Best Buy's secret intranet site to get a disclaimer; customers to get shaft
By Nilay Patel 
posted September 27th 2007 9:22AM
posted September 27th 2007 9:22AM
posted September 27th 2007 9:22AM
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There is nothing wrong with what Best Buy is doing. I worked at Best Buy for a year and I had maybe two people complain about it. This "secret site" covers the prices for a particular region. Every region has its own cost based on cost of living and whatnot, so sometimes the in store price is cheaper then national website. People are just idiots.
Half of the people that work at BB are either idiots or trying to rip people off.
Example, telling someone looking at a 42" LCD they should buy 1080. Their TV sales tactics are questionable at best. Computers are even worse.
Example, telling people they need N wireless routers when they clearly don't.
Selling audio equipment, specifically speakers as if it was quality gear.
Demoing car audio with the bass turned way up or with a big amp even if they know the customer is using a stock in-dash.
I can't speak for tvs and audio and whatnot because I never worked those departments in my store. But, I did work in computers and we never tried to sell more to a person then what they needed. And there were only a couple of times I suggested N for someone and that was because that was in special occasions.
As far as your tv comment, 1080p is the best when it comes to HD so of course someone is going to suggest getting a 1080p TV. Thats what I will be shooting for when I buy my first HDtv.
Best Buy does sell some good audio equipment. How do I know? Becuase I've had friends, who never worked for Best Buy, buy equipment there and they were pretty damn happy with it. Now sure it may not be the best you can get in the world, but it is still good. And bass is something most people want to hear, you don't hear someone say, "wow! I want to hear what these speakers sound like with no bass what so ever!"
Just because you hate best buy doesn't make them a bad company. There are plenty of stores I don't like , but I don't think they are bad companies.
Prices in store offer package discounts like HD Advantage, which is usually a better deal than the website. You do not qualify for them online. Tax is done online too there people by zip code. The lower price will offset shipping fees on a lot of items.
The online prices are not always a better deal. Some TV's show up in stores at lower prices. There is something called market reaction that will make a price in certain areas lower than online due to the market price caused by another resellers sales, etc. This price can be combined with the HD Advantage deals too. Coupons however cannot be combined with these offers or sale prices.
The online price is a nationwide average price meant to compete with other online sellers. If a customer does not want any other items to make a package, this price might work for them, but not others buying a system.
If you want to be guaranteed of the lowest possible price, order online and do in store pickup on single items. This way you get the lower of whichever price is available.
You are passing on a story that has been recirculated, and not a very good story. Even if you talk to the original source which is the lawyers, you can't trust them. There is two sides involving lawyers. THeir job is to sway a courtroom for money. Class actions pay, and any lawyer can decide to start one because of the amounts of money he pockets, compared to the pittance the public gets.
Best Buys policy has and is to honor the lowest price that will benefit the customer. If you go and say you saw it online at XXX, that price can be compared to the stores deal price and you can choose wich number is lower. Do you really want to pay $200 less because you saw it online for that, or since you were buying an entire package save $600 off. I haven't been to school in a long time but something tells me the $600 off is a way better deal. If you picked $200, please move from where you grew up so your children get a better education. Think about some junior college math too.
I bought water at Ralphs last night. Their policy is that if an item is mispriced its free or extra money off, i forget. I told the cashier that on the aisle, there is two tags a foot away with the samne upc and a dollar variance. She still made me pay the extra buck. I could have gotten my way but didnt care. Should I start a class action against them now for that one person not knowing the policy. I can add that to the 80million I want for my lost pants at the dry cleaner.
You are looking at a company as out to get you, because a few employees didn't know how the pricing system works. When you start every new job do you know every policy of theirs from day one, or do you learn them by situations arising so you dont do the same the next time it comes up?
very very old news. As has been stated, this was added to the local site immediately following the first complaints. We also have a link on toolkit to the national site now, so its easier to find out if something is actually a different price online.
sometimes demand is lower for an item in one territory than another, and the price is adjusted accordingly. Sometimes the in store price is lower, sometimes its higher, it all depends on where you are.
and, as had also been said before, do you ever wonder if maybe your local best buy just sucks? I've had bad experiences at Best Buy, I've had bad experiences at Circuit, and I've had REALLY bad experiences at Walmart. That doesn't stop other people from swearing by them.
I refuse to go to BB simply because of the noise level in their stores. The one near me, at least, has every damn 600-watt automobile thumpbox playing jackass music at top volume. It'd be like living in a calliope - I'll bet their employee health plan (if any) excludes treatment for deafness.
Just another reason to stay away from Best Buy.
One of my other reasons; I found the $20 Wii Points card there for thirty something. Best Buy rips people off.
>>. It's still unclear why the company won't just do the right thing and match its own listed prices
Because they're institutionally evil, like the dark & fascist state of New Jersey?
That would be my bet.
you guys just dont understand and its because you dont work there. The reason for having a special intranet site is because they need to have something always running. When best buy does their upgrades on their site and we have to have a reference point, we look up models etc on the intranet site. We price match our national site without a question.
Best Buy has always matched its online pricing for years. Yes they are separate stores, but for the past 3+ years the point of sale system has had a match best buy button....not to mention everything has a 30 day price match to themselves and competitors. They haven't tried to take anyones money.
Haha, that label went up the day that Engadget broke this story. There's even a link not only to the internal internet site, but also the normal external site at all the in-store terminals (at least at our store). The main difference being the internal site also lists SKUs, which I'm not sure if the external one does. Helps with stock checks.
I don't see the problem here, if you come to me and say it's this much, and I verify it's that much, it's yours. Don't know if every BBY store managers feel this way. I hate that our ad prices are subject to availability. Nothing worse than coming in for a good deal and it's gone already. :(
So the moral of this story? Shop online, not in store, duh!
Look i work at best buy, here is a simple breakdown of how it works. the website you access at home or in the kiosks in our store is representative of the pricing in your Zipcode. the zipcode you are in when you order something through the site determines which store will A) get credit for the purchase B) ship the product to you, or C) hold the product for you to come and pick up in the store.
because the site works like that, there is no way to completely upgrade the entire nations pricing grid at the same time. lets say there is a market shift in california on a certain product and the pricing goes down. If I'm in VA Beach looking up the price, it won't immediately be reflected there.
the reason they prompt you to get to an associate is because in our intranet in the store we have access to two different websites. BBY.com Local, and BBY.com National. if we look up in the National website it will be updated accurately and your pricing will be universal across the country. We're not trying to screw anyone over, its just a matter of logistics. the simplest solution is to find an associate and ask them.
and as always, there is a price match guarantee, even with our own website. if the online price of a product is lower and we actually have that product in the store, we are required to match it at the customers request.
for those of you with bad experiences i apologize, like any large company, Best Buy is subject to hiring some "not so helpful" employees, i know at my store we try to do the best we can at all times.
jason is right. Walmart does NOT match their online prices. Look at the website.