Reason #1:
Reason #2: To bring you back into the store.

Right, but that's the way they always do the giftcard promotions. There's no reason for them to change that for the 3-month-long SoE promotion.

Oh, this one is easy to answer. It is much better financially for them because it guarantees one of two things. You either lose the gift card and they already have your $20. Or they force you to go back to the store and spend more money.

Doh! I was a little late. I swear the two posts above mine weren't there when I first clicked "quote"......

I realize what you guys are saying, I was mainly asking, why shaft you out of the Summer promotion by trying to say you haven't spent money that you really have.
Wether they count the giftcard as a purchase or a free gift, they still have 20 dollars that you have given them. So it's very very wrong for them to say you haven't. It should count. They didn't give me a 20 dollar discount for buying 50 dollars of items, therefore only costing me 30 dollars, they gave me a 20 dollar giftcard and still took 50 dollars. All I am saying is I spent 50 bucks, 50 bucks should count.

Asfar as the receipt situation for returns, I understand that.

By the way, I do agree that this is a bit counter-intuitive, when it comes to the Summer of Entertainment promotion. The wording of the buy 5 DVDs at $9.99 is a bit problematic, I'm just saying that I don't think that it was malicious, nor do I think it's something that they're likely to change/"fix". Of course, I hope I'm wrong about the latter.

This is how they currently do RZ (and, by extension, SoE) points when dealing with gift cards.

You get the points when you redeem the cards, not purchase them. This policy is changing on December 2nd (I believe). You'll earn points when you buy them, not redeem them.

Also, any cards you purchase before 12/2 will not give points if you use them after 12/2, so if the RZ points are important to you, use them before it's too late.

If you want the SoE points on that $40 - go back to BB and use them before Saturday.

They are not shafting us in my mind. The promotion is for spending money on a certain set of items. Giftcards are not in that set.

But just use those giftcards on those qualifying items before Saturday and it's a wash.

The issue is that the SoE promotion is only good on Media/Entertainment items. Gift cards do not qualify, and, I assume, it's a highly automated process. Some computer somewhere looks at the items in your purchase, as broken down/priced on your receipt, and their types and then applies the points to your account.

So, no one at Best Buy has "said" anything, nor made any sort of decision about your purchase, in this capacity. They have simply left the gift card procedure the way it is-- overlooking this possible issue. Honestly, I don't believe it is malicious.

While that's true for the SoE promotion, the superseding rule is that gift cards DON'T give RZ points when you buy them.

I feel alittle different, if the promotion was worded " buy five dvds @ 9.99 and get 20 dollars off " or " Five 9.99 dvds and 20 gift card for 50 dollars" but it's not, it's worded ' Buy five 9.99 dvds and get a 20 giftcard FREE". Hence the letters FREE

Not trying to start anything with you, I just think they should discribe what they are actually doing.

With that said, the giftcard deal is pretty good.

I struggle to see how that's relevant to the discussion or to anything that I said.

Good reminder. I have dozens of gift cards lying around (bought to stock up on the attached coupons). Maybe I should use them all up before 12/2.
Thanks Pinata.

I'll give BB the benifet of the doubt, I would like to hear what Customer Service has to say though.

This isn't what happened...

How is this different than saying buy 5 $9.99 DVDs and get a $20 gift card at no additional cost?

no (additional) cost = FREE, complementary, gratis

Wording it any differently would only confuse the hell out of people. Plus, the 5 + GC for $50 would eliminate the price advantages of $8.99 DVDs like Meatballs.

Because the SoE promotion is a subset of the RZ program.

RZ gives no points on gift card purchases ever, so neither does the SoE. Regardless of the SoE's "extra rule" that only music/movies/games qualify.

You won't find that $40 worth of points on your RZ balance either.

Let us know what you find out! They were actually pretty helpful (once the lady on the phone figured out she had no idea what was going on) when I had some issues with things not posting properly to SoE earlier this summer.

I'll give you that, it is worded "wrong" technically. But that was probably the simplest way to say it in advertising. Reading something like "buy 5 $10 titles and get them for $6 if you also buy a $20 giftcard" or "Five 9.99 dvds and 20 gift card for 50 dollars" would just confuse people. And stores always do this, historically, "free" often means giftcard or rebate or something.
Oh, me either. I'm just feeling verbose today.

What I am saying is Free means free, "Not paid for, given etc". According to the sale before purchase I felt I was getting a 20 dollar gift card for free after spending X amont of dollars on 5 dvds. ok?

If the gift card was advertised as being apart of a " 5 dvd package " you would assume that you would be paying for the giftcard (whether at full price or as a package deal). Buy wording that it's free, as a customer I feel it is FREE.

Not to be rude, but why is it so hard to understand why some of us feel that FREE means FREE?

The sale advertised the giftcard being FREE when 5 dvd's are purchased. It said nothing about buy a 20 dollar gift card and get the said 5 dvds for 6 dollars or cheeper ( meatballs and Underworld dvds )

I understand why best buy states things like this on the receipt, if there are returns and things like that it works in their advantage, as it should.

BUT...

If this were any other day, I doubt people would mind. But since the SOE promo is on, some people took this deal and thought it would help them towards a 10 dollar coupon that's all.

Customers shouldn't be forced to spend the giftcard before saturday to get something they should have gotten in the first place.

1) You seem to be assuming that Best Buy can't create promotions that don't follow its normal policies. DVDs don't normally give you $.10 back on the dollar when bought in $100 increments, but they do this summer. So, if Best Buy had chosen to include Gift Cards, they could have. Amazon has done it with their associates program in the past.

The stated "rule" does not supersede anything, as the requirement that one must be a Reward Zone member to participate in the promotion does not mean that all of the same rules hold. You had to register separately for this promotion, did you not?

2) As of December 2, 2007, gift card purchases will accrue reward zone points. If this promotion were happening in December, we'd be having the same discussion. So, I still fail to see the relevance.

I'm not arguing with this at all. I actually did the same thing and discovered the same thing that you did earlier this morning.

But as I've said, BestBuy never said they were "selling" a giftcard. They said buy X amount of dvds, get a gift card free.

ScissorPuppy, that very clearly wasn't directed at you or anything that you've said. It was a response to a different part of the discussion. I've already said, at least twice, that I agree that the wording was misleading in this context.

Ok, I feel like we are going to start going back and forth. Everyone feels the way they do for whatever reason.

With that, I'm going to post this from Best Buys own website.

"This is the perfect opportunity to stock up on top flicks — and score a special bonus! Pick five faves from a vast assortment, including The Breakfast Club, X-Men: The Last Stand and many more.

Plus, when you buy five of the DVDs below, you can get a $20 Best Buy Gift Card free."

It states nowhere that I am buying the giftcard, therefore all my purchases dollars should count.

So, how's the weather where everyone is today?

Stinks here, really overcast.