Sony PRS-950 deal at Best Buy

[duncann]

Hello all,

First post here. Thought I'd start by letting people know of a deal I came across at Best Buy and is probably good until the close of 2-5-2011 (Saturday). They had an add in last Sunday's paper about a free cover for any e-reader. I was looking for the prs-950 and the sony lighted cover for said reader. Unfortunately for Best Buy, they didn't have and could not get any of the lighted covers. So I asked them to knock off $50 from the e-reader. They didn't give any problems in doing that.

So far I am extremely pleased with this reader. I should mention that before this reader I used a prs-650 for about two weeks. The extra inch on the 950 makes a huge difference. I ended up taking it back to Ultimate Electronics (across the street from Best Buy) because there was way too much ghosting (there is still some on the 950 I got) and sometimes the screen would appear to be a very faint sickly yellowish color.

Another interesting observation about the two: I had them side by side displaying the same exact epub book using the same font, line-spacing, font-size, and custom brightness/contrast. The 950 was perceptibly sharper than the 650. The 650 actually looked fuzzy!

The one drawback for me about the 950 is the silver framing and chrome buttons/side-trimming. It gets kind of distracting sometimes. However, I found electrical tape does a good job covering what I think is a design flaw. With the tape, the device even looks/feels the same in the hand as a black 650. The only thing I worry about is over time, the tape might leave a sticky residue when removed.

[Ripplinger]

If you hate the silver color that much, I'd recommend instead of tape that you order a skin that's made to fit the 950. DecalGirl has a fantastic selection of skins, and if you search these forums, several users have posted pics of their skinned readers also, and you'd find more info about them.

[tponzo]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

If you hate the silver color that much, I'd recommend instead of tape that you order a skin that's made to fit the 950. DecalGirl has a fantastic selection of skins, and if you search these forums, several users have posted pics of their skinned readers also, and you'd find more info about them.

I second that rec. I got a skin for my 900 and love it. decalgirl has lots of great choices.

[sovre]

I think you may have gotten lucky here. I thought I'd finally found a good deal on the 950 after reading your post and I decided to try the same thing myself at my local Bestbuy.

I was told, by a clipboard carrying lady who looked like she must be the manager that they could not give me the price of the cover off of the reader, because it was a package deal. The most she offered was: "We can order the cover for you."

I have no doubt that the covers cost them much less than they sell them for and that this is the only reason they are offering this deal at all, so I'm surprised they took the price of the cover off for you--especially since you were requesting the most expensive cover of all those they sell (most of the covers being a lot less than $50)!

Skillful shopping.

[jerryleejr]

Originally Posted by sovre

I think you may have gotten lucky here. I thought I'd finally found a good deal on the 950 after reading your post and I decided to try the same thing myself at my local Bestbuy.

I was told, by a clipboard carrying lady who looked like she must be the manager that they could not give me the price of the cover off of the reader, because it was a package deal. The most she offered was: "We can order the cover for you."

I have no doubt that the covers cost them much less than they sell them for and that this is the only reason they are offering this deal at all, so I'm surprised they took the price of the cover off for you--especially since you were requesting the most expensive cover of all those they sell (most of the covers being a lot less than $50)!

Skillful shopping.

I ran into the exact same problem but after calling Bestbuy reward zone customer service and explaining the that the cover has been discontinued, and all the other issues I have had with my local best buy in regards to price matching (i.e. wouldnt even match another best buy because it was in another district.) They sent me a $50 coupon so it evens out. It didnt hurt that they had my purchase history in front of them for the last year

JJ

[sovre]

duncann,

I am now even more in wonder that you were able to do this.

Following up, I spoke to a sales specialist at their call center and also spoke personally to a manager at my local best buy about the possibility of discounting the reader for the price of the unavailable cover. Everyone I spoke to was totally unyielding. "Not possible." "Our hands are tied." etc.

I don't think such a response is the best way to keep or gain customers, in light of the promotion they are running. But that's how they're doing it.

I was also told the following: prices are locked into the system by the manufacturer and they wouldn't be able to change them even if they wanted to. All of this considered, it's pretty amazing you effortlessly walked out with a discounted 950. You were clearly in the right store at the right time.

[duncann]

Originally Posted by sovre

All of this considered, it's pretty amazing you effortlessly walked out with a discounted 950. You were clearly in the right store at the right time.

That's probably the jist of things. This store is in Greenfield, WI. The previous day we were hit by that awful blizzard, so maybe the employees were bored from lack of business and in a generous mood. I was at the customer service desk explaining an option might be to discount the 950. Coincidentally, the general manager happened to walk by at this exact moment. The cs rep asked him about this--she actually stated $40, I said no, it's actually $50--and the guy just keeps walking by nodding his head saying yea yea no problem. So I guess mostly I was just lucky.

I knew about the skins made by DecalGirl before I bought the 950. Thanks for the suggestion, though. And after using it for awhile, I'm actually growing quite fond the silver color, but not so much the chrome parts.

I just looked at Best Buy's weekly ad and they're still giving a free cover with an ereader.

[jerryleejr]

Originally Posted by sovre

duncann,

I am now even more in wonder that you were able to do this.

Following up, I spoke to a sales specialist at their call center and also spoke personally to a manager at my local best buy about the possibility of discounting the reader for the price of the unavailable cover. Everyone I spoke to was totally unyielding. "Not possible." "Our hands are tied." etc.

I don't think such a response is the best way to keep or gain customers, in light of the promotion they are running. But that's how they're doing it.

I was also told the following: prices are locked into the system by the manufacturer and they wouldn't be able to change them even if they wanted to. All of this considered, it's pretty amazing you effortlessly walked out with a discounted 950. You were clearly in the right store at the right time.

I find it odd they said their prices are locked by the manufacturer because when sony was discounting the the 950 to 249 in January My local best buy wouldnt because they " Dont price match the manufacturer only local competitors" Which the 800 number confirmed. They wouldnt even price match another best buy because it was out of their district.

JJ