Call Kurtis Investigates: Are TVs At Best Buy Really On Sale?

EL DORADO HILLS (CBS13)-  Ed Diver has been pricing televisions at Best Buy for months. After a little patience and some research, he wondered if the sales prices he was seeing was really a good deal.

We went undercover with Diver as he shops for a new TV at Best Buy.

Strolling through the brilliant displays of TV he finds a 55-inch LG model on sale for $2,999.98.   Best Buy's price tag says you'll save $2,000.

"It appears to be on sale $2,000 off." "I thought wow, this is a good opportunity," said Diver.

But is it really? Because LG's website shows it's suggested the price for the same TV is $2,999.99.  But Best Buy claims you'll save two grand for it.

"There's no reason for them to list televisions at an overly inflated price to convince me to come in and buy it on sale," said Diver.

In fact,  on Best Buy's website, we found four LG models listed for thousands off the regular price; but were actually marked at LG's suggested price.

Back in the store Diver questions the sales clerk.

Diver: "So it's not really on sale"

Sales Clerk: "It might not be"

Diver: "You guys say it's on sale"

Sales Clerk : "Yeah because that's what corporate tells us to do, so that's what I do." "I'm just the worker"

Harry Friedman consults stores around the world on how to maximize profits while maintaining customer service.

"This seems like a low-level decision that makes no sense to me." and adds, "The truth wins," said Friedman.

We've learned other consumers are also questioning BestBuy's pricing policies filing a class action case, accusing the store of phantom markdowns.

The case claims the company advertised, marketed, and sold merchandise while falsely representing former "original" or "regular" prices... Throughout it's retail stores."

There's no bargain to be had here," said Consumer Attorney Ian Barlow.

He says state law is clear, if a store advertises something on sale; it must really be on sale.

"It has to have been sold at the regular price at least 3 months prior to it going on sale," said Barlow.

When we reached out to BestBuy about our findings and the lawsuit, they responded in an email that they do not comment on pending litigations. But did say, "We appreciate this being brought to our attention as we always encourage customers to bring to us all their questions or concerns. Our customers can take advantage of our price match guarantee, which ensures that we won't be beat on price."

Diver thinks they should change their business practices, "It feels deceptive."

He ended up buying at BestBuy and got them to price match on a different TV, but still has a message for the store.

"Be open and honest with your customers," said Diver.

When we reached out BestBuy they would not tell us the last time that LG TVwas priced at $4999 in its stores.

But through our research, we found LG dropped the suggested price from $4999 to $2999 last October.

We found BestBuy still advertised that TV for $2,000 off more than 5-months later.

If you bought an item from BestBuy thinking it was on sale, Barlow suggests customers bring it back and ask for a refund.