Best Buy... Lost our business...

[ratbuddy]

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? ( )

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

Another example of a retailer winning the battle but losing the war. Stupid.

I bought a TV at Sears a few years ago, and it developed a whole line of bad pixels. The manufacturer (Protron, I think) had gone out of business so there was no warranty, and it was almost a year after purchase. Sears gave me 100% credit towards a new TV, simple as that. They could have said 'sorry, warranty ain't our issue' but they took a financial hit in the short term and won a customer for life. Lost the battle but won the war

 

[nd4spdbh2]

Ya... tbh i understand where your comming from OP, but cmon really, if your CONSTANTLY as you say go in there and ask for price matching its just soon enough they are going to say no at some point. Especially on what seemed to be a blowout sale at frys that you were trying to take advantage of at bestbuy.

I dont blame that best buy for saying no... the loss of a good 300+ dollars to save you as a customer is just plain not worth it, as your 2k a year is a less than a drop in the ocean as far as its concerned. Typical budgets PER DAY for such stores range from 50-150k of sales. Also you do realize that stuff like tv's and computers are typically so close to cost that big box retailers often rely on the purchase of accessories to make them a buck...

But hey to each his own.... i know i personally hate the customers (i work in retail) that come in thinking they are entitled to free stuff. My attitude changes real quick when someone is a pompous *** thinking for what ever reason you as the employee need to bend over backwards for them. I am always more than happy to help a customer figure something out or point them in the right direction, or hell even tell them hey u can go online and get such and such much cheaper... but when they start demanding i get them a discount, i make sure they get no such thing.


I just LOVE how you wont spend the extra coupla bux to drive 20 min further to buy the product at the blowout price where it was advertised, yet expect someone else to loose 300+ for you just because its closer, and you get reward zone (more free stuff) .... gotta love the mentality of todays society.

 

[doz]

Mentality? They have a policy... Blow out item? Its the newer model. They still have the OLDER model they are selling, so it wasnt a "blow out item".

And obviously, they make more on TV's than you think. They said they would make money on the TV, just not enough to justify it... They normally sell it for $900, onsale for $810 and they would STILL make money at $580....

Tell me theres not money in big ticket items... Biggest marketing bs ever....

 

[MooMasster716]

I agree with the OP. If the company is not following the policy that they advertise to BRING IN CUSTOMERS then the are totally in the wrong. The excuse of financial loss is a just an excuse to a poorly thought out plan that should be addressed in the fine print of their policy. Now I have not read the policy but if theres something in there that allows them to reject the original posters situation, then I'll side with Best Buy.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

Mentality? They have a policy... Blow out item? Its the newer model. They still have the OLDER model they are selling, so it wasnt a "blow out item".

And obviously, they make more on TV's than you think. They said they would make money on the TV, just not enough to justify it... They normally sell it for $900, onsale for $810 and they would STILL make money at $580....

Tell me theres not money in big ticket items... Biggest marketing bs ever....

if you knew anything about frys and the way they do things (as well as MANY other retail places)... they will OFTEN blow out items to get you in the store... in this case a tv... last week they had i5 760's for 160 a piece.... 40 bucks less than what any big company can buy them in bulk for.... its a simple marketing game.

which samsung 40incher was it?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...HDTV/9783524.p?id=1218173773229&skuId=9783524

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...HDTV/9791235.p?id=1218175543621&skuId=9791235

 

[doz]

630.. 530 is the older model.

 

[Marshmallow64]

I never understood why people need to go price matching when they can just get it at the original store. Only 2 excuses are: if its out of stock at the original store, or if the nearest store is like over a 2 hour drive.

It's like camping out for black friday sales. Gotta do the work for a better price.

I work in the computer distribution industry so I know how low the margins are for a lot of electronics.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

630.. 530 is the older model.

ok... ima try and pull some strings at the local best buy and get the price best buy pays for that tv for you.... id be wiling to bet that its much more than the 500 u wanted to buy it for.

 

[Bageland2000]

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.

Then why the heck wouldn't you just buy it from Fry's? BB is one of the most evil companies on the planet. Not only to they screw their customers, AND employees, but they donate MILLIONS to politicians that support min. wage decrease, anti-labor and so on. Don't want to start a political discussion here, just giving my argument flavor...

 

[Aktunka]

ok... ima try and pull some strings at the local best buy and get the price best buy pays for that tv for you.... id be wiling to bet that its much more than the 500 u wanted to buy it for.

It doesn't matter what Best Buy paid for the TV. If they have a policy saying they will match any local competitors advertised price on the same item from their store, they should match the price, period. If the store doesn't have the integrity to follow their own policies, then what is the point of having the policy in the first place?

One of the main reasons that these types of stores have a price matching policy is to get people in the door. Get them to come to YOUR store instead of the competitors store. Get them inside and then maybe, just maybe, they will make a purchase of something else to go with the price matched item. It is a gamble, and a lot of times they win, but sometimes they lose. It is the nature of the beast.

 

[ratbuddy]

Was the $580 price even advertised? It wasn't in the weekly flyer and wasn't shown on their website except at checkout.

 

[Slayn]

It doesn't matter what Best Buy paid for the TV. If they have a policy saying they will match any local competitors advertised price on the same item from their store, they should match the price, period. If the store doesn't have the integrity to follow their own policies, then what is the point of having the policy in the first place?

One of the main reasons that these types of stores have a price matching policy is to get people in the door. Get them to come to YOUR store instead of the competitors store. Get them inside and then maybe, just maybe, they will make a purchase of something else to go with the price matched item. It is a gamble, and a lot of times they win, but sometimes they lose. It is the nature of the beast.

This is going to come off as harsh but... do you understand how business works? They are 100% about making money. Why have a policy if they aren't going to follow it? Because they can of course. Their bottom line is making money. As much money as possible. They are not going to eat the cost of a TV for some ambiguous sense of someone's "integrity". This isn't a charity. Their whole purpose is to make money. That is as simple as it gets.

 

[DSM4Life]

If you have a SAM's club buy from them.
I got a 42 inch 240Hz LED-LCD w/ built in wireless for 980.00.

 

[Psycogeec]

This is going to come off as harsh but... do you understand how business works? They are 100% about making money. Why have a policy if they aren't going to follow it? Because they can of course. . . ..

And on the other side of the thing: Having Business "integrity" has kept a lot of busnesses going for 50+ years as the others fail around them.
Even if losing a few dollers a few times , or changing what you IMPLY to people , so they believe in what you tell them.

In the town we bought a lot of electronics , the stores that had marketing that overran thier integrity are out of business.
leaving Best Buy thier business.

I am just saying that Integrity and Trust are money, even if to maintain integrity you lose a few bucks along the journey to enlightenment

i remember working for just such a company that would tell people "whatever they wanted to hear" then back in the back we were instructed to "do whatever we had to do" , that entire chain of stores only lasted a few years.

 

[ratbuddy]

I just checked http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Help-To...ee/pcmcat204400050013.c?id=pcmcat204400050013 and it clearly says "lower advertised price."

OP, was the Fry's price advertised or not?

 

[Slayn]

And on the other side of the thing: Having Business "integrity" has kept a lot of busnesses going for 50+ years as the others fail around them.
Even if losing a few dollers a few times , or changing what you IMPLY to people , so they believe in what you tell them.

In the town we bought a lot of electronics , the stores that had marketing that overran thier integrity are out of business.
leaving Best Buy thier business.

I am just saying that Integrity and Trust are money, even if to maintain integrity you lose a few bucks along the journey to enlightenment

i remember working for just such a company that would tell people "whatever they wanted to hear" then back in the back we were instructed to "do whatever we had to do" , that entire chain of stores only lasted a few years.

Haha I just got back in to retail ( unfortunately ) and it is the same thing. The official company rules say we care about the customer, in practice, it is not the case. It is not the case at all. I am not going to like working here . . .

 

[habbajabba]

I'm in the same boat. Fry's or bb. There are no other stores that stock electronics in my area. They know this and therefore will very certainly take advantage of that fact. I always go online no matter what. The only time I buy local is when i need it NOW. Both bb & fry's are crooks imo. I could care less what their "bottom line" BS policy is. The only service themselves and could even care less about the employees they hire.

 

[ratbuddy]

Not sure if Doz is ignoring this thread now or what, but I suspect it was an unadvertised sale and thus didn't even qualify for price matching. Sure, Best Buy could have made an exception, but that's up to them. They didn't, but that's no reason to start an unjustified rant thread.

 

[doz]

Yes, it was advertised in a sense. It wasnt advertised as to what exact model, but it said name-brand 1080p LCD tv. If you call them, they give you the Make/Model.

Id say thats advertised as you could walk into the store and purchase it :/

Again, BB acknowledge the price, and said they COULD price match it under their policy but they WONT due to the fact that they dont have enough "price margin" in the TV at that price.

Granted, my little couple grand a year is a drop in the bucket, but its still a lost customer who is knot happy and will spread that which in effect will hurt business later on (my buddy who is like me has already said f'em and is going to buy elsewhere and he spends about the same, it adds up).

 

[satandole666]

Mentality? They have a policy... Blow out item? Its the newer model. They still have the OLDER model they are selling, so it wasnt a "blow out item".

And obviously, they make more on TV's than you think. They said they would make money on the TV, just not enough to justify it... They normally sell it for $900, onsale for $810 and they would STILL make money at $580....

Tell me theres not money in big ticket items... Biggest marketing bs ever....

When I worked at Microcenter I could check the retailers cost on items. They lose money all almost all of the processors they sell (how else do you spend $199 for a i7 930).

The markup on TVs was roughly 5-10% give or take a few, so not a large margin. BB definitely would have lost money selling you a TV that is normally $900 for $580, there's no way they wouldn't have.

EDIT: I'm not saying they shouldn't have done the price match, just saying they weren't lying to you and they aren't raking in cash on these things like you think they are.