Points, Policies, & Reward Certificates

[heyandy · Accepted solution]

So to end this story, I got a call from Best Buy today to "mend" my distaste for the way the coupons are labeled. I will just say that I truly appreciate Best Buy's work at keeping this customer happy as I must admit, with no more CompUSA, Circuit Citz, and a few other local stores, the competition is a little weak for certain things that I prefer to purchase in person (trust me, there are still 100's of things I will buy online though).

I still believe Best Buy needs to just use an "Exclusion" list as their range of merchandise is getting more diversified every day to try and pigeon hole things into set "categories"...  Exclusion lists I "buy" (Apple doesn't allow us to discount, Product XYZ is just too "hot" to give a discount, etc.)...

Anyway, case close...

[tinkerbell920]

I had a similar experience to the original poster, last night at my local Best Buy.  I've been waiting to buy a Roku for a whiile now, and my friend wanted one too.  So I finally hear Best Buy is stocking them, and get coupons for 12% or $10% off one item with Premier Silver membership.  Sweet deal I thought - off we went to buy 1 for me and 1 for her birthday gift.

We looked all over the tv and home theater department, only to find them by the network routers and cable modems.  Get to the register and, hmm, the coupon doesn't work...the cashier checks with the service desk, who say the % off coupons are not valid on streaming devices.

Now it doesn't say the words "streaming devices" or anything of the sort in the LONG list of exclusions on the bottom half of the coupons.  Seems more like a home theater / audio and video accessory to me, which is allowed.  Or a computer accessory - networking device - since that's apparently how the store categorized it to put it on the shelf - also allowed.

I ended up paying full price for both, but wonder why I wasted my time printing coupons that aren't worth the paper they're printed on???

This is not the first time I've had that problem with the % off coupons, some other exception to the exceptions, just don't remember what it was anymore.  Very disappointing.

[CrystalWoW Valued Expert]

How much did you pay for the roku? The first thing that comes to mind is maybe it was on sale or something. Best Buy classifies the roku as a smart set top box like the classify google t.v., apple t.v., boxee all those kind of things and I don't see that category either included or excluded so it seems kind of a grey area.

[mdude04]

Incidentally, those coupons also say you can get 10% off "Video Accessories," but when I tried to buy 3D glasses they didn't work. After someone at Best Buy researched this for me, they said the coupon didn't work because it was for "video accessories" and not "3D accessories." That was the exact reason.

That's exactly like saying a PS3 controller isn't a video game accessory because it's a "PS3 accessory."

In other words, those coupons are extremely limited despite the all-encompassing wording they use.

[tinkerbell920]

The Roku was NOT on sale at all.  Full price, 79.99 each.

[Kyle-BBY Community Connector]

Hey tinkerbell920,

I'm really sorry for the confusion with what products your coupons were valid on.  I know it can be a little vague on what product categories are included or not included but, basically, if it's not listed on the front of the coupon, it most likely is not eligible for the discount.  The Roku's category is not included in the any of applicable product classes so that would be why it wasn't eligible.  

I do want to clarify that it wasn't necessarily because it was a streaming device, although, other similar streaming devices also fall under the same category; it just varies from product to product.

[enuf]

Since there's so many catagories of products why not color code them...use the blue & yellow color scheme. If there's a yellow tag/symbol on the items sku that it means it's coupon eligible if there's a blue one it's not. Use this as a promotional tool like "save an additional 10% by using our RZ coupon" people that don't have a RZ card will start to see how many items they purchase that the coupons could apply to and see the instant savings lost. This will old real quick & there will be a new RZ member.

Also, I realize that some companies won't allow BB to discount their items but why not do it in reverse. Instead of taking X amount of the purchase price offer a comparable giftcard for the amount you'd like to deduct off the MSRP. Apple products for instance, offer a bundle like buy the Ipad 2 get a $25 giftcard but if you add the warranty & 2 accessories bump the giftcard to $100 or something along the lines.

How does BB look at giftcard bonus deals anyway? Is it now BB have guaranteed another shopping trip assuming the giftcard isn't used for a second purchase that day. Or b/c the customer now has store credit they'll keep BB in mind before making their next purchase considering they already can discount any product using the giftcard a la make your own sale. Obviously, this is business & the goal is to make as much as possible but would BB prefer to have a larger # of loyal customers that spend consistantly or a smaller # that spend more than the average customer.

[heyandy]

The categories on the front tend to be very vague also...  Define a computer accessory..  Anything that can plug into the computer can be consider an accessory.  If it is back in the computer section of Best Buy, is it not an accessory?

At minimum on your website clearly mark what category Best Buy is considering an item, and make sure those categories are the same as on the coupon.

And yes, some brands do not allow discounts, and those are indeed normally spelled out clearly on the back of the coupon (Apple as the prime example.)

[Karina-BBY Community Connector]

Good afternoon heyandy,

I can understand the confusion that you are having regarding which products the coupons are valid on.

It’s best to say that if the coupon mentions the product then it qualifies for the discount. Unfortunately not everything that connects to a computer is considered an accessory.  So, continue to look at the specifics products that are written on the coupon, and keep in mind that the coupons vary on product qualifications.

Thank you for your feedback, I will be happy to forward it along our internal teams for future program changes.

Have a great day,