52 Responses

1. bernd says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 3:34 am

   Great Show as always and sorry to hear about the GotBiz

2. Beth says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 3:42 am

   Sorry Andrew, stores like Best Buy are always being ask to “make an except” for someone! It would undoubtedly be very expensive for them if they did.

   I have a question for you…why didn’t YOU read the coupon and find the effective dates?? Where is YOUR responsibility? Why should Best Buy take the customer service hit when you were a lousy, bratty customer??

3. Tom says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 4:49 am

   I have to agree with Beth. What makes you so special Andrew from everybody else? What’s wrong with waiting one more day? I guess you think that a recession is a good reason to bend the rules.

   Speaking of lowest common denominators , why do go back to Best Buy even after your early unpleasant experience? It’s because you only shop for price. That’s your common denominator.

4. Pete Moring says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 5:05 am

   Hi Andrew. Re: Your ‘Best Buy’ experience.
   It’s common knowledge that Most Store managers, Large as well as small stores have the right to award discounts at their discretion. If that isn’t the case with ‘Best Buy’ then as you say, people will just vote with their feet and go elsewhere.

   Perhaps there should be a Facebook campaign to ‘OUT’ all the stores who can’t offer genuine or reasonable discounts to customers and Name & Shame them

   Another great episode as usual.

   Pete.

5. Ken Thomson says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 5:08 am

   Your comment about Best Buy is typical of many stores – not just the big chains. Your point is well taken, that everything hinges on marketing-savvy staff to deal with customers.

   I don’t enter our local Staples store for the same reason. But Kinko’s gets it. Their hiring criteria demands that the applicant has to have a friendly disposition. You’ll never find morose, dull staff there.

   Best Buy management should possibly have sent out a directive to tell staff that early coupon presenters should receive the advertised discounts. On the other hand, and I hate to think about it, maybe the direction was to not honor them and to send paying customers packing.

   If management of any business takes the time to figure out customer needs, including the all-important issue of how they are treated by staff, then there’s hope. The tragedy is that, as with you and Best Buy, the alternative is to do nothing and lose the lifetime customer value that you represent.

6. Glynn Wright says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 5:39 am

   I agree with you Andrew, also Best Buy’s return policy sucks AND their prices are not always the “best buy”. On more than one occasion, I’ve had stores give me discounts AFTER the sale or coupon had expired or tell me to wait until tomorrow, because a sale starts tomorrow. They get my business.
   Glynn

7. Bruno - Social Media Manager says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 6:00 am

   I agree with you Andrew! Any company, especially big box stores should have flexibility in their promotions such as you described. And, if they are willing to hire unexperienced people to manage their store “fresh out of college”, then they should be willing train them in great customer relations. I’m a big fan, Andrew! Keep up the great work.

8. Bruno - Social Media Manager says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 6:04 am

   oh and another thing… I’m surprised more businesses don’t get that ANYONE could have an outlet such as yours with huge audiences. Anyone could not like a small policy and blast away on their blog, social networks, etc. Communication is just to easy to NOT let the customer win. Businesses should run promotions with this in mind.

9. Gabrielle Fontaine says:
   September 1st, 2010 at 6:29 am

   Hi Andrew – Just want to say thanks for letting us know what has happened with GotBiz.tv The honest communication goes a long way – and thanks for reminding us that you have to go through a lot of ideas that don’t quite work out in order to hit the home runs.

10. Martha says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:31 am

    i concur with Beth and Tom, Andrew.

11. Joyce Boncal - PR & Advertising says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:40 am

    Thanx for another great show. Re Best Buy- you wanted to bend the rules by one day; someone else might want two days. What’s the cut off? That brings up a marketing question- they should honor the discount as soon as it’s mailed out then no one would run into this problem. From a manager’s perspective- if a customer were about to make a $2000 purchase, you bet I’d let him use the coupon one day early for the simple reason he might not come back.

12. Richard says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:51 am

    Andrew and others. I get where Beth, tom and martha are coming from, however I am a businessman and I constantly honor outdated offers and coupons for my clients. As far as Best Buy is concerned Andrew is not someone special except for the fact that he just a guy who is ready to spend $2000 today. Business is about maintaining relationships. Sometimes we must be flexible. There are rules and there are exceptions. I believe ALL of us have enjoyed the advantage of the exception at sometime in our life. So why not at Best Buy? And the question now is, if they had allowed the exception would they now have an Advocate in Andrew and would he continue to shop there for years to come because of the exception? He is not even a customer now. Who won, Who lost? Richard

13. Linda Ghobrial says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:53 am

    Hi Andrew,
    you are completly right about BestBuy, they should be more flexible and have more judgement especially when you are about to make a 2000$ purchase. I think it start by giving more autonomy to their staff.
    Linda G.

14. Amos says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:53 am

    Well I have my own small business so it is easy to say “yes” to service issues like what you encountered. The question for me is when my business grows to beyond one employee how do I want to empower them to best serve the customer and the business needs? Sometimes a corporate structure does not lead to having the employees make decisions. Try stopping in a Loft outlet and figure out the discounts! They will literally change during the course of the day.

15. Jayani Weerasinghe says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 6:54 am

    Hello Andrew,

    I hope this email finds you well. It was nice meeting you at UIBC last week. I can’t believe I actually have a business that is ready to go.

    I checked out your free report. Thanks a bunch for the tips including the free classified ads. That’s very helpful.

    I look forward to the webinar that you will be conducting for UIBC.

    -Jayani.
    p.s although the Life Extensions book I gave you refers mostly to the supplements that that company makes, you can always substitute your favourite brand & use the same protocols.

16. Tom says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:03 am

    To Joyce: You make a good point about the cut off days but for $2000 then it’s OK. But the new problem is what is the cut off price–$1000? $750? If $500 is a cut off price then what about the poor guy who buys $475. Andrew, if you don’t like the coupon offer then don’t use it. I wonder if I missed Yanik Silvers early bird registration special by a day or two (or three, or four, or you can decide) if I can get the cheaper price. All this ridiculous debate all because somebody can’t wait one day (or half day if the close at 9pm and open at 9am) to buy something.

17. Barry Larson says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:12 am

    Your Best Buy story is brilliant. Actually, it’s brilliantly sad. As Marketeers, we spend months researching, planning and executing a campaign. Strangely, just when we are about to get our hands on the cash, we do something silly to kill the sale. It happens in large and small organisations alike and there really isn’t any excuse for it.

    These days, planning when a “drive to store” mailing is going to be delivered is easier than ever. Whilst your story highlights a potential training issue, the Marketing department also needs to accept some responsibility for not planning the start date better.

    On the back of this story, you could dedicate an entire show to overcoming the common pitfalls of campaign execution. I would find that most interesting.

18. Terry S. Smith says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:12 am

    Dear Andrew:

    Best buy is most likely is following CORPORATE POLICY.

    That’s the problem with big corporations.

    The manager is trying to protect his job, not satisfy a customer.

19. Jared says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:21 am

    Some of you missed the point.
    Best Buy had a chance to make a $2,000 purchase and missed the opportunity knowing the customer would buy elsewhere. A $40.00 purchase should not be allowed however I can see them not allowing a coupon after the deadline.

20. Bill Blake says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:37 am

    Thanks Andrew! Another great show!
    As far as Best Buy is concerned, from my perspective, the stupidity is postdating a discount. It is fine to have a release date for a new product, but a general discount coupon should NEVER be postdated! It will always engender the type of bad publicity illustrated here. I find it difficult to belleive that hhigh paid marketers are that lacking in human insight. Your reaction is what will always happen, and if a Manager plays strictly by the rules another customer (plus X others) are lost!

21. Steve says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:39 am

    OK, so you’re so quick to bash and bad-mouth a company that didn’t take your $2K, but you won’t even share where you DID (if that even really happened) spend your $2,000 and give them some props?

    Who did you end up spending your two gees with, afterall?

22. Mark Jerram says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:44 am

    Hi Andrew,
    If Best Buy staff were told to stick rigidly to the offer start/finish dates by head office, then it’s understandable, otherwise their actions are bordering on insanity and ultimately commercial suicide if they continue treating their valuable customers like this.

    If I had been in your shoes, I would have said to the manager OK, as you wish, let’s ignore the voucher, and lets start negotiating on the price! Would you drop by 20% ? No, lets meet in the middle then – 10% ?

    It may have worked. Managers tend to have a lot of discretion in regards to discounts, and knowing that they had a 10% off the following day would have given you some extra bargaining power.

    BTW Andrew, I love your show and the immense marketing wisdom contained within. Many thanks.

    Mark J.
    UK

23. Suzanne says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 7:57 am

    There are a lot of good points made about the Best Buy issue. As a small business in competition with other small and large businesses, when a coupon is what brought a customer to make a purchase with me I will certainly honor it, even if it expired! The gratification that my customer would feel if that happens, and then the word of mouth about the experience that goes with it would far outweigh everything else.

    The problem with Best Buy is that the manager was very inexperienced and surely was following corporate policy rather than looking at the big picture. Too bad. I bet that was a lesson learned!

24. Matt Bovell says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:17 am

    Just playing devil’s advocate for a moment, could it be that the discount coupon is tied to a sales effort with a specific start and end date and honoring your coupon might have interfered with their metrics?

    Also, it’s one thing if the coupon said Friday 10:00am and you show up on Friday at 9:30am …but the day before honestly is a bit of a stretch. Despite popular convention, the customer is NOT always right. The trick is how do you keep a “wrong” customer happy and loyal?

25. Ted says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:28 am

    Hello Andrew,
    I agree with your position about Best Buy. Every Corporation’s weakest link is their problem and it appears that Best Buys weakest link is their employees, including their Managers.

    On the other hand, I like your wardrobe choice better now, but it still has a number of stripes in diagonals which are still a bit disturbing to the eye.

    I’m sorry that Got Biz is off line, but I credit you with having started it and got it moving in the first place. You are indominable and will continue to grow throughout the years to come. I believe you are an important force within the business world.

26. Debbie Hooten says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:38 am

    I believe that there is a needed delicate balance here. I would not have wanted to lose your business (especially current amount $2K) so from that viewpoint I probably would have given you a discount. However, I can also agree with Beth and Tom. I have had too many customers that want something for nothing. I truly desire to help the customer with every possible allowance but I think customers should understand the rules. Rules help us all to stay in balance.

27. Vic says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:52 am

    I think Beth, Tom and Martha missed a key point — and that is that Best Buy store mgmt isn’t given the flexibility to make a rational decision. In this case a coupon that was mailed earlier than the start date of the coupon could have been honored.

    My own Best Buy story is even more bizarre. I actually purchased more than $2K of electronics from BB and it included some bonus speakers that they were out of. I was told that I would get a notice when the speakers would be available. About a month later I received the notice that I could come pick the speakers up. So I took the notice to the store only to be told (and backed up by the manager) that I would need to present the original proof of purchase. I pointed out to them that (1) the pickup notice was mailed to me and with a positive ID should confirm I was entitled to the speakers, (2) the proof of my purchase was easily available in their computer system, (3) the pickup notice didn’t specify that this proof was needed to pick up the speakers, (4) I lived more than 50 miles away and rarely was in the vicinity of the store so I’d appreciate a little flexibility.

    None of this rational thinking had an impact as the manager dug his heels in and even refused to get his supervisor on the phone when I requested that.

    I have purchased almost $100K of electronics since then, and not one cent of it went to BB, nor will another cent of mine.

    Andrew, your transparency on the GotBiz issue is amazing but no less than I’ve come to expect from you. Keep up the great work!

28. Mark Jerram says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:58 am

    Hi again Andrew,

    When I am dealing with a customer or client who is trying to bend the rules in their favour, I always try to consider their LIFETIME VALUE.

    Going back to Best Buy, they need to consider that you could spend $thousands with them over time, and recommend them to people you know.

    Here in the UK, if a manager sticks to the rules with no flexibility whatsover, then they are known as a “jobsworth”.

    A friend of mine turned up at a major electrical store once to buy a $1000 deluxe washing machine, but 2 minutes before the store closed. The manager refused to sell it to him, tellling him to come back the following day.

    With Andrew’s case, it would be interesting to see what the shareholders thought!

    Mark J.
    UK

29. Hermann Strijewski says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 9:02 am

    Andrew, when you were calling Best Buy WORST BUY instead, you are onto something.

    Whenever I compare BestBuy with TigerDirect or CompUSA, I find that BestBuy IS much worse. I’m amazed that they are still in business.

    I believe that even after that 10% discount, you would have gotten a better deal at TigerDirect/CompUSA.

    I haven’t seen any satisfying purchase in BestBuy for YEARS. Maybe if I need a new washing machine I’d check them out.

30. Hal Hoadley says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 9:03 am

    Hey Andrew,

    I’ve missed a few shows, sadly, and I see the old set is back. And for GotBizTV, thanks for letting us in on the true story.
    As for the coupon, I see many big box stores are putting dates as to when you can use the coupon. Not sure why they want to use a “beginning” date. maybe they are waiting to be sure they have the inventory. If it were my decision as a manager, I would let you use the coupon but for only have its value since you either can’t wait for one day or you are trying to disrupt the system.
    As for shopping at Best Buy, why bother when you have other choices. I personally like Fry’s Electronics. They have bigger selections, knowledgeable sales staff and they will beat Anybody’s price if you ask.
    See you next week Andrew…

31. Tom says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 9:09 am

    Part of the problem is Andrew’s perception. The coupon was for the “next day” but Andrew said that it was only a “few hours earlier”. It also seems like all the people Andrew has complained about all talk the same way. And what difference does it make that the store manager “looked like he got out of college”. Andrew, please vote with your feet and shop somewhere else and please let us know where you bought the same items (on the same day of course because it would be totally ridiculous if you bought it the following day) and make sure you continue to shop there.

32. Glen says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 10:39 am

    Andrew = What’s with the Carl’s Jr. commercial that played while I was reading comments?

    And, yes you need to read the fine print on the coupons. Because your didn’t, you probably threw money away:(

33. Craig Lindo says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 11:25 am

    Best Buy should have awarded the coupon. The manager should have been smart enough to make an executive decision and accept the coupon.

34. Pete says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Andrew, you seem to have a sense of entitlement. Maybe there is a marketing lesson here but when you mention company names or rhymes with West Why, the lesson seems to has multiple motives.

    Rather than appreciate the offer from Best Buy to purchase for a discount on certain dates, you take it upon yourself to bend the “conditions”. These “conditions” are not same type of ridiculous conditions that you would find on other special offers such as airlines where you have to fly on certain dates. It’s a simple and easy condition and you wouldn’t have to waste your time, energy, and frustration because you couldn’t wait until the next morning.

    What I find more surprising is that you are more than happy to get 10% off of $2000 when the guy in front you get same discount for spending much less.

35. Linda Thom says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    I had something like your Best Buy experience happen to me at Krispy Kreme donuts. I haven’t been back since! (When will these companies LEARN about the bad PR they are creating?!?!)

36. Timothy Michael Ricke says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    Andrew,
    For the 1st time I am in agreement with the BestBuy. Retails set their computers ups between themselves. manufactures and 3rd party company are all involved in setting the sales events, inventories, etc in place. If they start ahead of time no one is setup to that mode. In addition if they run out of merchandise prior to the estimated if the sale they have some very upset customers. In giving the price before the sale date is it worth the anger and loss of those customers who do observe the sale dates?

37. Mian says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    I agree that Best Buy is not in the wrong here. You can’t get everything your way.

    Its good to hear that someone giving weekly business advice failed in one of their own ventures.

38. Sky says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    Best Buy – I mean c’mon …

    Here is the points to consider:

    FIRST: What is the point of a coupon? To bring in new customers and re-activate old or previous customers? Is there REALLY a reason for the date limitation? If not, then take the damn money someone is trying to give you!

    If the date has a reason, explain the reasoning if it is truly justifiable and reward the customer (don’t punish them) by giving them something and ask if they could come in during the dates the coupon is valid.

    SECOND: By telling a customer no – absolutely not – you are now HOPING they come back – why not take their money when they want to give it to you? I don’t care how large or small a business is – if someone wants to give you money – TAKE IT!

    Why businesses go to all the trouble of running ads, sending mailers, running TV commercials and radio ads and then you go to the store and they have ONE register open – I mean REALLY???!!!

    The most important job you have as a business is to provide a great product or service with EXCELLENT customer service and when someone is ready to do business with you – TAKE THEIR MONEY!!!

39. Sky says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Oh and one more thing – What do you think Zappos.com would have done if someone called them asking to honor their coupon a day early?

    They are smart they would have accepted it and sent the customer a thank you for bringing it in a day early!

    Rule of Thumb: NEVER do what you think your competition would do!

    BestBuy had the perfect opportunity to make a customer for life – and they failed!

40. Jimm Crouse says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 3:35 pm

    Wow, seems like there’s a lot of pro-Best Buy comments on here, Andrew. I have been on both sides of the early/late coupon use fence as a businessman and consumer and it’s never an easy call. I worked as sales manager in a car rental call reservation center for several years and the company was very good about letting us know in advance when/where they were running coupons and/or other media pricing specials so that we could prepare our sales reps. However, our computer system would not allow them or me to override a coupon or special. Couldn’t do it, period. It wasn’t a matter of choice. It might have been the same with this Best Buy manager. However, what I would do is find some other way of sweetening the deal, finding some kind of discount that would match or better the one the caller was expecting rather than losing the business..with the understanding that the deal had to close right then.

    I’m not a big fan of Best Buy due to the fact that about 20 years ago I registered a formal complain with corporate because a special price had not been honored on an as advertised product. I later received a very threatening phone call that sounded like something straight out of “The Sopranos”
    asking me who I thought I was griping about a few cents. The caller started and ended the call by calling me a name I can’t use here and giving my home address with a promise that he would “see ya ’round, chump!” I’ve never bought from BB since!!

41. Rene says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    If I was the Best Buy manager I would actually have charged you 10% more. Yes, I said more. When you insist on getting 10% off I would still argue that you should pay 10% more. When you show me the coupon I would then ask you why I should honor that coupon. I’m sure you would come up with a good excuse like it makes good business sense to honor all marketing and sales offers. Then I would apologize and agree with you and say, you’re right, I should honor all aspects of the coupon and that you can come back tomorrow and get your 10% off.

42. locky says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    Wow, the Best Buy story sure caught your interest, didn’t it?!

    Just to clarify, I don’t feel any sense of entitlement whatsoever, I simply saw that there was no logical reason why I should not use the coupon at that time. The price was no different the next day – I checked that out of curiosity. Simply, there was no reason for a start date on the coupon that I could discern, and certainly the store manager could not give a reason either, other than to say ‘no’.

    Later that day I made the purchase at a local store in Salt Lake called Pictureline – I didn’t mention it in the show because they’re not a known national brand. But they were keen to have my business, and offered me a great deal to win my business.

    Personally, in my business, I try and accommodate any REASONABLE requests from customers. I’ve honored prices from sales that happened 6 months ago! I believe in the life-time value of the customer and I want everyone to have a great experience so that they tell their friends. Sure, we don’t succeed in that goal all the time, but it’s certainly our intention.

    Regards

    Andrew

43. Rene says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    You may not have had a sense of entitlement but you seemed to have a lack of respect for other employees and their decisions. Rather than ask about the coupon before your purchase, you had made assumptions and put that poor manager in a difficult situation. You need to know more facts as the managers instructions about this issue might not be in his control. You also don’t respect other peoples decisions. Since you’ll stop going to Best Buy we won’t have to listen to anymore bad customer experience stories about them. Pretty soon all of Best Buys customers will be good ones who abide by the rules. Good luck with shopping at Pictureline.

44. Ian says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 4:58 pm

    Ha! What a joke, sounds like Best Buys need a check up from the neck up!

45. Refine Electrical & Instrumentation-Melton says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    Web is under construction

46. Rene says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 5:05 pm

    People who shop at places like Best Buy are not looking for a “shopping experience”. They are looking for the lowest price. Period. Places like The Apple Store is where you go for a “shopping experience”.

47. Laila M says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    Hi Andrew – I completely agree with you in regards to Best Buy. Quite often your very experience is the reason some businesses fail. Thanks for sharing!

48. Christian Fioravanti says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    Great video Andrew, this was one of your more valuable videos!

49. locky says:
    September 1st, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    I believe that businesses need the customers more than customers need the business, because there’s nearly always a choice of where to spend money.

    If Best Buy had a compelling reason why they should not allow me to use the coupon a day earlier, then they had opportunity to explain that. The fact is, they did not. It was a simple request, and they were entitled to turn it down – I just believe that was the wrong decision strategically.

    Pictureline, a small independent store in SLC were delighted to accept my dollars, and gave me an even better deal. I will continue to go back there again not only because of the price, but the service and experience they provided.

    Regards

    Andrew

50. Rene says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 5:12 am

    It’s unfortunate that you made this a Best Buy story rather a Pictureline story. I guess telling bad news is more entertaining that telling good news. Maybe that’s one lesson you should learn.

51. Gary F. Martin says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 10:50 am

    I believe you live or die by customer service.

    Good customer service and people talk about how great your company treated them and how you will go back. This shared with a few friends and the said company has now new customers.

    Bad customer service has just the opposite effect and I have experienced far too many places with bad customer service. They lose not only me as a customer, but my comments to other people also reduces their customer base.

    The comments about how dare you bend the rules by trying to use a coupon a day early are perfect examples of the corporate mentality that must “color inside the lines”. What possible difference would it have made to Best Buy’s bottom line if they had accepted your coupon except to better their bottom line. However, they were more interested in their “corporate rules” than giving great customer service and therefore, lost a good sale AND any other future sales.

    Gary

52. Keni says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Hey great video….was very helpful. Thanks

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