Target to Extend Price-Matching...

[JB2K]

Most major financial websites are reporting, this morning that Target will be extending their 2012 holiday price-matching program, year-round (to price-match the websites of Walmart, Toys "R" Us, and Best Buy -- as well as Amazon.com and Target.com).

Does this work for you?

 

[eliza61]

You know I've never understood price matching.

you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

So if I see some thing on amazon for a great price, I now drive to target show them the ad and they give me the same price? what's the point. most of the time amazon gives free shipping so what do I save by "price matching" or do they beat the price by 10% or some thing.

 

[PrincessMama605]

You know I've never understood price matching.

you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

So if I see some thing on amazon for a great price, I now drive to target show them the ad and they give me the same price? what's the point. most of the time amazon gives free shipping so what do I save by "price matching" or do they beat the price by 10% or some thing.

I agree, I don't see the point in taking the ad to another store either. I wish they would keep their own price match guarantee they had. It was nice to get a refund when something you had already bought from them went on sale later on.

 

[robinb]

I didn't even know that had that kind of Price Matching. Can the cashiers do it? I can see using PM when you only want to make one trip instead of 2-3 trips. I think I would also use it when I want the item NOW instead of waiting for it to be delivered from Amazon. I guess I'll be browsing the WalMart ads now. I don't shop there, but I would be happy to use their ad pricing to save me some money at Target.

 

[JB2K]

I didn't even know that had that kind of Price Matching. Can the cashiers do it? I can see using PM when you only want to make one trip instead of 2-3 trips. I think I would also use it when I want the item NOW instead of waiting for it to be delivered from Amazon. I guess I'll be browsing the WalMart ads now. I don't shop there, but I would be happy to use their ad pricing to save me some money at Target.

At Target (unlike Walmart), the cashiers do not perform the price match function -- it's all done at the Service Desk.

you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

From a customer's perspective, it saves precious time and fuel from all that running-around. As it goes with Target, they simply want to keep you inside their stores to spend any money you may had designs on spending to shop elsewhere on the 'net.

So if I see some thing on amazon for a great price, I now drive to target show them the ad and they give me the same price? what's the point. most of the time amazon gives free shipping so what do I save by "price matching" or do they beat the price by 10% or some thing.

They're not going to beat the price, but they are certainly willing to match it, plus giving you the luxury of getting that item instantly (and in Target's case, if you pay for it with their in-house REDCard, you can take another 5% off).

 

[bpesch]

You know I've never understood price matching.
you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

Let me give you my thoughts on this. I live way out in the country. The local drug stores: Rite-Aid, CVS and Walgreens are 25 miles away. Wal Mart is 8 miles away. Milk has been between $4-5 a gallon for a long time around here. Every single week, one of the drug stores has milk on sale for $3.29 or $3.49. We go through 4 gallons a week. I gladly get price matched at my local Wal Mart for it. I don't even have to have the ad anymore. I just tell them what store and what price and get it. If they have any doubts, they always have the ads at customer service and can look it up. Plus our Winn Dixie, which is also 25 miles away, has been having a really good Sunday, Monday, Tuesday sale every week or two for the last couple of months. The flyer comes out each Sunday in the paper. I take the flyer to Wal Mart and get the same items on sale with the flyer and don't have to do 50 miles round trip to get them. So for me, price match is a good thing.

 

[meg8017]

Right now I am kind of mad about this. Target was price matching Target.com and several other stores up until Christmas. I went on 12/31 to get my son snow pants. All winter outerwear except boys snow pants was marked 30%off in store. The boys snow pants were 30% off on Target.com. I asked them to verify the price (incase they were on sale but not marked). Then I asked to price match their own website. Was rudely told it ended at Christmas. I left a comment card for a manager which was never replied to. I emailed and received a generic response about their price match policy. And now it's just over a week so I can't even get an adjustment even though I would get the lower price now.
The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Although I like the shopping experience in Target (as compared to Walmart), their CS is horrible. In my local store the managers are rude when there's a problem. Their return policies stink. I will be rethinking my purchases there in the future.

 

[robinb]

Right now I am kind of mad about this. Target was price matching Target.com and several other stores up until Christmas. I went on 12/31 to get my son snow pants. All winter outerwear except boys snow pants was marked 30%off in store. The boys snow pants were 30% off on Target.com. I asked them to verify the price (incase they were on sale but not marked). Then I asked to price match their own website. Was rudely told it ended at Christmas. I left a comment card for a manager which was never replied to. I emailed and received a generic response about their price match policy. And now it's just over a week so I can't even get an adjustment even though I would get the lower price now.
The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Although I like the shopping experience in Target (as compared to Walmart), their CS is horrible. In my local store the managers are rude when there's a problem. Their return policies stink. I will be rethinking my purchases there in the future.

If it makes you feel any better, the snow pants at Target were probably crappy and would get wet, cold and soggy in no time. My DD still loves to play in the snow and winter outer wear is something I have never skimped on. Warm and waterproof are the way to go.

 

[eliza61]

Let me give you my thoughts on this. I live way out in the country. The local drug stores: Rite-Aid, CVS and Walgreens are 25 miles away. Wal Mart is 8 miles away. Milk has been between $4-5 a gallon for a long time around here. Every single week, one of the drug stores has milk on sale for $3.29 or $3.49. We go through 4 gallons a week. I gladly get price matched at my local Wal Mart for it. I don't even have to have the ad anymore. I just tell them what store and what price and get it. If they have any doubts, they always have the ads at customer service and can look it up. Plus our Winn Dixie, which is also 25 miles away, has been having a really good Sunday, Monday, Tuesday sale every week or two for the last couple of months. The flyer comes out each Sunday in the paper. I take the flyer to Wal Mart and get the same items on sale with the flyer and don't have to do 50 miles round trip to get them. So for me, price match is a good thing.

Ok in that case it sort of make sense. I live in a big city, Walmart, target, cvs's all over the place. So I do my weekly shopping, I get ads, check prices that give me the overall best price. I'm certainly not going to go in shoprite, ask them if they will match an item. I'm just going to the place it was on sale in the first place. I rarely worry about the price of 1 item, I concentrate on my total bill, so if target doesn't match the entire 20 items, what's the point?

 

[lvillotta1]

Target sucks as for as price matching. I can go next door to Walmart have my prices listed on my sheet with no questions asked. It is nice now that I do not have to bring my ads in to Walmart. I know some people hate Walmart,but I can stockpile big time and not have to run around town.

 

[Kies99]

You know I've never understood price matching.

you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

So if I see some thing on amazon for a great price, I now drive to target show them the ad and they give me the same price? what's the point. most of the time amazon gives free shipping so what do I save by "price matching" or do they beat the price by 10% or some thing.

Price matching is useful when the item you want in the ad is not in stock but is in stock at the other store at a higher price. That's the only time I've price matched.

 

[Lewisc]

Then I asked to price match their own website. Was rudely told it ended at Christmas. I left a comment card for a manager which was never replied to. I emailed and received a generic response about their price match policy. And now it's just over a week so I can't even get an adjustment even though I would get the lower price now.
The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Although I like the shopping experience in Target (as compared to Walmart), their CS is horrible. In my local store the managers are rude when there's a problem. Their return policies stink. I will be rethinking my purchases there in the future.

Target's policy wasn't to match Target.com. Makes sense, the overhead is different. Target decided to change the policy during the Christmas season. After evaluating the policy they decided to reinstate the practice as an ongoing policy. Evidently the price match policy wasn't in effect on 12/31. A manager who refuses to break rules isn't being rude. You might send Target a letter and ask if they'll do some kind of courtesy credit.

I think Target's return policies are great. I don't need to keep the receipt. They have a system in place which facilitates legitimate returns which allows them to crack down on abusers.

Price matching is useful when the item you want in the ad is not in stock but is in stock at the other store at a higher price. That's the only time I've price matched.

Most price match policies require the item be in stock at the other retailer. A few years ago I was in Toys r Us when a customer service clerk called K-Mart to find out if an item was in stock. Customer wasn't happy but was politely told "We wouldn't have stock either if that was our price".

Traditionally price match polices only applied to other retail stores within a number of miles. A store might (or might not) see the need to match the price of a store located 25 or more miles away.

 

[trinchick]

At Target (unlike Walmart), the cashiers do not perform the price match function -- it's all done at the Service Desk.

At my local Target, you price match at the register, not the service desk.

If it makes you feel any better, the snow pants at Target were probably crappy and would get wet, cold and soggy in no time. My DD still loves to play in the snow and winter outer wear is something I have never skimped on. Warm and waterproof are the way to go.

DD has had Target snow pants, and we had a great experience with them. Warm and dry for many ice skating lessons and days in the snow. I don't know how they'd fare for a day of skiing, but for regular playing in the snow for an hour or two, they are great.

Traditionally price match polices only applied to other retail stores within a number of miles. A store might (or might not) see the need to match the price of a store located 25 or more miles away.

I price match at Target all the time, and I've never had them check the originating store for availability. Over Christmas, they had BOGO Squinkies at TRU, and their stock was wiped out. I was able to get them at Target with no problem. Besides, they are price matching to national retailers and websites; are they going to call every Best Buy in the state to confirm that there's no availability?

Price matching has been a great time and money saver for us.

 

[Kies99]

I price match at Target all the time, and I've never had them check the originating store for availability. Over Christmas, they had BOGO Squinkies at TRU, and their stock was wiped out. I was able to get them at Target with no problem. Besides, they are price matching to national retailers and websites; are they going to call every Best Buy in the state to confirm that there's no availability?

Price matching has been a great time and money saver for us.

The few times I've done it, I've never had them check stock at the other store either. Just showed the ad and that was it.

 

[Lewisc]

Checking for availability at other stores is only necessary if it's an item the stores knows is in short supply and is probably out of stock at whatever store is running the sale.

No reason to check if you're asking a store to price match a milk ad.

 

[wiigirl]

You know I've never understood price matching.

you have to bring in the ad proving the price, why bother. just get the item where it's the best price?

So if I see some thing on amazon for a great price, I now drive to target show them the ad and they give me the same price? what's the point. most of the time amazon gives free shipping so what do I save by "price matching" or do they beat the price by 10% or some thing.

I agree....except getting something immediately rather than shipping has its advantages sometimes.

 

[Usandthe4kids]

I loved Target's price matching this year. I took an ad from Toys R Us for a buy one get one free video game. They not only gave it to us buy one get one free but also gave us the sale price that they had going on plus we got the 5% for using the redcard. We end up getting two $60 games for $43 total! That was totally worth it!

 

[Lewisc]

I loved Target's price matching this year. I took an ad from Toys R Us for a buy one get one free video game. They not only gave it to us buy one get one free but also gave us the sale price that they had going on plus we got the 5% for using the redcard. We end up getting two $60 games for $43 total! That was totally worth it!

Which shouldn't have been allowed under Target's PM policy. That's one of the problems with PM. It takes too much time to verify the terms leading to customers being able to get more then what was intended. PP already said it's common to get a PM without checking to see if the product is in stock at the competitors store.

 

[cjnix29]

I am very happy about this. Target's policies are having the intended consequence for me...I shop more at Target. I used this a lot this holiday season because I HATE driving all over the place, and the two shopping areas near me are at opposite ends of town. I hate having to deal with the traffic, and the hassle. So... I go to Target. Get my price match, plus the extra 5% with my red card. In looking back through my holiday spending...I did the vast majority of it at Target. Normally, I do a lot of online shopping, but this year, it was more in store...at Target. Love that store!

 

[trinchick]

Which shouldn't have been allowed under Target's PM policy. That's one of the problems with PM. It takes too much time to verify the terms leading to customers being able to get more then what was intended. PP already said it's common to get a PM without checking to see if the product is in stock at the competitors store.

Yes, but it's up to Target to properly train their staff in their policies.

According to an article I hear on NPR this morning on this topic, Target has enacted this policy to to counteract the practice of "showrooming" where a customer goes into the store, looks at an item, checks the price online via smartphone and then orders online based on lower cost. I am completely guilty of doing this on certain types of items, specifically toys and electronics. If I can get the best price in-store at that exact moment, I will definitely be more likely to purchase the item at Target. And while I'm there, I'm sure to grab some paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. I think this a good new policy for Target.