Be on the lookout for a good 'two for" deal at Best Buy (starting on Sunday 3/09) (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

Carlo, I think these are "scheduled loopholes". Their IT Dept. doesn't take the time to program the website with the same "bundle" functionality that they program into their cash registers. So they take the shortcut of pricing "2-for" items individually at half the cost of the bundle package. It's a calculated risk. If we want to shop online than it's okay to "take advantage" of it, since they have MUCH less overhead when you shop online.

I tend to agree with your line of thought in cases where there is clear "cheating" going on (sharing discount codes, exploiting prices that are clearly in error, etc.)...but this isn't an obvious cheat. More like lazy programming at their end.

Revisiting my situation with BB and Amadeus, it turns out that the result of my online order with in-store pickup was that the store was "out of it" after all. I wonder if they looked any harder for the item as a result of the online order than they did for my personal request, but that's a different topic. I was invited to call BB.COM's customer service # and switch the order to "deliver to my home".

So I did. There I found another aspect of lazy e-commerce programming: they could not simply override the "in-store pickup" aspect of my existing order and change it to "deliver" (which is what the e-mail I got suggested would happpen). Nope, they had to cancel that order and input a new one.

That's fine...I coulda done that myself if I'd know. But it was okay if she wanted to do it for me.

The downside? I had to give her my password, which she then had to reset. So they are e-mailing me a randomly generated new password, which I then must change to something else. Oh, see...I could have saved myself that trouble and processed my own cancellation and re-order! Ah, well...she was nice about it. AND she's gonna try to help me with another matter, unrelated to this. But still, their basic processes suck. Lazy programming.

 

[Carlo_M]

Dave I won't argue that BB doesn't run an ass-backwards online store. And I agree it probably is lazy computer programming that caused this error. And your situation is more of grounds of complaint I think than just that their store won't honor their online error price, so I think you are justified in feeling peeved. My only problem with the above scenario is that the flyer for the store clearly says 2 for $25, must be on same receipt, otherwise $19.99 each. To try and take an online pricing error (or laziness or whatever you wanna call it) and then insisting the in-store experience match their error, is a bit much. I think we should use the loopholes to our advantage as long as it's within the framework of their error (online store only). that's all. but all that crap w/ your password and not being able to simply change an order from pickup to delivery, that's just laziness again on their online process and one worthy of a big

 

[Matt Birchall]

They're re-vamping the website here pretty soon, for BestBuy.com 3.0; it's supposed to be a lot better, but I have no idea if these idiotic issues will be cleared up or not.

 

[MatS]

Carlo,
I am hardly being harsh, like I said I did not stay around to argue the point which I could have. Like it or not I had an online receipt that showed a price of $12.50 per title eligible for in-store pickup. If anything I should have been raving mad that they don't have systems that work properly enough to verify whether or not they have the product in store for pick up. Like I said, the email I got said they could not fill that order at that store but when I got there they had muliple copies of all titles. Laziness if you ask me.

ps. When I say I hate Best Buy that is a general statement. Also don't fool yourself into thinking BB is loosing their blue shirts on this promotion. I'm sure they are getting plenty in co-op advertising funds from the studio as well they are probably moving a ton of overstock they had sitting in their DC.

 

[Carlo_M]

Sorry MatS, I understand your frustration. I just thought it was a little overboard to complain about not getting what does amount to a pricing error online in an in-store transaction. That's all. They sure don't have any sympathy from me (I'm taking advantage of the deal after all) and I don't blame you for being upset at your situation.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Just wanted to drop by an thank everyone. I'm the proud owner of both Unforgiven and True Romance because of you guys.

 

[Joe Fisher]

Ordered "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest & Clockwork Orange" from Bestbuy.com because I'm too friggin lazy to go there.

 

[David Lambert]

Carlo, I agree that the in-store pricing states that. The online pricing does not. It's not an "error". It is a DIFFERENCE.

Best Buy is the first to inform you that their online pricing and title listings are different than their in-store pricing and title listings. There is no reason to treat this differently.

Whether or not I am correct that it is "lazyness", it IS a difference between the two sections of their business. It is they who divy it up, so we can choose to shop either way.

Finally, for an interesting discussion about the marketing ploys involved here with the 2-for-$25, read this thread. It doesn't mention Best Buy at all; it's actually related to the fact that Fox's new Studio Classics line has numbering on the spines like Criterions do. They got into a chat about the marketing techniques involved, and the post I just linked to (and the next few below it) mention grocery store techniques similar to what BB is doing here. Except that they honor the price on the individuals, like BB.COM does.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The in-store 2-fer-$25 deals are loss leaders for the stores, but online, the overhead is much less, and they can handle the $12.50 DVDs without moaning and groaning about the small print in local ads and hassling their customers.

 

[Carlo_M]

Gotcha David!

Oops! Now we done it! Best Buy's site is down!

(the say for routine maintenance but we know better!)

 

[Malcolm R]

I've never understood the overhead argument. It seems to me that they should be about equal:

Costs for On-Line Store: warehouse space rental, utility costs, inventory costs, staffing to move/stock inventory, staffing to process orders, staffing to fill/ship orders, staffing for customer service, packing material costs, postage/shipping costs, web site maintenance/updates/advertising.

B&M Store Costs: retail space rental, utility costs, inventory costs, staffing to receive inventory/stock shelves, staffing to process sales, staffing to provide customer service, advertising.

Is the discrepancy all in the retail vs. warehouse rental?

 

[David Lambert]

Rental cost of "warehouse" space vs. "retail" space is a significant cost savings. Note that retail sites are in primary visual spots, and warehouses (like the one I work in) are hidden on backroads, often in the poor part of town. Plus, you only need 1 to cover an entire region, vs. many MANY store sites.

When you consider my last sentence, you see the savings in utility and personnel costs.

And then again, general wisdom is that you can pay a warehouse guy less to pick and ship items than you do a salesman to sell. Yes, even when you take into account BB's "teenage" staff. Plus, there's no expense for blue shirts in a warehouse.

Finally, there's security. In a warehouse, you can have uniformed security guards menacing the employees as they walk through metal detectors and empty purses/bags as they exit the building at the end of the day. You can't do that in a retail setting, nor can you do it to your customers. So loss of revenue is less in a warehouse than in a store.

I can go on, but you get the drift.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yep, never thought about the one warehouse vs. 100 retail store issue. Damn! :b

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

At my Best buy (Puyallup, WA) nobody else was buying these titles while I was there this morning shortly after Best Buy opened the doors...so there was no problem finding the ones I wanted.

That's because the Puyallup Best Buy is the best! Seriously! The idiots in Tacoma have no clue, Federal Way is a just too far. Puyallup is almost always helpful, especially their media supervisor - I've sent him in the back countless of times looking for stuff. Tacoma never did that for me.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

JASON

I completely agree with you about the Puyallup Best Buy - everyone there has been completely great (in my experiences anyway) and I will continue to do must of my buying there for this reason.

I only live about a mile from the store - and I'm there at least 2 times a week it seems....this past Tuesday was the first time in 3 months when I didn't visit on Tuesday morning for the new releases (none interested me this week!)

Just sharing my thoughts.....

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

I only live about a mile from the store - and I'm there at least 2 times a week it seems....this past Tuesday was the first time in 3 months when I didn't visit on Tuesday morning for the new releases (none interested me this week!)

I'm a little further than that, but do find myself there quite often. Heck, this past week or so I found myself at every Best Buy multiple times.

Still amazing how much I'm there and how must I spend - even with no job.

Back on topic . . . I bought The Wizard of Oz and Unforgiven - the only two I didn't have yet.

 

[Brian W.]

IMO, online is the best way to go for this deal--you can buy an odd number of titles (one, or three, or five, etc.), and you can avoid the very likely out-of-stock situations at the local stores.

Twice now I've ordered online at BestBuy and specified "in store pickup." Then I just go down to the store the next day and pick them up. That's how I got All About Eve, Gentleman's Agreement, and How Green Was My Valley for (I think) $11.99 each a few weeks ago (that sale is over now). I also just bought Unforgiven, Amadeus, Color Purple, and Cuckoo's Nest special editions. Wow, $12.50 for a 2-disc special edition. Pretty damn good deal.