Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[septimus]

I've heard that Best Buy has changed their policy with regard or preordering the Palm Pre.  Are customers now required to lay down $50 to be put on a waiting list that will go towards the purchase price of the phone?

[Miranda]

We are now.

I guess we at Best Buy are having such a hard time with getting more Pre's in stock, that they've decided to do pre-orders for another wave of inventory that is supposed to be in by July 8. Stores will take pre-orders up until June 30, and if they get inventory in before that, they are to call the customers when inventory comes in, according to who's first on the pre-order list.

The Pre pre-order is supposed to work like the iPhone pre-order did. The customer pays $50, and gets a BBY gift card, which they can then use toward the purchase of the phone when it is available.

This information was just released to us at the call center about an hour ago....

[Nokia]

Yeah, I just found out about it today.

[John-BBY Community Connector]

Hello septimus,

I regret that there has been some confusion about the Palm Pre pre-order process.  I’ll try to clarify the process and our reasons for the policy for you.

As I understand, our store associates were previously maintaining a waiting list for the Pre for when inventory became available.  A waiting list doesn’t guarantee a product however, so the waiting list was formalized into a pre-order process with the intent of ensuring that you receive your Pre and giving you priority over walk-in customers when the inventory situation is resolved.  Our store associates were advised to call customers on the waiting list with an invitation to pre-order.  Our process for a pre-order is to issue a gift card for the deposit that we require to secure the pre-order, in this case $50.  When you come in to pick up your pre-ordered Pre, the gift card will be redeemed against the purchase price of the phone.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion!

Regards,