Best Buy BS...again

[eightbit]

So Mario Kart 8 is currently on sale on Bestbuy.com for $44.99. Since I have the GCU membership my cost ends up being $35.99. So today I figured instead of ordering it online I would just go to a local store and pick it up. Well, when I went to the store it was $59.99 (not on sale at all) and my GCU took the price down to $47.99.

 

I am not sure why the online sale did not coincide with the in store price. They always used to. Its not like Bestbuy.com is a "different entity" than the store itself (like Walmart claims) so I dunno. The girl at Best Buy also did not seem to know anything about how the gamer club works...or worked. She tried to tell me that the club was "ending" at the end of this month for EVERYBODY. No, it ended some time ago, and no, they have to honor my GCU membership until it expires. She also tried to tell me that I could not combine my GCU 20% savings with sale items. Again, no. I can (and continue to) use the GCU with on sale items as well as clearance stuff.

 

Every time I attempt to use my Gamer Club membership in store (which is good for me until 4/2020) I get the feeling they just hate that I am using it. I am made to feel like I am some dirtbag getting over on them and getting the game for so much less.

 

So be it. I will be that dirtbag right up until 4/2020. They are the ones that created a club that ended up losing money. All I did was pay for a membership on what looked like (and really is) an unbelievable deal.

 

In the end, I went home and ordered Mario Kart 8 for the $35.99 with free shipping and it will be here on Wed. When this GCU membership ends so do by Best Buy purchases.

Edited August 26, 2018 by eightbit

[Flojomojo]

Best Buy used to show different prices on their website if you browsed it from an in-store computer -- something you could catch if you had an internet-capable phone. Pretty sketchy.

 

How much did that gamer club membership cost, anyway? I'm under the impression it was not free. They should pay out refunds if they aren't honoring the terms of their lousy program.

 

Clearly you are no longer on BB's "angel" list.

https://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2004/11/4382-2/

Welcome to the dark side. :devil:

[eightbit]

It was $30 for the membership, which paid for itself on my first order When I log in to the site with my account items are significantly price slashed after I add them to the cart. It is pretty insane. A guy from work tuned me in to it right before they dropped the program.

[Tanooki]

I've not the plan you use, but I have had them try that crap with the price matching with their own site. Depending on the counter or area manager they'll whine they're on the same. Maybe in some internal setup they aren't, but their own rules say they have to match the price of any valid outfit that first party sells the goods at whatever the rate, them included (as long it's not some marketplace dude.) They know it too, pointing it out and not waffling, they'll do it. I find sometimes they do have the better deal even over amazon at the time I want the item, but usually not the case so it has gone either way.

 

Just be that evil until 5/1/20 rolls around, it's their fault.

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, that's why I won't buy into a "loyalty program" that tries to control where I shop. I have options and I like it that way.

Except Amazon Prime, because I'm a fscking hypocrite and I am Jeff Bezos' b!tch.

[Leatherrebel5150]

Depending on the company, the website and brick and mortar are essentially different companies. I know advance auto parts is like that. You can save a ton of money ordering to pick up in store vs just walking in and buying it. The employees are not supposed to price match the website at all, people have to do it the online way even if they are holding the product in their hand, in the store, they have to use the website to get the price. It makea for some interesting interactions.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Leatherrebel5150

[omegadot]

Depending on the company, the website and brick and mortar are essentially different companies. I know advance auto parts is like that. You can save a ton of money ordering to pick up in store vs just walking in and buying it. The employees are not supposed to price match the website at all, people have to do it the online way even if they are holding the product in their hand, in the store, they have to use the website to get the price. It makea for some interesting interactions.

 

 

Target is also like this it seems. We've price matched quite a few things against their website. We didn't get any flack for it but I found it irritating. Sort of the worst of both worlds coming together.

[cybercylon]

I've had this happen a couple of times at our local BB where the store price rang up higher than the web one. When I showed the sales person person that, I got the web price without much of a fuss. Again, this kind of thing could always be sales person/store manager dependent....

[+Hydro Thunder]

I have been to Barnes & Noble to buy a book using my membership that I bought on their website (and which works both in store and online for a discount); I receive coupons regularly from the site that are usable online or in store.

But twice I have brought a book to the counter assuming it's the same price as their website, and have been told no, the website is a separate entity and they -don't honor or match the website prices-. In one particular case, a book was $40.00 in store, and it was $21.99 on the website, free shipping. They literally let me put the item back and I had to order it online to get the price. It's like they're trying to kill off brick and mortar; I will happily pay a few extra bucks to have item in hand (and because I try very hard not to shop online; I don't want a dystopian future in which we are all slaves to the Bezos overlord, stuffing boxes in a warehouse frantically for hours every day). But nearly twice the price is outrageous, and I don't get this disconnect. Seems like other retail are having the same issue getting it together, so strange. It just doesn't seem like it needs to be that difficult or complex, IMHO.

[cybercylon]

Funny thing is you can generally order on-line to get the sale, and do an in-store pickup.