Reader Jeff could not convince Circuit City to honor its “Unbeatable Price Guarantee.” Circuit City’s stated policy is to beat any competitor’s price by 10%. Jeff found the same 19″ Acer monitor retailing for $219 at Circuit City for only $129 at a nearby Best Buy, yet Circuit City: “would not price match this item because the cost was too low.” Jeff writes:
I purchased two Acer 19 inch monitors today at Best Buy in Valley Stream, NY at the really great price of $129 each out the door, no coupons, rebates or other price modifiers. Being one who loves a truly great bargain, I walked out of Best Buy and directly across the street to Circuit City where they had the exact same monitors (model numbers and all) in stock at $219 each. I was looking to utilize their 110% price guarantee, which states they will match 110% of the price difference of a local competitor within 30 days. I would then return my purchase at Best Buy, keeping the now lower priced Circuit City monitors. I spoke with Michelle in Customer Service and presented my Best Buy purchase and receipt as proof of price and availability. Because the difference was beyond Michelle’s authorization, she had to confer with the store operations manager Les S. Michelle disappeared for 20 minutes, then came out with Les. Les told me that he would not price match this item because the cost was too low. I asked him where in the policy (which was on a large sign behind him I could find out more information about this aspect of the price policy. I just repeated that he could not match a price that low and walked away. Les would not give me his last name, which I can understand. Les would not write down his first name at my request either..just kept repeating it as he walked away. Strictly on principal, I do not accept this. What is the best method of filing a complaint with officials? Bringing public attention to this specific event, informing corporate of this event?
Circuit City’s “Unbeatable Price Guarantee:”
Circuit City is proud to offer the best prices on consumer electronics. Period. Buy a product from us and if, within 30 days of your purchase, you find a local competitor offering a lower advertised price for the same in-stock item, we’ll refund 110% of the difference. If you haven’t yet purchased the product, we’ll beat the competitor’s price by 10% of the difference between our price and theirs. Either way, you win.
A quick call to corporate should clear up the local store’s obstinance. Their policy is clearly stated, so there is little room for equivocation. Call (804) 486-4000, and ask for Phil Schoonover’s office. Politely explain the situation to whomever picks up. If that doesn’t work, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General. Either way, you win.
(Photo: alaspoorwho)
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@rocnrule: Me thinks you have a point. The letter doesn’t say if Best Buy advertised this price or not.
I know most places with price match policies don’t match unadvertised, manager specials or the like.
So how about it Ben? Get us an update on if this was an advertised price? With a link or scan?
@rocnrule: I think you hit the nail on the head. If you you didn’t previously purchase the item from them, they’re under no obligation to offer you the item at all, let alone at a discounted price.
@Falconfire:
Plus I’ve already agreed they should morally honor the guarantee.
@Chicago7: That’s something the manufacturer does to prevent price matching, not the stores.
@Troy F.: I never gave out my last name while working in retail, nor my employee number. The only customers that ask for that identifying kind of information want to use it for nefarious purposes. I gave them enough information as to be able to identify me, without having to fear anything from the customer (i.e., my first name and last initial).
Wow, this crowd would be no fun at Fatwallet or SlickDeals.
@rocnrule: I gotta ask, dude – you’ve made some authoritative assertions about the law in this thread. “This how any lawyer would attack any law…”, “No judge in the land will…”, etc.
Are you an attorney? Have you ever attended law school? Have you even taken a grade 9 government class? I’m going to bet not, since you assert knowledge of the law like a 15 year old who failed Civics.
Do you actually know what a lawyer would do if they had someone tell them this story, expecting them to represent them? Not take the case, that’s what.
The damages in this case are so small, and the contract/advertisement so open to interpretation, that things aren’t so locked up. I would say that there are, quite a few, judges in the land who would say that the dude should pound sand over his lack of $18 savings.
Please stop saying that a court would find for this guy. Its just not that clear.
@Lin-Z:
“I work at a Ritz Camera shop and we have a similar guarantee, but we don’t honor prices from Best Buy because they’re not considered local. If the circut city manager had made that case, that would have made a lot more sense.”
You’ve got to be kidding, that is the lamest policy I have ever heard. I would be furious if Ritz refused to honor a price guarantee on that basis.
And its stupid. Ritz Camera is no more “local” than Best Buy.
So basically the store is off the hook and free to fuck over the next consumer that comes in there looking for a price match? I don’t think so. Policy is policy. Honor the policy, or take the sign down (all of them).
It has nothing to do with greed and everything to do with corporations wiggling their way out of their ‘policies.’
if it was in the best buy ad, and in stock.
Circuit city messed up, bottom line.
of course, the price difference was 90$ a monitor, so 10% of that is 9%.
this guy was definitely a tool in the way he went about doing this, but CC was wrong.
PS: if circuit city was right, why wouldn’t the manager wanted to give his name?
thats a sign of guilt no doubt about it.
@DeeJayQueue:
So, you don’t really have any comment on the story, you just want to comment on how the OP is just stupid and wasting his time. This is a really helpful site.
Circuit City has refused to give out gift cards with purchases as advertised to me twice now. I don’t even park in their part of the parking lot at the strip mall they are in anymore. Rather walk the extra steps just to avoid them at this point.
@DeeJayQueue: Good job of completely missing the point.
@DEEJAYQUEUE: Did you get lost on the web and somehow end up at The Consumerist? Do you not understand the ideology behind this blog? Or are you one of those Verizon Wireless executives that thinks it is their decision to define what is materially adverse for others? The fact of the matter is that consumers are being defrauded by these so called “price match guarantees”. The store manager clearly had some sort of incentive to not match the competitors price as the item was likely below cost even though Circuit City is the direct buyer of the product, not him. Incentives like these likely lead to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in these situations, as can be seen by his determination to deny the consumer and remain anonymous. The reality of the situation is a loophole for false advertisement, further dragging consumers in this country through the dirt. People who read this story and look at it as a non-issue or “just fucking greedy” are the reason consumers are being shit on more and more every day. Companies must be checked by consumers or else they think they have the power to do whatever they want without consequence. It’s just like how our government used to work many years ago, with a system of checks and balances. Now look at what has happened since congress began letting the executive branch do whatever it wants…
If the local BBs are out of stock or it is a discontinued item, then CC will refuse to honor the pricematch (I’ve done the cc 10% dance). For such a huge price drop I’d guess it’s a discontinued item.
And afaik NONE of the pricematching chain stores will go below their cost.
@DeeJayQueue:
I don’t find anything greedy in expecting a company to honor its guarantees. They put the sign up to get people in the door, and offer 110% of the difference to appeal to peoples’ greed. The guy might be a dick if he just pricematched without the extra 10% – that’d be kinda on the lame side. If CC (or any company) doesn’t want to run a risk of selling items very cheaply, they should not make the offer in the first place.
Jeff is just being a smart consumer. He has no responsibility to ensure that CC is making a profit or that the advertised guarantee is working how CC would like it to work. If the pricematch is keeping CC from being profitable, the policy should be modified or revoked.
@Plaid Rabbit:
Well, I’m a lawyer. I don’t do that much consumer law, but some.
I would have to agree, I would not be enthusiastic about taking the case over $18…but I would not say CC is off the hook.
Most states have a consumer fraud act that would likely cover this sort of thing. And such acts usually provide for attorney fees if successful, and possibly punitive damages. There is also the possibility of class action.
But yeah, over $18? I would probably advise the guy (if he really felt strongly about it), to file his own lawsuit pro se in small claims court, and to be sure to mention both breach of contract and the Consumer Fraud Act.
If he had really good info that this was systematically done to a lot of consumers (not just that guy with those monitors on that day, I’d be more interested in taking the case as a possible class action.
But first, I would say he has more than gotten his revenge already by getting the story posted on Consumerist.
This is stupid. What if Circuit City’s price is $1 more? Are they supposed to give anyone who walks into the store with a receipt from another store with a product that costs less a refund?
Besides, the guy sounds like an ass.
I never plan on using price match guarantees, rebates, gift cards or any of that crap. Finding the best price usually consumes enough time – it’s not worth it to save a couple of bucks.
I would use the price match IF I had already purchased the item and then found it substantially lower someplace else. If they won’t match it, return it, and buy at the other place.
@DeeJayQueue:
You make an excellent point. I don’t understand the mentality of someone like this. I think they enjoy causing a scene. Just enjoy your savings and be done with it. Also, it doesn’t mention if this was a sale price or a “inventory clearance” markdown. For there to be such a huge discrepancy I am betting that the monitors were on special or perhaps even defective. No price matching policies cover “gimmick” prices and something tells me there is more to the price than “just a good deal.”
@yahonza: You actually did a much better job of crystallizing what exactly I was trying to say – the overarching point being that while CC may not be off the hook, the thing is far from a lead pipe cinch.
I was also trying to point out that people who act like they know the law, and make huge sweeping statements about legal issues as if there was no room for any argument often don’t know about the law at all. Anyone who’s had a modicum of legal training or even just been party to a lawsuit knows that nothing is given, and everything can be answered with “It depends…”
Fact of the matter is, best buy probably had some agreement with acer, for the purposes of the sale, to lower (and be reimbursed for) their cost on the item. This allowed them to lower the price to an untouchable bargain.
Circuit City (or anywhere with a similar price guarantee) would far rather lose your spendthrift business than lose $100 for a simple price match.
I can understand where they’re coming from here, and I agree with the above poster who wondered if it was worth the $18 savings to drive back and forth and argue and whine and stand in the Best Buy return lineup.
$180 was already saved, for crying out loud.
@yahonza: I’m not kidding, it’s just the lamest policy that you’ve ever heard. A lot of people also labor under the impression that it’s a local store because Ritz chose to keep the name that the store had before they bought it.
Yeah, I totally missed the point allright. I read a story about a guy who saved $180 on 2 monitors. He went to another store, realized that store had them for way more money and decided to try to get them to price match +10%. They wouldn’t and he got pissy.
My point was that once Circuit City said no, it became a waste of time. He saved a bundle of money already and he should have just been happy.
As a smart consumer it’s just as important to know what’s worth fighting for and what will cost more in the long run.
Say his scheme worked, he got his price match, and his time was worth the $18 he saved by arguing with CC’s manager, all he did was just break even. CC just paid him to go through all that hassle and at the end of it he’s down an hour or 2, and he has the same 2 monitors. Instead, if he’d have just walked from best buy to his car with his stuff, then drove away, he’d be have 2 hours with which he could do anything he wanted. I’d say that’s worth more than $18.
I know that it was shitty of circuit city not to price match, but realistically do you expect them to? We’d all like to hold companies to their ideals and to the letter of their signage but it isn’t always that easy and that black and white. If it were there’d be no such thing as divorce, and we wouldn’t need lawyers. The manager has to be accountable to someone, and they have to answer for each and every dollar they give away under price match guarantee. He was covering his own ass no doubt. Idealistically wrong? Of course. Realistically imaginable? Definately. I’m just saying that If I saw that much of a difference in the price between the two stores that I’d realize odds are it would be a battle to get them to honor their policy, and it just isn’t worth the hassle to me.
@rocnrule:
When it says “haven’t yet purchased the product”, I believe they mean purchased from Circuit City. Meaning that they are supposed to beat the price by 10%, regardless if he had bought it at Best Buy or not, that isn’t their concern. Also, the store manager wouldn’t have thought it over and said the price was too low if it wasn’t even their policy to begin with.
The reason they say “advertised price” is because that’s how you would prove to Circuit City that their product is indeed cheaper, by bringing in a flyer.
@DeeJayQueue: Yes you did miss the point. We do ‘realistically’ expect companies to honor their own policies. A policy is a policy all the time, not just when it’s convenient or economical. Below cost? What a shame. It’s your company policy.
The point of the price matching policy is 1) To promote the idea that you don’t have to go to another store to get a better price, and 2) To ensure the customer that if the item you buy today goes on sale within x number of days, you will get the better price. Not adhering to this policy pretty much removes the incentives for consumers to shop there and to feel comfortable about buying anything there. Why should I go in and buy a TV for 1799 if I can’t ‘realistically’ expect them to honor the price match when it goes on sale next week?
An interesting detail to add at least about Circuit City’s price match policy is that not only does it not apply to internet listed prices, but also to prices at CircuitCity.com!!! (wallymart has the same inane policy).
@rublind: Reverse the two names and you got it.
@DeeJayQueue: It’s not a waste of time to do something about merchants that violate policy. This guy deserves a slap from corporate. Do you let people walk over you without a fuss?
@m4nea: You can understand where a store comes from that violates policy? Uh…
Guarantee? Are you kidding? What happens when any
company doesn’t honor a guarantee? What do you think you can do? The only “guarantee” is it will cost you far more to try and enforce same than it’s worth. In this day and age a guarantee is simply a sales gaff (all talk and no substance).
I’m all the guy’s principles here – but does anyone think he may end up having to pay a restocking fee at Best Buy which would cancel out his savings from Circuit City?
From another persepective.
Way back in the dark ages, price matching and price guarantees were simple.
Then consumer electronics entered into the fray.
One of the big issues with consumer electronics is after sales support. Warranty and phone support specifically. Does the seller provide support for the product? Does the seller pay for support for the product? Or does the manufacturer or importer provide the support for the product?
Some vendors (stores) will elect to provide support for a product in exchange for a much lower price on the product.
To the consumer, model zxcvb123 is identical to zxcvb123.1, but they are not exactly the same product. zxcb123 is a manufacturer supported product that is sold at 35% discount to your favorite chain store, while zxcb123.1 is sold at a 55% discount to another chain store. The difference between the two items is that zxcb123.1 is supported by the chain (including phone support and warranty service), while zxcb123 is supported by the manufacturer.
Then there is item zxcb123.21 which is sold to another chain at a 20% discount, but any unsold units may be returned to the manufacturer without incurring any restocking fees.
In each case the chain store identifies the item as zxcb123 as they don’t want to explain the dirty finacials of the selling item to their customers.
Now, try to price match when you know you are getting the short end of the deal!!
This is why there are terms and limitations to most price matching and price guarantees. And I suspect there is always a manager perogative to the issue that can be found in the 41 pages of fine print in a pdf file on the website just to cover the issue of CC getting a better deal than BB or vis-a-versa.
@rocnrule: Your interpretation is inconsistent. You refuse to read “from us” into the second clause, while at the same time you assume that “advertised price” IS read into the second clause.
It’s true that contracts are interpreted according to the plain meaning of their words, but words in a contract have no meaning outside of the context in which they are used. The fact that “from us” is not written in the second clause is not fatal to FALCONFIRE’s argument if the meaning nevertheless is clear. Common sense also comes into play.
I can appreciate the arguments on both sides, but I believe your position is the tougher one to support. I base that assessment on experience, but (like I said) you’re interpretation has some appeal to it. So, who really knows. Cheers!
too bad their policy states:
Q: Do you match “limited quantity” offers by local competitors? What if the item is not indicated as being in limited quantity, but the item is not in stock?
A: Our policy does not apply to local competitors’ limited quantity offers. In addition, if a local competitor is out of stock of the particular item, we will not match the local competitor’s price. Being “in stock” means that the item is available for sale and delivery that day.
Since he bought all of the Best Buy’s stock, no price match for him.
Also, I would never price match a Best Buy receipt, I used to work there, they can put markdowns on a receipt but make it state “regular price” so their numbers look better.
So what would people be saying if that buyer first bought the monitors at CC for $219 each, then walked across the street to BB to find the identical monitors, in stock, for $129. He thinks that he has a 30 day price protection from CC, but when he asks a manager tells him “sorry, can’t do that because the price is too low.” So what exactly is the unbeatable price guarantee? It only applies if the company can still make a certain amount of profit on an item?
If I knew there was a company who truly honored a lowest price guarantee, not with a bunch of exclusions and fine print, but just a simple find it for a lower price and we’ll beat it policy, I’d gladly give them my business. However, I suspect many places will try to weasel out if it’s more than a token difference. Personally, I try to find the best deal before I buy something. If a company spends a lot of effort promoting a lowest price guarantee, I figure that they’re probably not the lowest price.
I went to CC to purchase a Zen and found that it was $60 more in store than on their website. I asked about them matching their own prices and was told they would not. However the employee also looked it up online and told me that I could always place the order online and choose to pick it up in store. I decided this was a good idea and the same employee that told me this was also the employee responsible for pulling the item. Somehow, it was not ready in the 24 minutes, so I also got the gift card to boot. I never had any problems at CC. Now BB, that’s a different story as everyone seems to know already.
I wouldnt go to circuit city even for cheap monitors and $20 cash.
Comission based retail sales can take a long walk of a short pier.
I do this type of thing all the time. You take the add from store ‘A’ into store ‘B’ and show it to them. Simple as that.
THEN you return the one(s) you bought at store ‘B’.
He did it all wrong and is complaining.
Please clarify how this guy’s desire to save a few bucks via a store’s price match guarantee is a waste of time.
I hear that some people wouldn’t do this, but maybe that’s how he wants to spend his free time? What the hell is free time used for anyway?
I understand weighing the cost of going to the store, getting hassled by management, etc versus the actual benefit. I don’t see how comparing it to how much one makes per hour helps make the decision easier (I see lots of this cost-benefit of my time compared to how much one earns on similar consumer sites).
Regardless of how much I work, I still make the same pitiful salary. The time I saved from not going to Best Buy to argue a price match is not going to roll into more money into my pocket. Yeah, you could say I wasted gas, added some wear to my car and shoes, etc. But all that stuff wears down already.
That being said, my lazy ass would shop online and find the cheapest price and get it there. No trip to BestBuy to haggle prices. I’ll waste my time reading a book, riding my bike, or cooking.
Had you bought the monitors at Circuit City first, then went to Best Buy, grabbed the local ad, and brought it back to Circuit City, they would’ve probably matched it. BUT, for you trying to gip the system…shame on you.
@Lee2706: Because he didn’t read the policy fully, his arrogance is what is commented on.
@Troy F.: Why wasn’t LES wearing an f’n name tag.
@HilltopMichael: Had he followed those steps, and actually purchased them AT CC first, then the company would have to. Can you say SOL?
uh my… more than $200 for a 19″ Acer – at least according to the low/high analysis of 19″ LCD at http://www.pricefad.com you shouldn’t be paying more than around $160.
Jeff – we’re behind you – no Circuit City for me anymore!
The lawyer gave a hint at the right answer to this question. Consumer Fraud.
When a store advertises a product at a certain price, it is under obligation to fulfill that offer. If it makes a mistake, it needs to retract the offer. Have you noticed how CC, CompUSA, etc will put up error notices in their front window? That’s why. Here’s a link explaining a variety of such issues in New York City (they don’t yet make advertising laws easy to find on the web
).
Since BestBuy’s offer was in print, in the local area, it was a real offer at a real price.
Since Circuit City’s price guarantee is in print (in each store!), it too is a real offer at a real price: they are offering to sell any product they have in stock, at 10% less than any local competitor sells it for, subject to certain conditions.
Someone thought it was stupid to make such an offer since their price might be only $1 more. Not stupid at all. Competitors diligently compare prices. Price guarantees are simply a guarantee that the store/chain has done its homework.
Finally, many people are confused about what it takes to take advantage of the price guarantee.
Les at CC was most definitely wrong. The consumer did not have to show his BB receipt; as far as CC knows, the consumer had not yet bought the product. And note that CC gives 30 days for the price match. If BB was out of stock on that particular day, as long as the product is restocked, at any local BB during the week the ad was in force, then CC is obligated to fulfill their offer — or retract their guarantee in print.
Truth in advertising is there for a reason. To protect you, the consumer.
In many states, there are big penalties for selling at a higher-than-advertised price, or refusing to sell at the advertised price.
Honorable stores work hard to make consumers happy. Not to take care of greedy SOB’s, but because a formerly happy customer who has a bad experience will tell all their friends about it. But an upset customer who gets great service will ALSO tell all their friends.
I’ve been in a number of stores (usually grocery stores) that will honor shelf-price mistakes, or even give (quantity one of) a product for free if you bring a pricing error to the manager’s attention. To me, that’s great customer service.
@StevieD: This is exactly how they get around it on TVs (Mitsubishi for example), as the exact same TV has a different ‘model number’ at the two chains.
@hillsrovey: Restocking fees would not typically be applicable to unopened products.
@Finalnight: This is not why the manager called shenaningans and did not honor the policy. He said the ‘price was too low’ according to the story. If a manager points out this (loophole) caveat in the policy as why they will not match the price, ok, fine.
@Spaztrick: Had a similar problem. To me, this is just silly. I go to the store to see the product and assure myself it’s what I want. Then I should go back home and order it, and go back to the store? Even worse…I got them to give me the online price on a receiver, then instead of me walking over to where the receiver was and carrying it up to the register, they told me they had more ‘upstairs.’ When I got to the conveyer belt room, I was told they only had the one. Instead of me walking right over and getting it, I had to wait ten minutes for the inventory guy to come down and walk over and get it…now there’s a stupid policy.
I agree with Lee2706. It’s his time. If he doesn’t feel like it’s a waste of time, then it’s not a waste of time. We could all as easily say that posting our partially-informed and personally biased opinions is a waste of our time. And “Les” should have given his name; in fact, I think that’s probably mandated by company policy. It’s probably available on the company site, anyway – he was just being an ass.
A friend worked a local electronics store. He noticed that in tomorrow’s flyer, they were about to sell an item for below cost, and mentioned this to his manager. Turns out it was a misprint. Oops. The manager told my friend to take that product off the shelf, and tell anyone tomorrow who asked for it that they were sold out. It was a one day sale anyway. He also told my friend not to mention this to anyone.
Of course, he told me anyway. I went down there first thing in the morning, and asked for two of them (want to guess who the other one was for?). “I’m sorry, we’re…” “Uhm, you can’t be. You’ve been open…” Sure enough, they honored the price.
Be careful not to clip any coupons or try to shop many different online stores for the best price on something you want. DeeJayQue will call you an idiot.
@DeeJayQueue:
Very well said! I work with a guy like this. He sits in line at Costco for 15 minutes to save 3 cents a gallon (a whopping 45 cent savings for filling an empty tank in his car).
Of course, this doesn’t make Circuit City suck any less.
I’m so tired of companys using absloute terms (unbeatable!, unlimited!, no restrictions!) in their advertising only to give you a bunch of fine print that pretty much says the advertisement is a load of bullshit. This should be illegal.