What is Digg?275 Comments
- Jon99UT, on 10/12/2007, -4/+258I had this happen when I bought my Nikon D50. Bestbuy.com had it on sale for $100 off, yet the store had it for full price. They then brought up the web site on their terminal, and it was full price. I made them load the site through Internet Explorer and proved to them that it was in fact on sale on the web site.
- mmazing, on 10/12/2007, -16/+117Best Buy employees get a large discount for themselves and their family members.
If I remember correctly, it is 5% above Best Buy's cost. Anyway, I've known several people that worked there, and they do have an internal site that they can look up their own prices with their employee login. And yes, it does look very similar to bestbuy.com.
Btw, it's insane how much they mark up some items. My friend was able to buy a 20' monster cable that retailed for around 90$, for around 6.50. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+100is anyone really surprised? I never talk to the salesman at BB unless I am asking for a specific product, and I just want them to show it to me.
You should know what MSRP and market price are for whatever you are going to buy before you walk into best buy. have you ever browsed the computer dept? rip off central... - KayIslandDrunk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+57Another thing to note is that many of the sales online have "online sale only" printed in a little box on the screen. When I used to work at BBY I know that was the reason we had a different site inside the stores. That way the sites seen inside the store reflect the store price and there isn't any confusion.
- cJw314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+54newegg.com ftw
- Bluejaye, on 10/12/2007, -6/+47This will all be a moot point when everyone has a cell phone with a decent sized web-browser available to them. Then you can just look it up on your phone and cry foul.
- schmots, on 10/12/2007, -2/+36Having worked at Best buy years ago, yeah, there is sorta an internal website, but its more a standard database and should be 15 minutes in or out of update. But yeah.. print off the bb.com one with a time and date stamp, or just order it off the web
- pantala, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35Why not order on the website and choose in-store pickup? Problem solved.
- ih8apple, on 10/12/2007, -7/+38ummm....you all are are not very well informed. I AM a best buy employee and there IS a website that is used on the in-store kiosks that everyone can access - employees and customers alike. This is an intranet website that has different public prices - not employee prices. Those can only be accessed through the POS registers. So why are there two different prices? Well, because it's two different stores! Bestbuy.com has less overhead with added shipping costs, so they usually (when there is a price discrepancy, which is rare) make it cheaper to compensate for the shipping. Then you have Best Buy B&M stores that have many more employees per square foot with added overhead, so it only makes sense there price are different. Geez, its not a conspiracy, its common business sense!
- Ramtech, on 10/12/2007, -6/+34cheap bastards...
i'm gonna just go and bother them about it..
and take some pictures... - kevxross, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27Digg what you like to hear, not what is the truth.
mmazing:
"they do have an internal site that they can look up their own prices with their employee login. [...] My friend was able to buy a 20' monster cable that retailed for around 90$, for around 6.50."
False. +48 diggs as of this post.
Monster Cables probably DO have the highest markup of anything in the store, but does that surprise ANYONE? The discount on them is closer to 50%, 60% max. Your friend got it for $36 at the CHEAPEST.
andnever:
"no there is not a website they look at their prices on, they use the register just like u would, but instead of hitting price check [F10] they hit F4 for employee price check then enter their employee number and scan the product...for anyone wanting to see what it is you can just hit 1 and enter it will work. now as for the internal site...yes there is an internal site, dont believe me walk up to most any display kiosk and these buttons down together ctrl+shift+z a box will pop up with login info."
True. -15 diggs at the time of this post.
How do I know this? I worked at Best Buy (and yes it is a crappy corporation). Go ahead and digg me down now because it's not the truth that YOU choose to like. - slapout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22"Btw, it's insane how much they mark up some items. My friend was able to buy a 20' monster cable that retailed for around 90$, for around 6.50."
RadioShack used to have markups like that too. Only they didn't give the employees discounts like that. - hipnerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19@ih8apple: But what happened in this case was deceptive:
1. Customer comes in quoting price from Web site.
2. Best Buy employee know the difference between web site and internal intranet.
3. Best Buy price matches -- even its own web site.
4. Employee shows customer higher intranet price on monitor claiming it is the "Web site"
You admit that there are two systems and that employees know there are two systems. Best Buy policy is to price match. Why did the employee not look up the price on the Best Buy web site if he knows that it could be different? - houlihan, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24I'm currently a manager for one of the BBY companies, and I can tell you that this is both true, and false.
First up, the IS an internal, employee intranet. Almost every company has one. There is also a section of this intranet that we can go to to look at what it would cost for us to order something internal from the website. It has all the staff purchase prices. Depending on what you're buying, you'd be awfully happy if we pulled up the price on that to show you yours wasn't valid. It doesn't happen.
When you go into a BBY store, what you see on the terminals IS the BBY public Internet site. It is true that it is running in a kiosk format, that just helps keep the porn and the like off our public terminals. You'd be amazed what people will try to do for kicks and the trouble it can cause for us line level people. But I can verify for you that this site that you see on our kiosk is EXACTLY the same as the public Internet site, with a few additions made when you connect at store level. The pricing would be exactly the same on this site as you'd see at home.
If you don't believe it, then ask the associate to pull it up on a demo computer using Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Safari (provided they have Apple computers on display). They would be more than happy to do so. If you're seeing a different price at home, please follow the common sense approach before you flip out and act like an idiot in a store: Delete your cached files.
As for the advice of printing it out before you come into the store - don't bother. If I can't verify it on our terminals or on a computer in the store live, then you're not getting that price. Most people know how easy it is to alter the date on their computer, and many people don't have the correct date set on their PC anyway. A printout without a date is as useless as the product you tore out of an old flyer you're insisting is from the current flyer, and honestly most of us have been burned too many times to just trust you.
The thing that most people miss when they accuse companies like Best Buy or Circuit City of lying or trying to cheat their customers on issues as small as this is the simple fact that it isn't good business sense. There is no real benefit for any of these big retailers to try to screw you out of anything or to fail to live up to their side of any agreements or contracts made. People feel that retailers policies are getting too strict, and that they place an unfair burden on consumers. The thing that many people don't realize is that these retailers, while hugely successful, usually have operating profit margins of less than 5%. Many products, such as computers, are sold at or near cost. Ask any BBY employee you know about his discount on computer hardware.
There is no conspiracy here, as Tilon says above. On the related note of the restrictive policies, if you'd like to see these relax or don't want to deal with any problems related to them, then make sure you know, understand and follow the rules. Save your receipts - they're important. Follow the policies. Be nice if you need a favour. Remember the people in the store are human, and that if you want something, be it an slight extension on your return policy or some extra help ensuring that your product repair is coming along as it should, then be polite and respectful. You can be firm, we honestly even admire that, but once you start yelling then we're not interested in talking to you. If you cause a scene, prepare to have policy quoted to you. I could go on about this for quite some time, but I won't as it is off topic.
We want to help you. Those of us who have chosen this as a career actually like serving people, and we usually have a passion for what we sell. We're not out to screw you, and trust me, if there was any type of conspiracy like the one suggested above, you'd have heard about it by now. Most retail employees are transient, smart, and well educated. They'd catch on, and they'd be *more* than happy to tell you about it. - almostmanda, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19The Yellow sale prices on Bestbuy.com are all in a div class="priceblock". I believe I read somewhere that the website on the In-Store computers hides anything labeled as such, so you can't see the sale prices. Haven't looked into it, but it seems more plausible than the "secret intranet" theory.
- Steelersguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17I used to work for Best Buy a few years ago and can confirm that the internal site exists. The reason behind it is that the bestbuy.com and the actual brick and mortar stores are separate entities owned by Best Buy. The brick and mortar stores have the site that lists the prices of products in the stores. Bestbuy.com can offer cheaper prices because they do not have buildings to pay for like each store so they list their corresponding prices.
- gregdigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16That has nothing to do with this story.
- utcursch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Original story:
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-watchdog0209.artfeb09,0,3319466.column?coll=hc-utility-local - bemenaker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I have known this for a couple of years. I go into the store, the clerk tells me that what I told him is not the price. I tell him to go look it up, he does and shows me the price. I told him to go up to the service area (geek squad area now) and use their internet connection. They have a separate outside dsl line there, (at least at all the stores in my area, cinti, ohio), and verify the web price. They always give me the sale price I saw at home.
Save yourself the trouble, print the web page at home before you go in. Some guys you have to really push to go verify the site.
These were not listed as internet only prices either. - sfrench, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11It's absolutely true. I experienced it as well. Here is my story.
Woke up on a Saturday morning, checked the BB's website and found that the digital camera I wanted was on sale for $65 off. I took a shower, got dressed, went to the store and when they rang it up, there was no $65 discount at the register. I told them it had a discount on their website and they opened "the internet" in their kiosk-like interface. There was no discount listed, but I still insisted that there WAS a discount less than an hour ago. The employee closed the kiosk-like internet session they were in, dropped out to the standard Windows GUI and loaded up their website in Internet Explorer... and the website had the discount listed. The guy seemed legitimately confused, and had to talk to a manager to see if he could price match their own website.
So while I don't think it's a practice that they do this, I do know it happens. So I would also suggest a printout of the website. - cyberwarriorx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12@mmazing:
It's not so amazing as you may think. I used to work at best buy(I actually quit about a month ago now) and aside from the supervisors, managers, etc. everyone else's discount was cost+10%. The thing most people don't realize, is that on stuff like computers, the markup is only 10%. Most gaming, DVDs, and music was sold pretty much at cost or just above. The only areas where you could really get a good deal on stuff, was on accessories, car-fi, speakers and TVs. TVs were out of the question for a lot of employees though, since they regularly checked to see if you could theoretically afford to pay for the said item based on what you've earned at best buy(to prevent abuse). I also noticed another scheme best buy pulled that pretty much screwed up what discounts you got. Basically they could artificially adjust the "cost" of the item based on a number of factors, and sometimes the so-called "cost" of an item was vastly more than what you could've gotten the item off the internet with shipping included. Don't be fooled, best buy is a crooked company, especially towards their employees. - cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9This really seems a bit odd to me. The blogger makes it sound like everybody is running into Best Buy and being told the sale is over. Most items that are highly discounted are in their print flier, of which they have dozens as you enter the store. Other than that, who really spends time online and doesn't just buy the freaking thing and pick it up at the store? Besides, I've had the exact opposite experience. I've often hit one of their notebooks to confirm the price was the same online, the only difference I've seen is the local store had it cheaper than online.
- KayIslandDrunk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10@coit
Yes, you are correct it is an internet-only price. I'm just saying that most of them (of those that I've seen) had a message saying "online sale only"
What I hated were the customers who would print it out and come in and start yelling at me about it and get even madder when I showed them the "online sale only" message on their printout. If someone came up to me politely and told me I would usually help them out (like free shipping or something) but if they were ***** I'd tell them to just order it from home. - novusopiate, on 10/12/2007, -13/+21yeah as a former best buy employee who didn't really care for the job, I can say that I would love for this to be true, but it's not. Sorry to burst bubbles. The only "secret" webseite would be a page on the *intranet* but it does not differ much from regular bb.com site.
- Braincells, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8There are two versions I checked out a price on a TV from home went to the store to buy it, it was a different price pulled up the web page on their public computer and it was full price. I went back home printed the web site out and went back into the store. I had them re-check it and there were two prices.
- fatdog789, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Consumerist = inaccurate
Consumerist = spam
Consumerist = bury
All of the Consumerist articles that hit Digg are just sensationalist, inaccurate *****. - Ligeia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"My friend was able to buy a 20' monster cable that retailed for around 90$, for around 6.50."
This is a blatant lie. I have a friend who WORKS FOR Monster Cable and even he cannot get a 20' cable from the economy line for $6.50.
Leave your stories for school. - houlihan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Because the rebates that "we" owe you are not owed to you by BBY.
If you can get someone in the store to talk to you openly, you'll learn that we HATE mail in rebates.
The rebates are created, funded, administered, and paid out by or in conjunction with the vendors. We have to do what we're told.
BBY in is the process of negotiating with all their suppliers to have the discount applied directly at the store level. The manufacturers don't want to do that. Is it true that there are often problems with rebates? Sure. Any time you have to fill out forms due to arcane rules and mail things away there are bound to be problems. The fact is that most people don't bother to fill out the forms for the rebates, and so the manufacturers offer rebates to retailers, retailers advertise them, and the manufacturer doesn't have to take the hit on most of the items. If they were applied at store level then the vendors would have to pay the retailer to offer the savings on every item sold at that price. If we sell ten thousand units company wide with a $10 mail in rebate (MIR), and we assume that 50% (an overstatement according to the real redemption numbers), then this costs the vendor in the vicinity of $50,000. If we get to apply the rebate in store when you hit print on the POS then the vendor has to pay the full $100,000. They'd rather not do that, and have always resisted strongly. We're working on it.
Again, if you've had an issue with a rebate, other than the fact you just didn't fill it out, then approach the staff in your local store in an honest, respectful, and knowledgeable way. Get your paperwork together, including copies of everything you sent in, the date you mailed it, any times you called the number listed and what you've been told, as well as any responses you have received in any form from the vendor. If a rebate is denied, they'll mail you a letter to tell you and to explain why. Mistakes happen. We see it all the time.
If you have all this in order, and you've waited at least the time stated on the rebate form, then we'll help you. We will try to call and find out what is going on if we can fix it we will. If we can't, then we often just pay them out of customer service to make you happy. I see it, and approve it, all the time.
If you've ever done this and been denied, think about how you approached it. Were you respectful to the front line staff and the management? Did you have all your documentation and follow up in order? Could we easily see that you're being upfront? If the answer to any of these is no, then you were probably told that you should contact the vendor. The MIR is a vendor responsibility, and it has nothing to do with the retailer. Understand that if we pay it out, it isn't because we have to, but out of customer service and because it makes sense to try to keep our customers happy.
I know that the next question will be something along the lines of why we make people jump through these hoops of being prepared and having their documentation in order to help them. This is simply because of the sheer amount of fraud and abuse of the system that goes on. Working retail makes it hard not to become jaded, but we see people trying to pull scams and take money they don't deserve from us all the time. Some people succeed, others don't. The sad fact is that because we have to deal with so much fraud it makes it impossible for me to just "trust" you. I'm not calling you a liar, I'm just saying that I've been lied to before.
Again, it is important to remember that we aren't friends. I want to help you, but this is a business transaction. Both the customer and the retailer have responsibilities that have to be lived up to. Help us to help you, and I promise you we'll do what we can. - xelloss, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11How to fix this problem:
1. Don't shop at Best Buy
2. Get all your stuff on Newegg or somewhere else. - FonixDunMeGood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Listen up, I work at Best Buy. YES there is an internal site. NO we do not use it to trick you. It is there for the pure purpose of employee's using it to find items quickly that they do not know the SKU or model number of off and and the prices reflect IN STORE PRICING. If you want to match something that's online, we go and actually type in www.BestBuy.com to find the online price. Everybody I work with does it that way. WE ARE NOT OUT TO TRICK YOU.
- Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Employee-only? I'm not a Best Buy employee but I can confirm the internal site exists. They have the site loaded on what is supposed to be an employee terminal but they have it set up like a kiosk. They leave this "employee-only" site up for patrons to browse at my local Best Buy (Albany NY) since they are too lazy to run to it and check prices for you. The site indeed runs on a proprietary browser and has no load times, though it does occasionally need to "dial" in sometimes to start working.
Not only are the prices and sales different but inventory numbers as well. - TheShagler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This annoyed me so much that I had to log in just to set the record straight. This is true it’s not used to calculate any type of employee only discount on items. It IS an exact copy of the web site that you see at home the only difference is that the site is hosted off different computers connected to Best Buys intranet.
I don’t think that they purposely try to con customers but I have seen times that the website when accessed from the internet and when accessed from a Best Buy thermal PC connected to their intranet have shown different prices.
SO yes this is true the other people that said they work there and that this isn’t true are wrong. I worked at Best Buy for six years and I saw this a bunch of times. And plus you can’t trust 90% of what those morons that work at Best Buy say (my self excluded).
My guess is that they don’t update the internal website hosted on the intranet as often as they update the web based site. Therefore you get price discrepancies. So no conspiracy just crappy customer service. I think we all know that we can expect that from Best Buy. - icepenguin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If you want the low-down, read this post. I've seen plenty of mis-communication, or just plain bad info here. I worked at Best Buy this last year, and have recently quit. Here's the deal.
Employee discounts: it's 5% above cost. If the store is selling an item at cost, guess what? No discount! You can ONLY see employee prices on the POS screen, where you have to either scan an item or type a SKU for the discounted price to be shown. Around last October, a pilot program allowing employee discounts on bestbuy.com items was run, but that pilot is over, and was only accessible from a select few computers in the store.
The "intranet": There is an EXTENSIVE intranet at Best Buy. When an employee access "Employee Toolkit" (CTRL+ALT+ZZ at any open kiosk) and logs in, they may perform many functions - checking email, checking inventory, ordering product, reading "Retail Insider" - a newsletter, read tips and news tidbits, and a lot more. Of course, there is also filtered/proxied internet access available.
BestBuy.com vs BestBuy.com: Here's the scoop. There ARE two versions of BestBuy.com. One is the version you see at home. The other, so far as I can tell, is only accessible in the store, and is "kiosk.bestbuy.com". Many employees don't know that two versions exist. By simply accessing any BestBuy.com link on a kiosk, whether in Employee Toolkit or not, you will be brought to the in-store version, which will not show item discounts or special deals. You can access a "web pricing" version of BestBuy.com (the one you see at home) from a sub-page in Employee Toolkit, although most employees are not aware that this exists, nor of the difference between the two sites. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Oh no...no no. ::Puts foil hat on:: This is not good.
- tbeseda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6We have one at Circuit City...
Doesnt look identical, but is very similar and always has different prices.
UPDATE:
*I should have said "they have"... I stopped working for those cheap bastardsa couple years ago. - rofflcopterr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8@ stryker
there's no way to do that. at best buy, we use a developed internal software kit with a modded version of internet explorer. there's no way to show URLs side by side. the website isn't secret, it's used to give customers a "bestbuy.com feel" to navigate what a store has.
for those who hate best buy, realize that you hate the 16-18 year olds that work there part time and don't care if they're wrong or gave you the wrong information. that doesn't make us a bad company. some people that work for Best Buy actually care about their jobs and are knowledgeable. - GreyFox422, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I used to work at Best buy, and this is 100% true. While in Customer Service, I honored prices from the site all the time, but only if they pointed it out. The first time it happened, I argued with a customer for about an hour until a manager authorized the reduction. Then I investigatd it on my on, got a little mad, but got over. After awhile, I wouldn't even get manager approval and just did it on my own.
- zeazzz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Mmazing:
You were wrong on two levels.
(1) The discount is not for family members anymore.
(2) There is no BestBuy.com lookalike with employee prices, you have to check at P.O.S.
BestBuy isn't trying to rip people off. The intranet version of the site is for it's own local in store prices; the BestBuy.com has prices for online prices. You can simply do a store pickup or print out BestBuy.com.
Stop whining... - PhrosTT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4FROM BESTBUY.COM
What if I find a lower price at another Best Buy store or on BestBuy.com?
If an item you purchased at Best Buy is advertised at a lower price at another Best Buy store in your local area or on BestBuy.com within 30 days of your original receipt purchase (14 days for select categories*), we will refund you 100% of the price difference. Simply bring in your original Best Buy receipt to the customer service counter while that lower price is still in effect. Clearance items, open-box items or Web-exclusive offers advertised on BestBuy.com are not eligible for price matching. - festivalman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah, this type of thing goes on all the time: http://hood.filefu.com/view/capitalism.jpg
- XStylus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I work at Best Buy, and YES, I can confirm that this is true. Most of the prices are usually the same, but some promotions and sales that are exclusive to the BestBuy.com website sometimes won't be shown on the in-store kiosk. I don't know why they do this, but they do.
If you ask an associate nicely enough, they'll let you use a terminal with straight net access. Typing www.bestbuy.com specifically into the browser will take you directly to the normal website. Most of the associates aren't aware of the differences between the kiosk site and the real site, so take a moment to politely educate them if you run across a discrepancy. I discovered this quite a while back when a customer asked me to look something up and the kiosk didn't reflect the price he saw when he looked it up at home earlier that same day. Just on a hunch, I went to a terminal with straight net access and looked it up on the website, and sure enough the prices were different. - chandler117, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I had the same thing happen to me when I bought my HDTV before Christmas but was too lazy to go home and print it out for the $50 difference. I am sure the employee didn't know about it. Yeah, Best Buy Corp are bastards but it's amazing now nice some employees can be when you treat them like human beings. The guys that helped me put the TV in my car seemed almost as excited about the TV as I was.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Yeah, except for the employees who have direct internet access to the outside world and use it instead of the intranet to check bestbuy.com?
If the sites were different, you'd think the managers would tell us to use the Kiosks instead. Oops?
On another note, the Bestbuy hatred here is a bit over the top. Yeah, a lot of the stuff is overpriced, but it is everywhere else too. We're all geeks, so we know that the internet is cheaper. Great! I use it too.
The fact remains however, that there are non-tech savvy people that exist as well, and they would rather spend more and just go look at the merchandise in a store and be told its a great deal, and are willing to fork the extra money over for the sake of 'convienience'.
Noone forces anyone to shop there. If you like to save money and dont mind doing your own research, use the internet. Noone's forcing you to go to a Best Buy and pay the price premium for their brick-and-mortar. - disruptor108, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I agree, I've done the same exact thing. Looked up a price on BB.com, went to the store, they didn't have the same price, asked a guy in the store to look it up "online", and the in-store website did not show the discount. I didn't buy the item, but went home and saw that they still had the price that I saw earlier online, so I purchased it online with in-store pickup.
- chipper3344, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just print out the items page that day stating the sale and bring it in to best buy....thats always worked for me and then you don't have to go through the hassle of having them check their "website".
- Nocturnalis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Many employees I talked with said they had no idea there is an internal site."
LOL!
Thats b/c many of the employees that work at best have no idea about how internal DNS works.
for any PC inside a bestbuy store www.bestbuy.com can point to any place the admins want. In this case an intranet site. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ owdenbowden
INTRAnet, dumbass. There's no public address. The site is only accessible via their company LAN. - sgtawol, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Best buy charges $80 for a 100ft network cable. I can find one online for $15-20.
I think the correct word is DURRRRRRRRRRRRRR. - hipnerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ ih8apple: You need to read the original article, not the just the recap on the Consumerist.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-watchdog0209.artfeb09,0,3319466.column?coll=hc-utility-local
You say that Best Buy has already fixed the problem, but this article came out this morning. Not only did many employees still not understand the difference, Best Buy corporate couldn't even give a straight answer on the subject. So I don't think the problem has been fixed. - ldkronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"who really spends time online and doesn't just buy the freaking thing and pick it up at the store?"
I've most certainly done that. My mouse broke and I was looking for another one. Checked the prices on best buys website and found the mouse I thought I was going to want, and it was $5 off. However, for a mouse, I definitely wanted to try it hands on to make sure it felt comfortable. When I got to the store, I tried it out and decided it was the one I wanted. However, in store it wasn't on sale. -
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