That has to be some sort of attempted fraud for trying to collect for services not actually rendered.

Just as if they were to say they'll give you the sale price but you have to buy a little USB thumb drive, but they won't give it to you.

Personally I would like an explanation as to why you need a $150.00 sound card... you do know that soundcards haven't really added anything new since the Soundblaster AWE16 (from 1995). Not to mention the "Fatal1ty" brand is like buying monster cables (i.e. you're paying 20~50% more just for the branding).

If you're really ticked, contact the consumer protection group in your state. That's probably the only way they will stop it.

If it is a poorly-trained employee/manager, they'll deal with it. If it is a twisted corporate policy, they'll fix it.

Do they list any compensation if they don't price match? It sounds like an empty policy if it doesn't.

I personally avoid price-matching. Prices are usually about the same and going through this BS to get them to the lowball price isn't usually worth it. I prefer to give my business directly to the store offering the best price - not some BS price matcher that can pull this kind of crap.

Virtually every vendor that has both a B&M as well as a Web stores is having this type of problem, specifically that there is a difference between "in-store" and "internet" offerings.

In this case the manager was trying to match the terms of the sale as well as matching the prices. The BB offer was an "internet" offer... which by the way, may or may no match the price of the BB "in-store" offer.

This problem is going to continue to exist as long as vendors fail to disclose the differences between their in-store and internet offerings.

Actually, this makes sense. They'll match the price you'd actually have to pay to get it at Best Buy. You won't drive 30 miles, so if you wanted it from Best Buy you'd pay their price plus shipping. Since they don't offer "GET IT NOW" shipping, the next best thing is next day shipping.

Not saying I like it, but I see where they're coming from.

@Coyote:

I fried my hearing in my teens with that loud rockNroll music. A $4 USB sound dongle works for me. :)

@Coyote: It depends on the use. I've produced audio for radio with the card on a board, an average $30 sound card and a card at this price level and the quality is better as you go up.

This wasn't a "made up" delivery charge and it wasn't meant for you to "pay for them to replace their inventory." Since the BestBuy 30 miles away is not exactly a competing store, if you were to buy the card on bestbuy.com you would pay $15+ for overnight shipping. Fry's was matching your actual cost, not the advertised price.

I had a nearly identical experience at an NYC Circuit City when I attempted to match a price from J&R Music World. The price difference was $100 and J&R's shipping was $30, so CC was willing to give me $70 off. Despite living in NYC, I reluctantly accepted because I didn't want to lug a 70 lb box on the subway, and a cab from J&R to my house would have been about $30.

It's not an internet only sale. Up until two hours ago, the cards were available at 4 Houston area stores. It's now down to 2. Believe me when I say that i checked before trying to buy. Best Buy's shipping charge is only $5.99 but I decided to order it from Creative and get the free shipping. I'm still waiting on a response from their customer service people.

Jim

Maybe I'm missing something, but why does Fry's have an obligation to price match Best Buy's online storefront?

"I had intended to buy a new Creative XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series sound card"

Oh, well there's your problem right there.

Why didn't get just get it from Soundblaster.com for $2.50 more instead of driving to the store and trying to haggle?

@Coyote: I paid about $600 for mine. I can record up to 8 simultaneous channels of 24-bit audio, 2 through some pretty decent built-in preamps, for starters. Could the soundblaster awe16 do that?

@cheviot: It may make sense, but that's not what "price match" means to most people. "Price match" means "show us where someone sells it cheaper, and we'll match their advertised purchase price." If there are exclusions or exceptions - for example, if what they really mean is "we'll match the price you'd actually have to pay to get it from wherever you saw the advertised price" - it should state that clearly. Otherwise they're not really matching the advertised price, and they're charging you for something - in this case, overnight shipping - that they have not provided. If they're not willing to actually match the advertised price, they shouldn't say that's what they're going to do.

I can only offer one good explination:

If Best Buy is offering that card at that price exclusively online, then they could reasonably match the price it would cost shipped and add in Best Buys regular shipping rate.

But that's only if it's offered exclusively online. If it's offered in store, and there is a local store, then the shipping charge shouldn't apply.

@Coyote:

It might not be worth it to buy an expensive sound card if you're using some trash-garbage stock speakers for your computer, but if you're using expensive high quality headphones, a real soundcard is a necessity.

Not to nitpick or anything, but you even said yourself that the closest Best Buy to them with the card in stock is over 30 miles away. That doesn't exactly make them a competitor. The guy at Fry's was not obligated to price match it at all considering that. It may have been his way of saying he could do it without actually having to do it.

@Coyote: Personally I would like an explanation as to why people post junk comments. Who cares why he wanted that particular card? Does it have any relevance to the story?

I bought a chair mat (large plastic sheet that goes under your chair) at Frys and the sign said it had a lifetime guarantee. So when I returned it for cracking a few months later the lowly CSR at returns said it only had a 90 day warranty. So I take him to the back and show him the big sign that says lifetime. Then he tells me I have to go to the manufacturer. Of course the only sticker on the item is a bar code and Fry's sticker. The bulk-item display doesnt say much either and I told him I would be happy to if he had an address. After 10 minutes of him calling "service" and talking to two managers, they finally replaced it. They came through, but it was a painful process with them trying to use any excuse to weasel out of the "guarantee" that they prominently display.

Price matching rarely is worth the effort in store I've found. They always try and find a way to weasel out of the deal.

@Geekybiker: So i've noticed. Makes me wonder, if the stores really don't want to be bothered with price matching, THEN WHY THE HELL BOTHER TO OFFER IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Just don't have a price matching policy if you don't want to and say, "Sorry, we don't price match." Sheesh. Frustrates the crap out of me.

@Mike Karklins-White: I wouldn't call 30 miles local.

@Yurei: That's an easy one, Yurei.. Just like rebates, they use policies such as this to encourage people to shop at the store, with the hope that most people won't bother -- and most people don't.

I've never really understood price matching, really. If you can *beat* the price, great - but if you can match it, who cares.

Yeah, a 60 mile round trip probably isn't worth it, but that's not exactly local - so they weren't really obligated to give the OP anything.

"Second, I think an e-mail to the store's management and customer service department is in order."

BWAHAHAHA... that's funny.

Clearly the OP has never actually dealt with Fry's before.

This is the same company well-known for taking defective returns, re-shrink-wrapping them, and putting them back on the shelves at a discounted price.

Good luck with that "talking to their management folks" line of thought. Let us all know how that works out. :-)

@Coyote: Oh, great, it's "that guy" -- the same guy that when someone asks how to do something in a support or advice forum, instead of offering support or advice, asks "Why in the heck are you doing THAT? Do THIS instead" when it may be a matter of personal preference or due to an issue you as the irrelevant commenter would never understand.

For MANY people, especially those working with professional audio or even advanced amateurs, on-board sound or a $20 Realtek chip card doesn't cut it at all.

And gamers - well, they're a different breed altogether. Either you get that, or you don't. I don't even try to understand it, but if it makes the gaming experience that much better for them, more power to 'em.

"Unfortunately for me, the nearest Best Buy store with the card in stock is about 30 miles from me and it really isn’t worth the gas expense and hassle to drive over there."

So I guess paying extra for the card would have been worth it, huh? Oh, wait. You must be one of those entitled people.

I have been to this Webster, TX Frys many times and made many big and small purchases there. They have disappointmented me many times. I now only shop there for the small ticket 'sale' stuff as they have a harder time messing that up.

They are horrible with price matching.
They are horrible with warranty work.
Their prices on electronics/pc stuff is only ok.

Fry's has already made my do not shop list after being treated like an idiot while making a simple return. Seriously, I'm running out of brick and mortar options that haven't turned me away by incredibly bad service.

that makes sense if you are price matching amazon or new egg. something online only that has no over head.

but if you could get it at a best buy in store same price, they should suck it up and match it.

At least they weren't aholes that wouldn't even price match. When I attempted to price match some server nics recently, I was told... "We don't price match Best Buy." and the delightful "We don't price match Circuit City." and the oh so wonderful "We don't price match CompUSA." So...I was basically told that their three primary competitors are unpricematchable (sorry, best word for the job even if it isn't real). I frankly advised the jerk of where he could shove his nics and why, as well as advised him of who I worked for, how much I bought there in the past year for my employer (upwards of $100,000 worth of merchandise) and advised I would never be back. There wasn't even a look of shock on his face when he looked up my profile in their system (which does keep track of your purchases people!). That told me everything I needed to know and I walked out without saying another word.

@Dansc29625: I guess you've never lived in Texas ...

@icruise: Having the card now vs. waiting for delivery is my guess.

Besides, SOMEONE has to start making up for that missing $65Million that was embezzled...even if it's $14.87 at a time.

People still want as many cycles out of their cpu for as much bang-for-buck as possible. As cool as recent onboard sound offerings are, they still draw from the overall pool of resources. So throwing in a pci soundcard should theoretically restore that lost...1%? group of cycles.

Unless the card still draws cycles from the cpu like a lot of winmodems used to do. :)

I see a mistake here. Best Buy sells the Titanium for $127.49, and the manufacturer, Creative, offers the same product for $129.99. Fry's sells the XtremeGamer (different product) for $149.99, which is the same as Creative's price for it, and not what Jim quotes.

So, either Fry's mislabeled a Titanium (which they may not even carry), or Jim mistook an XtremeGamer for a Titanium and haggled a good deal out of them.

In the end, unless there's an unconditional price match guarantee, then oh well, you ain't gettin' that price from Fry's. Buy it online or pay for the convenience of getting it now. Or, learn to haggle better. And "price matching" is what they call haggling so you won't think you're haggling.

@Coyote:
The fatality name isn't worth much, but if you're doing any kind of surround sound or recording, an upgrade over a built-in card is a necessity.
I for one, LOVE my Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum ... it's the original one, with all the inputs, including RCA and 1/4 inch ... it takes up a drive bay with how many inputs it has!

@Coyote:

Too bad the Soundblaster AWE16 never existed...

You might either be thinking of the Soundblaster-16, or the Soundblaster AWE32/64.

Either way, Creative sure does come up with some stupid names for their products.

A quick check of all the local Best Buys shows that the Sound Card is not in stock in any of their local stores. This would lead one to believe that the manager checked that and, considering they didn't have it available to the customer, thought that the price match should include shipping. This is rather reasonable as people will sometimes try and get something price matched from a serious discount online store which charges an arm and a leg shipping to offset their cheap item cost.

At least you'd think that, however regular shipping from Best Buy is $5.99 not $14.97. In fact no shipping rate from Best buy even IS $14.97. It's $5.99 regular, $11.99 expedited and $15.99 express.

Sounds to me that the manager was an idiot who can't really think to himself "this is a $12 difference on a $150 item, thus this is less than 10% difference and it goes on sale for less than that." He effectively lost a costumer over about 9% off an item. Excellent work!

@Coyote:

Because the vast majority of onboard sound sounds like ass? I don't mean because-I-need-48kHz sampling kind of ass, but the kind of "I can hear my CD drive seeking through my soundcard" sort of ass.

The same BS happens with a lot of cheap cards. Not because the chips are bad, even a lot (not all) of cheap soundcard chips are decent, the hardware surrounding them is lacking the necessary filtering. The worst is a cheap-n-nasty PCI soundcard I had that would introduce interrupt noise into the output. Moving the mouse or typing was an audible experience indeed!

Now, because I'm cheap, I look for deals on older used soundcards that are of decent quality. I've collected a Turtle Beach, some SB Lives, and an Audigy for a total of $5 this way. But if you're not into that sort of thing, $150 makes plenty of sense.

@Corporate-Shill: And to add more confusion to the layers of stupidity is certain stores (like Best Buy) will match their online store as long as you have proof of the price (e.g. a print out of the page). So, now we have B&M stores having to price match the price match of an online store. Otherwise, they will lose sales to the B&M store that is willing to match their website.

@magic8ball:

Thats the thing though.. Best Buy's price is, in this case, the price plus shipping. If you wouldn't pay the shipping Best Buy wouldn't send you the card. Best buy isn't even a local store, so Fry's doesn't need to match the price at all. Instead, they're willing to match what your actual bill would be.

officemax pulls the same bs crap. Since they deliver next day, when you request a pmm on an online order, they will add the competitor's next day shipping charge. Even if the competitor offers free regular shipping and you don't need it next day. So much for all the bs hype that retailers are doing everything to make sales. Kinda makes you not so sad when they go under

@Coyote:

The sound that comes through my computer goes to an expensive Bang & Olufsen sound system. As my husband and I are huge gamers, we spent the money for a good sound card. We also watch movies from the computer as its graphics card is 1080i.

So there are reasons to have good sound card.

@Coyote: @cheviot: In store pick up = no shipping charge

@Dansc29625: 10 years ago in DFW, you'd have driven in an urban area that to get to one of the two Fry's in the region.

I call BS, Best Buy does not carry the Creative XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro. How could Fry's even attempt to pricematch a product that the competition doesn't even carry? Did the consumerist even do any fact checking at all? Or do they simply take the person's word that this is what happened? I give you a new scenario, man goes into Fry's sees a similar sound card that is on sale at Best Buy, tries to pricematch, Fry's rep points out the difference between the two cards, man gets upset and emails The Consumerist about his story knowing they don't check facts. End of story.

There may be a stipulation that the item be in stock locally for price matching, IIRC. Not sure, since it's been awhile since I've done price matching.

@tcp100:
Even the ones that do beat it offer a 110% guarantee, which sounds like a lot, until you realize they that the 100% is just a price match and the only bonus is the 10%. ($100 at Store A, $90 at Store B, Store A will reduce price to $89).

To me, a price match guarantee should be like insurance: the comfort from from it being there, not actually using it. A store will say "We have the lowest prices! In fact, if you find it cheaper, we'll match it!" What good does that do me? If I prove that you're lying about the having the lowest price, you'll reduce your price to the point where you're not lying anymore? Wow, what a great offer.

@Michael Moore: The point is they lost a sale and a customer over essentially a $12 difference. The sound card will probably go on sale for that amount or more.

I work at Staples and I think we're quite good with our pricematch. Bring us proof that another store is selling our product for less, such as a receipt for the same item dated that day, or a webpage print-out, etc. We'll verify the cost if it's some place we've never heard of, usually some weird website and then we'll match the price. We've even go as far as to call a local competitor and ask them how much they charge for a product because the customer didn't bring anything but their word that it was cheaper.

The only time we don't price match is during boxing day, which is basically Black Friday in Canada, because it's almost all clearance stuff retailers want to just get rid of anyhow and they sell off of the product almost immediately.