Jeremy blames the strangeness of his recent electrical cord reel puchase on Sears, but nothing about it was peculiar to that retailer. There was a $20 discrepancy in price for the same item online rather than in the store. Now, few stores price-match online retailers or price-match themselves. What they do offer is in-store pickup for your online order. Jeremy took this to its ridiculous but logical conclusion and purchased his item online, then carried it to the pickup area and out the door.

I was online looking for an electrical cord reel and found one of the Sears website for $25, it was a Craftsman model. A few days later I was in the mall, and decided to go look at the item in person at Sears. I found it, bu the item was priced for $45.

I went to the Sears website on my iPhone and pulled up the $25 price and then went to the sales clerk, box in hand and asked why the discrepancy He basically said, yeah its weird, but the online prices can be different than the in store prices. I asked if he could match the online price and he said no sorry.

So, then in front of the sales clerk on my iPhone I bought the item and chose the free “pick up at a local store” option. Then I said, so now that I bought it, can I take this home as I held the box? He replied that I needed to go back to the will call pickup area.

So I went back to the will call pickup and a guy was there, I showed him my receipt on my phone, he then went to the hardware department grabbed the box from the sales clerk I left it with and came back and handed me the box.

Weird.

It is weird. It also isn’t that unusual, though.

RELATED:
Use The Internet To Subvert Bogus Best Buy Optimization Fees
Inventory Error Means I Can’t Make Toys ‘R’ Us Price-Match Itself
Is Barnes & Noble Hurting Its Stores By Not Price-Matching Its Own Website?
How Not Price-Matching Your Own Website Is Kind Of Inefficient
Item Is Right On The Walmart Shelf, But Site-To-Store Will Take A Few Days

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.