Is Best Buy 'Murfing' Its Customers?
As Office Depot and Best Buy attempt to one-up each other in their ongoing war against the American consumer, one brave shopper recently infiltrated enemy lines and performed a little undercover espionage of the latter big box store. The honorable HD Guru (disguised as an average citizen looking for a new Panasonic HDTV) recently went to Best Buy with high hopes of uncovering the truth about the retail giant's price-matching policy.
Not to be outdone by Office Depot's myriad misleading of customers (including lying about stock availability and changing computer price tags), Best Buy allegedly encourages its employees to refuse to match competitors' prices with a tactic known as "murfing." To perform his reconnaissance, Mr. Guru cased three Best Buy locations in the New York area and asked employees at each store to match a competitor's price for the TV, listed at $700 less than the Best Buy price. Salespeople at each location refused, citing nonexistent policy exemptions. At the final location, the incognito blogger asked to look at the store policy sheet, which they are legally obligated to display. After not finding proof of any such exemption clauses, the Guru challenged the store manager who relented and begrudgingly agreed to match the price.
In these situations, HD Guru suggests that shoppers always demand to see a manager, as well as the store's policy sheet. To further aid potential Best Buy patrons, he also provides some helpful do's and don't's for comparison shoppers, as well as some tips about how to protect oneself against murfing. Study his strategy here so you can join the crusade and help him stick it to scammy salesfolks everywhere. [From: HD Guru]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Heavyd said 7:30PM on 3-18-2009
He should come to Las Cruces, New Mexico/El Paso, Texas' Best Buys. The employees do the same thing here too, but the managers will back them up or will just say nothing like that is in our policy, now you must go or they'll walk away. Just try to get them to honor a rain check or a comparable item. Their "doublespeak" would make any government official envious. Their "Rewards" program is another joke for a later blog.
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