Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[ech00fsilence]

toys r us is running a special that if you purchase batman arkham assylum the day it comes out that you will get a $30 gift card from them. after hearing this i went to my local bestbuy and asked if they would honor that. the person at customer service told me they would not give me a $30 gift card instead they would deduct that from the price of the game. the person seemed to know what they were talking about but for good measure i went back a couple hours later since it is right down the street and asked someone else. the second person i talked to said that they wouldnt take the amount off the cost of the game and wouldnt honor it what so ever.

i am just curious as to which one of them is correct or if neither of them are.

[Nokia]

Per BB's price match policy:

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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.

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[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello ech00fsilence -

Sarah from our Community Connector team should be able to provide some clarification on this matter for you.  Thanks!

[Sarah-BBY Retired: Community Connector · Accepted solution]

Hello ech00fsilence,

Thank you for asking about this and thank you Nokia for providing the link to our Price Match Policy!

However, I believe what ech00fsilence is asking is how a price match will apply if the competitor’s price includes a gift card, not our price including a gift card

Therefore, the following is also stated within the link (to our Price Match Policy) provided:

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 hope this helps but please let me know if you have any further questions about this.

Thanks again and have a great day!
Sarah

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate

[Nokia]

Sarah, that's the part I meant to post. Oops.

[micmac0720]

I also had trouble with this price match at my local best buy. The peson at the store I spoke with said they will only match this type of offer if Best Buy is also offering a gift card with the purchase. This does not make sense to me because it is extremely unlikely that 2 stores will offer a gift card with the purchase or an item at the same time. According to your response above it looks like Best Buy should match the gift card or deduct the value of the gift card from the purchase, even when Best Buy is not originally offering a gift card with purchase (as in the case of the original post). Is that correct?

[micmac0720]

I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but when I purchased Batman Arkham Asylum at Toys R Us, the regular price for the game was 59.99. On the receipt it charged 29.99 for the game and 30.00 for the gift card. but there is no way I will make the purchase at Toys R Us just to show Best Buy the receipt and get it matched, then have to return the previous purchase to Toys R Us. This kinf of offer has become very frequent and I will gladly take the gift card from whoever offers it. Honestly, I think it would be unintelligent for Best Buy to not match these offers of a gift card with purchase even when Best Buy is not offering a gift card.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi micmac0720,

Thanks for asking for clarification on this aspect of our price match policy! It is not necessarily true that both our store and its local competitor must be offering a gift card in order to process a price match, but in the vast majority of cases this is the true.

To determine if a product being sold at a competitor (with an instant gift card as part of the offer) qualifies for our price match policy you simply add the purchase price of the product, and the dollar amount of the instant gift card. Now add the purchase price of the same product at Best Buy®, and the dollar amount of any instant gift cards we are including in this product offering. If the combined price of the competitor's offer is less than the combined price of the same product offered at one of our stores your local Best Buy® store should price match their local competitor, but keep in mind this is assuming all other aspects of our price match policy are also being met.

Here’s an example:

You want to purchase a game that is selling for $50 at a competitor, and it comes with a $30 instant gift card at this competitor. We sell the same game for $60, but we aren't offering a gift card with the game. To determine if we would price match this competitor just add $50 and $30 ($80) the competitor's combined price, and if this is less than the combined price of this game at our stores ($60) we would price match the competitor's offer.

I hope this helps!

[micmac0720]

Allen-BBY,

Thank you for your explanation and example. I do have a better understanding of your price match policy in regards to cases when gift cards are involved. That being said, I think your policy is not rational. In reference to your example: why would I purchase an item at Best Buy for $60 when I can go to a local competitor and pay only $50 for the same item and get a free gift card for $30 on top of that?

I think the correct approach would be to subtract the value of the gift card (not add) from the purchase price. Again refering to your example. A competitor is offering an item for $50 and giving a gift card with the worth of $30. Essentially, making the purchase of the item $20, since that $30 gift card will be used on a later purchase. Meanwhile, Best Buy is offering the same item for $60 and no gift card.

Why would you add the worth of the gift card? I am not paying $80 for the item and gift card combined, I am paying $50 for the item and gift card combined (which has a worth of $80).

Anyway thanks for the clarification. It is a simple decision if you ask me.

[BBBob]

 I would go to the competitors also if I did not work for us. If I can get it 10.00 less and a 30.00 gift card why would I buy from BB? I totally understand the posters comments and concerns. People shop around alot more today than they did just a few tears ago. And if they can save 10.00 and get a 30.00 gift card that is what they will do, I guarntee it. They will use the gift card towards another game or movie or something they want.