Posted on Wednesday, 11th November 2009 by admin

We’ve all heard about that notorious “natural drug” found in turkey. You know – shoptophan, which induces Americans to compulsively wake in the wee hours of the morning 12 hours after consumption and lurch zombie-like, en masse to local malls uttering “deals, deals, deals!”

What’s that you say? There’s no such thing as shoptophan? Then why in the world do people cram themselves into that clamor of noisy, grumpy shoppers just to get those elusive deals when you can get those savings without even getting out of bed before noon on Black Friday? Beats me. They must’ve never heard of price protection.

Black Friday Out, Price Protection In

For all the complaining we’ve been doing lately about credit card trickery, our plastic sidekicks do offer a fleet of free perks that are surprisingly generous but rarely utilized. Earlier, we talked about the joys of extended warranties, which will also be pretty handy for Black Friday shopping for electronic gizmos. But today, let’s take a look at price protection.

What is Price Protection?

Price protection is a guarantee from your credit card that you won’t pay a penny more than the lowest price available. Ever had this happen to you: You get reeled in by a flashy display at Store A and buy it right away on an impulse. The next day, you stroll past Store B and notice the same product, but for $100 cheaper! To make matters worse, Store A runs a promotion two weeks later and slashes the price by 50%. What a bunch of jerks, right? But don’t worry – if this happens, your credit card will pay the difference in price up to $250.  You never worry about jumping on the bandwagon too early ever again.

The most notorious case of this happening on a wide scale was the much grumbled about iPhone price drop in September 2007 that eventually led to a $100 store credit. A forum member at FatWallet attests that American Express did indeed pay out the difference for those who filed claims after buying a $599 iPhone and having the price plummet to $399 shortly thereafter.

How do I sign up for Price Protection?

If you have a credit card that offers price protection, the process for signing up for this feature is extremely simple. Here’s what you have to do: nothing. That’s right, you automatically are enrolled for price protection whenever you receive an eligible credit card. It sometimes goes by different names, but most Visa cards have it, some American Express have it (called Best Value Guarantee), MasterCard has it and Discover offers it on most cards. You can read about it in your terms or you can pop onto your card issuer’s website to see if your card is eligible. For instance, Visa allows you to type in your card number to check to see if you have price protection and then initiate claims online.

So, how do I take advantage of Price Protection on Black Friday?

The key to getting your money back when prices drop is to have the proper documentation. For the most part, this includes:

  • A copy of the itemized sales receipt (or mail order packing slip)
  • A copy of the credit or check card slip (the one with your signature). You can also provide a printoff of your monthly statement showing the charge.
  • Original printed advertisement showing the lower price. This is important: it must show the exact item, the dates when the sale is in effect, the price and the name of the store.

Typically, you are required to submit your claim within 60 days of the price drop. So, hang on to those receipts until then. But anyway, for those of us who want to beat the crowds on Black Friday, here’s what you should do:

  1. Sign up for as many advertising circulars, weekly specials subscriptions and newsletters as possible. You’ll get a lot of junk mail – but this is vital. This evidence could save you hundreds of dollars.
  2. Do your shopping early. Shop as normal and use your credit card.
  3. Save any circulars that advertise Black Friday sales.
  4. Go to the store on Black Friday (or ask someone else to go) and have them pick up any circulars that they are handing out in store. Most stores print up flyers on the big day with deals that aren’t included in mailers.
  5. When you find a lower price, file your claim.

Pretty simple, huh? Note, though that you can usually only receive up to $250 per item and about $1,000 in total price protection benefits. But that still ain’t too shabby.

(Oh, and of course, this also works for Cyber Monday. Happy non-shopping!)

Photo by revjim5000 – 2007 Zombiefest at the Monroevill Mall

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