Tip: Don’t forget that Dell can price match

This post is going to be common knowledge for some, but I wanted to write it for those with a card that has statement credits for Dell purchases and/or a card-linked offer to remind them that Dell can price match by request. You’ll probably lose out on shopping portal rewards that way, but I used this earlier this week to get a good price on an item I wanted and use a card that will reimburse the purchase from Dell.

Google Pixel Buds Pro on sale from the Google Store

I’ve long had Pixel Buds Series A and enjoyed them very much. I’ve been curious about the Pixel Buds Pro for quite a while. I’m not sure I really want active noise cancellation in earbuds (I tend to wear my earbuds when I want to be able to hear outside noises). However, I’ve been intrigued by the live translation capability of the Pixel Buds Pro. I’ve been less intrigued by the $199.99 price point for them.

However, I got an email earlier this week from the Google Store advertising the fact that Google had the Pixel Buds Pro on sale for $139.99 (sixty dollars off). That made me more intrigued, but I still didn’t really want to go $140 out of pocket on them.

I price matched to Dell to get the earbuds I wanted at the Google Store sale price

From there, the short story is that I knew that Dell sells Pixel Buds Pro, so I price matched and got the earbuds for $139.99 plus tax.

I initially wondered if maybe these would be on sale from Dell also, but they weren’t. I pulled up the item page, logged into my Dell account, and initiated a chat with support. When the agent picked up the chat, I simply explained that I was interested in the Pixel Buds Pro and I’d like to buy them from Dell, but that the Google Store had the same item for $60 less. If Dell could match that price, I’d be happy to buy from Dell.

The chat agent clearly understood what I wanted to do and was happy to help. I provided a link to the item on the Google Store and then provided my name, address, email, and phone number.

The agent asked how I intended to pay and fished to sell me on the idea of using Dell financing. I turned down his offer to help start the application process and he accepted that politely and without pushback.

Within fewer than 10 minutes, the chat was complete. I was told that the price match request was submitted and I would receive a quote via email in 1-2 hours from that specific chat agent. He provided his email address and said that he’d be my single point of contact.

Sure enough, about an hour later, I received the quote via email with a link to check out and pay for it. I did so and spent about $150 with sales tax. I put the purchase on an Amex Business Platinum card since that card provides up to $400 in annual statement credits for Dell purchases ($200 from January through June and $200 from July through December).

The next business day, my order shipped. I expect to see the $150 credit from Amex within a couple of days.

I did try to click through from Capital One Shopping before checking out on the purchase, but I don’t think it tracked (and wouldn’t expect as much since I was ultimately clicking through a personalized quote from Dell). In this case, that doesn’t mean much since the portal rate wouldn’t have beat the ~30% discount I was getting. I essentially gave up the $5.60 or 560 Membership Rewards points that I could have earned through Rakuten if I bought directly from the Google Store. I was happy to be able to use Dell credits to get something at a competitive price.

Bottom line

Getting Dell to price match the Google Store for a recent purchase of Pixel Buds Pro was a totally painless experience. I’m sure there are instances where Dell will not price match and the qualify of agents may vary from one to another, but if you’re interested in buying something that Dell sells and you’ve found a significantly better price elsewhere, it’s worth spending a few minutes to chat and see if they can match it.

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