Buy.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Buy.com, Incorporated | |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 (Aliso Viejo, California) |
| Headquarters | Aliso Viejo, California |
| Key people | Neel Grover, CEO |
| Products | Retail-Computers, Electronics, Books, Videos, Music, etc. |
| Slogan | The Internet Superstore |
| Website | www.Buy.com |
Buy.com is one of the original multi-channel online retailers in the United States and is based in Aliso Viejo, California. Although it began selling computers and electronics in 1997, the company has diversified its offerings to categories such as software, books, movies, music, games, toys, digital cameras, cellular phones, and magazines.
Founded in 1997, Buy.com initially made a splash by selling products below cost. It has since raised its prices but maintains an edge by offering to match any qualified competitor's price. The company distributes BuyMagazine (a monthly digital publication featuring product reviews) to its 3.5 million customers.
Founder Scott Blum left in 1999, just before the company first filed to go public. After debuting high, stock values plummeted and in 2001, Blum reacquired Buy.com and took it private.
Contents |
[edit] Slogans
- "The Internet Superstore."
[edit] Business practices
[edit] Underpriced monitor fiasco
In the summer of 1999, Buy.com "mistakenly" posted a deal for a very underpriced 19" monitor. They advertised a price of $169, when the retail price at similar retailers was $500. Several thousand people, including many members of the AnandTech web forums, immediately ordered the monitor through buy.com.
At that time, Buy.com's business practice was to charge credit cards before the item was shipped. When Buy.com discovered the price mistake, it immediately pulled the deal and made additional charges on the credit cards of the buyers. This angered many people and a lot of members of the Anandtech web forums were enraged. In the end, a settlement was made, but only some people were compensated.
[edit] Shipment/return policies
Recently, Buy.com started a practice of changing the order status to sent/shipped to avoid order cancellation, then shipping a few days later - specifically for free-shipping items. This is particularly problematic in combination with their return policy (as of December 2006): RMA numbers must be obtained and defective items returned to the company within 14 days of "shipment" from buy.com -- regardless of when the product arrives at the customer's locations, or indeed whether the item has been received at all.
[edit] Customer service
The toll-free customer service number is 877-780-2464. Calling this number gets you to a recorded message which says the number is no longer functioning and referring you to a "sales" number: 800-800-0800. Calling this sales number gets you long hold times. Despite being among the largest Internet retailers, as of December 2006, they have fallen to a position among the very lowest rated, number 22 [1] from the bottom among over 11,000 at ResellerRatings.com. Their six-month rating is 2.84/10 (2665 lifetime reviews). [2]
It must be noted that any customer service ratings are the product of anecdotal reporting, and consequently can vary. The total reviews found on Epinions.com gives Buy.com the above-average rating of 3.5 out of 5. The rating is based on 3090 Reviews as of January 2007. [3]
