It Never Hurts To Ask

As some of you may know, I purchased my fancy DSLR camera at Costco in July before heading on a 2 week European vacation.

At the time, I thought I was getting a steal of a deal in the 2 lens bundle with 18-55mm IS, and 55-250mm IS Lenses, 8GB Class 10 SDHC Card, Canon Rebel Gadget Bag, Mini-HDMI Cable and a Tutorial DVD at $879. Boy was I wrong!

On Monday afternoon when I went in for a 3 TB External Hard Drive which I'll never be able to fill, Costco had once again reduced the price by $50 to $779, which is $100 less than what I paid (and $200 off of MSRP).

I had previously received $50 cash back when the price dropped down to $829 a week after I bought it, so I decided that it would be worth it to ask the member services desk if I should even bother searching for the receipt to get an additional adjustment. I chose the desk attendant who looked like she had some authority, and her response was very positive that if I found the original receipt then they would be able to help me out. At the time, she probably didn't think I - a 24 year old young woman - could find a receipt from 3 months ago. Little did she know that it was tucked safely in my car and was presentable within 5 minutes of our initial conversation.

When I came back in with a smile beaming on my face, the woman who had helped me was busy with another customer. I chose two others that I had initially overlooked and made sure they knew that I was just in and was given the green light. Among excuses they tried to use were "you've already received an adjustment", "you'll have to return your camera", "you'll have to buy a new one", "The adjustment policy is actually only 30 days". After the final advice that "a manager will make you buy a new one" I said "okay, then can we get a manager over here to tell me that?"

The woman who initially helped me came back over and called up the Yes-Man who would undoubtedly approve of the adjustment and just like that I had $50 in my hand! I couldn't have been more appreciative of the employees or proud of myself for being persistent and willing to do what it took to get the best price possible on my beloved Canon.

Moral of the story: It never hurts to ask.

<3 JE