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ipodlover77

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 17, 2009
1,364
393
Just wanted to share my story. Ended up succeeding but got annoyed along the way.

Called Bestbuy before hand to make sure they would price match Walmarts 127. They said that they would, but that it has to be the same make, model, carrier. Called multiple walmarts, found one that had the model I was looking for but in white. Asked Bestbuy if that was okay and if they would give me a black one instead. Person on the phone snapped and said that white was different than black.

Ended up finding an iPhone at a local Walmart with alot of stock. Called in twice to double check. Lady on the phone said they had "stacks" of white and black ATT 16gb. I go to Bestbuy (Wheaton) and we fill out the upgrade paperwork. We get to the register and than i say that I would like to price match walmarts 127. She says okay hold on. She goes to the back to call. While shes gone, I also call to make sure that she won't try to hose me. The lady on the phone again assures me they have stocks. The Sales person comes back and says "sorry. just called. They are out of stock." I than said "thats weird. I just got off with them and they said they had quite a number of them in." The salesperson replied oh, i don't know. So I called Walmart again while the sales person was there and confirmed for like 5th time that they have the model I wanted. The sales person than begrudingly gets the manager to price match and put the new price in the computer.

While shes putting it in, the manager asks how much the price match is. The sales person says its 127 and the manager curses under her breath and says "how did they get it so low. Did you call to make sure its in stock? Is that really the price?" I ended up paying and that was the end of that but the sales rep was EXTREMELY rude and had an attitude through the whole thing, which I dont get. Its not as though they get paid commission.

If I didn't have a BB gift card. I would have directly went to Walmart. Oh well though. I got what I wanted and avoided a dupe that Bestbuy was trying to do.
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Glad you got them to do it but sounds like a pain.
Having to argue in order to give a company your business doesn't sound right.
Seems like best buy is heading down the circuit city path...
 

harcosparky

macrumors 68020
Jan 14, 2008
2,055
2
Best Buy will price match with any legitimate competitor, it's standard policy for them.

I was with a friend who wanted a phone price matched.

He walked in told the clerk the competitors price, clerk told the manager, done deal.

No mumbling, no grumbling and the price they matched was from AMAZON.COM

The price was CHEAPER than Wal-Mart was advertising.
.
 

MuddyPaws1

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2012
399
0
Glad you got them to do it but sounds like a pain.
Having to argue in order to give a company your business doesn't sound right.
Seems like best buy is heading down the circuit city path...


Yea, they are getting worse and worse. I tried to buy a MacBook Pro from them and they just gave me a rash of crap about it and I already knew the specs and what I wanted but they started telling me all the stuff it could do....some of which was wrong....and then when I asked if they could upgrade the RAM they told me "no one does that anymore, 8 gig is plenty for anyone."

Yea, whatever.
 

bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,007
3,316
Best Buy sells many items that have one different letter or number in the model because they ordered a certain quantity and had company change model # so it is 'BestBuy Identifiable'. Meanwhile its the same model with same features and they WILL NOT price match it.
Reality.........BestBuy going the same way as Circuit City did. R.I.P.
 

mdlooker

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2011
1,227
203
US
I was just ranting and raving about keeping BB in business to keep employment going for our economy but if upper mgmt can't hire store mgrs to ensure customer service is where it needs to be, **** em, let em flop!:D
 

wxman2003

Suspended
Apr 12, 2011
2,580
294
Good ol BB. Got the runaround last week with them. Called the local BB to see if they had any 16GB ipad 4 in stock, and they said they did. So got there a half hour later and lo and behold, none in stock. Was told they hadnt had any for a week. Now I know why the last time I stepped in that dump was almost 5 years ago. I see nothing has changed.
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Good ol BB. Got the runaround last week with them. Called the local BB to see if they had any 16GB ipad 4 in stock, and they said they did. So got there a half hour later and lo and behold, none in stock. Was told they hadnt had any for a week. Now I know why the last time I stepped in that dump was almost 5 years ago. I see nothing has changed.

They did the same to me last year. You got the new iPhone in stock for AT&T? Oh yeah, come on down.
Drove 20 minutes there for nothing.
Oops were all out, we have Sprint iphones only.
 
Last edited:

brucewayne

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2005
363
630
I understand it is Best Buy policy to price match, but if the model you want is in stock at the local Wal-Mart, why not just buy it there and save the hassle of all the price check BS?

It's not like you have to worry about service after the sale - all repairs and service go through apple regardless of where it was purchased.
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
I understand it is Best Buy policy to price match, but if the model you want is in stock at the local Wal-Mart, why not just buy it there and save the hassle of all the price check BS?

It's not like you have to worry about service after the sale - all repairs and service go through apple regardless of where it was purchased.

Some people have reward zone certificates they want to use or best buy gift cards probably.
Or they want to build up reward points from their purchase etc...
 

Akack

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2011
685
44
USA
J
If I didn't have a BB gift card. I would have directly went to Walmart. Oh well though. I got what I wanted and avoided a dupe that Bestbuy was trying to do.

I understand it is Best Buy policy to price match, but if the model you want is in stock at the local Wal-Mart, why not just buy it there and save the hassle of all the price check BS?

It's not like you have to worry about service after the sale - all repairs and service go through apple regardless of where it was purchased.

Read last paragraph from OP.
 

Starrbuck

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2010
171
6
Some people have reward zone certificates they want to use or best buy gift cards probably.
Or they want to build up reward points from their purchase etc...

But then you are cheating yourself out of some reward points by taking the cheaper price! Duh!
 

wknapp0924

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2012
410
15
Honolulu, HI
I recently bought two pair of bluetooth headphones that were $150.00 at bestbuy and $100.00 at Amazon. The girl was quick to apply the discount and the manager came over and his eyes got really big and sad and he grudginly put in his override. Sucks I had to pay the tax, but saving 70+ dollars for instant gratification is the best. The headphones sucked and are going back today...not the best :(
 

mpayne2k

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
876
63
I recently bought two pair of bluetooth headphones that were $150.00 at bestbuy and $100.00 at Amazon. The girl was quick to apply the discount and the manager came over and his eyes got really big and sad and he grudginly put in his override. Sucks I had to pay the tax, but saving 70+ dollars for instant gratification is the best. The headphones sucked and are going back today...not the best :(

Beats by Dre?
 

lilface

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2013
87
26
Pennsylvania
If I didn't have a BB gift card. I would have directly went to Walmart. Oh well though. I got what I wanted and avoided a dupe that Bestbuy was trying to do.

I'm glad I finished reading your post before I just posted and sounded like a jark saying.. why bother going through all that trouble when you could just buy the phone at Walmart... lol, but props to you on the deal, I wouldn't have been that patient!
 
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