A funny thing happened to me...

[techieMoe]

A funny thing happened to me at my local Best Buy store last night. Yes, I know that name sends cringes through some of you here in the USA. I drop by that store occasionally when I'm bored and want to play their Guitar Hero demo. Last night was no exception.

I was walking by the DVD section however and on a whim I decided to take a look at their Star Wars DVDs. Recently Lucas has relented and released a set of DVDs that have both his "digitally re-masterbated" versions AND the original, un-screwed-with theatrical versions (Han shoots first! Yay!) I considered finally buying the set now that they have a version I want.

I happened upon a copy of Episode 4 (the first one, circa 1977) for $14.99 on sale from $20. "Neat!" I told myself "I may pick up one of them now and the other two later this year." Then I noticed something curious.

Directly under the DVD I was looking at was a little yellow sign sticking off the shelf that said "Star Wars Episode 4: Limited Edition, Buy one get one Free!"

Naturally I was intrigued. Get one FREE? What does this mean? I summoned the nearest Best Buy employee and asked her. She said she didn't know but would check their recent advertisement paper. She came back and said she didn't find it so she summoned her manager. Her manager hadn't heard of that promotion either, but then he surprised me.

"Go ahead and do it," he said to the employee. She was confused. "Do what?" The manager looked at me and said, "Go right ahead. Take whichever two you like and you'll get one free. Tell them I said it was okay up at the front." (Name removed to protect his job, possibly.)

I was shocked, but wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to buy 2 of my all-time favorite movies in their original unmodified form on DVD for eight dollars a piece, so I grabbed Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and nearly ran to the register like a madman.

As I was leaving I noticed the very nice manager pluck the "Buy One Get One Free!" flags off the shelf, so I can only assume I am the only one who got this deal. The moral of this story? Be observant of the world around you and don't be afraid to ask questions. It could reward you in unexpected ways!

[carlosponti]

I have gotten good deals that way before but i usually have to argue the fact. sounds like you got a good deal without a fight

[fingal]

Nice one! He did the right thing too. That's what I call customer service.

::Edit:: I got thinking ... When I go shopping for DVDs I notice huge price differences. If I go to Virgin or HMV shops I could be paying £8-15 for a DVD. If I shop around a bit more I get often get the same films for between £4-£9.

[techieMoe]

Nice one! He did the right thing too. That's what I call customer service.

That's what kind of surprised me. Best Buy stores aren't exactly known for their stellar customer service... at least from anecdotal experience.

[cousinlucky]

In a lot of the individual states within the United States it is state law that the price displayed on the shelf Must be the price charged to the customer. If sale tags are not removed from the shelves promptly after a sale, the store can legally only charge the displayed price.

These laws were enacted because of the " bait and switch " practices that were rampant throughout this country, at one time, that lured customers into stores with non-existant sales or sales of items not in stock.

Back in those days government officials believed in consumer protection and did something about unethical business practices. Unfortunately, today millions of people have their bank and credit accounts electronically pilferred by various companies without any government prosecution or protection at all.