Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[bb_customer]

Just yesterday I walked into a local BB store (#499) to purchase a Toshiba LCD HDTV.  BB sells it for $1,199 and I brought in an ad from a well-known competitor that's selling the same exact TV for $899.  The video dept. manager would not price match it because he said it's below his cost.  I asked where in BB's price matching policies does it say I can be turned down for that.  He could not find it.  He then changed his reason that the competitor's store nearby is out of stock.  I showed him a printout that listed a few other competitor's stores in the area that has it in stock.  He again refused to price match because they were not close enough.  I asked him where in the store's policies that a competitor's store must be within a specified distance.  Again, he could not find it.  I then asked to speak to the store manager.  He was reluctant at first but ended up going to look for him.  After waiting several minutes, I found the dept. manager and the store manager talking in front of a terminal and I walked over to talk to the store manager to explain my situation. He used the same explanation that no competitor's stores in the city has it in stock.  I asked him where in BB's policies does it state the competitor must be in the same city.  He looked but did not find it.  The store manager and the dept. manager then told me to stand away from them. I thought it was an odd request and told them I should be able to stand wherever I wish as a customer.  They told me again, more sternly this time, that I should stand away from them so they could talk privately.  I complied and waited patiently as they typed away at the terminal.  Ten minutes later, they showed me on their terminal that even their competitor's stores that were in other cities were out of stock.  I told them a store that's near one of the stores they showed me had them in stock and they should check.  The store manager refused to look it up and said that one's too far, even though it's very close to one he picked that didn't have it. That was the end of that conversation and I left.

I've been shopping at Best Buy for years and I know this is not their normal business practice.  I hope a moderator here can shed some light and help me out.  I left out details such as names but I can provide them if needed.

[Coolbballer21]

Wow....sorry to hear you got treated like that

I do know Bestbuy will not price match if the nearby store does not have any units in stock...but within a certain distance...?

[bb_customer]

Dear Moderators,

I'm wondering if there's a process by which you respond to some posts and not to others.   I noticed there's been a flurry of replies by mods in the past couple of days and I commend that.  However, there are posters, like myself, who have been waiting patiently for a week now and have had their posts viewed over a hundred times but have yet to receive a response.

I know that there's a lot of messages to sort through and there are only so many of you to read them, but it would make sense that older posts should be responded to before newer posts.  Or maybe there are reasons why certain posts will never be responded to.  Either way, an acknowledgement that our concerns have been noted or a reason why you can't help us would be greatly appreciated.  

While I still haven't given up hope that BB will do the right thing and price match the TV so I can buy it before Christmas, time is quickly running out.

Thank you and happy holidays. 

bb_customer 

[micke008]

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Message Edited by micke008 on 12-28-2008 06:57 PM

[bb_customer]

micke008,

the video dept. manager and the store manager must've pored over BB's price match policy for 5 mins looking for a reason to reject the price match.  the written policy is not very long.  after trying out several excuses that didn't work, they settled on the reason that the competitor's stores were out of stock.  but i showed them a list of 3 stores that had them in stock, complete with phone numbers and addresses, but the store manager refused to even check.  he spent 10 minutes looking up stores that were out of stock but wouldn't spend 1 minute calling up the store that did have it in stock.

by the way, the competitor store that had the tv for $899 was C i r c u i t  C i t y.

[Aaron-GS Community Connector]

Hey bb_customer,

I’m sorry to hear about the difficulties you recently encountered, but there appear to be a few things about Best Buy’s price match policies that should probably be explained.  First, you are correct in understanding that Best Buy® does not limit price matches based on price alone.  Even if the advertised sale price is below cost, we still are able to honor competitor’s sales prices as long as certain other criteria are met.

Second, the local competitor must have that product immediately available in stock at a physical, brick-and-mortar store.  Our stores reserve the right to double-check a competitor’s inventory – by phone and online – as sales flyers and online printouts do not always reflect current availability.  If a product is out of stock, our stores have no obligation to match the competitor’s offer.

Last, but far from least, Best Buy® leaves it up to our individual stores to determine what constitutes a local competitor.  In most cases, a local competitor simply means another store that lies within the same metro market (or 10-15 minutes driving distance).  Anything beyond that distance and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to honor a competitor’s pricing.

Remember though that Best Buy® is not able to price match limited-time-only offers, limited quantity products, retailer-specific manufacturer rebates, bundle packages, going-out-of-business sales or online-only companies!   For more information, please see our Store Price Guarantee located on BestBuy.com.

Thanks,

Agent Aaron
Geek Squad® Community Connector
Go Ahead.  Use Us.

[bb_customer]

Hi Agent Aaron,

Thank you for replying to my post.

What if all the criteria for a price match have been met and the dept. and store managers still refuse to price match?  

The video dept. manager did say the price was below his cost and that he'll never match that price.  From what you told me, I was right in telling the manager that he could not refuse the price match based on price alone.

The local competitor DID have the item in stock in a brick and mortar store at the advertised price ready for immediate pick up.  The problem is the BB managers REFUSED to check that store.  They refused to call the store to check.  They refused to even check online for that store.  I requested, nearly begged, several times for the store manager to just give the store a call to confirm stock and price, but he refused.

Oh, well.  It's too late now as the stock and price are long gone for the TV.  It's frustrating that one or two people can ruin your Christmas plans, especially when they're from BB.  Next time I should just do business with the competitor, even if it means giving up my Reward Zone membership.  Lesson learned.

bb_customer

[bewilderedbyBB]

Price Matching with BB is a nightmare, even when it is within their OWN store if you buy the tv online. their staff are not properly trained and seem uncaring about the customer's time and needs. The staff at the store I dealt with were more interested in ordering lunch than taking care of my issue. I have never seen such outright disdain for the customer in all of my years of being a consumer. They literally rolled their eyes when they could not get a body on the phone at BB.com and I said I wanted it resolved today because the sale ends today. They were busy because it is Saturday and did not want to spend the time it would take to resolve my problem. Also, all of the staff said something totally different about how to go about refunding the difference in price between what I paid and what the sale price is. One of them wanted me to return the tv and re-buy it rather than just crediting my card. Then they said the tv was never delivered to me (I am watching it right now) and then they said I cant get the match if I bought it online. What a nightmare!! I was there for an hour and a half on Tues and another hour and half today. Not even an apology!

I had a bad experience with BB a few years ago and I should have stuck to my guns and gone to the competitor for the extra 50 bucks...at least they are nice! Live and learn.