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My personal odyssey to get on the list for BestBuy Preferred Customer coupons.

post #1 of 185
5/15/02 at 5:05pm
Thread Starter 
As some of you may know, I have been aggravated that I am not on BestBuy's list of "preferred customers" to receive their occasional coupons for DVDs and other items. After several discussions here on the HTF about this, unable to find a consensus about how to achieve the much-desired "preferred customer" status, it was suggested to me to contact the company directly and ask them. Here is my note:

Quote:
Hello!

I know several people who receive coupons through the mail from BestBuy.
These are "Preferred Customer" coupons. I would like to think of myself as
a "preferred Customer" of BestBuy but do not receive the coupons--I spend a
fair amount of money in your Albany, NY store. For example, some of my
friends just got coupons good for 10% off the purchase of one DVD, 15% off 2
DVDs, or 20% of three DVDs for May 17 -19.

I cannot establish a criterion for receipt of these coupons. Some of my
friends who get the coupons have BestBuy credit cards, some do not. Some
have registered on your web site, some have not. Some have returned items
to you stores and filled out the "return slip" paperwork. So have I, but no
coupons. Et cetera.

My bottom line is, I sure would like to be on your mailing list for these
coupons. Can you please tell me how to accomplish that? I would make VERY
good use of them. Many thanks in advance.

Mike Frezon


Here is the first response I have received:

Quote:
Mike,

Thank you for contacting Best Buy about receiving the preferred customer
coupon. I'm Annelies with Customer Care.

We understand that not receiving any of these promotions can be difficult.

To accurately respond to your email, we have forwarded your message to the
Best Buy Consumer Relations department. Our Consumer Relations
Representatives are specially trained to resolve any questions or concerns
you may have about shopping at a Best Buy retail store along with many of
the services Best Buy offers. You may expect to receive a response from your
Consumer Relations Representative shortly.

Thank you for sharing your comments with Best Buy. Please do not hesitate to
contact us with additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes from Best Buy,
Annelies and the Customer Care Team


"We understand that not receiving any of these promotions can be difficult." Hmmmmmmmmm.

I will report any new developments as events warrant.
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post #2 of 185
5/15/02 at 6:53pm
Yes, my heart is breaking Annelies. Why don't you love me?
I give you so much and you give nothing in return.

Well obviously you can't trust anyone named Annelies. Just break it down....Anne Lies!
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post #3 of 185
5/15/02 at 6:54pm
I'll bet it is the 'EENIE MEENIE MINIE MO' method.

People have been trying to find out the process for a while... I am pretty sure it is just at random with all the names that they have in a database

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post #4 of 185
5/15/02 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I am pretty sure it is just at random with all the names that they have in a database


Well, that should work for me. I've been told at times that I can be pretty random.

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post #5 of 185
5/16/02 at 5:11am
I think I'm on the list, and I believe I know how I got on it.

I have only purchased one things at BB, and that was a camcorder. However, when I purchased that, I signed up for the BB credit card (to get the no interest special). When the salesman made the push for the card, he indicated that I'd be getting special offers and such.

So, if you don't have a BB credit card, maybe you should try that.
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post #6 of 185
5/16/02 at 7:11am
Have you ever returned anything to Best Buy? Whenever I return an item they make me fill out a form with my name and address. I've been getting the coupons for years without ever having a Best Buy credit card.
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post #7 of 185
5/16/02 at 12:56pm
I think I get their coupons for the same reason as Scott.
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post #8 of 185
5/16/02 at 2:12pm
Mike:

I can empathize with you 100%. I've done everything possible to try to get on the "coupon list." I've been shopping at BB for several years, I've returned items and I even have a BB credit card with the maximum limit. I've never received one coupon in the mail to this date. I called their customer service department, threatened to cancel my BB credit card (that really stirred them up) and they assured me I would be getting coupons and supposedly put me on their preferred customer list. That was almost a year ago. Still no coupons.

Now when I read about a coupon weekend here, I simply go to BB, get my dvds and go directly to customer service, tell them I'm aware of the coupon weekend and DEMAND the discount! I usually get some wise ass idiot who refuses to give it to me and I demand to speak to a manager. One of the managers comes over and pulls out a crumpled coupon from behind the counter, swipes it and applies it to my purchase. I know this is really a hassle and it does raise my blood pressure quite a bit but if I'm a preferred customer, have a BB credit card, spend mega bucks at this wretched store, then by God I'm going to get those discounts. It's ridiculous that I have to go through this BS but now it's the principle. I'm doing it again this weekend. By the way, I'm going to cancel my BB credit card. Why should I crowd my credit report with any more worthless credit cards.

Jeff
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post #9 of 185
5/16/02 at 2:24pm
Jeff, I am going to try that method tomorrow

I have gotten the offers before, but not the last two times... go figure (and I don't have the BB Credit Card)
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post #10 of 185
5/16/02 at 5:40pm
Rob:

Let me know what happens. Just be firm and stand your ground. Tell them you're aware of the fact they're having a coupon weekend and you're one of their best customers. Evidently, having a BB credit card means nothing to them. Giving you a 10-20% discount on a couple of dvds once in a great while is the least they can do to show their appreciation. If they give you a problem, talk to the store manager or you'll take your business elsewhere. Do they really want to loose a good customer over a 10-20% discount off three dvds?

Jeff
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post #11 of 185
5/16/02 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Now when I read about a coupon weekend here, I simply go to BB, get my dvds and go directly to customer service, tell them I'm aware of the coupon weekend and DEMAND the discount!


Wow, Jeff! Cool!

That's really good. I've been known to take that kind of action with a retailer. It just never occurred to me in this case. I just might give it a try sometime. Excelpt, I don't have the BB credit card. Maybe that's a good reason for you to keep yours?!

In the meantime, I naively thought I would be getting an e-mail from BB today. Nope! We'll see what happens.

I've heard all the different speculation about having their credit card, or having returned something to them, or registering at their web site. And, for everyone who seems to know how they got on the list, there are ten people to say that must NOT be the way to get on the list.

That's why I have decided to go right to the horse's mouth...as it were.
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post #12 of 185
5/16/02 at 8:58pm
I HAVE returned stuff,bought stuff,exchanged stuff, all with and without the use of a best buy CC. i have been getting the cuops for the last few years. but this time i did not.
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post #13 of 185
5/16/02 at 9:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I HAVE returned stuff,bought stuff,exchanged stuff, all with and without the use of a best buy CC. i have been getting the cuops for the last few years. but this time i did not.


Maybe its all just some kind of sick mind game on BB's part!?!?
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post #14 of 185
5/17/02 at 9:07am
My wife gets them and I remember that there was a promotion a few years ago for their credit card and she got one then. Signing up got you on the preferred customer list. I have seen the same promotion since then. Evidently, you have to pick the right time to get a credit card.
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post #15 of 185
5/17/02 at 12:21pm
I'd like to know how to get back on the list. I received them for a while, but now I've not seen one in easily 6 months. .
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post #16 of 185
5/17/02 at 5:05pm
Thread Starter 
Well, the epic saga continues. Here is the latest dispatch from Best Buy which arrived in today's e-mail box.

Quote:
Dear Mike Frezon,

Thank you for contacting Best Buy's Corporate Headquarters with your inquiry
about our Preferred Customer Weekend Events. Here in Consumer Relations we
are dedicated in providing outstanding customer service. Please allow me to
address your question.

I am very sorry that you have not been receiving our coupons. I will be
more than happy to submit a request on your behalf to have your name added
to our Preferred Customer list. Please reply to this e-mail and verify your
current mailing address and let me know which Best Buy store you normally
shop.

Thank you again for e-mailing. I will watch for your e-mail, Mike.


Respectfully,

Craig Fornell
CR Contact Center Representative
Best Buy Enterprise Customer Care


I will, of course, respond immediately and keep you folks abreast of my progress.

Wonder why they want to know what store I frequent? Especially since I told them in my original e-mail!

And he says he'll submit my request. I wonder if there's a lengthy interview process that follows?
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post #17 of 185
5/18/02 at 5:26pm
I believe the next step is a urine sample
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post #18 of 185
5/18/02 at 7:12pm
I have been getting the coupons regularly, and the only way they could have gotten my information was the application I filled out for a Best Buy credit card - and I wasn't even approved!
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post #19 of 185
5/18/02 at 9:22pm
I think a lot of it may be just using some kind of credit card - even a Visa - to make purchases.

I say this because I have always made small purchases at Best Buy and usually use my Visa card and I always get coupons from them and have been for years.

Also, part of it might just have to do with luck. It's quite possible there is no constant rhyme or reason and they pass these coupons out arbitrarily (to at least some degree - maybe they just take a certain percentage of credit card users).
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post #20 of 185
5/19/02 at 1:38pm
Not sure how I got on their list. I never filled out any application but I did always use my Visa to pay for things. I recieved coupons for the first time this week and used them all on Friday. My friend got the coupons too but he wasn't going to use the 10% off one so he gave it to me. I bought a digital camera, 3 dvd's, PS2 controller and a Monster HTS1000 Powerstrip. Even though these coupons saved me a nice chunk of change, my wallet is hurting after this week.
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post #21 of 185
5/19/02 at 9:50pm
I always use my Visa check card when making purchases at BB, as well. But can they go and get our information from the credit card company and make a database of customers?
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post #22 of 185
5/20/02 at 3:16am
Quote:
I always use my Visa check card when making purchases at BB, as well. But can they go and get our information from the credit card company and make a database of customers?


No, they shouldn't be able to do this without violating some privacy laws. I am sure it has nothing to do with that.

I've said it before elsewhere, but it bears repeating here: When my wife and I bought this house, we started getting the coupons from BB - addressed to her. But with a funny mispelling in a particular area. One document out of the jillions we signed to buy the house had THAT particular mispelling on it...we recall it vividly because we asked the lawyers "does that one need to be redone", etc., and were told not to worry about it. I don't recall the exact form, but it makes sense to me that we got entered onto a list of new homeowners in the area and that BB bought that list and sent us the coupons to lure us into the store, since we're almost right around the corner from them. They just happened to use the form with the mispelling on it. My wife was first listed on the mortgage on all paperwork, so her name got the hit.

If BB did indeed buy such a marketing list, they probably bought others as well. Including a list of credit card owners from your banks, perhaps?
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post #23 of 185
5/20/02 at 4:51pm
I think that, among other things, it *can* be a Visa card, and they can and do get your address information from Visa.

I have been getting the BB coupons for a while, and I also frequently get mailers and offers from other very specific places that I have shopped (at factory stores and large department stores, for example) that I know for a fact I have never given my address. I suspect they choose who to mail these to based on some sort of income/credit/whatever criteria, and/or how often you shop there.

I shop there a lot and also get a lot of offers from various peddlers in the mail that appear to be ginned up from credit data, so I strongly suspect that is your answer. (The home buying story above -- which paperwork would be sent to and databased at a credit bureau -- seems to reinforce this.)
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post #24 of 185
5/20/02 at 5:18pm
I have been on their prefered customer mailing list for some time but after I moved I stopped getting them (Of course ) I just called Best Buy customer service, to ask them to change my mailing address. The representative said I will just re-add me to the list instead of changing my old address. He took my information and said you will be getting coupons in a few months. The funny thing is, he didn't seem to be typing anything as I gave him my information. I guess he was just humoring me But I hope he isn't. Some of those coupons were really good deals.
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post #25 of 185
5/20/02 at 5:37pm
Thread Starter 
Well, here is the latest installment. I screwed up and mis-read the prior post from Craig at BestBuy. I though he asked me to confirm my e-mail address, but it was my "mailing address" that he wasnted. :b :b :b

This is the latest post from Craig at bestBuy:

Quote:
Dear Mike Frezon,

Thank you for writing back to Best Buy. I will need your mailing address
before I can submit a request to have your name added to our Preferred
Customer Mailing List.

Thank you.


Respectfully,

Craig Fornell
CR Contact Center Representative
Best Buy Enterprise Customer Care


So, off goes my response and I will report back any future correspondence and/or success.
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post #26 of 185
5/21/02 at 5:51am
My wife has always got the coupons, and they even followed us to our new address. One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is getting the product protection plans. My wife usually gets them, and darn it if everything doesn't break before they go out of effect. She has got her computer repaired numerous times and even got a new machine after almost a year, a new monitor and other replacements I can't even remember. Usually I am not a fan, but she has got her money out of them so....

If you want to try it, you can always return the service contract for a period of time (up to 30 days???). Maybe that will get you on.

Good luck,
Lenny
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post #27 of 185
5/21/02 at 10:15am
I have shopped at Best Buy for numerous things over the years and never received any of the coupons. Recently applied for the credit card and received the coupons last week. Coincidence?

Tim
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post #28 of 185
5/22/02 at 6:40am
When you check your game piece online for the Sheryl Crow concert contest, it asks if you want to be put on a list for futureoffers. That may be the best way. I thinkyou have to go to a store for a game piece first.
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post #29 of 185
5/22/02 at 12:27pm
Here's another interesting twist to the coupon plot. Both my wife and I get them, sometimes. She always gets them, I usually do too, but not always. I have a BB card she does not. After BB moved into our area, ~4 years ago, she began to get them immediately. Funny thing is they come in her maiden name. I know for a fact she has never given Best Buy her info. We were not married when we bought our house about 8 years ago. They must have gotten their info from the mortgage company or from the records at the court house. I began receiving the coupons sometime after she did, but before I ever got the BB card, strange. Here is the real kicker. The coupons we get are NOT the same. The past promo she got the 10% of one, 15% off 2, 20% off 3 deal. Mine were for a straight 10% off up to 3.

-Dave
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post #30 of 185
5/22/02 at 5:46pm
This last post is proof of what I said earlier: BB is buying marketing lists, and some of those lists are targeted to get the coupons.

That and the BB Credit Card seem to be the common denominators, folks.

So if they buy the list from your mortgage company, you get coupons. If they buy the list from the bank that issued your Visa, you get coupons. If they buy the list from the spa you signed up to win a free membership from, you get coupons. It's very simple, really.
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