Deception

I'm becoming something of a consumer watchdog I guess. What I am about to describe may seem just "best practices" in the world of retailing, but it is unfair and deceptive to the consumer.

Shopping for a flatpanel LCD TV the other day, I was at Best Buy looking over the wares when I was approached by a geeksquad reject trying to tell me about the TV's. Unless you know how much I really do know about things like this, you can't fully appreciate the trap this guy was walking into. Anyway. There are these two sets sitting side by side; one is a Westinghouse 19" HD ready set and the other is a Toshiba 20" HD ready set. The Westinghouse retailed for $599 and the Tosh at $799. I asked the poor little punt why I would bother with the extra two bills on the Tosh set when the other had similar features. His reply? "Look at the difference in the picture". Indeed the Toshiba had a markedly better picture when compared side by side. Without saying anything, I wheeled the sets around and began swapping the inputs between the two. After a moment of resetting the TV's, I was at last ready to drop the hammer. "Now which one has the better picture?" I ask him. The previously underperforming Westinghouse was now the clear winner of the challenge. Acting as if I had just released the CIA spy list, the helpful salesman then vanished. I was to receive no further assistance from ANYONE that day. How odd to be in the land of the vulture with nary a bird in sight!

The Toshiba had been running with a component video feed, which is about as good as you can get in the analog realm. The Westinghouse was being fed by the coaxial input using a standard RG-6 cable with a cheap connector. This type of connection is not even capable of HD resolution! How many times do you think the Westinghouse would be chosen over the more expensive set by the average consumer? I'll bet the extra $200 is easy to find when your being stared in the face by the crappy alternative.

This is deceptive and predatorial. Best Buy is exploiting the lack of knowledge of their own potential customers. Most would not know enough about the difference in the setup to make a judgment between the displays. I know for a fact my parents would have just plunked down the extra dough for the "better picture"... And I bet that most people would as well.

Caveat Emptor has just left the building.