Best Buy doesn't honour their lowest price guarantee!

[seapotato]

This happened earlier in the month, but it still annoys me so I'm going to post about it.

I was at the Cambie Best Buy location to purchase the Alice in Wonderland Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack selling for $34.99. I brought in a Zellers flyer, which advertised the same product at $29.99. Since Best Buy has a Lowest Price Guarantee policy that includes price matching as well as an additional 10% off the difference, I knew I would get the best deal here, as they were also offering 400 bonus Reward Zone points (worth $5!). This would have made the price of the combo $29.49. Disney also offered a $10 off coupon for the combo pack, making it $19.49. I went pay but the cashier said I could only choose one or the other. I then spoke with a new manager who insisted I could only get the coupon discount.

However, I have been shopping at Best Buy ever since it opened in the Lower Mainland and have price matched and used coupons on the same product many times before, on the old computer system as well as the new system! I usually shop at several other Best Buy locations, but have price matched and used a coupon at all those stores, as well as Futureshop locations, which is the sister company so should have the same policy anyway. I know price matching and using a coupon is two separate things – one is the store’s policy, and one is a manufacture’s coupon. Also the coupon is not even a Best Buy issued coupon, but a Disney issued one, so the price on the product would have to be manually adjusted anyway. I sent a complaint via the Best Buy website and was contacted by the manager, who effectively told me no.<o:p></o:p>
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The next day I was passing by Metrotown, so I thought I’d drop by and get the movie there, since that is the usual location I go to and have had no problems price matching and using coupons here. However, the manager from the previous store I dealt with notified all the other Best Buy locations I mentioned to her (I know because I asked the manager at this location) not to give me the Lowest Price Guarantee. I think it is in very poor taste that the manager at the initial location did this, when price matching is a store policy!
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I spoke to my friend’s brother who previously used to work for Best Buy (Metrotown location) and he agreed that I should have been able to use a coupon when price matching. I also know a lot of people on Smart Canucks across Canada have been using coupons and price matching in the past, as well as for the Alice in Wonderland combo pack. It's one thing if all stores in BC and across Canada have the same rule to not take coupons when price matching, but when one store does one thing and another store does another, it's very upsetting and frustrating.
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I’m really upset that Best Buy is not honoring their Lowest Price Guarantee policy – it’s not really much of a guarantee if they don’t do the price match. I ended up purchasing the movie at Zellers. I can’t trust Best Buy to honour their own policies so I don’t think I will be shopping at Best Buy or Future shop stores in the foreseeable future. Best Buy needs to get their policy straight between all the stores, because it is very frustrating when one store says one thing while another store says another.

URGH!
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[Sally888]

I think you should post this on the blog for store reviews! Total crap, I know I had a really bad experience at Best buy with something advertised on sale in store that turned out they forgot to take down the sign but the REFUSED to give me the sign price even though there was NO date on it. Honestly I know there owned by the same company but future shop would of totally honoured it.

[seapotato]

Oh man, that's just poor customer service!

Once I was buying a DVD that was priced at 4.99, but it rung up at 5.99. The cashier came with me to see the price tag, and then she said the 4.99 price was only for full screen, not wide screen, when there was NO indication on the price sign at all! She just made it up! It's too bad I didn't know about SCOP back then, otherwise I could have gotten it for free.

[Sally888]

I swear they just make up rules as they go, because some of the excuses they told me about the sign were ridiculous like they couldn't discount me it because the cell phone manager wasn't there and no other manager in the store could do it (bs)

All I know is they lost my business.... Future Shop, even though commissioned has always helped me way better.

[seapotato]

how do you post on the reviews blog?

there's more to the story now though LOL and we'll have to see how it plays out.

After my 2nd visit to the store, I sent off another email via the Best Buy website. The call centre ppl said my complaint was being forwarded to the district manager...but I didn't hear anything back. So I don't want the consumers to be kicked around by a big corporation, so I snail mailed a letter to the President of Best Buy at headquarters. (I was only going to mail it to the Senior VP of Retail Operations coz his job description seemed more customer service oriented, but my friend told me to send it to the President if I wanted attention LOL).

Then yesterday I got a phone call from some lady, who asked if I was the person who mailed the President, and I said yep. She said he wanted to contact me (I never left any contact info besides the address on the envie) and that my complaint was being forwarded to the district manager (here we go again!).

I get the call from the district manager today. He said he's new. He got me to tell him what happened again, and I said all I'm looking for is that all Best Buys across Canada have the same policy and do the same thing, and that I didn't want to hear about one BB doing one thing while another BB does another. I don't think he thinks I should be able to PM and use coupon either coz he thinks it's double dipping, but I explained to him MY reasoning LOL. Anyway. He asked if there was anything he could do to make me come back to shop at BB. I said I was planning to get a TV there for my dad and he already picked one out but after this incident, my sis and I just gave him the money to buy it somewhere else (it was supposed to be a father's day gift). He said if I wanted to, he will make sure I get a good deal and the royal treatment when I am at BB to buy the tv, or I could go buy it somewhere else, whatever I'm comfortable with. I said I did enjoy shopping at BB, since I've never had much trouble before this. So he's now going to contact the store manager of Metrotown location to let him know the situation, and if I go in when he is working, he'll make sure I get treated well.

Here's hoping they will honour their own store policy from now on. I'll update and see what happens when I do go in to buy the tv.

[seapotato]

yea because I know Best Buy and Futureshop are pretty much the same company, if I have a beef with one, I won't shop at the other lol. if i'm gonna boycott them, i'm gonna do it completely! heehee.

I already stopped my mum from buying a ton of wii accessories and an ipod dock at BB (she got them at the Source instead) and now the TV...

I swear they just make up rules as they go, because some of the excuses they told me about the sign were ridiculous like they couldn't discount me it because the cell phone manager wasn't there and no other manager in the store could do it (bs)

All I know is they lost my business.... Future Shop, even though commissioned has always helped me way better.

[Sally888]

http://reviews.smartcanucks.ca/

I *think* you pm it to Booo with store review in the title? Not overlly sure though.

[BCSparkyGirl]

how do you post on the reviews blog?

there's more to the story now though LOL and we'll have to see how it plays out.

After my 2nd visit to the store, I sent off another email via the Best Buy website. The call centre ppl said my complaint was being forwarded to the district manager...but I didn't hear anything back. So I don't want the consumers to be kicked around by a big corporation, so I snail mailed a letter to the President of Best Buy at headquarters. (I was only going to mail it to the Senior VP of Retail Operations coz his job description seemed more customer service oriented, but my friend told me to send it to the President if I wanted attention LOL).

Then yesterday I got a phone call from some lady, who asked if I was the person who mailed the President, and I said yep. She said he wanted to contact me (I never left any contact info besides the address on the envie) and that my complaint was being forwarded to the district manager (here we go again!).

I get the call from the district manager today. He said he's new. He got me to tell him what happened again, and I said all I'm looking for is that all Best Buys across Canada have the same policy and do the same thing, and that I didn't want to hear about one BB doing one thing while another BB does another. I don't think he thinks I should be able to PM and use coupon either coz he thinks it's double dipping, but I explained to him MY reasoning LOL. Anyway. He asked if there was anything he could do to make me come back to shop at BB. I said I was planning to get a TV there for my dad and he already picked one out but after this incident, my sis and I just gave him the money to buy it somewhere else (it was supposed to be a father's day gift). He said if I wanted to, he will make sure I get a good deal and the royal treatment when I am at BB to buy the tv, or I could go buy it somewhere else, whatever I'm comfortable with. I said I did enjoy shopping at BB, since I've never had much trouble before this. So he's now going to contact the store manager of Metrotown location to let him know the situation, and if I go in when he is working, he'll make sure I get treated well.

Here's hoping they will honour their own store policy from now on. I'll update and see what happens when I do go in to buy the tv.

That's pretty effing weak. That's the BEST he would offer you? I would wait til you talk to the president. Double dipping my aunt fanny. They get their effing money.......jeez louise, this pisses me off. I am going to avoid shopping there due to this......I mean, they made a POINT of calling other stores to make sure they were extra nasty to you. That is just........damn it, it just pisses me off!

[TempletonPeck]

I've been to Future Shop to do the same before and they tried to rip me off by only offering a price match, but not the additional 10% of the difference.