why do companies claim to pricematch, but then not do it?

we all remember when the A8Jm came out.
it was amazing, and cheap
the first to have a 7600 in a 14"

ewiz had it for well under the msrp.
i called milestone PC for a price match, but they said no.
ewiz was selling it too cheap.

isn't that the point of pricematch?

the same thing happened with the C90
1toppc has it cheaper, and their upgrades are cheaper too!
think they wanted to pricematch......nope

i don't really understand

 

Why don't you not buy from them?

 

cause they are hot products!!! if you ask them to do price match on older product i guess they will!!!

 

i wanted to pricematch cause milestone allowed some customization to it, whereas ewiz didn't.

still, there's no real excuse. if they advertise a pricematch, they should do it.

the answer "it's too cheap to pricematch" is a little ironic, as that's the whole point!
why would i pricematch to a more expensive company???

 

Well there you go. That might be a possible explanation:
One has to rip the computer apart, put it back together, and then possibly offer their own warranty in place of the Asus warranty.

The other just sells it.

There are several Asus retailers around--you might ask around if they'll price match to each other or to the retailer you mentioned.

 

my point is that they advertise pricematch in big letters on their main page, and under every laptop!
there's no "*" so it seems there aren't exceptions.

i'm surprised people are defending this

 

Price matching between a reseller and a boutique builder is not the same. MilestonePC offers more customer service and warranty, and they can charge whatever they want for that.

Just go and buy it from eWiz and do those hardware upgrades yourself if you really wanted to "stick it" to them.

Remember, you're asking them to commit an unnatural act, which is to make less money. It's like dealing with insurance companies.

 

I'd just like to point out that they don't guarantee a price match at all. They list a link in bold red lettering from which you can request a price match.

 

no, i'm asking them to do what they claim they'll do!

a lot of people buy from companies that claimi they'll pricematch, just because they assume it must be the cheapest price around.
seems like a way to get more business

 

Meh, just buy it from Gentech if it such a big issue.

 

Laptop retailers aside, if you go into any store anywhere that has a pricematch policy, there will always be fine print (or a footnote) that clarifies that the pricematch policy is subject to certain terms and conditions and not guaranteed and at the store's discretion and..well..etc. etc. etc.

Remember, the point is..if you have something you can pricematch it against, it has to be the exact same item. And if it's the exact same item, then if you can't pricematch it, just buy it from the other store that sells for cheaper. If there's something you particularly want about this particular item/service from this particular retailer, then you can't reasonably expect a pricematch for something that's different.

I'm not defending any particular retailer or even price-matching in general, but it's generally wiser to take all offers with a grain of salt and shop around and do your research beforehand (that's why these forums are here right?). Caveat emptor

 

well, i wanted to pricematch, cause i'd rather give my business to one of the smaller companies.

but i won't pay more for it.

 

Considering the minuscule profit margins for resellers, pricematching can easily kill a business. I don't know the terms, but pricematching can be rejected if stated.

 

They write:

They say "the best they can offer". Not really what I call a price match. Ofcourse makes sense on their part. If another store is clearing stock and selling at very low prices it would be bad for them to match it.

 

Well read the print.

No one can pricematch just any site because sites sell stuff for way below wholesale at times just to get on the froogle list, never have the product and try to benefit from the traffic.

If you were to show milestonepc.com the price from gentech its very likely he would match that. So thats what the policy is, whether it spells it out for you or not, its the other real dealers.
Even if they dont have any such policy described, you can email any of the dealers the price you get from another in good faith and its likely they will match it, or describe what they provide for the added cost.

Its not them doing you a favor its you giving them a chance to make the sale. If you say to um xoticpc.com, and say "look btotech has the exact same thing heres all the info shipping etc its for this much Im just doing you the favor of letting you match it or describe what you provide for the difference".

 

may it be because...milestonepc is a Canadian-based company, and you're asking them to price match their US-converted prices with other American-based companies?

 

At the risk of sounding like an ahole trying to bash another business i will do it anyways
personally i think the term pricematch is binding unless clearly stated "case by case basis". I also feel it is a diservice to those people who were either referred, return customers or simply dont know how or where to search for a better price. Our policy has always been "price is not negotiable". Perhaps its not the greatest policy for business but it has a certain ammount of pride and grace to it. The sad part is that we recently had to increase our pricing on some products because certain un-named competitors were complaining. there you go

 

No it is mainly because danny will not always sell at or below cost. certain stores and a few others have been know to take a return and sell it as new after they charged restocking. they can then lower the price just to get rid of it. it can sometimes be below cost of other dealers. But like i said above. pricematch is a gurantee. you should not decline it like you should not decline warranty. I can advertise pricematch on our site all day long on every product. I will not just like i will not decline pricematching to anyone if i advertised it..

 

isn't that technically colluding and illegal (i.e. setting up a higher fixed price than what the market would determine)?

 

i cant really say much more without having someone rat me out. I must stay out of trouble.
However no it is not illegal for someone to complain about our pricing to asus for being too low. Ergo higher pricing if anyone even noticed. must keep it close to retail.

 

So it wasn't both of you colluding, which is illegal, but you were undercutting, which is more illegal? We have pretty strict anti-trust laws around these parts Eddie, you probably don't want to bring up stuff like that to the public. I respect that you are trying to give the best price, but not at a danger to Asus and the reseller market. I respect your business too much to think that you were being underhanded, but you made the "other company" out to be a bad guy, which isn't really true. But that is all beside the point.

Milestone's Price Match specifically says that it isn't a guarantee, they aren't doing anything wrong aside from perhaps biting off a little more than they can chew.

 

Say what?
Dude there are like 5 dozen other dealers who sell just as cheap as we do. The difference is we are an asus avp and they are not. I can get in trouble they can not. They are drip shippers (most are even avp) while i actually stock. I dont make anyone to be the bad guy. If you advertise pricematch you have to price match even if it is at cost as long as it is not below cost. That is the unspoken law. if you are not willing to do that then dont advertise pricematch. it is a disservice to any customer who is a return, referral or doesnt search for a better price. Advertise the right price in the first place so that EVERYONE can take it.