I Just Got Screwed At Best Buy

[Bozo Galora]

Building a box for an aquaintance, not a geek, so i decided to put in a GF2 MX for him. I had used several Hercules MX jobs with no prob., but i needed a card fast to give him the box by 5:00 pm. So I went to Best Buy - they are closer than Fry's, and bought the only MX they had at this store: a Visiontek MX200 32mb for $99 (ouch). O.K. i paid $50 too much, but were not talking a whole lotta money in the big picture. Well, i loaded the 12.41 WQL drivers (first time i used these) because i wanted "certified" not beta, possible problem causing drivers. Strange artifacts appeared that i had never seen before. I immediately threw in a full GF2 i had laying around and the probs disappeared. So i called him and told him i had problems and if he wanted the box by five, he would need to shell out some more for a better card. He said sure.
I took the MX card back to the store, and the only decent card they had was a PNY (El Cheapo) GF2Pro 64MB which said advertised special on the tag, which faked me out. I was in a big hurry, wasnt thinking clearly, so the $249 price seemed high but not outrageous. Went back, put the card in, everything fine, delivered the box.
I immediately then went to pricewatch, only to see the MSI Pro from Newegg for $142!!!!!!! AAAACK. $110 in the toilet. Now the guy paid for it, not me, but its THE PRINCIPAL involved here. This is highway robbery.
If i had mentioned Newegg, would they have done a pricematch in the store??

 

[Locutus of Board]

Is your ass sore?

 

[Noriaki]

It's extremely rare for a store to pricematch with a website.

B&Ms have all kinds of overhead a website doesn't have.

 

[Kelvrick]

I figure no since they're different brands.

 

[Viperoni]

You know that they have the 64mb Gf2 ultra for only $299?

 

[goldboyd]

No, you didn't get screwed at all. Welcome to America, you have choices, you can buy whatever you want from wherever you want. You paid extra for the convenience of being able to walk into a store and buy it on the spot, rather than waiting a week for it. Also if you had bought the bad card from somewhere online, you would have been without a card for prob 2 weeks while waiting to exchange it. But you spent the extra couple dollars and were able to exchange it on the spot for an extra couple dollars, and had a video card in your box that night.

 

[Bozo Galora]

ya, i saw the ultra for $50 more, i also saw the GF3 for $399!!!!
But i just needed a card to make the chine work. If they would have had a regular GF2, that would have been even better. (Are they still around - havent seen any recently) Not much selection there.
I guess if youre a geek, you pretty much HAFTA buy online.
I was just shocked at the markup, thats all.

 

[Evadman]

This is what I would do... I would buy that card from newegg, and swap it with the card you got at Best Buy, and return it to best buy. They do have a relitively hassle free returns policy. Then, in the future, be sure to frequent Best Buy because they are kinda cool That way, your buddy is without a card for only a few hours, and you come out ahead $110- shipping. And all without screwing someone

 

[kranky]

<< And all without screwing someone >>

If you don't count Best Buy, who has to eat a return for no good reason.