venerdinero

Interesting. Thanks CheapArse! I'll have to read up, normally I quickly move past things marked Celeron! :) I know they're better than they used to be, but a celeron is still a celeron. At these pricing levels, it's not reasonable to be picky! I have actually purchased Celeron PC's for less than $300 and they have <knocking on wood> performed reasonably well for basic tasks. I'm not sure I'd want to use photoshop on them or start gaming on them, but hey -they serve their purpose.

are we talking about the same deal?? are you talking about a toshiba at BB? that one is $499 instant rebate but 1.4GHz not 2.66. now THAT would be a deal. or are you talking about a toshiba at WM or elsewhere??

From what I saw this afternoon - it has a $40 MIR:yuck: Not free enough for something I don't really want or need!

MicroCenter took forever to check out last year - got there late at they didn't have an ad/flyer in the Thursday paper, only in Friday paper So I got there after other stops at about 9:30 - in line by 10 out by 1pm! That's why I am so anxious to see their ad BEFORE FRIDAY this year. That's why I signed up for their email list, but I still have not received it this year and others have. Bummer.

It appears from some rather visual postings that I may have seen elsewhere that CC may be listing some items as "on sale" with only the regular retail price listed - no sale price listed. Uh-oh!! No PM opportunity and unsure if it's worth waiting in line for!!

I appreciate yet another thoughtful post on your part. :) I am aware of this, as are many smart customers and all "demon customers". The problem is that so many people are aware of this, and because BB (and others) has so many seemingly conflicting and absolutely confusing policies and terms and employees like the managers you noted, they get mad even when they ARE wrong and they know that more than likely they can get what they want by complaining loudly enough. I reiterate the VERY simple solution to this problem - stop these lousy ripoff mail in rebates!! . That removes the tool that BB claims hurts them. The sad reality is that they STILL make a fortune on unclaimed/rejected rebates - otherwise they would end them immediately. I don't doubt that their profits are being cut into by these practices, but their new strategy is a merely a no cost way to reinflate the margins by profiling. If these rebates were truly a losing proposition,the ONLY strategy would be to end them now. Again, you obviously know the "right thing" to do. But you are also asking a manager who has an incentive to give you an inaccurate answer for you to unknowingly pass on to make the sale, no? I have noticed that most of the service agreement lies I have heard are indeed from managers. The funny thing that I have noticed lately is I'm being told that "none of us work on commission" when the mgr is either right there or is the one talking! The service agreements are intentionally complex so that nobody can really know all of the applications. But I have repeatedly been told as have friends on various bigger ticket (over $100) items that the service agreement covers EVERYTHING -even maintenance. Possible, but highly unlikely. I'd love to see 20/20 or somebody do a hidden camera investigation on the sale of service agreements. I confess, I intentionally chose the number 3 because I had been told this previously by a BB employee. Hopefully the negative reactions will increase in both size and volume to the point that, like RadioShack, BB drops or at least minimizes a STUPID and annoying policy. Have the rep ask once and cashier once, that's enough. We need a smilie for a dead horse!! :) I think my big picture point is that BB can't have a policy which everybody knows is frequently ignored and then complain that the customers are using BB's own policy against them. Either enforce the policy or change it or drop it.

Thanks musicmark!! I'm on the e-mail subscription list, but I have not received anything yet. Not a big deal except that last year I never received ANYTHING!! They send you all sorts of promo materials all year, but not the BF or special one day only sales throughout the year. That's annoying. Are you sure the ad will be out T-day?? Last year I believe it was NOT in the T-day paper, but rather in the actual FRIDAY paper! Not too helpful when the paper arrives after the store has opened!

Conflicting forecasts - but definitely turning colder (low to mid 30's) and probably very windy (sniffle, our first wind chills of the year!! ) and a chance of rain or snow or the always popular mixed precip!! :)

Thanks samcasey - that's EXACTLY what I wanted to know!! Now I can drop that one off the list!! Too many MIRs for me!! Did you happen to see anything on notebooks? especially a Toshiba??

I'll try to look more closely when we get more solid info on the deals (ie not just rumors! :) ) but of the brands you listed, I hear the best things about Toshiba, as a brand - not based on comparative specs of the models you listed. If you have the time, I would also recommend trying to see as many of these models in person (hands on) as possible in advance. In addition to the many good points above, notebooks/laptops tend to be a fairly personal choice. Are you comfortable with the layout, the weight, screen size, etc.

Conscript - I am glad to see that you clarified some things from your earlier posts. I think you may be unintentionally be tapping into some of the BB backlash. Yes, contrary to the old adage, the customer can be wrong. But BB blames "demon" or "devil" customers for many of their own problems. If BB did follow their own policies, much of the rebate/return ripoff problems would just go away. If, against BBs own policy, BB accepts a return on a product with no upc code - BB is really just robbing itself and blaming the customers. Also if BB (and others) would just give us a true fair price on items, instead of instituting mail in rebates in partnership with fullfillment houses which GUARANTEE no more than x percent of the rebates will be fullfilled - they would eliminate a major source of contention and frustration. They would minimize problems and garner good will. I am pleased to hear that you, like some other decent retail employees, fairly explain the service agreements to customers. On the other hand, many of us can tell you of at least one bad experience with the selling of these. For example, some unscrupulous reps WILL tell unknowing customers that the service agreement will cover ANY repair or problem (it happened to me AGAIN last week). BB has gotten in trouble with the government because of this particular problem over the years. Then some reps will ask you at least 3 times or more if you are sure you don't want it because Twice I can deal with, but give it a rest! Some BB reps are giving the store and the good reps a bad name. BB reps and service agreements are getting to be as annoying as radio shack and i need your name and address or I can't process this transaction used to be. Conscript I understand you are one of the many good reps and I do repeat my thanks to you for providing the view from your side of the counter. We can all learn some things from you and hopefully you can learn some from us. The bottom line: There are both good and bad reps and there are both good and bad customers. I'd like to believe that there are more of the good in both cases!

FREE RON ARTEST!?? I throw a cup of Dr Pepper in your general direction!

Thanks for the update Conscript!! I hate rebates, so having some idea of the amounts helps me decide what time to wake up & trudge out. :) I don't know why I would want a prepaid phone, but if it's free, I'll look! free is free! would you happen to know what the catch is on that one? big rebate or something I presume??

I think that the stores are getting smarter (oh no! :) ). I think some stores are staggering the release of the most popular items and even some doorbusters - just as they do with the most popular items through the entire Christmas shopping season. It's amazing how a few cabbage patch dolls or gameboys put out on an empty shelf can create a buzz in a store. Some stores are also creating something of a second wave by having different deals at 12noon or other times, although not as spectacular as the "doorbusters" - they can still be good deals. Because of the buzz that things like putting a few items out throughout the day can create - I really wonder if several stores will pleasantly surprise us with some unannounced and unadvertised specials to create a buzz. As for tradition - what about shopping Christmas Eve!!! Now THAT is a fun tradition - especially if you don't really NEED to go, but want to go!

That's because you shop the best deals all year long!!

Thanks for the heads up samcasey! bummer on the emachine I think we'd all LOVE to know what rebates are on the WD drive - probably similar to those on this drive at officemax this week?? Anything on the TOSHIBA notebook at BB???? Thanks again!

Got the WMart ad -it was ok - not spectacular. Did not get anything from BB. I'm curious if this will turn out to be the bleak BF some have predicted OR if maybe the stores will resort to "unadvertised" specials, thereby rewarding the faithful who line up outside the store, but avoiding the pitfalls of being PMd or having the well prepared customers cherry pick each store.

Just got that e-mail this morning!! Not bad! I didn't have time to check the details yet, but in the meanwhile, would anybody happen to know how they are selling both a 4mp and 5mp camera for the same $198.00??? They both look decent and both appear to have some sort of cradle or dock (maybe those are very different??). I know - it must be in the fine print - gotta later

That's funny! But no. Why not?? Simple. Adrenalin GOOOOOOOD!!

That's too bad. I guess we should change that to YMMV - call your walmart to check on the hours!! Meijer is open 24/7/364 - Closed only on Christmas. They actually change all of the locks each year because it's the only day they use them! I think they close about 9pm Christmas Eve and at 6am Dec 26. ( found a way to use 2 more smilies! for me makes it 3!!)

Personally I'd go to the store before BF to see if I liked or not - a tree to me is a rather personal choice, which you will most likely live with for 5-10 years. Also check this weeks regular ads, a few did have deals on trees thru Wed. I'm not aware of a "hard" limit on the number of items, but I assume that the the old "reasonable" standard will apply. If you have too many items - break them into smaller lots, preferably with different people going to the cashier!! I'd also recommend going to different cashiers. Otherwise, maybe buy half of the items, put them in the car. Go walk around the store for a while, have some breakfast - then buy the rest. Use some common sense basically. % off with a specific price - YMMV - It depends on the cashier usually - I've had this problem a few times. Frequently, after they raise it to me as a problem, I try to politely point out that while the ad does list the percentage, the actual sales price IS listed, which is their requirement. This usually does the trick, as the rule is primarily intended to avoid having to PM another store which has a higher retail price, who then gives 20% off of that inflated price, which brings them close to Meijer or Walmarts regular price. It would be like giving a double discount. If that doesn't work, try the same thing at the customer service counter or with a manager. The main thing is to be polite but firm. Weather is starting to look like a serious consideration!! all the more reason to hit the 24/7 Meijers or Walmarts where you can go inside to wait!!

Everybody!! It's a small world after all, It's - oh, sorry... maybe this and this would improve my singing?? That is quite a story Mark and Mark! It will get even better if you ARE able to help each other out on BF!!

:) I guess I didn't do too well, if you didn't completely get it yet! but seriously - I'm not sure what store you were looking in - somewhere on a tag or on the box it should list them both (assuming the camera has both) you may see something like "optical/digital zoom 3x/4x" - which would mean that the optical is 3x and the digital is 4x... if it says both digital and optical but gives you only one number, like 5x - then we need to research the specs somewhere. If this did happen - post the model number and we'll try to get the actual numbers for you. OK??

Remember - as I've noted elsewhere - many Department Stores (such as JC Penney, Macy's, etc) take out multipage ads IN the paper - including valuable % off coupons!! Also some local type stores may ONLY advertise in the paper. I encourage everyone to read newspapers, but I highly recommend that you at least quickly glance at the pages for great deals!!

Conscript - Thanks for providing a narrative from "the other side of the counter". Many folks need to read it, and a friendly reinforcement can't hurt the rest of us as we approach BF mayhem. My personal experiences have confirmed for me that you really do get more with honey than you do with vinegar. You may even hear about a deal in advance from a friendly retail employee!! The one thing I didn't understand Conscript is your stance on PM. I DO understand that it's a pain for you and your fellow retail employees to deal with PMs and the attitudes of some customers are repulsive , but :) shouldn't you really be mad at the store which has the PM policy?? If there was no PM policy by the store, you wouldn't have to deal with ANY of this stuff. btw - did you help write the new BB policies? or their Buzz/Barry profiles?