$99 Palm Pre Deal Turns Out To Be A Goof: Best Buy

All those who were angry on Sunday, please calm down. Despite the fact that the sales force and the computers seemed to think it was a one-week promotion, that price drop to $99 for the Palm Pre on Sunday was nothing more than a glitch.

The confusion began when a picture of an in-store banner promoting a week long special of a $99 Pre with a 2-year contract was posted online. While it turns out it was a mistake, and announced as such via Twitter by Best Buy marketing manager John Bernier on Sunday afternoon, the deal somehow got programmed into vendor systems and people were able to walk into retail stores and get the price, or even a price match, if they had purchased the Pre recently enough.

The error was also announced on Best Buy's centralized Twitter feed, TwelpForce. For some reason none of the followers of either feed reported this news to the sales force (heh).


Those who got the deals are the recipients of bargains, apparently. When speaking to a sales rep, the WSJ received this info:

So if the price gets changed back to $199 tomorrow, I asked him, what would happen if I bought it for $99 today? “You’re good,” he said. “You bought it for $99. Enjoy your phone.”

He added, “I would recommend coming in today to buy it.”