WARNING: DO NOT Try these strategies

[Conscript]

WARNING: Don't buy things before the sale and hope to have them price adjusted.

 

I spoke to a few employees at the store I work at today and I found out this will not be doable in many cases.

 

Items where there is an instant rebate or mark down, this may work. But if the price difference is a mail in rebate you will not get that mail in rebate because the conditions of the rebates as printed on the forms will say "must be purchased on November 26".

 

So if you come back to the store for the rebate, they'll give you the form, but when you send it in you will not get it as the original receipt will show a different day.

 

WARNING 2: DO NOT return items and expect to be allowed to buy them back.

 

Returning items and buying them back is not going to work either. I don't know about other stores, but the store procedure where I work at from what I learned via convos with the customer service people is that once an item is returned it is not put back on the shelf until later that day or the next day once its been verified to be in proper working condition. Also, all items returned are labelled "Open Items" and a few bucks is taken off of them (like $2 off a $50 item for example).

 

When you buy an Open Item you have to fill out a form saying you know you're buying a returned product and the miniscule price adjustment is made on the register. Open Items are NOT eligible for most, if any rebates.

 

So both the strategies of buying items ahead of time, and returning and buying back an item, will most likely not work.

 

My advice is to just show up early like everyone else and hope for the best. Trying to screw the system or get around the system may produce a situation in which you get screwed out of the rebates, you waste a lot of your time, employees time, and no one is happy at the end of the day.

 

So just play fair and show up early. :)

[Conscript]

Feel free to spread the word about these two potentially disappointing strategies to anyone who is considering trying them so that shoppers everywhere know that they can't get away in many cases with this and know what the risks are. That way it saves us employees a lot of time in the weeks following by preventing many shoppers from coming back angry they're not getting their rebates.

[Brad]

Despite your "warning" I'm sure there will still be tons of people trying to do these things, and then calling for the manager and then threatening to call HQ, etc... Some people agree with your stance, others feel it's OK to do the return/rebuy thing. It's all part of the tradition of BF :)

 

Seriously, stores could avoid so much of this with a clear policy either posted throughout the store a few days before BF, printed on receipts, etc... then it's written in black and white and there should be little room for argument at the store.

[Conscript]

It's not a question of whether or not its "okay" to do the return/rebuy, its a matter of that not being permitted by store procedure.

 

I can't of course speak for every store, but with Best Buys I'd be wary as steps have been taken over the last year to cut down on the store getting screwed or on customers cheating the system.

 

I fully expect overzealous customers to get screwed. It's one of the most rewarding things to witness while working that day, especially to see the customers that annoyed you get ripped off. But I am just providing my advice to help all you guys here from falling prey to the system so that you're not the guy throwing the cell phone at me or wasting my co-workers time.

[Vampora]

Conscript, I take it they've sold you on the Angel/Devil idea? lol

[Conscript]

I don't work FOR best buy, I only work IN best buy.

 

I don't get trained on Best Buy's procedures, so all my information I have about them is what I see with my own eyes or what I learn through convos with my co-workers.

 

I don't care if you guys don't listen to me. It's your money that's going to go down the toilet if you screw up the whole rebate thing. Go ahead, do these strategies, I don't care. It's your money.

 

A lot of my customers don't listen to me when I tell them that the service plan doesn't cover certain cases, either, then they always get mad at me when they attempt to utilize their service and are declined. What you're saying here reminds me of that. I think as an employee working in the store with inside info from other employees I work with I'd know better than you what is going to work and what won't work.

[Rebirth]

Waking up early, waiting in line, and buying your stuff in the morning which makes BF fun and what is it today.

[marianfaith]

BF is a tradition to many people. We just represent a few of the population that enjoy the shopping and holiday spirit. I think many will thank you for the advice and take it in consideration.

Happy Holidays!

[Vampora]

I'd know better than you what is going to work and what won't work.

I was making a joke (which I thought would be implied by the smilie & lol) the snippy remark really wasn'y necessary

[MisterBill]

I have done return/rebuy in the past, but not much. The problem as I see it this year is that one of the largest BF sites is basically advocating this strategy as their website's slogan. Obviously buying a few days earlier and just expecting to get the rebate form on BF is not going to work as the purchase must be made on that day. But I have typically not had problems returnng and rebuying stuff. It probably is not a good idea to try it on the items with strictly limited supplies. But I figure the Sears DVD player I bought yesterday is not likely to sell out, but this way if I don't get to the store that early, at least I know that I have one.

 

Of course, Best Buy has basically declared war on people who do things that they don't approve of, so I guess it is not too surprising to hear about this new policy. Fortunately, I do not have a store that close to me, so I don't bother with them on BF.

 

And I think the open box thing is a non-issue for most. Only an idiot would open something they were planning to return/rebuy on BF.

[mugs]

Conscript - thanks for making everyone here aware of this, particularly the policy of not allowing return/rebuys. It doesn't surprise me that they're doing this - they limit the number of loss leaders they have in stock to limit their losses. If they were not able to limit their losses, they would just cut out the loss leaders altogether, meaning less deals for us. Having to wait in line for a few hours for a deal is better than no deal at all, and knowing ahead of time that you won't be able to return/rebuy is better than finding out when they're already out of stock on Black Friday.

[Conscript]

Yeah, I wasn't trying to blast any of you as I will myself be engaging on blackfriday sales goodness before I start work at 10 AM, I am just giving you all a warning about these tactics that retailers are ready for (some more than others) so that you're not disappointed. That way you can come back to those forums and talk about the great deals you got not about how you feel you got screwed because you tried to cheat or find a loophole in the system.

[HDMan]

Here is an interesting note. I saw the BF ad for Sears showing the Toshiba projection TV for $999 on BF. So, to make sure that I would get one, I went to Sears and bought one. I told the sales clerk about my plan because of Sears' very liberal price matching policy and he said GO FOR IT. So I bought one planning to come back on Friday to get the price match to $999. The kicker is that Best Buy ran the SAME TV for $999 this past weekend and I went in yesterday to pick mine up and I saw the same clerk. I showed him the BB ad and he laughed and said that BB just earned me another $40 off.

 

The reason is because I paid $1399 for the TV at Sears hoping to get it fixed on Friday to $999, but because BB ran it for $999, I not only got the instant price match, Sears has to give me another 10%.

 

This was NOT my strategy, but hey, for another $40 this was worth it. Thanks to BF04 for the info or I would have never gotten the deal!!!

 

Harley Man

[Conscript]

Yeah, price matching strategy will work if the lowered price is a real reduction in the price at checkout, it will NOT work if the lowered price is a result of a mail-in rebate. That's the point I was making, because a vast majority of the black friday deals will be the same as everyday prices except you'll get mail in rebates that result in an insanely low final price.

[Guest Luckycharm]

Conscript, thanks so much for taking the time to share this with all of us. The eyes and ears of people working in these stores is what makes things easier for ALL of us!

[venerdinero]

Waking up early, waiting in line, and buying your stuff in the morning which makes BF fun and what is it today.

FREE RON ARTEST!?? I throw a cup of Dr Pepper in your general direction!

[biomajor]

LOL at least now he doesn't have to worry about getting time off to finish promoting his cd <eg> Maybe he did it on purpose so that he would be benched for the rest of the season--is music that much more of a lucrative deal than basketball?

[venerdinero]

Conscript - I am glad to see that you clarified some things from your earlier posts. I think you may be unintentionally be tapping into some of the BB backlash. Yes, contrary to the old adage, the customer can be wrong. But BB blames "demon" or "devil" customers for many of their own problems. If BB did follow their own policies, much of the rebate/return ripoff problems would just go away. If, against BBs own policy, BB accepts a return on a product with no upc code - BB is really just robbing itself and blaming the customers. Also if BB (and others) would just give us a true fair price on items, instead of instituting mail in rebates in partnership with fullfillment houses which GUARANTEE no more than x percent of the rebates will be fullfilled - they would eliminate a major source of contention and frustration. They would minimize problems and garner good will.

 

I am pleased to hear that you, like some other decent retail employees, fairly explain the service agreements to customers. On the other hand, many of us can tell you of at least one bad experience with the selling of these. For example, some unscrupulous reps WILL tell unknowing customers that the service agreement will cover ANY repair or problem (it happened to me AGAIN last week). BB has gotten in trouble with the government because of this particular problem over the years. Then some reps will ask you at least 3 times or more if you are sure you don't want it because Twice I can deal with, but give it a rest! Some BB reps are giving the store and the good reps a bad name. BB reps and service agreements are getting to be as annoying as radio shack and i need your name and address or I can't process this transaction used to be.

 

Conscript I understand you are one of the many good reps and I do repeat my thanks to you for providing the view from your side of the counter. We can all learn some things from you and hopefully you can learn some from us. The bottom line: There are both good and bad reps and there are both good and bad customers. I'd like to believe that there are more of the good in both cases!

[Conscript]

If, against BBs own policy, BB accepts a return on a product with no upc code - BB is really just robbing itself and blaming the customers.

Well sometimes its just easier to swallow a $20 return without a UPC (and resell it as an open item at a loss but at least getting something out of it) than it is to have to call the cops on a customer.

 

For example, some unscrupulous reps WILL tell unknowing customers that the service agreement will cover ANY repair or problem (it happened to me AGAIN last week).

Yes, I've seen this happen myself. In most cases this was as a result of improper training and the retail employee thought it was true. This is most common when customers ask obscure questions we're not prepared for. I usually say "it should cover it, but let me check" (and I check with a manager) or I say "I'm not sure". But some employees will say yes even if they don't know just to move past the question.

 

Only in few cases during my time working at Best Buy have I seen someone knowingly lie about the service agreements - and in each of those cases it was a manager.

 

The reason is simple. We don't work on commission (some do, some don't, but no Blue Shirts work on commission), we have no reason to lie. Managers are bonused at the end of the month.

 

some reps will ask you at least 3 times or more if you are sure you don't want it because Twice I can deal with, but give it a rest!

This happens because we're told to hit it at least 3 times. He's not trying to annoy you, he's just following procedure. You'll find this happening the most during the weeks when holidays are over and firings begin because that's when secret shoppers evaluate the employees.

 

 

Conscript I understand you are one of the many good reps and I do repeat my thanks to you for providing the view from your side of the counter.

Thanks, I'm happy to offer my services to all of you.

 

Yes, there are some bad reps. Mostly those who have a promotion pending or are in a position to get bonuses like managers. That's when they have incentive to do whatever it takes for you to walk out the door with an item.

 

Out of the regular part timers you come accross they are 99% good people, from my experience. We really mean well and if you're nice to us we'll try to find you a good deal. Generally as I've said about the salespeople lying, this happens rarley and when it does it happens with people like managers the most.

 

This is true especially on service agreements. Almost every piece of electronics has its own service plan or replacement plan with its own exceptions and rules. It's very technical. Even cell phones have two seperate service plans (one for prepaids and one for contract phones).

 

When someone tells you something is covered and you know it is not or that the service plan works in a way you know it shouldn't or may not its usually because the sales person doesn't know better or gets confused. This is why when angry customers come back and demand refunds despite store procedure and rules showing they shouldn't get one, sometimes they are granted one.

[venerdinero]

I appreciate yet another thoughtful post on your part. :)

 

Well sometimes its just easier to swallow a $20 return without a UPC (and resell it as an open item at a loss but at least getting something out of it) than it is to have to call the cops on a customer.

I am aware of this, as are many smart customers and all "demon customers". The problem is that so many people are aware of this, and because BB (and others) has so many seemingly conflicting and absolutely confusing policies and terms and employees like the managers you noted, they get mad even when they ARE wrong and they know that more than likely they can get what they want by complaining loudly enough. I reiterate the VERY simple solution to this problem - stop these lousy ripoff mail in rebates!! . That removes the tool that BB claims hurts them. The sad reality is that they STILL make a fortune on unclaimed/rejected rebates - otherwise they would end them immediately. I don't doubt that their profits are being cut into by these practices, but their new strategy is a merely a no cost way to reinflate the margins by profiling. If these rebates were truly a losing proposition,the ONLY strategy would be to end them now.

 

I usually say "it should cover it, but let me check" (and I check with a manager) or I say "I'm not sure". But some employees will say yes even if they don't know just to move past the question.

Only in few cases during my time working at Best Buy have I seen someone knowingly lie about the service agreements - and in each of those cases it was a manager.

The reason is simple. We don't work on commission (some do, some don't, but no Blue Shirts work on commission), we have no reason to lie. Managers are bonused at the end of the month.

Again, you obviously know the "right thing" to do. But you are also asking a manager who has an incentive to give you an inaccurate answer for you to unknowingly pass on to make the sale, no? I have noticed that most of the service agreement lies I have heard are indeed from managers. The funny thing that I have noticed lately is I'm being told that "none of us work on commission" when the mgr is either right there or is the one talking! The service agreements are intentionally complex so that nobody can really know all of the applications. But I have repeatedly been told as have friends on various bigger ticket (over $100) items that the service agreement covers EVERYTHING -even maintenance. Possible, but highly unlikely. I'd love to see 20/20 or somebody do a hidden camera investigation on the sale of service agreements.

 

 

This happens because we're told to hit it at least 3 times. He's not trying to annoy you, he's just following procedure. You'll find this happening the most during the weeks when holidays are over and firings begin because that's when secret shoppers evaluate the employees.

I confess, I intentionally chose the number 3 because I had been told this previously by a BB employee. Hopefully the negative reactions will increase in both size and volume to the point that, like RadioShack, BB drops or at least minimizes a STUPID and annoying policy. Have the rep ask once and cashier once, that's enough.

 

This is why when angry customers come back and demand refunds despite store procedure and rules showing they shouldn't get one, sometimes they are granted one.

We need a smilie for a dead horse!! :) I think my big picture point is that BB can't have a policy which everybody knows is frequently ignored and then complain that the customers are using BB's own policy against them. Either enforce the policy or change it or drop it.