ie8 fix

HP TouchPad: HP and Best Buy to refund price differences for early buyers

By | August 21, 2011, 6:53am PDT

Summary: HP and Best Buy have indicated that HP TouchPad owners can now have the difference between what was paid to purchase the tablet and the current fire-sale bin pricing.

In the HP TouchPad mess that was created when the company killed the tablet last week, early adopters were left in the cold. There weren’t many of us if HP is to be believed, and the group was understandably upset when HP dropped the TouchPad pricing into the fire-sale bin. Those of you who did buy the TouchPad at full price or one of the reduced prices over the product’s short life can rest easier. HP reportedly leaned on retailers to refund any differences in price that customers paid and the $99 clearance sale price currently offered.

HP was first to step up and offer a price match to any TouchPad customer who bought from the company’s online store. Next Best Buy has stepped up and indicated through its community forum that price matching will be offered. Best Buy employees told me yesterday they were sending angry buyers away without honoring price matching, but that is supposed to change today. The retailer was already offering full refunds to TouchPad owners inside a 60 day purchase window, meaning all of them, but those wanting to keep the TouchPad with price matching refunds were turned away.

Note that the Best Buy information also indicates it will now sell TouchPads for the clearance sale prices of $99 and $149 for the 16GB and 32GB models respectively. The company was refusing to sell them as late as yesterday for the HP mandated prices.

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James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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James Kendrick has no affiliations or relationships that need to be disclosed.

Biography

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile technology sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered well over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile technology topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.

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RE: HP TouchPad: HP and Best Buy to refund price differences for early buyers
WtH1 24th Aug
Will Office Depot get on the band wagon with this? I went to two seperate Office Depots and was turned away both times due to my purchace being outside the 14 day window for returns.
0 Votes
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It seems the UK doesn't know!
pjc007 Updated - 21st Aug
Someone should tell HP UK that the prices have been slashed by the parent corporation.

As of today, HPs website is still offering the TouchPad for GBP 349 (16GB) and GBP 429 (32GB).

It seems I can't add the URL here, but it its:

h41112.www4.hp.com-slash-promo-slash-webos-slash-uk-slash-en-slash-tablet-slash-touchpad.html

Even more laughably, these are "Promotional" prices!

Talk about transatlantic price increases!

-Paul
thats a good news. I am going to keep mine and get rest of the money that I overpaid ($150) from Best Buy today.
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Website checkout price
madent 21st Aug
The checkout price online hp canada is $499 for 32 although listed on front for $149...anyone gone through checkout for the sale price?
@madent

I went through the purchase this morning, and it *says* it's for the full pop price. Attempts to get through to HP this morning have failed. I suspect their phone systems and people are getting hammered.
Really? A refund for the price difference?

All I got in the mail was a bottle of AstroGlide and a thank you letter from Leo, their CEO, for buying my TouchPad.

I got ripped off by HP.
I just called Costco (bought mine at $579 and got a $100 price adjustment) to see if I could get the price difference on the 32GB...the person on the phone told me no but I am hoping she is wrong. Still investigating...anyone have any tips?
Will Office Depot get on the band wagon with this? I went to two seperate Office Depots and was turned away both times due to my purchace being outside the 14 day window for returns.

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