Best Buy IdeaX

[#1]

Why has Best Buy taken away points earned for special financing?  I made a purchase for $249.99 and never recevied points due to selecting 6-month financing.  Why is Best Buy taking away points from its customers and not making the store employees aware of such a policy?  This policy is not posted anywhere on the store fronts or by the registers.  How is this ethical?  Til this policy is made known in the store and online, points should be given to customers accordingly.  This now makes me want to cancel everything I have with Best Buy move to buying straight from the manufacturers.  Please fix this Best Buy, or show your customers the policy!

[#2]

Don't take away rewards points with spcial financing i agree. Points are too hard to accumulate as it is. It would help retain/increase business if you would not take away points for special financing offers.

[#3]

I interested to know how "special financing" could even finanically eliminate the benefit for the company to give away points. When I was working in retail, we preferred people ot finance since it was money we got immediately from the finance company (just as if it were cash basically), and we didn't have to pay for the service, since finance companys make money if the customer does not pay on time. 

[#4]

I recently spent $1400 on a new tv. When checking out, I decided to sign up for a best buy card instead of using my discover card due to the special financing. The cashier informed me that my choice was to use special financing and get the normal amount of rewards points, or normal financing to get bonus rewards points.

If the employee was better informed, i would have went with my original plan of using my Discover card for rewards and paying it off within 30 days to avoid interest charges. Instead I took the special financing because it's never a bad idea to take free credit, except in this case I lost out on my rewards points. Even worse - if i had used my discover card, i would have gotten Best Buy AND Discover's rewards points.

As others have said, this is a bad policy when the point of the rewards program is to tempt customers into the stores. I assume people spend more when they can get the special financing, so the few bucks in rewards points should be a no brainer in return for bigger receipts.

I knew nothing about this whatsoever until I reached out to customer service about it. I can't find ANY mention of it in any of the faqs posted on the site. it mentions bonus points when choosing normal financing but nowhere does it say that special financing eliminates all points. ..unless it's buried somewhere that I wasn't able to find when actively looking for it.

[#5]

Just spent 2000 on a mac and only got 3 points because i used the interest free option. Think that really sucks. I can get interest free just about anywhere guess Best Buy doesnt care that I spend two to three grand there a year. No reason to shop here anymore looks like someone else will be getting that money!!! Good Bye Best Buy!!!!

[#6]

Been suggested before

[#7]

Agreed. I would have to think there is some sort of common sense in this.

$1 = 1 point, 250 points = $5

I just purchased $2000+ in merchandise, so I would have seen $40 in rewards?

$40 I have to return to Best Buy to spend? Given I just purchased $2000+ in merchandise, it probably stands to say I would be back to spend that $40 and then some.

Best Buy would easily be making their money back on the rewards, even with the 18 months financing.

[#8]

I'm honestly really upset about this. I thought there was a problem with my account and called in. I had to talk to different advisors to get a straight answer...this is the worst idea ever. Why would you encourage people to use a different credit card or retailer altogether? I've spent almost 5k this year alone, and almost that much in each of the last several years. I was ok with spending a little more sometimes on larger purchases because I got points...now I get none?? Someone seriously needs to rethink this- from a customer standpoint this is a punishing loyal customers. I literally was going to buy a $300 blu-Ray box set from you guys tonight. But why should I? It's the same price everywhere and I have 0 incentive to buy from you now. I'm voting with my wallet.

[#9]

I was just informed of this change as well and it is really dissappointing. The rewards program is one of the main reasons I choose Best Buy over other retailers. I don't feel like I have much incentive to shop there now if you can't get points with special financing.

[#10]

I have been doing business with Bestbuy for a number of years, and was recently switched to their Elite Plus program, not that name implies anything. Since December I have bought over $1000 worth of items only to be told that no points would be applied to my account since I had bought them after July. It seems that Bestbuy will not give me credit because I used their finance system.  The main reason I have spent thousands of dollars with the company is that they give me points even if I decide to finance items. If I waited to buy items outright then I would not need the credit and could shop at a cheaper store online. If they truly valued Elite customers then they would continue to allow these points to be applied. It is true that they offer free shipping, but they often allow free shipping on promotions anyway.

One other thing that I might mention is that since they started using Elite Plus I have had numerous problems placing orders and even finding my point level. On three different occasions their computer stated that I did not exist and I had to call in to get the problem fixed. During the Christmas holidays I lost out on a couple of items because I "did not exist." I suspect they are using the same techs as the National Healthcare System.

In the companies defense I will say they have excellent people on the phones, but they can not fix the major problems the company now has. I suggest they change their name of this new program from Elite Plus to Degraded Benefits. I have long recommended this company to friends, but they losing me as a customer. I will pay off my debt as quickly as possible and then start shopping with other companies.

[#11]

I just created an account to echo the sentiments of others here. This change to the tabulation of reward zone points is absurd.  As a nine year member of the reward zone program I have seen the point requirements increase and accepted it, but to remove points altogether from financed purchases is unacceptable.  You have removed the only thing that brought me back to Best Buy despite cheaper prices online and easy access to zero percent financing.  The worst part is finding out about this change months after the fact; only after inquiring about missing points on the phone so I can't return the items anymore. Congratulations, you seem to have snuck this by a number of us in this forum with deceptive wording during the checkout process.  I enjoyed shopping at Best Buy, but, after these changes, I will be taking my 3-5k worth of tech purchases to Amazon rather than continue to shop where I am no longer appreciated.