Static Cling

I couldn't believe the steaming load that my latest Reward-Zone-related letter contained from Best Buy. It started off:

"Dear Static Cling,

"Thank you for being a member of the Reward Zone program. I hope you're finding the program as rewarding as it's designed to be.

"It's our first anniversary, and we owe our success to you. Without you, there'd be nothing to celebrate. You keep racking up the points on virtually every dollar spent at Best Buy. We keep the exclusives coming." Blah blah blah. Scanning ahead, I find one of the two "qualification adjustments" they're making to the program.

"As of October 3, 2004, you'll need 15,000 points, or just $150 in eligible purchases, to receive a $5 reward certificate. We've made this change based on member feedback and Best Buy's desire to continue to bring you this affordable and popular program."

So... they owe our success to us... and so that we can share in their success, they're going to sour the deal on the Reward Zone program. They're also not going to award points for the dollar amount of available mail-in rebates on the things you buy.

I had already decided that I wasn't going to renew my membership, and this reinforces that decision.

warrenheart

best buy really sucks!

aperry

That sucks. Wish I hadn't renewed now...

Mikes95XLT

I just sent them this email from the RewardZone contact us page..

I am disappointed to hear that now you need 15,000 points to get a $5 certificate. In your statement you say that this is "based on customer feedback", to which I ask... which customers are these that would want to have to spend more money than the original amount specified to recieve a certificate?

I just wanted to express my disappointment. I feel that this is a bad public relations move, especially getting new people to sign up now that this has changed... Before it was a great deal, and now it is just mediocre, which makes me wonder if whoever made this decision was thinking about how the customer would react, and how future customers would react to the word of mouth.

I am a new member to the reward zone, and am now shaken in confidence in renewing my membership next year. Hopefully Best Buy reconsiders this move.

Thank you for your time.

Let's see what they say.

Artman

????????

So what are some if any changes you'd like to see regarding our RZ offers?

"You know, I think it'd be better if you raise the certificate earnings from $125 to $150. That would really give me the motivation I need to spend even more! Thanks for asking!"



Well I'm sure there's fine print on this somewhere, but this is not the deal I renewed for in July. They should implement this for new members, not current ones.

Homer Simpson

I told them I wanted to have to spend $200 to earn a $5 gift certificate so it couldn't have been my customer feedback...

leland

I'm going to see if I can get a refund on my membership renewal. I was torn as to even renew it. This would've made the decision that much easier... I haven't gotten this email yet though...

Don Black

Glad I didn't renew...

ZakVTA

Damn, well I was on the fence about renewing and this just pushed me over to the not renewing side.

I hardly go to Best Buy anymore and the only reason I did was to take advantage of my Rewards Zone. They really threw that program to the crapper.

biggdaddee

Thanks for the heads up Static Cling.

I hardly go to Best Buy anymore either. I find having 3-4 staff members ask me if I need any help, every isle I go down, most annoying.

darkside

I bought a computer months ago and have never received any certificates. I'm sure it was somehow excluded from reward zone use or they just lost my certificates the same way they lost my digital dollars I was suppose to get for preordering SCTV. They still refuse to give me that $20 even after months of my bitching. At least calling them once a week to ask about it gives me something to do.

Michael Corvin

that is not a bad idea

iamOrokoSaki

first the website loses free shipping, now this,....they're striving to go out of business eh?

marty888

Has Best Buy made ANY consumer-friendly decisions recently? Between this and their recent elimination of free shipping, they have made it clear that they want us to shop elsewhere.

REL77

i would complain and get a refund as this is not the membership I signed Up for. I am glad mine expires in 3 months now.

cornflakeguy

I never thought it was a good deal in the first place.

You have a PAY to be in this club? Thats hilarious.

A Pizza Inn in Dallas has a little card, you buy 6 buffets and the 7th is free. It's a Pizza Reward Zone. Rewarding me for being a repeat customer.

It's also a free card. How dumb would it be to pay $5 for the pizza card?

I don't even participate in the BB RZ and I'm hating Best Buy lately.

First they come out with the story that they want to get rid of 'Informed Shoppers", people who know what they want, get in, and get out. Bargain hunters, basically.

Then they constantly lose the lowest price war to Fry's, and, shudder, Circuit City.

Then they lose the free shipping on the website.

And now this.

I'm SOOOO glad I have a Fry's here in the great D/FW metroplex.

CFG

Homer Simpson

I guess I'm missing why everyone is complaining here. Yes, it's not as good of a deal, but it's still a 3.3% rebate on all your purchases. The RewardsZone is free (at least it was for all or our renewals in July), so if you are going to spend $150 at BB anyway what difference does it make? 3.3% rebate is better than 0.0% rebate, isn't it? If you pay to renew then your at $450 before you break even which I agree is a debatable point if you aren't spending much at BB over the year. I made $105 last year in RZ coupons, this year the same spending would net me $87.50, still a good deal assuming the price point is the same on whatever you are buying.

So in the end the math is simple. Free renewal you win if you spend $150 or more, paid renewal you win if you spend $450 or more. If you are below those levels then don't renew and move on.

tonyc3742

The complaints come from three main things, I believe:

1. paying for the card. My Lowes Frequent Shopper card costs nothing, and saves me up to 10 bucks a visit.

2. Having people renew under one set of rules, then soon after mamy people renew, substantially changing the rules. They could just as easily have said 'Now you need 300,000 points instead of 12,500 for a certificate.' The difference is only in quantity, not in kind--the complaints would be easy to understand in that case.

3. The spin: "Without you, there'd be nothing to celebrate. ..We've made this change based on member feedback ...you'll need 15,000 points [instead of only 12,500]"
Because of "member feedback" you're making it WORSE?!? That doesn't even make sense. If you said "Due to overwhelming popularity we are forced to increase the points needed", that would still suck, but most people, i believe, could 'understand' that.

And it's not actually a 'rebate', it's a credit, given only in 5 dollar increments, on future purchases. If I spend 149.99 once in a year, I get nothing. Yes, that's the rules, and I know them, but it's fallacious to think of it as a 'rebate' or 'discount' [the Lowe's Rewards card is a discount--if I buy products that are discounted, I get the discount immediately, whether I buy 1.00 worth or 1000.00 worth.

Jbrobson

Darkside, Call John Thompson Sr. Vice President at 612-291-2997 that may help on that preorder issue.

BeckysBoy

This is hilarious because I was sitting there at 8:00 PM on Tuesday (my expiration date was Aug. 31) deciding whether to renew or not. My wife was helping me sort through the pros and cons, with the biggest point being that Best Buy rarely had good deals and, like you Zak, I was only going there because of the Reward Zone, which wasn't all of that great of a program even at $125 for a $5 GC. Four percent off isn't exactly something to get excited about, especially once they wanted me to pay $10 a year for the privelige.

I decided not to renew. Thus, seeing this announced the next day feels like a little wink from God that I made the right decision.

Willy

Well they will be losing alot of my buisness when I don't renew my card. The only reason I shop there over CC or Target is because of the card, it's not like they are the cheapest in town or anything they have the same prices as the others. It's like they are trying to get people to shop elseware.

chucks888

Whoa they took out free shipping? Damn, it's over for them, honestly.

RZ is a joke now, I rarely even shop at BB any more.

jdugger2

Bitch Whine Moan Complain! So, you have to pay 9.95 a year. Big Deal! Now, it's $25 dollars more to get $5 off. Big Deal! Like the guy said above, you're going to spend the money anyway so who cares. There are also other things that you get get through Rewards Zones (i.e. free concert tickets, dvd samplers, double points, etc.) If you don't like it, don't use it. Get down off your dvd cross, cause Mel Gibson needs the wood.

DVD Smurf

I'll second that...

teddydogg

Already a thread on this here http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...38#post5261438

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