Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[BH85]

Maybe it's a new policy, but I'm sure I can find it in writing, or at the very least their new ad campaign touting it.

If you're going to just defend BBY policy that is fine.  All I'm saying is that in my opinion it is a very costumer unfriendly policy, especially for the item I want.  The stores that carry the item close before BBY does and I don't have the luxury of driving an hour north of where I live every day hoping to catch BBY and their competitor open at the same time.  It's not like it's an item that fluctuates in price from day to day, the price has been consistent since about Mid-December due to Nikon dropping the price.  I could understand if I was trying to match some item to an obscure corner store who undercut BBY by $5 all the time, but I'm not.  BBY is above the market value of the camera and refusing to match it. 

[MobileExpert]

It's one thing if a customer comes in knowing that a product is cheaper at a particular store. It's entirely another if every customer comes in and says "I need to know if this is cheaper somewhere else. Please call all your competitors and see if it is." That's basically making the retailer do the price research for you.

[BH85]

Well, like I said, other stores do the research for the costumer, so it's not some obscure idea even if you don't belive it.  But as I've never had a pleasant costumer experience at a BBY store, I do not really expect them to do this.

That being said, it's not some sort of wild guess that the camera is cheaper elsewhere.  It IS cheaper elsewhere, I'm not requiring BBY to go on some wild goose chase.  It takes less than a minute to find out that the price on the Nikon I want to purchase is set and BBY is the only store carrying it with a higher price. 

[MobileExpert]

The only thing I've ever seen like that is a store's corp. office comparing to national competitors. It's called market reaction pricing. I've never seen an individual store do the customer's work for them.

[ajttk1234]

Being a customer is not supposed to be work, but I guess being a bby customer is.

[BH85]

Thanks ajt, I agree.  I feel my work was done when I spent weeks deciding which product I wanted and what the market price of it was.

[eshanew]

MobileExpert is a blue shirt, so pay no mind. I doubt a customer would know BBY policies inside and out like he seems to. To me it seems like BBY has litered this forum with a lot of blue shirts to put a "positive spin" on all of our legitimate complaints that BBY fails to acknowledge and correct.

[hockeycanuckjc Trusted Contributor]

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eshanew wrote:
MobileExpert is a blue shirt, so pay no mind. I doubt a customer would know BBY policies inside and out like he seems to. To me it seems like BBY has litered this forum with a lot of blue shirts to put a "positive spin" on all of our legitimate complaints that BBY fails to acknowledge and correct.

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Pay no attention to this nonsense, eshanew is mad, so he thinks every blue shirt worker reflects the experience he recieved. While this person is upset, they might want to know that a community connector will work with them to come to a positive experience that both can agree on. Complaints on this board are handled very seriously and are treated with high importance.

[LeAnna]

I agree, MobileExpert is a BBY employee.

But then again so am I. I was never asked by the company to be here, not even sure if I'm suppose to be. But I was curious and so here I am.

But I wouldn't have just let you leave without trying to find an online or something that we could have price matched to. At least the BBY.com site was $30 less, and I didn't see them offer that to you. I'm in Utah so I know all about Inkleys

How price match works in our store ... it's has to be the exact same model and or package. We have to verify through print or phone call, and it's suppose to be in stock. Online prices has to be authorized dealers with brick and morder stores (a actual loction the public shops at). We will price match Amaz-on.com ONLY if it's actually amaz-on selling and shipping is included. Check out stands do not have internet access, so they can only make phone calls. Customer Service does have limited internet access to check online stores for price matches. Price matches that drop below a certain percentage of markup or go below our cost need a managers approval, and they will not approve if they think it's a bad business decision.

Unforunately not all stores are equal in their practice of company policy. Some work harder to make customers happier, some are hardline to the book and will not budge.

[MobileExpert]

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ajttk1234 wrote:
Being a customer is not supposed to be work, but I guess being a bby customer is.

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Being a customer is not. Being a smart consumer is. On every product I've ever bought I spend hours doing research on different product options, then find the best price. If I'm buying from a B&M store, I pull up the websites of all the stores near me and check each of their prices, then call the lowest one to verify the price. I recently did this with a foot bath I was buying for a gift. I checked a total of five stores, and countless online sites. I'd never expect to walk into, say, Macy's, and have them tell me the price of the product at the four other stores.

Basically, I believe that taking your time and researching your options is rewarded with a quality product at a low price. Just going to the first store you see will cause you to rely on the knowledge of the employees at that store, and you'll often pay a higher price.