Comment by javert | Hacker News Reader

Comment by javert | Hacker News Reader

Lenovo does this, but they quote all the prices assuming you are going to put in the coupon code, which they display on the entry page into the product you are buying.

If you don't realize you have to jump through this dumb hoop and think you are actually getting the discount automatically, which is quite easy to do (I did, and I'm no dummy), they do not reimburse you the difference if you call on the phone to explain. The guy on the phone specifically explained to me that that is their official policy in this situation.

I mean, I trusted Lenovo (good past experiences), so I wasn't being super duper careful to look for any kind of trick. Imagine that... not looking out for being tricked! What a fool I was.

If you eally want the discount, you have to cancel your order and re-order, which means getting the product later. Lenovo knows very well that many customers won't do this.

tl;dr Lenovo suits have calculated a new way to trick customers, and treat customers in a shitty way. They should be ashamed. Gipped me off for a few hundred bucks.

I have a simple system that works very well:

Never order anything online before checking dealnews.com; Takes 10 additional seconds, saved me thousands. Among other things, they give you every single Lenovo deal (including through the Microsoft Store, which is often better than the coupons in the Lenovo store -- and usually arrives within a couple of days rather than 3 weeks), and they give you the past deals/coupons, so you can see if you need to wait a couple of days to get a 30% price reduction -- Lenovo, and many other vendors, have 30% off in two out of every 3 weeks, or two days out of every week.

Every time I see a box for a coupon code, I check retailmenot.com - Similar to you, this has saved me hundreds of dollars.

When you shop in a store, ask if they have a price match guarantee and then pull up Google Shopping :)

Have you genuinely used that technique, where I am price match promises say internet pricing doesn't count. Indeed sometimes their own websites have lower prices.

It depends on the store. I've had Fry's match a Newegg price before.

Did it at Best Buy (pulled up Amazon).

I've had very mixed results.

* MicroCenter stores won't price match online stores, only nearby competitors.

* Sears stores will price match their own website (which is apparently a mostly separate business), but I don't think they will match any other websites.

* Windstream internet's website didn't work, and when I called in, they told me I'd get the deal on the website. When I got the bill, it was 40% higher. I had to jump through a bunch of hoops on the phone to eventually find out that the price they quoted me is only for places where they have competition. But they gave me the discount anyways since I asked.

That behaviour is surprising to me. If anyone tried something so obviously deceptive here in the UK, I expect they'd last about five minutes with the advertising standards regulators.

Just so you know "gipped" is a bigoted remark that's based on the word "gypsy".

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