Today, the ads came out in the paper, just like every week. We scoured the ads looking for outstanding deals, just like every week. This week, we found one. Daddy found a 16GB USB stick for $29.99 at Office Max. Normally, we’d run out to get it, but Daddy happens to have a $40 gift card for Radio Shack that was given to him for his birthday last year. He’s never spent it. Every time he sees something he might want, he does the usual comparison shopping and finds it less expensive elsewhere. Well today, I told him to try calling them to see if they had any in stock, and then get it with a price match. That way his card would finally have a use. 

This afternoon we called three stores in our area, stores #01-3929, 01-3231 and 01-9050, and to our disappointment, they each denied us a price match, even with a printed advertisement in hand. When asked why they wouldn’t match, they quickly asked what the product was that we were looking for, looked up the price in the computer and then told us, that they didn’t price match on that product, but they did match on cell phones. Well, I wasn’t calling about a cell phone. 

I later looked up the Sandisk 16GB Cruzer USB drive on RadioShack.com, and wow. Their price is $84.99. THREE TIMES the sale price at OfficeMax! Do people really buy things at that price when you can get it for so much less elsewhere? I couldn’t believe how big the price difference was! 

I talked to my dad, who has been a big Radio Shack shopper for years, and he was very surprised to hear that they denied the price match. He told me that over the years of shopping there he’s never had an issue with them. I do remember my grandfather shopping there frequently too. I have noticed that many of the Radio Shack stores in our area have closed down over the years, and if this is how their policy, then I understand why their sales have declined. We are spending our money elsewhere, and I’m sure many other people are as well. 

Now, no one could tell me a reason behind this decision, or whether  it was store policy or corporate policy. I’m going to give corporate a call tomorrow and see what they say. I’ll update this post after I find out why their choice is what it is. I’ll say this though.. If this is a new policy, then they might need to get ready for even more of a decline in sales. This economy does not give room for stores to be greedy..

Edited @ 2128 Feb 9, 2009—

So this morning I called Radio Shack Corporate office. I spoke to Gloria in the escalated service department. She was very kind, and listened to everything I had to say. She did explain that Radio Shack did not price match except on cell phones. I told her that I had not heard of any store that didn’t price match, especially when there was such a significant difference in price. I told her what the price difference was, and she was very surprised to hear it! The only thing she could offer me was a phone call within 48 hours from the District Manager, Jeff Moraski. 

A few hours later, Jeff was calling me back! I was hoping he would hear me out on this one, but that was not to be. He told me again, that Radio Shack would not honor a price match. He did offer to call the local store and find out if that SanDisk Cruzer had ever been on sale, but he said, he could only give me the lowest sale price that Radio Shack had in the last 6 months. He called me back a short time later and offered me a sale price of $44.95. That was still $15 more than the advertised price at OfficeMax. I just don’t understand how, with the economy as horrible as it is, they can afford to lose sales no matter how big or small. Tomorrow, I’ll break down, and go to Office Max…

I appreciate the effort but.. Sorry Radio Shack… You’ve just lost a customer for good.. oh wait.. you already have our money, so why would you care?