I would like to thank HDGuru for following up on this deceptive policy by Best Buy / Future Shop. I hope someone will start a class action against these scammers in Canada.

Shut up, get over it, all best buys reasons for not matching make sense from a business standpoint….

they have to maintain a profit and they’re business model prevents them from going as low as wholesalers, they are a retailers, of course wholesalers are cheaper… go to them then, but they are willing to match LOCAL retailers, and why should they match the low price, if it’s not in stock at the store that you “would go get it at for that price, but can’t cause they can’t even give you that price, without an item to give you”…

@Mitch

Did you read the article? This is about a “price match policy” and BB trying to weasel out of it. No one is talking about out of stock items at a non-local store. And wholesalers are not retailers. No one is talking about matching a wholesaler’s price. A true Wholesaler does NOT advertise to the public and does not sell to the public. Warehouse clubs are retailers – not wholesalers and BestBuy’s policy does not deny price match from these retailers.

If they don’t want to price match, they should not have a policy on the wall that says they will.

you’re weaseling is called guidelines for a price match… everything has rules, if you fit those rules, i’ve never seen or heard of anyone not getting a match when it fit all the criteria, and that includes the 3 years i worked there…

i’m not saying it hasn’t happened since, but i haven’t heard of anyone complaining to me, and it hasn’t happened to me in any of the 4 best buys i shop at often…

Sure Mitch BB does need to maintain a profit. But by using deceptive bait and switch and just plain outright lieing is not the way to do it. IF they put something in print it should be ACCURATE print. Another company, Burlington Coat factory has violated Massachusetts laws against returns and has been the case of numerous lawsuits and recently was caught selling ‘knock offs’ as originals with changed tags. Nice huh?

Lying to the customers and providing bogus reasons (WHICH ARE NOT PART OF PRICE MATCHING POLICY) is dishonest business practice, that’s why the lawsuit is going ahead. Plain and simple. HDGURU did investigative report earlier and was denied a price match that SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED ACCORDING TO BB CORPORATE OFFICE… There are numerous other stories posted by the customers and former employees… “Guidelines”…LOL… reminds me of the pirate code in The Pirates of the Caribbean (“Those aren’t rules, they’re just guidelines…”)

It is always good to follow the policies and be honesty in any business solutions

I have had this happen to me many times at Best Buy.
One instance in particular was very unpleasant. I was shopping for a plasma and did all my research online. I then went to Best Buy and they had the plasma for $1299 on sale. I decided to buy it on Friday. That morning looking through the paper I saw the exact same make and model for $998.00 at a competitor. I brought the ad to Best Buy because that is the place I usually buy all my electronics. When I showed them the ad they denied the price match saying it was below cost. I asked to see a copy of the price match policy. After 30 minutes of arguing they called the competitor to see if it was in stock ( it was ) and they did the price match. They did the sale at the counter in the video area. When he handed me the receipt it was for $1000 + tax. I asked him why he did not do it for $998. + tax and I was told I already saved enough money.
I have found that Best Buy has the highest prices, I shopped there out of conveinence. Now I just go to the competitor if they have something on sale. I always figured Best Buy would want all the sales even if it was for a few dollars less. I was wrong.I have also noticed many of their items above suggested retail price. Are they using the car dealer mentality of “Above Sticker Price” At one time I was a faithful Best Buy customer, but they destroyed that.

Further reason to not shop at Best Buy.

A Fry’s opened near my place about 5 miles from my Best Buy. It seems like prices got worse after that. I used to buy all my DVDs from Best Buy on release day because they were always the same as Amazon. Not anymore. Fry’s is routinely cheaper and even their prices have gotten worse in the past year or so.

Frankly, if Best Buy doesn’t get their act together, they’ll be dead in 10 years. More and more people are comfortable with online ordering and when you can routinely buy things from Amazon for over 30% less than Best Buy with no tax shipped to your door, it makes no sense to buy anything from Best Buy unless it is an emergency. God knows no one goes their for their staffs ability to help you.

BB will pay a fine and then kill the price-match bit

How about BB always running those awesome sales on products they dont have in stock. I was trying to buy a camera and when it was on sale, there wasnt one in stock in ANY stores in the state and none where scheduled to receive shipment during the term of the sale. BS!

I have worked for Best Buy for over a year and a half. And no offense, well actually offense intended, for someone who waits till the middle of the damn week or FRIDAY to go in and try to get a cheap sale item that went on sale on SUNDAY you are NOT GOING TO GET IT.

I mean come on guys get it in your heads, its a sale, go IN on Sunday if you want to get one, BB does not have an unlimited amount of product.

Also, I worked for Office Depot and Office Max prior to working for Best Buy and I can tell you their price matching is EXACTLY the same.

It only applies to:

1) LOCAL RETAILERS, like Office Depot, Office Max, the competition. It does not apply to Costco or Sam’s Club since they are wholesalers.

2) Competition that has said item IN STOCK. Why would BB, or any other retailer, give you a price-match bonus if you tried to get it from all of their competitors and then noticed they don’t have it so decided to use BB as a last ditch effort?

To tell you the truth I have never once seen an honest price-match not go through at the two BBs I worked at or the OD or OM. Granted any company as large as BB does have its flaws.

Their clause about not matching items that are of a limited quantity covers everything. A possible exception may be made for stupidity and hydrogen atoms. Big-screen TVs, Playstations, etc., are all limited in quantity. It reminds me of an expensive car wax that the ad described as, “only made when the raw materials are available.” Is there anything that isn’t?

I particularly enjoy it when Best Buy (other stores do this too) have the manufacturers change the model number by adding an additional letter or number so they don’t have to match the equivalent item at another store. This happened when I bought a Pioneer plasma 2 years ago.

Apparently, Mitch and Josh have an unlimited amount of money. It seems you are both consumed with defending Best Buy. What you really need to realize is that, even with a price match that is “below cost”, they manufacture the item at a fraction of the cost and then along the way there is the 500% mark-up by the time it reaches the consumer. Consumers shouldn’t have to bear the burden of such mark-ups, and then with the continual “changing over” and upgraded, or newer models coming out every other minute, please, shut-up and get over it, I’d like to hear Mitch say that the next time he drops a few grand on something, only to see it several hundred cheaper elsewhere and not get a price match by BB, let’s see who has to shut-up then. You know BB is not going to do jack for you, and forget about returing it, you then have to fork over a 15% restocking fee! Good Luck Mitch and Josh the two of you deserve each other, I hope everything you buy for the next year is marked down 75% and you don’t get back a penny!

wow, huge news. i worked there from 2002-2008. this is what happens when a company gets too big to manage. i know this is not BBY’s forte. this companys too successful to spend time and traning dollars combating price matches. theyve got way bigger fish to fry (i.e. geek sqaud goof ups and internal theft). not to mention, about 70% of price matchers that come to bby want matches from slickdeals.net, which always get legitimately denied. its sad that these guys are managed by districts regionally, so you might have 13 best buys in michigan that run an honest operation, while a district in kentucky could be highly trained con-men. great company all in all but getting too big for its britches.

come on…really? all the reasons listed on the document sent out to bb employees are actually things the policy at the time did not allow. They aren’t made up. Grow up people.

Also I can tell you bonuses are not and have never been given for not price matching. That is the dumbest concept ever. Hey let me pay you for not making a sale. Seriously? What are we, AIG?

We have a metric we watch which is our price adjustments. But that is not what we get a bonus for. We get a bonus for profit and revenue we produce. Show me a store whose managers are denying price matches and I will show you a store that is in fact NOT getting a bonus. They probably have low customer survey scores, struggle to hit sales goals, and cant help a customer find unknown needs.

Besides, I never understood why people use a price match anyway. If it is cheaper somewhere else then freaking buy it there. If you want to buy it at best buy because of the reward zone program, the service plans, the service, whatever…those are perks you can’t get anywhere else and should be included in the cost of the item. But even if you are the kind of person who gets their rocks off saving $10 on a $500 item and shoving it in an associates face, I(and my associates) will gladly honor our price match policy.

Even better, most Best Buy stores will even give you discounts when you bring us something we do NOT price match. I have price matched many stores we aren’t supposed to because I appreciate the business and if I have to lose a little money to keep your business that is fine with me.

People are going way overboard on this and I think people need to lighten up. IMO if you want to whine and moan because a store refused to price match, then go buy it from the place that offered the price to begin with. Nobody is preventing you from buying something…nobody says you can’t leave the store till you buy it at full price.

grow up…oh and for those stores whose managers are responsible for pulling this crap…I hope you get demoted or lose your jobs for misrepresenting the entire company.

It’s humorous to see (obvious) best buy employees Josh, Mitch, and Sticky adamantly refusing to see the wrong in what’s happening here.

If your company advertises a service (in this case, price matching), and you are training people on how to refuse that service, and, even more, PAYING them not to…well if you don’t see the wrong in that then you never will.

This has nothing to do with ‘growing up’ as you folks have so eloquently stated we should do – this has to do with advertising something, getting people in the door, then lying to them about loopholes in said service that don’t exist.

Sticky, people should ‘lighten up’? Huh? If you went somewhere with a legitimate price match and were lied to, and you paid the higher price, would we expect you to ‘lighten up’?

Why would people use a price match? Uhm, are you serious? Dude, you seriously need to buy your own things instead of your parents to understand this concept.

It’s sadly not shocking to see the attitude of the best buy employees who have chosen to comment on this topic. It’s apparent they get off on telling legitimate people ‘no’.

Hahahahaha, wow, very defensive and also very idiotic replies.

I can assure you that unless you are talking about cables, the markup is BARELY more than 30 dollars for most items (except TVs, but I don’t work in that department so I have no idea what it is).

I know with computers we are lucky to make 30 bucks off a single package. Now if you look at cables etc, then we make alot of extra dough.

Umm, also, please reread my original post, I in no way shape or form am ‘getting off’ on telling people no, its blatantly in our policy that unless your a LOCAL (same city) RETAIL (Not wholesale, ex: costco) competitor and you still have product in your store, we will NOT price match.

Yeesh.

Oh and I did indeed say if employees are saying its below cost then that is indeed completely messed up and needs to be corrected. The other points are part of the policy however.

OOOO yeah, also it is not the Retailers that ask for different model numbers, it is the companies that do it, HP, Dell, Toshiba ETC. So bitch at them.

OOooooo yeah, and they do the same thing with Beds as well, are you going to go on a crusade against the Bed Industry?

people are spewing venom towards best buy without actually reading and thinking…

I HATE when I read about Best Buy managers being dumb. In this case if the store broke policy(which it sounds like it did considering the “at cost” line is B.S.) I am 100% for the firing/demotion of said managers.

If Best Buy paid people to not price match I would be against that too. But what I am trying to tell you and everyone else is that we in management don’t get paid for not price matching and if any manager thinks not price matching will help get them a bonus they should be fired for incompetence.

The internal memo is to train employees on what our price match policy does NOT cover. If the price match fell into any “greatest hit” mentioned then it did not qualify for a price match. It isn’t training to stop legitimate price matching it is training to follow the price match policy.

That is what people are refusing to see and understand and would rather make up their own conspiracy theories about.

The training itself stated is about following policy not teaching people to break it. I have never seen ANYONE been denied a price match that was legit. However I have seen TONS of people get FURIOUS at best buy employees because they wanted us to price match something the original store sold out of…which is against policy but we are all evil people out to get you.

I have no problems with price matching. I have problems with people who trash Best Buy and go conspiracy mad.

I said people need to grow up because people aren’t actually reading the memo that is the basis of the lawsuit. Probably the worst looking part of the memo is what has been published but legally there is nothing wrong with the memo since all it does is back up our policy to make sure we don’t price match things we don’t have to.

I price match all the time and have no problem doing it as long as it is valid. Heck, I price match all the time even when i am not supposed to because it is good business.

I just don’t understand people who get upset about price matching because at best it is a courtesy and at worse you can buy it from the place actually advertising. Nobody has to price match, it is just good business to do so.

Brian, again I think what these stores did is wrong and they should be punished for it. I have no problem with price matching…just people that complain about a price match that is against our policy. For a price match that is legit I have never and will never deny it. Like I said before I go above and beyond what is required of me as a manager and will even allow non legit price matches like most managers.

This is not a company directive but a few bad apples and I have always felt that any store who gets on consumerist, or any other site should have that manager fired if they violated a policy…which is nearly always what happened.

What is the first thing we do when a customer comes in to our humble box brandishing a competitor’s ad asking for a price match? We attempt to build a case against the price match.

Josh, I think that exact statement kinda underscores what people have a problem with. To try to market yourself with something and then try to weasel out of it is at best fraudulent. What people want is honest communication between the consumers and stores before people actually try to take advantage of an offer. I don’t understand why that concept is so hard to understand. Consumers doesn’t care wheter the policy makes sense from BB’s economical standpoint, consumers cares if the promises made by the store are honored.

Here’s a challenge to Gary Merson. Post the whole “Competition Insider Templates” document you mention above. Shouldn’t be a problem, unless you did some selective editting.

Something seems fishy, …and I can’t stand poor journalism [if this stuff is even called that].

READERS, PLEASE NOTE:
Buster’s IP shows the comment originated from Best Buy’s Headquarters in Richfield, MN. 
HD Guru

Hey guys i currently work at a computer store that Best Buy will not match and i can tell you they can rightfully do so. Not only do most computer stores have OEM products (no packaging) and don’t list it, but many of them import grey-market american products into a canadian market and then they really DO have different item codes. Most of the people that are walking into a best buy trying to get a price match ARE the scam artists, not best buy. BTW HD Guru you are the king of HDD and MHDD rules but please don’t say i work for best buy it’s actually the complete opposite i work for their main competitor (which they don’t price match, with good reason.)

Buy local, not big box! That’s what i say!

READERS, PLEASE NOTE: HD Guru didn’t accept the challenge to post the whole document [not just a selective excerpt].

If you read the entire article, you would have seen there is a link to the complete 32 page court decision with all the quoted passages within the document.

What exactly is your job at Best Buy Corporate Headquarters? 

HD Guru

Viva la Newegg, baby! I stopped shopping at Best Buy long ago. If they can’t compete with other prices, just don’t go there…it’s as simple as that!

Buster got owned. LOL.
It’s obvious that Best Buy’s marketing dept is hard at work here. I doubt they will get very far with it. The facts of lying and violating their own policy have been established. Good job, HDGURU!

Eric why do we care about that link and what they put on there web site it has nothing to do with what best buy did to people

Want to put out correct information here.
Also the comment about building a case against a price match. If the discount is extreme you want to make sure you are doing the correct(cover your ass) policy/procedure. Most stores will price match up to 10% without question though from what I see. Anything higher than that you want to make sure the price match is legit. Circuit City/Walmart always put out these crazy deals but only carry like 5-10 and sell out right away. Therefore we wouldn’t price match if they were out in accordance with our policy(unless it made business sense to price match)

Moving on: In interest of clearing up information here is the internal memo combined with whether it is training against policy(at the time in 2006)

“Refused Price Match Greatest Hits:
Not same model? (CORRECT)
Not in stock at the competitor? (CORRECT)
Do we have free widget with purchase? (CORRECT)
Is it from a warehouse club (they have membership fees, you know)? (CORRECT at the time)
Limited Quantities? (CORRECT)
That competitor is across town? (wasn’t in price match policy at time…local competitor was added in 2007 I believe. Still very subjective but I will price match anyone within 2-3 hours if it makes business sense)
We’ve got financing! (NO clue where this came from)
Is it an internet price? (CORRECT at the time)
It’s below cost!…..” (THAT IS NOT A REAL POLICY AND IS FAIR GAME TO PICK APART)

At the time of the internal memo we did not price match warehouse locations or ANY online price. I believe it was the following summer that best buy started price matching websites of local competitors.

Here is our price match exclusions currently.
The Price Guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors’ free offers, limited-quantity items, items for sale November 28th & 29th, 2008, open-box items, clearance items, Outlet Center items, mail-in offers, financing, bundle offers or pricing errors.

Thoughts on the lawsuit

The lawyer who drafted the suit is GOOD! Still in the lawsuit itself the entire internal memo is not released. Only a small portion of it.

Also can’t believe the tristate store would drop the price of the item by over $1,000. No matter what the best buy markup is, on DSLR’s it is usually sold at cost. Tristate must have had some hot(stolen) goods lol.

No idea how anyone would prove they were denied a valid price match since one of the requirements is to have the item in stock and IMO 90% of the time that is why a price match will not be done.

Either way it is up to a jury now to decide. If they jury finds in favor of the plaintiff then I say those involved need to be seriously investigated and likely fired. If the jury finds in favor of Best Buy those involved should again be seriously investigated and fired/reprimanded.

There is no excuse for denying valid price matches no matter how great the cost.

There used to be a company that had a similar price matching policy like BB. They would even offer 10% of the difference. That company was Circuit City. I think in due time BB will be headed down the same road as Circuit City.

Josh,

You stated that customers should not expect to find an advertised item advertised in their Sunday circular if they shop midweek. This is garbage!

Best Buy should then limit their sale events to Sun-Mon only instead of offering their specials for the entire week. You basically endorse their bait and switch tactics since hot items are not available by midweek. Give me a break!

Best Buy corporate is mostly to blame for large dollar price match problems. I have worked for electronics manufacturers and have called on most large retailers at one time or another for many years before becoming sick of the industry and moving on.
Best Buy is one of the slowest companies to react to manufacturers price reductions. The plasma TV price match I mentioned above was just such a case. I found out a few days after my purchase that other local retailers had lowered the selling price according to the manufacturers new lower costs and new retail price point. The other local retailers advertised the new lower retail as a sale price. Best Buy like a few other large retailers choose to be slow to lower prices on purpose to squeeze extra profit margins out of existing stock. This existing stock has usually already been credited the amount to Best Buy for the new lower cost and lower retail. Most times as long as the product is not advertised heavily they can get away with this for awhile. Basically screwing the unknowing public to make increased profit margins. This is why the Best Buy employee will say the price match is below cost. It will still show a much higher cost in the store computer to go along with the not yet reduced retail price. If Best Buy knows it will be advertised heavily they will reduce the price immediately. About 2 weeks after my price match..$999 became the everyday price at Best Buy for the Plasma I purchased. As far as the cost showing up in the store computers at Best Buy. Trust me that is not the actual cost you employees are seeing. Best Buy corporate would never want anyone to have that information. Leaking actual costs to a competitor or anyone from a local Best Buy store would create huge problems with the manufacturer and it’s other customers. I have seen what is in the Best Buy store computers and it is way higher than the actual cost.

I read lots of electronics related web sites. They usually give a heads up about manufacturer price reductions and the dates they will happen.
Best Buy is very slow to react.

I buy lots of video games for my kids, Best Buy sometimes takes more than two months to lower video game prices when they drop.

Early in the game I admired the way Best Buy did business. Each year they get worse and worse.
I have turned to the internet and other local retailers for many purchases that would have gone to Best Buy.

My favorite was the letter I got from Best Buy, I think about a year ago or more. It was touting the new and Improved Rewards Program. If you read it closely through all the BS, you would see they cut the rewards in half. I don’t really see how that was improved.

/agree on the slow to react piece. sometimes when the price drops a week to 2 or 3 weeks before that product is advertised they will wait to drop the price. That isn’t to make more money but to ensure we have appropriate levels of inventory when we do advertise it.

Sometimes we are first to drop prices..IE the new pricing in computers where everything is on sale $100-$150 off. Now when the item goes on sale it is for $50 not $150-$200.

We are a bit slow to react. We got too big too fast. That is why about 10-15% of the corporate staff were laid off and the new operating mode for stores is coming in April to make us more lean and focused. Hopefully it makes us faster to respond to things.

I hate that a few stores can ruin things for everyone. I apologize for the bad customer service some people get. But at our store, we have great employees and management and the customer surveys show it. IT is a shame it can be so hit and miss hough

HD Guru, did you get an official response from Best Buy Corporate before you e-bullied them off the site? I have some friends that work there. It would be interesting to know their take.

Also, I was confused on one part. can you elaborate on “HD GURU is not responsible for errors or omissions.”

Everything BestBuy sells is over priced when compared to their competitors. Before CC closed, their tv’s and stereo equipment were always priced MUCH lower than BB. I just bought some printable CD-R’s at BB for $13.99…I then walked about 30 seconds to Staples and noticed the same product for $8.99. During Christmas I almost bought a wireless mouse from BB for $89, but I went to Staples and found it for $79. I also bought a printer from Staples for $119….BB was charging $149

I think BB is starting to feel the heat from all the price matching. Consumers are finally starting to realize that BB prices are HIGH. And day by day, more and more people are becoming aware of this and they’re making sure to get the price match now. I’d love to see the stats of price match requests year over year.

Up until now, BB has somehow tricked people into thinking they offer the best prices. And because they were able to convince people that their prices were the best, even though there was no truth to it, they were able to generate huge profits which allowed them to grown into the giant that they are today. All those years of over priced electronics allowed BB to expand at a rapid pace. But now with the economy being in the gutter, people are looking to save $$ whenever possible. And because of this, people are focusing on the price match and calling BB out on the issue.

This is really cutting into BB’s profits. So in order to continue the huge growth that they’re accustom to, they’re finding ways to deny the price match.

not 4 nothing but best buy will be out of business soon,than anyone will think they are a bunch of ripoffs.

All i can say is if the BEST BUY flakes think changing product numbers to suit them is not deceptive…there is the reason why you are still working there.Nuf said.

As for the comment containing Michigan, they do it here too. In fact they do it so bad I only buy electronics online, usually tiger direct because their free shipping gets to michigan in two days. I used to shop at CC before they went under for TV’s and big things I want to look at before buying but now I used costco (free extended warranty) or buy online and hope for the best.

I have to totally disagree 100% here with this. I’ve never walked into Best Buy and been denied a price match. Maybe my store is more laid back or whatever but I done this at least 5-6 times without hiccup ever. I’ve actually since encouraged people to take advantage of this more as most don’t even know they offer this.

I have tried myself tobring in ads to have them beat it but they wouldnt budge ,they turned me down with an ad from 6th ave , vanns, and a couple of others ,last resort was circuit city and they beat it by $1.00 lol how do you like that ,i spent more in gas to try to get a deal , but i beat them at their own game already , my little secret to beatting best buy is a hush hush

It’s all true about Best Buy. I went in there and looked at a TV. I told the salesperson I could get this TV for $600 cheaper on Amazon. He said that Amazon’s televisions they sell are refurbished and have an extra letter or number in their model number. Bizarre!

I’m surprised so many people have had bad experiences, were you guys rude to the sales people? I’ve actually gone into Best Buy and had associates look up what other stores are selling it for to see if there was anyone they could price match it to for me, and almost every time they find something. Could just be bad stores or some bad managers. To write off an entire company because you had a bad experience seems foolish.

I understand that everytime someone buys something you want to get the absolute best deal that you can, but its come to a point were alot of times the consumer is the scam artist. Walking into a Best Buy and being like “I can get this TV for $600 cheaper over at so and so” in my head im thinking, then why dont you buy it over their. But as a supervisor in Home Theater i want to hit my daily budgets and make people happy. That is why I work at Best Buy. I enjoy talking with people and showing them all the cool **** we have. But man, most people walk in with a ticket from Costco or Sams club for a Sony KDL52WL140. Thats not even a retail model number. Alot of times these tv’s with have lower contrast ratios and budget panels. But all the customer sees is Sony Bravia 52″ HDTV. Then they get all mad when you cant price match. But ill always work a deal with them to earn their business. I love working for Best Buy, but I am looking to get out of retail because of all the BS the customers bring on, although 90% of customers are great, that 10% really takes the cake.

Also, Panasonic has noticed how Frys super low prices has really hurt the rest of the retail world. Frys with no longer be able to get the same panels and HDTV’s as Best Buy and Sears and the rest of the retailers gets because of how they do their pricing. Companies have to make money to stay in business, were going to get to a point were its no longer cost effective to make TVs anymore. Then what will you all do?

Do you old ladies know who funds the “sale prices”?
Do you know why the promotional ads for like products are not always run at the same time?
Do you have a clue what the potential repercussions of not price matching could be?
Do you know the first obligation of any employee or owner to the business?
Anybody actually been away from their keyboard long enough to visit stores in different geographical areas?
If you answered yes to all of these there is no reason for you to be hammering BB or any other retailer like some of you are…..or at least learn to use the appropriate tense and in some cases the correct spelling of some words.

If you did not answer yes to all then I suggest you rip yourself away from the adrenalin rush you get every time you see your own post, and spend some time learning about business.

I’m from Texas and and consitantly travel and work in the oilfield industry in Alberta(Canada), as well as Dallas and I buy alot of cool, useless electronics because, well, I can. Luckly, I live in a smaller city/town of 100,000 in Canada and you can hit all the major retailers in 15 mins drive….

I have found Bestbuy Canada to be more HONEST than other retailers…

2 years ago, I found out once that Future Shop had put a PC/Desktop warranty on my Notebook??? When I went to get it repaired at Tech Club I was asked “wheres my PC… can’t fix a notebook…” yet… no one in Management could help me. They could only discipline their worker who sold me the unit.

I went down the block to Best Buy Best Buy i told the associate in computers what had happened and he actually took me to the register near the Computers/Geek Squad desk and proceeded to show and tell me why I couldn’t get helped. He also showed me the cost of the units and accessories and yes, they DO mark up their accessories like my laptop case, my mouse and the other things like cables. But the manager on a the time heard my story, and sold everything to me at the cost, no deception. (that i could tell)

Now, it IS true that that unit did break down, a few times, and it had to be repaired at 2 different best buys 3 or 4 times, but they DID give me a new one according to their replacement/extended warranty.

However, you have to be careful about their International coverage clause… in Texas i had to PAY in advance for my repair… but when I went back up to Canada, the store there DID refund the repair estimate back to me. Just something to note.

I have shopped at the local stores ‘ComputerSavers’ or ‘SuperLaptopCompany’ whatever else they’re named, and I have had no luck with them either. So far, Bestbuy here in Canada and Texas has given me nothing but good things to say.

So Kudos to the Walnut Hill and Red Deer Bestbuys.
(dallas and canada respecively)

Like the majority of people commenting, I also have only spent enough time in three Best Buys, plus three other Brands, to feel like I can comment on the activities I see/saw in the stores. I do not work for any retailer, any manufacturer or reseller, but I do spend enough time in Best Buy and other Electronics stores to feel like I can accurately comment on those stores activities. I have tried to limit my comments to two areas; activities I have witnessed and activities I have not witnessed. I have the experience and people skills to watch and understand what is going on at a given store. Does not mean I am never wrong…..like everyone….I make mistakes.
In stores I usually find the employees confiding in me and the GM’s thanking me. Like most of you who have commented….I am not going to do anything I consider unethical, improper, illegal, or against corp policy. The aforementioned items are why we (you and I) rise above the “bottom dwellers” and are able to gain, build,and maintain quality business relationships with all customers… both Retailers and Consumers.
So first..I have never seen open items, BB in particular, resold as new…regardless of the reason for opening…GM’s will not allow it (remember that at least 60% of the way you manage/act is directly related to how YOU are managed). Never seen anyone turned down for a price match of another retail customer. From the time I started going to theses stores I had always heard/believed that there was no online or warehouse club matching….shame on me, I took someones word for it so I have not yet gone to a store in order to read a hard copy of the policy (not one from a link)but assuming the statements previously made by others are correct, my stores are not following their own policy. I have seen them match some pretty big numbers. Of course “matching refers to all stores not just BB, but…one problem….for example, Sears wants the associates to “Sell the whole package” and set up a delivery. You will be hard pressed to find many items, except the actual item on the display, in stock for any HDTV sale.
I consistently see associates explain band width and possible issues, to customers when the are trying to understand connections/cables (HDMI).
It’s in BB’s their training to explain/sell the Black Tie program as part of the process….and as with any purchase we better have, in our own thought processes, the reasoning/deduction skills to determine if it is a value, and most importantly, if we need it.
Hourly employees at BB may make up to an approx whooping $600 a year bonus, if they are Senior and good.
But, as stated in one of the previous posts, these are young kids, and what I see is that the more flagrant store issues are related to consumer treatment/presentation issues, and usually involve the newest employees, and/or the ones that have gamed/watched TV all their life and are therefore sure that they know exactly what the customer needs….most of the time because they just know!!!!(I have questioned several about statements I heard them make, and gotten some really stupid answers; one of the most memorable – because that’s what my friends said).
The following I experience on a very consistent basis; consumers frequently state that finally they feel like someone has explained the technology/ies to them in a genuine consistent manner and really appreciate it. They say this because they have been to different stores and gotten just as many explanations of something as stores visited. In every store at least 50% of the associates are knowledgeable about their products(or at least more knowledgeable than hourly employees in other fields, but they don’t go research on their own time….(very few do anyway) but they care.
I rarely see any say “I’ll go get a buggy for you”, let me walk you over there”, etc; none of the statements/actions that plant the subconscious idea that “I got good service at ______”. Goes right back to “60% of the way you manage/act is based on how you are managed”.
Most want to learn as much as possible about their products…..as do many who have to split departments…..it’s human nature…..you want to know all you can about what you are selling…but the other side is that the younger you are the harder it is to say “I don’t know, but I will find out”.
I have seen only a few taking time with Seniors to make sure they know what they are getting, vs. what the kids or grand kids have told them they need. And, you can bet they(seniors) are the most likely to have a problem the majority of the time, even when delivery/installation is included. I have actually started to give my cell number to the ones I felt were the most likely to have issues after setup. But only AFTER they have called the store/tech support or any other number they were directed to call. I always asked that question to make sure they did not call me first….”I get a hell of a lot of calls in the first few days of ownership, from seniors. Takes a few minutes usually, and everything is done. No, the stores don’t know I do this….they only want consumers to have store numbers…and I make sure the consumer knows that my help is only instructional and only initially…they HAVE to call the store/mfg as directed….on the other hand, I am pretty sure that they become repeat customers because of the help that they know is above and beyond. I have sent some internet savvy seniors home, if they don’t plan to make a purchase on the spot, with written instructions concerning research sites they need to spend time on in order to understand more. I know store mgrs shiver if they hear something like that….but you guess what happens? No one else has taken that interest/time to make sure that this kind of customer makes a proper purchase based on their own knowledge and understanding…I see them repeatedly come back the next day to make their purchase, and they keep returning for additional products..they don’t need to be overwhelmed…one product at a time…take care of ‘em…they will never go anywhere else. If they don’t need something, then tell them that, and based on what you know about them try to suggest some other product, in your store, that will make life more enjoyable for them.

I certainly digressed from the thread subject.
Summary – I have never witnessed a BB store try to avoid what I believed to be the current matching policy, or seen any discernible hints of improper activities along that line. So, stands to reason that I have not seen/heard GM’s instruct them to avoid matching. However, you know that at a BB GM level(or any other comparable operation), one of the key skills is being an effective “filter”…..and part of your everyday duties are deciding how and in what manner to implement directions/statements from above, “IF AT ALL”. If the last statement made you think “what tha”, then you probably could stand to improve in areas of confidence, self esteem, and people skills, regarding your own business/management skills, or simply improve your employment situation.

Direction comes in many ways, from many levels, and is usually the result of demands/pressure that someone just does not know how to handle..but YOU know when it is wrong/improper!! Your choice is then to confront or filter…filter with the confidence that your skills will prevail and the certainly that the source of improper, unethical, illegal direction will be gone long before you.

The caveat: Do not read this and suddenly decide you are good and know what to do. So it will be ok to start to completely ignore or defy your superior. If your have these skills you know it….the most difficult part is maintaining the certainty that not only will you prevail, but, when compared to others who gave in, i.e. refused price matches, you and your team’s performance will be head and shoulders above the others in relation to your COMPANY’s stated goals/targets…..and absolutely have the conviction/understanding that you must act properly because one of your obligations is to set/reinforce/lead by example, in teaching/implementing the standards of success that will influence/impact most of your team members for the rest of their career/life.

“Besides, I never understood why people use a price match anyway. If it is cheaper somewhere else then freaking buy it there. ”

1. Ever hear about LOYALTY?
2. Convenience?

Pretty ignorant comment ….

like i said b/b ts a joke. and hope they will be out of business soon. pay back is a bitch?

LMAO,LMAO,LMAO,LMAO
wow u people crack me up. its obvious that large retailers do whatever they can to maximize profits
accept it move on go somewhere else
thats why i only buy direct online products

i would like to post my problem here because . best buy have rip me off . on feb-2009 . i went to best buy in manassas and bought the laptop. the salemen sovle me a bad lap top and charge me full priceas new. when i came home i open it was have a hand wrote on the recovery disc so i call the best buy and they told me to bring it back. a week later i went back and purchase a difference one made by TOSHIBA. i bought on 02-23-09. this produce is defecting it have problem i can not turn ON so i brought to best buy. the said they have to send it to the service center for a repair. in about 2.5 week my laptop came back to the store , the GEEKQUAD call me to pick up.and said nothings wrong with the hardware and told me that in order for it to work they will reinstall the software that will cost me $130.00, so i feel why they have to charge me . so i brought it home.. i keep trying to turn ON but is not working so i fell it need to be fixes so i can go online to pay bill or reading , watching movies online . so i brought it to best buy again , anh the manager there said: if the hard drive fail then best buy will not charge me at all. so i told him with a $130.00 to fix it go head because it need it . after a week i call and ask if it ready they told me that the hard drive is fail so they will replace and ask me for the RECOVERY DISC i told them that i don’t have . the person telling to call toshiba for the recovery disc. so i call to order recovery disc it a bout 3to 4 days. i got the disc brought it to best buy they said about todays. so 3later i call back and ask the geekquad said they have to send my laptop to service center again because the media bottom doesn’t work. so again i all for a replacement they said NO.I FEEL HELP LESS.I

i ask for a replacement just give me the new laptop even know i have to paymore to get the better one.they keep said NO!. so today i on june 18 i call the store to find out why taking so long. guess what happen , now is the mother board. so i call to the best buy CUSTOMER RELATION FROM BEST BUY

they told me best buy doesn’t made the product , but i told them that i bought this FROM BEST BUY NO FROM TOSHIBA.

I SAID YOU ARE TOOK MY MONEY NOT TOSHIBA . the customer relation from best buy told me i have to call toshiba and ask for a replacement. so i do what they told me , i call toshiba they said look we only repair we will not replace the product . i been trying to explain over and over look like all come out is that NO the TOSHIBA CUSTOMER RELATION TOLD ME YOU HAVE TO DEAL WIHT BEST BUY. i ask her to email me so i can show it to best buy , i don’t see no email . i call to best buy customer relation . the lady as a manager said i have to wait . after she know how i fell she said let her call the local store , with all my phone and holding she said the store manager told her that will respone to me in 72hours. they will not replace a new one for me . so what can i do to all of you who have encounter the same problem like me. are you going to wait again and again? i think that their policy is to bad is a RIP OFF. THIS BES BUY IS LOCATION IN MANASSAS . SUDDLEY ROAD. I’M TIE OF THE LIEING PEOPLE WHO SOLVE ME A BAD PRODUCE . MY BELIEVE BEST BUY SHOULD JUST GAVE THE NEW ONE SO I DON’T CONTINOUS HEADDACHE A GAIN . WHY SHOULD EVERY ONE HAVE TO GO BEST BUY AND BUY THE BAD PRODUCT . WHEN YOU NOT HAVING A PROBLEM YOU WON’N KNOW HOW GOOD THE BEST BUY WILL RIP OFF YOU. I ASK TO THOSE WHO HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCING LIKE ME STAND UP FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT AS THE CONSUMER. ASK A BUYER. I KNOW WILL SHOULD NOT LET THEM RIP US OFF AND CONTINOUS TO RIP US OFF.THANKS FOR THOSE WHO READ AND STAND UP FOR THE CONSUMER.

I find it funny how people always complain about prices being so much higher than the cost of producing the item, and then they turn around and complain that their job isnt paying worth s$&#!!! Who in you perfect(ly dilusional) world is going to pay all the workers paychecks that put together the product, or the people that drive it halfway across the country so that you can enjoy the benefits of “civilized” life. Who is going to stock the items in the stores? Are you going to volunteer because your concerned about the consumer? Botomline no profit, no buisness. If you dont like the prices buy from somwhere else like walmart, where people get annoyed when you ask them a question that might require them to think or ask a superior. At least at best buy there will be someone who can answer a technical question without blowing a fuse, figurativly and litteraly. If people were so concerned about money they wouldnt be in the market for a fri#^in 52″ tv that can play pictures faster than the human eye can even see. Its not like they’ll starve without one. But i can tell you something, a lot more people than the current (estimated) 20% of americans if not more would go very hungry, for a very long time if there wasnt that “unneccesary” markup you’re all talking about. And chansok thach… if you dont like how the us does buisness, then leave!

Best Buy has, over the past few years, developed the best policy of all – one that is guaranteed to fail any price match request. They have begun to specify to OEM’s of higher end products ($500 and up) that Best Buy demands all purchases be assigned Best Buy-specific Brand Model Numbers. In this manner, their retailer competitors’ products can no longer be matched to any Best Buy product. Game over.

this spring/summer , NY Atty General Cuomo filed a lawsuit against hordes of “companies” offering products at prices too good to be true, most based out of Brooklyn. These “business people” have been doing this for years – baiting and switching customers and making false claims. While i never worked for Best Buy, retailers have to protect themselves against these deceptive practices. Yes, requiring same model numbers are fair as well as excluding promo freebies. it’s only fair. why does Best Buy sell Insignia, Sears sell Kenmore (exclusivity and no price protection). Good price protection policies should be very clear at point of sale, though. some do this better than others.

It’s amazing how many folks that work at Best Buy filibuster here. Mr Bass, shame on you, you probably don’t “work” for Best Buy, but Subcontract. I have been denied price matches on Numerous occasions, I live in NW Florida. Admittedly, we only have one store “locally” but judging from the fact it WENT TO COURT, and the folks won!!! I find your counter-arguments specious. I do installation work, and I have been behind your guys A LOT. And dealt with your former customers A LOT, the model number modification is a scam. The only company I have legitimately seen get away with this is Walmart, but they also remove functionality from the device firmware, most consumers would not notice, but when you work with them all the time, small things like some audio settings being greyed out and stuff stands out.

Yeah there is an adrenaline rush with posting, but let’s face it, that’s only because the vast majority of us have been wronged by Best Buy, and discontinuing shopping there is of limited service to our egos. Additionally, your enthuisiastic defense on an online forum lends credence to the argument. EVERY time I was denied a legitimate pricematch, it was Enthusiastically pursued by the manager and/or employee.

By the way, when ya’ll posted, where you on the clock????????