Black Friday

[Mermaid]

my sister went to best buy at 3:30 am to stand in line for tickets for the HP laptop deal. she didn't get it. folks had been camped out since Thanksgiving Day (afternoon). she did get a lap top but spent quite a bit more than planned. sounds like a pretty good ploy on behalf of the store, huh? :roll: but, she was pleased with what all she got for the kids' christmas, and she was almost finished with all her shopping, so maybe it was worth it... I still don't get it.

Tootsie, Best Buy has been doing that for years. No one I know falls for their loss leaders anymore, at least not here--sort of like once burned, twice shy. Best Buy regularly under-stocks the items that people come in stampedes for, knowing that if people have invested so many hours of their time, they'll be dammed if they come away empty-handed. I'll never forget when my friend Sally, who is a lawyer and very sensitive to what skirts the bad side of deceptive advertising, got throw out of Best Buy for pitching a fit about them not having something in stock they featured prominently in their ad. It was pretty much "bait and switch" and she was furious and let them have a piece of her mind. It was magnificent. She let it rip! But she still was escorted out the door.

 

[30A Skunkape]

Tootsie, Best Buy has been doing that for years. No one I know falls for their loss leaders anymore, at least not here--sort of like once burned, twice shy. Best Buy regularly under-stocks the items that people come in stampedes for, knowing that if people have invested so many hours of their time, they'll be dammed if they come away empty-handed. I'll never forget when my friend Sally, who is a lawyer and very sensitive to what skirts the bad side of deceptive advertising, got throw out of Best Buy for pitching a fit about them not having something in stock they featured prominently in their ad. It was pretty much "bait and switch" and she was furious and let them have a piece of her mind. It was magnificent. She let it rip! But she still was escorted out the door.

Do they give out rain checks?

 

[Mango]

my sister went to best buy at 2:30 am to stand in line for tickets for the HP laptop deal. she didn't get it. folks had been camped out since Thanksgiving Day (afternoon). she did get a lap top but spent quite a bit more than planned. sounds like a pretty good ploy on behalf of the store, huh? :roll: but, she was pleased with what all she got for the kids' christmas, and she was almost finished with all her shopping, so maybe it was worth it... I still don't get it.

That stinks. We don't bother with electronics for that reason. My sister in Texas went to Circuit City for a TV at 5 am and she said people were tailgating in the parking lot. :shock: She didn't get the TV she went for either.
She did find another one that was a good deal, but then she didn't know how to get it home, so she rented a truck from Home Depot.

We drove by Best Buy and could see the parking lot from the road, and what a madhouse, and its right near the parking lot for Walmart, so you can imagine that zoo.

We shop where there are no mass malls are strip shopping. Nice and quiet.
Even our Toys R Us was quieter than I thought, and they had helpers walking around.
I heard some stores opened yesterday and stayed open till midnight. First time I heard that one.

 

[Teresa]

Do they give out rain checks?

not that I know of. you either get it or you don't.

 

[30A Skunkape]

not that I know of. you either get it or you don't.

 

[Teresa]

Tootsie, Best Buy has been doing that for years. No one I know falls for their loss leaders anymore, at least not here--sort of like once burned, twice shy. Best Buy regularly under-stocks the items that people come in stampedes for, knowing that if people have invested so many hours of their time, they'll be dammed if they come away empty-handed. I'll never forget when my friend Sally, who is a lawyer and very sensitive to what skirts the bad side of deceptive advertising, got throw out of Best Buy for pitching a fit about them not having something in stock they featured prominently in their ad. It was pretty much "bait and switch" and she was furious and let them have a piece of her mind. It was magnificent. She let it rip! But she still was escorted out the door.

this is really bad business, cause some families are really trying to get the high tech stuff their older kids would like for christmas, and then they end up spending more money than they can afford, and wasting valuable time standing in line at 2:30 am, etc. what a bad deal (or maybe they are still getting good deals, I really don't know)...

 

[Mango]

this is really bad business, cause some families are really trying to get the high tech stuff their older kids would like for christmas, and then they end up spending more money than they can afford, and wasting valuable time standing in line at 2:30 am, etc. what a bad deal (or maybe they are still getting good deals, I really don't know)...

The retailers know this, that's why it is dangerous to linger in a store if they do not have your list items, not to mention that that at hour people are exhausted and figure, "well I'm here, and maybe this other deal is not so bad and you can't analyze the details.
The retailers feed on the desire to get something special for someone within a given budget.

 

[Mermaid]

The retailers know this, that's why it is dangerous to linger in a store if they do not have your list items, not to mention that that at hour people are exhausted and figure, "well I'm here, and maybe this other deal is not so bad and you can't analyze the details.
The retailers feed on the desire to get something special for someone within a given budget.

Speaking of exhausted, did you take a power nap today? It's just past midnight. How are you still awake and coherent?

 

[Mango]

Speaking of exhausted, did you take a power nap today? It's just past midnight. How are you still awake and coherent?

I took a nap for about an hour and half. I am over tired now and can't sleep. :shock: I am awake, but not coherent. I mean, come on, I am looking at pogo sticks and rubberbrain helmets.

 

[Mango]

It's that time again. Been working up the strategic plan with the Yankee gulls. Tomorrow night maps and lists exchanged.
But there's a kink in our plan. Kohl's opens at 4 am.