Quote:
Originally Posted by mr8820
my comments are about bb the company.just to get off topic:i wanted a ps2 in 2001 when they were hard to get.the guy @ bb said they didn't have any unless i bought a stand,2nd controller,and a 2 yr psp and maybe he could find one in the back.he also stated that if it broke down "just bring it in and you will get another one on the spot.we both know that's a lie.i have a cell phone from bb with a 2 yr psp and before you could take it to the store for an exchange.now they want you to go to a sprint store,get a work order saying the phone doesn't work,take that back to bb,then call an 800 number to have your phone FIXED,not replaced.but no bb employee said any of that.they just wanted the sale.btw,the instinct is $599.99 at bb.
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Those points are irrelevant to the topic, though. As for the PS2 sales, this was, indeed, a tactic they used for quite a while on hard-to-get game systems. They make no profit on the system and sell them in hopes of selling you accessories and games. After the fiasco the stores created by forcing bundle purchases of 360s, Best Buy fired a large number of managers and has ceased to allow the practice. Keep in mind, the practice was the fault of Best Buy, and not the managers who were merely trying to make the corporation happy by keeping their numbers up, but the point remains the same: That practice is no longer allowed.
As for the PRP (game consoles get PRPs, phones and other types of devices get PSPs), with those you actually DO bring it into the store and they give you a store credit for the price of the item on the spot which you generally use to buy yourself a new one. PSPs require service, but generally the stores don't bother to service certain types of items and instead replace them. Things like phones they will ship you a refurbished (or new if refurb's not available) replacement for in exchange for your old one, as it's nearly impossible for them to repair a phone. That said, insurance from the carrier's generally a better deal.
But your complaints don't take into account changes in policy. Not saying it's not unfair when they change the policy, but the employee didn't necessarily lie to you. When I bought a PSP on my old phone, that WAS the policy. I could bring it in any time and they'd swap it out on the spot. Problem was the Geek Squad would do this for the store employees and their friends without even inspecting the phones. BB lost large amounts of money on the deal and had to switch to an impartial call center system. The change went into effect a month before my phone broke. Sucked, but in the end they replaced it with the newer model in brand new condition. Took a little longer, but I was happy.
And yes, I know that's the price of the Instinct. I was saying I'm not sure what MSRP is, as the other two prices you quoted were surprisingly correct, considering how Best Buy likes to jack up everything else in the store between $.50 and $8 or so above MSRP. It's pricing practices like that, and the cost of things like USB cables, that pisses me off. And the way they hide discounts they get from the manufacturer in order to make themselves look like the good guys. Epson has instant rebates on several of their printers that are available constantly. But Best Buy will absorb the rebate as profit and instead choose to put the printer "on sale" every two or three weeks for the value of the instant rebate they're getting credit for on every single sale. Can you say sneaky and deceptive?
10-09-2008, 12:30 AM
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