This has been very disappointing for me - A week ago I spent about $837.00 at the J. Hara Store in Kaimuki ...

Part of the purchase was a $160.00 OTF knife which I paid the full price.  I did ask - Who I thought was the Owner - Or Boss - I missed the Gun Show - Can you give me a better deal?  He said no ... OK

So, the next week - That OTF knife that I purchased went On Sale for $90.00.  I came back to the store and asked:  Hey, do you have price protection?  I spent $837.00 last week - And now the OTF knife that I purchased is $70.00 less from last week.  I then got some weird runaround - And I think, who was the boss went around the corner - And then a younger employee told me - Sorry, we can't give you refund for the $70.00 difference.

Pretty much most every store that I know of offers some kind of price protection for 30 days.  BTW, I've also purchased a good amount of merchandise in the past from J. Hara - At least $1,000.00 here and there.

Anyway - Not a good feeling - And bad business IMHO.  I will never do business with this store again.  Maybe I shouldn't feel this way - But in this day and age - That kind of Pettiness, just doesn't seem right ... 

OTF
"Out the front" knife.
A type of switchblade knife.
Fyi.

thats a common policy for big box stores. its an unfortunate situation for sure but you cant really fault a small business for not being able to take that loss.

btw jharas main store is on big island, and thats where the big boss is. the guys in kaimuki are just following the rules. also jhara does not sell anything but ammo at the gunshow, theres no knives.

J Hara in Kurtistown is a few miles down the road from me, but their prices aren’t great and guns are rather limited.

S Tokunaga Store in Hilo has about 3 to 4 times the selection and a better price on ammo.

I think, as a person who had my own business for 30 years, that was poor customer care.  I would have at least given a $35 store credit.

I didn't even know this was a thing.  But since I would only shop at places that help the 2A, I wont' go back for a price reduction.

When I used to work retail we knew the sales promotions way ahead before putting anything out for sale.

The mgr. didn't object to us telling customers asking for a discount on a particular item that the item will go on sale in the near future.

There was a small computer and electronics retailer on Oahu called ByteWare that had better/more computer inventory than the larger stores.   They went out of business in 2004.

I was keeping my eye on a DVD reader and a DVD writer pair, but the prices remained a bit higher than I wanted to spend.  One day, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so i bought the writer.  That purchase guaranteed the price would drop, but I never imagined it would happen in less than 24 hours!

I went back the next day to browse, and writer was $50 less.  I talked to the owner, and he knew me as a regular buyer.  Store policy was not to price match nor to give refunds for non-defective items, but he was nice enough to give me a store credit for the difference.  The credit was enough to cover cost of the DVD reader's price which was also cheaper than the day before.  In the end, I got the items I'd been wanting and for a much lower total cost.

I remained a loyal ByteWare customer for years until they went under.

ByteWare - that brings back memories.  Miss those days

 
I am pake and proud of it.
You make a deal, pay the price, and live with it.
Just like shooting guns.
Aim carefully and squeeze off the shot.
You can't pull the bullet back.

The more common expression is, "caveat emptor".

I am pake and proud of it.
You make a deal, pay the price, and live with it.
Just like shooting guns.
Aim carefully and squeeze off the shot.
You can't pull the bullet back.

The more common expression is, "caveat emptor".

Basically, you need to know the return or price guarantee policies before making a purchase.  The policies are usually posted in the store for all to see.  If you don't see it, it's probably on your receipt.

Once you leave the store, you don't really have a leg to stand on if the price gets reduced.

I used to tell family and friends when i was about to make a big purchase.  That way they could plan to go to the store a day or two later when the price is guaranteed to be slashed!  Seemed to be a pattern before I started taking advantage of the Costo return policy.   

This has been very disappointing for me - A week ago I spent about $837.00 at the J. Hara Store in Kaimuki ...

Part of the purchase was a $160.00 OTF knife which I paid the full price.  I did ask - Who I thought was the Owner - Or Boss - I missed the Gun Show - Can you give me a better deal?  He said no ... OK

So, the next week - That OTF knife that I purchased went On Sale for $90.00.  I came back to the store and asked:  Hey, do you have price protection?  I spent $837.00 last week - And now the OTF knife that I purchased is $70.00 less from last week.  I then got some weird runaround - And I think, who was the boss went around the corner - And then a younger employee told me - Sorry, we can't give you refund for the $70.00 difference.

Pretty much most every store that I know of offers some kind of price protection for 30 days.  BTW, I've also purchased a good amount of merchandise in the past from J. Hara - At least $1,000.00 here and there.

Anyway - Not a good feeling - And bad business IMHO.  I will never do business with this store again.  Maybe I shouldn't feel this way - But in this day and age - That kind of Pettiness, just doesn't seem right ...

That knife was on sale for the big island store, not the Oahu store. How do you expect to get the sale price from a different store with a different sale ad. Everyone else on Oahu would be paying the regular price too.

That knife was on sale for the big island store, not the Oahu store. How do you expect to get the sale price from a different store with a different sale ad. Everyone else on Oahu would be paying the regular price too.

Ok that changes things quite a bit.  Knowing that. I agree any refund or discount was not warranted.

I don't shop there because they don't support the 2A in legislature.

Ok that changes things quite a bit.  Knowing that. I agree any refund or discount was not warranted.

Question for OP -->>  Was the $90 price you found advertised for the Kaimuki store?


I scoured the interweb yesterday looking for the return/exchange/refund policy for J. Hara.  I can't find it posted anywhere.  Price matching policies usually have a window of time in which they will give you the same deal for a previous purchase.  Most stores will post their policy and/or include it on your printed receipt.  If the policy isn't provided at time of purchase, they could be violating a "fair business practices" law.

I can see them refusing to honor a gun show discount since the purpose of that is to entice show attendees to shop there.  It's marketing.

I agree with others that sale prices appear to only apply to the store or stores listed in the ads.  They seem to operate more as independent stores rather than a chain unless their ad specifies otherwise.  I found such an ad via Google on their FB page saying prices were for both locations but limited to stock on hand.

Ad Examples:

Thanks to all - For ALL of your replies - I really appreciate it ...

Just to clarify:

1) I purchased a total of $837.00 including this $160.00 knife

2) The Sale was at the Kaimuki Store - On the Door Flyer and Next to the Knife in the showcase

3) A $70.00 Discount on a $160.00 Knife is a big hit - No matter how you slice it (pun intended) a 43.75% Discount

4) I asked for the refund/adjustment a week later

5) I purchased all the items from a Salesperson from the Big Island - Good guy

6) I was surprised because J.Hara is good store, and they usually have good to great Sales and Prices

7) Hey, I didn't expect them to be like Costco - But 1 week later and a 43.75% Discount is significant


Anyway - Thanks to all for taking the time to respond and provide feedback.  I guess one lesson is to never buy unless it's on a rock bottom Sale. 


Regards,
Steve

Have you considered dollar-cost averaging?

Buy a second knife at the lower sale price to take advantage of the sale.

One knife on sale saves $70.  $70 divided by 2 knives = $35 average savings per knife.

If it was worth what you paid in the first place, then it's still a better value at $35 off.

You might enjoy having one put away as a spare, or maybe give one as a gift.

Just a thought. 

Could you have bought ianother one at the sale price and return the regular priced one? Even Costco tells me to do it that way

Could you have bought ianother one at the sale price and return the regular priced one? Even Costco tells me to do it that way

When I do that at Costco, i normally take my first receipt with me, buy another of the item at the sale price, then stop by Customer Service on the way out.  I don't feel bad since they can resell the unopened item easily.

One exception was when they marked my color LaserJet printer $50 off.  I tried to get the difference and keep my printer, but they said it had been over 30 days since i purchased.

So i had to come home, box everything up, drag the used, opened printer to the return desk, then buy the printer again.  So, here's the rub with that transaction:  they had 2 printers that, according to HP, were nearly identical with one letter different in the model number.  I originally bought the slightly newer model -- both models were the exact same price but different model/item numbers.  When I saw the price reduction in the store, I saw only the other model was in stock, so I couldn't re-by it again on sale and return it with the other receipt.  The numbers wouldn't match.  This is especially annoying when the item has been through some installation process and/or is pretty bulky.  Dragging the item back to the store just to replace it with the same one is not always a pleasant experience..

The funny part is, after i brought the used printer in for a refund so I could buy the other one, the same model appeared again on the shelves again!  I guess they had more that hadn't been moved to the shelves yet. 

The process works great as long as the first purchase and second purchase are the exact same item.

This has been very disappointing for me - A week ago I spent about $837.00 at the J. Hara Store in Kaimuki ...

Part of the purchase was a $160.00 OTF knife which I paid the full price.  I did ask - Who I thought was the Owner - Or Boss - I missed the Gun Show - Can you give me a better deal?  He said no ... OK

So, the next week - That OTF knife that I purchased went On Sale for $90.00.  I came back to the store and asked:  Hey, do you have price protection?  I spent $837.00 last week - And now the OTF knife that I purchased is $70.00 less from last week.  I then got some weird runaround - And I think, who was the boss went around the corner - And then a younger employee told me - Sorry, we can't give you refund for the $70.00 difference.

Pretty much most every store that I know of offers some kind of price protection for 30 days.  BTW, I've also purchased a good amount of merchandise in the past from J. Hara - At least $1,000.00 here and there.

Anyway - Not a good feeling - And bad business IMHO.  I will never do business with this store again.  Maybe I shouldn't feel this way - But in this day and age - That kind of Pettiness, just doesn't seem right ...

You have every right to feel the way you do, and choose not to do business with them again. That being said, I'm guessing you bought the knife from them because it was the best price you could find for it. May I suggest writing a respectful email to the  owner explaining you are a regular customer, and would appreciate if he could see it your way. Who knows, he may give you $70 in store credit.