Bungled Bundle, 3D Glasses Issues Stand Out in Best Buy Shopping Trip
Our visit to a Best Buy store in Brentwood, Mo., Saturday exposed how much confusion still exists at retail when it comes to 3D TV, we found in a Consumer Electronics Daily mystery shopping trip. It also revealed some kinks in the store’s computer system, sales staff training and sly display tactics regarding plasma TV.
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Our shopper had done her online homework, identifying a 50-inch Panasonic TC-P50UT50 plasma TV as the model she wanted for its $849 sale price, 1080p resolution and connected TV features. The fact it was 3D was a nice bonus, although that feature wasn’t at the top of her wish list. We found the TV on the floor surrounded by far brighter -- and far more expensive -- LED-lit LCD TVs. By comparison, the plasma looked like a dim cousin, hardly a purchase you'd want to make if you didn’t know the picture quality of a top-brand plasma TV. The difference in brightness between the two technologies was so stark we speculated that the retail showroom setting -- available at TV setup -- was turned off on the Panasonic plasma to spotlight the brighter, more expensive LED models.
Still sold on the Panasonic plasma, we headed to the Blu-ray aisle, looking for a brand name player with a rich set of Internet apps, 3D capability, and a reasonable price. Our shopper selected a Samsung model, on the assumption that a connected Blu-ray player from a different manufacturer from the TV would yield more app options. She asked a nearby salesman if she could get a deal if she bought both a TV and Blu-ray player the same day. He sold appliances so he referred us to another salesman in the TV department.
It was only then we found out that if you bought a Panasonic TV, you got a free Panasonic Blu-ray player. A downsized poster announcing the deal -- with relatively small print for a big-time promotion -- had been placed on a shelf facing the wall. The TV salesman told our shopper about the deal and she snatched it. He then asked if she had an HDMI cable, and she showed him the Insignia-brand 8-foot cable in her cart, a Best Buy private-label brand. He winced, saying she probably wanted something better (and more expensive), but she stood her ground. When he suggested a surge protector, a seven-outlet Monster model, she added it to the order, but not because of his murky pitch that it “smoothes things out.”
We asked about 3D glasses and the salesman told us the Panasonic models were $79.99 each. Our shopper said that was way too much when she didn’t even own a 3D movie, so she passed. With her cart full, she headed to checkout. When the receipt came up on the cash register display, she saw that $149 had been added for what was supposed to be a free Blu-ray player. A manager had to come over and code the order differently to take off the $149 for the Panasonic TV bundle deal. We left with the purchases totaling roughly a grand, marveling that she could carry home what was once a delivery-only item for the luxury class in the back seat of her Ford Explorer.
Our shopper, a recent transplant to St. Louis, also needed new cordless phones, so we returned to Best Buy on Sunday. She found the models she wanted and we did a smartphone price check with Amazon, which showed Best Buy came in a couple of bucks lower. Her various purchases, including two $14.99 Blu-ray movies, came to about $170. When our shopper checked in on Foursquare, she saw a deal from American Express: buy $200 worth of goods at Best Buy and get $20 off. So we headed back to the TV department to check out the 3D glasses options.
A saleswoman asked if she could help and we wondered if the $19.99 Samsung 3D glasses would work with a Panasonic TV. She said no and pointed us to the $79.99 Panasonic glasses we had heard about the day before. Our shopper mentioned she had read about a standard among 3D TV makers that would allow glasses from one TV maker to work with another maker’s TV and got out her iPhone to verify on the Internet. The saleswoman gave her a withering look, said “maybe they'll work if it’s this year’s Panasonic TV” and walked away. We confirmed the Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative, put two of the $19.99 Samsung 3D glasses in the cart and went to show the saleswoman our online research. She didn’t acknowledge us and walked toward another customer.
Our shopper ended up generally pleased with her purchases and her discounts, despite the various twists along the way. She has yet to test out the Samsung 3D glasses with the Panasonic TV, though, which she'll do within the 30-day return period in case she has to take them back. If they're not compatible, she said she'll shop online since Best Buy didn’t have reasonably priced Panasonic 3D glasses. She couldn’t find a 3D movie she was willing to pay $29.99 for while shopping at Best Buy so she can definitely live without the glasses, she said. She'll continue to shop Best Buy for CE needs -- for now, at least, until hhgregg comes to town next month. But now more than ever, she said, she'll always do her online homework first.