my Best Buy - former BB Reward Zone Program

Dranakin

Dranakin

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http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/null/pcmcat309300050007.c?id=pcmcat309300050007

3 tiers, up from 2. Spend thresholds are $1500 and $3500 respectively, from $2500.

How do I qualify for My Best Buy Elite or Elite Plus?

Elite status is automatically awarded when you spend $1500 or more on qualifying purchases at Best Buy and BestBuy.com in a calendar year, or $1,500 or more in total anywhere on the My Best Buy MasterCard.

Elite Plus status is automatically awarded when you spend $3500 or more on qualifying purchases at Best Buy and BestBuy.com in a calendar year, $3,500 or more in total anywhere on the My Best Buy MasterCard
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Reward Zone Gamers Club appears to now be my Best Buy Gamers Club, program benefits seem to be the same.

What are the benefits of the My Best Buy Gamers Club?

Benefits include:

Get 2X points on new game software, digital content and game accessories

Get 2X points when you trade in games
Special money-saving exclusive offers
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Also:

Does it cost anything to be a My Best Buy Gamers Club member?

Gamers Club membership is free. You must be a U.S. or Puerto Rico resident at least 13 years of age with a valid e-mail address.
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EDIT: Thanks to person123, who noted that there's still a Gamers Club Unlocked tier, in which benefits include the same 10% bonus trade-in credit, 10% discount off Pre-Owned Games, 10 issues of @Gamer magazine, and exclusive Paid Subscription offers.

person123 said:
According to this there is still a "paid" option, which is what GCU is.

https://static.bestbuy.com/myrz/web/Content/Offers/Images/MyBestBuy_RegistrationTandC_9.13.13.pdf
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I imagine we'll get some answers about current statuses in the next few days if you're a Silver member and/or a paid GCU member, since all the programs have changed.

Just to share, I was a Silver member and my status is now Elite Plus through the current status year.

 
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TheRock88 said:
I was only about $400 from reaching $2500 (preordered a PS4 so that would have brought me past the limit) so now it looks like I'm f'd and have to spend another $1000 to get "Elite Plus". If this is what ends up happening, I'm seriously considering taking my business elsewhere.
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I was $396 from reaching $2500. I was considering switching my PS4 preorder from Amazon but decided against (figured BB would screw it up). I knew I would be buying 2 or 3 new games and would maybe get a PS Vita if they had a decent deal this holiday season.

Funny thing is my MIL is going to be buying a small LED/LCD TV. And found something she liked at BB yesterday. So I figured I would get my $396 with a small bit of effort. Maybe a $100 Amazon GC or something.

I will probably still use my BB rewards card for the TV and pre order at least Watch Dogs this weekend though. No way will I spend $1396 though.


Then I get the email last night saying I was now Elite. I thought I was going for silver? Then I come here and see this thread.

This was the only year I was close to this program. Doubt I will do enough business next year to keep it into 2015.

 
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Hmmm are we still able to see if we are unlocked members?  I'm not seeing it anywhere on the site, or I am just missing it.

Never mind.  I found it. Apparently it expired sometime in the last two days.

 
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I apologize if this is a dumb question but when you reach silver/premium/elite status do you have those benefits for 12 months after you reached the tier goal or for the remainder of the calendar year?

 
JKSonic said:
I'm always surprised with the hatred towards BB. I've had a few issues in the past like everybody, but they've always been extremely quick to fix mistakes and not only that they have usually gone overboard. Since I started using BB more regularly a few years ago I've had $100's in credit given to me because of points posting late, never getting points, and few other small mistakes here and there.

Better yet though, I've had Silver for a while now and never spent even close to the amount! Just got converted over to Elite Plus too! I'm guessing it's because while I don't spend the amount there, I do shop there a lot.

Overall though most of the issues I see are caused by two things...

- Stupid policies that are both implemented terribly into their systems, and employees that are not trained on current deals/promos/reward rules. However, as I've said, they've always gone out of their way to fix issues caused by either.

- Mostly however, issues are caused by people either not understanding things or even flat out trying to take advantage of BB then getting made when they get caught. For instance in the past "preorders" there are not "reservations"...big difference. Also BB is not there for you to make massive profits FROM THEM (trade-ins, flips, etc). Nor are they there to indefinitely price match or retroactively PM.

One of BB's biggest problems is that in the past they've been over lenient (mostly to drum up business) and had over gracious policies even when the customer was in the wrong...and now people always expect these things.
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Disagree. A "preorder" at Best Buy is a reservation because at least if you order at Best Buy.com for store pickup, they do a rotating authorization on your credit card for however long it is between when you preorder and when you pickup. Similarly, they charge you a $5 minimum to preorder in store. The fact that you have had $100s in credit given to you because of mistakes indicates that not only has BB screwed you repeatedly, but you in turn took advantage of them to essentially grab free credit that you used to get free items. With very few exceptions, BB doesn't correct their mistakes without calling and complaining. As such, you are just as bad as the people you are bitching about and blaming for BB's problems.

 
qualityman13 said:
I apologize if this is a dumb question but when you reach silver/premium/elite status do you have those benefits for 12 months after you reached the tier goal or for the remainder of the calendar year?
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It seems to me as if it's the goal. When they did the recent switch, I now have elite plus status until February 2015, and I have something like 2000 left to meet the next elite plus goal.

 
247 said:
When you trade in games do they still count as money spent to reach elite plus?
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Assuming nothing has changed, it has in the past and presumably will in the future.

Basically, every transaction (in the positive) with them counts. Even using giftcards counts towards the total spent, even though you aren't getting RZ points for it.

 
BudzMcGee said:
Assuming nothing has changed, it has in the past and presumably will in the future.

Basically, every transaction (in the positive) with them counts. Even using giftcards counts towards the total spent, even though you aren't getting RZ points for it.
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All my GC purchases show as $0 spent on myrz.com. They don't contribute to annual tiers.
 
Saix_XIII said:
Correct. Purchasing a gift card counts, but using a gift card does not. Not sure where Budz got his info.
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I've never done the math myself, but I always assumed using a gift card counted because I've spent virtually nothing but credit from trades this year and I was $500 from silver.
 
So trade-ins are supposed to count towards the spending goal.  Do the phone reps know this? I was planning  to call in and have mine applied, since they never have before and I wasn't aware they were supposed to.  Or, rather, is it one of those things I should have resolved through the unboxed forums?

 
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dorkyden said:
i just got back from bestbuy too. it seems like you cant enroll in the paid gamers unlocked club. im not sure how it will affect the people who are currently in the club. i just renewed yesterday too!
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When I renewed my GCU (last month), I noticed my store did not have the hard copy pamphlet with the renewal barcode to scan. I went to the preorder kiosk and just printed out a Gamers Club Unlocked receipt. It should be at the very bottom of the default touch screen.

They didn't do away with GCU. I'm still showing as an active member through next summer 2014 when I check my RZ account.
 
Saix_XIII said:
Correct. Purchasing a gift card counts, but using a gift card does not. Not sure where Budz got his info.
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I got it from my reward zone. Every time I've ever made a purchase that used gift cards it went towards my annual amount spent (even though I wasn't getting points for it and it showed up as "0" for points in My Points and Purchases). I think part of the confusion is that there are two sets of numbers, RZ points and the annual amount spent. If I buy a game for $5 I actually get like 15 RZ points from my GCU and credit card bonuses. But I only get $5 toward my annual spent. If I bought that game with a gift card I'd have $5 more towards my annual spent but no RZ points. May not always be 100%, but I have absolutely had purchases I've made with a gift card count towards my annual spending. I actually tested this out February of this year. Between January and February I spent a couple hundred dollars worth in giftcards but nothing else and when the RZ site updated after the yearly maintenance I had a couple hundred dollars marked on my way to silver. There is literally no way I would of made it to silver the last two years if they didn't count. Simply completely and totally not possible (and I'm not one of the people who didn't spend $2500 and got there anyway, I hit the amount around July both years).

Also, fun fact, buying giftcards with giftcards will get you RZ points. Merry Christmas.

QSilverTwo said:
So trade-ins are supposed to count towards the spending goal. Do the phone reps know this? I was planning to call in and have mine applied, since they never have before and I wasn't aware they were supposed to. Or, rather, is it one of those things I should have resolved through the unboxed forums?
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You may be SOL on this. I think all they can do is credit you RZ points, not actually add the value to your account's annual spending...

Donut2922 said:
When I renewed my GCU (last month), I noticed my store did not have the hard copy pamphlet with the renewal barcode to scan. I went to the preorder kiosk and just printed out a Gamers Club Unlocked receipt. It should be at the very bottom of the default touch screen.

They didn't do away with GCU. I'm still showing as an active member through next summer 2014 when I check my RZ account.
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I literally just renewed today, so yes, Donut is right, it is still very much possible to do.
 
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does anyone know if there's been word on changes to the Gamers Club / Unlocked program?  I likely misread somewhere but I thought I read that the basic Gamers would get 10% extra tradein. 

 
Gamer SDP said:
does anyone know if there's been word on changes to the Gamers Club / Unlocked program? I likely misread somewhere but I thought I read that the basic Gamers would get 10% extra tradein.
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A bunch of people have said that but it clearly isn't listed as a perk for the free gamers club.

 
sasuke543 said:
So has the issue been fixed renewing GCU?
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I'm unfamiliar with what the issue was but I went in during my lunch break today, grabbed an @Gamer packet (old one they still had up), and renewed without issue. I could have also printed a paper from the touch screen to renew as well if I had wanted.

Checked online soon as I got back to work and my profile had updated to say I was GCU already.

 
yesterday when I tried to renew with the barcode off the old gamer unlocked brochure it didnt work. then we tried the SKU off the touch screen thingie, which is the same SKU as the brochure, which didnt work. the touch screen printer thing didnt work so we couldnt try that. 

i will try again @ at diff bb tomorrow

 
SEGAMew said:
They're nuking my Silver membership return time from 60 days to a month to a month and a half? Eff this :| I don't see how this is an improvement at all.
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Been expecting this for a while. IIRC the return policy for standard customers was reduced to 15 for ALL items sometime last year. My friend who works at Best Buy said they were going to do the same for RZ members as well in April of 2013. Never happened but it appears we have an extra 30 days over standard customers. Still sucks though.

 
xGwiZ96x said:
At least they kept the free shipping, Expedited and Standard, to all Elite Plus members....
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With no minimum?

It seems like they did away with it for non Elite members. Kind of stinks. I've spent $1000's in blu-rays (and some games) and that's all I really want from them... but I guess it wasn't good enough to be Elite Plus. That no minimum thing was a HUGE advantage they had over Amazon for me.

Wish they could at least keep standard shipping free if they can still give EXPEDITED for free to "Elite Plus" members.

 
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Agent Orange said:
With no minimum?
It seems like they did away with it for non Elite members. Kind of stinks. I've spent $1000's in blu-rays (and some games) and that's all I really want from them... but I guess it wasn't good enough to be Elite Plus. That no minimum thing was a HUGE advantage they had over Amazon for me.
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Yea, only if you are Elite Plus (or whatever the highest tier is called) you still have the Expedited and Standard shipping with no minimum..
 
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Just learned about the $25 minimum in order to qualify for free shipping. I'm not complaining, I understand they were probably losing money on shipping to people like me (who would only spend like $8 on a new copy of RE6 and then get it shipped for free) but I guess I won't be shopping at BB.com much anymore sadly. In most cases, I'll just go with Amazon.

Now, yes, I know I can price match. But every time I've called them and tried to do that it has been such a hassle and it's just not worth it to me.

 
oh man big fail on BB's part. I really dont see myself renewing my Gamers Club membership this Feb. I looked at MyRewardzone and realized Ive barely purchased there this past year when last year I was close to $2000. Their new policies and all the changes since have been a turnoff and made me less likely to do business there which is a shame bc I actually do like them and want them to stick around
 
I just ran into a problem paying my bill. They are transitioning the BB credit cards, and you need to reregister on the site.. except the registration was broken. I had to ask them to send me the new card, and take a payment on the phone.

PITA

They said once I get the new card, that I should be able to register properly, and that my old card will still work until I activate the new one.

Does anyone know if any of the cc policies have changed at all?

 
handsomepete said:
I've never done the math myself, but I always assumed using a gift card counted because I've spent virtually nothing but credit from trades this year and I was $500 from silver.
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That credit was from your trade-ins not the use of the gift cards themselves

Edit: looks like you figured it out.

 
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I'm looking at my my.bestbuy.com account and the "Retain Elite Plus" bar looks really daunting. I got automatically switched to elite plus because I was silver but there's no way I'm going to make $3500 this year if ever. With gamer unlocked $20 pre-order deals and rewardzone getting axed, I'm done with Best Buy except for the occasional great game/electronics deal.

 
bojay1997 said:
Your argument falls apart for a few reasons. First, Gamestop does have a free rewards program (although admittedly it's not a very generous one) and there are several retailers that price match video games. Similarly, those of us with Target Red cards and Amazon rewards cards already have various incentives for buying from those retailers. While Best Buy doesn't owe anyone anything and RZ/GZ have been decent rewards programs, changing a program in the last three months of the year when some of us specifically planned preorders to hit a $2500 threshold based on the prior program is an issue. Frankly, I'm not going to spend $3500 by the end of the year, so I really have little incentive to do additional preorders or purchases at Best Buy considering Amazon and Target generally PM their ads and I have an Amazon card and a Target card that offer better returns than RZ points.
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Totally agree. This is so stupid of Best Buy to do. For the first time in years, I actually had shopped at Best Buy more than Amazon and achieved Silver status. This year, I made some major purchases which I purposely made at Best Buy just for silver status again. Even went out of my way just to get it at best buy. I was $200 away from Silver status again and now they do this. Any incentive I had of shopping there is gone.

Once Amazon started charging tax and BB got aggressive on PM, BB turned back into my "go to" store for purchases because of RZ points and perks. I'm never going to spend $3500 in a year at BB so this puts them back behind Amazon in my book off convenience alone. Stupid move by BB.

 
Apostle22 said:
Stupid move by BB.
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They'll learn from it. They spent years being the underdog, then spent all of last year with crazy-good promotions to win back shoppers. It worked, so they've pulled the plug and will take a hit to that business they had built back up. Then when they need that business again, they'll start offering up crazy-good promotions again.

The sad state of all of this is that it shows they view their loyal customers as expendable.

 
Stryffe2004 said:
Looks like they took away the free television calibration. I should have scheduled sooner. :(
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Kind of amusing, since Best Buy sent me an email when my Silver was renewed in February telling me that there was no rush to schedule a TV calibration b/c it was good for the entire 12 months of my Silver renewal.
 
Stryffe2004 said:
Looks like they took away the free television calibration. I should have scheduled sooner. :(
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Well I called the Premier Silver customer support yesterday and they told me I have until October 1 to schedule my television calibration. Hopefully that's true.

 
i'm pretty upset about the changes as well, especially as i was at 2300 for the year.

at the same time, the status is still worth it for me.  unless i have a better card to use, my plan is to use a 1% CC to purchase $1000 in visa giftcards.  i should get back $10 in CB + $25 in BB rewards and lose $29.75 in fees to come out slightly ahead and preserve my status.

i may also just do it to get amazon credit if my PS4 isnt paid off by then.

 
Jommy said:
Well I called the Premier Silver customer support yesterday and they told me I have until October 1 to schedule my television calibration. Hopefully that's true.
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I read somewhere/someone posted that Silver benefits would be carried over until X date. Will look around for a definitive answer.

 
PrinnyOtaku said:
Even though the new program is way shittier, I would give Best Buy my business over pretty much any other B&M.

This is how many points I earned on a $281 transaction. Tax was $15. And yes, I do have the BBY credit card. I don't see why anyone who shops there frequently wouldn't have one.


Total Points Earned with this transaction - 1082
  • Purchases - 281
  • RZGC Everyday Bonus Point Promo - 239
  • Reward Zone credit card bonus - 422
  • Premier 25% Bonus - 70
  • Reward Zone Credit Card Premier Silver Bonus - 70
1082 is equal to $21.64. That's 7.6% cash back. I am basically getting items tax free and them some. Not to mention you don't get taxed for whatever amount you redeem using certificate.

And this is only ONE perk of being Premier Silver/Elite Plus. There are so many more that you guys are getting and you probably don't even realize it.

You can bitch about how terrible the program is now versus before (and I'm complaining too), but the nonsense like "I'm gonna take my business elsewhere" is stupid. There is no other B&M with a better rewards program. Nothing comes close to it.


If you got grandfathered into the Elite/Elite Plus program until 2014/2015 when you weren't Premier Silver to begin with, wtf are you complaining about?
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2% on all purchases

3% bonus for using the credit card (making it 5% base total)

2% bonus for gaming purchases (i've noticed consoles don't count, not sure about accessories)

.5% premier silver benefit

.5% credit card premier silver benefit

total 8%

that's pretty good, tax in my state is 8% so it washes out completely. Better than any other B&M store I know of.

 
winterlane said:
What day did you do it and what is the SKU on your receipt? The SKU that prints on the slip from the pre-order kiosk wouldn't work at the register when I tried to renew.
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I think it was thursday or friday. I had to do it because mine expired and I was picking up GTA V. Not sure if it will end up being worth it if they don't have any more promotions. I printed out the slip from the pre-order machine, I don't have the SKU with me right now but I can check friday if you still want it by then.

 
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GBAstar said:
Can you do in-store pickup at either Target or Amazon? While everyone has heard the horror stories you have an infinitely better chance at A) Getting a deal and B) actually having your preorder reserved when ordering from Best Buy as compared to Target.

How did the whole reservation system work for the Wii U launch at Target? Oh right... they just gave them out first come first serve.

And again if you have no problem opening lines of credit (which you don't if you have both an AZ card and Red Card) you'd earn more in points with the RZ Credit Card then you would with Amazon and the points you earned would be greater in overall value then the 5% you save with the Red Card.
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i like bestbuy but some of your information is not accurate

my target only gave the Wii U to those with the reservation cards and proved they bought it at that store

my bestbuy constantly loses my instore pickups, or they will mark that they have it and not bother putting it on hold, letting someone else buy it.

My bestbuy didn't even get any of the GTA special editions in, even for the people that preordered.

All stores have their problems. Bestbuy does have the best B&M game reward system though as I wrote in my last post (up to 8%) while target is 2nd with their 5%

 
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BudzMcGee said:
You can tie your redcard to your bank account like a debit card and not have a "new line of credit."
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technically target's redcard is not really a debit card because unlike a debit card from your bank, Target can not see how much you have in your bank account. So each time you make a purchase they are giving you credit for a few days in the hope that your payment processes. Since they don't know how much money you have they put limits on how much you can purchase which is basically their "line of credit". It's the same as having the credit card except you're just making more payments instead of one payment a month. You have a line of credit and a limit that you can't go over until a payment is made. I'm not sure if that line of credit is reported to the credit agencies or not, but their debit and credit card are basically the same thing.

 
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