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Best Buy... Lost our business...

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doz

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2002
Location
Las Vegas, NV
So Ive been trying to accept BB. We buy from them mostly, but we make them price match (usually to Fry's, we have one local).

So today, we wanted to snag the Samsung 40" LCD 1080p 120hz TV. BB had it on sale at $810 marked down from $900. Frys had it for $580, marked down from $900.

So I took in the checkout paperwork to BB> They say we cant do online. I said no, frys is local and their prices are the same (Ive done this multiple times, including an $1100 camera). They check with them (online, call, and my checkout page from Frys).

They proceed to tell me that they cant match that price as theres not enough price margin. I said no, you price match it as thats your policy. The policy is right there on the table infront of them. We read it, and read it with them. Still say they wont do it because they wont make enough.

Manager comes down and says theres no way, as thats below our cost. I called BS and said your policy says youll match competitors. Needless to say he wouldnt. Obviously, they dont care about our business and Ill take my money elsewhere from now on. I dont spend an incredible amount, but I am a silver member there (atleast like $2000/year) so youd think theyd work with me :/
 
Dude, do you really expect Best Buy to lose money for you? Come on. I wouldn't expect BB to sell an item under cost. Why would they do that? Becuase "the customer is always right"? That is a bunch of BS and doesn't work in the real world. I mean honestly man, do you really expect a company to sell you an expensive product that they would lose money on? I can see something cheap, but not a tv for $800. I am not trying to be a ****, but sometimes people have this sense of entitlement. Have you ever worked in retail before? Customers like you make me hate working in a store.

The bottom line is that Best Buy is there to make money, not a charity. If the price dropped that much at Fry's, the TV is probably an old discontinued model. Fry's probably got a bunch of them cheap and are trying to offload them. Maybe Best Buy bought them early and their cost was higher. Who knows? It isn't reasonable for you to expect Best Buy to lose money on a large transaction. A policy isn't a law, you don't have a legal right to get the item at the discounted rate. I am sorry you had a bad experience.
 
If Bad Buy states that they'll price match then they should price match a LEGITIMATE price. If Fry's is dumping stock at a loss it's not likely anyone will price match below cost pricing.

That being said, Bad Buy has been investigator/fined for fraud so many times by State AG's, I wouldn't buy anything from Bad Buy unless I was absolutely desperate.

YMMV
 
Slayn. Customers like me? Ive been buying at BB for years, pretty loyal customer. I did the same thing I always do, match a reasonable price. Just because they dont feel they make enough they can break their policy?

Sears and Walmart have both been price matching this exact item (pretty hot ticket over on slickdeals that people have been reporting on).

Id rather goto Walmart and buy electronics than BB now :/
 
So Ive been trying to accept BB. We buy from them mostly, but we make them price match (usually to Fry's, we have one local).

So today, we wanted to snag the Samsung 40" LCD 1080p 120hz TV. BB had it on sale at $810 marked down from $900. Frys had it for $580, marked down from $900.

So I took in the checkout paperwork to BB> They say we cant do online. I said no, frys is local and their prices are the same (Ive done this multiple times, including an $1100 camera). They check with them (online, call, and my checkout page from Frys).

They proceed to tell me that they cant match that price as theres not enough price margin. I said no, you price match it as thats your policy. The policy is right there on the table infront of them. We read it, and read it with them. Still say they wont do it because they wont make enough.

Manager comes down and says theres no way, as thats below our cost. I called BS and said your policy says youll match competitors. Needless to say he wouldnt. Obviously, they dont care about our business and Ill take my money elsewhere from now on. I dont spend an incredible amount, but I am a silver member there (atleast like $2000/year) so youd think theyd work with me :/

I am not clear on one detail. You say you had your "checkout page" with you. What does that mean? The policy at Best Buy, as I recall, is that they will match a local competitors advertised price. Are you saying you went in with a valid sales ad with current pricing? Or does "checkout page" mean a receipt from the store? If it was a sales ad, then yes, they are in the wrong and should match the price, regardless of what the manager says, as long as it is 100% match product for product.

If, however, it was a receipt, or one of those little forms that they will print out at sections in Frys and then send you up to the cashier with, then Best Buy was totally in the right by refusing to match the price. It would not be covered by their policy, and pricing on a receipt like that could be that low for any number of reasons such as floor model, ding / dent sale, etc.
 
If their policy is to "price match" as opposed to "price match at our discretion" then refusing to price match on the basis of margin is pretty poor.

I've worked for a similar type of company in the UK, and although we didn't like losing money we'd always price match to retain the customer, and just make more of an effort to sell some accessories/warranty with it.
 
From $900 to $810 all the way down to $580 is reasonable? Especially when they could potentially lose money on the transaction? As I explained in my post, we don't know what their cost on the item was, so really, this is all just speculation. The bottom line, again, is that they are in business to make money, not lose money to get you a badass tv.

And ALL price match policies are "price match at our discretion".

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Help-To...ee/pcmcat204400050013.c?id=pcmcat204400050013

•Items that are limited-quantity, out of stock, open-box, clearance, Outlet Center, refurbished/used items and items for sale Thanksgiving Day through the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

To me that incredibly low price sounds like probably a discontinued/clearance TV. Best Buy has the right, and the business sense, not to LOSE money by selling a TV to you.

Sorry!
 
Call their corporate office and talk to them, that'll get you to the bottom of things right quick.
 
Does Best Buy match prices of Internet retailers?

Best Buy does not match the prices of Internet-only retailers or the online only offers of our local retail competitors. If you find a local retail competitor honoring its own online prices, we'll match their price. Eligible items must be the same brand and model, and currently in stock at the local retail competitors store. For purchases made at BestBuy.com, please see our BestBuy.com Price Match Guarantee Policy.


Slayn: Do you honestly think a company like BB is getting these at a higher cost? Come on...
 
Call their corporate office and talk to them, that'll get you to the bottom of things right quick.

+1 on that.
I bet if you did that you would not only get the TV for the price stated but also a nice gift card as well.
With the money they make off all sales in 1 day they can afford to loose some on 1 customer for 1 transaction.
 
My experience with BB is that once they have your money and out of their grace period they could care less about the customer. I have had stuff quit within a month of the warranty, and BB wouldnt even give me any manufacturer info so I could get it repaired.

I use BB as a price matching facility to at Sears, Walmart or other places of buisiness, just because of their buisiness practices. I would much rather spend my money at a buisiness that at least seems to care about its customers.
 
So Ive been trying to accept BB. We buy from them mostly, but we make them price match (usually to Fry's, we have one local).

So today, we wanted to snag the Samsung 40" LCD 1080p 120hz TV. BB had it on sale at $810 marked down from $900. Frys had it for $580, marked down from $900.

So I took in the checkout paperwork to BB> They say we cant do online. I said no, frys is local and their prices are the same (Ive done this multiple times, including an $1100 camera). They check with them (online, call, and my checkout page from Frys).

They proceed to tell me that they cant match that price as theres not enough price margin. I said no, you price match it as thats your policy. The policy is right there on the table infront of them. We read it, and read it with them. Still say they wont do it because they wont make enough.

Manager comes down and says theres no way, as thats below our cost. I called BS and said your policy says youll match competitors. Needless to say he wouldnt. Obviously, they dont care about our business and Ill take my money elsewhere from now on. I dont spend an incredible amount, but I am a silver member there (atleast like $2000/year) so youd think theyd work with me :/

So.. Why didn't you just buy it from Fry's?
 
Because I have a BB rewards card that I get money back, and its about 20 minutes farther to drive to Frys.....
 
Dude seriously... get a Visa/Mastercard Rewards card and move on. You will live a happier life in the long run. Way to much effort for a couple of bucks in rewards and a gallon of gas.

BTW spend $10 or $10,000 a year at a corporate store and they will never give a you know what. So take your new rewards card head over to a local mom and pop merchant pay a little more money for their service and NEVER step into a large box retailer again. Then you have solved your issue with a retailer who doesnt care about you.

A minimun wage employee can care less about your rants. But a local business owner will strive not to lose your business.
 
Call their corporate office and talk to them, that'll get you to the bottom of things right quick.

It sure will, just not in the way you expect. Best Buy corporate has a history of fully supporting their stores and store managers' decisions. The service I've received from BB support at the corporate level has been less professional and more frustrating than support at the local store.
 
$2k/year is absolutely nothing to a retail store like Best Buy. That's not even chump change. They probably sale over fifty times that much in product at that location alone on a good day (when I worked at Computer City years ago, our location would bring in over $100k in product sales on Saturdays for example, and it wasn't anything worth having a party over). Best Buy isn't going to miss your business, sorry to say. Somebody else will buy that TV for the price they're asking for and Best Buy knows it.
 
Dude seriously... get a Visa/Mastercard Rewards card and move on. You will live a happier life in the long run. Way to much effort for a couple of bucks in rewards and a gallon of gas.

BTW spend $10 or $10,000 a year at a corporate store and they will never give a you know what. So take your new rewards card head over to a local mom and pop merchant pay a little more money for their service and NEVER step into a large box retailer again. Then you have solved your issue with a retailer who doesnt care about you.

A minimun wage employee can care less about your rants. But a local business owner will strive not to lose your business.

We really dont have local shops for that kind of stuff :(

Hell, the few local camera shops we have want to charge OUTRAGEOUS prices ($300 Canon 2.0x Extender online, $430+tax in town) and they treated me like garbage when I walked in with work clothes on (like I didnt have a dime to my name).

Frys will work for me (or online).
 
This made me LOL. Fry's recently lost ME as a customer when they claimed they would price match a CPU over the phone. I gave them all requested info - and they stated they would match it. So I drive all the way down there (not a short drive, either - 40 Miles or so!) and they first state they can't pricematch this particular CPU because of MicroCenter's limited return policy on this CPU. I get a manager involved after I stated I called to verify just an hour ago, and he "OK's it" as long as MicroCenter has it in stock. Well - that was NEVER asked over the phone (before I DROVE all the way over there). Why wouldn't I just go to MicroCenter and buy it then? :confused: ( ;) )

So, I already knew MicroCenter was OOS until Monday (this was Thursday). Then the sales guy gets this "nah nah nah nah" smirk on his face and says "Well, we will price match it on Monday then". I ask if they are serious and that this wasn't mentioned when I called to confirm before driving all the way out there. They still denied me - and I gladly denied them in return :)

Needless to say I drove to MicroCenter on Monday, and was literally in and out in under 5 minutes!!! I didn't pre-order online or anythig - walked in - found a salesman - and was rung up and in my truck in LESS THAN 5 MINUTES!!! That would NEVER happen at a Fry's ;)

I haven't been back since - and have no plans on giving Fry's my business. They have lots of stuff that is nice to have locally for those unexpected surprises when time is a factor - but I'll gladly wait for an online Store to deliver the goods instead. I could understand if I walked in off the street and was presented with their price match policy - but I CALLED and VERIFIED (even gave them the exact item # and made sure they were in stock) and this "In Stock" requirement was never mentioned over the phone. Why would I call to verify all of this stuff only to be "dissed" when I got there? It's not like they couldn't have made an exception in this special circumstance seeing how I drove 40 miles based on their statements over the phone...

If it wasn't for the salesman's silly smirk and smart-*** "nah nah" attitude - they might have been able to retain me - but that didn't happen. The Manager was there and had the power to make it right - but chose to let me walk - and walk I did...

Whatever, Fry's :rolleyes:

:cool:
 
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