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

[lilac100]

I went to Walmart and all I got was a serious backache. I was minding my own business and got hit in the back with a shopping cart. Bad back anyway so it was all I could do to limp out and get home. I've never seen anything like it, it was beyond crazy. It was like the video's you see on youtube.

[kathytheshopper]

Was in line at Old Navy at 10:45. They gave out wrist bands for the Dance Central game. Very nice crowd, very orderly. I bought my boys underwear (ok, men, as they are 19 and 26) so I could get the game for free. My oldest is getting the Kinect for Christmas so this game will be fun for his wife! (And me when he brings it over. lol). Then I went to Walmart around 12:30. OMG it was CRAZY. Lines were zigzaging down the isles, etc... I did buy two Cricut cartridges (20.00) and two Rival 2 Qt Crockpots for 2.97. I was smart and went to electronics where there were only 3 in front of me at the checkout there. I think the main checkout lines will take at least an hour, probably longer. When I left the mall area around 1:15 there were probably 40 people in line at Target. Also, since Old Navy opened at midnight, Gap was open, Abercrombie, Eddie Bauer and the Childrens Place were also open. No crowds in those. Now I'm home for a quick snack and back to the mall (I live 5 minutes away) to wait for Younkers to open (3:00 not 4:00 as the ad says) and then to Penneys (3:30 not 4:00 as the ad states.) Not sure where after that. I may go to Target just to watch the madness! :)

[chilimak]

Wow Elena, I wish I had as good an experience as you at wal mart. We got to our wal mart around 10:45. My son got a ticket for XBox 360 and was first in that line in frozen food section. I wandered around the store mainly in toys gathering up stuff to price match and seeing where the sale stuff I wanted was located. Around 11:15 or so, people started puting sale stuff in their carts and none of the employees were stopping them, so I did the same. This was mostly toys and housewares stuff. They kept the dvds and video games covered. Around 11:45 or so the employees opened the boxes and everyone was pushy. A lady in front of me grabbed up all the zhu zhu pet games!!! The whole area was super congested, it was awful. I did manage to get a few video games and movies I wanted though. I also got all the toys I wanted except for the newer zhu zhu pets. They never found the ones for the sale. No one had any. People were just taking the original ones from the regular toy dept.

 

I did manage to price match Blendy Pens for $12.49 (TRU price) and Zhu Zhu Pets Pizza playset for $17. (TRU price)

 

At Wal Mart I got Paper Jamz for $30, Glow Dome for $17, 3 Zhu Zhu Pets for $4. each, various dvds for $5. and $10. each, and 4 XBox360 games. I spent about $200. total. Will probably go out again later this morning after we get some sleep.

[kathytheshopper]

Just got back from Walmart. Got there at 9:45pm. By 10pm you could put ANYTHING in your carts! They opened the movies and video games by 10:30pm. Got TONS of the movies and Madden 2011, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, 2011 Basketball. Some DS games too for $7

 

Sheet sets, 2.97 crock pots, mixers, Nerf gun, etc. The best experience EVER. Manager just announced anyone could take what they wanted. Customers pulling plastic off and everyone passing stuff to people.

Don't you just love a fun experience on Black Friday! :)

[iluvwalmart]

Just got back from Walmart. Got there at 9:45pm. By 10pm you could put ANYTHING in your carts! They opened the movies and video games by 10:30pm. Got TONS of the movies and Madden 2011, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, 2011 Basketball. Some DS games too for $7

 

Sheet sets, 2.97 crock pots, mixers, Nerf gun, etc. The best experience EVER. Manager just announced anyone could take what they wanted. Customers pulling plastic off and everyone passing stuff to people.

Wow you was lucky. There were some Walmart employees at our store that if they saw you peeking under the plastic or touching the items, they tell you no peeking or touching till 12:01

[newmom517]

Got to walmart at 10 and we were able to start putting stuff in our basket. They unpackaged the dvds and games closer to 11. Got everything we needed, and I am back in bed about to get some sleep :). Very smooth and easy, just like last year.

[hack2222]

sounds like u had a bad experience hopefully you can grab what u need online shortly GL.

[Jen198]

DH and I went to ON at 1:00am, got apair of $15 jeans for me along with a long sleeve thermal shirt for $8, DH got 2 Hoodies, 1 was $11 and the other $15. We waited in line for about 30 mins, they had all 6 registers open. Got home and got some rest...Now heading out with my Mom to Macys, sears. Got all I needed at Target and Kohls online!

[jakesmommy403]

My brother and I decided on a whim to head up to Walmart at about 12:30. I have to say, our WM did a wonderful job this year of keeping everything clean and organized and well-placed! It was packed, but we strolled in, went back to toys, loaded up on Bakugan stuff, Toy Story stuff, a few other things and then went over to the DVD's. They had a ton of the $1.96 ones left! I think between the 2 of us we bought about 20 movies. LOL Then we went up to the check-outs and walked right up to one, cashed out, and were back at my house wrapping gifts 10 minutes later! It was great! Everyone was friendly, the lines for the big-ticket items were very organized! So now we're waiting for Kmart to open and then we'll pop over to Lowes to pick up the fire pit I bought online. Then home to sleep! Easiest BF ever!

[ClosedAcct]

What I got? Free entertainment at Walmart, that's what I got. A lady punched another lady square in the face because the punchee had too many of those $2.98 kitchen items in her basket and the puncher didn't get any. Mayhem ensued as people shoved to get 40 of the same thing knowing dang good and well they only need 2 and will put the rest down elsewhere later. Cops showed, had discussion with the puncher and I didn't see the end of it because the dvds opened up and I had to get some for my bro overseas. Ended up with 3 $1.98 movies, 3 $5 movies, and 1 of the $7 10pc photo frame sets. The end :)

[iluvwalmart]

What I got? Free entertainment at Walmart, that's what I got. A lady punched another lady square in the face because the punchee had too many of those $2.98 kitchen items in her basket and the puncher didn't get any. Mayhem ensued as people shoved to get 40 of the same thing knowing dang good and well they only need 2 and will put the rest down elsewhere later. Cops showed, had discussion with the puncher and I didn't see the end of it because the dvds opened up and I had to get some for my bro overseas. Ended up with 3 $1.98 movies, 3 $5 movies, and 1 of the $7 10pc photo frame sets. The end :)

That is so pathetic & sad. If you cannot control yourself better then that you should not be out shopping on this day. Quite frankly the cheap appliances I think are not worth the hassle.

[me2]

Whoo-hoo! Survived Walmart. Showed up at a 24 hour Walmart before 9. There were a few other people obviously scoping things out, but not many, and nothing serious. Found the Rockband display...cheated a little.. stuffed one in my cart. My dd was with me and if I hadn't cheated she would have camped and grabbed one anyway. Grabbed a dvd and went and hid out in the garden department for a couple of hours where the other toys I was after were on display. I never would have guessed garden department but I enlisted the help of one of the employees and she was kind enough to walk around peeking under black wrapped pallets with me, and when we couldn't find it, she found another employee who told us where it was. Somehow we wound up near the power wheels. We promised a grandmother we'd run interference for her and help her grab her gds number one wish, a power wheel. When that section started looking ominous about 10:30 the manager told everyone they could take what they wanted but couldn't check out until midnight. We did our good deed for the day and helped load the power wheel and took off, grabbing a nerf gun on the way out. Got the comforter set I was hoping for. Picked up a couple ds games and a dvd and headed over to the checkouts, where we waited for an hour, but we were first in line. Ran over to Old Navy, where I didn't realize you had to get a wristband to get a game, but we had such a great experience at Walmart that it was all good. Walmart employees were cheerful, helpful, and while it got a little pushy in electronics, nobody punched anyone, at least not that I saw!

[sweetdiggity]

Went to Walmart over a half hour before it opened tonight. There was no line as they were letting everyone in the store early (my store has never done this before).

Went inside and mostly everything was wrapped in plastic. The staff was guarding the games and movies but people were slowly ripping them open anyways and the staff was telling them "Not until 12!!" They did it anyways.

 

Then, all but two things my mom went for were already GONE, including the cheap towels and the Halo Reach game, which was never out and available in the first place!!

They had it behind the glass cases and I asked for it and they wouldn't give it to anyone. They said if they had it in the BF sale, it would have been on one of the pallets. I told the electronics guy it was in the ad and his reply was, "It is?" And another lady said she hadn't seen the game at all...

 

WTF. I was told that if they let me buy the game from behind the case they would lose money. So...Walmart will supposedly PM any competitor's ad, but not honor their own?? LOL

 

Then, to make things more annoying, they had ropes all over the store blocking every other aisle.( my store has never used ropes) All this did was make the crowds more congested and slow moving.

 

So, went for a bunch of stuff, got there before people were allowed to shop and still was only able to get one freakin' pair of pajama pants for my brother. Wow.

 

I've been going to Wally for years on BF and have never once not been able to get things from my list, but this year failed and sucked miserably. It was totally unexpected and was quite the letdown!!! It seemed like they hardly had any stock at all compared to last year. The store was disorganized and it was quite different from previous years.

 

BUT, on a positive note, I was happy to see Amazon finally matched Target's Lego Harry Potter Wii game for only $27.

I might go out and about again later on, hopefully it'll be better than Walmart.

[sweetdiggity]

What I got? Free entertainment at Walmart, that's what I got. A lady punched another lady square in the face because the punchee had too many of those $2.98 kitchen items in her basket and the puncher didn't get any. Mayhem ensued as people shoved to get 40 of the same thing knowing dang good and well they only need 2 and will put the rest down elsewhere later. Cops showed, had discussion with the puncher and I didn't see the end of it because the dvds opened up and I had to get some for my bro overseas. Ended up with 3 $1.98 movies, 3 $5 movies, and 1 of the $7 10pc photo frame sets. The end :)

Wow, LOL.

I seen a lady at my Walmart with a cart FULL of those $1.33 towels. She practically took them all. My mom didn't get any, but at least she didn't drill her in the face. lol

[sweetdiggity]

Sorry about that. My Walmart experienced sucked, too. I usually love Wally on BF, but wow, this year the ad looked great but the execution was horrible.

[siczlo]

[happysunshine28]

I got some towels, I got some towels, hot dog I got some towels. I ended up with 10.

 

There was an entire bin full of those towels and they were gone within seconds, I just grabbed and took off, lol. Yes people had buggies full. they had their buggies pulled right up there all around the bin where no one else could get in until they were done, sad very sad. it was the most watched area in the store, manager tried to come 5 minutes before 12 and say form a line but at that point heck no, that should have happened long before the heard was around the bin, lol.

[iluvwalmart]

I checked out those cheap towels & after feeling them, I passed. My god it be like rubbing sand paper over your body. Now I can see why they sell them so cheap on BF.

[bugglebum]

Horrible experience at Target. Which surprised me because I've always had a wonderful time there. Daughters and I haven't slept all night so we got in line around 1:30 (we live 5 minutes away). We were about 40 people back. The ONLY thing I really wanted was the PSP so I ran back to electronics. They had 3 people behind the counter and "runners" grabbing games, iPods, PSP's etc from the locked displays. I told them I wanted the PSP bundle and pointed at it. The associate told me he would get it to the register at electronics and I could wait in line to pay. So I stood in this horrible line where 3 people were fighting over who was there first. There was another line on the other side you couldn't get to. It's finally my turn at the register and I tell her there is a PSP bundle there for me (they had stacks of iPods, Wii's etc that the associates were grabbing and setting back there for customers). She grabs the PSP only to find out he had the wrong one. Well, in the time he grabbed the wrong one, and I waited in line, they sold out of the bundles. She was really upset for me, calls the manager and the best he would do is 15% off the bundle they put up for me by mistake. This wasn't a bundle, there was no game or movie or anything, yet it was $169. I said no so to compensate I was given 4-$3 off coupons on anything in the store. SO I waited outside for 3.5 hrs and in line at electronics for another 35 minutes for a measely $12.

[Salmandy]

I got the two things I really wanted while sitting in the comfort of my own home. I got the Gamin Nuvi from Target that was $159 (plus I found a coupon code for $30 off so it was $129) and I just woke up now and ordered two $59 14 mexapixal Kodak cameras. I'm glad I didn't have to go out so early. I may still go to the Gap outlet yet. Otherwise I did get most of the stuff I wanted without having to go out. Yeah!!

[monster2369]

Well went to target to get just dance 2 and gc deal, there were two almost fights over the 40' tvs, stop by gamestop got a extra remote for the game. Back in bed until later to got clothes shopping with the girls. I am contemplating ordering the Sony E reader on walmart.com

[angel-too]

Got to Walmart at 11:30 pm to scope out the line for the $198 Tv. Tickets already given out. Heard some ppl were in line for it at 2pm on thanksgiving. But picked up the Paula Dean cookware and $9 Rubbermaid containers. Two of the adorable monkey pillow sleeping bags for $12 and a few other items. Off to Target at 2:30 am for the $298 40" tv. Line was about 70 long and it was cold! Of course the line got "thicker" by 4am. They did not give tickets! Which I thought was ridiculous. Turns out they had all the tvs in carts, probably a good idea as I was thinking how chaotic the free for all would be. But also seemed confusing not knowing they would be in carts and for a second assumed they belonged to someone. Those seconds of hesitation were not in my favor. lol Reluctantly decided on the $327 32"LCD. Got the 700 thread count sheets with the $10 GC w/purchase. Pricematched some $1.96 movies from Walmart.

But the weirdest thing...as I was looking at movies the whole store went completely black!! For a few seconds, then a few lights went on, then the whole store buzzed back on. It was a little scary for those few seconds as you could see nothing! I thought public places had emergency lights etc. Ended up running on generators and when I price matched at CS, only one register worked.

Gave a whole new meaning to Black Friday!! :)

[dmtiern]

I got the tool set I wanted from walmart online, ships to my work for $4.97

Went to Tractor Supply at 6 am got the Ariat boots (only 1 pair in the size I needed- YaY for me!) $30 off, no line!

Heading out to shop w/my sistas, gonna stop off at Big Lots for some candles & Dollar General for some razors:)

[AuntieJul]

Missed the 32in Emerson at Walmart by literally 2 people!!! Someone was kind enough to give me a ticket (perhaps it was my GD t-shirt?) after htey had gotten their tv - and by the time I ran over to the thv's, they literally had someone take the last one in the store. Only to find out they are all sold out online. Hoping for Cyber Monday info to pop up soon for another good tv sale. "Oh well, we asked if anyone else had a ticket!!!" And I said, "I couldn't hear with the crowd!" So I'm a little upset that I was so close to geting one. But everyone had one in their cart, and most people bought 2 - why, I don't know, but it was a great price. Sad not to see a similar deal anywhere on Amazon.

Kohl's was a 90 minute wait in line around the store (DH stood in line).

Sam's Club was empty.

Home Depot was empty.

Other than the Walmart tv issue it was a great time!

[floridasun5]

Didn't go out this morning. Still debating on it though. Shopped online instead. The only thing I got that were black friday items were some iphone accessories from radio shack. Saved $20.

Shopped at a few other stores online as well, but no black friday deals.

Wondering if I should go to Target for 2 things...

[tskitty]

My experience was bad too. I called a few days ago to ask if they would be handing out wristbands and was told "no". Turns out they handed out "tickets" to people who came in after midnight and they didn't have to stay and wait. When I got there (at 4) I was told the tvs were all "gone". I've been going to BF at Walmart the last 5 years and this is the first time I was skunked. Must be because they opened at midnight.

 

I can't believe they let 2 people each buy 15 laptops!

[tinkrbel]

I woke up with a jump realizing I had not set alarm. It was 3:55, considering I hadn't properly made my BF list as I expected to wake up at 2:45 I panicked printed rough draft list. Ordered 2 bluray players from walmart individually since it gave me some error based on availability, backordered logitech mouse from office depot and ran off with store papers I had separated and folded corners for stuff I wanted. We hit jcpenney 1st for snowglobes, 6 qt pressure cooker and a few gifts for my SS. Then next door to Sears for blanket sleepers, fleece throw and kids slippers. My mother picked up a purse while I dashed up the escalator since 1st throw was wrong one. We tried toysrus for $5 wipes since it was in same mall but as expected they were out. They had lots of santa singamajigs but at 12.xx I left it. I haven't really seen the 2 kids have played with. Then off to target where I was looking for more SS stuff plus kids pj's. They had run out of the scarves that were on sale but it took 3 clueless employees directing me to jewelry before someone with a walkie told they had run out. Then to Office Depot where I picked up the logitech mice, a laptop cooler and contemplated the 549 laptop but decided against it, I don't need something so powerful and for that price should have a bluray player. I risked it back to walmart to try for bluray players, kids pajamas/slippers and $5 bluray selection. We got everything at walmart minus the storage boxes but I can't complain as I picked up quite a few $5 blurays. I don't know if timing had anything to do with it this year, if stores finally got their act together, or maybe thank the economy but it was a breeze. The longest I stood in line anywhere was maybe 5-10 minutes at JCPenney and that was mainly due to incompetence of shopper being served. I managed to get back by 7:30 to pick up lost bluray on amazon along with both batmans. Last year I hit Walmart just before 1 and stood in line for a good 20 minutes to pay. Target had all registers open and one line for both the register in front and those directly behind. We went to express section where they had 3 and item limit and were out within 5 minutes. I chuckled when I saw people buying the princesses sets knowing GD'ers had gotten them cheaper without the hassle. My father left for pepboys and radioshack just after 7:30 not sure how that will go. Stores were organized, quick and generally employees knew where stuff was and were willing to help.

[Klownicle]

Everything went as planned except my Best Buy didn't have Gran Torino on bluray available at all.

 

However, i've found out that the ad is a misprint on the 149.99 netbook which stats that it has windows 7 starter. IT DOES NOT. Which is kind of a disapointment.

 

On the bestbuy website it is shown to be a windows xp machine, but in the ad it clearly stats windows 7 stater.

 

Not sure what is capable of being done. Kinda was expecting to see Windows 7 since it was advertised as that.

 

Anywho, im going to bed.

[pepc]

I got a $79 Kodak camera with 4GB SD card and a camera case at Walmart online for $79 at 11 PM PST Wednesday night. Then at 7PM PST Thursday I got two Nintendo DS video games online at Toys R Us for $14.99 each (half price.) After that, I got a bunch of clothes online at Karmaloop for 25% off and got a free $40 gift card. At about 1 AM PST, Walmart's Friday deals finally took effect online and I got the Shark Steam Mop for $36. At 2 AM PST, I got a Kenmore under-the-cabinet Microwave online at Sears for $99 - normally priced well over $200 for that model. SWEET! The only place online that I paid shipping was Toy R Us, about $5. So I saved lots of wear and tear on my car and waiting outside in the cold windy weather. But like a dope, I figured I'd pop by Target to pick up a few small items - towels for $1.49, Toy Story 3 video for $13, toaster and sandwich maker (doorbuster) for $3 each. To my surprise, there was about 300 people outside the store in line - 30 minutes after the store had opened! And they were only letting in about 10 people every minutes. Forget that! I drove home and returned to my trusty computer. No lines. No shipping charges. And no nasty people cutting in front of me. Happy shopping all! :)

[BruinSG17]

Our first stop was Old Navy. Got there at 11:45, right when the were handing out the bracelets for the game. Almost the entire line had no idea what the bracelets were for but they all took them. There were 29, we got 26 and 27 but gave one to the 30th person in line since we didn't need two. We were let in at 11:55 and were checking out by 12:05.

 

Next stop was Walmart at 12:15. Wasn't open and they weren't answering the phone so I couldn't get an official opening time so I assumed it was 5. Went home for a cat nap and showed up at 4:30. Apparently they let everyone in at 4 but wouldn't let anyone check out until 5. When we walked in there were about 200 shoppers and carriages in 15 lines. You couldn't even get through the front of the store. There were no $29 video games. Talked to someone who got there right at 4 and they said there was no Halo Reach and only 3-6 of each of the others. Almost every black Friday display was bare at 430. All door busters were gone by 4:02 based on info from people who arrived early. I actually checked for the $59 gps online on my phone and got it so I didn't feel awfu about the terrible instore service.

 

Needless to say, I won't go there next year.

 

We went to JCP at 5 to pick up a couple items. That was fine.

 

Got to target around 6. Got the PSP bundle and 8gb sd card with no wait in electronics

 

Final stop