So I dropped by Best Buy on Friday night. I wanted to pick up the new Iron Maiden CD and, while sitting at work, I saw it listed for 9.99 on their website.

I get there and it's 12.99. I figure the shelf tags are messed up or something and walk up to the register. It comes up at 12.99, not the 9.99 I was expecting. I ask the guy about the price discrepancy, so he panics and sends me over to the big CUSTOMER SERVICE desk.

They look it up and are sorry to tell me that they can't honor website prices in their retail store. You can order it online for pickup at this store.. but their computer system draws from two different inventories and can't give it to me for 9.99 if I pick it off the shelf. I call "bullshit" and tell them I could walk over to one of their demo computers in the store, order the fucking thing online, confirm it via email, then walk back and get it for 9.99. They said "yeah..I guess you could do that". I say: "sooo...why is it three bucks more, then"? They have no answer. They refuse to give me the 9.99 price.

I tell them that's completely retarded and walk out of the store, buying nothing. I could understand a price discrepancy maybe five years ago...when they were trying to drive sales and traffic on their new website. But today?! That's fucking retarded.

It doesn't pay to shop, in-store. Just stay home and order your crap online.

Cheap ass.

I find that story quite odd, ES. You see, at the Best Buy I work at, we honor BestBuy.com prices in-store. I assumed that was a Best Buy thing, or now I'm guessing it's the call of whoever the operations manager is.

And honestly, if you'd come through my line with that issue, I would've just said "Eh, it's three bucks, I believe you," and marked it down.

It's funny, when they were jerking with me, I thought "hey..I'll bet Rowey would give it to me for the cheaper price". It wasn't necessarily the 3 bucks, it was the out-and-out rudeness and the way they were making a mountain out of a molehill.

I had also picked out the new Audioslave CD me and was going to buy that as well. So they lost about 22-24 bucks from me because of their idiocy and rudeness.

I worked retail for years. As a clerk, 3 bucks to make a customer happy isn't worth fighting over. No boss I ever worked for would nail me for giving a customer 3 bucks off, if it made the customer happy. It's three fucking dollars! It's not like I was asking for it for free.

The thing is, this Best Buy was located in the psuedo-swanky "Park Meadows" area. An urban abomination that sprang up 10 years ago and caters to the SUV-driving, golf course loving, latte drinking Rich White Fucks. They can afford to piss someone off and losing a customer is no big deal.

Wait, where is this Best Buy located again? Just curious, because the way that store treated you is different than anything I've ever seen happen in my store (Concord, NH). You're right, three bucks is not worth fighting about. If I have a customer tell me about a price match, I'll do it as long as it's under ten bucks. If it's over ten bucks, then I'll have to actually call the store or see the website to do it.

It's probably due to whoever's the top manager there. If they're an ass it will effect the rest of the store.

It'd be listed as either "Highlands Ranch, CO" or "Lone Tree, CO". Both are urban sprawl "communities" located about 15 miles south of Denver, proper.

So transfer some Yanni CD's to that store for me.

That's odd. I've never had best buy do that to me. They've always been cool about honoring the 9.99 prices... Tough break?

What a bunch of dickheads.

I just applied at Best Buy.

eye wren knee.

Oooooooooh yeah? What department and which store?

Waterloo, Iowa. I'm working on the application now actually, online. They don't give out paper applications anywhere anymore, do they?

No, it's been like that for a long time though. I've been there for a bit over three years now, and I applied at home. It was awesome though, I got a call back from them mere hours after I put the application in.

I personally think they're a great company to work for, but I've heard stories about other stores being rather shitty, so I hope (if you get hired) the one you're applying at is one of the good ones.

My suggestion: don't be a cashier. It's simply too aggrivating. Do anything else in the store, just don't be a cashier.

I hope you haven't been smoking the greens either. I think they drug test......or at least the ones near me do.

drink some pickle juice.

I think I'm good. Have been for awhile anyway...

I think almost everyone drug tests now.

Well, they don't where I work....otherwise, I'd be Captain fucked.

I love the online posts about drug tests. If you have to ask you aren't passing is my general rule.

For the record, Best Buy does drug test, though apparently not very well since a significant portion of my coworkers are indeed on drugs.

They also do a criminal background check, which means Scrooge could never work there.

When I worked at the summer camp you had to get finger printed for the background check.

Yeah, I had to do that too so I could substitute teach.

Thankfully they went digital my second year so I only had to deal with the ink, which sucks, once.

This is true. And probably the case here.

That's why I don't get bitchy with the poor peon employees in retail, unless they're just lazy slugs. I know first hand how shitty some store managers can be. Their life is quite miserable, after all.