Best Buy has launched a $ 200 membership program against Amazon Prime and Walmart’s own subscription service. It’s called Best Buy Beta, and while much more expensive than a year Prime ($ 119), it offers benefits that focus on providing services to customers who have a lot of electronics in their homes. Members will enjoy unlimited Geek Squad technical support for all technology they own, whether purchased from Best Buy or not. They also get free installation on most products and two-year warranty protection on most of their purchases, including AppleCare on Apple products.
Its other benefits are free delivery with no minimum, a 60-day extended return window, exclusive price for member sales, 10 percent off subscription services billed by Best Buy and dedicated concierge support. However, the membership program does not include a subscription to a video platform such as Prime Video. Currently, the program is available at select stores in Iowa, Oklahoma and Eastern Pennsylvania. It will expand to more locations in Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee in the coming weeks until it becomes available in 60 stores by the end of April.
A spokesman said Bloomberg that Best Buy Beta replaces Total Tech Support, the company’s current $ 200 membership program that also offers unlimited technical support and discounts on Geek Squad protection in the pilot markets. It may eventually replace Total Tech Support in the US in the future, but it may depend on how well it is received by the retail giant’s customers.