Official One-and-Only "What I Got" / "My BF Experience" Thread

[iGuyBeam]

I learned that buying stuff online from the comfort of my living room isn't as exciting as standing in line at Best Buy complaining that it's too cold and wishing I was at home.

[cook4andy]

i learned that walmart was more crowded bestbuy but yeah, had a blast.

I have to agree, my local walmart was "very" crowded this year, more then usual and I live in a rural area. Crazy I tell ya but I had a blast :)

[Monstermile]

I learned that buying the majority of my stuff online at or below BF prices and sleeping in is much better than getting up early, waiting in lines and fight crowds.

 

Thank you amazon.com!!!

[sassyaztec]

Learned my favorite part was having my sister all to myself, all day with no kids. Best deal in town for me!

 

re: what I learned from BF shopping-- it never hurts to ask. I've had so many receipts adjusted, GCs given, PMs done without the ad, etc. Just cuz I decided to ask CS.

[Rtty]

Learned to research the products before the purchase. Did you know the Emerson plasma sold by Walmart for $450.00 on b/f really is made by Samsung. What a deal on this tv..

[arci122]

I still hate Walmart........can't believe their new idea is OSHA approved.....more like a death trap.

[bpr]

Since this was my first BF in the states in 5 years, I think I did pretty good.

TRU

Got there at 11 PM. Told SIL we should have been there sooner. Line was Looonnnggg! Church group handed out FREE Hot chocolate, coffee, and water (very nice ). Once inside, you couldn't move. We stood in line for 30 minutes thinking we were checking out and was told to go to the end of another line. The register lines were marked on the 'floor' with blue arrow, but could not see the floor because there were so many people. Around 1:45 am we made it out with their purchases.

 

BestBuy

Sony Blu-ray S360 $129 w/ FREE Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Walmart had it cheaper, but with the movie it was a great deal!

Left 4 Dead 2 $35

Call of Juarez $20

iPod Touch 8GB w/ $50 GC $199

Wolverine BD $10

 

Target

32 in Westinghouse $246

WD 1TB hard drive $59

Wizard of Oz BD $12

I am Legend BD $8

In and out quickly.

 

Amazon

Terminator Salvation BD $15.50

Gladiator BD $10

Monsters VS Aliens BD $10

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs BD $10

Quantum of Solace BD $10

Never Say Never Again BD $8

The Postman BD $12

Star Trek (Three-Disc +Digital Copy) BD $18

X-Men Trilogy BD $29

Batman: Arkham Asylum for PS3 $30

LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary $12

All done while at home, some of it prior to BF, but counted it because of the great deals.

 

CoastGuard Exchange

Fossil Watch $52 (Orig $75)

Motorola BlueTooth $20 (Orig $40)

Dooney Bourke purse $98 (Orig $160, no my DW)

A couple of Hallmark ornaments 20% below retail

 

Kohl's

Who knows? My DW did all the shopping while I carried it, lol. I she got me some Washington Redskins (maybe next year ) lounge pants for $12.50. Line was long, but organized .

 

Chick-fil-A

Breakfast at some point

 

Home by 8 am. Whew, what a day.

Edited November 28, 2009 by bpr
added more items

[bmwmanda]

I went to kohls for the first time this year. We got there about a hour after they opened, but there were plenty of doorbusters left. My mom and I got tons of stuff and our cashier was awesome. She gave us the 15% for card holders, even though we don't have one, and then we were a few dollars short of getting more kohls cash, but she gave us that anyway! And we didn't ask for either! We ended up with about $700 worth for $240, plus another $50 to spend next week. The lines were really long, but they worked really hard to keep them moving so it wasn't too bad.

I skipped walmart and target this year, thanks to the deals on amazon and the stuff posted here.

[Mugglemom]

I learned that I absolutely hate Toys R Us opening at midnight. And if I can help it, I will never shop there again!

[twilightcalm]

Couldn't agree more. People were going nuts over the $100 DS system when Target had it that price for a whole week not too long ago. Similar could be said for computers and toys.

 

Don't get me wrong, there were deals but I think most folks now have the belief that the

day after thanksgiving is the only day to get a bargain. I hope that is the case because then me and the rest of us gotta dealers can snag the bargains every other day of the year.

A more true comment has never been written.

[Hummin Bird]

Well, started out at TRU and stood inline for over 3 hours (with friends) about 10 mins before 12 my DH and I got out of line because we didnt have anything we were going to get from there. We walked around to the front of the store towards where we were parked. Well at midnight when they opened the doors a rush of 100+ people came out of nowhere and completly started trampling the line/line jumping. NOT ONE SINGLE employee or Police officer (5 of them at the entreance) tried to stop the line jumpers. Finally a lady went ballistic because she had been in line for over 5 hours and was livid. One of the line jumpers cursed her and they started to fist fight. Well that prompted them to close the doors to TRU and announce they would not repoen the doors until everyone could calm down and get in order. My friends got out of line and we left to goto walmart *rolls eyes*

 

We get to walmart at 12:30 there is only around 15 people int he store (yay!!!!!!!) so I go find out where the $198 laptop is going to be and get in line. I rarely ever do walmart because I had my leg broken one year there on BF. Well we are standing in and the lady comes and counts us out and says everyone after #28 can leave the line because they only have 28 laptops. I thought that was nice of her that way those people could get in other lines for things they needed. Well at about 3 am she goes down the line and hands everyone a numbered ticket BUT tells us we still can not leave the line because they will bring the laptops out and hand them to us in exchange for the tickets and even if we have a ticket if we are not there when they bring them out she will give to the next person wanting one. So okay, im thinking no problem because Ive cased the store and know where all the other things I want are (board games and $3 pajamas). So all of a sudden at 330 am they start taking all of the plastic off the BF items and bringing out the pallets. By now the store is crowded, and people are snatching up all of the black friday items that werent ticketed. Everyone in the line is asking can we please leave the line since we have tickets since they put the items out early. She continues to say no. By 4:30 EVERYTHING is gone!!!!!! and guess what WE STILL WERE STANDING IN LINE!!!! Even the people who came for TV's have them and are standing in line waiting for 5 am to come. Did I mention they brung the pallet of laptops out at 4:40 ish and still refused to give them to us. They did not start handing out the laptops until 5:11 on the dot. Another walmart employee had come by at like 4:50 and was like "Do you want help handing them out so you can get it done" and the old asshole of a man who was over the line sad "Nahhhh they can wait it out" and laughed a little bit. I was extremly annoyed and pissed off.

Once I got my laptop I got inline and waited for 2.5 hours to check out because the lines were so backed up because everyone had gotten thier things before 4:30 and were already inline just waiting for 5 am to hit.

 

Once I paid for the laptop, I drove over to target. BEST FREAKING STORE EVER. Even though it was well after 8am when I got there they still had plenty of pajamas and board games and everything else. When I walked in there were workers ont he floor restocking just about everything!!! So i got lots of board games and the $5 pajamas. Even tho it was a few bucks more I would gladly pay that rather than indure the uglyness of walmart every again.

 

I left and went to BBW and Kirklands, and a few other places and was able to score everything i wanted and more. I went back to target around 3pm to buy dogfood and guess what!!! The workers were still restocking doorbuster items. I asked one of them and he said the store manager told them to extend the doorbuster prices until all of the product was gone. So needless to say I ended up buying more pajamas and 4 of the gamer rockers. Now THATS how you handle Black Friday. Target will always have my business.

[ObiRich]

Contrary to what I've read elsewhere, I got the overall best deals at Tanger Outlets, which opened at midnight. I second the motion about having 1 person in line with the cart and then keep shopping. If I hadn't done that @ Wally World, it would have taken me an hour or more to get out of the store. Online shopping was better this year, expecially since most of the stuff was available starting Thursday. There were only two things I didn't get online (sold out), and did get the TV from Walmart online.

[newmom517]

I learned that unless you need a big ticket electronic..just do your shopping on Mon-Tues of Thanksgiving week. I was done shopping for my 2 year old on Tuesday, no lines and still got good deals.

 

But BF is a lot of fun, we went to walmart this year to help out with our Church and the angel tree gifts. (Now I picked up some things for my son while I was there )

[laffnatu]

We got to Walmart around 12:30 am. People were already in line for the $248 tv. My son and my nephew's gf got in line for the tv for my nephew. My nephew and I searched the store for almost 3 hours trying to find ps3 bundle.

 

We left Walmart with:

ps3 bundle w/ infamous, batman arkham asylum and dark knight bluray - $299

4 pillows -$7 each

comforter set - $35

8 inch digital frame - $29

a ton of the $2 movies

3 mp3 players - $29

several blurays

Need for Speed Undergroud for ps3

 

nothing from Staples... We spent so much time in line at Walmart.

 

Best Buy

another ps3 bundle with 2 games

dvd-rs

500 gb passport

several blurays

a few more games

 

Radioshack

8 packs of the 25 pk dvd-rs (buy one get one free)

 

We upgraded our ps3 that's in the living room and we are selling our old one to my brother's gf with a couple games and blurays for $200. So that ps3 only cost us $99.

 

We've wanted a bluray player for our bedroom but since ps3 now streams Netflix we went with that for the bedroom.

 

It was a pretty good day. DH is still in shopping mode though.

[jadedmomof2]

I have to agree, I liked the way Target handled BF better than Walmart. Although, walmart did help out with doing the fast checking that they did finally, after us waiting in the line for over a half hour(and there were only 10 people in the line I was in). That finally helped get the lines moving.

[shanecrow99]

Got in line at Target at about 4:30 - opened at 5:00 and I was about the 200th person in line. I managed to snag the last 32" Westy LCD! That's all I wanted so I am a happy camper.

 

Our Target did BF the right way. They opened only one door and let about 15 people at a time and gave them enough time to get their cart and move on before letting the next 15 people in. Everything was very orderly and the map handout showed me exactly where all of the doorbuster items were. Oh and the bag was a nice giveaway.

[Stephie25]

We started at Target. Actually didn't arrive until about 10 minutes to opening. Wasn't bad. Huge lines but I rushed back to electronics and got an XBox 360 for my son. (Elite Holiday Bundle with Batman Lego & Pure) I got $60 in GC back (one for $50 and one for $10) so basically got it for $239.00. Then I used my GC to go get the rest of my items:

 

Cordless Drill for my boyfriend, was $59, paid $39

Mossimo Thermal Shirt for my boyfriend $12.00

KungFu Panda DVD for my son $5.99

Pants and a shirt for mom $30.00

T-Shirt for my son $3.00

Hamper for my son $12.00

Snow Pants for my son $16.00

a few $ stocking stuffers

 

Total that round was around $130.00, but the clerk let me use the $60 GC from the Xbox purchase. Total spent at Target was appx. $370.00 for everything. The clerk also gave me another $10.00 GC which I turned around and handed to my mom who was in line behind me. (I don't often shop at Target cause of the difference)

 

Overall it was a great trip. The second line was long.. we spent 2 hrs in it, but the manager was great, they were fairly organized. Really best BF experience I've had so far.

 

After that we just went to Michaels for my mother. My son had a birthday party to go to that afternoon and I needed to get headed home.

[zoemariesmamma]

went to old navy and waited in line FOREVER..but got tons of great deals and lots of clothes for the angel tree. they had 50 lego rock bands but i didn't get one. went to target and got fleece pants, dvd player (advertised for 149.99 but sold for 129.99) got back $20 card with player, $10 for spending more than 100 and had a coupon for $15 when you spent $150..so paid 129.99 and got back $45 in gc. went to kmart and got the only 2 sets of corelle dishes they had!! 2 bath and bodyworks bags and more!! 14 hours of shopping and now I am done, done, done!!!!

[conj]

forget what we got - we were # 1 & 2 @ old navy!

[nhughes]

Got in line at Target at about 4:30 - opened at 5:00 and I was about the 200th person in line. I managed to snag the last 32" Westy LCD! That's all I wanted so I am a happy camper.

 

Our Target did BF the right way. They opened only one door and let about 15 people at a time and gave them enough time to get their cart and move on before letting the next 15 people in. Everything was very orderly and the map handout showed me exactly where all of the doorbuster items were. Oh and the bag was a nice giveaway.

Our target was very unprepared..they just opened the doors and everyone just like walked in,people were cutting in line,it was awful.

[jadedmomof2]

Our Target had the carts lined up by the door, so no line jumpers here. Everyone went into the store calmly and orderly. Of course, it was crazy once we got in there, but that was to be expected.

[jb2013]

Learned to research the products before the purchase. Did you know the Emerson plasma sold by Walmart for $450.00 on b/f really is made by Samsung. What a deal on this tv..

what about the 32" tv?

[Bigbroad55]

My sister in-laws and had an Excellent time I spent a Little to much but my rent is paid so I am safe.

 

Dropped DH off at 3:30 am to work at Wally World lolz Walmart

Then headed for our Black Friday after a kiss and hug from dh and "becareful"

 

What I got:

 

4 am : Jcpenny; 2 free globes 2 bobbie jack jackets 13.99 ea, 2 bobby jack tops 9.99, 1 wcw top 7.80 and jean leggins7.99 and South Pole Top Dd 9.99.

 

I did get a little annoyed I didn't see the 10.00 off was for 3pm.

 

5am Toys r us: Little broom for ds 5.99 and twilight edward top for dd 14.99 they took my 5.00 coupon

And swipped my tru/babies r us point card and gave me a discount everything came to 16.41

 

 

5:30 my hubby called me from walmart to tell me walmart was a mad house that the people were trying to start by ripping stuff before 4 am and were trying to get them to start the blitz items earlier then 5 but security stopped it people were getting hurt having fights they needed an ambulance as well so they started only letting 25 to at a time to make sure it would be ok also to caution when we get there he was not on the floor he was part of the tv handing out lolz

 

6 am went to Targets after grabbing something at mcdonalds I got the white DSi 169.00 and warrenty 17.00 for dd and since we moved I got another copy of Christmas Vacation for 5.99 we decided to go back to Target a little later I did get the 20.00 gift card for buying the dsi and 10.00 for making over 100. Purchase I used later. To bad I spent 205 I couldn't of gotten 2 of the 10.00 for making over 100. Purchase.

 

We went to Walmart about 7 and got 2 jrs mickey fleece pj's for dd 7 ea a pair for ds 3. and a pair for dm 7 and my nephew 3, pyrex cake glass pie bakeware 2.00 2 loaves bread .75 ea and hellemans 2.88

Another package of pacifiers soothies for ds 3.43 and a straw cup for toddlers 2.48

There were 2 asses trying to turn there 2 carts around in a small isle I was like why are u doing this ?

 

Went back to Targets and picked up queen flannel pink snowman sheets 13.99 pamper diapers for ds 19.99 pamper wipes they had 30% off at 2.23 got 2 packs 2 christmas headbands 1.00 ea used my 30.00 gift cards plus card.

 

We decided to go to Kohls about hr away, 2 pair mickey pajams for 10.40. Slippers which are horrible 5. And earrings xoxox 9. Which my husband is giving me.

 

We went to lunch at Jani chinese /japanese at 12:00 came to 15.00 X 3 people

 

Then went back to walmart around 3 to pick up some "promo" videos priced at 2. 5. And 9.

Got buckets list for 5. Last sumari for 2. Xmen united 5 and waited for Dh to punch out and got into the car by 5

 

I forgot to run over to fashion bug for my jacket for 20.00

 

Now for next year lolz I am going to put money in a bond and take it out in nov so I am safe...

Edited November 28, 2009 by Bigbroad55
forgot something

[ndre]

So I wake up early, thinking its 3:00am, when actually its 4:30. When I check the time, I was like "OOOHH CRAP!" i put on some close and left, my hair was a mess (I thought it was funny though). So Im going for the Playstation 3 bundle with God of War collection and Little Big Planet at gamsetop. I arrive at an hour before 6:00 am which is when they were suppose to open, but then I see a guy just walk in to the store. I get out of the car and jolt in to the store. They were out of PS3 bundles,turns out they had been open SINCE 3 AM!

 

I was pissed, but the guy at the counter told me that the gamestop at the mall was about to open at 5:30, he told me to try my luck there but that there is a long line. So I tried my luck, amd head for the mall. I arrive at gamestop and yes there is about a 15 people line. I get in line and watch through the glass windows as the PS3 bundles rapidly sell. I am pretty nervous. I reach the counter and ask for the PS3 bundle, the lady goes to check in the back to see if they have anymore... after 3 long minutes, she brings out the PS3 bundle! I was so glad and it was the LAST ONE! I payed, left, headed for radio shack to buy an extra controller, after that went to office depot for a new router (which is not what I needed so I am going to return it) and got home, set up my ps3 and lived happily ever after, for that day at least lol.

 

I had a pretty good BF experience. Definitely doing it again next year but I learned to call the store your going to, probably the week of BF, so you are prepared.

[Bigbroad55]

I still hate Walmart........can't believe their new idea is OSHA approved.....more like a death trap.

It didn't matter with the new system they still had fights and ambulances.....

[momof3luvs1]

Black friday was awesome!

 

I started at the prime outlets and I got/spent

 

$150.00 clothes at childrens place worth ( after a 10% off credit card discount, 25% discount bf promo and 15% bday coupon) so I saved a TON!!

 

$100.00 at the gap worth about double that

 

$100.00 at banana republic worth more then double that ( with bf promo and a coupon I had)

 

$50.00 at Tommy Hilfiger worth more then double ( with bf promo and coupon I had)

 

$150.00 at Justice worth about double ( 40% bf promo and 15% credit card promo)

 

got 12 stocking stuffers at claires for 10 bucks...

 

Then I hit Kmart ( it was GREAT) I got everything I wanted, it wasnt busy at all and every1 was SO nice

 

I got :

2 down comforters(2 x20.00)

Handy Manny motorcycle 50% off (17.50)

Pack of 8 solar lights (20.00)

disney fairies table and chair set (17.99)

hannah montana and disney fairies slippers ( 2 x 4.99)

f.o.l boxers (7.99)

Hanes tanks ( 4.99)

doodle pros (3x 7.99)

holiday mat (2.99)

holiday dish towels( 2x 79 cents)

A few more odds n ends

 

hubby went to target and got everything as well:

Wine refrigerator w/ free wine opener (59.99)

stainless steel programable coffee pot (29.99)

gossip girl seasons 1&2 ( 2x 12.99)

sex and the city movie dvd ( 3.99)

sandwich maker (3.00)

dual screen portable dvd player for car ( 88.00)

vacum ( 9.00)

lps tin ( 29.00)

womens pj sets ( 10.00)

 

Then we went to toys r us

 

toy story highback chair (12.49)

thomas hideaway tent (9.99)

disney fairies pop up hamper ( 8.99)

kota the dino ( 99.99)

head thermometer ( 24.99)

a few dvds

 

Lastly I hit the mall

 

bbw- I bought 408.00 worth of stuff and only spent 168.00 I was psyched!

 

I got a few small odds n ends at Macys and a few other random stores and dfid a few things online...

 

I shopped from 10:00pm- noon the next day but SOO worth it ! I love black friday =)

 

Hopefully you all had a great experience too!!!!!!

[aprncess]

Here is my BF experience over the last few weeks...

 

I got barely any sleep, seen all the ads along with thousands and thousands of items, my house was neglected, kids fended for themselves, laptop was on overdrive, my days blurred together and in the end... I slept in on BF morning and finally went out around 4 pm, I managed to get three of those reversible fleece jackets at Walmart, which had been on my list, picked up some pizza, came home ate and went back to bed.

 

Bring on 2010!

[stacy0479]

My experience was good with the exception of Target. DF had to work Friday morning at 8 so I knew that he would be able to come with me to Target. We get there at 4:30AM and the line is already to the garden center, which is where we were last year. We were obviously 1 of the first 500 cause we got the little totes. I had my cart and we were ready to go. There were no line jumpers, nothing. But when I got to the front door to go in, they told me they weren't allowing carts in. I told them that was ridiculous, I was almost 6 months pregnant with twins and I needed to have a cart to hang onto. They told me it didn't matter, no carts. WTH are you supposed to carry a big TV with? So I told DF to just go, get the 32" TV and I would find him later. I went to the electronics section since the security guard there was directing people there that wanted gaming systems and IPODS and such. I needed a PSP so I went over there to find DF with the last TV. So he stayed in line while I shopped some more. Those little bags don't hold much. People were very curtious to me and big tummy so I had no problems there. So we get up to pay, and here is where the problem comes in. DF paid for the TV, and I was paying for my stuff seperatly. Electronics only had 1 working cash register so we were in line for almost 2 hours at this point. It is 6:30 and DF has to leave at 7 to get to work by 8. I told him to not worry about it, we would be fine on time.

 

Well little did I know that is when my problem started. I have a Target card that has only $200 on it. I pay it off each year just to use on BF. I also had a 10% off coupon to use, a $2.50 MFR coupon and a $3 and $5 Target coupon on different items I was purchasing. I also had a coupon for a $15 GC when you spent $150 and also had $20 in GC from the Glade deals. So she rings me up, after all my coupons and GC's my total is $365. The 10% coupon wouldn't scan and she was basically giving up, but I told her to try something else cause I wanted to use it. I get the $10 GC for spending $100 and the $15 GC for spending $150 but the 10% coupon still wouldn't go through. After a few minutes, it goes through and I tell them I want to put $200 on my Target card, swipe it, then pay the balance with my debit/credit card. Ok, all is fine, it has me sign and says transaction complete. Then she tells me the transaction was declined cause to use the 10% coupon I can only use my Target card, nothing else. So I tell her to take the coupon off cause now it is getting closer to 7. She takes the coupon off but now my Target card is declined. So I have to go to CS to find out what the deal is. They try to suspend the transaction and redo it and same thing, card declined. So we call Target credit services in India and the man was very uncooperative. He tells me that the CS person needs to call an authorization extension to get them to release the funds. The CS person didn't know the extension and the man on the phone wouldn't give it to her so we hang up. By this time it is 6:55 and I have to get DF home to get his truck so he can go to work. They hold my stuff, tell me they are going to work on the problem and for me to come back after I get him home.

 

So I drop him off at home, go back to Target. They tried to sign in as a supervisor to suspend the transaction, nothing. And everytime she tried to suspend the transaction, the register would freeze. She tried 3 different registers. The manager couldn't even help out. He tried everything. It was like I had paid for the items, but not really. So I mention maybe calling the Credit people again to see if we can get someone else to give us the extension. We call, get the extension, CS calls authorization, they release the funds and I get my items. However, we noticed the lady in Electronics didn't give me the credit for my $20 in GC cause my total should have been $345. And I didn't get my 10% coupon back to use at a later time. So when CS was getting the manager to see if she could give me the $20 back in GC along with the other $10 and $15 GC I noticed I had purchased the Proposal and it came up at $24.99 not the $8.99 price in the ad. The guy at the other register refunded my money and gave me the $8.99 price. By that time the girl came back and gave me $45 in GC. After all this it was 9:30AM!!!!!!

 

I was at Target for 5 HOURS!!!!!!! That just made my day so exhausting! I went to Kohls after which was a ridiculous line like always, got out around 11. Went to Krispy Kreme, ate, went home and napped for 2 hours then went to the mall.

 

I am wondering if I should email Target and complain about the cart situation and the electronics lady screwing things up???

[bugsette]

wow I spent 98.89 and only got one 10.00 Kohl's cash

[EYGLE]

i went to Walmart this morning at 4:15 stood in line and got my "ticket" for my laptop which was supposed to make things so much easier. Anyways i paid for the laptop and other items totalling close to $600 went back to Tire and Lube where we were supposed to pick up the computers and was told they did not have any. The manager did not respond to my calls for him so I called 1-800-Walmart and was told the complaint would be forwarded blah blah, I was given my money back but needless to say i was and still am not happy, I just called the store and got the store manager on the phone and he hung up on me, so i called back and guess what... he hung up on me again. I AM SO TICKED!!!!

You need to call the district manager...his name and number should be on the wall at the service desk. In my opinion Walmart has gotten so they don't care about the complaints, as there are so many people that shop there if they tick a few off the don't care.