# A bargain...or was it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 31, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624 "2002-07-31T02:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/21 "2002-08-01T00:15:59Z")
Well, I went to the Pentagon City Best Buy and they would not match their Internet price, so I returned the Simpsons:Season 2 set. I’ll get it next week at a cheaper price, either at the store or online. OTOH, Borders just across the way had **The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao** available, and I had a 20% off coupon handy, so I have a new DVD anyway. > [@](#): > > Don’t stress it Guin, Gobear’s just off his meds and being a cantankerous old bastige again. Puh-LEEZE, sugar, my reply to **Guin** was a mere bristling of the quills. You wanna see cantankerous, I can give you cantankerous… ---
**Author:** ![Wabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/22 "2002-08-01T00:36:45Z")
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**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/23 "2002-08-01T14:04:33Z")
OK, dishonet, maybe. But _extremely_ dishonest? No way… I’m with **gatopescado** , Product out, Product in. AT THE SAME COMPANY. If he bought it at [bestbuy.com](http://bestbuy.com) and returned it to walmart, OK, that’s kinda fishy. But it’s the same company! Heck, Bestbuy actually makes more money this way. By returning the new (unopened, mass-produced, exactly the same) one from the website in a week or two instead of returning the one you bought now, they make a week’s worth of interest on your money. (Pennies, I know, but still…) Heck, I’ve seen people play the “extremely dishonest returns game” and it gets much worse than this. 1. Friend of mine worked at the Wiz. People would buy camcorders, keep it for a weekend, and return it. Often. Sometimes they even admitted that they bought it to tape a wedding or whatever and now were done with it. 2. As a Star Wars figure collector, I’ve seen this one many times: A cheap, easy to find figure on the shelf in the package of a newer, scarcer figure, held together with scotch tape. Customer Service at Walmart, ToysRUs, and Kmart, don’t seem to notice when someone buys Jar Jar for $1.97 and a Gungan Warior for $7.99, puts Jar Jar in the Gungan Package, and returns it for $7.99. (Personally, I think offering a different price online and in-store is extremely dishonest, but hey, that’s BestBuy for you…) I stand by my suggestion, even though **gobear** didn’t go with it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/24 "2002-08-01T14:22:38Z")
I think **gobear** ’s going about this the right way. I don’t think it was Best Buy’s intent to rip people off by listing a different price on their web page, and if **gobear** goes to the store and shows them the difference, it would be in their best interests to give him the money back. (Note: all this is moot if Best Buy is an asshole company. Perhaps it IS their intent to rip people off, I don’t know.) Besides, wouldn’t you guys feel a bit guilty lying about its defective status? What would be wrong with doing what **gobear** ’s intending to do? There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth. I think it’s terribly dishonest to do things like use a camcorder for one event and then return it, but perhaps I’m old fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/25 "2002-08-01T15:17:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I think gobear’s going about this the right way. I don’t think it was Best Buy’s intent to rip people off by listing a different price on their web page, and if gobear goes to the store and shows them the difference, it would be in their best interests to give him the money back. To be charitable, I’m sure that the discrepancy between the Web price and the B/M price must be due to the difference between their respective overhead costs, distribution costs and so forth. considering that Best Buy sells most of their DVDs at a significantly cheaper price than their competitors, I can’t complain too loudly. Besides, I will get the Simpsons Season 2 box set at some point–I would have liked to have had it now, just for the childish satisfaction of saying, “Neener, neener, neener, I have the new Simpsons and you don’t.” ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/26 "2002-08-01T16:12:25Z")
Ohh breaking street date is BAD… The store can get their distribution rights yanked for this. I saw this happened at a hollywood video I worked at. The entire shift was fired later in the day when they broke street date. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/27 "2002-08-01T19:07:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > **it would be in their best interests to give him the money back. (Note: all this is moot if Best Buy is an asshole company. Perhaps it IS their intent to rip people off, I don’t know.)** Well, as we can see, they didn’t. Add this to various anecdotes I’ve heard about Best Buy, and the asshole company theory is not as far-fetched as it seems. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > Besides, wouldn’t you guys feel a bit guilty lying about its defective status? > \*\* Who said anything about lying? Most places won’t even ask a reason for the return within 30-90 days with a reciept. If they did ask, I’d say: I found it cheaper elsewhere. (which is entirely true.) > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > What would be wrong with doing what **gobear** ’s intending to do? There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth. > \*\* Nothings _wrong_ with it. He just lamented that he didn’t want to wait 2 weeks. He doesn’t have to, but if my plan feels too shady, fine. I don’t see anything morally wrong about it at all, that’s all. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > I think it’s terribly dishonest to do things like use a camcorder for one event and then return it, but perhaps I’m old fashioned. \*\* I agree wholeheartedly. But I think there’s a big difference between that and returning identical unusued merchandise and getting your money back. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/28 "2002-08-01T19:18:35Z")
No, they gave me a refund, but what I wanted was for them to match the Internet price. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/29 "2002-08-01T19:32:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gonzoron \* > \*\* > > Well, as we can see, they didn’t. Add this to various anecdotes I’ve heard about Best Buy, and the asshole company theory is not as far-fetched as it seems. \*\* As **gobear** just pointed out, they did give him a refund, so that’s taken care of. > [@](#): > > \*\*Who said anything about lying? Most places won’t even ask a reason for the return within 30-90 days with a reciept. If they did ask, I’d say: I found it cheaper elsewhere. (which is entirely true.) \*\* Well, _you_ didn’t say anything about saying it’s defective, but someone up above did, so I’m not just pulling that out of my ass. I simply saw the comment, and asked if they felt guilty or not. > [@](#): > > \*\*Nothings _wrong_ with it. He just lamented that he didn’t want to wait 2 weeks. He doesn’t have to, but if my plan feels too shady, fine. I don’t see anything morally wrong about it at all, that’s all. \*\* That’s fine–I’m willing to accept that our opinions differ. However, you said yourself it’s dishonest, and as dishonest as Best Buy might be, I’m not going to do the same back to them. Sorry. > [@](#): > > \*\*I agree wholeheartedly. But I think there’s a big difference between that and returning identical unusued merchandise and getting your money back. \*\* See? We do agree–I think it just comes down to the reasons you give for returning it. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/30 "2002-08-01T20:12:39Z")
But if it’s unopened, all he has to say is he found it cheaper elsewhere and bought another copy. If you bought a copy at Best Buy, then found out it was cheaper at their online store so you went ahead and opened your existing copy, waited for the online copy to come in, then took that completely unopened copy to the store for a refund, they’re just going to put that one up on the shelf again. They don’t lose any money. As someone pointed out, they even get to keep your money from both sales until you take care of the return. How can that be unethical? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/31 "2002-08-01T20:26:57Z")
My objection was that it didn’t seem ethical to lie about the reason for returning it–more specifically, saying it was broken when it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/32 "2002-08-02T17:38:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*No, they gave me a refund, but what I wanted was for them to match the Internet price. \*\* Right, that’s what I meant that they didn’t do. Sorry I wasn’t clear. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Wrong Girl \* > \*\* > Well, _you_ didn’t say anything about saying it’s defective, but someone up above did, so I’m not just pulling that out of my ass. I simply saw the comment, and asked if they felt guilty or not. > \*\* Gotcha. I missed that comment. Yup, I agree, that would be bad. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/33 "2002-08-02T17:50:51Z")
Most stores will only replace defective products like CDs, videos, etc., not refund your money. So **gobear** is doing the right thing (ethically IMHO). However, I’m really surprised BB didn’t match their own fucking price (although I hate them and won’t buy another thing from them). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624/34 "2002-08-02T19:05:35Z")
Most places won’t by internet because of difference in shipping costs and overhead. At least, that’s what I was told. So what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bargain-or-was-it/121624.md?page=1)