That's not a horror story compared to my BB horror story. I ended up getting the Toshiba after getting there at 5 am! And yes... at 5 am, there was a line of approx. 300+ people!
Door opens at 10 min. before 6! People start walking in. As soon as I get in, I asked a BB employee where the Toshiba laptops were situated. Unfortunatly, he didn't know. And neither did 3 or 4 other BB employees who work in the COMPUTER department! Then finally, some manager looking employee told me they were at the back of the store. I quickly rushed to the back only to find another waiting line! This time it was for the laptop itself.
So I got into the line and saw about 40 or so people ahead of me. And moments later there was about 10 or so people behind me! This line did not move more than a few feet with in a timeframe of approximately 2 whole hours! All the while BB employees went up and down the line looking for people with the early bird laptop tickets. They were hell bent on getting all the early bird people their laptops first. This was completed at approximately 9:00 AM! Yes... I had to wait in another line for over 3 hours just to see other people walk off with the laptop I wanted! However, BB employees kept reassuring the people in line that they have a stock of laptops for the non-ticket people as well! A little sigh of relief!
So finally, the line I was in was actually progressing forward. Eventually I end up at the front and I'm redirected to a office to get my laptop! Or so I thought! I walk into a room with two tables full of computer stuff like flash drives, laptop bags, routers, ect... And a salesman behind the tables. And so I walked up to the tables and began the process of getting what I want. The BB salesmen then told me that they have the laptop I want, but there was one SMALL LITTLE CHANGE! The $500 laptops were all gone! They were given to the early bird ticket folks! Then I asked, what are those laptops stashed behind the tables? His answer: They are the exact same laptops, but we installed extra software on those laptops such as Norton Anti-Virus, anti-spy/adware software, ect... and the laptop price is now $623! An extra $123!
At that very moment, I knew that I was being taken for a ride! They jack up the price of the laptop by installing software I have no need for! WTF? I have better software already at my disposal. I felt like I was being ripped off! But at the same time... where the heck was I going to find a brand new Toshiba laptop for around $600? And it was already 9:30 AM when I was called into the office. I had planned to go to Fry's Electronics as soon as I was done with BB. But by 9:30 AM I was certain that all the smoking deals at Fry's were gone! Kind of a genius idea to whoever thought of it because it explains why they had such a long delay before they started handing out the laptops! It prevented the people from going anywhere else such as Circuit City, and CompUSA (nearby stores) because all the good deals at those stores would be gone by the time BB would begin handing out laptops! So I was stuck between a rock and a hard place! I ended up just accepting the laptop. Also got the carrying case, wireless router, and an extended warrenty. Hold on folks, the story ain't over yet!
After placing my order I was instructed to wait in another line to pay for these items! This line was not very different from the line I had just got out of! I would move approximately 5 feet every 30 minutes! No joke folks... I'm serious! The line was going into a employee's only area where only five people customers were taken at a time. At approximately 11:05 AM, I was finally let into the employee's area where I had 3 other people ahead of me and one behind me! I finally walked of Best Buy just after 11:30 AM!
I was joyous and furious at the same time! I got ripped off, I had to waste my entire Black Friday at Best Buy and didn't get a chance to go anywhere else to get gifts for family and friends. And I was really determined to go to Circuit City for the $700 42" TV. Unfortunatly, none of these happened! I was left disappointed and the only thing keeping me from total disappointment was the fact that I had a laptop in my hand! And right now... I'm not quite satisfied with the laptop and I'm thinking of returning it.
