Order cancellations create public relations nightmare before Christmas for Best Buy

A public relations nightmare for Best Buy means some customers of the electronics giant will get an unexpected gift for Christmas.

After announcing to national criticism on Wednesday that it was unable to fill some of its online orders just days before the holiday weekend, Best Buy said Friday that it was sending electronic gift cards to the affected customers.

The orders were canceled Dec. 15 and the customers were refunded the amount of the unfulfilled purchase.

But because of the magnitude and timing, the Minneapolis-based company decided to give each of the customers a gift card. The company would not disclose the amounts on the cards, but spokeswoman Sue Busch Nehring indicated that it would depend on the purchase price of the canceled order.

The company said overwhelming demand for its "hot offerings" on Thanksgiving weekend and the following week led to problems filling the orders.

Less than 1 percent of the online orders and only those made during the week after Thanksgiving were affected, she said.

"The challenges related to this situation are being addressed," the company said in a statement Friday. "We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and are providing e-gift cards to the affected customers."

Best Buy would not say exactly how many orders were involved because of a company practice of not disclosing overall online sales. The company also would not say what the specific items included other than noting that it was "primarily the hot offerings available Black Friday weekend," Nehring said.

The "hot offerings" listed in advertising circulars and online at the time included a wide range of products from electronic adaptors, headphones and power cords to tablets, TVs and washing machines.

Shopping at the Best Buy in the Tyrone area of St. Petersburg on Friday, Mark Woods, a 48-year-old information technology professional, said the kind of mishap the company had is the reason he doesn't shop online.

"I work in IT and I wouldn't" shop at Best Buy online, he said.

Austin Spaulding, a 15-year-old St. Petersburg resident who shopped at the same store in Tyrone, said he often orders products from Best Buy online. He said the recent trouble doesn't deter him from continuing to buy from the retailer's website.

"It's usually good," he said.

Ivan Penn can be reached at ipenn@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2332. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Consumers_Edge and find the Consumer's Edge on Facebook.