Best Buy - SteelBook Retailer Thread [USA]

Drum18

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May 3, 2011
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Montreal
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Please feel free to discuss/chat whatever it could be steelbook related to Best Buy.

Subjects can be:
- Customer service
- Policy
- Shipping
and others.

Important:
This store only ships to the USA. If you want to buy from this store, you need a contact OR join a specific Group Buy.

Price Match policy update-thanks Neoz-

 
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⚠️ BEST BUY PRE-ORDER WARNING!!!!!!⚠️

When placing a pre-order for a Blu-ray, Best Buy places a temporary hold on your credit card for the full purchase price (including taxes and shipping) at the time the order is placed and at multiple RANDOM times up until the order ships (which is when the card is "officially" charged)!

This temporary hold on funds REDUCES AVAILABLE CREDIT on your credit card accordingly, reducing your purchasing power.

I pre-ordered "One More Time with Feeling 3D" and several others on January 7 and it has a release date of 3/31.

My account was hit with a "pending" charge of $25.67 on 1-7, 1-31, 2-15, and 2-27 and the charge stayed on my account for at least a full week each time!

Best Buy advertises that your card will not be charged UNTIL THE ORDER SHIPS but that is very misleading!

Another pre-order I placed with Disney was declined today because the 4 pre-orders I placed with Best Buy in January hit my account AGAIN on 2/27 for $217 (which is the total for all four) and even though I should have had $200+ available on my card, the transaction was declined because Best Buy is holding $217 of my funds hostage with pending pre-orders!!!!

Those funds cannot be released manually (I was told) and even though I cancelled those pre-orders 5 days ago that $217 will not fall off my account for another week!!!!

They are holding $217 hostage for a PRE-ORDER that should not have been charged until March and was cancelled days ago, regardless!

Either charge my card when I place the order or when the item ships... otherwise, it is almost impossible to budget properly! I often juggle 20 pre-orders at any given time and Best Buy is the only retailer who just charges at random!

**** I called Best Buy several times and CONFIRMED that this IS their pre-order policy!
 
Disney is bringing Bambi back from the vault on Blu-ray as part of the Signature Collection. Will there be a BB Exclusive Lenti Slip like there was for Pinnochio and Snow White? I didn't see anything on the website...

I don't want to order two copies of the movie AGAIN!
 
I just got Game of Thrones Sixth Season shipped to me in a white plastic bubble mailer. Prior seasons came in a white plastic mailer with NO bubbles. Maybe they're getting better.
 
So what are people's experience with pre-ordering from best buy? Do they usually arrive a day early or on release day? Also are they in good condition(no dents/scratches)? I'm debating on whether I should preorder for home shipping or instore?
 
Not sure if I'm in the right thread, but I am looking to acquire these. Sadly I live in the UK and Best Buy don't ship to here. They did try open stores in the UK, but they never took off. But, that's another story for another time.

Thank you.

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How long do the Best Buy Steelbooks usually last for sale? Specifically wondering about Godzilla KotM.
It just depends. A lot of marvel movies last for months, but Antman and the Wasp sold out quickly. Bumblebee sold out almost instantly as did Alita. IME, DC movies stick around for months. If you don’t intend to buy right away, I’d recommend downloading checking inventory in local stores via a web browser and/or their app (I think webrowser UI gives more info).

That’s especially true on day one. Even being sold out before the release date means nothing, because in the US, they always have stock in the stores on release day and often those sold out movies are in stores (and online) for months on end. If Godzilla is the most recent one, it may be limited, since the movie bombed, but as I sad, I’d monitor inventory in your stores. I also tend to check what’s happening in other markets, because if, for example, Dallas is selling out quickly, then it’s probably going to sell out in other areas in short order.
 
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To Our Customers,

Across the country these past several days, you have come to our stores to buy the technology and household necessities that are so valuable at a time like this. We remain determined to continue to serve you and are announcing today a new way of making our stores accessible while even further enhancing customer and employee safety.

In our stores

Beginning Sunday, March 22, we will offer contactless curbside service at all locations across the country where state or local laws allow. Rather than ask you to come into our stores, any items you order on BestBuy.com or the Best Buy app will be delivered to your car curbside. If, for any reason, you didn't order the product in advance and the product is in stock in the store, one of our employees will be more than happy to go get it in the store and sell it to you while you remain in your car. This service also extends to returns and exchanges, the period for which has been extended on most products so that you have more time. Only employees will be allowed in the store, but we are determined to serve you as fully as we can. Unfortunately, we are temporarily unable to continue our product trade-in and recycling services.

For those who want to continue shopping with us online or on the app, we will, of course, still get you what you want.

In your home

As you know, Best Buy works in millions of customer homes each year, and we have long been proud of the services we provide. Because of the increased concern for you, your families and our employees, we have made the decision to suspend currently scheduled installations, haul-aways or repairs for large items like refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers and TVs.

Beginning Monday, March 23, we will no longer deliver these large products into your home and will, instead, offer free doorstep delivery. This means we will take the item as close as we possibly can to the front door of your home without bringing it inside. We know that this change will be inconvenient, and we are truly sorry. It was made with our employees' and your best interests at heart. If you have an order scheduled for installation in the next 30 days, please expect an email or text from Best Buy about your delivery options.

Employees

Speaking of our employees, everyone working right now is doing so on a voluntary basis, and all hourly employees who volunteer are receiving a temporary pay increase. Additionally, anyone feeling sick is told to stay home, and they will be paid for that time. Finally, anyone exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 is also told to stay home, with pay, and we are paying employees who may need to stay home to care for their children.

All of us at Best Buy are grateful that so many states and localities believe we are an essential business, allowing us to continue to serve you when you need it most. We thank you for your patience and loyalty and look forward to continuing to provide you with the technology and home essentials you require to stay connected and work and learn from home. Thank you.
 
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So after record profits over the past year Best Buy decided to fire 5000 employees recently. Most of them full time employees. They will now be hiring some part timers (but a lot less employees than they let go). This happens a lot in retail.
It gets rid of long time employees that were making a lot more than minimum wage plus benefits.

Due to the pandemic, their record profits came from online sales of course. Because of this, they don't believe that in-store traffic will return anywhere near to the levels of the past so that's why there will be less employees in the store and most likely with less product knowledge being part-timers.

Some of the people let go were also from corporate and the warehouses. Even though there are a lot less employees in the stores now, the in-store employees are spending more of their time shipping online orders out to customers. Yet at the same time the stores are carrying less stock than before.

Some of you may have noticed that more and more Best Buy stores in the U.S. have shrunk their movie sections even further lately. Most of them are now down to 1 shelf. They are also carrying less quantities of SteelBooks per title in most stores making them less available on release day after in-store pick-ups are taken care of.

Also, Best Buy has closed some stores recently and are looking at closing more stores in the near future now that more sales are coming from online.
 
Anyone else notice that Best Buy is doing a lot of limited edition reprints of their 4k Steebooks?

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Anyone have issues with bestbuy.com cancelling orders because it "exceeded our orderable quantity limits?" Was only ordering 2 of a few different titles and then the next order placed started to get this message and all subsequent orders automatically cancelled. Annoying.
 
First the bad news: Cashback rewards end on 2/13 (or maybe the 14th).
The Good news: shipping is now free with no minimum (though for us that matters less if prices remain at $39).
Personally still avoiding Best Buy unless there’s no other option (Bc they have the worst return policy in retail).
 
I didn’t see this posted anywhere so apologies if it’s already been mentioned. Just wanted to give people a heads up that if this isn’t happening in your area yet, it’s might be coming. I am in NW Pennsylvania and about a week ago a bunch of movie and steelbook prices inexplicably increased overnight. When I clicked on the movie, and we’ll use the recent They Live steelbook, it had increased from $27 to $34. On the listing it also shows that Total Tech members can save $7 bringing it down to what the price was before the increase and matching what other retailers are charging. Now, if you are able to purchase the steelbook in-store then you can get a price match to another retailer but not all Steelbooks are being sold in-stores. I also noticed a bunch of 4k movies (not steelbooks) had large increases but with the total tech membership discount the prices dropped down to what others are charging. I really hope this isn’t leading into paying significantly higher prices on physical media unless you buy the $199 total tech membership but it’s sure looking that way!
 
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I didn’t see this posted anywhere so apologies if it’s already been mentioned. Just wanted to give people a heads up that if this isn’t happening in your area yet, it’s might be coming. I am in NE Pennsylvania and about a week ago a bunch of movie and steelbook prices inexplicably increased overnight. When I clicked on the movie, and we’ll use the recent They Live steelbook, it had increased from $27 to $34. On the listing it also shows that Total Tech members can save $7 bringing it down to what the price was before the increase and matching what other retailers are charging. Now, if you are able to purchase the steelbook in-store then you can get a price match to another retailer but not all Steelbooks are being sold in-stores. I also noticed a bunch of 4k movies (not steelbooks) had large increases but with the total tech membership discount the prices dropped down to what others are charging. I really hope this isn’t leading into paying significantly higher prices on physical media unless you buy the $199 total tech membership but it’s sure looking that way!

CRAZY, right? Why am I going to get total tech when I can buy from a number of other spots for cheaper.

Also, Best Buy. Movie prices eventually fall anyway. Now you are just weeding out even more potential customers that might order or purchase a movie on a whim when it’s first out.

I thought they made a step in the right direction when they removed the $35 purchase threshold to get free shipping but now I’m like wtf is this
 
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