Best Buy Says It Has Killed 'Showrooming' For Good

[Sherman A1]

Best Buy is confident that its latest policy change will kill "showrooming" in its stores for good.

Starting on March 3, the retailer will price match all local retail competitors, along with 19 "major online competitors" in all product categories, whenever a customer asks for it, the company announced .

“There is no doubt that this new policy ends showrooming for Best Buy customers,” company spokesman Matt Furman told Bloomberg .

Showrooming, the practice of looking at items in a physical store then going online to make the actual purchase, has been a big worry for consumer electronics stores. Customers showroom electronics items more than any other category, according to data from comScore .

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-buy-declared-showrooming-dead-060349736.html

Interesting to see how this plays out and how much trouble the price match policy is for the consumer.

[NightWatcher]

1. I read "Shrooming" for good and thought

why does best buy hate magic shrooms?

[Yavin4]

62. Can you imagine dropping shrooms amongst those big flat screen TVs???

Talk about a freak out.

[IADEMO2004]

76. 3D TV While shroomed!!

[Warren DeMontague]

97. "Excuse me, sir, you're melting all over the High Def Camcorders"

[Fire Walk With Me]

100. I prefer your version!

[Ed Suspicious]

2. They've always pricematched for me without hassle. I was a showroomer. I actually buy from them

now since I can pick it up locally and returns and exchanges are only a short drive away.

[DJ13]

3. My problem is they dont want to match the price on their own website in the store

I've ran into that a few times, where something is on sale or clearance online, but in the store its not on sale.

Maybe they've changed that, but it stopped me from shopping there a few years back.

[JPZenger]

49. At one point, Best Buy had a fake website

At one point, Best Buy had a fake website. If you asked about a lower price on their own website, the staff-person would show you a fake website where all of their prices were the same as in the store.

[obamanut2012]

53. omg

[EOTE]

66. They tried to pull that same scam on me.

I tried to purchase a receiver at the store and the in store price was a massive $120 more expensive than online. I told them that their online price was much lower and they tried to tell me that the floor price was the same as the online price. I whipped out my Blackberry and pulled up the price for them on their very own website. They then agreed to match their own price. I was rather pissed that I had to go through that, though. Now I know why I had to.

[GodlessBiker]

4. Whenever a customer asks for it? Why not have their computers scanning prices ...

... of these 19 retailers and match the lowest price without having to ask?

Those who do not know to ask will still showroom.

[MADem]

30. Because they want as much money as they can get.

If people don't ask and pay the higher price, they'd be fools to correct them.

There are plenty of people in the world, still, who don't live online and don't shop there either. They'll rip those folks off cheerily, no doubt.

[Kelvin Mace]

52. Ok, I am NOT a big box store fan

but it is unfair to say "They'll rip those folks off cheerily, no doubt."

They set a price. People can pay it, or not pay it, their choice.

Consumers do have some obligation if they want the best prices. And with smartphones in such wide use, their is bloody little excuse for not price-checking a purchase.

Haggle folks, haggle!

[MADem]

68. Granny doesn't have a smartphone. Or a computer. Her TV set is an old RCA.

She's on a fixed income, and now she needs a new TV because the RCA blew up and it can't be fixed.

She will get ripped off cheerily, no doubt.

If the Big Box Store was truly interested in giving everyone the best price, they'd Just Do It. But plainly, plenty of grannies and grampies and luddites wander into their store, pull what they want off the shelf, and pay without complaining.

And no one in a bright blue polo shirt with the store label on it will say One Word to clue them in that they might be able to save a few precious dollars.

That sucks.

I started thinking about my friends and relations, and how "wired in" they are, as a consequence of this thread. After I got to ten people with no smart phones or computers, I stopped counting. There are many, MANY more.

There IS a whole world of people out there who aren't glued to their screens. They spend money, too. I drive about a hundred of them to the polls every election. They get their news from "the tee vee" and the "pay-pah."

So I don't think it's unfair at all to say that this Big Box takes advantage of those who are not "connected." And aside from the elderly, or the technologically timid, who is most likely to NOT be connected? The POOR. So, yay, Big Box, for fucking over the very least of our brethren! They shoulda just skipped a few hundred meals, not paid the light bill, and bought themselves a smart phone!!! Then they'd be deserving of a discount!

[Shivering Jemmy]

69. Why should they give anyone the lowest price

unless they ask?

Are they morally bound to do so? Based on what? They aren't a charity.

And if Granny doesn't have a smartphone, she knows someone who does and she can contact them and ask them to come along.

Or if she's stuck at home, she can enlist her niece and nephew, the Digi-girl and the Technical Boy to do some comparison shopping for her.

[MADem]

71. I know how to find the lowest price, but I'm not going to patronize them because they are

taking advantage of the poorest and the least of our communities. And don't "special order" anything from them--if you return it, they'll charge you a 25% restocking fee! And that thirty day return policy? It's down to fifteen! Woe to those who don't know this detail!

I deal with Grannies every day, and plenty of them don't have relatives nearby, and they don't "know someone" because they aren't even aware of what a "smartphone" is--they have no sense of the internet, they just don't live in an online environment. They would not ask, because they would not KNOW. Further, we live in a very disconnected world, where all too often children remember their grandparents (and their parents in some cases) after they are dead.

All too often, the poor and the elderly don't get any damn help--and they get screwed by businesses looking for easy marks. If BB really wanted to make a mark, they'd just offer the best price, or, as someone else said, provide a mechanism for people to check prices in the store--kind of like the book at Macy's in "Miracle on 34th Street."

[NickB79]

77. Because that's the basis for getting repeat customers

It's simple business sense to not intentionally fuck over your customers for a little extra cash if you want good publicity and word-of-mouth.

Maybe it's because I grew up in a rural area dotted with small towns and local businesses. Anyone who screwed over their customers gets badmouthed by the locals ruthlessly, and their business suffers.

[MADem]

84. Thank you--that's my view, too. When they treat you--and everyone else too--right, you

develop a loyalty to them and steer your friends and relatives their way.

I hate this 'dog eat dog' attitude, where you only get the deal if you're a shark who is "in the know."

[Kelvin Mace]

80. So all stores "rip you off"?

She's on a fixed income, and now she needs a new TV because the RCA blew up and it can't be fixed.

She will get ripped off cheerily, no doubt.

The stores price their items and offer to match a competitors price if you bring it to their attention. I fail to see how that is ripping anyone off. Store are equally discriminatory against people who can't read or do math. Does the store have an obligation to provide English and math teachers for those folks?

What about he grocery store? Price/coupon matching has been going on for over a half century, but are the stores obligated to give you a coupon price when you neither know about the coupon, nor have one in your possession?

There comes a point where people have to do their due diligence. Granny shouldn't be shopping for a flat screen TV at the Best Buy absent one of her children/grandchildren to act as interpreter. If all else fails, Granny should pick up a copy of Consumer Reports (still available of "pay-pah&quot .

I field questions all the times for friends and relatives about tech buys. I even go shopping with them if they ask, and install their stuff when asked.

When I need to buy a car I do all my own research and go to the lot looking at a specific number of cars from which I will pick. I do not expect even places like CarMax to look out for me, offer me a good deal, or arrange my financing. I have also stepped in to help folks buy cars by pointing out all the BS fees (anyone who steps onto a car lot and who not arranged their own financing is a fool).

Where did I get all this specialized knowledge? Well, the tech stuff I got because that is what I work in. The car stuff came from asking people in the know and doing research.

Price has always been negotiable, since the day people decided to trade shiny stones for things. The reason that BB is saying they will match online retailers is because the old business model doesn't work anymore and they are going broke. Whether this change will save them remains to be seen.

[MADem]

81. They'll keep going broke, too, I'll wager, if they have management that thinks like you.

Very "survival of the fittest" attitude you have working there. Screw the elderly, screw the poor, they either should know better or have a rich relative! It's their fault!

What's so hard about a paradigm that just ... offers the lowest price? That's a store to patronize. We offer the lowest prices--you don't have to "know" the lowest price before we give it to you, we just won't be beat!

That's a store I would patronize, not one that plays "Hide the Pricetag" with the internet elites, and screws the customers who can least afford to be screwed.

[Kelvin Mace]

89. Gosh, where did I say

"screw the elderly" and/or "screw the poor"?

Also, who is this "rich relative" you are talking about? Just about all the tech people I know are working poor or middle class. Understanding tech makes you rich? Or is knowing to ask someone with a tech background what makes you rich?

Your view of a store where "We offer the lowest prices--you don't have to "know" the lowest price before we give it to you, we just won't be beat!" is naive, since that is exactly the kind of thing that led to Mom and Pop stores dying off. Big box chains could sell products at a loss while small retailers could not. Once they got rid of the little guys, they could move on to price gouging. Cheap shit is very expensive. When you demand that a retailer provide the ABSOLUTE lowest price, you are greasing the way for moving jobs out of the country.

I live in North Carolina and there are thousands of defunct textile mills that are closed because people demanded the cheapest clothes possible. Well, they got the fifty cent socks they wanted, the lowest price possible. Now there are no jobs, because an American made pair of sock will cost you a $1.

It would be nice to live in a utopia where every price is the absolute lowest it can be, but we don't. Telling people this fact and expecting them to make an effort is not unreasonable, it is called "educating" them.

[Note: Speaking of electronics. When I started working with computers, a PC would set you back about $5,000 (about $12,500 adjusted for inflation). The main players were IBM and Compaq, and their factories in Houston, Armonk and Boca Raton (and later the Triangle Research Park in NC) were cranking PCs out 24x7x365.

Then everybody demanded the lowest price possible, and they got them. You can pick up a PC today for $300-$500 ($150-$200 in 1981 money). Of course, all of the American factories are shuttered and there is no such thing as an American made computer, of TV, or stereo, or practically anything.

There is nothing evil about a fair profit. But there can be a lot of discussion about what constitutes "fair". Cheap, however, is a death spiral. The pursuit of cheap is what has crushed our workforce and destroyed our manufacturing base.]

[MADem]

93. You perhaps don't know that there are people here in the USA who live

paycheck to paycheck and often don't have enough paycheck to last the month. They have to fill in the gaps with "the food pantry" or "mooching" (which is humbling and humiliating begging, essentially) off of their "rich" relatives. Who's a "rich" relative? Someone who owns a laptop and has an internet connection. Someone who can pay most of their bills, if not all of them. Someone who doesn't miss a meal. Someone who gets around on four tires and an internal combustion engine, not the used boots they bought at the Goodwill.

Where you stand depends on where you sit. There are people in this country who are VERY poor, and they are the "kindness of a relative" away from being on the street.

There are people who live in this country for whom a "mere" three hundred dollars is some serious money that might take a year or more to raise. For them to go to a big box store and buy a lousy little tv that cost ten or fifteen dollars more (money they could have used for genuine necessities) because they weren't in the Cool Club and didn't know that they could have achieved that savings is just a shitty thing for the store to do. It's basically encouraging two classes of customers--the snarky, cool kids, and the stupid victims. I don't like it.

As someone else said, I would recommend the store that went out of their way to provide good customer service by offering their lowest prices to all. A store that depends on the ignorance and lack of access to technology of the poorest to make their profit, though? Screw them.

I won't patronize or recommend them.

And you'll griping about textiles, and American socks, and American manufacture... in the context of a conversation about BEST BUY? Please--I don't think ANYTHING in that store is made in USA, unless they sell xerox or printer paper. It's all Chinese and Japanese and Korean stuff--and it has been that way for decades now. I really don't think your example works in that context at all.

[Kelvin Mace]

106. I get the feeling you think I must be one of these rich people

So, let me bring you up to speed.

"There are people right here in the USA who live paycheck to paycheck and often don't have enough paycheck to last the month. They have to fill in the gaps with "the food pantry" or "mooching" (which is humbling and humiliating begging, essentially) off of their "rich" relatives. Who's a "rich" relative? Someone who owns a laptop and has an internet connection. Someone who can pay most of their bills, if not all of them. Someone who doesn't miss a meal. Someone who gets around on four tires and an internal combustion engine, not the used boots they bought at the Goodwill."

Yes, I am fortunate in that both my wife and I work. But then, about 20%-25% of our pre-tax salary goes to insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, etc. My wife has MS, and while she is able to work, it is very hard on her and we can't afford to lose our insurance.

We have a VERY small 401K, and certainly fall into the category of people about 3-4 paychecks from serious financial consequences should the economy slack off. Since we work for a small family run business, our pay is directly tied to how the economy does, which means from 2007-2009, we saw a 50%-60% pay cut (our insurance premiums kept going up regardless).

My wife had a fall in 2011 and seriously broke he wrist requiring surgery and rehab. While insurance did cover 80% of it, we still had to pay many thousands of dollars not covered, so bye-bye savings.

I grew up in a single parent household with my sister, and we lived on on SS and VA benefits (my dad died when I was six) and the odd jobs my mom could get. I started out to go to college, but had to quit to become my sister's guardian (long story for another time). So, at 20, I was legal guardian to a 15 year old. I worked two jobs and put her through college.

After my sister got out of college I went though the Reagan recession and was homeless (as in living on the street) for two months, before I lucked out, found a job, and was offered a couch by my new boss).

I got married and stumbled into the computer tech biz, and made a decent living for a while, then ran my own publishing business for ten years (I paid my artists/writers 3 times the standard royalty and allowed them to retain all rights to their work). Unfortunately, the dot com crash in 2001 and then the Great Recession of 2007 did me in, and I had to take a job driving a truck. I am only just now getting back into my tech vocation and drawing a modest, but decent wage, which will be sustaining as long as the economy doesn't tank again.

Thus, I really do understand the whole "living paycheck to paycheck" thing and kind of resent your assumption that I don't.

I have survived as long as I did by doing my damndest to get the most for my money, and learned quickly that the ignorant are prey. So, I educated myself, asked questions, picked brains and did my due diligence. I am grateful to the folks who took the time to share their expertise, but I worked damned hard to be on top of things. Yeah, I can afford to buy a car these days, but I only by used, and only after my old car is 10+ years old.

$300 is a lot of money to me no matter how much I have in the bank. I do have a computer (actually several), but that is the work I do, and since I can build my own from parts, I can pull this off. I also build them for other people who can't afford them, and share what little extra I have, buying everything from gas to insulin for friends and acquaintances.

As to my discussion of textile jobs in relation to Best Buy, my point was that we got where we are today with the unrealistic expectation that every price should be the cheapest price possible. I work for a company that actually manufactures things and we certainly know the price of the constant demand for "cheap". We had a lot of customers take their business to China to cut their costs (of course they then learned that quality is the first thing to be be discarded when you demand cheap at all costs).

I don't shop at Best Buy, and I advise people against doing so. My entire entry into this thread was that their change in policy was notable and it would be interesting to see how it played out. In essence BB is saying "we'll match our competitors price, but only if you ask us". Hell, they have stated the rules at the outset. "If you want a good price, do your homework".

Given the business practices of all the other retailers out there, that's not a bad deal.

Is it perfect? Is it moral?

No, it's not perfect, and I don't have the kind of time to work out the morality beyond "it is closer to being moral than most other chains" so go for it, but as always caveat emptor.

[MADem]

111. Try being eighty and living on a social security check. That's real poverty--you don't get

it. Your compassion is lacking. You are wealthy compared to the people I am talking about.

And the ignorant are NOT prey--or at least, in a decent society, they should not be.

Spend some time volunteering to deliver meals on wheels, or mopping the floor at a feeding center--you will meet these people I am talking about, and it will open your eyes, which, despite your having a relative with medical issues and having to watch your expenses, are still glued shut.

I don't like "two tiered pricing" that depends on having the ABILITY to "do your homework." These people don't have the ability to "do homework," and you scorn them for that and regard them as "prey." It's not that "every price should be the cheapest price possible," it's that a business with a moral center doesn't offer one price to those MOST able to afford more, and another price to those LEAST able to pay it. And that is what these people are doing.

I don't care for your worldview, not one bit. Caveat emptor is not the rule in America. In America, we have a nominal degree of food inspection so we don't have to take our lives in our hands every time we go to the grocer. We have safety standards and warning labels. We aren't perfect, but we don't have a "caveat emptor" mentality, here. When we learn that there's a problem, we warn people and take dangerous crap off the market. We have people like Elizabeth Warren who look out for the buyer, so the buyer doesn't have to "beware." Your mindset sounds right out of the playbook of the other team--"Fuck 'em, they should KNOW better!"

If Best Buy wants customers to come back and have a good opinion of them, they should offer their best price to everyone, not just the 'tech savvy' bargain hunters. They'd earn customer loyalty if they did that. Right now, they're playing a game that smells like "Oh, you're a smart one, so you get the good deal...but pssst.... see that old guy over there? He's a moron, so we'll fuck him over....aren't you lucky-- you're smart, he's stupid! Now off you go, and feel good about yourself because you're BETTER than that dumb schmuck!"

Ugh. That kind of shit encourages the worst greed and selfishness, and I won't play the game. I think people who buy into that crap need a moral course correction. They aren't walking the walk.


I prefer this paradigm:

[Kelvin Mace]

126. As I said,

I did my time on SS, and I did it starting when I was 6. I do know what it is like to miss meals, to not have food and to not make rent. I have sat in the dark and cold when I couldn't make the utility bills. I have worked in soup kitchens, helped people fix their houses, and gave folks what I had to buy groceries/gas/medicine.

What else do you want from me?

In a Panglossian "Best of all possible worlds" the ignorant would not be prey, but we do not live in such a world, never have, and never will. So, do we try and change a system that cannot be changed, or do we educate folks on how to not be prey?

[MADem]

127. A child's benefit, though scant, is often more than what these people live on, depending on the

reason for the benefit (parental death or disability) and the number of siblings in the home.

We should try to change the system--and it CAN be changed, by doing two simple things--first, by telling BEST BUY that they are assholes and we will not patronize them so long as they continue to screw over the technologically deprived as a marketing ploy, and second, by doing everything we can, as a nation, to reduce the Digital Divide in this country. That means making internet access more readily available to the poor, particularly in inner cities and areas of rural poverty, putting more computers in senior centers, libraries and youth centers that serve the poorest among us, and providing education and training to people in accessing technology.

We DON'T, as a nation, do this. We suck at it. And if you're old on a fixed income, or a kid in a poor home, or either of the foregoing and not white to boot, you can be damn sure help is slowest in coming on this score.

I can't believe that I even have to explain this shit to Democrats--it's mind-boggling.

[Kelvin Mace]

131. So, i was poor, but not poor enough for your liking?

I got about $80 a month in benefits, which translates into $494 adjusted for inflation. According to the SSA, the average benefit for a retiree is currently $1,230.

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/13/~/average-monthly-social-security-benefit-for-a-retired-worker

Yes, we should try to change the system. But changing the system takes time, effort and money. I already do not patronize BB, nor advise people to do so (I steer them to Costco when I can), and I have better things to do with my time than go from store to store calling them assholes.

Again, as I explained in prior posts, I GIVE people computers who cannot afford them. I scrounge parts and piece together functional machines that while not state of the art, can help close the digital divide.

No, we don't do this as a nation, and we are unlikely to ever do it.

I live in the world that is, not the world I wish existed.

[MADem]

133. Plenty live on far less, you know. If they are in subsidized housing, their check is reduced.

Many are living on, for all intents and purposes, around a hundred bucks and change a week. That's for everything. Without MoW and food pantry and other elder services, they would go hungry.

It's not a question of being "poor enough," either--but unless you're very young, you didn't have to deal with the Digital Divide, which is cutting a large swathe of our society out of the picture.

If you are young enough to have dealt with it, it might explain some of your "survival of the fittest" attitudes.

I think we ARE likely to fix this problem--we would have had it whipped had not President Gore been robbed. We instead were set back eight years' of war worth, and the attendant debt that followed along with all that. But I'm not willing to cede ground.

The new paradigm that is away from desktops and towards tablets and other simpler machines is only a small part of the equation. We, as a nation, are poorly wired. We need to make internet better, faster and CHEAPER. That's the key, right there. And then we need to educate--but the very old, the people in their 80s and 90s, they aren't ever going to get wired--it's too late for them.

Which is why I think BB shouldn't fuck them over.

[Kelvin Mace]

137. So, to answer my own question

"Yes, I have not been poor enough for your way of thinking."

You keep missing my point. I do not condone "survival of the fittest" as a way of life, government or economic practice. However, that does not in any way change the fact that that is how it is practiced in this reality. You cannot compel morality of people, and certainly not corporations. So, either you learn to deal or you get flattened.

[MADem]

138. No. But your poverty did not teach you compassion.

Everything you have said "condones survival of the fittest."

What's sad is you don't even see it.

I am not trying to compel your morality, but the morality of businesses CAN be compelled.

If it couldn't, we wouldn't have minimum wage laws, child labor laws, or OSHA.

Good grief. Listen to yourself. You sound like you've overdosed on Ayn Rand's craptastic philosophies. "Learn to deal or get flattened?"

Good thing MLK didn't tell those folks in Montgomery to learn to deal with the back of the bus or get flattened.

I suspect we'll not see you getting a Profile in Courage award any time soon.

[Kelvin Mace]

141. Who are you to judge my compassion?

I have specifically repudiated the concept of "survival of the fittest", but simply point out that it exists. By your logic I condone burning every fossil fuel in sight because I point out that global climate change is a fact.

The morality of business cannot be compelled, you can only regulate business. Business is not a sentient entity. it is made up of people who as a group behave immorally. You cannot compel their morality, you can only regulate the group, and punish individuals with responsibility (something I am HIGHLY in favor of). Oh, you could also revoke their corporate charter, the corporate equivalent of the death penalty. If we were revoking corporate charters at the same pace as Oklahoma and Texas are executing prisoners, I'd be a happy guy.

But the reality is that most law in this country was written by corporations, and the law is slanted to be powerless in imposing any meaningful sanction on a corporation, or its constituent parts (i.e. people). Can this be changed? Technically yes, but in reality it is unlikely. We were making strides in reigning in the abuses of corporations until the "Reagan Revolution", and it has been all backsliding ever since (with LOTS of help from Democrats I might add). The gains we made with child labor laws, OSHA, the EPA etc, are now vanishing. Elizabeth Warren gives me hope, but she is ONE senator out of 100. But, despite that, I'll support her in what she does.

"Good grief. Listen to yourself. You sound like you've overdosed on Ayn Rand's craptastic philosophies. "Learn to deal or get flattened?"

I find this deeply insulting, and were I not a pacifist I would be demanding pistols at dawn. I LOATH Ayn Rand, and have written extensively against her teachings and philosophies. Do you really not understand the difference between explaining the reality of a situation and advocating for it? How is explaining the tactics of the enemy and how to counter them the same thing as condoning them?

Good thing MLK didn't tell those folks in Montgomery to learn to deal with the back of the bus or get flattened.

I suspect we'll not see you getting a Profile in Courage award any time soon.

I would never dare mention my own name in anyway with MLK, and I am not in this for any award.

Again, you know absolutely nothing about me, yet you insinuate I am a coward and a collaborator. I have done my time marching, getting out the vote, standing up against the police (and recently the Secret Service). I have stood toe-to-toe with Klansman and Nazis arguing against their bigotry and refusing to engage their violence (others were not so fortunate, look up the Klan/Nazi shootings in Greensboro, NC in 1979). I have suffered beatings in school for daring to "consort with black people".

Now, after 40+ years of this shit I have to suffer insults from someone who doesn't know the first thing about me.

I am glad you still have the fire of rebellion in you. But if you expect to get people on your side, you might want to work on not trashing them entirely based on a handful of isolated posts on a single topic.

At this point I think we are done with this discussion.

[MADem]

144. I can only judge you by the words you type, and the sentiments you express.

To me, you come off as lacking in compassion for the elderly and the "technologically deprived." Your comments tell on you--so don't blame me for taking it the way you dish it out. I don't go for "Abandon hope" on the one hand while subsequently shopping how-dare-you outrage when someone notices, and that's your schtick in this thread. Go back and read what you've written.

I wouldn't get irritated if you didn't give me plenty of material with which to be annoyed.

[Spike89]

145. More complicated than that

I'm no fan of big box stores, but this isn't really about them specifically--the issues also affect Mom and Pop's and virtually every area of retail. You have two things going on here--people like to physically shop (showrooming) and the Internet enables extreme price comparisons. For a retailer, it does cost money to have a brick-and-mortor presence. Amazon (for example) has incredibly low overhead because they don't have physical stores.

You want the lowest price, but you also want the most expensive retail model (physical store) to deliver it? It just can't happen. It isn't about ripping off Grandma, it is how physical retailing simply can't compete on price with virtual retailing. It is virtually the same argument as the big box stores vs. the Mom and Pop's...the big retailers can use economy of scale to lower their costs and independant stores simply can not compete on price.

For some industries/segments this can be offset by making the product(s) difficult to compare, i.e., (you really can't compare a loaf of bread made at a craft bakery to a loaf of Oroweat in a Safeway). For others, say electronics, it is virtually impossible to distinguish your inventory from any other source (an iPad is an iPad once you get past scammers, counterfeits, etc.)

As long as people want to actually touch things before buying them, we'll have physical stores. Those stores will never be able to compete strictly on price with virtual stores.

[MADem]

146. Well, the point that I am making is that there's two tier pricing happening here.

The tech savvy person can get that great Amazon price at Best Buy because he has a smartphone.

Granny, who is more likely to be a repeat customer at the Best Buy and give more cash to the place than old window shopper Tech Savvy will (she'll need a new radio and a microwave one day, perhaps, along with that tee vee) gets fucked because she doesn't have a smartphone or a tablet or a computer, and she thinks that Amazon is a river in Brazil.

Why not just use the Macy's - Gimbel's "Miracle" model? WORK towards it. Businesses are crying that their Big Boxes are going away, but they make no effort to appeal to their largest ready-and-willing market--the Boomers and Elders--who understand the Big Box paradigm and are comfortable using it. They grew up with it, it's not strange, it's standard.

Instead, they chase the "kids" who ARE more comfortable buying online, like they're going to convince them to be loyal "just because,"-- and fuck the geezers. It's just not a smart business model. Or a sustainable one. Being better to Boomers and Geezers would give them time (and money) to figure out how to meld their online and brick/mortar presence in a more compelling fashion to snag the kids and earn their repeat business and loyalty in the future.

They could do better. They could develop economies in other areas to make a "best price" paradigm happen--hell, lower those idiotically high ceilings a few feet--the savings in heat and cooling alone across a nation's worth of stores could probably compensate entirely for the price differentials.

[Spike89]

148. You're right, but this actually helps that 2-tier problem

Because we have a built in example, I'll use it. Last week, "Granny" goes to Best Buy because that is what Granny does. She buys a 32" TV for $400. A "kid" goes into Best Buy last week, sees that the $400 TV is perfectly acceptable, then goes home and orders it online from Amazon for $350.

Granny loses and has no recourse. Best Buy loses the 2nd sale AND had to pay some money for the sales help/store maintenance that showed the "kid" the TV he/she bought elsewhere. Only the "kid" comes out of this a real winner. It is a true 2-tier pricing scenario, if not a textbook definition.

Under the new paradigm, Granny probably fares no better, BUT she might if one of her kids clues her in to ask. Best Buy has a good chance of making both sales. There is no difference for the "kid" except he/she gets to carry the TV home immediately.

It isn't the perfect world (Best Buy can't do this if everyone asks for the online price), but it is maybe a bit better. It isn't worse.

[Sherman A1]

87. And yet

"Granny" survived all these years, did her comparison shopping for the items she decided to purchase and got along in life. One suspects she did so by using her knowledge, her research, asking others to make recommendations (do you know a good plumber or alike) and her shopping skills. It is possible that she just might use the "pay-pah" and check the ads from the various stores included to decide upon which "tee vee" she wants. Perhaps she will get ripped off, perhaps she is much more savvy and experienced than you believe her to be.

With each and every shopping experience there is a level of let the buyer beware, it is intrinsic to the process. It is very probable that "Granny" has done this all before and has the experience she needs.

[Kelvin Mace]

90. "Caveat emptor" has been the law of the land since 1523.

the first known use of the term.

I don't make the law of the jungle, I just try to make sure everybody knows what the rules are.

As I pointed out to the fellow in another post, the constant demand for "cheap" is an economic death spiral to the bottom. Cheap shit is ultimately VERY expensive.

[MADem]

128. I don't live in the jungle--I'm a Democrat and I live in the United States of America.

And I don't want any part of of your "fuck the weak" rules, frankly.

I won't patronize any establishment that supports that kind of POV, either.

[Kelvin Mace]

129. News for you

You currently live in an oligarchal police state. The law of the Jungle has been in effect since the dawn of humanity. I am not condoning this, just stating the facts.

We all pay taxes, therefore we all contribute to and support the current situation. Some of us try to make a difference, some of us are too poor fighting for survival to notice anything, and a few, a very tiny few, pull the strings, laugh, and throw another brick of Benjamins on the fire to take the chill off.

Understanding this reality is key to changing it. teaching other people how to survive in this reality means we'll have enough people to actually change it.

[MADem]

130. Ah yes, abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

I think you don't really understand the meaning of the term "police state."

In a real police state, you're not free...to LEAVE.

[Kelvin Mace]

132. That is ONE definition, but not a requirement.

And also, not the only criteria. Let's turn to the dictionary:

a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures

1) We live in a country ostensibly with two party rule, but both parties work for big business.

2) The tax code and regulations are written to benefit corporations and those in power.

3) With the exception of the 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th Amendments, the Bill of Rights has been completely nullified.

4) Torture is now legal (we just don't call it torture).

5) War Crimes are unprosecuted.

6) State surveillance is now quite pervasive.

7) Assassination for political motives and with judicial review is no legal.

8) The police often kill innocent people with little to no consequence.

9) We have more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world.

10) We have two criminal justice systems: One of the rich and one for the poor.

That, my friend is a text book example of a police state.

[MADem]

134. Go visit the People's Republic of North Korea, and then get back to me about how awful we are.

You are sounding very young, to be blunt.

[Kelvin Mace]

136. Right. And that changes the fact

that the U.S. meets the definition of a police state how exactly? Certainly North Korea is a a worse police state, but that in no way alters the fact that the U.S. is a police state.

[MADem]

139. You are very young. Go see the world. Learn. nt

[Kelvin Mace]

142. I am 52, have lived in two countries,

and speak two languages. My father was a West Virginia coal miner and Marine Corp vet who served in Korea. My mom was a Irish nurse from Dublin. I have seen and lived in the squalor that is routinely found in the small towns of Virginia and West Virgina. I have been a civil rights advocate, voting rights advocate, and equal-rights advocate my entire life. I sat on the NC Select Committee on Electronic voting and helped draft the toughest e-voting law in the nation. I fought Diebold and the rest of the e-voting industry for about six years, traveling around the country (at my own expense) advocating against paperless voting.

I have endured the boorish behavior of John Gibson on Fox News, and John Fund of the Wall Street Journal.

I have seen the world, thank you very much.

[MADem]

143. I'm shocked.

You come across like a twenty-something.

[MADem]

94. No--Granny bought her TV in the seventies, when she was still working.

She was careful and didn't abuse the thing, and made it last. She wasn't worried about cost back then; she had a regular income and got raises. Now, she's older, retired, her income is fixed, she's living on a social security check, and it hasn't kept up with inflation for a couple of decades now.

Now her income is much less than it used to be.

I must say, my eyes have been opened by many of these conversations here on "liberal" DU. There are people here who clearly don't think there's genuine poverty in America--or is it that poor people shouldn't spend their money on "luxuries" like TVs?

I'm just astounded.

[Sherman A1]

101. I still have a TV in one room from the early 1980's

and a lawn mower from 1979 so I understand that things can be made to last or it's just dumb luck.

That said, one suspects that "Granny" knows what she can afford, won't be interested in a multi thousand dollar home theater system, but rather a "tee vee" which will simply do the job for her within her circumstances. Those "tee vees" exist, can be comparison shopped using the methods she used to purchase her last one and are not astronomically priced as to bust even a limited budget. I am sure that with her experiences through life she learned that things simply don't last forever, she replaced appliances, auto and other durable and non durable goods.

My point is that while advantage should not be taken of "granny", nor should we be condescending to her. My guess is that "granny" is a lot sharper than we might be giving her credit. Every circumstance is different, but I wouldn't count out "granny's" decision making process or shopping skills and frankly "granny" probably knows what she wants (a decent TV that works).

by the way the current BB circular from the weekend paper has a 24 inch for $149 or a 32 inch for $229. I don't recall "Tee Vee's" from the 1970's being much larger than that and anything purchased over $429 can be paid interest free over 18 months (or somewhere in the $25.00/month range sorta like the 90 days same as cash of a previous era, just a whole lot longer).

[MADem]

104. No--Granny relies on the bus to take her to the mall, now.

She can't check the prices in Sears and Grant's and Ames, like she used to, because she doesn't have a car.

She reads the paper at the senior center, the circular is usually gone by the time she gets to it. She can't afford a newspaper subscription, so she takes advantage of the ones that are shared. A weekend paper? That would buy enough food for two days! Who buys one of those? Those "rich" people I was talking about.

And credit? What credit? When you don't have a "credit card" or even a driver's license anymore (the fees are too expensive) you aren't buying shit on credit.

Granny definitely knows what she can afford. And if she saves up a couple of hundred bucks over the course of a year so she can enjoy the one damn thing in her life that gives her a bit of pleasure in the home, her favorite TV shows, it absolutely sucks that she is victimized by two tier pricing. The only thing that sucks more than that is to see someone on a Democratic message board --and I am talking to and about YOU-- cavalierly and quite cluelessly defending the victimization of those with no access to technology.

You don't get it. You'll never get it. You do not have a sense of people to whom it is worth the effort, even with arthritis, to bend down and pick up a penny. Lucky you!

I think your worldview is completely incompatible with mine--and with anyone who has to struggle to make ends meet, and anyone with an ounce of caring for the least among us. You will, one day, come to a point in your life where you'll find yourself in need of compassion--you'll just have to hope that you get more than you seem able to give.

[Sherman A1]

107. I yield

to your superior knowledge of all things.....

[MADem]

112. I do not have a "superior knowledge of all things" but I have seen elderly people

living on the edge up close and personal. I think it's disgraceful that the elderly have to struggle in their twilight years to make ends meet, and I don't think they should "know better" in order to not be ripped off. In fact, I'm the bozo who, when I find out that someone's granny's TV has gone out, I'll ask around and see if I can find someone who has gone to flat screen and tossed their unused CRT up in the attic or down in the basement, and I'll lug the damn thing over and set it up to save 'em those few bucks. I'm neighborly that way, and I admire others who take the same attitude. I just don't understand this attitude that being decent is somehow weak or foolish. In the long run, it pays dividends.

So you give, so shall you get. Or the way I always heard it, "What goes around, comes around."

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

108. Granny still clips coupons and reads the weekly circulars, however

A quick scan of KMart, Sears and Target fliers, in addition to Best Buy should give a better idea of who actually has a deal.

On edit: Nevermind, you've found granny who lives in a cave and has no access to anything.

At which point Granny probably doesn't want a TV....but anyhow.

[MADem]

109. Not if she can't afford a paper.

Another member of the No Compassion brigade!

I deal with these people regularly--they are living on the edge, and yes, they would like a TV, but they have to put every fucking cent into their tired old oil heaters because we've had such a cold winter to keep their homes at 55 so the pipes don't freeze.

Unbelievable.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

110. I think you are actually minimizing what most elderly people can do on a fixed budget.

Many of them are not as helpless as you make them out to be.

Unbelievable indeed.

[MADem]

114. No, I am not.

I have SEEN the freezing cold rooms because there's no money for heat when I delivered the Meals on Wheels.

I have SEEN the embarrassed looks as they line up at the feeding center or food pantry.

It's not "helplessness"--it's POVERTY. And it exists, even in what some might see as "well to do" areas.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/02/18/home-heating-assistance-runs-out-for-many-boston-residents/

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28900221/

These people "got it"--it's not that hard: http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1522321703/Quincy-teenager-launches-rescue-103-year-old-during-blizzard

Food insecurity is a real issue for many in rich, well larded America:

http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/Perry-County-Food-Pantry-Struggles-to-Help-Families-in-Need-189275021.html

http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20130218/NEWS01/302180024/Clyde-Backdoor-Food-Pantry-seeks-donations

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/02/food_pantry_in_bessemer_is_emp.html

You might want to get out more, do a little volunteering...then you'd see it, too. Snarking at me and denying what is, is no argument.

I gotta say, though, my eyes have certainly been opened on this "Democratic" message board!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

116. I'm not talking about the actual money aspect

You seem to be completely incapable of believing Granny is aware enough to do research, despite all the hypothetical roadblocks you create of her not being able to get access to weekly circulars or a newspaper, for example.

But if you keep making up those roadblocks, unless someone is giving away free television sets, this discussion becomes moot. A good TV nowadays is far too expensive for all the people you are talking about to buy one, no matter who's having a sale.

Is that what you really want here? Free TV's? Why didn't you just say so right off the top and we could avoid the subterfuge?

[MADem]

118. I AM talking about the money aspect, which very often PREVENTS Granny from

doing the research. She doesn't have a computer, she doesn't have a car, she doesn't have the cash to jump on the bus and go comparison shopping, or buy a weekend paper.

Many of our elderly live lives of quiet but real desperation. They use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. And they do not COMPLAIN.

Your "free TV" distraction is just horseshit. I never said such a thing, so why (desperately) suggest that I did? Let me break it down, plainly:

What I would like is for assholes like Best Buy to not "two tier price" based on the ability of people (usually wealthier people, who have access to technology, unlike our poorer citizens) to "window shop" on the internet. No matter how much "comparison shopping" Granny might be able to do IRL, she's not going to know what the price is at AMAZON or NEWEGG if she doesn't have a computer or know how to use one. So she pays two fifty for her little tv, while the person behind her in line pays two and a quarter....and you don't see a moral problem with that?

I DO see a moral problem with that.

By your words I've come to know you. I must say, your name and your POV do not match.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

119. Whatever

Ignore button is right there. Feel free to use it.

The bottom line is the granny you created can't afford $250, $225, or $100....you've already got her eating cold soup in a dark house with no electricity and heat.

The fact you don't give the elderly enough credit for being able to haggle or find a good deal is your hangup.

You really have a tremendous chip on your shoulder. Your name fits perfect, unintentionally.

[MADem]

122. I will not resort to a childish fit of pique because I find your POV obtuse and unkind.

You completely misread me if you think your wrongheaded ideas cause me upset--I feel terribly sorry for you, is all.

Granny does things like put aside three dollars a week, and perhaps trot down to the pawn shop with an item she can afford to part with, or she might even get a wee check from a friend or relation to add to the fund. That's how she does it.

If you don't understand the relationship between poverty and lack of access to technology, you slept through the Clinton administration, and you haven't heard much of what Al Gore has to say, either.

My name does fit me perfectly: MA (Massachusetts) Dem (Democrat). Sometimes I feel like the only Democrat in the vicinity. I sure feel like that in this conversation.

[Sherman A1]

115. My point exactly, however

apparently there seems to be an unwillingness on the part of some to get beyond their sweeping generalizations.

Every case is different and there are people truly in dire straits, that said there are many who are more than capable of making informed decisions in the ways they always did and I don't think there is a need to be condescending to them or the abilities that have served them well through the years.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

117. I've seen so many elderly folks outwit people far younger at getting good deals

The vast majority of people who get "scammed" by places like Best Buy on showcasing are younger people who don't have a clue about the value of a dollar, and think paying a higher price is something to brag about.

I'm scouting for a new TV myself right now, and some of the "advice" I get from people who know all the features of new televisions but nothing of the price is mind numbing.

[Sherman A1]

123. Precisely

I recall watching my elderly Mother negotiate and it was often a sight to behold. There are some that just have the skill and others who don't..

Good luck on the TV purchase. We were looking at an upgrade recently and came to conclusion of what we had was good enough. Still seem to be some good deals out there even after the Super Bowl ads which I understand is the best time to buy.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

124. I have an old tube set from the ancient early 2000's!!!

We just missed the flat screen High-Def revolution.

I'm already calling around looking to donate the old TV. It works fine, but is obsolete.

[Sherman A1]

125. We moved our old tube 1980's edition set to the basement

and hooked it up to the cable there so we can watch (sort of) things while doing the treadmill and alike. It still works great and now in semi-retirement should hold up for a significant period. If you are getting rid of yours given the age & type it may just be best to do the E Recycle thing as that is where mine was heading had we done the upgrade and rotated the current TV to the basement.

[MADem]

120. I am not generalizing--I see this every day.

There are more people in dire straits than you seem to want to acknowledge.

If one person is getting ripped off solely because they do not have access to technology, that's one person too many.

Go on, though, play clueless if you must. Or read and learn something: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-digital-divide.htm#did-you-know

Internet and computer use has undoubtedly increased in the United States and the digital divide may be smaller within certain populations. However, it remains a fact that poorer people may not be able to afford technology, and poorly funded schools aren’t always able to offer regular use of technology to their students. In contrast, students in middle class and upper class families, and in schools that have medium to excellent funding, may have technology at home and school. This gives them considerable advantages over those whose homes and schools don’t have the same offerings.

Another point of concern in the US is the way access to technology may divide large minority groups from Caucasians. Smaller percentages of African American and Hispanic citizens regularly use or have access to information technology. Since there exists so much possible benefit of learning how to use computers and how to take advantage of web materials, one argument is that the digital divide keeps people in certain social groups poor and ignorant to a degree. The Reverend Jesse Jackson referred to it as an apartheid of sorts.

[jberryhill]

32. Because price differentiation allows them to pay employees and leases

[Warpy]

5. The only time I ever did something like that was in Boston

I'd go out to the burbs and Bloomingdale's to pick out what I liked that season. Then I'd go to Chinatown and get the patterns and material and go home and make it.

Still, I hope this works for Best Buy. I'd hate to see all the bricks and mortar stores disappear.

[JI7]

11. is that really the same thing ?

because you aren't getting the same product in your case.

i agree, i hope they can work. they seem to at least be trying to do something unlike Blockbuster and Borders .

i think maybe offering free service repair on products people buy up to a certain time might help also.

[Warpy]

14. Yes, that's the problem with buying online.

If it's DOA, you can generally return it. If it's got a marginal part that fizzles after a couple of months, you're stuck fixing it yourself, something I can usually handle but completely flummoxes people who weren't the kind of kids who picked things apart to see how they worked. Warranty service in a bricks and mortar store can't be beat for them.

[d_r]

21. we got a 3d tv and a 3d bly ray player from amazon.com

we got a brand new 3d blu ray and put it in there. We watched the first half of it, then the kids were tired and we stopped it. The next day we turned it back on and the blu ray player literally started falling apart (it was LG). It just started falling apart and I couldn't even get it to eject the blu ray disc. So I went to amazon and printed out a return label. It is easy, you can pick ups or us mail whichever is easiest. They sent a new blu ray player, the first one must have just been a lemon or gotten dropped by ups or something because the second one has been going great for months now. Anyway, I put in the comments section that I was sending it back with a blu ray in it, because I didn't want to void the warranty by opening it up and getting it out. But could they please send it back to me because the kids will want to watch it. A couple of days later I get an email from amazon, they couldn't get it out either, but here is a $30 amazon credit to get a new blu ray. Oh, and when I say it fell apart, it fell apart - it too the end of the usb port came off on the blu ray player came off in the usb cable for an external hard drive I had plugged in. So they sent me a new usb cable also. This is the only thing I've ever returned there, but man, I have to say that they did a great job with the return! More than I was expecting!

[Warpy]

22. That qualifies as DOA since it fried itself in the first 24 hours

Amazon and Overstock.com have been the easiest to deal with, overall, and the best about taking back anything that nukes itself when you plug it in.

I hope you did manage to retrieve the disc so you could finish watching it when the replacement player arrived.

[davidpdx]

95. LG is generally a pretty good brand

It had to have been dropped at some point from when it was made to the time it was delivered. The chances are it went through at least a dozen people's hands in the process. My bet is it was broken when it was picked at Amazon's warehouse.

(Disclaimer: I live in South Korea and I have a LG TV, refrigerator and washer. Never had problems with any of them).

[d_r]

98. yeah, the lg tv has been great

and the second blu ray player has been great, but that first one was a lemon - you are probably right that it was dropped or something.

[davidpdx]

99. We just bought our first HD flatscreen TV in 2011

It's only a 32" because we have a small place, but I was just blown away by the picture quality. Having the ports to plug memory sticks and computers into the TV makes it so much more useful.

[csziggy]

34. Costco brick & mortar will take back stuff ordered online

If you order something from Costco online and it doesn't work or breaks under the initial warranty period - or even if you just don't like it when it arrives - you can return it to any Costco location.

[House of Roberts]

6. Why not continue to showroom

when they still charge 8% sales tax (in my area), when shipping is cheaper than paying the sales tax?

[JI7]

12. don't you have to pay sales tax on products you order also ?

at least i'm pretty sure that is true of california.

[House of Roberts]

15. In some cases

if the merchant has an in-state retail outlet, for instance.

I have bought machinist supplies from Enco in Atlanta, with no tax. MSC has a place here (Ala.), so they charge me the whole 8% plus the shipping.

[jeff47]

54. Actually, in all cases.

When the retailer does not collect sales tax, you are supposed to pay the sales tax. The mechanism to pay varies by state, but it's usually a line on state income tax forms.

Most people don't do so because there's very little enforcement. But it's still tax evasion.

[joeglow3]

73. So you break the law and don't pay use tax?

Way to support your state, city and schools. Imagine how great it would be if everyone in your city took your advice.

[Sgent]

24. Yes

all states which have sales taxes have an equal use tax, which is payable annually. The difference is that sellers who do not have a physical presence in a state cannot be required to collect the tax, so its not added to your bill at checkout.

At least in theory, failure to remit the use tax is a felony in every state I'm aware of, although I've never heard of a criminal indictment.

[Coyote_Tan]

43. I got best but to take off the equivalent of sales tax...

Last edited Tue Feb 19, 2013, 08:12 AM - Edit history (1)

... When I purchased my last tablet.

Basically I could buy it there or go to the PX or amazon so they decided some sale was better than none.

[Dreamer Tatum]

61. Why are trying to avoid taxes?

Your taxes fund things like police, fire, and infrastructure, and fund the pensions of public servants.

[tritsofme]

7. As long as sales tax can be avoided...

You can still catch a break on bigger ticket items online. Sales tax around here is 10%+

[unblock]

26. in many states, that's not legal.

connecticut has a "use tax" that essentially applies the usual in-state sales tax rate to anything you bought outside the state without paying sales tax elsewhere but bring into the state.

enforcing it is a challenge, of course, but certainly on paper it's tax evasion if you don't pay the use tax.

[politicat]

39. And the next time you blow a tire on a pot hole, or need EMS, or your kid's school's roof leaks...

That's your tax avoidance scheme at work.

[RC]

55. Pocket change. It's the multimillion dollars in profits that companies don't pay taxes on,

because of exceptions, loop holes and creative accounting.

[Bluenorthwest]

46. No sales tax here in Oregon at all. It is a regressive form of taxation after all.

nt

[u4ic]

8. Wouldn't you have to find a salesperson

to talk to you first?

They are notorious for bad customer service.

There isn't one in my city any more as a result of the following, but even if they were, I wouldn't support them. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/01/31/business-best-buy-closure.html
They closed the doors on a number of Canadian outlets with no notice - employees showed up for work and found they were locked out.

What a shitty company.

[mopinko]

25. as it is now you have to go to the service desk.

i wouldn't know except that i was waited on by someone i know.

[politicat]

38. We must ooze money pheromones, then...

Because we can't make ten yards in our local BB without having a Blueshirt (think Redshirt) swarm.

Our problem is we're both tech oriented and very good at setting our requirements before we walk into the store, so we've usually done our show rooming online and picked exactly what we want. We're also generally a step ahead on current consumer tech specs. (We're geeks.)

It's not a store thing, AFAICT. There are 6 BBs in my local orbit and 2 in my secondary orbit. I get overwhelming, even excessive, service in all of them.

[u4ic]

147. I've heard from a number of people

about the terrible service at BB - at least in the US. Or some parts of it, I guess.

I've only been there once, but in Canada (and yes, someone came up to me but the store was empty and I was looking at DSLRs). It was all the negative reviews I heard and read over the years that turned me off from ever going there in the first place. Shortly after, it closed down.

I do the same as you, research extensively online before narrowing it down even further as I see it IRL.

[Ian David]

9. Still boycotting them over their anti-gay donations. n/t

[Tikki]

10. I would be careful, some companies like Wal*Mart sell proprietary electronics and can have..

differences from the manufacturers' electronics you review online.

If an item or serial number is different, even if it looks the same, be sure to ask why....


Tikki

[aikoaiko]

13. Reminds me of Crazy Eddie. Anyone remember him?

For those of you didn't grow up in the NY-NJ-CT area, you might not understand.

[marybourg]

20. Heard him on the radio only. Didn't something bad happen to him

eventually? I just looked it up on wikipedia. Wow, it was even crazier than I remember. Sounds like the Onion!

[musette_sf]

23. "His prices are INSANE!"

Ads starred Jerry Carroll, who was a DJ on WPIX-FM.

Link below with video of great Crazy Eddie "Disco Fever" spot - filmed at the fabulous 2001 Odyssey on the fringes of Bay Ridge, home of "Saturday Night Fever":

http://www.chrisbalton.com/htm/HISTORYdiscoFeverEddie.html

[TheManInTheMac]

42. He advertised on one of the original superstations. WOR? maybe?

We got his commercials in the '80s on cable in Ohio.

[wilt the stilt]

16. I hope it works out

I have bought many items from them and they have always been good. I bought an Insignia GPS and a year later they were no new maps. The gave me two Garmins for half price. I do support them.

[Motown_Johnny]

17. There is still the sales tax issue (in most states)

since you can still save money by not paying sales tax when you buy online.

It may still be an issue for larger purchases.

[d_r]

19. amazon is having to charge sales tax in more and more states

we have such a regressive sales tax in TN and amazon starts charging next year. Your supposed to pay it anyway.

[RebelOne]

70. Georgia just now put its foot down on all online sales taxes.

Didn't used to have to pay state sales tax on online sales, but we do now.

[d_r]

18. I remember years ago

they would price match stores but not amazon. Only "local" stores. So I went home and got it from amazon. And I haven't been back to best buy in years. Guess I showroomed.

[lpbk2713]

27. I get most of my equipment from NewEgg.

I might try BB out once just to see if they can beat a NewEgg sale price with free shipping.
I never did like BB much but it might be an interesting challenge.

[riverwalker]

28. I'm a reverse showroomer

I research online, read reviews and compare features and prices, then buy in person at the store.

[abelenkpe]

29. Me too!

I call first to make sure they have what I'm looking for. I don't want to pay shipping if it can be avoided.

[RedCappedBandit]

31. Well, now I'm just going to 'showroom' for the hell of it

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

33. And yet... when I try to buy something at Best Buy I usually leave empty handed

Because there is no manager nearby to unlock whatever it is I want to buy.

[csziggy]

35. Best Buy claims you can buy online and pick up at the store

Nice idea - you do your shopping and price comparison at home, place your order, pay online, and your stuff will be waiting when you get to the store.

WRONG.

Best Buy does not pull the items until you arrive to pick them up. It doesn't matter if they are paid for - they are still sitting on the shelf for customers to purchase. If they are low on inventory for the item you have selected and PAID for, it might be gone by the time you get there.

I tried to use this method to save time. It didn't. It took their personnel longer to pull the items I had already selected and paid for than it would have taken me to walk around the store myself to get them. Then their computers claimed my items had not been paid for, even though I had the receipt showing the completed transaction.

Instead of walking in, picking up the order and leaving, I waited about a half hour for them to get my items, then another twenty minutes arguing with the clerk and the manager about the payment issue. I had to call my credit card company to verify that the payment had been cleared before they would accept my online receipt!

I don't shop at Best Buy anymore, not even online. It's not worth the effort. For computer parts, I got to the local computer shop where I get my computers built these days. If they don't have what I need, I order from NewEgg.com

[DotGone]

37. Did you wait for them to send you the email that the item was pulled?

No email means it hasn't been pulled yet. At all my local BB's, you go to the customer service desk to pick up web orders since those are held there unless it's something big. Bigger items are held out back.

[csziggy]

40. Yes, had the email. Nope they had not pulled the order.

Maybe it's just the local Best Buy. They are very inefficient - or were when I shopped there.

It actually happened twice - once I had placed the order and set it up for my husband to pick up to make it easier for him. He had the email, the copy of the order with the payment confirmation. Took an hour for him to get one item, already paid for.

Second time was the one I related above. I had the email, the order with payment confirmation. Still took nearly an hour.

I won't be returning to Best Buy.

[Sheldon Cooper]

44. I had the exact opposite.

I bought my computer online, got a confirmation email, went to the store and picked it right up, and left. Maybe it was just your local store?

[csziggy]

65. It is probably the local store

It's never very organized, hard to get assistance, even for finding items, and is generally a pain to shop in.

At the time I was trying to do the online orders, I had bad knees so walking around the store was agonizing. At least while they were trying to sort out my orders, I could walk away from the counter and sit on a bench to wait. It was still painful to deal with and completely unnecessary.

[tabbycat31]

57. You can and I have done that

I bought my laptop on BB's website (the store had the model I wanted, but it came in 4 colors and the color I wanted was online only) and they emailed me when the laptop came into the store, and I saved $30 in shipping (not to mention the hassel of being home because I would not want to have a new laptop stolen).

[lindysalsagal]

36. Best Buy has 2 problems: Terrible staff and returns aren't 100% of price.

They get you for a 15% "re-shelving" price. Total B.S.

That's why I won't buy there: Costco.com allows total returns.

[LeftyMom]

50. Most electronics stores have the restocking fee for some items.

Otherwise you get people buying a camera, taking it on vacation, and then returning it, and you wind up running a free rental business. So you have to do that for items where that's a potential problem or you wind up with a store full of used stuff you can't sell at full price.

[Gormy Cuss]

79. That's understandable but they'll charge the fee even if the return was the same day.

Most of the retailers stipulate only that the restocking fee is charged if the box has been opened. I was stung by that once when I had a screen defect (tiny, but still it was a defect) on a new monitor and they wanted to charge me 15% for restocking even though I had purchased it six hours earlier.
I made a stink and eventually got them to wave the fee but I never shopped in that store again.

[MADem]

82. They got rid of that fee, supposedly, but they shortened the return time.

Last edited Wed Feb 20, 2013, 01:03 PM - Edit history (1)

It's fifteen days instead of a month.

Also, if the item is special order, they will charge you a TWENTY FIVE percent restocking fee.

Also, they have a huge list of stuff they will not take back, AND they retain the right to not take stuff back for any reason!

[ecstatic]

41. Hmm... Interesting strategy, but I don't showroom. I watch youtube and pick the lowest price

and usually go with Amazon due to my 2-day free shipping membership. The price at Best Buy would have to be substantially lower for me to give up Amazon's fast shipping and generally hassle free experience.

[durablend]

45. Probably a huge paragraph of fine print to go with it

"We don't...we can't...we're not allowed to...blah blah"

[Mopar151]

47. I avoid Best Buy for a number of reasons

Mostly because their whole setup annoys me - and I can get = or better deals locally for "consumer" stuff. F'r instance, we bought a freezer and a dishwasher from the neighborhood "appliance guy", who is a Frigidare dealer - the nominal price was higher, but when delivery charges, removal charges and the like were added in, price was a wash. And it was delivered on our schedule, and is serviced locally - by people who don't scare us just by coming to the door.

[Maeve]

48. If the employees knew what they were talking about, that would be a step in the right direction

Hubby is a computer guy, went to local Best Buy. Listened to two staffers answer questions (badly) from other shoppers, realized they knew nothing about computers except the prices. Couldn't get what he wanted, couldn't get info on WHEN he could get more info (when is the manager in? Who has the pre-order list? How many are on it? Where am I on the list? When do you expect more?). Never back to Best Buy for computer stuff--and maybe not for other electronics. Blu-rays? Yeah, they can't mess that up.

[LeftyMom]

51. They don't bother to train anybody, because their pay is shitty and their turnover is high.

They'll just have to train their replacement in a few months, so why bother? All they need people to do is add on warranties and ring up the purchase.

Yes, it's stupid. But that's the thinking.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

56. That's my complaint

On computer items they're not bad because they tend to have younger, tech-savvy sales people (at least at my location). But if you're looking to purchase a major appliance or a television, you can forget about getting any guidance.

[Greybnk48]

58. We just made a major purchase at Best Buy

about a month ago. The salesperson did a google search of every product we bought and gave us the lowest price found on the internet, which included our local competition stores. We ended up getting almost a 50% discount on one of the items! I was very pleased with the whole thing. He did exactly what we would have done, but saved us the trouble. It was a bit time consuming, but worth it.

[sir pball]

59. Here's the online retailers they'll match (this could be good):

"..the Designated Major Online Retailers are: Amazon.com, Apple.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Buy.com, CircuitCity.com, CompUSA.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, hhgregg.com, HP.com, HomeDepot.com, Lowes.com, Newegg.com, OfficeDepot.com, OfficeMax.com, Sears.com, Staples.com, Target.com, TigerDirect.com, and Walmart.com."

Matching B&H is silly, they're rarely the cheapest just the best - but if they're going toe to toe with Newegg and Tiger Direct this could turn out to be quite useful.

Then again, most of the time I'm willing to wait the three days Newegg free shipping takes (they get stuff out the door so fast it makes my head spin) in exchange for not having to get up off my lazy ass...and when I do want something RIGHT NOW, usually photo gear, I can oftentimes get it cheapest at a local store - like a new D5100 camera body for $440 cash out the door at 42nd Street Photo. Sure, BB would have price matched but it would have been more of a hassle than the ~5 minutes it took plus, well, why pay the same price for a chain when I can support small business?

[ellenfl]

67. i don't like the 30 day return limit. i'm a bad procrastinator.

did tigerdirect buy compusa? they have a combined ad in the sunday paper. big box stores usually do not sell the camera equipment i want and the closest camera store does not sell sony (formerly minolta) products.

otherwise, so far i like staples.

[MADem]

83. You will like it even less now, as they have cut that to fifteen days.

Staples sucks--it's a Mitt Romney enterprise, they treat their employees like absolute crap.

[ellenfl]

102. i know. how's office depot/max? i usually buy online but that doesn't help my community. eom

[MADem]

103. I don't know, but if you can shop at a Costco, they give to Dem candidates.

I'm tempted to get a membership for that reason alone!

[ellenfl]

105. i know. however that doesn't help me much with my computer accessory purchases. eom

[Tommy_Carcetti]

121. They'll match CircuitCity.com?

Good to know.

[JPZenger]

60. The big chains used to get their own model numbers, so you couldn't use price matching

for years, many big chains said they would match the price of their local competitors for the identical product. However, they had the manufacturers issue different model numbers for electronics sold in their stores vs. ones sold in other stores. So, you would try to get a price match, and they would say: "No, that store is selling the X100, but we sell the Y100."

[Skip Intro]

63. I believe mattress stores do the same thing. nt

[Yavin4]

64. I bought my flat screen from Blockbuster online, and it was cheaper.

I had it shipped to the same store and saved on shipping. Then, I just went in and picked it up.

[SidDithers]

72. I just had a nice price match on a Blue Yeti microphone at Staples...

Costco online had it for $100. Staples in store was $150. I asked about the price match and got it for $100 without any hassle.

It's always good to check before buying. Price Match can save you big bucks.

Sid

[DonCoquixote]

74. Threads like this are useful because

They will be very good at making people reveal their political bias:

Those who worry that granny will still be ripped off are most likely the further left, as they know that people tend to be exploited by capitalists, and that those who do not have an education about tech tend to be used by those who do.

Those who say "why shouldn't Best Buy charge it's price to the ignorant" are probably the centrists, if not libertarian. If they rant about sales tax, increase the libertarian likelihood by five.

[Sherman A1]

78. Well,

I believe the change in policy is a good thing. It's an attempt by a company to react to a changing market and remain competitive. I hope it works for them as I believe there is room for both online and brick & mortar means of shopping and at least in theory competition is good for the consumer.

Best Buy's survival is also good for their workforce and suppliers in the long run as well as the communities in which they operate.

[MADem]

85. Geez, that's the first time I've been "accused" (and thank you very much) of being

"the further left!"

I usually get nailed to the cross here because I spent a long career in the military, and of course, the conventional wisdom demands that anyone who was in the military "approves" of the military-industrial-congressional complex (that's not me, either, but never mind...!).

I am an unyielding believer in taking care of the least of our brethren. I don't think it's cool to screw those with the least, who have the least access to information, services, or even fairly-priced consumer products....but that's the GOP way, it seems. The Republicans just LOVE those sales taxes on shit that everyone needs, the type of tax that won't hurt a rich person, but will take a bite out of the budget of someone living on or below the poverty line. That kind of cruel nickel - and - dime-ing irritates me no end!

[DonCoquixote]

91. let me clarify

Further left is not an insult, nor did I mean it is such...I will confess I DID very much mean ; libertarian as an insult

[MADem]

92. I completely took your meaning--no worries!

I wasn't at all insulted, I was pleased that someone was able to discern my essential nature!

[Prism]

75. Wait, you're supposed to *buy* things at stores?!

My best friend and I don't shop. We merely enter stores to compile an online list for later, taking pics of labels with our phones and whatnot.

Stores, particularly clothes stores, are still good thanks to things like clearance racks. For electronics? Yeah, online. I just bought an hdmi cable online for $2.30. At Radio Shack? $19.99.

eBay can also be choice, depending what you're after.

But yeah, roughly 80% of my going into a store is purely to look at things for later online ordering.

[DainBramaged]

86. Best Buy is such a piece of shit company why would anyone even walk in a store?

It's been over two years since I went into a Best Buy. Almost ALL of my electronics/computer purchases are from Newegg or Amazon anyway.

[Sherman A1]

88. Going there tomorrow

so one suspects we disagree.

[Greybnk48]

113. Because the salespeople are local

and need the job/money to take care of their families.

[Sherman A1]

135. Precisely

You hit the nail on the head!

[davidpdx]

96. I think in the long run Best Buy along with JC Penny's and Sears

are going to go out of business. Sears might survive if they can turn things around.

[TexasBushwhacker]

140. They've been matching prices of brick and mortar stores for more than a year.

They just didn't publicize it much. I bought a camera from them and they matched Walmart's price.