Possible Best Buy exploit?

DisturbedZen

DisturbedZen

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Okay.. Before we jump to any conclusions.. I remember seeing something at Best Buy if you reserved a certain game you would recieve 50,000 reward points.. I think that was how much.. And all you had to do was put 5$ down.. And I believe it only takes 12,500 points to get one 5$ certificate.. If you catch what Im saying..

Reserve the game (if they credit the reward points right away) for 5$ and make a nice profit from best buy reward zone gift certificates..

Of course I need someone to confirm this..
 
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Is there a place with info about the Best Buy Rewards porgram? I've always wondered what it was. When it first came out I thought you would have to spend a bunch of money just to get a $5 certificate. Is that true?

As for your question...I'm not sure, but it sounds like it might work.
 
you get a point for every penny spent....$125 spent gets you 12,500 points....they send you a $5 gift card for every 12,500 points earned...so $125 spent gets you a $5 reward zone certificate....for every $25 you spend....you get $1....so....its basically a card that gets you 4% off anything you want....if my math is correct on it all...which im pretty sure it is....it only costs $9.99 for one year to sign up....so if you plan on spending $250 in a year there....it pays for itself....ive somehow racked up almost $100 in reward zone certificates....which means ive spent about $2,500 since ive signed up about a year ago....its been good to me...i suggest everyone sign up if they're gonna at least spend $250 in a single year there
 
[quote name='AzN_BaLLeR']Okay.. Before we jump to any conclusions.. I remember seeing something at Best Buy if you reserved a certain game you would recieve 50,000 reward points.. I think that was how much.. And all you had to do was put 5$ down.. And I believe it only takes 12,500 points to get one 5$ certificate.. If you catch what Im saying..

Reserve the game (if they credit the reward points right away) for 5$ and make a nice profit from best buy reward zone gift certificates..

Of course I need someone to confirm this..[/quote]

ive seen special deals where they'll give you an extra x amount of points for doing this and that...ive never really thought about it like you did though....thanks a lot....im definitely gonna keep my eyes open for deals like that for now on
 
50,000 can't be right... I looke at the reward site and you would get 20$ in gift certificates for a 5$ pre-order or whatever. Are you sure it wasn't 5,000 instead, of course if it is 50,000 you might want to get cracking!
 
[quote name='trustcompany1013']....which means ive spent about $2,500 since ive signed up about a year ago....[/quote]

Good lord.
 
I think they mean 50,000 because when you reserve it, it means you're gonna buy it.
For some strange reason, they sent me a few $5 citerificates for no real reason. I've spent enough to only get one.
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One exploit I know you can do is to buy a gift card and put the purchase on the rewards card. Then use the gift card to buy your stuff and put that purchase on the card also..
Sometimes you can get a coupon for double points on special items.
P.S. anything returned is deducted.
 
akil...when you buy a gift card...you can hand the reward zone card to the cashier and he/she will scan it....but nothing goes on your reward zone account for a gift card purchase....not everything is reward zone acceptable....its in the program rules somewhere...i would love for that to be true though....i would automatically buy a gift card before every purchase...but it doesnt work...sorry...

www.myrewardzone.com
 
might work. i wanted to pick up Ico and Drakan: TAG anyway, because their cases were stolen two Xmas's ago, along with a ton of other games' cases.
 
i think its possible....while its not likely an often deal..............stores love preorders....guaranteed sales....they own you............50,000 points would give you $20 in store credit...which you still dont get right away....it takes about a month and a half..................im sure people have gotten better things than $20 in store credit for a preorder....maybe not often either....but im sure its happened
 
It may not be 50,000 but I know it was more than 12,500.. I will try to get all details tommorow..

I also remember the games included but not limited to Driver 3 and Hitman Contracts..

I love you avatar trustcompany, Jessica Alba is the finest ever..
 
[quote name='XboxMaster']I hope I'm not the only one seeing this "Rewards" Card as a rip-off.[/quote]

A ripoff for who? Maybe to someone who doesn't use it.

But, like the other poster, I've racked up over 150 bucks in gift certificates in just under a year. Not bad for a 10 buck investment, especially since my buying habits have not changed.

The card is far from a ripoff for someone who shops there often.
 
[quote name='Cmosfm']I refuse to exploit any more "rewards" programs....ever.[/quote]

Nice to know I'm not the only one that thinks this is a bit shady...

As far as I can tell, this isn't illegal, much less blatantly so, like other things that have been posted here. Still...if people take advantage, the program will change. Maybe the certificates will only be good for certain items, or can't be used with sales prices. If you abuse it and Best Buy notices, chances are good that they will change the program.

To be honest, I'm surprised that the GGC is still around...all of those $5 coupons add up eventually.

Beyond that, this is a huge waste of time and money...isn't it better to just save the effort and have actual cash instead of a tiny bit more in Best Buy gift certificates?
 
[quote name='Gothic_Walrus']Beyond that, this is a huge waste of time and money...isn't it better to just save the effort and have actual cash instead of a tiny bit more in Best Buy gift certificates?[/quote]

the op was originally talking about a $5 deposit.. which is not a huge waste of money at all. especially if what he says is true. this is taking advantage of what they offer. i wouldn't call it illegal by any means. it is a lot to go through though for a few certificates. i don't think i spend enough at best buy to warrant the purchase of the reward program though :lol:
 
I got a free 1 year enrollment in the rewards program and it's been ok so far. Probably gotten around $20 worth of certificates over the last year. My membership expires in August, I made out this past year, but I'm not sure if I would sign up again.
 
[quote name='BigBen']I got a free 1 year enrollment in the rewards program and it's been ok so far. Probably gotten around $20 worth of certificates over the last year. My membership expires in August, I made out this past year, but I'm not sure if I would sign up again.[/quote]

how did you get it for free?
 
I got a free membership this year too. I signed up when the Reward Zone first came out. It was some crappy laminated card. Then it became so successful that they revamped the program a little, released new colorful cards, and gave me a free year's membership as thanks for my participation. It expires this summer and i am definately gonna renew. Over the past two years i've gotten about $160 after only paying $10 almost two years ago.
 
i used to be a floater for BB (out sourced worker) and the reward is totally worth it, my friend bought a laptop, which he was gonna by anyways, i told him to sign up for rewards, and he got 80bucks in the mail.. kinda like free money, but about the $5 reserve thing the op was talking about. its not gonna work, since it takes forever for the rewards to log in, and receive. like 4-6 months for some.
 
the reward zone is good, especially if you buy something expensive. I bought a laptop, and then had a ton of bonuses to blow on games. Pretty sweet deal, I think
 
if you think the rewards zone is a ripoff...you're crazy....its only a ripoff if you're stupid enough to buy it and then never shop there again...they dont make you buy it....its not like you have to buy it to shop there....how is getting free store credit for purchasing items there a rip off? if you're gonna buy the items anyway...and they price match the cheapest prices around....how is it a rip off to get extra money out of the deal??? the only way someone is getting ripped off...like i said b4...is if their stupid...
 
[quote name='Gothic_Walrus']
To be honest, I'm surprised that the GGC is still around...all of those $5 coupons add up eventually.
[/quote]

I haven't been able to find a GGC card for months now. Looks like they stopped carrying them in So Cali stores since the beginning of the year. I've checked 5 stores around here with no luck.

As for the Rewards Zone Program, it's pretty sweet. I got my card for free, although I'm not sure why. They just sent me one when the Rewards program started up maybe a year and a half ago. I've gotten about $50 in certificates, it still works and I haven't had to renew it yet. Even if I had to now, I'd still renew it. Not only that, but when I went to buy a Rewards Zone membership for my cousin as a gift along with other things, the cashier was confused because I was using my Rewards card while buying another one. It ended up that they didn't charge me anything for the new Rewards card.
 
I'm weighing in that this program is great. I bought the first years membership and had about $150 worth of coupons. They gave me this years membership for free and so far I have racked up $190 worth of coupons. I make just about all my purchases there so its a great deal for me. In the past five months I have bought a washer/dreyer, big screen tv and tons of games and dvds from them. If you rack up enough points all at once they send you $10 coupons. I used one yesterday to pick up The Last Samurai for $7. If you shop there only a few times a year then do not join this program but if your like me and shop there alot than your just plain stupid to not join this program.
 
[quote name='XboxMaster']I hope I'm not the only one seeing this "Rewards" Card as a rip-off.[/quote]

LOL, sorry man, but this is far from a rip. I already got five bucks and that was after two weeks. I just pricematch anything in an ad at bestbuy, so i can gain reward zone points for the purchase.
 
the requirment for getting a citerificate is 12,500=$125.00, so you're spending a lot get the citerificate. It's no real way to jip them with this.
I swear one time a employee put a gift card purchase on my reward card purchase, and then I used the coupon inside to buy my game with the gift card. She counted the same $16 2 times. She may of had just made a big mistake.
 
I got one free too, then bought a hd tv so i've earned over a 100 bucks so far. Not bad for free, I wouldn't pay 10 dollars a year for it though.
 
i've been a reward zone member for a while now, and i only use the card for dvd's and games. so far i've racked up $40 bucks. not much compared to some of the other people, but i don't purchase a ton of stuff, just 2-5 dvd's and games a month, so i think the card is totally worth it as long you continue to purchase from best buy.
 
When I first got mine I thought I would regret it but it really is worth it. You never realize how much crap you buy until you have something that keeps track of it. As for the 50,000 points...I think someone already said it but I can confirm this because I was just there tonight...reserves only get you 3,000 points.
 
It's good if you are going to buy large purchases (laptop, appliances, tvs, etc.) Unfortunately, BestBuy does not carry and TVs, computers, dvd players, etc. that I would buy. The only thing I ever buy from BB are video games and occasionally a dvd (rarely). I shop elsewhere for everything else.
 
buy a Gamer's Gift Card at Best Buy for $5 (or whatever the miniumum is) on the card, and in that package is also a coupon for $5 off any game or accessory. That way yoo can get a $20 game for $15. Any time, any day of the week. It's nice.
 
[quote name='TreyTable']buy a Gamer's Gift Card at Best Buy for $5 (or whatever the miniumum is) on the card, and in that package is also a coupon for $5 off any game or accessory. That way yoo can get a $20 game for $15. Any time, any day of the week. It's nice.[/quote]

Welcome to the boards.
 
Okay to clear things up.. It is only 3,000 when u reserve a game.. But it used to be 50,000 I was looking around and found one of thier older fliers and it said 50k points.. I guess they changed it.. =(
 
it doesnt really how many reward points you get, its still on overmarked best buy products that you could have probably bought somewhere else for alot less.
 
[quote name='rfoster9']it doesnt really how many reward points you get, its still on overmarked best buy products that you could have probably bought somewhere else for alot less.[/quote]

Foolish stament of the year!

Than why dont you just bring in ads and pricematch, and also get rewards points?
 
[quote name='XboxMaster']I hope I'm not the only one seeing this "Rewards" Card as a rip-off.[/quote]

In my case I spent $10 to get back $410 the past year on purchases I was already going to make there and I've been ripped off eh?

Also to clear up:

1. You cannot get any points for buying gift cards. It's built into their system and there is no way around it. Though some people said that very, very early in the program BB did not have this safeguard in place.

2. No ones mentioned how LONG they make you wait to get these things. It takes them weeks to mail it out to you to make sure you don't do things like the original poster suggested (some variation of buying something for the points and then returning it so that you can keep/use the points).

3. Make sure you hand them the card before giving them payment or else they cannot input in the card. It's an annoying "feature" of their checkout system.

4. Yeah, there is a true exploit that can net you $5-$100 in GC based on simply your word. Posting it would only result in a bunch of losers lying to get it though.
 
[quote name='XboxMaster']I hope I'm not the only one seeing this "Rewards" Card as a rip-off.[/quote]

It is not a rip-off. I purchased a 57" Toshiba Widescreen HDTV from them on my best buy gift card. $2500 later I have about $100 in rewardzone gift certificates. I was going to buy a bigscreen, I have a Bestbuy card + now I get an extra $100 to buy surround sound that I would probably have bought from them anyway. I also get 0% interest. I paid $10 for the card and have recieved over $300 in gift certificates from them. I think it is a great deal.

Lonzo
 
Now they can do the card mid-purchase. I did it a few weeks age. Also if your forget your card, you can give them the phone number you gave them with the card to put it on the account.
I wonder if you keep bonus points that you got with items you returned.
But the system is pretty fair IMO.
 
[quote name='grayghost81'][quote name='trustcompany1013']....which means ive spent about $2,500 since ive signed up about a year ago....[/quote]

Good lord.[/quote]


I signed up in around September - October and have about $110 in earnings. That's about $3,000. :)
 
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