New Free Service Makes Getting Price-Drop Refunds Automatic

I have yet to meet a geek that doesn't like to save money! Of course we all know sometimes that can be easier said than done. You have to make that concerted effort to watch your favorite deal sites for the best deals, use price match policies or search out refunds. Then once you do get the best deal you get annoyed because the price drops even lower.

These days many stores have policies that offer to refund shoppers when this happens, but as most good deal seeking geeks know it can be a major hassle trying to keep track of all of your recent purchases and sale prices from those retailers in order to take advantage of price-drop refunds.

We now have a solution, a service called Paribus. The concept here is a simple one, maybe a little intrusive, but still simple nonetheless and even better it is free, well until they get you a refund and then it only cost you 25%.

Here are the basics that you need to know: When getting started you sign up to Paribus and link your email accounts that you typically do your shopping from. The service then watches for receipts that come in as you shop online, or in stores that offer receipts by email. When a new purchase is made and an invoice is emailed to you, Paribus records it in your account and monitors the price of the items you purchased. If there is a coupon you missed, or if the price of any items drops, Paribus will automatically file a claim with the store at which you purchased the items and get you a refund.

Sounds pretty simple too me! The great part is, again that there is no charge for the service. If they don't get you a refund they don't get paid! The one downside I see if any, would be allowing an outside service access to your email and invoices which might be a deal breaker for some...but hey
I like to save money so I might be willing to give it a shot.

We should note that at this time the Paribus service only works with 18 different merchants, but they’re all large retailers that are very popular especially amongst use geeks and include sites, such as Newegg, Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy.

Here’s the full list of supported merchants:

• Amazon.com
• Bloomingdale’s
• Macy’s
• Best Buy
• Sephora.com
• Newegg
• Staples
• Target
• Bonobos
• J. Crew
• Zappos.com
• Nordstrom
• Banana Republic
• Gap
• Old Navy
• Athleta
• Piperlime
• Walmart

The company says it is constantly working to add additional merchants. There’s one more important thing to note with Paribus: every merchant has different policies where price-drop refunds are concerned. That shouldn't be any issue here, in fact it should be a major plus as now you won't need to remember those policies or have to deal with anything related to customer service. Paribus should handle all that for you!

Intel Joins Samsung Opens Experience Shops Exclusively in 50 Best Buy Stores

For you geeks out there that want to get the latest hands on experience with cutting edge technology you now have an exciting new opportunity. Intel has announced it will be opening 50 new "Intel Experience" shops exclusively in Best Buy retail stores at various locations across the nation.

"We wanted to give our customers a new way to experience Intel technology," said CJ Bruno, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel Americas. "It's an innovative way for Best Buy's customers to see, touch and engage with our latest products and experiences."

The area will be staffed by specially trained Best Buy Blue Shirts and will allow customers to explore:

• 3-D Printing Experience: On a touch-enabled, Intel-powered laptop, shoppers can design their own 3-D model of a robot and experience 3-D printing as featured robot designs get highlighted in the stores.
• Mars Escape Augmented Reality Game: Use powerful Intel tablets to design and race a Mars Rover. While being immersed in an augmented reality world, the users navigate their virtual space rovers through a physical Mars landscape.
• DJ Remixing Ne-Yo Experience: Budding musical artists can feel what it's like to perform in front of thousands of fans in an immersive, on-stage DJ experience on an Intel-powered 2 in 1 device. In collaboration with singer-song writer Ne-Yo, shoppers can remix his track and create a full-stage experience through controlling the stage lights.
• The Product Gallery: Experience the latest laptops, 2 in 1 devices and tablets powered by Intel processors.

Best Buy has been expanding its partnerships with several companies lately looking for way to engage more customers and offer them more than just the standard shopping experience. Last year they began their partnership with Samsung, placing Samsung Experience Shops in most retail locations. They also have a long standing partnership with Apple and are looking to add similar in-store customer support and experience kiosks from Microsoft, Amazon and Google to offer similar, yet not on the same scale.

Samsung Lays Best Buy Acquisition Rumors To Rest

Earlier this week rumors surfaced that Samsung may be looking to further its partnership with Best Buy. Perhaps going so far as acquiring a major stake in the company. Today Samsung has laid all those rumors to rest with a blog posting on their Samsung Tomorrow Blog.

The rumors and speculation followed a Korea Times report (which now appears to be offline) Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong said that he “recently met with senior executives at Best Buy and discussed pending business issues.” Analyst firm HMC Securities quickly jumped to conclusions and claimed this includes a proposed investment deal, since it claims Samsung “has been considering increasing subsidies paid to BestBuy.”

Samsung shot that suggestion down in a brief post on its blog:

In the past few days, there have been reports that 'Samsung is considering to acquire stakes in Best Buy'. Please take note that these rumors are not true. There have been no talks whatsoever regarding stock acquisition of either company.

While it now appears that the acquisition rumors may have been false the question still stands as to what the two companies may have been in talks over. Back in April of this year Samsung announced a relationship with Best Buy that resulted in Samsung Experience Shops being installed in over 1,400 Best Buy stores. The newest speculation is leaning towards the two companies looking to build upon that relationship potentially adding in Samsung based shops for other Samsung products such as appliances, TVs, or more.

Samsung Experience Shops Coming To Best Buy

Best Buy brick and mortar shoppers will soon see something new, a Samsung branded "Experience Shop" in the aisles at select Best Buy locations.

Samsung and Best Buy have announced the opening of Samsung Experience Shops in 1,400 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores across the U.S. These shops within a shop will allow customers to explore, purchase, activate, and receive service on a wide range of Samsung devices including mobile products, laptops, cameras TV and accessories.

The SES stores are  going to feature Samsung Employees, specifically trained and equipped to handle Samsung specific questions. The stores will stock and support a full range of mobile products, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, connected cameras, and accessories, all available in a single location within Best Buy.

"Samsung has been delivering the latest innovation across the consumer electronics category for some time," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America. "With the Samsung Experience Shops, we are ensuring consumers get the most of that innovation by learning how to leverage their mobile devices across our ecosystem of consumer electronics. Consumers will have one place to not only explore and learn about our full portfolio of mobile products, but also the support of a Samsung expert to help with selecting and servicing them. This will truly be a unique mobile shopping experience."

These specialized shops will vary in size, the largest being around 460 square feet. Larger shops will showcase a "Samsung Connected Solutions" area to demonstrate Samsung devices being connected to and sharing content with each other.

You can find more details, as well as location information on the Samsung Experience BestBuy.com landing page.

Target Follows Suit Will Price Match Online Retailers During Holidays

Not to be outdone by other retailers, Target has announced that for the first time ever it plans to price match selective online retailers during the holiday shopping period between November 1 and December 16.

Following the lead set by Best Buy’s own announcement, this holiday season Target will allow price matching of several online retailers including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, Toysrus.com and babiesrus.com. As with many brick and mortar retailers Target has been reluctant to price match online deals. Typically only price matching deals that can be purchased at local competitors. But now pressure from online retailers and a likely drop in in-store business has forced the company to rethink its policies.

Much like Best Buy's new policy Target's isn't a open match free for all. The policy does have a couple stipulations when it comes to price matching Amazon. Target will not honor the price of a third-party retailer that lists their products on Amazon. In addition, anyone that wants to price match a specific item will have to visit the guest services area to obtain the same price for an Amazon product, they will then need to verify and accept or decline the price match.

Target Corp.'s CEO Gregg Steinhafel made the announcement to about 80 reporters at a company media conference Tuesday. "We're proud of our prices," Steinhafel told the audience. "We believe this plays into our strength. But we also wanted to ensure our (customers) that they can shop with confidence."

In addition to the new prce match policy Target has added a few new features to draw customers and their holiday cash. For the first time this year, Target's shoppers can shop from television spots, bus shelter ads and catalog pages by using their mobile phones to send a text or scan a QR codes. For Apple users the company has also launched a Passbook application that allows you to save and store mobile coupons.

Marketing featuring the new scan-able QR codes will begin Nov. 7 and last through the holiday season.

Source: Bloomberg

Best Buy Plans To Price Match Match Online Retailers And Offer Free Shipping

Looking to regain some of their in-store business Best Buy has announced plans to price match any online retailers’ lower prices as well as offering free in-home delivery of any products purchased in-store that aren't currently in-stock.

Price-matching is effective immediately but only runs through Dec. 24 and doesn’t apply during Thanksgiving week or on Cyber Monday. Best Buy also said in their statement that it’s “giving our front line employees the opportunity to match a competitor’s price when it makes sense.” In other words, if you find one of those crazy ridiculous deals like a $10 PlayStation 3, Best Buy most likely isn’t going to match it. In general though, the company’s new plans gives the guys and gals in blue shirts fairly wide discretion to give customers discounts that get them to the checkout counter.

Best Buy customers were already offered a price-matching guarantee in plan, however in the past the company was reluctant to price match online sales from even other brick and mortar locations let alone e-tailers. This new plan is directly aimed at competing against online retailers such as Newegg and Amazon.

As more customers have moved their shopping online Best Buy has had to rethink many of their in-store policies. The changes to the price match policy is just the latest move by the company to get consumers back into their stores. A few years ago the company dropped their restocking fees so that customers no longer had to worry about loosing money on their returns. Earlier this year they extended their Perfect Match Promise a program which provides customers with 30-day price matching, free support, and returns.

More details on the retailer's price match policy for local competitors can be seen at BestBuy.com website.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Best Buy Extends Perfect Match Promise Offers 30 Day Support, Returns And Price Matching

Starting this past weekend Best Buy has extended its Perfect Match Promise to include all product categories for customers shopping either their retails stores or online website. Under the new policy Best Buy will be consolidating many of its service offerings, providing 30-day price matching, free support, and returns across all of its product lines.

The Perfect Match Promise is simple: 30.30.30

• 30-day free phone support to get product up and running
• 30-days of easy returns with no restocking fees
• 30-days of competitor price matching

"We've created the Perfect Match Promise to ensure customer peace of mind. From selection to set-up and beyond, we're giving consumers the confidence they need to make the technology decisions that best fit their lifestyle," said Drew Panayiotou, senior vice president of U.S. marketing at Best Buy. "The Perfect Match Promise is a simple and straightforward guarantee from us to our customers that combines 30 days of free phone support to get products up and running, 30 days for returns with no stocking fees, and 30 days of price match guarantees."

Previously Best Buy Perfect Match was only offered on specific products meeting a required price level. Prior to the changes Best Buy's Perfect Match applied just to TVs priced at $899 and higher, as well as appliances priced at $429 and above. Now all customers at all pricing levels will be able to take advantage of the new price matching policy and return or exchange periods.

As sales have undoubtedly slumped for the electronics giant they have been proactive in changing policies based on customer feedback. Due in big part to customer feedback, prior to the 2010 holiday season the company dropped their 10% to 15% restocking fee found on returned items. We've also seen extended return dates for items bough during the holiday season.

Best Buy Temporarily Prices HTC Flyer At $99

Social networks exploded with posts this morning after it was discovered over night that Bestbuy.com was listing the HTC Flyer on sale for $99. Geeks scurried to stores to get a bargain basement deal on the 7 inch Android based tablet only to be told that is was a pricing mistake and stores would not honor it. While some geeks where lucky enough to talk the retail associates into honoring the sale most weren't so lucky. Prompting several complaints via social media.

The official word from Best Buy corporate, is that this was a mistake on their website and the stores are not to honor the price.

At current, the best buy page to buy an HTC Flyer, even at normal retail price, is oddly missing from the Best Buy site. Also strangely missing from the site any mention of HTC in the list of brand names available for tablets. Its as if Best Buy completely wiped the tablet from their system.

To add even more mystery to the puzzle sites like Geek.com are reporting that customers are seeing sale signs listing the $99 price tad in stores all across the US.

Could this be a preview of a Sunday sale? Or was it really just a snafu that spread like wildfire?

Best Buy Tells HP "We Want The TouchPad Gone"

According to a report by AllThingsD BestBuy is so unhappy with their overstock of HP's TouchPad that it has told HP it is unwilling to pay for all the TouchPads taking up expensive space in its stores and warehouses, and wants HP to take them back.

According to the report an unnamed source has seen internal HP reports stating that Best Buy has taken delivery of 270,000 TouchPads and has so far managed to sell only 25,000, or less than 10 percent of the units in its inventory. These less than stellar sales numbers of the WebOS based tablet have prompted HP to slash prices on the tablet down to $399 and $499 or $100 off from its release pricing of $499 and $599.

Rich Doherty, head of the Envisioneering Group, stated that sales aren’t only failing to catch on at Best Buy, but also at other retailers, including Wal-Mart, Micro Center and Fry’s. He full expects that we may see the TouchPad bundled alongside HP computers in back-to-school sales or potentially even a further price cut.

My Thoughts:

Sadly had HP had a tablet out late last year or earlier this year before some of the better Android tabs made their way to the market they would have been in a better position. Now however, they put themselves in a really bad up hill climb.
For starters they put out a device that doesn't have the same polish as some of the other offerings. As I mentioned in our hands on review WebOS is great, and will only get better but the fit and finish of the device just isn't there.

Had HP listened to consumers complaints about some of the other devices on the market and followed up with a better device out of the gate they might have had a chance. Add to that the TouchPad is lacking many of the features like hdmi, usb and micro sd slots that are part of the exodus away from Apple and they built their own recipe for disaster.

I applaud HP for what they've done with WebOS I really had hoped the TP would have done better and given a better showing for the new system. The thing is is that most people want something they are familiar with or something that has a competing number of applications. Not something that is going to be limited over the next few years.

Best Buy Gives Customers A Christmas Gift, Dumps Restocking Fees

Being a computer geek and general tech junkie one of my biggest complaints has always been restocking fees. I absolutely hate shopping sites or stores that charge me just because I buy something and then either don't like it or just find the need to return it. But we all know that when it comes to electronic items, restocking fees are a fact of life. After all, retailers can't sell an item for full price once it's returned in an open/used state, even if it was only used for a few minutes. So to recoup some of the loss associated most companies make the customer eat some of the cost with a 10-15% restocking fee.

After years and years of customers complaints Best Buy has finally caved and recently announced that as of 12/18/2010 the company will be doing away with their traditional 15% restocking fee. The company posted the following notice on its website:

Best Buy continually listens to our customers, and they told us they want to give confidently this holiday season and every other day of the year — and with that comes easier returns. Effective Saturday, December 18, Best Buy is improving its return policy by removing restocking fees for all products except special orders. Customers can visit BestBuy.com for further information.

According to popular consumer affairs blog The Consumerist the new policy applies to all items including iPads, iPhones, notebook computers, and digital cameras. In addition, a company email notes that customers who were charged a restocking fee between November 17 and December 17 can come back to a Best Buy store to get the fee refunded.

All I can say is its about time! Walmart did away with restocking fees years ago and a few other places like Staples has followed suite.

Best Buy Begins Selling Nexus S Thursday Morning

For you cellphone geeks out there that are chomping at the bit to get your hands on Samsung's Google-branded cellphone the new Nexus S you'll only have to wait a few more days. Best Buy has announced the company will begin selling the hot new phones in their retails stores at 8SM local time this Thursday, Dec 16th.

The Nexus S is available in all Best Buy and Best Mobile specialty stores. Exact inventory will vary by store and the phone will be sold out on a first-come, first-serve basis with a limit of 2 per customer.

Pricing: The Nexus S is an unlocked phone and can be purchased without contract for $529. The Nexus S can also be purchased for $199 with a TMobile two-year service agreement and qualifying voice and data plan or for $249.99 for add-a-line activations.

Source: Engadget via Best Buy

Don't Pay Best Buy $30 For PS3 Firmware Upgrade

It appears as though Best Buy is screwing bilking non-tech customers out of their hard earned cash by charging them a $30 fee for upgrading their new Sony PS3 to the latest firmware. A practice which we see as very unscrupulous!!

According to gaming site DualShockers, who originally reported seeing the advertisements at the Best Buy in Staten Island, New York City, Best Buy has the audacity to advertise a service that even the most un-tech friendly of users can do themselves.That's right folks even grand-ma can update the firmware on the PS3, its that easy! Bu the folks are misleading their none-tech customers and are charging them $30 for something that can be done for free at home!

Here's the breakdown from the reports and the advertisement:

A PlayStation 3 Slim 120GB is $299.99 at most retail stores and online. But if you head to you local Best Buy you may see it priced at $329.98 as part of a 'package deal' This package deal is advertised as including the latest firmware upgrade from Sony. The firmware includes the following changes/fixes

• Play all Blu-ray movies & PS3 games
• Eliminates bugs & glitches
• System runs smoother
• Improved connection to Facebook
• Power save settings
• Photo gallery and video editor
• Adds PlayStation Plus (Subscription Based)
• Improved System Settings

The issue at hand here is that the $30 'upgrade' that Best Buy is charging it's customers for is something that basically runs by itself on any internet connected PS3 for nothing. Yes that's correct folks it practically installs itself and I all but guarantee its easy enough anyone can do it.

Performing a firmware update on the PS3 is as simple as going to the system menu and selecting system updates and requires nothing more than a few button presses on the controller (and of course an internet connection).

Best Buy has done some pretty shady things in the past but to me this one takes it. The sad part is that they seem to see nothing wrong with bilking unsuspecting customers. When asked by Industry Gamers confronted Best Buy about the policy the company stated the upgrade offer had been in place for nearly two years and the company denied any wrong doing stating:


"While many gamers can handle firmware upgrades easily on their own, those customers who do want help can get it from Geek Squad, and we continue to evaluate this offering to ensure it meets their needs," said a Best Buy spokesperson. "The service goes beyond a firmware updates, and includes user account setup, parental control setup and other components."

Sadly many customers out there will see the deal and think its something they need to spend the extra cash on not knowing its something they can do on their own within a few mins times.

Best Buy Advertised Price May Not Be A Deal After All

Popular consumer affairs blog The Consumerist is reporting that Best Buy may be taking advantage of uninformed customers by advertising computers and laptops at slightly higher than regular prices and passing them off as incredible deals without actually calling 'sales'.

According to the report users have caught sales advertising where some laptops and computers are actually advertised at prices higher than their regular price. The sales ads show Dell and HP laptops for $649.99 and $699.99 respectively, these prices are apparently $20 and $50 higher than their regular price. Not only is Best Buy's advertising misleading consumers but the stores are taking things a step further by placing "as advertised" signs on the laptops in store -- thereby giving consumers the impression that they're getting a great deal.

 

Image from page 15 of the BestBuy ad valid from May23-29

The tipster to Consumerist, known only as Donald, points to this week's sale ad pictured above. Donald writes:

Best Buy has been doing something sort of tricky lately on their laptop pricing. Each week, advertised prices on a number of laptops are higher than regular pricing.

In this week's ad, there is a Dell, sku 9693191, for $649.99. Regular price is $629.99. An HP, sku 9705373, is advertised for $699.99; regular price is $649.99. Last week, a Toshiba, sku 9705221, was advertised for $499.99, this week it's back to regular price, $479.99. Likewise, a Dell, sku 9693191, was advertised for $649.99 last week, and this week it's back to its regular price of $629.99.

This is certainly legal, because nowhere is the word sale used. The ad doesn't say that the price is reduced, and the in store signage just says As Advertised. Still, it appears that they are attempting to gouge the uninformed.

Its hard to believe a major retailer could be so unscrupulous in this day and age, none the less given Best Buy's past history will pricing it really doesn't shock me. This definitely lends credence to the adage buyer beware! I for one have always preached that consumers need to be better informed before making purchases. You should do as much research as possible before heading off to the store to make your decision and now days with the proliferation of smartphones and web enabled devices you should be able to check prices right there in-store.

There are tons of sites out there that are very helpful in finding or comparing prices of products. Consumers should always check these before making their purchases.

Best Buy Black Friday 2009 DoorBusters

Best Buy has officially posted their door buster deals for Black Friday 2009. Some of these are pretty darn good deals, one of which is an HP laptop for under $200!! All door buster deals will require a ticket which means you will more than likely have to stand in line and I almost guarantee that means getting there very early!

Below is a list of a few of the deals Best Buy is offering for Black Friday 2009, a full list can be found by clicking here and you can view the full weekly add by clicking here.

Samsung LN46B640 46" LCD HDTV - $999 this is currently on-sale for $1199 so at $999 you are saving well over $200

HP G60-507DX Laptop with Intel Celeron 900 Processor - $197 they list it at $549 but the specs are almost identical to the $249 Acer they sold two weeks ago. This comes with a Celly 900, 2gigs of DDR2, a 160GB HDD and Windows 7.

Sony VAIO VGN-NW235F/W Laptop $399 - the details aren't listed on the Best Buy site but the specs listed from Sony are as follows, Intel Pentium T4300 (2.10GHz) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 15.5" widescreen LCD, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, DVD burning, webcam


Dynex DX-L321-10A 32" LCD HDTV - $299 - this product is already listed on BestBuy.com and on-sale at that price but you have to pay shipping. IMO that's a fair trade-off for not standing inline, so I'd buy it online if you are planning on getting it.


Samsung UN46B6000VF 46" LED-LCD HDTV - $1,599 - this isn't a bad deal but its only $150 below current cost at several online retailers and can be had cheaper at Abe's Of Maine -$1588.18


Garmin nüvi 205W - $99.99 - they list it at $199, however most sites like Newegg have it for $135

Here are a few highlights of items available on via the Black Friday Ad:

Acer X203H 20" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor for $79.99
features include a 1600 x 900 maximum resolution at 60Hz, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, HDCP DVI ports and VGA ports

Epson Stylus NX110 Multifunction Printer/ Copier/ Scanner for $29.99
Features include 48-bit color, scan resolution up to 600 x 1200 dpi (9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated), Prints up to 28 ppm in black, up to 14 ppm in color

Compaq Mini 110c-1100DX Netbook for $179.99
features - 10.1" WSVGA antiglare LED widescreen display, N270 Intel Atom processor, 1GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Magellan SE4 GPS for $89.99
features - 4.3" color, backlit touch-screen display, Text-to-speech and turn-by-turn voice prompts, Preloaded NAVTEQ maps

What you need to know before heading down there and waiting in line forever!!

Doorbuster FAQs

What are the store hours?

• BestBuy.com is open 24/7/365.
• All retail stores will be closed for Thanksgiving.
• Stores will open at 5 a.m. on Friday, November 27, and close at 10 p.m.
• Stores will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 28, and close at 10 p.m.
• Additional store hours can be found in our Store Locator.

What time will tickets be handed out to customers?

• Each store will decide when to hand out tickets in the two hours before store opening. Stores base their decisions on multiple factors, including the length of the line, the weather, and store personnel levels.
• Tickets will be handed out until they are gone. Lines tend to form early, and Best Buy is unable to guarantee that all customers will receive a ticket.

How will tickets be provided prior to store opening?

• A line of customers will form outside of Best Buy stores and tickets will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
• In most cases tickets will be handed out by store personnel prior to store opening.
• Best Buy reserves the right to refuse service or to provide a ticket to anyone it deems necessary. Best Buy will cancel ticketing and line formation if customer participation is deemed unlawful by local law enforcement agencies.

How many tickets can a single customer get?

• Each customer is eligible to receive one ticket per applicable item. If a customer wants to purchase 10 different items, then he or she is eligible to receive one ticket (if applicable) for each of those 10 items.
• All customers in line are eligible to receive a ticket based on ticket availability. Customers are not required to be an adult (age 18 or older) in order to receive a ticket.

By what time does a customer have to redeem the ticket?

• Each ticket includes a time deadline for when it must be redeemed.

Why is it necessary to have a ticket to purchase select products?

• Ticketing will help to ensure the safety of both Best Buy customers and employees when the stores open. Tickets also help to ensure that those customers who arrive first can purchase the products they want.

What are doorbusters?

• Doorbuster products are front-cover limited-quantity items on the Thanksgiving Day advertisement in your local newspaper. If you do not receive a copy of the advertisement, it can viewed in the Weekly Ad section of BestBuy.com.

What products require tickets?

• Select front-cover and other limited-quantity items from our Thanksgiving Day advertisement will require tickets.
• The ticket will grant the customer the ability to buy the item for a limited time.

What if I previously purchased a product at Best Buy and the price is now lower in your Friday advertisement, TV ads or on BestBuy.com? What if I find a lower price available at a Best Buy competitor on Friday?

• The Best Buy Retail Store Price Guarantee and BestBuy.com Price Guarantee will not be in effect for items purchased on November 27 and 28.

What is Best Buy's holiday gift return and exchange policy?

• For your convenience, we offer an extended gift return and exchange policy during the holiday season.

Are there any errors in the Thanksgiving day ad?

• Yes. On page 12 of the November 27th - 28th ad insert we advertised our store hours as open from 9am to 11pm on Saturday, November 28th. Our store hours are 9am to 10pm on Saturday, November 28th. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.

Best Buy Selling $249 Acer Notebook Starting Wed 11/11

Best Buy Unveils Its Lowest-Advertised-Priced Laptop Ever
$249.99 notebook launches robust holiday computing selection

Best Buy will appeal to value-conscious consumers with a dynamic holiday computing selection launching Nov. 11 and featuring the retailer’s lowest-advertised-price laptop ever. Selling in-store and online for $249.99, the Acer laptop delivers solid specifications including an Intel Celeron 900 processor, 2GB memory and a 160GB hard drive, and debuts the extensive seasonal computing offerings at Best Buy.

This holiday, computing selection at Best Buy spans nine popular brands, and includes over 30 laptops, six netbooks, 17 desktops and four all-in-ones. The assortment, coupled with new technologies and promotional offers like the $249.99 Acer laptop, are intended to help both customers who want to upgrade their own gear with the arrival of Windows 7, and who have computing on their wish lists for holiday.

“For many of us, computers are the center of our digital worlds, and Best Buy is committed to remaining a valued partner in this space,” said Jason Bonfig, vice president of computers at Best Buy. “We promise a broad assortment of quality products at a variety of price points, all the major brands, and smart Best Buy Blue Shirts and Geek Squad Agents to help customers feel confident about the choices they’re making.”

From now through the end of December, Best Buy will marshal a distinctive combination of dynamic assortment, exclusive offers and support services to benefit shoppers ready to give the gift of computing this holiday season – whether for loved ones or themselves. The retailer’s holiday line-up includes:

• Broadest-Ever Selection and Newest Technology.

Best Buy and BestBuy.com carry the nine top computing brands (Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Gateway, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo), and more than 30 laptops, six netbooks, 17 desktops and four all-in-ones. Laptops range in price from $249.99 to $1999.99, and eight desktops are priced under $500. Apple laptops range from $999.99 to $2,499.99. Customers can select from newly popular functionality like embedded broadband/Gobi enabled-laptops and netbooks with the customer’s choice of Verizon, Sprint or AT&T as carrier.

Ultra-thin laptops (13-inch, 14-inch, and 15.6 inch) are also available. Large memory machines (6GB of memory) start at $879.99 and Blu-ray laptops at $699.99. Best Buy also offers a wide variety of accessories including products like the Logitech M305 Pattern Mice, Rocketfish Lapdesk, Golla fashion bags and Incase Netbook Sleeves.

• Unique Promotions.

Holiday shoppers will be attracted to offers that deliver value through pricing and performance. In addition to the Acer $249.99 laptop, Best Buy will feature computing products such as the Samsung Netbook (1GB/160/6 Cell/Win 7 – available now), the most competitive Windows 7 netbook offer ever, and Best Buy-Dell Limited Edition Exclusive Netbooks, which are individually numbered and designed by world renowned artists.

Throughout the holiday season, six months of anti-virus protection will be free with the purchase of any laptop/desktop/netbook, and one year of Napster will be included free with any Dell computer purchase. In addition, Best Buy continues its popular exclusive HP in-home networking bundle introduced with Windows 7 arrival. Dubbed the “PC Home Makeover,” for only $1,199.99 customers can purchase an HP desktop, monitor, laptop, netbook, wireless router and Geek Squad setup and networking. The exclusive PC Home Makeover offer is available through mid-January.

• In-Store Service & Post-Purchase Support.

Best Buy Blue Shirts are ready to help customers find the right computer and ensure they have everything they need to get up and running. Geek Squad is available to help set up that new gear, with Agents available in-store, in-home or online. For those customers who want to upgrade to Windows 7 without buying a new PC, Geek Squad has reduced its $129.99 operating system install service charge to just $39.99. The service allows customers to upgrade their Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system to Windows 7 without the hassle of doing it themselves through January.

To learn more about how Best Buy’s holiday computing selection will help make your season jolly, visit your local Best Buy store or www.bestbuy.com/computing.

Source: BusinessWire

*Update 11/10 12:10Am*

The link (click here), is now live and active. The deal is for an Acer Extensa Laptop model EX5230E-2177 with an Intel Celeron 900 Processor. It looks like this is going to be a one day only sale though so anyone wanting to get in on it better jump quickly.

Product Features

• Quantities limited. Minimum 5 per store. Not available in all BestBuy stores. No backorders.
  
  
• Intel® Celeron processor 900
  Features an 800MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 2.2GHz processor speed.
• 2GB DDR2 memory
  For multitasking power, expandable to 4GB.
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
  Records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media; also supports DVD-RAM.
• 15.4" LCD high-brightness widescreen display
  With 1280 x 800 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio showcases movies and games in stunning clarity.
• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
  Offers spacious storage and fast read/write times.
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
  For lush graphics. 2 built-in stereo speakers with high-definition audio support.
• Built-in webcam with digital microphone
  Makes it easy to video chat with family and friends.
• 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
  For fast digital video, audio and data transfer.
• Built-in 802.11b/g/Draft-N wireless LAN
  Wirelessly connect to the Internet.
• Built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
  With RJ-45 connector for quick and easy wired Web connection.
• Weighs 6.3 lbs. and measures just 1.7" thin
  For portable power.
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system preinstalled
  Provides a stable platform for word processing, Web navigation, gaming, media storage and more.
• Software package included
  With Adobe Reader and more. 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 also included.
• ENERGY STAR qualified
  Designed to use less energy and meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.

Napster Making A Come Back With New $5/mo Service

Napster might best be known for their years of running a peer to peer file sharing service that was eventually shut down due to massive copyright violations. However the new company has been working for years to shed the stigma associated with their sorted past.

Starting today, the new Napster which was bought by Best Buy last year, will unleash its new $5 per month deal that will provide subscribers with unlimited on-demand streaming access to Napster's full library of music packed with more than 7 million tracks from several major and independent publishers. Along with the stream audio service subscribers will also be allowed to download and keep up to five unrestricted "CD quality" MP3 tracks each month from Best Buy's music service.

There are a few strings attached that really drag the deal down. Mainly there is the fact that those 5 monthly downloadable tracks are going to be DRM'ed unlike the MP3 downloads, and you can only listen to those tracks on your desktop PC. Not wanting to give up on Napster Mobile they are disallowing users to move those free tracks to a portable device. Instead limiting that ability to Napster Mobile subsections only.

For more details on the new service you can checkout the full press release below:

Napster Unveils Latest Digital Music Service

Napster Offers MP3s With its Popular On-Demand Streaming Service for One Low Monthly Price

LOS ANGELES – MAY 19, 2009 – Napster, the pioneer of digital music, today unveiled its latest music offering combining the freedom of MP3s with the discovery benefits of a high-quality streaming music service – all for one low price. For as little as $5 per month, Napster users get five unrestricted MP3 downloads, and unlimited access to Napster's award-winning on-demand music streaming service.

Music fans now have the best of both worlds: MP3s to keep forever, play, transfer and burn as much as they like, as well as unlimited music listening from Napster's catalog of more than seven million tracks. "There's no need to settle for 30-second clips to decide if you want to buy a song," said Chris Gorog, CEO of Napster. "For five bucks now you can have access to our entire music catalog and get five MP3s to add to your permanent collection."

Napster users can now:

• Get five MP3s each month to download, with their choice of songs from the Napster MP3 library that covers all types of music from all the major labels and includes the largest catalog of independent artists available.
• Listen to any track, as often as they like, in CD quality from Napster's catalog of more than seven million songs.
• Choose from more than 60 commercial-free radio stations and more than 1,400 expertly programmed playlists.
• Discover new music and artists through personalized recommendation tools.
• Enjoy the top hits from more than 50 years of Billboard charts. Want to know what was popular when you graduated high school? Now you can.
• Play MP3s on any MP3 player, including iPod®, iPhone® and music-enabled MP3 mobile phones.

"A decade ago, Napster revolutionized the way people discovered and enjoyed music," said Julie Owen, senior vice president of entertainment for Best Buy. "The brand that started it all is shaking things up again with this new service that provides music lovers continued access to the entertainment experience they've come to expect of Napster and Best Buy."

The new Napster offering is now available for U.S. residents at www.napster.com.

Dell Offers Best Buy Customers More Tech Support Options

Dell customers purchasing their computers or peripherals from Best Buy retail locations now have the option of obtaining support from either Best Buy’s Geek Squad or Dell’s Technical Support.

According to the Direct2Dell Blog, Best Buy customers were often hit with some confusion and nagging questions as to who to get their technical support from. Both customers and members of Dell's Techs team and Best Buy’s Geek Squad members were often confused over which company was to provide the limited hardware warranty and tech support on these systems. Making it confusing for customers who weren't sure if they should take their PCs or laptops back to their local Best Buy or if they should be contacting Dell for support.

Customers that purchase Dell systems or monitors at Best Buy can get limited hardware warranty support from either Best Buy’s Geek Squad or Dell’s Technical Support. If it’s easier for you to contact Dell via telephone, email or online chat, then that’s the option for you. If you prefer to take your system into a store and have a Geek Squad Agent work on it then you can get support that way as well. You can even switch between Dell and Geek Squad as your needs change.

Here are the details for which source you'll need to contact for your support options:

Best Buy:

• Tech Support (based on Dell's Limited Hardware Warranty)
• Payment Issues
• Returns
  
• Wrong / Damaged Parts

Dell:

• Tech Support (based on Dell's Limited Hardware Warranty)
• Missing Parts
• Reinstallation Media

System returns will only be handled by Best Buy and can only be returned according to their return policy, you do not need to contact Dell for returns. Normal Dell limited hardware warranty limitations such as data recovery, advanced software support, accidental damage, and out of warranty still apply. For more details, go to http://www.Dell.com/warranty.

If you purchase a Dell system from Best Buy you'll want to register your system with Dell as soon as possible to make sure there are no delays in the event you need to contact Dell support teams.

• Go to the Internet and visit Dell’s Product Registration website at http://www.Dell.com/register
• Select the language, country, and retailer from where you purchased and fill out the online form.
• Once the form is complete, click Submit.

Best Buy Selling $99 iPhones To Premier Silver Reward Zone Members

Best Buy Premier Silver Reward Zone members, customers that have spent more than $2500 at their local Best Buy over the last year, are now eligible to purchase a $99 8GB iPhone. The exclusive deal officially made its way to the Best Buy site yesterday and is available through Saturday the 28th.

Premier Silver Reward Zone members have their choice of a new, not refurbished as in previous offers, 8 or 16 GB iPhone for either $99 or $199. So that regular Reward Zones customers don't feel left out Best Buy is offering them 8 and 16 GB iPhones for $149 and $249 respectively.

There are of course restrictions to the offer, you must have been a Reward Zone program member on or before 2/21/09. The phones are available in store only through Saturday, 2/28/09 and I believe you'll likely be charged tax on the original listed price which is $599.99 for the 8GB iPhone. The other big catch for the deal, both new an existing AT&T customers must activate the phone on a new 2-year contract.

Rumor: Palm Pre Exclusively At Best Buy

The new Palm Pre was one of the biggest hits at this years CES and while there has been no official world on the phones release date rumor has it the phone is going to be sold exclusively by Best Buy mobile and Sprint.

According to WebOS Arena, a site specializing is Palm Pre news and information, "credible source" are saying, "Best Buy Mobile will be getting an exclusive deal with Sprint for the Palm Pre release. For 60 days the number one consumer electronics retailer will be the only place where you can get your hands on the Palm Pre, besides Sprint of course."

Unfortunately there are no other details, like pricing or availability dates, however the Pre is rumored to cost less than the 3G Applie iPhone. Eldar Murtazin of Mobile-review.com recently reported the Pre might be priced as low as $399 for an unsubsidized phone, and between $149 and $199 for a subsidized phone.

Best Buy Selling Refurbished iPhones

Consumers wanting to get a deal on an iPhone will soon be able to head down to their local Best Buy and get a $50 discount off the original price. That is of course if you don't mind buying a refurbished phone.

Best Buy announced on Tuesday it will be taking a page from AT&T's playbook and begun selling refurbished iPhones. The prcing is in-line with current prices on the AT&T with the 8GB model priced at $149, instead of the current price of $199 for a new one. A refurbished 16GB model is going for $249 instead of $299 for the new model.

“The refreshed iPhone is a great example of the depth of our offering, and clear evidence of why Best Buy is the best place to purchase a mobile phone,” said Scott Moore, vice president of marketing for Best Buy Mobile. “Where else can you get everything you need to make sure your phone can be utilized to its fullest.”

According to their press release Best Buy will also offer cutomers:

• Complimentary Walk Out Working -- including multimedia and smart phone set up and personalization – such as e-mail and data transfer -- ensuring that the phone is ready for use when the store is left.
• One year Best Buy warranty on the phone – in addition to getting a full one year standard warranty as part of their refreshed iPhone 3G purchase. If customers want additional coverage, they have the option of purchasing a two year Geek Squad Black Tie Protection service plan.

Like new iPhones, the refurbished models require a two-year contract with AT&T. The refurbished iPhones are reportedly available now at 350 Best Buy stores and by the end of January will be available at all U.S. Best Buy stores that offer AT&T.