A Riverside County judge ordered Best Buy Stores on Friday to pay $875,370 in fines and costs as well as to institute a new “Get It Free” program to settle a consumer protection case.
There are 126 Best Buy stores in California including one in Palm Desert in the Desert Crossing Shopping Center on Highway 111.
The civil complaint—which was filed on Feb. 21 in Riverside County Superior Court by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with the Los Angeles and San Diego DA's offices —alleges that Best Buy stores advertised prices in stores but then actually charged more than the advertised prices.
"Charging more than the advertised price violates laws prohibiting false advertising as well as unfair competition," Riverside District Attorney's office spokesman John Hall said.
Officials documented overcharges during 206 inspections at 82 Best Buy stores across the state, according to Hall.
Hall said the judgement includes the following penalties for Best Buy:
- penalties of $600,000 (to be divided between each of the three prosecutorial offices evenly)
- costs of $175,370
- restitution of $100,000
- additional $10,000 in costs to the Riverside County DA's office
What's more, the company was ordered to institute a 'Get It Free' program for the next five years, according to Hall. How it works is:
- Consumers will be entitled to get $3 off of the lowest advertised price of an item if they find they have been overcharged at checkout.
- If the lowest advertised price for the item is $3 or less, the customer will receive the item for free.
