The crew at HD Guru recently exposed Best Buy for their shady price matching practices. They visited three New York-area Best Buy locations looking to price match a Panasonic TV using a competitor’s advertisement that was $700 less than Best Buy’s retail price. The salesmen at all three stores denied the price match on the grounds that the tv “was on sale for three days and Best Buy’s price match policy exempts limited time sales.” However, Best Buy does not have a “limited times sales” exemption in their policy!
The HD Guru shopper confronted a manager with this fact, and the manager decided to make an “exemption” and grant the price match. According to HD Guru’s inside source, Best Buy employees have been instructed by management to not honor its price match policies in order to increase the store’s profit margin.
Here are some great “do’s” and “don’t’s” from HD Guru:
Don’t have a competitor’s ad in your hand when entering the store. Produce it after you establish the store has the item in stock.
Don’t say you have been shopping around and know exactly what you want to purchase (the sales person may get suspicious of a price match and simply tell you the TV is out of stock). Do give the salesman a general idea of what type of HDTV you desire ( i.e. 46” LCD) and let salesperson suggest the HDTV you want to price match.
Don’t make a scene if you get murfed. It won’t accomplish anything. Simply leave and, if you desire, call the store’s corporate customer relations department. It may contact the store and tell it to honor the price match policy (because you complained).
Do ask the salesman if they offer extended warranties (even if you don’t want one) and inquire as to how many years coverage you can buy, because you want the longest protection you can buy (the salesman’s belief that you will be purchasing an extended warranty will motivate his manager to match the price.) You may purchase the warranty and cancel it at the checkout or the next day without penalty.
Indicate you will need cables and accessories and tell the salesman you want the best—more motivation for the salesman to get his manager to honor the price match.
Do bring your business to a reputable store that honors its policies. They are out there.
