ByThe 'Nathan For You' Price Matching Scheme
Nathan For You was a docu-reality comedy series that ran on Comedy Central from 2013 to 2017. The show's premise involves its host, Nathan Fielder, pitching wacky ideas to small business owners. The episode titled Electronics Store involved Nathan trying to exploit Best Buy's price matching policy. The plot was truly a great piece of reality TV humor.
The episode involved an elaborate plot to trick Best Buy to sell TVs for $1 to compete with Speers TV, a small local TV retailer. In the show, Nathan persuades Speers TV to advertise $1 TVs. The plan was to then take these ads to Best Buy to try to force them to honor the price match policy.
Additionally, the scheme involved making the discounted TVs at Spears TV hard to buy. Some deterrence strategies included not allowing anyone to enter the store who wasn't following the black-tie dress code, a tiny two-foot door, and the discounted TVs being guarded by a live alligator. While it was a clever plan, Best Buy did not price match the TVs listed at Speers TV.
Why Didn’t the Nathan for You Price Matching Scheme Work?
- In the episode, none of Nathan's shoppers were able to get Best Buy to honor the company's price match guarantee.
- This is despite the fact that Best Buy's terms of service detail "We match local retail competitors."
- When Nathan tried to get a TV himself, he read the terms of Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee to the customer service representative.
- This still failed to get Best Buy to honor the price listed at Speers TV.
- While Best Buy has never officially commented about its appearance on Nathan for You, it's fair to assume that store managers have some oversight on how the price matching policy is applied.
- The managers likely detected they were the target of some scam, and refused to honor the price match with Speers TV.
- Additionally, the Speers TV advertisement declared "Blowout Price." Best Buy does not honor price matching for liquidation sales.
Best Buy’s Price Match Policy Details
- Assuming a customer is seeking a price match in good faith and not part of a prank show, Best Buy is likely to honor the policy.
- Unlike other company's price matching policies, Best Buy tends to honor the policy at the time of the sale.
- If you notice a price drop after the sale, Best Buy will still honor price matching within 15 days of the purchase.
- This policy applies to both online purchases and in-store purchases.
How to Submit a Price Match Request With Best Buy After the Purchase
| Online | You will need to communicate with a Best Buy customer service rep through their chat function.
On the Best Buy website, there is a blue help icon in the lower right corner. Simply click on that icon to start chatting with a Best Buy customer service representative. You will need to provide purchase details, such as the sale or receipt number, a link to the lower-priced item with a competitor, etc. |
| In-store | Be sure to have the invoice or receipt of the product ready.
Bring the advertisement for the lower-priced item or the link showing the lower-priced item. Simply ask a Best Buy customer service rep to refund you the difference in price. |
Common Problems Trying to Use Best Buy’s Price Match Guarantee
- Even when customers are acting in good faith, it can be difficult to get the most out of Best Buy's price matching program.
- In order to receive redemption, customers must first find the identical item at a lower price.
- Searching for a lower price and going through all the steps for redemption can take hours.
- DoNotPay is here to help
DoNotPay Can Help With Best Buy’s Price Matching Policy
Presuming you're not a prankster with Comedy Central, DoNotPay can help you with Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee. Simply follow these three easy steps:
- Search for "Price Match" on DoNotPay and choose the product.
- Choose if you were charged more than the advertised price or if you believe you are eligible for a price match refund.
- Provide us with the name of the product you purchased and we can see if it qualifies for a price match reimbursement. If you believe the item qualifies for a price match, we'll double-check for you.
And that's all you have to do! DoNotPay will communicate with Best Buy for you to pursue your price match refund. You can expect to hear back from Best Buy within two weeks.
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