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What Is Up With That?

March 28, 2006

I was in the process of getting a rental car for my upcoming trip to Texas and discovered that trying to rent a car at the ONLY car rental place in town "Enterprise" is a big time waste of money. They tried to rent me an intermediate size car to the tune of $290 for a 4 day trip. I went to my trusty friend, the internet, and looked up rental cars in the St. Louis area and found the same car all day long for only $117. That is a $173 difference in the price of rental cars people! It is worth it to me to drive to St. Louis pick up the car and then take it back up for that amount of money. It just goes to show how much they rip you off in a small town when there is no competition. Needless to say I rented a car through Avis in Chesterfield and I'll just go pick it up and drop it off.

Yesterday Christopher and I went to St. Louis. I had to make hospital visits and he had to buy a new video camera. We went over to Circuit City and found a nice 3CCD camera for a low, low price of $549 with a free bag and tri-pod. Christopher purchased the camera and we were on our way. I then decided to go to Best Buy and look at their price knowing that Circuit City claims to match any price around. We walked in and found the exact same camera, brand new, for $449. I couldn't believe that they had it in there for $100 cheaper, holy cow! We took our happy little selves back to Circuit City and told them about the cheaper price and guess what... they wouldn't match it. The manager looked the price up on the website and said that since Best Buy didn't list that particular camera on the internet that they couldn't match the price. What the....?

We promptly returned the merchandise to Circuit City, got the money back, and went to Best Buy to purchase the camera $100 cheaper. While purchasing the camera at Best Buy I mentioned the fact that Circuit City was giving away a free bag and tripod with their camera and lo and behold, Best Buy decided to go ahead a match Circuit City's free bag and stand deal even though they were selling the camera $100 cheaper. So Chris walked out of Best Buy with a brand new camera cheaper than Circuit City with a free bag and some free tapes, and a big fat smile for getting a dang good deal. And that folks is what you have to do when purchasing expensive items, shop around, see what the deal is, and make sure you don't get ripped off. Whether you are renting a car or buying a camera you may be able to save $100 or more, so check around and get the better deal. Don't let them get you!

Comments

Posted by: Bryan
March 28, 2006 04:36 PM

Great story. Please, just remember where the people who care about you are: Best Buy. Next time, stop there first. We want to be the #1 consumer electronics retailer and that is why we will do what ever it takes to get your business.

Posted by: Timothy R. Butler
March 28, 2006 07:38 PM

That's great! Normally, I find companies fairly good about that -- I can't believe Circuit City wouldn't match an in store price.

FWIW, if you ever get a chance, check out American. They not only match prices, but claim to monitor those prices and update their in store prices whenever someone else drops the price. I've found they really do adjust prices as others change them. Plus, when a recent purchase went down a few more bucks 31 days after the purchase, they adjusted it for me, even though the price guarantee was for 30 days. (Their staff actually seems to know something about what they are selling too.)

Posted by: Erin
March 28, 2006 08:58 PM

Cole and I have discovered the freedom of complaining about a meal or service if it leaves much to be desired. We enjoyed a free $50 meal because of that last weekend! Woo hoo!

Posted by: Holly Hobbie (Laura)
March 29, 2006 04:52 PM

Hi ! my husband dosen't like best buy much either he usually goes to Circut City they also seem more freindly.