Best Buy Says It Will Kill 'Showrooming' For Good

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At least this strategy is a little better than the way the company dealt with showrooming before (driving customers away). I think the hard part will be teaching a company that, for years couldn't even price match its own website, to match "19 major online competitors."

Best Buy’s Low Price Guarantee hits online and in stores on March 3, signaling the end of “showrooming.” Best Buy will price match all local retail competitors and 19 major online competitors in all product categories and on nearly all in-stock products, whenever asked by a customer.
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I've had too many bad experiences with BB. I'll believe it when they actually DO price match.

They'll find some technicality to get out of price matching.

I'm just sayin'.
 
To little to late...oh and still shoving the extra warranty's down your throat doesn't help either.
 
Haha, i'll believe it when I see it.
Guaranteed they will make up some bullshit to get out of it. Like previous experiences....
 
There's always the 'not in stock, can order it in' and 'taxes'. This is akin to a death rattle.
 
I couldn't care less. It's still easier to make a one-click purchase with Amazon. With Best Buy, I have to burn time and gas driving up there, find whatever it is in their poorly-marked store, get asked if I need their "help" every two minutes, wait in line for someone to write a check for a $20 purchase, and put up with their cashiers pushing extended warranties and other crap I don't need.

And Amazon has a better return policy to boot.
 
Shorehn said:
I couldn't care less. It's still easier to make a one-click purchase with Amazon. With Best Buy, I have to burn time and gas driving up there, find whatever it is in their poorly-marked store, get asked if I need their "help" every two minutes, wait in line for someone to write a check for a $20 purchase, and put up with their cashiers pushing extended warranties and other crap I don't need.

And Amazon has a better return policy to boot.
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I could see shenanigans like "oh, this is a different SKU" (special sku just for BB) killing this, but if they avoid that noise it might be enough to get me to hop in when I need a hard drive or a power supply bricks.
 
Perhaps if their prices were even remotely comparable to begin with they wouldn't have an issue. Their prices are just shitty. I imagine you'll have to print out somethin and bring it in to get the price match too. You won't be able to use your smartphone, scan the barcode, get a cheaper prices from an online retailer and get a discount. That would be TOO easy.
 
Have had zero problems getting them to match Amazon, in most cases even tax included I have paid what Amazon charges.

Not sure why everyone is having such issues.
 
I can't even buy something from Best Buy for what they say it costs when I grab it off the shelf. it's always $5-10 more (not including tax)
 
Although BB gets so much shit here on [H], for most smaller towns Best Buy is the only place that features higher-end PC, audio, and video products. Not all places have B&H or J&R superstores like NYC...

And in some parts Best Buy employees are actually very informed and enthusiastic about the products they sell. I've made a friend at the Best Buy in GSP in New Jersey. He's pretty funny and he knows just about everything there is to know about high-end audio systems. He even recommends that I go to other retailers to get a better price.
 
Vashypooh said:
Have had zero problems getting them to match Amazon, in most cases even tax included I have paid what Amazon charges.

Not sure why everyone is having such issues.
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I actually had a good experience with BB a couple weeks ago. Went to snag a tablet from them for my mothers birthday (which I had forgotten). Showed them the tablet on my phone at Amazon...they matched it with taxes included. It took what I assume was a manager to approve it, but it got done in like 5 minutes.
 
So where Im going to shop for my next big screen TV? Circuit City gone, Ultimate Electronics gone, Sears is closing, I sure aint going to have one shipped. Oh yea wallmart :rolleyes:
 
Sorry, not good enough.

I have tried to get Best Buy to price match things they said they would price match, and while eventually they may do it, you end up standing there for 20 mins waiting for managers and phone calls and all of this hassle.

Or I could just go to amazon.com, single click to order it, and it shows up on my doorstep two days later.

Hmmmmm, huge hassle and have to spend the gas and time and schlepp it around myself and stand in line for returns if needed, or one click and easy prepaid return label if I need to return something.

Yeah, no, fail.
 
Gmok Bonecrusha said:
I actually had a good experience with BB a couple weeks ago. Went to snag a tablet from them for my mothers birthday (which I had forgotten). Showed them the tablet on my phone at Amazon...they matched it with taxes included. It took what I assume was a manager to approve it, but it got done in like 5 minutes.
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Yep, same here.

It's why I don't get why people are having such issues with this.

You get the added bonus of any problems with purchases you can just go to bestbuy to deal with it, you get whatever you want now and not have to wait on amazon, no delivery on sat/sun, etc.

I really don't understand why everyone is jumping to saying this is bad for consumers.
 
Vashypooh said:
You get the added bonus of any problems with purchases you can just go to bestbuy to deal with it,
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Which is precisely what so many of us want to avoid because of bad experiences.

And of course the problem with brick and mortar stores is that your experience WILL vary, every time. Depends who the manager is in that particular store, and who is on shift when you happen to be there. And if you get turned down, well, you just wasted $5 in gas and a lot of time.

On Amazon for example, its a far more uniform experience because of global policies they have in place and everyone going through the exact same processes. And you're just doing a couple clicks through an automated menu in your underwear, which is a lot less hassle than driving around, fighting traffic, risking door dings, and standing and standing and standing and standing and having to deal with back and forth only to be told that "sorry, that's a sale price, we only price match standard prices" or "hold on I'm waiting on Frys to verify that they have the item in stock, they have me on hold again, because we only price match if they have it in stock bla bla bla".

Its often a nightmare.
 
Ducman69 said:
Which is precisely what so many of us want to avoid because of bad experiences.

And of course the problem with brick and mortar stores is that your experience WILL vary, every time. Depends who the manager is in that particular store, and who is on shift when you happen to be there. And if you get turned down, well, you just wasted $5 in gas and a lot of time.

On Amazon for example, its a far more uniform experience because of global policies they have in place and everyone going through the exact same processes. And you're just doing a couple clicks through an automated menu in your underwear, which is a lot less hassle than driving around, fighting traffic, risking door dings, and standing and standing and standing and standing and having to deal with back and forth only to be told that "sorry, that's a sale price, we only price match standard prices" or "hold on I'm waiting on Frys to verify that they have the item in stock, they have me on hold again, because we only price match if they have it in stock bla bla bla".

Its often a nightmare.
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30 day return policy and price match policy.

I just returned two plasma TV's with in-home pickup and delivery of the new one, with zero questions asked other than what was wrong with it and if possible to show it to them so they could mark it for repair / rma.

I've never had a shitty experience with them.
 
Sounds great, but I'll stick with a reputable merchant, one that doesn't try to pawn off $70 HDMI cables and $150 power strips on non-savvy shoppers. And in your experience, I don't see how Amazon would have reacted any differently, or how that is an experience with a brick and mortar Best Buy anyway considering that sounds like a Best Buy online experience and not in-store experience.
 
Their supposed move to a shorter 15 day return policy concerns me, though. For televisions especially, I really enjoy a store with a 90 day return policy (Costco, Sams Club, Walmart). This gives me some time to relax, learn the various settings, calibrate and adjust the set and judge a variety of content. 30 days is short, but 15 is a deal breaker. Might be acceptable for smaller consumer electronics where you pretty well know what you're getting and what to expect.
 
I disagree. I've never taken the full 90, but I like knowing I have some headroom. Especially when during the busier times of year and when needing to move around larger, heavier sets.
 
They have been doing it for a while. Their computer shows, at least, what the current price is on Amazon.

The last two times I needed something right then, I went to BB and asked for Amazon Price Match. No questions asked I got it.

Now if you can wait 2 days, you have Prime, and you are in a no-collect-tax state, it's still cheaper to get it from Amazon.
 
John721 said:
I disagree. I've never taken the full 90, but I like knowing I have some headroom. Especially when during the busier times of year and when needing to move around larger, heavier sets.
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The last time weight was an issue was my 32" Sony XBR CRT TV :)

My current Mitsubishi 60" DLP weighs all of 58 pounds. Boxed.
 
The Guarantee is limited to one price match per identical item, per guest
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So if I want to get a couple of hard drives, I will only get one of the hard drives price matched? The others will be at the normal Best Buy price?
 
Tawnos said:
I could see shenanigans like "oh, this is a different SKU" (special sku just for BB) killing this, but if they avoid that noise it might be enough to get me to hop in when I need a hard drive or a power supply bricks.
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Easy fix, if they won't price match, don't buy it there. Just say "thanks for the showroom demo" and walk out.
 
TechLarry said:
The last time weight was an issue was my 32" Sony XBR CRT TV :)

My current Mitsubishi 60" DLP weighs all of 58 pounds. Boxed.
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I'm happy for you. Sony's 65" LCD model with gorilla glass weighs in at 100 pounds. Without the box. :)
 
i haven't price matched or even looked to match recently, but what i do remember (at least at my local bb) is that the model number has to match exactly. all they have to do is be off by 1 character and they wouldn't match it as it "wasn't an exact model".

and until they start matching the exact no tax from amazon, or rebates, or offer free extras like newegg does i'll still steer clear of them.
 
finally best buy is paying for price gouging people for years including myself before i knew better.


i hate you best buy. and your insanely overpriced everything :)
 
caddys83 said:
So where Im going to shop for my next big screen TV? Circuit City gone, Ultimate Electronics gone, Sears is closing, I sure aint going to have one shipped. Oh yea wallmart :rolleyes:
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Why not have it shipped? Amazon has free shipping quite regularly. I just bought a new Panasonic from them with free white glove service. They brought it in, unpacked it, secured it to its own stand, put it where I wanted it, hooked it up, checked that it had a picture, and hauled away all the packaging.
 
You can get deals.

I remember back when the Microsoft SideWinder controllers were the #1 rated controllers on the market (at which time Microsoft Discontinued them and ceased driver updates all at once - another stupid story...), I was able to buy 3 year, no questions asked carry in broke one carry out new one warranties for them for $9.95.

I used them extensively :)
 
Anyone else have HH Gregg? I've never been in one, but one opened up about a year ago in the old store that used to be CompUSA.
 
John721 said:
Their supposed move to a shorter 15 day return policy concerns me, though. For televisions especially, I really enjoy a store with a 90 day return policy (Costco, Sams Club, Walmart). This gives me some time to relax, learn the various settings, calibrate and adjust the set and judge a variety of content. 30 days is short, but 15 is a deal breaker. Might be acceptable for smaller consumer electronics where you pretty well know what you're getting and what to expect.
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Dude, it's a store, not a rental. Do your research beforehand and then make your purchase. "Return policy" doesn't mean "trial period." If you're making big purchases without knowing (and I quote you) "what you're getting and what to expect," then you're doing it wrong.
 
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