BEWARE of Bath and Body Works price/mark-down differences

[Jetstorm]

Last Friday night I went to BBW and bought some clearance stuff and one shearling bear (medium not the big one) at 75% off. This was just before closing. On Saturday, I was in a neighboring town and decided I wanted more bears but couldn't find any more so I returned to my local store only to find that right after I left Friday night they put the remaining bears on clearance at 90% off and had sold them all. I couldn't believe I was just there and they didn't tell me they were getting ready to change the price, plus they admitted to changing right after I left. ( They remembered me coming in)
So on Sunday afternoon, I made a beeline to another BBW, even farther away. They had three bears but get this - they were only 50% off! I told them about the other store marking them down to 90% and suggested they call to back up my claim. They said it didn't matter that they could not mark them down any more and that the sale was over at the end of the day at which time all the sale products would be marked to regular price and holiday items would be disasembled and the products re-shelved. At one store they had the AM. Girl calendars at 90% and the other had them at 50%. Many other holiday products were marked like wise. Does this make since?
I've emiled BBW but haven't heard anything from them.

 

[imsayin]

Target does the same thing. It drives me nuts, but that is the way it works. For Target, it is based on the flow of the inventory.

 

[challada]

We only have 1 BBW in our little town (and are thankful for that), so I can't speak to the differences b/w stores...but I DO know that you have to watch prices when they ring you up. On more than one occassion I've had to take the person back to the shelf to show them what the price SHOULD be compared to what it rings up as.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Do you really think they should have told you? They already had the sale, why would they?

 

[TheRatPack]

I've bought a lot of things where the seller will say "we're just fixing to mark those down if you'll give me a second I can mark yours"

So I don't see that it's odd to go ahead and mark it down for the customer....she probably would have bought more stuff in the future with that feeling than the ones she's got now!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My mom went to a B&BW and they had there christmas stuff at 75% off, when we went 2 days later it was back donw to 50% off.

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

Last Friday night I went to BBW and bought some clearance stuff and one shearling bear (medium not the big one) at 75% off. This was just before closing. On Saturday, I was in a neighboring town and decided I wanted more bears but couldn't find any more so I returned to my local store only to find that right after I left Friday night they put the remaining bears on clearance at 90% off and had sold them all. I couldn't believe I was just there and they didn't tell me they were getting ready to change the price, plus they admitted to changing right after I left. ( They remembered me coming in)
So on Sunday afternoon, I made a beeline to another BBW, even farther away. They had three bears but get this - they were only 50% off! I told them about the other store marking them down to 90% and suggested they call to back up my claim. They said it didn't matter that they could not mark them down any more and that the sale was over at the end of the day at which time all the sale products would be marked to regular price and holiday items would be disasembled and the products re-shelved. At one store they had the AM. Girl calendars at 90% and the other had them at 50%. Many other holiday products were marked like wise. Does this make since?
I've emiled BBW but haven't heard anything from them.

A couple of questions. One, what is there to "BEWARE" of? No one got jipped. Everyone paid the advertised price. Sale prices have to change sometime. It's just a coincidence that they changed after you left. It's not like they scammed you or anything. Two, you got something for 75% off & you're complaining about not getting another 15% off? Three, how much did you pay for the bear & what would that extra 15% have come to? Four, you complain that your store was 75% & the next one was higher at 90%. Then you go on to complain that the 3rd store was 50%, which was lower than your original store. So you're unhappy that another store has a bigger sale & unhappy that another one had a lesser sale. Just seems like alot of moaning when in fact you got 75% off your items. I'd love to have your problem of only getting 75% off things I buy. But that's just me.

 

[DisneyMomOK]

I don't know if this was okay (and a possible answer to the problem or same store/different locations/different mark-downs) or I just got a nice employee, but I bought some outside lights at one (all they had, Store 1) and asked if they were available at another Target (Store 2). They were, so I went to Store 2 and bought all of theirs, too. I thought my bill looked high, but I bought several other things and did not get to see the lights check out. Once in the car, I realized that these lights were not marked down. I returned them to Store 1 (that was out of the lights) and told CS my story. CS said, "Do you still want them?" after she had credited them to my account. I said that I did, so she checked me out at Store 1's reduced price. I really like it when CS are nice.

Sharon

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

It's more a matter of store policy than CS being "nice". It's not like these folks ringing you up are the son or daughter of the CEO. They're just doing what they're told to do per store policy. If it were me making $7-$8 per hour, I wouldn't risk my job by breaking company policy just so some customer can save an extra 15% which probably comes out to a buck or two. This is one of those things that really gets under my skin. People are already getting a GREAT deal on something & then want even MORE because another store was different, their friend got a better deal, or they just think they deserve it. I hear stories like this all the time about people bringing back very used items & wanting a refund, wanting a sale price that expired last week, and general junk. And then if they don't get what they want, they take it out on the employee & blame them. It's time for a reality check here. Consider a sale a bonus. Try not to be greedy every chance you get. Remember a few years back when there were clearance sales everywhere. That was because our economy was in the dumper. Sales aren't always a good thing. Why not simply be grateful when you see one. Ok, the soap box is yours.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

but I think they should have said something. I know when I was a cashier it didnt matter how MUCH we sold so I wouldnt care if you paid 70% off or 90% off. I think it would have been nice. I was in Aero before Christmas looking at sweatshirts. The ones that said TRACK AND FIELD on them were marked down to $19.99 and they were on the clearance rack. Since DD team was looking for a gift for their coach I was tempted to get one as the girls could afford that price. I didnt know which color or size. I talked to a sales associate and asked why only certain colors were on sale etc. She said that they were older (the navy, grey and red were not on sale the green and brown were and they were on the clearance rack). I didnt know what the girls wanted to do so I said I would be back the next day with DD. She said ,"Don't worry we have tons". When I went back the next morning they were marked up to $34.00 and they were hung with the others !!! HUH???!! I asked another associate about it and she said they get a sheet in the morning telling them the prices. I told her what had happened and she could not so anything about it. The girls got coach a blanket instead NOT at Aero. I didnt think they took things off of clearance and marked them up I know sale things go up but I was surprised about the clearance items. Oh well.

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

but I think they should have said something. I know when I was a cashier it didnt matter how MUCH we sold so I wouldnt care if you paid 70% off or 90% off. I think it would have been nice. I was in Aero before Christmas looking at sweatshirts. The ones that said TRACK AND FIELD on them were marked down to $19.99 and they were on the clearance rack. Since DD team was looking for a gift for their coach I was tempted to get one as the girls could afford that price. I didnt know which color or size. I talked to a sales associate and asked why only certain colors were on sale etc. She said that they were older (the navy, grey and red were not on sale the green and brown were and they were on the clearance rack). I didnt know what the girls wanted to do so I said I would be back the next day with DD. She said ,"Don't worry we have tons". When I went back the next morning they were marked up to $34.00 and they were hung with the others !!! HUH???!! I asked another associate about it and she said they get a sheet in the morning telling them the prices. I told her what had happened and she could not so anything about it. The girls got coach a blanket instead NOT at Aero. I didnt think they took things off of clearance and marked them up I know sale things go up but I was surprised about the clearance items. Oh well.

No one said you're nuts, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. The employees at retail stores have NO say over the prices. She was exactly right. They come in & the prices are whatever corporate tells them. What would you have done? Say to yourself, "My boss says these are $34. But what the heck. I'll risk my job & paying my bills & just override it so this lady can save $15"? You know that answer is no you wouldn't. So why do you expect everyone else to do this for you?

 

[DisneyMomOK]

I posted originally because I think that corporate stores should have the same pricing; I don't see it as being greedy, merely less confusing for customers.

I did not believe I was being "greedy" when I returned an item that I thought was not worth the price that Store 2 sold it (I had it less than an hour, so I can assure you it was neither used nor abused). When Store 1 put it into its inventory and credited my card, CS could have put it back on the floor and I understood that. But, since Store 1 had searched inventory to find me the item (not explaining that it was not marked down), I had spent the time and money to drive to Store 2 for that item, and CS ASKED ME, if I still wanted it (I did not ask her to sell it to me at the mark down price) at Store 1's price, I thought that behavior was very customer friendly. I cannot see how that is considered "greedy". I was never impolite or nasty; I just did not want to pay a significantly higher price (it was something like $35+ different).

Sharon

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

I like cookies.

 

[staceyfe]

The 15% difference from 75% to 90% came out to be $35? That would mean the bear was over $200. That's some bear.

Reread DisneyMomOK's post. You're getting her confused w/ the OP.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

The 15% difference from 75% to 90% came out to be $35? That would mean the bear was over $200. That's some bear.

Um, that's not the person talking about the bear... that's the person with the Target clearance lights or something like that.

 

[crisi]

I posted originally because I think that corporate stores should have the same pricing; I don't see it as being greedy, merely less confusing for customers.

I did not believe I was being "greedy" when I returned an item that I thought was not worth the price that Store 2 sold it (I had it less than an hour, so I can assure you it was neither used nor abused). When Store 1 put it into its inventory and credited my card, CS could have put it back on the floor and I understood that. But, since Store 1 had searched inventory to find me the item (not explaining that it was not marked down), I had spent the time and money to drive to Store 2 for that item, and CS ASKED ME, if I still wanted it (I did not ask her to sell it to me at the mark down price) at Store 1's price, I thought that behavior was very customer friendly. I cannot see how that is considered "greedy". I was never impolite or nasty; I just did not want to pay a significantly higher price (it was something like $35+ different).

Sharon

Thats a nice thing to think, but that isn't the way it works. Corporate stores vary their pricing. In my neck of the woods, Target will carry diapers at one price at one store and a different price at the store six miles away. When they do markdowns, they may mark down at one store but not at another, depending on how the product is moving. With modern information systems, its really easy to figure out what the markdown price at store X should be and that you shouldn't yet match it at store Y.

(Did you know that they used to do several hundred different ads for different markets? The internet has changed that and they've standardized ads - but the ads in the next town over used to be different than yours.)

The trick as a consumer is to find the bargains and grab them, without making the time/gas/effort cost on your own end too high. With clearance stuff - particularly the stuff marked down over 50%, this can be tough - they are marking it clearance for a reason. The second thing is to recognize that something is either worth $6 to you or its not. If its worth $6 to you, you will buy it at $6. If it gets marked down to $5 the next day, it was still worth $6 to you yesterday. You could have not bought it and waited for another markdown - and risked that they would sell out before another markdown occurred.

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

Thats a nice thing to think, but that isn't the way it works. Corporate stores vary their pricing. In my neck of the woods, Target will carry diapers at one price at one store and a different price at the store six miles away. When they do markdowns, they may mark down at one store but not at another, depending on how the product is moving. With modern information systems, its really easy to figure out what the markdown price at store X should be and that you shouldn't yet match it at store Y.

(Did you know that they used to do several hundred different ads for different markets? The internet has changed that and they've standardized ads - but the ads in the next town over used to be different than yours.)

The trick as a consumer is to find the bargains and grab them, without making the time/gas/effort cost on your own end too high. With clearance stuff - particularly the stuff marked down over 50%, this can be tough - they are marking it clearance for a reason. The second thing is to recognize that something is either worth $6 to you or its not. If its worth $6 to you, you will buy it at $6. If it gets marked down to $5 the next day, it was still worth $6 to you yesterday. You could have not bought it and waited for another markdown - and risked that they would sell out before another markdown occurred.

Atta girl crisi.

 

[KarenAylwood]

I'm going to agree with the OP on this one. I too think that corporate stores should have the same pricing everywhere. I work retail, and the way our corporate works is that if clearance sells well one place but regular price stuff sells well at another place, we'll ship our clearance to where it sells and not bother with the cheap stuff at stores where they know reg priced stuff will sell. My store, for example sells tons of clearance stuff and has a large area for it- and another I visited in NY has no clearance at all and sells a lot more big $$ stuff. However, if I were to call up the store in NY and ask them to send a customer a non-clearance v neck sweater in green style XXX, it will be the SAME price.

I didn't realize that all stores didn't work this way- have blanket prices that is. I too went around to about 5 different B&BW stores and found all kinds of stuff at weird prices.

I'm not saying it's wrong of them, I'm just saying it's confusing to the customer. A lot of their stuff online was 75% off while stuff in the stores was only 40% off. It's frustrating.

They've obviously found that they make a higher profit doing it this way, so this is the way they do it.

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

editing

 

[DisneyMomOK]

Karen, think you for reiterating my point: corporate stores with different pricing systems are confusing for customers.