Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A Michigan woman says a Best Buy “0% interest” promotion is designed to trick consumers into getting hit with unexpected retroactive interest charges.
According to plaintiff Ruth Stinson, Best Buy lures consumers with an offer of “0% interest” financing for a limited promotional period.
What consumers aren’t adequately notified about, Stinson claims, is that any unpaid balance remaining at the end of the promotional period triggers a lump-sum, retroactive interest charge based on the full purchase price for the entire promotional period.
“Even if a consumer falls just a few dollars short of full repayment, she is charged interest as if she had never made any payments to Best Buy,” the Best Buy class action lawsuit reads.
The company backs this promotion up with high-pressure sales tactics, according to this Best Buy class action lawsuit. Sales personnel are allegedly offered extra compensation for signing up customers for a Best Buy credit account. In-store advertisements heavily promote the “0% interest” financing period, without mentioning the charge for retroactive interest that could follow it, according to Stinson.
She says she was lured by this promotion in October 2015, when she financed a $947.82 purchase under a Best Buy “0% interest” payment plan. The Best Buy salesperson allegedly told her she would get 18 months of financing at “0% interest” but did not mention the prospect of a lump-sum interest payment at the end of that period.
The credit application and approval process only took about five minutes, she says. At no point during that process was she alerted to the consequences of failing to pay off the entire balance during the promotional period.
Despite paying off a significant portion of the balance on her purchase, Stinson says that at the end of the “0% interest” promotional period she was hit with an interest charge of $309.54.
As a result of promotions like these, consumers are drawn by the prospect of a no-interest purchase without understanding the consequences of failing to pay them off on time, Stinson argues. She cites a consumer survey in which only 28 percent of those surveyed correctly understood how interest is charged under “no interest if paid in full” store-brand credit card terms.
Best Buy relies on that misunderstanding to get customers to pay large interest charges when they expected to pay none, Stinson claims.
Stinson is proposing to represent a plaintiff Class that would cover all U.S. persons who, within the applicable statutory limitations period, made a purchase from Best Buy using store-issued credit and were later hit with a retroactive, lump-sum interest charge.
She is asking the court for an injunction barring Best Buy from continuing the promotion at issue. She also seeks an award of actual, punitive and exemplary damages, restitution and disgorgement of related revenues, and court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.
Stinson’s attorneys are Melissa S. Weiner and Christopher J. Moreland of Halunen Law, Jeffrey D. Kaliel of Kaliel PLLC, and Jeff Ostrow and Scott Edelsberg of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert.
The Best Buy 0% Interest Financing Class Action Lawsuit is Stinson v. Best Buy Co. Inc., Case No. 0:18-cv-00295-JNE-FLN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
215 thoughts onBest Buy Class Action Says 0% Interest Promotions are a Trap
I realized the trap early and specifically contacted them about my payments over the minimum not being applied to the promotional balance and was told I needed to request that earlier or ask for specific payments to be applied to the promotional balance because all payments are applied to the outstanding balance prior to the promotional balance. So, I requested that anything over my minimum be applied to my promotional balance. They did that for one, maybe two months so I thought I solved it. I have paid over the amount due and, despite paying added payments, have had them applied only to the regular balance. So now I am two weeks from the end of the promotion and there is a pending interest charge of over $600.00 that will be applied. Only a little over $400 has been applied to the promotional balance despite my request to apply any extra payment over the minimum to the promotion. In addition, the closing date and due dates are not consistent, so some payments meant for the next billing period were not credited because the closing date fell after the previous closing dates, and the payment was applied to the month that had already been paid with some payments being well over $100 more than the minimum. Then I discovered the next month that my payment was considered late and assessed a fee. I did manage to get one of the fees removed. However, their practices are not in line with other creditors that I have made promotional purchases with or experienced as far as the application of payments falling within a consistent closing and due dates.
Please help me with a class action suit against Bestbuy.
I got charged an extra $1800 in interest that no one ever told me about. I got caught in Best Buy’s interest trap
Not only that, they will apply payments AWAY from the most urgent item until the last few billing cycles. I’m going to miss my deadline next month because $400 got sent to items not due for 300 days.
Is this class action still open? Ive got a really crazy story about this that is happening to me now. I just filed a CFPB, Atty Gen (PA), and and FTC complaint against Best Buy.
I have debt protection and that company delayed the payout for about 3 months, during which time a couple items expired the promotion. My CareCredit has these promotional balances too, but they have a 30 day grace period after expiration date so I have to call and tell them to apply the additional payment to that specific balance though. Ive been chasing down expiring promotions over the past couple months when I noticed I sm still paying for promotional balances from transactions made before my dent protection claim was opened. They were paid off by my debt protection claim, but because BB’s 3rd-party Debt Protection paid out 3 months late, BB applied the claim funds to current balances, leaving me still stuck with those old ones.
I have two coming in October and living on a severely strict budget to chase them down along with the CareCredit ones.
I hope they stop this practice or at least define in big font boldly that you can be charged enormous amounts of interest from the entire life of each balance if you do not pay by the expiration date.
I am not stupid, but feel stupid for not catching this years ago. All my payments have been going to fees and regular interest bearing balances, leaving the other to expire.
Please let ne know if you ever hear of other class actions or lawsuit’s regarding this.
Thanks
I just get billed $1422 just on interest. Purchase was $3000. October 2022 my balance was higher and I set up auto payment. This is outrageous.
Please add me to the list. I made a purchase on a 24 month 0% financing and I made the minimum payments bring my total down to $400. Now at the end of the promotional. They tacked on all the interest accrued from the original purchase amount. What a scam!
Please add me to this list
I currently was slammed with charges purchased washer and dryer and they charged me alot in intrest
I thought once the promotion period was over i would pay on whats left over not on the full time period now im in a jam with this its like i never made a payment i actuslly owe more than the item costs. Sign me up i would def love best buy to get in trouble for doing this to customers. They dont explain this to you at all
They don’t even explained this just 24% months 0 interest.
This is looking to happen to me ffs, I have a nearly 600 purchase that hasn’t had a dime removed dispite several over the monthly dues being paid. For the love of all thats holy please let this case go through so I can get these bastards out of my life, they never said anything about this still. I had even called as to why the promotional wasn’t being paid off.
To clarify, my PB is set to end in March of next year, I am very much destroying that card when this is all over. Damn their dirty underhanded tactics. Like the others please do add my name as well as a future screwed former customer -.-
Omg, I just checked and they charged me over 800 in interest. Is there any way to get it reduced? Never again, with best buy or any store to apply for credit card. This is ridiculous because all these payments just got eaten up and you end up paying more than the start!!!!
Please ad me to the list. The promotion ended in April 2022 and i and my bill was $865 , It’s May and my bill is $1650 because of interest charges