Report: Is Best Buy refusing to match prices?

"Web site HDGuru.com has published a report describing three separate visits to Best Buy locations where salespeople refused to comply with the store's own price-matching policy.

The report goes on to provide advice to customers interested in obtaining a price match themselves. Here's the meat of the HDGuru's exchange:

When asked to match the price, salesmen at all three stores said, "no," giving the same excuse: "The advertised Panasonic was on sale for three days, and Best Buy's price-match policy exempts limited-time sales."

However, there is no "limited time" exemption in Best Buy's price-match policy. Store personnel simply made up a phony excuse or were instructed to do so by higher-ups.

The report also cites an unnamed Best Buy source who claims that the order to refuse price matches, despite going against the company's stated policy, descended from management, with the aim of increasing the chain's profit margins.

HDGuru's advice to shoppers ranges from common sense (don't make a scene) to mildly deceptive (ask if the store offers extended warranties, even if you don't want one).

We're not advocating or endorsing said advice, but if you're serious about getting a price match or have been refused, it might come in handy.

We left messages with Best Buy's Media Relations department, asking for comment, but we haven't yet received a reply. We'll update this post if we do."

MacMynd has a personal experience of a similar nature:

This story brought back bad memories when in the market for a television a few years back. While out shopping for the best price, I had called a friend to check the online price for Best Buy. The set I had decided on, was $500 more at the store than online. When I brought this to the attention of the sales associate, he went "online" and showed me that I was incorrect, and that I must have been mistaken about the price.

I knew my friend had not made a mistake, and asked him to get a supervisor. After about 10 minutes of waisting my time, the guy came back and told me that he had been looking at the "intranet" version of their page. So this was one of Best Buy's ploys to mislead customers. They have their own version of the pages to confuse the customer. I did get the lower price, but how many people are cheated by them.

I have never seen Best Buy have the "best price" on anything that I have been in the market for.