adventures in shopping.

Posted on November 30, 2008 
Filed Under Life In General

a very sad thing happened a few weeks ago… my sony receiver gave up finally. the amp had been shorting out and going into protector mode for a month or so, but usually would fire up. it finally got to the point where it would not run at all. it was going into protector mode with nothing plugged in… not good.

I searched out a repair facility for the amp and discovered that i was in for no less than $149 and could go to the flat rate service price of $275. all of this with no guarntee that they could even get it working at all. so the search for a replacement under $150 began. logic here was that was how much the old one would cost to fix.

so thanksgiving weekend seemed like a goof time to look. I jumped online and found a great amp at Circuit City for the right price. hopped in the car later in the day to make the purchase only to find that the site had been updated since I viewed it and that the price had gone up $60… and no they would not honor their yesterday price.

so off I went to try and find that amp at the price I saw online at Amazon.com. I checked at Best Buy… no luck… they did not carry the amp. I checked at Costco… also no dice. I made the fateful error of visitng Fry’s electronics.

they had the amp in stock. cool. they had it for a price $60 over the amazon.com price, but I know they price match… so I asked what the process was for price matching. the kid who worked there informed me that they only match local competitors. i reminded him that if amazon ships me a product and I can order it at home that they are local. he just looked at me when I said that. I asked him why they would not match. he said, “well they have advantages over us since they don’t have stores or employees”. at that moment I laughed. he asked if there was something else I needed, I muttered no and headed out.

so here is the thought that I am left with… until retailers are willing to recognize that amazon IS their competiton, then big box retailers are doomed to fail. seriously… does anybody really enjoy going to Best Buy… or do you just do it because you can get a good price. eventually I think these stores will only exist as the place where you can go and look at a product before you order.

at the end of the day… Fry’s lost out on a decent sale by not offering a discount to be even somewhat competitive with amazon.com.

Comments

One Response to “adventures in shopping.”

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