Best Buy and other retailers have complained to attorneys general in several states, accusing Walmart of misleading advertising in the holiday shopping season, including a discount on Apple’s iPhone 5, according to “The Wall Street Journal” (http://tinyurl.com/aar2bxn).
The targeted retailers, including Toys “R” Us and several regional supermarket chains, claim Wal-Mart cites inaccurate prices and compares differing products, such as laptop computers with separate specifications. Wal-Mart defends the ads, begun last year, as accurate.
Best Buy was especially hacked off by a sale in which Walmart sold the 16GB iPhone 5 for $150 — $50 off its regular price. Best Buy claims it was forced to match Walmart’s advertised price, even though the retail giant didn’t have enough iPhone 5 inventory to meet demand. Naturally, Wal-Mart denies this.