Best Buy coupons "not valid on prior purchases" (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

She knows.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

David, what if they told you on october 21 , you couldnt redeem your coupons on battlestar galactica set ? David would probably start a riot. Totally just kidding David.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

This reminds me what I did with a few pairs of expensive pants once. Right after I bought them, I end up getting a coupon for 20% off 2 days later.

So, I go back to the store... The cashier goes and gets the manager... She comes out with the big attitude and the smirk on her face holding a quarter pound submarine sandwich with breath that smelled like no breath has smelled before... No, this is not a joke...

She says no in her nasty tones about 10 times I say ok... RETURN THEM!!! They didnt have a choice... They had to return them because they were never used and I had a receipt. So, I wait a few seconds and then said I will buy those... I then give the 20% off coupon... Man oh man was this she devil pe-od... Seriously, you would have thought I was taking money out of her purse or something...

I have not been to the store since...

 

[Malcolm R]

I seem to have hit a new low (or high, depending on your view) of blueshirt ignorance at my local Best Buy.

I had made a special trip to use my "15% off 3 titles $29.99 and up" coupon. So I selected 3 TV box sets and proceeded to the counter.

At the counter, the register only took the discount off one title. I pointed this out and after examining the coupon, was informed that where it says "Limit of 3 copies of any 1 title" in the fine print meant that the coupon was only good for one title, but that I could buy 3 copies of that single title, each at a 15% discount, if I wished.

This was confirmed by the first supervisor called over, then re-confirmed by the second supervisor called over after a conference with several other associates/supervisors half-a-store away. Morons!

Needless to say, all the way home (40 miles one-way) I composed a very eloquent letter/e-mail in my head to Best Buy customer service expressing my disappointment and the fact that they lost a potential sale in excess of $175 and incurred more ill-will on my behalf over what amounted to $12 in discounts. Morons!

On the upside, my local Circuit City has upgraded their DVD section and I was rather impressed. I'll have to consider going to CC more often if I can't get a decent reply from BB.

Morons!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Malcolm! "Moron" is a little too polite to describe an individual who would make that kind of determination!

Please see Dave Lambert's post in his weekly roundup regarding that very same coupon:

S%@t! There IS a minimum of $29.99 on the coupon. F&%#ers.

Like I said to Dave. I am shocked to see fellow HTFers get so worked up over a corporate entity like BestBuy. I could never see myself having a problem with so fine an establishment.

Did you take it all the way up to the store manager?

Odysseus

 

[Malcolm R]

No, I'm not sure such a person existed at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening. Plus, after their little mid-store powwow, I assumed this was the official line I'd probably get from anyone who came over at that point.

I've just composed a two-page letter I'll be sending to BB Corporate on Monday. We'll see if anything happens.

Turnover at these stores must be incredible because from one Preferred Customer weekend to another (about 6-8 weeks usually?), there seems to be no one working the checkouts that knows how to process the coupons or has ever even seen one before. Morons!

 

[jeff peterson]

Well, here's the outcome of my trip to Best Buy with the receipt for my DVD player and the 10% off coupon.

It was no problem at all, walked up to the returns desk, asked if I could get a refund of the 10% and the clerk rang it right up.

My take on the "personality" of our particular Albany, NY BB is when it first opened, the blue shirts would constantly assault you with "Can I help you? I'm not on commission". I think they got tired of everyone telling them they were just looking or of repeating their commission mantra. Nowadays, my pet peeve with them is they have lots of employees, but they all stand around talking with each other instead of helping customers. There'll be long lines at the 2 registers open with 7 employees doing apparently nothing. Or a long line at the returns/pickup desk with one person waiting on customers and 4 standing back there joking and laughing.

 

[David Lambert]

I'll be visiting BB in a couple of hours. We'll see how much cursing I do afterward.

 

[David Lambert]

Let's just say that I ended up throwing a temper tantrum and tore up the coupon and dumped the pieces on the counter.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow! There's so much here:

I've just composed a two-page letter I'll be sending to BB Corporate on Monday. We'll see if anything happens.

Malcolm! You've read my damn "odyssey" thread. Nothing will happen! My best advice to you is to call the store on a weekday between 9-5 and ask to speak directly to the store manager. Tell him what happened. And tell him you would like it made right. Once you tell him about where you live and the long drive to the store--he/she better come up with something better than allowing you to use the coupon. Good luck!

 

[DaveB]

Personally, after several too many poor experiences with BB, I now make 80% of my DVD purchases at Circuit City, the rest at Walmart/Sam's Club or online. CC has always had the best customer service, and now that they've greatly expanded their DVD selection, it's hard to resist.

David

 

[Andrew Grall]

I have to agree... The difference between the customer service at Best Buy and Circuit City is night and day...

 

[David Lambert]

Atta boy, Dave! Were you trying to use the coupon on sub-$30 items?

The issue was on the "1 item up to 3 copies, not 3 different items" thing that has already been posted about.

In fact it WAS going to be used on one of the $27.99 Doctor Who items (the first item she happened to scan after scanning the coupon), and appeared on the screen and receipt that way, but THEN - all of a sudden - I was told it was only good for a single item and not 3 different titles. They DID want to debate the use of it on anything under $29.99, but their cash register "overruled" them funnily enough.

The problem was this: I asked for the MOD to verify this "rule", and the supervisor who happened to ring me up made it clear that she was going go to the MOD and explain the situation to him and ask for a judgement. I requested that she instead just call the MOD to the register and let me hand him the coupon and ask for an interpretation. I explained that I wanted the benefit of a separate judgement from him, and not a situation where she tells him "here is what I told the customer, now back me up". She refused, argued with me, then I tore up my coupon, and there ya go.

At lunchtime I have an "appointment" with the Store Manager, who I know pretty well by now, to go over this and another situation (the previous week I went to one register without the RewardZone card so my wife could go to a different register WITH our card, so she could buy a gift for me without me seeing it...I was told I can't get the RZ points at the register with phone # lookup though the RZ faq says otherwise, and my wife was simply handed the card back and told to call the 800# to get the points credited to her! BIG time trainng issues here).

Anyway, I was pretty damn fustrated. But don't worry, I've got this resolved today I think.

 

[David Lambert]

DaveB & Andrew, even despite episodes like I just described, believe it or not I still get better service at BB than I do at CC. In fact, strangely enough the service at Wal-Mart is the best I'm getting right now!!!

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, this was my situation too. They all conferred, the first cashier and supervisor gave their interpretations, and everyone in authority above them just parrotted the same response, so I decided it wasn't worth arguing.

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, that statement about "Limit 3 copies of any title" in the fine print was confusing given that the coupon was for 3 items. It's a standard inclusion on most sales/coupons from BB to limit dealers from buying for resale. On this coupon, since it was for 3 items only, that statement should have been omitted. But I'm still totally bewildered that 1) this interpretation made logical sense to everyone working in that store, and 2) that no one on the store's staff seems to know how to process these coupons from sale to sale.

Oh, well. I'll mail my letter tomorrow and see what happens (damn holiday!).

If anyone from BB is reading, just so you know that after I left my potential $180 in purchases on the counter at BB and walked out, I went to Circuit City across the street and spent $50 on DVD's, then went to BJ's on Sunday and spent over $220 on more DVD's and another $40 at Wal-Mart on DVD's.

 

[Andrew Grall]

David,

Are you serious? Must be your local Circuit City... There are 3 Circuit City's near me, and at every one of them the customer service is so far above that at any local Best Buy, they aren't even in the same class...

 

[Mike Frezon]

Oh, well. I'll mail my letter tomorrow and see what happens (damn holiday!).

Malcolm, for the love of god, man.....call the store manager! If you start bleeding from the ears, mail the letter!