December 4
Dennis May
Hhgregg
4151 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240
RE: Low price guarantee
Dear Mr. May:
On Friday November 27, I attempted to purchase a LG 37LH30 LCD television from an hhgregg in Murfreesboro, TN. I visited the store at approximately 1pm in the afternoon. Before I arrived at the store I had attempted to call and inquire about their “low cost guarantee†offer. The store in Murfreesboro was unable to be reached by phone due to a fast busy signal so I called the hhgregg store in Mt. Juliet, TN.
A girl answered the phone and I asked what proof I needed to take advantage of their low cost guarantee, she stated I did not need to bring anything as long as it was not a “Black Friday “ only offer, they would price match based off of an ad that could be accessed by the internet. I stated the offer was from Electronic Express and it was a weekend sale. She then verified they had the item in stock.
I drove to the hhgregg store in Murfreesboro, TN and spoke to girl staff member on the floor. When I inquired about the low cost guarantee on the LG model television, she excused herself to speak to a manager. The posted price was $599.99. When she returned, she stated that the low price guarantee was not extended to Black Friday items. I stated the offer from Electronic Express for the LG 37LH30 LCD television at price point of $499.88 was not a Black Friday offer. I then asked to speak to a manager. Brian Wagner, the sales manager, refused to match the price point offered by Electronic Express citing that since Electronic Express did not have the item in stock at the very time I was in the hhgregg store to make the same purchase he was not obligated to price match. I told Mr. Wagner I had been at the Electronic Express store earlier and they had the item in stock, his response was that he had accessed the internet and looked at the Electronic Express store in Murfreesboro to determine they did not have the item in stock. I asked for the corporate contact information and his name and left the store.
While in the parking lot, I called the hhgregg store in Mt. Juliet, TN and spoke to Dan. He stated that the company had intentionally “blocked “ all phone calls to all the stores except the Mt. Juliet store earlier that day so that was the reason I could not reach the Murfreesboro store. When I asked him why his store would offer to price match based on the Electronic Express ad but Brian Wagner would not, his reply was that Mr. Wagner should have price matched the ad as long as it was not a “Black Friday†ad. I stated it was not. He asked me to hold which I did for approximately 2 minutes, upon his return he stated in his opinion it was a “Black Friday†offer and he could not price match the offer based on this fact.
My next call was to Valerie Thompson at the corporate office. She was interested in what I had to say but informed me that the policy was that the item had to able to be located in the competitors’ store at the time that I was attempting to make that same purchase from a hhgregg store. I asked her how this was humanly possible. Was I as a consumer supposed to call around to the competitions’ stores to locate the exact item I wanted to purchase from hhgregg? What then would be the purpose of buying from hhgregg? Isn’t this for what the low cost guarantee was designed? Even then I asked her if I could locate the LG 37LH30 LCD television at any Electronic Express store, would she then stand behind her statement, and allow me to purchase it from the Murfreesboro store, she replied yes.
Within 15 minutes I had located the model in question and tried to reach Ms. Thompson. She could not be reached so I left a voice mail with the name of the party I spoke with, and the phone number to reach Brian at Electronic Express. For the next 1.5 hours I attempted to reach Ms. Thompson. I was able to reach Jessica who handed the phone to Ms. Thompson who stated she had left me a voice mail. Since I had been dialing her number for a continuous 1.5 hours, I did not receive her voice mail. She stated she called the store and they did not have the same model as I was asking them to price match. I asked if she spoke with Brian and she said she did not.
At this point, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, I had been dealing with conflicting information from the Mt. Juliet store, the sales rep on the Murfreesboro hhgregg floor, Brian Wagner, Dan at Mt. Juliet store, and Valerie Thompson. I completely understood it was not the intention of any hhgregg employee to honor the low cost guarantee.
Saturday morning, 9am, I called Electronic Express in Spring Hill, TN. They had two LG 37LH30 LCD televisions. I called the hhgregg store in Mt. Juliet and once again was told they would not price match the item based on a “Black Friday†offer. Puzzling to me since it was Saturday.
I purchased the LG 37LH30 LCD television from Electronic Express for $499.88 Saturday, November 28, at approximately 11:00 am at the same time hhgregg was refusing to price match.
I will be making a request to the TN Board of Consumer Affairs that demands that the TN hhgregg stores immediately cease and desist using the words “low cost guarantee†in any and advertising media; printed, radio, and television. This statement is obviously not true therefore false, deceptive and misleading. This policy is not clearly understood by or can be explained to a consumer. There is no standard policy of verifying the availability of an item within a competitor’s inventory. Some employees use the internet, some use the phone; the latter practice I find humorous since hhgregg in fact made a corporate decision to block their own incoming phone calls for period of time during open business hours. If there is no standard adherence or practice of policy delivery, then hhgregg should not be allowed to make such a bold statement as “low price guarantee†to entice and mislead consumers into their stores.
Regards,
Susan Perlmutter
Murfreesboro, TN
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