Best Buy Caught Using Sneaky Sneaky Tricks To Sell HDTV Calibration Service

[Mark Holtz]

From The Comsumerist:

Best Buy Caught Using Sneaky Sneaky Tricks To Sell HDTV Calibration ServiceTo sell its special HDTV calibration service, this Best Buy in NC set up two identical model HDTVs, both showing ESPN. As seen in the picture tipster Robert took, the "calibrated" one is noticeably better. That's because it's showing ESPN HD and the one on the left is showing just regular ESPN.FULL ARTICLE HERE (http://consumerist.com/5074930/best-buy-uses-tricks-to-sell-calibration-service-espn-and-espn-hd-on-same-models-tvs-hides-that-one-is-just-regular-espn)

I wonder if the Best Buy calibration services includes recommendation to buy the best Monster cables that they bring with them.

[Stewart Vernon]

Doesn't surprise me really... Not too many years ago one local Best Buy location had some employees that were stealing from the store. Problem was, not only were they stealing but they were re-shrinkwrapping the packages with junk inside and putting them back on store shelves for unsuspecting customers to find... then if you were unlucky enough to purchase one of those the store gave you a hard time on replacement since they didn't trust the customer's word about the switch.

Eventually they cleaned out that store of the bad apples, but I'd hate to know how many people got ripped off. It was so bad that for a while whenever I made a purchase I would open the thing inside the store to make sure it was there while I could prove it just in case I was unlucky.

[BobaBird]

A local A/V retailer told me the BB down the street would crank up all the settings on one Pioneer Elite plasma and leave the one next to it on factory defaults. They would then have customers touch the two sets and cite the extra heat from the doctored one as evidence of the need to buy calibration to get it like the one they had not altered.

The A/V retailer says a calibration service is not necessary for this set.