phraseturner

A couple of weeks ago, I used K-mart's $14.95 Beauty and the Beast ad to price match @ Target, and get the Target-exclusive coupon for $3 off a 12-pack of A&W rootbeer (on sale @ $2.99).

Today I tried to use this past Sunday's K-Mart $14.95 ad to price match Spiderman @ Target. This time the coupon stuck on the DVD case is for $3 off a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper (on sale 3 for $9). However, the cashier said the chain in no longer price matching. When I asked why, she said it really never was a store policy to do it...and that it held up the checkout lines. (Can any Target employees chime in with this recent change?)

I didn't realize that this nation's economy was so healthy, particularily with the retail sector predicting a lousy holiday buying season, that they would happily turn away business to competitors. Wouldn't they want to capture any sale they could away from a rival?

Along with their recent changes to returns and exchanges, they really are becoming less consumer friendly. . .

wildcatlh

Well, it makes sense not to price-match during the holidays, because of the stuff being sold below cost ... no sense losing themselves $$$.

Really, I dunno why people bother to price match. Why not just go to the store with the good price? But that's just me.

kitten*fish

Hi, I just read the memo a couple of days ago about the reason for not price matching. It really wasn't a store policy to do it, so every store had a different way of dealing with it. This lead to confusion for some customers doing it between stores and then having to go through the verifying process (if item is in stock at other store, etc) It was decided to just do away with it.

Hope this helps some.

matome

Sounds good to me. I don't want to be stuck in checkout lines, especially during the Holiday season, while while the cashier is going through price-matching verifications for everyone.

J-Dubya

I agree, but if one store doesn't have the best price on everything, wouldn't it be nice to PM that one dvd so you can avoid a 15 minute car ride? In my case, I live 3 minutes from a Target, 10 BestBuy, 20 Kmart. Or sometimes I'd rather give all my business to a store especially if they can PM for me as well.

POWERBOMB

I guess shopping around will really mean shopping around. You have to figure that most shoppers do not PM and want to be in a checkout line less than they have to.

I don't see Target losing too much over this, but I can see other stores following suit.

velveeta

I don't see it that way at all. I think shoppers have gotten much more bargain savvy in the past several years, and they do PM. I think this will definitely cost Target a good chunk of business (I know it'll cost them mine). Target's overpriced on a lot of their merchandise anyway compared to Walmart or KMart, even sale prices. Cutting out the PM will drive customers to the other discounters.

ricwhite

Target is the closest store to me. During the week, I gather all of the various store flyers and go through them and circle the items that I would like to buy on sale -- mostly food, but also for DVDs and other items. I take them all to Target for price matching.

If I had to go to all of the individual stores, it would be WAY too inconvenient and, frankly, not worth it. I hope that Target continues to accept the price matching.

Also, in my area, they are building a Super Walmart. If Target will not price match, there's no way they will get my business because Super Walmart (from what I hear from another area) is much lower than Target's prices. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. If Target refuses to be competitive, they may lose a LOT of business when the Super Walmart opens.

silentbob007

but then you have to go into walmart ....