Best Buy responds to price match accusations

(Credit: Best Buy)

Update: March 19, 2009, 1:00 PDT: Best Buy's replies to our follow-up questions have been added since this article was originally published.

Responding to a March 17 Crave article, which pointed to an article on HDGuru.com describing how Best Buy employees refused to honor the store's own price matching policy, the electronics retailer has supplied a written statement.

According to the statement, "The price match in question was over $700 difference from our pricing at the store; while our pricing may vary from our competition, such huge fluctuations in price are rare and rightfully set off red flags to our employees." The statement encourages dissatisfied shoppers to contact customer service.

We asked the Best Buy representative who sent us the statement whether the policy had a price limit, and he said that it did not.

Since March 17, we have received further information from readers regarding this issue. For example, a February article at StoreFrontTalkBack.com describes a class-action lawsuit filed in 2008 where former Best Buy employees alleged the company's management actively discouraged honoring the policy. According to the deposition of one former employee:

"Best Buy had a corporate undisclosed policy of discouraging and denying customers the benefits of its price match guarantee. Management mandated that all price match requests that resulted in a product being sold at less than 5 percent above cost would be denied. Best Buy provided a financial incentive for denying proper price match requests."

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York by Thomas Jermyn (Docket No. 08 CV 00214, if you're curious), is still ongoing. We asked Best Buy to comment, but it said it could not address pending litigation.

"We encourage customers to become familiar with our price-matching policy and use it to their advantage, especially in these tough economic times."

--Best Buy

Another article titled Best Buy Price Match: An Insider's View describes additional problems suffered by customers who've attempted to take advantage of the price match policy.

Our original article also elicited numerous reader comments. While a few of the comments report good experiences with BB's price match policy, many describe problems with management or salespeople refusing to match prices. We asked Best Buy to address the issues raised by readers in our comments section, and its reply was: "We appreciate that customers feel comfortable sharing their experiences and opinions. It's a great way for us to gather feedback on how they feel, and to use that feedback to improve how we administer our policies."

Of course, with thousands of stores nationwide it's possible many of Best Buy's price matching inconsistencies are caused by overzealous or incompetent managers, rather than by secret corporate policy.

Asked to respond to a report in the original HDGuru story, which cited an unnamed Best Buy source who alleged "salesmen were told by management to not honor price match policies in order to increase store's profit margin," the Best Buy representative replied "Best Buy stores are consistently told to follow our price matching policy."

According to the former employee's deposition in the lawsuit, however, "I learned these and other techniques at Best Buy's district facility in White Plains, New York, and Best Buy's training store in Westchester, New York."

Here's the verbatim text of Best Buy's original statement.

"We apologize for the confusion over this price matching incident, and appreciate that there's room for misinterpretation of what we'll match and when. The price match in question was over $700 difference from our pricing at the store; while our pricing may vary from our competition, such huge fluctuations in price are rare and rightfully set off red flags to our employees.

Our full price match policy for in store can be found here: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat12098&entryURLType=&catego ryId=cat10011&type=page&entryURLID=&contentId=1118843518460

We encourage customers to become familiar with our price-matching policy and use it to their advantage, especially in these tough economic times. The key elements of this policy are:

If a customer elects to make a purchase and discovers a lower advertised price offered by a local retail competitor on the same available brand and model, we will fulfill a price match request once proof of price is verified via the competitor's ad. The Price Guarantee does not apply to limited-quantity items.

If customers believe they've met the applicable criteria and are unable to price match at their local Best Buy store, we urge them to contact our Customer Care Center at 888-Best Buy (888-237-8289) for further assistance."

[viewwin]

When I worked at the Lexington, KY store during 2000 to 2001, we were told by management to not honor the price match if it fell below employee pricing (which is 5% over cost).

[sobishop]

It is not entirely the managers fault. They are pressured into performing better than the previous years sales. Stores have projected sales goals they must meet in order for managers to maintain or increase their position within the company.

[Lestaticho]

It is no accident that management touts not honoring a price match if the price falls below the "less than 5 percent above cost" threshold. That is exactly the price employees at Best Buy call "employee discount". I am more comfortable saying that the policies of Best Buy should not reflect the incompetent management put there by crony human resource hiring--though often they do.

[scaught78]

Here is a quick.

Last year I was looking at a Sharp Aquos TV at Best Buy. The sales person told me that I could price match after the purchase. This was two weeks before Black Friday. I said to him, "Of course the price matching wouldn't include the Black Friday sales." He responded, "Nope, we include that too. A sale is a sale." I said, "Are you sure." He laughed and said yes.

Long story short, I found the TV on sale for Black Friday, went in for my price match and was told I wasn't getting one.

[Macajuel]

Hmm......I hate to say it friend but you probably should have waited the two weeks

[ToniPod]

I from San Francisco, i purchased a dvd player with HD upscale on 2007 two weeks before Black Friday. So, i found that device on sale for Balck Friday, i went to the store and they did match the price. I never had a problem matching prices with BestBuy, even if i did not have their Ad they went to their website to verify the price.

[chrkeller]

Sorry but there are huge difference in price in a lot of cases. I bought the TH-58PZ800U for $2500 via Newegg, Best Buy wanted $3600.. There is no red flag other than Best Buy is a rip compared to online prices. Which is why I buy online.

[Paul001312]

Well in the case of Newegg, and other online retailers, Best Buy's policy does state "a lower advertised price offered by a local retail competitor on the same available brand and model" the keword there is local. Unless you happen to live in the same city as the warehouse of your online retailer of choice, Best buy's price matching policy doesn't apply to them.

Pretty sneaky if you ask me, as many online retailers have free shipping and such, which negates the need to be 'local'.

[george_liquor]

Hey, I got that TV too. $2300 from Amazon.com. I think the 800U is about to be discontinued, as the retail price has dropped a lot recently.

[Notoapplefanbois]

Would rather go to a retailer than etailer with those sort of things though because you have no idea if it will be damaged when delivered or not.

[WalterEgo420]

My natural response to customers asking for price matching is, WHY NOT JUST GET IT FROM THE STORE YOU WANT TO PRICE MATCH TO? If you want to buy a possibly refurbished $3000 TV from some online retailer and have is drop shipped to your house, do it. Good luck when they send you an inferior model and then deny it and accuse you of switching TV's when you try to return it. Oh, and the cost of the return shipping is yours, if they actually believe you. What I don't understand is how some people get so much joy out of arguing with some best buy sales guy who's maybe breaking $10 an hour, someone who probably can't even afford the TV you're complaining about. Facts of life: The Salesman takes orders from the Supervisor, who takes orders from Management, who takes orders from Corporate. If employees aren't hitting certain goals, they lose their job. Right or wrong, while the salesmen at BB don't make commission, their sales are tracked and their hours and pay depend on numbers. Try not being such a jerk when you come in and talk to someone at a store, and you might be surprised at the difference in customer service you receive, and that they are often willing to compromise, even outside of their own policy.

[Donniebrasco]

When I worked at Staples in college, that was always my thought too. Why not just buy it where you found the low price? Staples price-match policy required that the store we were matching had it in stock, along with the whole "local competitor, no mail-in, etc." that is standard with these stores. Now if it was a few bucks, I wouldn't bother calling the other store to verify if they had it in stock. If it was a few hundred, I would tell the customer the policy, and have to call Best Buy, Office Max, Circuit City, or wherever I was price matching. If they didn't have any left, I didn't have to price match.

With that said, nowhere will price match places like Newegg, and therefore I buy 90% of my tech stuff online now. There are very few things that need "now", and would go to Best Buy or an office supply store for.

[Setustraight]

Well keep in mind if you read your manufacturer's warranty card or instruction manual it clearly states that the warranty is null and void if the product is bought from a non-authorized vendor. So while the prices on Newegg are awesome sometimes you kiss any warranty you had goodbye. I found this out the hard way with my 50" Pioneer Elite.

[SweetReverie]

My goodness. I've never seen such a problem regarding a price matching policy. I worked in retail for a nationwide company for 2 years. The retailer had a price matching policy. We never gave a a customer a problem if they found the same item cheaper somewhere else. Once the price at the competitor was confirmed by calling the store, we priced matched. It was never a problem.

[Isometricon]

I worked for Best Buy from 2000 to 2003. I have a feeling that these "no price matching" orders are coming from overzealous managers and not from Corporate. You basically play a big numbers game when you work at Best Buy. Even though the employees don't work on commission, good sales numbers are still the motivation. When a customer returns items or wants a price match, the store takes a hit on its margin. If the store doesn't meet it's sales goals, the sales managers--and then the department managers-- are the first ones to take responsibility. I saw a lot of shady things happen in regard to sales managers. Part of the problem is the promotion of the wrong people into these sales manager positions, but a lot of it is just from the pressure in meeting sales goals.

[dizzygill]

So it seems in the original HDGuru article that the sales person interpreted a limited time offer as what is in BB policy a limited quantities offer. Shame on them for not understanding the difference, especially as most sales are, by definition, a limited time offer, something entirely different from a price reduction.

On the other hand, make sure if you are looking for a price match, that you understand not only BB's policy, but also the terms of the competitor's sale. Many irate customers I have seen have been so because the customer misunderstood something. I have had many successes with BB price matching, both from BB and competitor sales offers. I have never had the problems that others have reported, but the same can be said of many places I do business. Others have complained where I have had positive experiences.

Last but not least, remember that that there is a difference between complaining your way to what you want and negotiating your way to what you want. Negotiating, and the patient calm that goes with it, always gets better results.

[Spoonio101]

calm attitude does nothing, tried it many times. They figure if you accept it that you will eventually buy the product from them. You gotta speak out and make it known that they are breaking their policies and you will bring it to the next level of media attention if they refuse to.

[Spoonio101]

Wow, instead of stating their policy again, why dont they investigate this matter with their stores themselves. The funny thing is, that I did bring in the ad showing the 40D camara on sale at Fry's Electronics and they still shot me down.

The response from BB has made my Boycott of BestBuy last until the executives that approved this statement is removed.

LONG LIVE NEWEGG!

[wlau]

If Best Buy did do price-match as honestly as it should, they could end up like Circuit City. They unoffically block price match to maintain profit level, and this shouldn't be a surprise. Everyone knows Best Buy is the most expensive store to purchase electronics. Low price guarantee and Best Buy do not exist in the same sentence. They are also the worst in terms of customer service, i.e., returns, warranty repair, extended warranty repairs... The people complained about it shoudl have known better. If pricing matters to you (it should), then shop at other better alternatives - Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Fry's, NewEgg, Amazon, Buy.com... all have better pricing than Best Buy and most of them are fairly relaxed on returns or exchanges.

[MeesterSandman]

NEWEGG and other online sites are known for selling refurbished TV's or ones that have been returned as new, so you never really know what you're getting.

[justdenny]

I've never gotten any product from Newegg that was refurbished unless it was advertised as such. Their customer service and return policy is excellent. They clearly advertise open box and refurbished on their site when you shop. Unless you speak from experience, why would you trash them? And, if you do speak from experience, why not tell us the details?

[chrkeller]

Sorry but that is just ignorance. It is highly illegal so sell refurbished products as new. Newegg clearly marks what products are new and which are not. The items I have bought via Newegg are 30% cheaper and brand new. Best Buy prays on the stupid. Shopping online is the better option.

[make_or_break]

Yes Newegg does sell refurbs and returns, but they have been quite CLEAR about which of these are such items, period. Only a shill for a brick & mortar--like Best Buy, for instance--would SPIN DOCTOR such an outlandish claim to put the B&M in a better light.

[pithenumber]

newegg marks refurbs as refurbs
no lying involved
its either your ignorant or a bestbuy fanboi(do they even exist?)

[wnusbaum]

We had the SAME EXPERIENCE. We bought a supposedly "NEW" XBOX 360 from NEWEGG for $300.00.
What we received was an obviously REFURBISHED XBOX 360 that also had broken cases on the free games.
So be advised that this is they way they are! THEY LIE! They state it is new but it is actually refurbished. And they DO SELL REFURBISHED PRODUCTS AS NEW. FOR THE PRICE OF A NEW PRODUCT! In other words:
They cheat you and they rip you off. Like they did to us.

[pando85]

Usually if they give you a hard time, (and you already want to purchase there warranty) just tell them, if you price match it I will get the warranty ..acting as if you never would have gotten it. Works every time I have tried, especially if the sale product at the other store was a limited quantity item. But of course if you don't want the warranty and you feel they are truly being unfair and bullying you, by all means cause some trouble! :)

[TrqAddq]

I realized BB doesn't match online prices, so imagine our dismay when my wife and I were refused a price match locally. We live in Sacramento, CA with a Fry's and BestBuy. Fry's had a deal on the Samsung LN52A650 LCD HDTV for $1899, BB wanted 2399 at the time. I called BestBuy while still in Fry's to confirm their price match policy. My wife and I had both Fry's and BB's weekend ads in hand. BB rep on the phone told me to come on down with the Fry's ad. We felt bad not giving the commission to the Fry's salesperson, but wanted to save a few more extra bucks, plus I had a $50 bb gift card I could apply towards the purchase.

On our way to BB, I called Fry's back and had them reserve the Samsung for me to make sure BB could call and confirm stock. Once we got to BB the sales manager called Fry's and claimed there wasn't any reservations under my name. Okay fine, but I knew Fry's had 3 units in stock 20 minutes ago. I asked the BB guy to call Fry's back and check their stock, he refused. What the heck?!...he knew I was right about Fry's having units in stock, but proceeded to give some excuse about how they could only match prices from their distribution center. What a bunch of crap. I hope BB follows CC down the tube. To add further insult, the BB sales guy offers to sell us their Samsung model for $2199, as if he's doing us a favor. Pffftt...forget BB, we gladly went back and gave the commission to Fry's. BB jerks! They totally ignored their own price match policy. For the way they mistreated us, I'd gladly pay more elsewhere then give BB our business, luckily we still got a lower price elsewhere.

[1kingsfan]

Every electronics retail brick and mortar store HATES Fry's with a passion. They have phenomenal deals but are just as guilty as everyone else with price matching. While I completely understand why you were upset Fry's weekly deals are incredibly bad business for any retailer. For example, with your SAMLN52A650, BBY was making roughly 18-23 points of margin. At $1899, much like when Fry's has sales on Panasonic Plasmas, the margin goes down to 1 or 2 points. Managers who routinely do price matching from Fry's won't last long AND neither will their store. I always thought it was amusing when I worked for CCity. If Fry's is so phenomenal WHY don't you shop there? A $50 gift card wouldn't have stopped me from getting the deal of the century on a great TV. More than likely, you got greedy. Plenty of customers when I asked why they didn't purchase from Fry's recounted horror stories about returns, refunds, and exchanges. Others were just simply trying to get a TV below cost. I've said it before, while price matching is a good way to get a deal, ANY store would be out of their mind not to want to make a profit. Afterall, they won't be around if they can't turn enough of one to employ those "jerks" that do the price matching for you!

[ikramerica--2008]

And Fry's also has a policy of selling returned DOA merchandise as "pre-opened" with a marginal discount for being reshrinkwrapped. I've personally watched them put merchandise being returned as defective in the cart for restocking without even checking out of the product was broken.

There are times you go to fry's and the entire "in stock" selection of a product is made up of re-wrapped returns. I pity the souls who buy these, get them home, and then realize they are defective.

Fry's is just as shady as BB.

[Krupin2]

Pioneer AVIC F 700BT Nav Double Din Stereo - Best Buy $650 plus tx, AMAZON $359.....the sales person wouldn't even let me finish talking about a price match when I asked him about it LAST WEEK......Best "Rip Off" Buy BLOWZZZZZZZZZZZZ

And I undestand they don't match websites but they didn't even let me get that far! NO NO NO NO.....

[mattjew04]

oddly enought i have been looking at this same product, and its listed on amazon, but its not an amazon product, its sold by an outside company. This time it was barneys. So i called barneys, its a B stock product seller. Therefore its a product from a group of products that failed QC. And that is why it is so much cheaper. So before you go and get mad at best buy, realize that if your product breaks, you are out of luck. if the one that you buy from best buy fails, then you still have the retailer to go to, and the manufacturer. A Stock product are products that pass inspection, and QC. B stock are ones that dont. You dont think that makers of these expensive products just throw them away do you. They sell them to other companies that will still buy them for cheap, and then sell them for cheap!!!........research your information sir!

B stock means it has been tested and repackaged. It's been refurbished. This has NOTHING to do wilth failing quality control, in fact it means it has passed. We are not talking about clothing or shoes where "seconds" may have a stich out of place or something. Companies won't sell products that fail quality control, it would be horrible business! You should research your own information, sir.

[DeCeccoNET]

Ironically, the horror stories of price matching at multiple Best-Buys when I responded to the origional artical all occured in the White Plains and surrounding Westchester area...

[cynicselectant]

Its not a matter of sales margins, if a company cannot financially afford to offer a price match guarantee than they shouldn't. You'll be more comfortable buying from a store that says they will match any price of their competition obviously and may in fact get ripped off at some point due to your trusting nature.

All in all if Best Buy can't afford a price matching policy they should stop touting that they will do it.

[Shaun822]

"All in all if Best Buy can't afford a price matching policy they should stop touting that they will do it."

That is my issue with it too. Don't advertise it if you can't or don't want to pay for it.

[1kingsfan]

Exactly my thoughts. Truth be told, you get what you pay for. While I've purchased numerous items online, people neglect to realize what a pain in the neck it is to return it or exchange it if something goes wrong. I'd rather have outstanding customer service. Don't get me wrong, I'd still price compare etc, and I won't pay $300-$500 more for great service, but I would certainly consider paying a $50-$125 difference. Catering to the lowest common denominator always has disastrous results.

[Ltaze]

Wait, someone has actually gotten outstanding customer service at a Best Buy?! Please tell me what BB you shop at, because I have never gotten excellent or outstanding service at any BB store I've ever gone to. I call the Worst Buy and consider it an exercise in futility trying to get any help there. The only time I ever had a salesman approach me rather than having to hunt down one and drag them over to help me was when I was standing in the Magnolia Home Theater Department. Gee, I wonder why they were willing to help me then? I'll tell you this much, the only thing BB is good for is to check out the merchandise, see the screen quality on a tv, compare models, play around with a computer, etc, and then go buy it online or somewhere else. Some might think BBhas outstanding customer service (snicker) but really BB's customer service and prices can be rated somewhere on the Poor, lousy, and how stupid do I look to you scale.

[WalterEgo420]

"The only thing BB is good for is to check out the merchandise, see the screen quality on a tv, compare models, play around with a computer, etc, and then go buy it online or somewhere else."

If best buy didn't exist, what would you do?

Do you not understand it cost money to provide these things? If you wanna bring back the product, it costs money to keep employees there waiting for you to test and return that product. While you have had no luck getting help in the store, I'm willing to bet you came in during peak hours on the weekend, and waited thirty seconds before freaking out that no one has dropped the customer they were currently helping and rushed over to attend to your every need. Those employees all cost money to train and keep there for your assistance. As a former best buy sales rep, I spent much of my day just explaining technology to people too lazy to learn it on their own, time that I could be selling to the next guy, making my numbers and getting recognition from my managers. I should have been paid as a teacher. The main problem is that many penny-pinching-internet-ad watching consumers come into best buy just to complain about prices and can't understand why one particular item that happens to be less somewhere else can't be sold at a loss at the store of the customers choosing. That typical customer often lacks any people skills and treats the sales people like incompetent personal servants. 99.9% of the time, the price matching is honored without a second thought, even though it's often not a good business decision. People here are fixated on a few extreme isolated incidents and condemn an entire company because of a very consumer friendly offer that is constantly trying to be exploited. Sometimes I would lie and say something is not within our policy just because the customer is so unpleasant that I just want them to leave. Please, do us all a favor and just buy it online.

[Willie Winkie]

Best Buy bites the monkey's floppy apendage (and I'm not talking about the tail). They think they are invulnerable because CC went under.

[modernman2006]

In reference to "The Price Guarantee does not apply to limited-quantity items." stated in Best Buy's policy, i believe that the item has to be in stock at the local retailer advertising the lower price. This happened to me with Circuit City, RIP (rest in ****). They would not honor the price match because the other local retailer did not have the TV i bought from CC in stock. I guess bad business practices eventually catch up!

[johnbuker]

About the only place I ever take advantage of "Price Matching" is Wal Mart and as long as it's a local ad, they honor it every time.
My bigger gripe with Best Buy (and Circuit City before them) is them not honoring their own web site pricing. Hell, Circuit City even used to advertise that they'd honor their web site prices and while I rarely ever shopped there, I did buy a TV there early last year and had to order it online because it was $700 cheaper online then the price they were trying to stick me with in the store. Have had similar experiences at Best Buy and them not honoring their online pricing too (although I rarely buy anything other than video games and the occasional item that they advertise at a rate as cheap or cheaper then I can find it online at other places).

[ikramerica--2008]

Fry's also does not honor their own website pricing. Fry's online is outpost.com, while Fry's stores are the original Fry's, and though they are under the same ownership now and basically carry the same stock, they are not the same internal company and their prices often do not match, and Fry's will not honor a lower online price. I've been told by them at the store that they can't, so if I need it right now, they can offer a price close to that, but if I don't, I should buy it from their website...

"Fry's also does not honor their own website pricing. Fry's online is outpost.com, while Fry's stores are the original Fry's, and though they are under the same ownership now and basically carry the same stock, they are not the same internal company and their prices often do not match, and Fry's will not honor a lower online price. I've been told by them at the store that they can't, so if I need it right now, they can offer a price close to that, but if I don't, I should buy it from their website..."

Not sure which cave you have been living in but Fry's website is frys.com now and you can buy any product online and pick it up right at the store if it's in stock.

[AppleFan73]

I wanted to purchase a BlackBerry Bold at Best Buy. Best Buy sold it for $649.99, but AT&T had it for $549.99.

So, I asked if they would price match AT&T and they said NO. :-(

[uberbaldy]

I've never had a problem with the Price Match. in fact I bought a Canon HV30 for only $750 last June. It was advertised at Best Buy for either $999 or $1099, I can't accurately remember which at this point. However I brought in proof that Costco was selling it for only $749 and the sales people I dealt with gave me the reducded price with no incident. The article does state a source claiming that any price lower then a 5% profit would be refused and I'm not sure the price Best Buy has to pay for that camcorder but at the time that was a 25% discount on the price which I would assume to be a major cut in their profits. Even now Best Buy lists the Canon HV30 at $899 so I'm more then happy with my purchase. Guess the stores in my area don't seem to have this problem.

[irishbird86]

if you can find it at cheaper price... why not buy it at that place?

[mbenedict]

Say you got a Best Buy gift certificate for xmas (or any kind of in-store credit) and want to use it for the purchase, so you need to get Best Buy to price match. Another reason not to buy gift certificates.

[robertorosco]

That's why people should choose Visa gift cards instead. ;-)