Re: BBB tips from a former employee! It cost me a lot of money in gasoline to learn one lesson about BBB: Some stores are "seasonal," and some aren't.
Last Sunday, I drove to my nearby BBB (in Mira Loma, CA, six miles from home) to purchase a five-piece patio furniture set I had looked at months ago for $199.99 that was now on clearance for $79.99. I should have bought it the previous Friday when I saw it on sale, but I didn't -- my bad. The only two sets they had left were already on hold for other customers.
The cashier was very helpful and told me, "We don't have any left, and there's only one left at the Moreno Valley store, but they have 23 in Murrietta!"
Off we went to Murrietta -- about 45 minutes south. Got there and the cashier said, "You're the third or fourth person they've sent down here. We are not a seasonal store. We have the set, but it's not on clearance -- that's why we have 23 of them!"
Of course, Bed Bath & Beyond corporate paid the exact same amount of money for all of them, no matter what store they ended up in, and the store in Murrietta should have honored the price. But instead they referred me to the store in Beaumont -- another hour northeast! They kindly called ahead and had the set placed on hold.
The Beaumont store did have the set on hold, and for the clearance price, and they accepted my 20% off coupon, so I got a very good deal (a $200 patio set for $64). But I didn't appreciate the original Mira Loma cashier not knowing that the clearance price wouldn't be honored at a different store, nor the Murrietta store not honoring the clearance price.
I figure it cost me about $38 in gasoline traipsing all over Southern California on Sunday afternoon.
(Other lesson learned: When I see something on clearance again at BBB, I'm going to buy it now and return it later if I don't like it rather than wait and possibly go through this again.) |