Newegg's price match guarantee is worthless!

[keakar]

well I just got this nice little message telling me to go pound sand and newegg does not offer a price match guarantee on its "iron egg" listings which is "supposed" to guarantee you are getting the best price anywhere or they will match it. I wont even get into how they no longer credit your account or refund the difference and they will now just send you a gift card towards your next purchase.

I ordered a cpu only to find it was selling $15 cheaper at not just one but two other online retailers so I applied for the price match guarantee only to be turned down because the guarantee only applies to a preselected chosen group of online retailers they have a price match deal.

their printed policy states:

If you buy an item on www.newegg.com advertised with the Iron Egg℠ Price Guarantee badge from January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015 (Guarantee Period), and find a lower advertised price on the same item (of identical brand and model number) within 14 days of the purchase date, Newegg will match that price subject to verification and the terms below. The cost difference will be credited to you in the form of a Newegg promotional gift card. This offer applies only to the advertised online price of identical items offered for sale by major retailers (each a "Competitor")*. Auction site prices are not eligible for this offer. For purposes of comparing prices, the price ("Price") is the total advertised price of the item including shipping costs, but Price shall not include discounts from a "Loyalty" or "Membership" program, and Price shall not include shipping discounts from a membership program such as Amazon Prime. In addition, the Price of a Newegg item shall not include sales tax, if any. Competitor's Price must be advertised after you bought your item but no later than June 30, 2015. All times stated herein are Pacific Standard Time.

and the exclusions policy:

1. Items not displaying the Iron Egg℠ Price Guarantee badge at the time of your purchase.
2. Items you purchased on Newegg-affiliated websites.
3. A Competitor's item offered (a) for free or with rebate or coupon or promotional gift card/promotional credit, (b) as part of a bundled offer or financing offer, (c) as a clearance/closeout sale, or (d) for sale for less than 6 hours in a day.
4. A Competitor's item which is out of stock/not available for immediate shipment or which is offered in limited quantities.
5. A Competitor's item that is advertised below Newegg's actual cost.
6. A Competitor's item which is offered as open box or refurbished.
7. Add-on services such as extended warranty or installation.
8. Any item offered by Newegg or a Competitor which is subject to MAP pricing.
9. A Competitor's advertised Price which is the result of a typographical error.

Limitations: Only one price match per customer; only one price match per item.

so to sum it up, if the site that is selling it cheaper then newegg isn't on their preselected list of competitors, go pound sand if newegg overcharged you.

here is the email I got:

Thank you for contacting Newegg.
I would be more than happy to assist you! I apologize for any inconvenience, because the provided competitor's website is not listed as a qualified major online retailer under our Iron Egg Guarantee policy.

Major competitors include: amazon.com, bestbuy.com, rakuten.com, cdw.com, costco.com, crutchfield.com, dell.com, frys.com, gamestop.com, kmart.com, officedepot.com, officemax.com, pcconnection.com, pcmall.com, radioshack.com, samsclub.com, sears.com, staples.com, target.com, tigerdirect.com, and walmart.com.


Thanks for your understanding! Have a nice day!

just a heads up boys and girls newegg price match "iron egg" guarantee is worthless except for a select few retailers they know use much higher price markups than anyone else around. so they added a little edit to their policy to include the "major retailers" clause to exclude many legitimate competition selling it cheaper then they are.

Newegg reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Iron Egg℠ Price Guarantee at any time without notice but will honor any eligible price matching requests for an item purchased from Newegg prior to the date the Iron Egg℠ Price Guarantee is discontinued.

*Major retailers include: amazon.com, bestbuy.com, rakuten.com, cdw.com, costco.com, crutchfield.com, dell.com, frys.com, gamestop.com, kmart.com, officedepot.com, officemax.com, pcconnection.com, pcmall.com, radioshack.com, samsclub.com, sears.com, staples.com, target.com, tigerdirect.com, and walmart.com.

they did give me a $2 off coupon good only for my next purchase since I am a "valued long time customer", what a joke they have become.

 

[Toothless]

Well.. I still go to the Egg because free and fast shipping. Though I almost lost it at the $2 coupon.

 

[Maban]

What sites did you try to match?

 

[newtekie1]

What sites did you try to match?

Was just going to ask this. I think it is pretty obvious they aren't going to match some random no name website. If they did, anyone could put up a fake retail site with the items they want list for super low prices and then try to get energy to match them...

It says right in the policy that it has to be a "major retailer".

 

[Maban]

Was just going to ask this. I think it is pretty obvious they aren't going to match some random no name website. If they did, anyone could put up a fake retail site with the items they want list for super low prices and then try to get energy to match them...

This was my thought. I don't see any issue with their price match policy. Every store that has price matching has a similar policy to this.

 

[keakar]

Well.. I still go to the Egg because free and fast shipping. Though I almost lost it at the $2 coupon.

yep, I used to assume this as well until I just paid $309 for a cpu selling for $286 so that's a little too much to pay because of blind loyalty to newegg

What sites did you try to match?

superbiiz has been around as long as newegg, tiger direct, frys, and the others, so they are certainly not some fly by night company that just started out of someones garage, as for portatech? who knows.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...4a7f99379f41&gclid=CN6IrfK39sMCFdgQgQodDloAcw

and

http://www.portatech.com/products/p...=&source=pla&gclid=CIud5IK49sMCFehj7AoddH0ASA

im not try to or expecting to start a movement over this rant, all im saying is shop around because newegg is only has the best price 60% of the time as their price match exclusions eliminate 70% of the competing businesses out there selling the same parts.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Never heard of either. Newegg likely sets prices based on the sites the policy is matched against. Throwing minor competitors at them, therefore, isn't going to work.

 

[Maban]

Neither one of those are "major" retailers. SuperBiiz has the potential to be included (unlikely) but I've never heard of Portatech.

 

[Maban]

When did you buy it? That promo has been going on since 2/17.

 

[keakar]

When did you buy it? That promo has been going on since 2/17.

got it a couple a days ago, Friday maybe?

it hasn't even arrived yet

 

[Maban]

Then why didn't you use the promo code?

 

[keakar]

Then why didn't you use the promo code?

who said I didn't? people just go assuming things to fit their own thoughts about things

even if you buy something with a newegg promo code it does not count towards the price match, the price match goes by the advertised regular price the item is listed for. any offers, rebates, or other price exclusions do not apply. its right there in the iron egg terms

if tiger direct sells a widget for $50 and newegg sells it for $55 but gives you a 24 hour promo code discount for $10 off you bought it for $5 less with the promo code but you still get a $5 credit for the price match because its advertised for $5 less

 

[Maban]

You say it was cheaper elsewhere but you actually saved about $7 buying it from Newegg over SuperBiiz if you used the promo code. Then you want to price match it? I don't get it.

And since the price matching needs to include the shipping cost he never should have even received the $2 credit.

 

[keakar]

And since the price matching needs to include the shipping cost he never should have even received the $2 credit.

once again, try doing simple math

$287 + $10 s&h = $297 now subtract that from $310 and it equals $13 in the reality the rest of us live in.

 

[Maban]

Like I said in a few posts, it's implied that you used the promo code.

 

[keakar]

Like I said if a few posts, it's implied that you used the promo code.

the promo code is irrelevant to this discussion and has nothing to do with the advertised prices or neweggs stance on when and how it will honor its promise to have the best price guarantee

I realize you guys just want to be cheerleaders for newegg and that's fine, its still a good business, I will still buy from them, but its becoming far from the best place to get the best advertised prices for things as they try to represent themselves to be.

the way you guys want to instantly dismiss any notion that they aren't the place to go for the best prices around and prevent someone from voicing a note of caution when dealing with them is laughable and troubling at the same time

 

[R-T-B]

People in this thread need to cool their jets, whether or not the price match guarantee applies here. Too heated man...

 

[Maban]

the promo code is irrelevant to this discussion and has nothing to do with the advertised prices or neweggs stance on when and how it will honor its promise to have the best price guarantee

I realize you guys just want to be cheerleaders for newegg and that's fine, its still a good business, but its becoming far from the best place to get the best advertised prices for things as they try to represent themselves to be.

More like cheerleaders for logic. Newegg has every right to specify what other companies they will match. I would say the exact same thing if you were complaining about any other site. If you found it cheaper on a different site why not buy it from that site in the first place?

 

[newtekie1]

try again, promo codes are not included in the price match.

Where exactly are you pulling that from? Newegg's price is the final price you paid for it, no where in their policy does it say they don't include promo codes for their price.

Of course all of this could have been avoided if you were a Premier member. Then you could have returned it at no cost to you and bought it from one of the other retailers. Of course you wouldn't actually do that because:

a. You'd actually end up paying more, don't try to argue this, you know it is true.
AND
b. Superbiiz is a horrible company to do business with. They are insanely slow to ship, I think they still ship via horseback, and don't even bother trying to return anything. I stopped even looking at their site years ago...

 

[Maban]

b. Superbiiz is a horrible company to do business with. They are insanely slow to ship, I think they still ship via horseback, and don't even bother trying to return anything. I stopped even looking at their site years ago...

I've purchased from them a few times. Never had a problem with them, but I never had to return anything. They used to have constant site-wide $10-$15 off coupons, so it was awesome. Nowadays they do product specific promos.

 

[95Viper]

I don't get it... the OP is ranting about something he/she feels is unfair; however, it is an offer to benefit the customer, at no cost to use, if you meet the requirements.
And, the requirements are free and open for the customer to read and understand before the purchase... I, also, would believe if questions about it were directed to customer support, they would have explained it before hand.

So, what did Newegg do wrong?

 

[xvi]

So, what did Newegg do wrong?

I've had difficulty following this so far, but I think OP is looking for Newegg to price-match the price of a third party before the promo code is applied so that an additional $20 can be taken off after the price-match.
In addition to that, Newegg won't price-match SuperBiz.
Iunno though.

Edit: OP clarified. Is just not happy that Newegg doesn't clearly define what sites are price matched and the purchase price was redeemed by the current promo code.

I did some research on SuperBiz since I was looking at making some potential purchases from them. They seem reputable enough, but not top notch.

 

[Maban]

I've had difficulty following this so far, but I think OP is looking for Newegg to price-match the price of a third party before the promo code is applied so that an additional $20 can be taken off after the price-match. Iunno though.

TL;DR: His issue seems to be that Newegg doesn't match the particular sites he found a normally lower price for. Even though it seems he used a promo code and actually got it $7 cheaper on Newegg than the sites mentioned.

 

[Jetster]

Another rant that has no clue what your talking about

Newegg has it for $290 right now

I feel your pain though. I've paid too much for stuff it happens. You will win next time. Let it go

 

[keakar]

I don't get it... the OP is ranting about something he/she feels is unfair; however, it is an offer to benefit the customer, at no cost to use, if you meet the requirements.
And, the requirements are free and open for the customer to read and understand before the purchase... I, also, would believe if questions about it were directed to customer support, they would have explained it before hand.

So, what did Newegg do wrong?

the message that I tried to convey "unsuccessfully" throughout this thread is that newegg has narrowed its iron egg price match policy so much that it only applies to a select handful of retailers who I will be generous to say represent maybe 40% of the competition (if that) for the products they sell.

they did nothing wrong

my complaint is that the protection this iron egg shield provides is misleading, implying you can buy with blind loyalty "knowing" you are getting the best prices there.

the thing that upsets me is that as a loyal long term customer of newegg for 15 years, I only narrowly escaped getting screwed by just the sheer luck of buying during this small window where the promo offer discount saved my ass and it was the only reason I didn't pay too much simply for being dumb enough to blindly trust that newegg was worth trusting to have the best prices based on their iron egg guarantee.

this thread was an attempt to share my frustration at my wrong assumptions about newegg and its iron egg promotion so that others who may also be making the same assumptions be warned to don't trust so blindly and do their research to compare prices and not assume newegg always has the best prices.

yes everything was there to be read if you went to the special section to read the legalities and fine print of all the details, but who does that?.

assuming the price match applied to any "legitimate" retailer was my error and I never implied it was in any way a deception of theirs.

a thread to warn people to pay attention and not blindly trust newegg to have the best prices (common sense really) turned into a fanboy flame fest by some wanting to challenge my simple warning to others to use common sense when buying from newegg and not to assume the iron egg means anything about proving it has the best prices because it only means that it has the best price only out of a very select few websites.

this is only about newegg because they are the only website to imply through their iron egg warranty and how it is represented on the website, that you can assume and trust that you are always getting the best prices because of the iron egg guarantee.

I will still buy most of my parts from newegg but from now on I will now assume they don't have the best prices until I can verify that through several internet search attempts to be sure who has the best deal. I think newegg has the best prices on things "most of the time" and the few times they haven't, it wasnt enough to be upset over but if you blindly trust them to be the best price, that blind trust can cost you.