ricwhite

My father came to visit and told me his experience at Best Buy in Salt Lake City last week. I couldn't believe it.

He pickup up Scorpion King with Kmart ad and coupon in hand and went to the only register open. Here is how the coversation went:

-------------------------

Buyer: I have a price match with Kmart.

Best Buy Sales Clerk: No problem. (Manager walks by and looks at what is happening.)

BB Manager: Hold it. No price match is allowed unless it is checked out. We will need to call Kmart to check if the item is in stock.

Buyer: (laughing) What? Which Kmart will you call? There are about 7 of them in town.

BB Manager: We call the closest one to this store and if they don't have it in stock then we cannot price match it.

Buyer: What? Where is that policy written?

BB Manager: That's the way it is, sir. (leaves to call).

(5 minutes of waiting)

Someone in line: Hey, can't you open another register!!!

Sales clerk: Sorry, we're waiting on a telephone call.

(5 more minutes of waiting. Manager returns.)

Manager: Okay, let him have it. Kmart has it in stock.

(The clerk enters the new price. My father hands the clerk the $5.00 off coupon. She scans it in).

Manger: (yelling) What's that?

Buyer: A manufacturer's coupon.

Manager: (grabs the coupon) You can't use that.

Buyer: Why not?

Manager: Because you can either get a price match or a coupon, but NOT both.

Buyer: Where is that written?

Manager: That's the way it is, sir.

Buyer: What difference does it make? You get reimbursed from the manaufacturer for the coupon.

Manager: No we don't! We don't get a penny for this coupon and you CAN'T have both the price match AND the coupon.

Buyer: But it says right here on the coupon that you get reimbursed $5.00 plus 8 cents for shipping for submitting this to the manufacturer.

Manager: You can't have both. So what will it be -- the price match or the coupon.

Buyer: This is ridiculous. If I go to Kmart THEY will do both. I thought you will be competitive with them. Do you realize how much business I do here. I just bought some speakers and a DVD player. If this is the way you treat your customers then I will take all of my business elsewhere.

Manager: That's fine. But you cannot have both discounts.

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My father ended up using the coupon on THEIR $16.99 price. No price match. But he says that he would never shop there again.

What in the h*** is Best Buy doing??? If it were me, I would really mad and call the corporate office. This treatment is uncalled for. They probably lost hundreds or thousands of dollars of future business because they haggled over a few bucks. UNBELIEVABLE!! And to LIE to my father that they don't get reimbursed for the coupons. . . I just can't believe it.

Not only that, but they made several customers wait in line for over 10 minutes to make a phone call. For what? $2.

I don't understand. Please help me understand this.

gcribbs

they hire morons??

Heat

So... why didn't your father just buy the DVD from one of the nine K-Marts in your area, and thus use the coupon?

eau

BB threats their customers and own employess alike, basically like crap!

eau

Hope not. K-Marts only carry P&S version of this DVD.

joltaddict

Dingdingdingding! We have a winner!!!

Groucho

What's the price difference between Kmart's price and Best Buy? A couple bucks maybe? Was this really worth a couple bucks?

Sometimes I think people go into stores knowing full well what will happen so they can complain about their bad experieces on the Internet.

Movie_Man

They can get away with it because people (like your dad) will buy the stuff anyway. The threat of "I'm never shopping here again" is meaningless if you then proceed to complete your purchase. The honorable thing to do would be to leave your items at the register and just leave.

ricwhite

Best Buy is closer than Kmart. My father is elderly and always goes to the closest store, if possible. *I* was the one who told him that he could price match it at any Best Buy or Walmart or Shopko, etc. So he took my word.

Yes, it seems rather silly to argue over a couple of bucks, but it's the principle of the matter that is disturbing.

For example, what if next time you go grocery shopping with coupons and the clerk tells you . . . "sorry, I cannot accept these food coupons because those items are on sale and we cannot combine sales prices with coupons. You may either have the sale price OR the coupon, but not both."

Yes, that would amount to only a few dollars too, but, believe me, I would be arguing about it. A few dollars here and there over time adds up.

Save Ferris

It could be:
1. These kinds of managers get more enjoyment over enforcing rules than customer satisfaction. They like the power they wield.

2. A stupid manager who is afraid of being 'duped' and look like a fool. So instead he ridiculously applies the rules or makes up rules in favor of BB in order to avoid reprimand from superiors.

Heat

Ah, good point, I had forgotten how low K-Mart has sunk.

Other stores that price match and *should* have the wide screen version include Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and Meijer.

ricwhite

But the thing is --- they are not enforcing the rules. BB has no rule that they cannot combine a manufacturer's coupon with a price match. I hope they also don't have a rule to lie to customers about not being reimbursed for manufacturer's coupons. What is happening is that managers are making rules up as they go along. That is why BB stores vary on how they handle the same situation.

UAIOE

Sorry, a bucks a buck. Save a few here save some there and you now have more money to spend.


I learned this when i went shopping with my mom as a kid.

cdollaz

Agreed. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your convenience for the sake of principle.

DougA23

Well Best Buy calls the other stores to see if they have it in stock because if they dont they wont sell it to you at that price. Because you cant buy it from them at that price so why should they sell it to you then at their price.

ricwhite

Some managers require it and other don't. But what is ridiculous is when another "chain" store is the price match store -- such as Kmart. There are probably 3 or 4 Kmarts in the same area. (There used to be 5 or 6). To call them ALL to find out if any of them have a certain item being price matched will require a LOT of time for BB employees and also for the waiting customer. All of that work for a couple of dollars seems rather ridiculous to me. My thought is that they should just accept the ad and be quick about it and make the customer happy. If you please the customer on a small item, he or she might return for a large purchase. Customer service is an important element for repeat business.

Groucho

The thing is, that Kmart DIDN'T have this disc in stock. As already stated, they only carry the P&S version. Theoretically, there should have been no price match.

antennaball

just to clarify, not EVERY k-mart only had P&S...i took the widescreen version up to the checkout only to be told that they couldn't accept the coupon, at which point i left it there and went to Wal-Mart.

uteotw

This is rude and inexcusable but wholly unsurprising...

ricwhite

I don't know about other situations, but in this situation with my father, he WANTED the full screen version. So Kmart did have it in stock, but BB would not let my father use the manufacturer's coupon with the price match.

UAIOE

Customer service is not important to Best Buy.

It really seems that the corporate feelings on the customer service issue is "Well, they will come back to us...Why provide great customer service?"

Josh-da-man

You know what the funniest thing about calling up stores and asking them if a sale item is stock is?

They ALWAYS say that it is, even if it isn't. I've had this happen numerous times, with different stores. I don't even bother calling anymore.

Excelesor

all depends on the store and the manager on duty. that manager sounds like a dick, i work pt at bb and my manager will price match almost anything, his motto "take the business". So our store pretty much price matches aslong as its not friken obvious, like $500 when we sell it for 2000. I never call up other stores since that takes too damn long lol, if its with $5 range then i just mark it down.

Brian Shannon

Why call the corporate office? Why get mad?

Simple, don't shop at Best (list price) Buy anymore!

dvdirv

I had a similar problem last month when I bought JACKIE BROWN & PULP FICTION with a $5-off instant rebate for buying both titles. After I got home I realized that JACKIE BROWN also had a $5-off manufacturer's coupon for buying both titles.

However, when I went back to the store, they gave me the same runaround--"we can't give two discounts." I tried to point out like Ricwhite did that the second coupon was a manufacturer's coupon and would be redeemed by Buena Vista. I had no luck, so went to another Best Buy that happily gave me the extra $5 off.

I totally agree with Excelesor who says it all depends on the store and the manager. I tried writing to corporate headquarters to complain that they need a clear-cut policy. So far I received a card in the mail that they are "investigating" the matter.

None of this makes any sense. All of this doubletalk is Best Buy's way to get out of any customer "service." They have a price-match policy, but won't price match; they offer discount coupons, but not on sale items (although this is not clearly spelled out.)

Anyone read ALICE IN WONDERLAND lately???