What would you do? (Or, what should I do?) --- UPDATE: The tribe has spoken. I'm going to keep it.

[QueerDuck]

Last edited Thu Nov 27, 2025, 11:19 AM - Edit history (1)

UPDATE: The tribe has spoken. I'm going to keep it. I was just overthinking it and looking only at the savings but not at the reality of everything. After all, it was good enough for me to buy it then, so I should give up these doubts and just enjoy my new turntable (and my OLD records.) 💕🎵🎶❤️

Thank you all for helping me to make up my mind.

I purchased a turntable from MicroCenter for $450. Within two weeks it went on sale at the AudioTechnica website for 11% off ($50). MicroCenter will do price matching within 30 days... but I'd need to make the 50 mile round trip to the store.

That's about 2 hours of my day plus 50 miles... just to save $50.

Yes... it's a hassle to get the $50... but it IS fifty dollars after all... but it would take $5 in gasoline to get there and back... and I could be doing something more productive at home... but MicroCenter is a fun store to browse, and I might discover something else that I want-but-don't-need. And Ikea is just a little further away... which is a dangerous place for someone who loves that style and who enjoys assembling flat-pack furniture and storage shelves.

What's your advice? Should I just live with it? Or make the extra effort to get a price-match refund?

What would you do? (Or, what should I do?)

12 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	You should get the refund! (It's $50 after all.)
	0 (0%)
	You should live with it. (The non-sale price was worth it to you originally... so just be happy with the purchase.)
	12 (100%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[LearnedHand]

1. Option 3: CALL Microcenter to ask for the price match?

If you paid with a credit card they may can refund you over the phone.

[QueerDuck]

4. Good idea. I think it's only with an amex or microcenter card (I used a visa)...

and that I'd need to plead my case in person (with printout proof of the new corporate price). Also, if I recall correctly, it's impossible to reach an actual human using their phone system. It's all automated with miles of menu trails... but... $50 is fifty dollars!

I could simply return the turntable (it's still unopened) and get ALL my money back. The order the sale item from the company website... and hope that Fedex doesn't damage it.

[LearnedHand]

12. $50 is real money by any standard

But I thought microcenter was a local store, so I get it if you don’t want to deal with a phone tree from hell. I hope you find an easy solution.

[Zackzzzz]

2. Did you use a card for the purchase?

I would call them.
You have the receipt and they have the receipt in their records.
You could email them the discount ad.

You could put a record on your new turntable,
get in your comfy chair, and veg out.

Or what I would do, is put on some Bossa Nova
and dance around the room.

[True Dough]

3. Option 4:

Return the turntable and just listen to 8-tracks and cassettes.

[QueerDuck]

5. Somewhere I do have some 8tracks... but I'd need a player.

[ThreeNoSeep]

6. Cost per mile today is $0.58 or $29 to pick up your deal

It's not just gas.
So the savings is $21, not $50.

[QueerDuck]

7. You're right... wear-and-tear plus gasoline. Thank you! I've made up my mind.

I'm just keeping it with the full knowledge that the non-sale price was good enough two weeks ago... so I shouldn't be second-guessing myself.

[rsdsharp]

8. I'd just eat the cost myself, but that's me. Out of curiosity, what model AT?

[QueerDuck]

9. This one: AT-LP120XUSB-BK (link below)

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/turntables/type/direct-drive/at-lp120xusb

[rsdsharp]

10. Nice deck. I've got an AT-LP1240, with a Shure M97xE cartridge.

It was billed as a Technics SL 1200 killer. It’s basically the same turntable, with a bit more torque, and less than half the price. I don’t think they make it anymore, and Shure stopped making cartridges six months after I bought it.

[QueerDuck]

11. I used a 1200 back in my DJ-days... but it didn't belong to me, it was the property of the night club.

I couldn't afford the Technics SL1200 for home use... I just had a couple of Sanyo POS belt drive turntables for playing and practicing at home (and a barebones basic Realistic cross-fade mixing board... a mere $20 on ebay now.)

As tempting as it is to try and recreate my djing and club experience... it would cost too much. I'm just looking for a quality turntable without wow and flutter issues, without motor hum and resonance issues. I'm confident that this one will fit the bill.

[rsdsharp]

13. I had an SL 1500 that Team (remember them?) swapped for a BIC 980 they had sold me.

This was 1976. The BIC was the flavor of the month back then, but it kept dropping the tonearm off the record and snapping the stylus. After I LOUDLY and PROFANELY complained after the fifth or sixth time, they pulled out the Technics and moved the Stanton 681EE over from the BIC.

The SL1500 finally wouldn’t hold speed, so I junked it. Wish I’d saved the Stanton, and probably should have just used contact cleaner in the speed controls.

I jocked, but it was at radio stations. They tended to used Gates or Rek-O-Kut turntables with (wooden!) MicroTrak tonearms and Stanton 500 carts.