Burning hot! tdk 24x burner for $57 at BB, no rebates!

[Mohamed110]

<< Greets,

I tried to PM with the receipt that I posted, but the manager at the store said that "it was filled out incorrectly since the buyer didn't fill out the info or sign it" and didn't honor it. He was being such an @sshole and wouldn't even give me the store number so I could contact bestbuy corp and explain that the prices should be nationwide. (This was a bluff, I am too lazy to file any kind of complaint.) I didn't even want the mail in rebates and told him he could have them, just that I wanted that price without rebates. Still no go. He said the lowest price in his system for all stores from receipts was 129.99, and that drive was never lower and that it can't be cheaper than that.

Went with a friend to a BB in long island (the one before was in queens) and this lady price matched no problem. I asked her if I could get another one, and she said yes. Great 2 at $59... my friend even went back after we left the store with another one of the receipts in my pocket from anandtech and got one. We went to the same register!!!

My friend asked, "why do you need 2 of the drives". I told him to drive me back to the queens one and I would explain. At the BB, I asked to return one unopened drive, and the lady asks if I have receipt... no.... I tell her, just to do a chargeback on my credit card, which I knew she didn't know how to do. So after about 2 minutes of telling her I don't know where my receipt was, she told me she could give me a store credit on a giftcard... I said, "fine"... then she remembers the rebates, checks the UPC, and says, okay, I know you can't get the $50 rebate since the UPC is still here, but if you don't have receipts then I will have to deduct $20 from the price since you can mail away and get that rebate just with the receipt. I said, "fine".... so I get a gift card for $120.71 (drive + tax - $20).... I pass by the salesperson that was not nice to me, and said, thanks for all your help... (being a smart@ss).

SO, for all of you skipping down to the bottom, BB is basically paying me $150 (120 gc + 20 rebate + 5 rebate (that 5 profit for me after the 59 drive + tax - 70 rebates) from drive I kept) for all that hassle they caused me. All could have been prevented if I just got the damned store number.

(this isn't fraud because as per the store manager, "the lowest price in his system for all stores from receipts was 129.99, and that drive was never lower and that it can't be cheaper than that") so if it can't be cheaper than that, then apparently it wasn't, and according to his logic, then bb couldn't have lost all the money because of me. Simple logic from 1st year computer science course. >>



Genius. Just pure genius...

 

[phillydog]

MysticMan1 - I edited link... thx.... link should have had html and not htm... oops.. .my bad... also turned on PM. I'm not sure how it works, but go for it...

 

[CDelle80]

Haha definitely genius. And I thought my EB scams were good... gj dude!

God I hope this drive gets advertised soon. My CC policy is that to PM, the product has to be ADVERTISED cheaper somewhere else...

 

[DealyDo]

BB in Houston at West Rd and I45 had two on the shelf at 10am this morning for 4129.00 before rebates. They must have received invetory of 4 in last night because they had none yesterday. I bought two of them. Rebate forms for $50 and $20 printed out at register.

 

[bhumbro]

Got a couple from the Best Buy in Cerritos, CA last night. They still had about 4 left. Rang up as $129.99 + $70 in rebates.

 

[bhumbro]

Oops.... forgot to tell you guys... They are semi-hidden on the top shelf where they keep the CD-RW's. This is in the Cerritos, CA store.

 

[RipperX2k]

Awesome guys. Just wondering, anyone here able to get it for $59 out the door at any BB in the San Diego area? Also does anyone know if PNY 16x can take the full 24x blast burn? OH yeah, SupaCh1nk , I'll probably post the PM paper later today. Link should be up, when I get my scanner working.

 

[seribellum]

SupaCh1nk-

It was a BB store in South Sacramento. The one at Arden Faire is out and I never checked the one north of town.

 

[DealyDo]

Opened mine up. Manufactured Dec 23, 2001. That pretty fresh. I believe this is one of the Lite-on rebadge models since model number is AI-CDRW201040B

 

[phillydog]

Checked the date on mine and it is Dec 21, 2001... but has the B on the end like the above posting.... Not to complain since drive was free, but would have been nice if it had a different color besides blueish teal. I'm kinda fond of purple myself. <grin>

 

[phillydog]

<< Haha definitely genius. And I thought my EB scams were good... gj dude!

God I hope this drive gets advertised soon. My CC policy is that to PM, the product has to be ADVERTISED cheaper somewhere else... >>



There was a scan of an actual Best Buy tag for $59.97.... I would call up your credit card company and ask them if you can fax a copy of that to them... it is printed by the company and ADVERTISED in the store.

 

[phillydog]

Too bad I can't start a poll here... The question would be... "Should I be as much of an @sshole as that manager and go back to HIS store and pricematch against MY receipt from the long island store since it is VALID receipt -AND- in same region?"

Let me know what you guys think.

BTW, using a program called Rebate Rebate to keep track of my rebates, and with all deals, I am (overall) getting over 50% back... Spent 685, getting back 345.

 

[Caveman2001]

Has anyone else had a bad Digital audio cable input like me?

I want to return this one and get one with a digital input that works if possible.

 

[DealyDo]

Here's a quote I pulled from Hardforum. This guy did some research since his box back in October has "Burn proof" as oppesed to "Smart-Burn" on it:

"ok, i did my research and here is what i found.

tdk makes 2 models of 24x drives, the 241040 and the 241040B. the B version has safeburn, and the other has burnproof. i confirmed this by calling tdk. if you do a search on the net for safeburn, you'll find that its a liteon trademark. you will also find that the specs for the liteon 241040 drive are nearly identical to the specs of the tdk 241040B. "

Lite-on 24x for $59 isn't bad.


Here's a nice review on the Lite-on:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/hardware/liteon24102/index.shtml


CDR-Info Lite-on 24x Review

 

[rslick]

Can you please scan and post your receipt. I've been trying in Northern VA without any luck. The stores have them in stock, but won't honor the deal! Has anyone got this to work in the DC area? Thanks

 

[SupaCh1nk]

<< So after about 2 minutes of telling her I don't know where my receipt was, she told me she could give me a store credit on a giftcard >>



what if she said no?

 

[phillydog]

about the giftcard, yes I wanted her too, since if she did a chargeback, they would've known it was only 59.99... some sort of credit card fraud protection built into visa and mc....

Even though I don't know most of you, you are all my bud's.... however since my free scanner and printer from Earthlink didn't come yet (as it was supposed to), then I can't scan receipt... I would take a digipic for you, but I doubt that is valid.

Sorry

 

[EvilYoda]

Just got back from the Ann Arbor, MI BB, and no luck. I got one PMed yesterday at the Southfield store, with Dukat1's help, but even with my receipt from yesterday, the bitches there wouldn't give it to my roommate. Any suggestions, or something that I could say or someone I can call? Thanks.

EDIT: Anyone with a scanned Circuit City receipt I could use? Or point me to one if it's already been posted? Much obliged.

 

[UTAustinCP]

i just went to best buy (houston hwy 6 and westheimer)

and they had about 15 of these on the shelves if anyones interested.

o and the rebates arent shown on the price tag so they most likely wont go quick. ;-)

 

[leonc]

I had originally bought one of these at CC on Sunday. Went back Monday to try to find them at BB (sold out)
and then went to CC to get PM to BB. They refused to PM the BB price since it wasn't in an ad (which is
how their policy reads), but they did PM it to Fry's $109 price. Today the BB near me had more. I took the scan of the shelf tag in there and said I tried to buy one on Monday but they were sold out. I ask to have it "price adjusted" to $59.97 now. The cashier called over a manager who said they couldn't do it because the shelf
tag scan could be from before Thanksgiving. I pointed out the date. She then said it could have just been a reaction deal. I asked what that was and she said it was a short term price in response to a competitors 1-2 day ad. I said it was a reaction, but to an ad from CC that was for all week. She said to go see customer service to have them call CC to confirm that they have them in stock. I knew they didn't have any in stock (but would once I returned mine), but she tried to yell all of that over to the CSR who probably only caught half of it. I repeated my story to the CSR who just started writing it up at the $59.97 price and even printed out and handed me the $50 and $20 rebate slips, so I will make a few bucks on top of a free burner. With that, plus the better than free Linksys Router from OD, it has been a great week. I still like BB much better than CC, and this experience confirms my feelings.

 

[fitzhue]

man this sucks, i called best buy and spoke to a "supervisor" that said they admitted the pricing error but wouldn't pricematch the drive even though i have the tag and receipt. oh well, anyone think there's anyway around this? hoping for some sort of last ditch effort.

 

[Caveman2001]

Again, anyone have any issues with the Digital Audio input on the drive? Anyone using it on the lite-on model?

 

[seribellum]

fitzhue-

What about buying the drive for $129.99, and coming back to the store and having them price adjust it? As long as it's within 30 days, right? This is neither a special, a sale, nor a free offer. As long as you have verification of this price from a local competitor (which could be themselves). Someone mentioned they have a binder full of recent prices from their own store, wouldn't that be verification? Don't know if it'll work, but might be worth a try. It's just easier for people to deny you price-match issues over the phone than in person.

 

[Whitneymuse]

Went to my BB early this morning at opening as my BB re-stocks from the trucks on Thursday night. When I found the drive, armed with the usual, the salesman/manager basically stated that they were now in their computers as blah blah and those prices were last weekend...and well, I'm just convinced that I'll wait for the next round of deals as the new TDK 2G comes out in the second quarter. I leave it to the true crusaders to squeeze the blood from this turnip.

 

[BAER]

Ebay is flooded with TDK burners because of this deal. Wonder how many are anadtech members? Probably none. Good will it lasted.