Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[spoondek]

I went in to best buy in lynnwood, wa today armed with a toys r us ad that had God of War 3. They were giving a $20 gift card with purchase. the sale was for the hours of 10am to 2pm.  I got in returned something and picked out the game and headed to the counter. this is all before 2pm.  Now on your website it says that gift cards will be matched.

"How do you handle a price match if an instant gift card is included with a purchase?

The value of an instant gift card with purchase will be considered when calculating a price match. If the combined value of a competitor's product and instant gift card is lower than the combined value of Best Buy's product price and instant gift card, Best Buy will match either the price or the instant gift card value, depending on the offer."

I got that right off of your website. 

1st girl says "ummm i have to get a manager"  i was fine with that.

manager comes "we dont price match gift cards." i had your website with this policy on my phone had her read it and she says "we dont price match gift cards." i have done this price match before at the northgate and everett locations with little hassle but this location i have had problems with over and over again and im just sick of it. I even called your customer care and they tell me that they dont match gift cards.... what the bleep!!!! are you serious??????? THEN she tells me she needs to call the local toys r us to see if they have it in stock. (which i already did because this manager has done this before). she gets on the phone with them and makes me wait about 30min (now its past 2pm) she says they are now out of stock. (how convient) and its past 2pm and the sale is over.

Im still on the phone with customer service and hes no help. sooooooo irritated right now im about ready to punch someone.... i love going to best buy and love your reward zone program and use it quite well but this disservice everytime i go in to price match just... arrrrgh!!!

Jae

[cr_client]

BBY was (and still is, I think) offering $10 off of the God of War Collection when purchased with God of War 3 (they even offered it on the pre-order).

I, personally, don't see why BBY should be obligated to price match in this case, considering the T R' Us price was a "door-buster" deal that only covered part of a day.  If it was a day-long sale or something, then maybe, but a door-buster?  Not so much.

I won't ask why you insist on going to a store where you know you'll have price match problems, vs. one where you haven't had problems, because one might be closer to your home or work or something, and that's just the way it goes sometimes (I prefer my local BBY to the one near school, but that's not always an option).

Someone from Corporate should be along this week or next week to take a look into this.

[spoondek]

its called convience... that store is the closest to me and I would expect to get the same service in any location. Who cares if it was a door buster. A SALE IS A SALE. if i went in to best buy at the same time toys r us had there sale what does it matter. whats 5 hours vs 1 day? isnt that a time limit on sale too?????? maybe you should think about what your typing before you do? eh?

[cr_client]

Not only was it a door-buster, but it was an offer ONLY available to Rewards R Us members.

Quite a few stores, including Tarrgit and W*M exclude door-busters from their price-match policy, because DBs have a very small window for the sale and generally have a limited quantity on-hand.

Oh, and 10 AM - 2 PM is only 4 hours, not 5.  But thanks for playin'.

I would just wait for a BBY corporate employee to respond to see if they're willing to address this issue.  Otherwise, it's just tilting at windmills, because there's nothing that a non-Best Buy Employee can do for you, other than join in your complaint or argue with you.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello spoondek -

Aaron, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  I apprecaite your patience until he is able to contact you!

[IheartBBY]

The first few lines of the Price Match Guarantee states

"The guarantee does not apply to our competitors' website pricing and the guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors:

• Offers that include financing, bundling of items, free items, pricing errors and mail-in offers..."

I suppose that includes gift cards...definitely a gray area that needs to be addressed.

[cr_client]

---

IheartBBY wrote:

The first few lines of the Price Match Guarantee states

"The guarantee does not apply to our competitors' website pricing and the guarantee does not apply to our or our competitors:

• Offers that include financing, bundling of items, free items, pricing errors and mail-in offers..."

I suppose that includes gift cards...definitely a gray area that needs to be addressed.

---

You need to read further along in the policy.  Instant gift cards ARE addressed in the policy, as are items in which Best Buy offers a BBY gift card with purchase.

What's not specifically addressed, unfortunately, is the issue of "doorbusters", though, as I mentioned, the price match in question included an offer that was only available to members of a Reward program, which, while not specifically addressed in the policy, seems to be enough to invalidate a price match claim, in my humble opinion.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hello spoondek,

While it is true that Best Buy is sometimes able to price match gift card offers, our retail stores are only able to honor such promotions if they are part of a regular weekly sale at one of our competitors.  This unfortunately means that limited time-only promotions – such as “one day only” or “four hour only” offers – cannot be honored.  Additionally, remember that products listed as being limited quantity items are not eligible for price matching:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=page&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to send me a private message.  You can do so by signing into the forums and then clicking on either my signature below or the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for taking the time to post.  

[spoondek]

"While it is true that Best Buy is sometimes able to price match gift card offers, our retail stores are only able to honor such promotions if they are part of a regular weekly sale at one of our competitors.  This unfortunately means that limited time-only promotions – such as “one day only” or “four hour only” offers – cannot be honored.  Additionally, remember that products listed as being limited quantity items are not eligible for price matching."

where does it say this in your policy? i read it over 5 times and dont see it. Also I still have the ad for the gift card to toys r us and no where in the ad says limited quantites.

This is what I read:

How do you handle a price match if the Best Buy price includes a promotional offer such as a free gift card or rebate?
The Best Buy net purchase price is calculated by deducting the value of all instant and mail-in discounts such as rebates, free offers and promotional gift cards. Existing rebates and free offers associated with a product purchased at Best Buy will not apply if a price match is executed.
 
How do you handle a price match if an instant gift card is included with a purchase?
The value of an instant gift card with purchase will be considered when calculating a price match. If the combined value of a competitor's product and instant gift card is lower than the combined value of Best Buy's product price and instant gift card, Best Buy will match either the price or the instant gift card value, depending on the offer.

What if the competitor does not have the item in stock or has limited quantities of the product?
Sometimes a retailer will advertise a very low price for a product but have only limited quantities in stock. If the item is out of stock or the competitor has limited quantities of an item, (which i called toys r us to see if they had the game available and they did.) it is not eligible for price matching. Likewise, if Best Buy has a product that is advertised as being limited in quantity it will not be eligible for price matching.