According to a story posted by The Consumerist, Best Buy has banned a shopper after being busted for violating consumer protections. In January, a Consumerist reader named Jed broke the digital audio-in port on his Sony receiver. He decided to have it repaired by Best Buy's Geek Squad, who charged him a $34.99 deposit and promised to call before making any costly repairs.
The job was supposed to be completed by February 1, but Jed never heard back. After leaving several messages, he finally spoke with a Geek Squad agent on February 6 and learned that his receiver was sent to Sony for repairs on January 26. Naturally, that ticked Jed off because he could have saved the non-refundable $34.99 deposit by sending the receiver to Sony himself.
On February 17, Jed returned to Best Buy in person and learned the repair would cost an additional $115 over the initial deposit – again, that's for unauthorized work. After expressing his frustration, Best Buy's store manager tried to haggle, offering to lower the repair fee from $115 to $94.92. Jed protested further and eventually got his receiver back without paying for repairs.
Despite having the repair charges waived, Jed decided to sue Best Buy for allegedly violating three consumer protections. The court sided against Best Buy on two out of three counts and Jed won $3,000 for his troubles. When he received his check, the mega-retailer enclosed a letter informing him that he'd face trespassing charges if he stepped foot in another Best Buy store.
We left out some of the minor hassles Jed faced while recovering his receiver, but do you think his suit was justified? Would you have accepted the free repair as compensation? Is Best Buy just a sore loser for banning Jed? Although the suit may seem like overkill, some commenters make a valid argument in saying that companies should be held accountable for breaking the law.