I always thought the points were released later during the holidays because of their extended holiday return time period. I think they allow purchases made in November to be returned as late as 30 days after Christmas (~January 25th, or so).

I will readily admit I am a Best Buy junkie who can't go a week without a visit there. But lately they have been getting their ass kicked by Circuit City in terms of sales prices. I absolutely hate CC but their sales are tough to beat. A perfect example: Circuit City was selling Syriana for $12.99 last week, Best Buy sales price was $16.99, that is a complete joke and I did not even bother with a price match, I just bought it at CC...

I have not received any letter from them saying anything. I joined about a month and a half ago, paid the $10, and spent $40 the day I signed up. Mid June, I spent about $450 on cd player/xm tuner/installation for me new car. I'm still unclear about when the change takes place... Will we get the points for purchases until that date, or will prior purchases before the date in September change because they won't be released until after that date even though purchases beforehand? I'm going to call BB today and ask where my letter and $10 gift card is.

EDIT: Called this morning, they said some batches were sent out, some will be sent out in July, and some in August. But definitely to call back if I don't receive it by September 18th, the date of the change. Also, she wanted to let me know how cool the new change is, that instead of having to collect 15,000 points to get my $5 reward check, now I only have to accumulate $250!!!

Gee, thanks for the change

I'd do that but my CC has nothing. They moved from a old junky strip mall and built a new store right across the newest and biggest mall and other strips in the city, and it's barely 1/2 the size of the BB that's been there for years. It's small, looks empty when you walk in the doors- tons of empty spaces and flooring, and carry **maybe, if you're lucky** 1/5 of the amount of DVD's Best Buy has.

I was under the impression that they would do a "conversion" of the points so that you don't lose the old value... though it is worded a bit nebulously in their letter.

I have a CC right across from my Best Buy, but price matched Syriana. Someone mentioned it was a hassle for them. I understand YMMV, but it was only a hassle once. (Had ta go to Customer Service once!) Now they don't even fill out the form. Just look at the ad if no one has already PM'd, (they knew of the Syriana price already...just had to mention it) and they change the price on the register. Takes seconds.

Someone mentioned why not just give the 2% at the register. I know they want you to lose the coupons. I lost a couple...or had them expire. So... they save even more money if the person never even uses the $5 off. Could be why they don't.

Oh, absolutely. They wouldn't do any program like this if it didn't benefit them in some way. It builds unjustified stickiness, and the very wording of the cert means more money for them [5 bucks off a 10 dollar purchase].
Just like why they [and many other retailers] still require mail-in-rebates. The ratio of people who buy something because it's on rebate, compared to those who fill out all the crap, keep a record of it, and remember to harass the company in 8-12 weeks is woefully lopsided.

Not only do I get hassled for pricematching at Best Buy (one manager told me no less than 6 different lies when I tried to pricematch Fry's price on a TV) but I've also had to:

- Fill out the form to use the $1 Best Buy Buck from the McDonalds promotion a while ago
- Fill out the form when BB had the price on shelf as lower than the price in the register.

Not that it matters a whole lot, but I had a $5 reward zone certificate and used it to buy one item that was only $9.99. It went through without a hitch. You'd think that there may be a policy hardcoded in the system to not allow any purchases less than $10.00?

I once had a $9.99 purchase work with a $5 off $10 RZ certificate, but afterwards I tried a few times and they wouldn't allow. The cheapest item I could find was just under a dollar for some gum or a soft drink. Fortunately the certificates are usually good for 3 months, so I eventually managed to find some stuff worth $10 or more. I haven't gotten a certificate for months because I've barely bought anything lately. My new release DVD purchases have been severely trimmed back due to 30-90 day price plummets (plummet being far greater than a mere "drop").

I don't know if the $10 minimum enforcement is done by the computer or the cashier. All I know is $9.99 didn't work at my store last time I tried.

I'd love to see some real statistics on how many people don't send in rebates. To me they are an integral part of the deal and I always send them in and make sure I get them, especially since some rebates are quite massive, such as $150 price with $100 rebate. I know some people forget (because they are human) to send in rebates or to use coupons, but I can't imagine it's a very large percentage unless the people are already so rich that $20, $50, or $100 is like a penny to them... not worth bending down to pick up. My only rule is I won't bother with rebates under $5, but in those cases I pretend the rebate doesn't exist when I'm deciding whether to buy.

I guess BBY must have statistics that it's better to make a complicated RZ program hoping that enough people forget to use their certificates than to give the 2% back at the register and make life easier for the majority. But I've noticed many things in this country are tailored to special interests and minority groups... just look at the tax code. We'll never see a flat tax because politicians want to control people's behavior. We won't see instant rebates or a 2% RZ credit because stores hope enough people will forget to send in the rebates or use the certificates.

It worked for me about a month ago. I had a $5 RZ coupon that was expiring that day so I bought something priced at $8. The register took it off.

"So you will now receive 1 point for nearly every $1 you spend at Best Buy and start receiving reward certificates when you reach 250 points. We have also added special member only offers such as extra bonus points."

Isn't this the *exact* summary of the plan, two months ago, with one subtle yet major difference?

Re: Rebates:
Enough people either don't send them in, or don't comply, or don't remember, or don't cash, to make it profitable for the company. If they expect to sell 100 units at 100$ each, but thanks to a rebate they sell 200 at 100$ with a 30$ rebate, and even half of those people actually get their rebate, they've made or beaten their sales numbers.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ebateDeal.aspx

According to MSNBC.com, "only an estimated 50% to 70% of buyers redeem [rebates]."
And while it is "easier than ever to track the status of your rebate both online and through 800 numbers, rebate rules and forms have gotten more complicated."
Here's an interesting trick:
"The company agreed to pay $200,000 to more than 4,100 consumers whose rebates were denied simply because they lived in apartment buildings. Samsung's rebate system only allowed one rebate per address and didn't have space to submit apartment numbers."

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...4158_db016.htm

The industry's open secret is that fully 40% of all rebates never get redeemed because consumers fail to apply for them or their applications are rejected, estimates Peter S. Kastner, a director of consulting firm Vericours. That translates into more than $2 billion of extra revenue for retailers and their suppliers each year. What rebates do is get consumers to focus on the discounted price of a product, then buy it at full price.

"The game is obviously that anything less than 100% redemption is free money,"

I know the 'wise' thinking of rebates is to never buy anything just for the rebate, and if you do the rebate, comply 110% and track it and harass them if you have to. I don't think I've ever had a problem with a rebate, except for one being a couple weeks late--but I do keep copies and date things.

My last RZ cert said 'Good for 5.00 off a purchase of 10.00 or more." What I bought was more than 10 bucks anyway, but I don't know if that's just fine print, hard coded into the computer, or at the cashier's discretion.

They're changing the rules also for Reward Zone for Business - I have the letter at home and will try to remember to post the details tomorrow.

I've paid for the membership only 1 time and have accrued close to $1,000 in reward certificates over the years, so I have no complaints since it's free money.

I price match every single week and it usually takes a keystroke or two in the computer to make the change - never have run into the "let me call the store to see if it's in stock!" cashier.

Also, Circuit City has their own reward club - I have their credit card and its tied into the club.

I just received 3 $10 certificates and continue to accrue points since i'm starting to use that card more often.

dtcarson, thanks for that info about rebate redemptions! I'm surprised to hear the number is so high with 30% to 50% of buyers not sending in their rebates. Anyone who doesn't send in a rebate obviously doesn't mind paying the higher price. So, with that many people not sending in rebates, it seems we'll never see very many instant rebates or RZ credits at the registers because they'll always be counting on the lazy or the rich not to send in their rebates or redeem their certificates.

I remember asking a few places why they didn't do instant rebates. The answer was always something like "because the retailers and distributors haven't got their system set up to do it yet". It appears that is a baloney line and the real answer would be "because we're hoping as many people as possible don't send in their rebates so we can make extra money".

Rebates are evil. I can understand rebates that reward mutiple purchases, like the one for the WB's TV box sets. But rebates on one item is a waste of time and energy (unless it's an instant rebate).

On a side note, isn't Best buy getting rid of mail in rebates? Or was that some other store?

I never really understood "instant rebates." Why not just mark it down that amount in the first place?

I'm not sure what the legalities are that make instant rebates an instant rebate. (Anyone know?) At least I get the discount at the time of checkout so I can live with it. It's basically the same thing as a mark down, but like you stated, it would be simpler to just mark down the price.

At my Best Buy store (in the Los Angeles area) today, the blue shirt at the cash register asked me if I had a Reward Zone card. I said no. She asked if I was a small-business owner. I said no. She said nothing more, and continued to ring up my purchase. I asked if I would get a Reward Zone card if I were a small-business owner. She said that if I were a small-business owner, I'd get the Reward Zone card for free. Otherwise, it's $10.

Kind of strange, huh?

Not that strange since the same exact thing happened to me last fall when i got my Rewards Zone card. Except I said "yes" and got my free card. This was at the Best Buy in Woodland Hills.

My guess is an 'instant rebate' originates from the manufacturer, whereas a sale or lowered price comes from the store itself. The store's profit is higher with an instant rebate than with a sale....just a guess.

And yeah, even if 50% of people submit rebates, only a smaller percentage of those actually do it right and get their rebate. I guess they see the rebate price, but by the time they may get around to doing the rebate, it's not important anymore.

I remember hearing Clark Howard talk about rebates once....he despises them, but he did buy a computer with one. His wife threw away the stuff he needed....so the next day he was down there digging in the dumpster. Someone commented on his dumpster diving, and he said "My wife threw away $100, you can bet I'm digging for it."

BB/MIR: Yes, I read they plan to stop having them by 2007 [not sure if it was 'sometime in' or 'end of'].

They realized it wasn't worth charging $10 for the membership when people were buying it with their new plasma TV.

I think all reward/member programs are ridiculous, especially grocery store club cards. Just sell it at the lowest price to everyone, and let your customer service make it worth it if you don't beat WalMart.

I think those cards let the stores track what individuals buy (what combinations, quantity, etc.).

Yep. Most stores with club cards actually end up costing more to the average person, because they don't maximize it their benefit. There's enough 'angels' to subsidize the 'devils' who work at it. I went to Kroger last weekend [I don't ever shop there], and ended up saving something like 60%, because every single thing I bought was either vastly discounted with the card, or on sale, or a discontinued item. Then I went over to WalMart to get the rest of the stuff, where regular prices were 10-40% cheaper than Kroger's regular prices. I know, "Walmart is big and evil"...but hey, Kroger isn't a mom and pop either. And sorry, but money talks, especially when it's a difference of 20-50 bucks.
I would pay a little more for good customer service; but I also don't mind saving a lot for adequate customer service.

Cards: Absolutely it's used for marketing. Sometimes it's okay, such as when you buy one product and you get a coupon or flyer for a similar or related product. It's also good for them, in that they can get demographic data on who buys what products. Of course, it could be bad as well.....what if they sold it to health insurance or auto insurance companies..."Oh, you buy 2 12 packs of beer, or four cartons of smokes a week? Guess what, your insurance is going up. Or lots of ice cream and junk food...which implies obesity...yep, insurance going up again."