegg.
 
"Your misuse of our valuable trademarks and your negative portrayal of our employees violate our trademark rights and misleads consumers about ours services"

Uhhh... no it's not Best buy, its true... Anonymous ATTACK!!!! They are being out of line!!! Next they will sue newegg.com for not complying, which I hope they dont because they shouldnt have to!!!


Oh of course, jk'ing.
 
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