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

[kodis97]

waited til 5:30 to go to wal mart....was a little crazy but i got the 32 in tv, all the clothes that i needed, the little girls blankets with sleeves, 3 dvds, 2 ds starter kits, and a couple ds games! went to radio shack and of course they only got in 2 of the $199 hp laptops, so there was 2 ladies fighting already. lol. hit burkes outlet and made a homerun! 9 bags of clothes and toys $39.xx and headed home. forgot to get my phone case at radio shack, went back at 12 and the UPS man pulls up when i did, and lo and behold, he has the laptop i wanted! lol! went back to walmart about 7 last night, and was still able to get some more clothes, and the womens lounge pants i had forgot:)

[sbwolfer]

I didn't see any news crews around here at all! I was disappointed. That's cool that you got on the news though!

[laffnatu]

That is horrible!

[khuddle]

wow.. that is so sad

[Tigger97498]

I just got done using my new Revlon dryer (the one that was on sale at Kmart yesterday for 50% off coming out to $9.99). Best $9.99 I have ever spent. It was amazing. I would never own a non tourmaline and ceramic dryer after using it. Best buy I made yesterday by far.

[mldiroff]

Simple - I freakin' owned BF:

 

Thursday

- Meijer - 3:00 a.m. - 5th in line for 49.99 Wii Fit Plus

- Home at 6:30 a.m. - went online - upgraded wife to Samsung Fascinate for FREE, thereby avoiding BB in store on BF

 

Friday - RELAXED :-)

 

Saturday

- Meijer - 1:45 a.m. - 5th in line - Wii Sports/Resort Bundle - 129.99 after $50 sale + $20 Santa Bucks coupon

[jade2002]

Walmart was as crazy as ever. Didn't get much. Dh got one video game but wanted more. He befriended someone who was gonna get him a couple but that person was only able to grab the one. It was total chaos with the video games once the sale started. People were shoveling the games in their buggies without even looking to see if they wanted that game or not. Some lady standing beside me at the printers said she was shoved to the ground and got her hair pulled over the 1.33 towels. I had heard some talking about a guy got a vaccume cleaner thrown at his face. Sure enough when dh went to the bathroom,there was a man in there cleaning blood off his face. People after the tvs,laptops etc. got thier wristbands around 2am and were free to leave and come back,roam the store or whatever( I did not like this approach). Store emplyees walked around all night handing out doughnuts,hershey kisses and 5 hour energy shots (could be one reason why everybody was acting so damn crazy). I was able to get the wireless printer, 3 straight talk phones, coats and clothes for my angel tree kids, pjs for hubby and ds and the one video game.

 

Went to Kmart afterwards. It wasn't too bad except for the sale items not ringing up right at checkout. Kmart should have had all of this taken care of before the sale started but thats Kmart for ya. Got hubby a dallas cowboys snuggie(14.99 but was ringing up 29.99), more clothes for my angel tree kids and thats about it. I pretty much had all of my shopping done prior to Black Friday thanks to all of the great deals that have been posted on gottadeal lately.

[iluvwalmart]

At our Target there was around 4,000 waiting for the store to open. It took about a half hour for everyone to get into the store. I don't think our Target has had that many waiting in line before.

 

I have to say I am really surprised Target has not decided to be open on Thanksgiving. Give it time, I bet they will be.

[guilliam]

Our Walmart was a mess!! At 10:00 pm they let you start putting everything in your cart, but you couldn't check out until 12:01. So at 12:01, EVERYONE was done shopping and waiting in line to check out!!!! And of course they only had 1/2 their registers open!!! It took us a hour and a half to checkout!!!! And the people coming in at 11:30 or so were MAD cause everything was gone!!! Umm, have they NEVER shopped BF before??? Later in the day we went to a different Walmart a town over and it looked like they hadn't sold anything!! There were tvs, pajamas, clothes,etc sitting everywhere still!!

[fluffkin79]

I'm guessing that we see more midnight sales, but I'm not too happy about it. I really wanted to be at Walmart by 11:00 but I was too tired to drive (not to mention make resonable decisions while out shopping) so I had to take a nap and wasn't able to go out till 2:30. I got to Walmart about 5:00 and missed most of the movies and games. I don't know if Target will go to midnight sales. They still close on Thanksgiving which makes me think that someone in the Target coporation might actually care what their employees think about working on a holiday.

[weenier]

link us to the news report so we can all see you on the news

[weenier]

is it just me or are these responses all from different threads???...

[riven3d]

ya they are I guess they should be in this thread, but, should of just closed the topics instead

[elena_398]

Our Walmart was a mess!! At 10:00 pm they let you start putting everything in your cart, but you couldn't check out until 12:01. So at 12:01, EVERYONE was done shopping and waiting in line to check out!!!! And of course they only had 1/2 their registers open!!! It took us a hour and a half to checkout!!!! And the people coming in at 11:30 or so were MAD cause everything was gone!!! Umm, have they NEVER shopped BF before??? Later in the day we went to a different Walmart a town over and it looked like they hadn't sold anything!! There were tvs, pajamas, clothes,etc sitting everywhere still!!

Which Ohio Walmart were you at? Sounds like the one I was at... Massillon.

[brynnfromtheblock]

We had a good night, we got in line at TRU at 5:30 pm and were still only 8th in line lol .. but we wanted the $79 netbook so we waited ... We were interviewed by several news outlets which amused my 10yoa to no end. when it opened at 10pm there were 1000 people there ... they let 50 people in every 15 minutes - which was great for us as we got everything we wanted, no pushing and no lines at the checkout. Got the netbooks, the talking Buzz and lots of other stuff. We then went to Walmart with the intent of seeing how they were doing the 5am stuff ..we got there at 11:30 pm and they had maps as to where the lines would be for each big ticket item, and a set of balloons as the start of each line so you knew where to go. There were about 20 people in line for the TV's already, but they had 100 so we figured we'd just settle in for the wait, which unfortunately was in the frozen food section lol. At 12 my DD and I grabbed the items we wanted with no hassle while my mom was in the tv line, and at about 12:05 they started handing out tickets for the 5am items so we got two for the tvs, and one for the DS. Then total bonus as I hear some peoples experiences were different, but they let us leave and said as long as you are back in line at 5am you are guaranteed a tv, any later and it gets handed out. So we left and had something to eat. We went back in to TRU just for the hell of it and the lines were HORRIBLE for the registers it was insane. We then went to Kohls, and got in line at Target by 3:15. We were maybe 200 people back, but when the doors opened, we grabbed the stuff we wanted (dual DVD player, pjs and stuff), checked right out and made it back to walmart by 4:45 ... we got in line and they handed us our DS, and for the tvs they had them stacked, you walked by with your buggy, handed your ticket and they loaded it for you. It was great, pretty organized and no lines at the checkout. By 5am we were done and dazed and confused because we are usually still going until about 11 and have a traditional bfast/lunch .. so instead we went home and napped lol!

[mysticmage]

On Thanksgiving, I bought two 8GB iPod Touches off Amazon for $199 each, no taxes, no shipping.

 

Black Friday, I got up at three and went on Walmart.com and bought two of the $98 TV, free shipping also. Since the laptop sold out online, I called my local Walmart (suburban store in Pittsburgh) and asked if they still had any tickets. They did. I headed over to the store with family. One got in line for the PS3, the other for the HP 17" laptop, and me for the HP 15" laptop. We got everything we came for, had an awesome time, and I'm tying this message on the HP 15" laptop right now

 

Oddly enough it was more crowded last year than this year. Kinda surprising. Anyway, way to go Walmart

[Needs a deal]

This year me mom and best friend of mine went out shopping. We started our shopping at walmart at 8 pm where I bought the iPad I am typing on now. Mom decided to get in the line/ area for the 2.97 appliances while I got in line with my friend for the $5 blu rays and tv shows. Around 11pm the line had increased to over 200 people for DVDs when two different times people attempted in line thru the area where employees were bring out pallets of product, this caused many people 10 or so back in the line to get very angry with fights nearly breaking out both times. When it hit twelve people roped off on the other side came breaking thru so we smashed thru the ropes and joined in the mayhem. My friend went for the tv shows probably 150 feet away I instantly lost him while I went for the blu rays on pallets in-between two in the ground coolers. I started grabbing blu rays as fast as I could, I moved forward to the front of the case and continued grabbing. Not long after I was punched by a guy and knocked to the floor( still held onto all the blu rays). I continued grabbing ones on the bottom of the pallet until someone was pushed into the back of the pallet causing it to crash down on top of me ( btw I'm 5'7). Once I got all I could put my head down a plowed thru all the people fighting. I got my blu rays and found two outside the pile one bleeding and the other calling the police?! Checking out was the easiest part taking only a couple minutes.

[guilliam]

Which Ohio Walmart were you at? Sounds like the one I was at... Massillon.

The Coshocton one. It was a complete and utter disaster!!

[laffnatu]

I got my blu rays and found two outside the pile one bleeding and the other calling the police?! Checking out was the easiest part taking only a couple minutes.

That is so crazy! There were only 3 of us in line for the $5 blu rays. Everyone was after the cheap games.

[fluffkin79]

I started on Thanksgiving at Kmart, CVS, and Walgreens. There really wasn't anyone else out that morning, just a few people milling around and cashiers were waiting for customers. I got a few little things at Kmart to save time Friday. At the drug stores I used coupons to get bags full of toiletries, pop, candy, a universal remote, and a wii game. I paid, then I got back about twice that amout in Jingle Cash and ECB.

 

My true BF started Thurs night. I got online around 10:30 to see what I could order.

* 10:30 Kohl's online - no luck. I didn't know that the sale had started online hours before, so my items were OOS.

* 12:00 JCP online - I had to fight the website for a while, but was finally able to get the coat and robe I was after.

* 2:45 Kohl's store. When I got in there the line went across the store and around the corner. I was just past the bulding on the other side. We got in pretty quickly and I was back at my car at 3:18. I might have cut in line, I'm not sure. I was trying to get to the other side of the store where the line was shorter when I found myself standing in the checkout line, about 4 people back. The woman in what I thought was the line smiled and said "Go ahead, I'm waiting for someone." The 2 men next to her were also waiting. I looked behind me and couldn't see anyone waiting to checkout in the crowd. I'm pretty sure they were waiting behind all of the people that were still waiting for their shopping partners. I was able to get all I wanted and have Kohl's cash that I am hoping to turn into a new wallet for myself.

* 4:00 Sears. Not busy at all. There were 3 others waiting at my door when it opened. I was able to get the coat I was after and get right back out.

* 4:15 JCP. Got my snow globe and left.

* 4:30 Target. Packed. $3 appliances were gone, lines went all around the stores both directions and people seemed really annoyed when they had to let you though. I got a couple dvds, a dvd player and a wii game. Since I was PMing the game I had to check out at customer service where I was 3rd in line.

* 5:00 Walmart. There was someone at the entrance that made me turn left (toward pharmacy) even though I wanted to go straight (toward electronics) because the the check lines were to the right? Even 5 hours into the sale none of the employees knew where to find anything. I finally found what was left of the movies and dvds in dairy where I overheard someone talking about the mob an the fist fight that broke out at midnight for them. I chose 2 dvds and left.

* 6:00 Big Lots. Not busy at all. I got my free after rebate batteries, a $5 zhu zhu house, and a $6 2-pack of dvds.

 

After that it was all downhill. I checked 2 Kmarts and Staples - all were out of blue tooth headsets. Target #2 didn't have any sandwich makers, either. Walmart #2 did have a few more movies than the first one, but they were all over the store. My best finds were in a go-back bin in electronics. I thought that Michael's had Wiltion melts 2/$3, but I must have seen an ad from another region or mixed up the date. I did manage to get some T's 2/$5 - 25% coupon. Then a stop at Hallmark ($10/$10 purchase coupon) and Bath and Body Works (Free trial size with any purchase coupon) and back home.

[dgmommie]

My daughter told me if santa only brought her one gift she wanted a laptop soooo of course I see the Walmart $198 laptop and think perfect. So I head to walmart there at 4am only to be told oh we gave out the tickets at 10pm last night... WTF!!! SO I had absolutly no chance at getting one! Why didnt the advertise it so people could be there!!! I was FURIOUS but of course there was nothing I could do

There's one thing you can do - be there earlier next year. Not being sarcastic, just honest. Something that cheap, people will line up EARLY for, evidenced by them giving out all the tickets 6 hours before you got there, especially at Walmart and for that price.

[justlisa27]

I had an excellent Black Friday only my newly broken ankle; I got everything I set out for (minus a few DVDs) and then some! My son headed to Wal Mart at 7:PM and asked CSM's and DMs how they were doing to laptops, he was told by all of them that it would be a free-for-all. With that news he decided to head home. On the way out the door he ran into the store manager who gave him a copy of his own map and told him where he needed to line up to get a ticket for the laptops! So, not only was he first in line; people started paying him to wait all night for them (so they could shop for other deals because you couldn't leave the lines) and by 5:AM not only did he get the laptop that I was buying, but he had made enough money from other people to buy himself one!

 

I had headed to WalMart at 10:30 and by 1 I had everything on my list plus a Wii that I didn't plan on getting but couldn't pass up. That was actually one of the bads. When we heard about the unadvertised Wii bundle my other son got in line for it's 12:00 release. When there were only a couple people ahead of him he found out it had to be paid for then and there. The guy working told him he could go get me to pay so he found me and I went over there only to be told by an idiot manager that by leaving to find me my son had given up his spot in line and I could go to the end of the line; oh, and that he insured me there wouldn't be enough to reach the end! Thankfully, my oldest sons GF was also in line so with a limit of 2 I handed her that money to get me one so I did get my $150 Wii bundle and headed off to line up at Target.

 

With about 30 people ahead of me I made the Target line at 1:15 with my son. Wind chill was about 0 so we piled on the sleeping bags. This year they didn't rope us off but an hour before opening an employee let us no that we wouldn't be able to go to our cars to take the sleeping bags back or we would have to go to the end of the line! So we froze that last hour but I got my TV, GPS, George Foreman grill and other stuff that we were waiting for!!! Made it back to WalMart by 5 to pay for my laptop and other goodies.

 

I just have to say, I know a lot of people are reporting problems with how Wal Mart did the sale this year but I absolutely loved it. It was so calm, organized and fair! Our store also was 9 laptops short so the last 9 people with tickets were given the $298 laptop and a $100 gift card.

[ddube630]

My wife nd I went to TRU and stood in line at 8:15pm. Our store in MA opened at midnight. We were 20th in line.....at that time. Around 11:30pm, the store manager came out and told everyone that there was a small gas leak in the back of the building and that they would let everybody in and hand out tickets as soon as possible. There were approximately 700-1,000 people there and once the fire engines and police came to survey the situation, they decided to move the line away from the building. Guess what happened next? About a hundred people or so decided to try and jump the line to the front. Mass chaos ensued and a couple of small fights broke out.

 

The police didn't really do much as they were trying to handle the small gas leak issue. Once the gas leak was resolved and they started letting everyone in the store, there was literally a crowd just waiting to get in, no line. People were just pushing from the back and wouldn't stop. My wife and I were able to squeeze in around 50th or so and got everything we wanted, but not before I decided that this was my last Black Friday. No more for me.

 

After TRU, I went to Walmart to stand in line until the Leominster, MA store opened at 5AM. I was in line at 1:30AM and was about 100th in line. I didn't need/want much here, except for the Ipod touch with the $50 gift card. Was able to get that no problem. Also got the Sony docking station for it for my wife. Grabbed a couple more non-essentials and then headed home.

 

My wife went to Target and was able to get in for the 4AM opening mad rush, got everything she wanted there and then headed to meet me at Walmart. While I was in line for her presents, she went to grab an HP laptop for my brother in law.

 

All in all we were able to get everything we wanted, but the experience at TRU just ruined it for me for the rest of my life.

[bpr]

Got some good deals as a family. My son and my brother camped out at Target for 3 hrs and each got the 40" Westinghouse and some other Target deals. I got a Canon Rebel EOS T1i(15.1MP) and extra 75-300 Lens for $750. Lots of blu-rays(too many to list, but did get the LOTR Trilogy from Target for $7.99 ) from $2.50 to $10. Oh yeah, Back to the Future Blu-ray for $27.99. Madden 11 for XBOX360 for $29. Didn't need a new Laptop and build my own computers. I need to buy something in my cart at Newegg . Not really a big BF for us this year, but we did ok.

[bpr]

There's one thing you can do - be there earlier next year. Not being sarcastic, just honest. Something that cheap, people will line up EARLY for, evidenced by them giving out all the tickets 6 hours before you got there, especially at Walmart and for that price.

Walmart did the same thing last year. We had gotten there at 1 am and they just handed out the last ticket. We were bummed by the way they did it, but in the end, why keep EVERYONE standing in line for 10 to 20 items when you have more people in line than you do items. It makes sense, then you can move on and try something else.

[kgm520]

At Walmart, I witnessed what I can only describe as a bad experiment in Human Behavior. I was in children's ready to grab cheap jammies, and I had a direct view of the madness escalating in infants/toddlers where all the DVDs and Video games were set up. About 150 people were hovered around those stands by 11:55 pm... people already yelling at each other because people had their carts in there trying to get the best spot and running over feet and bumping others in the back... when all the sudden ONE person started ripping the plastic off before the sale was supposed to start. That one person started a chain reaction and within seconds there was plastic flying everywhere and game/DVD cases being passed from hand to hand and people climbing over other bodies to get to the $2 movies. The security personnel could only back up and nervously laugh to themselves. THEY certainly weren't going to do anything about it! Those of us over in children's just kinda shrugged and figured we might as well start getting out stuff too. The whole store was in mass chaos and it wasn't even 12:01 yet!

[Ladyberg]

Most disappointing year ever. Been a BF'er for countless years, and usually walk away with at least one item on the list. Not the case this year, and started out earlier than ever. 10:30 at WalMart, had a small budget this year, so small goals.....the cheap Wii and DS games, didn't get even one i wanted! The lady who got there first, 9pm she announced to all of us, kept her buggy parked in front of the display, wouldn't move it, and took orders from all of her friends for what they wanted (who were not in line). She grabbed everything, 3 and 4 of each game, and our WM only had 4 of each game, which also made me mad!!! You would think they could at least stock 10 or 20 of each game. Totally disheartened this year, don't know if I will even try next year. I love reading everyone's posts though and seeing what everyone got!!! You guys cheered me up!!! Love Gottadeal!!! Definitely the best BF site on the internet!!!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

[Bursley2010]

DH and I got in line at our Walmart at 8:15 to get in line for the $198 32" TV. I'm not usually a Walmart shopper, but when it came down to deciding between the 40" Westinghouse at Target and the one we got at Walmart, we opted to wait inside instead of outside. When 11:30 rolled around, I decided to get out of line (leaving my husband with the ticket) so I could go out and get some of the midnight release deals. Asked if I could drop our things off in his cart so I wouldn't have to wait to check out, trying to get to Target faster, but was told "I would not be allowed back in line," so I had to make my purchases right then and there. Frustrating, but whatever. Because of all the saran wrapped merchandise, we ended up with a total free-for-all; never before had I seen the chaos that I had seen over cheap DVDs/Blurays/Video Games. People were clawing and shoving, it was a total mess. Although management was trying to micromanage the lines for the electronics going on sale at 5am, there was NO ONE directing traffic to make sure people were getting in lines. Shouting and fighting ensued. Checking out was a disaster. Was able to get everything we wanted (I'm pretty small, but very quick), but the experience was horrid.

 

Got in line for Target around 1:00am. Freezing cold outside, but I had brought lots of layers to wear. Got me through. Was about 100 back until about 3am and we had a lot of line jumpers and no security to do anything about it. Tried to get one of the Westinghouses, but it was (once again) a mad-dash frenzy. One woman shoved my hand off of one of the TV handles, while another stood on top of the palate and screetched "STEP BACK" at the top of her lungs while she was "reserving" 3 of the TVs and one of the managers just stood back with his mouth open. Full racks of clothing got dumped as people ran and fought for one of the TVs. Total nightmare. I came to grips with the idea that I was not going to be getting one of those real quick, but was able to get everything else I needed and out the door by 4:20am. Ran back to pick up my husband and Walmart only to find that there was a huge line just to get into the store, so I had to wait outside the exit door until he came out so I could show him where I had to park (BFE).

 

Between the concentration camp feeling at Walmart and the jungle feel at Target, both DH and I quickly agreed upon entering the car for our ride home that we will NOT be doing either of those stores for a first stop ever again. In fact, the whole experience has made us double think about going out for BF next year...the idea of opening a bottle of wine and watching movies all night as we wait for all the stores to have their online sales is quite appealing. Will we go out for BF again? At some point, I'm sure. But the experience was harrowing enough that it will be very likely that we stick to online sales next year.

[nebraskaparkfan]

Went to WM at 11 to scope out where things are. Went to pajamas and asked the associate there if I could just look to see if there were any xs sizes so I wouldn't have to waste my time looking. she said no. Went by the fleece jackets in mens and asked the same question of the associate for a 2xl. she said sure as long as I didn't put it in my cart. WM had associates by every midnight item to make sure nothing was taken ahead of time. Waited by the cricut and got the 2 cartridges at midnight. then went to movies. it was crazy. they didn't bring out the movies til 11:55 b/c they have had problems with people grabbing them early and they were tired of trying to police it to make it fair to everyone. I was there while the mayhem was going on and got a bunch. An older woman in front of me was on crutches and I saw a couple people shove her out of their way to get what they wanted. Not a good scene. But overall it wasn't too bad. I was checked out of WM by 12:37 and on my way back home.

 

Went home and tried to order the movies I didn't get at BB but never could get their website to accept the order. It kept locking up. Took a nap and got back up at 4:30 and back to Menards by 5 a.m. There were about 75-85 people in front of me, so I was hopeful for a cart (I wear a leg brace til I get knee surgery and can't carry stuff too easily). They sent out their courtesy patrol people at 5:55 who just went to the back of the parking lot to watch and did nothing to control the problems. At 6 a.m. when the doors opened, people came running from everywhere. I was in the middle of the crowd so got pushed into running with the rest b/c you couldn't escape. (and the knee doesn't like running after standing in the frigid cold for an hour). As we were shoved through the doors (quite literally) I was worried about being shoved into the metal railing inside the store. I didn't get a cart, but a sales clerk was standing on a ladder in the garbage can aisle and was handing out large garbage cans on wheels. worked for me. I got everything on my list and my mom's list. Associates were stationed all over the store and were incredibly helpful with giving people direcitons where to find the items. Amazingly, it only took about 20-25 min. to check out. The last time I did Menards on black friday, I stood in the checkout for over an hour.

 

Went to Rue 21 and got 2 pairs of jeans for my daughter for $20 total and then to Michaels' to pick up some scrapbook cases and a couple stocking stuffers I had forgotten to get on thursday night. Then back home by 7:45 to try again to order off BB's site. I finally gave up and called BB and ordered the CDs. There is no way I could have gotten into the store and checked out in under 2 hours, so with free shipping this was the way to go.

[Kibit13]

I just do not understand all of this violence for video games and dvd's. It disturbs me on so many levels.

 

I also do not understand why a store would allow someone to buy every last game or 3 televisions or all the laptops. I know people have different opinions on buying limits, but if having a limit in place can help to make the entire experience less stressful and quite frankly, safer then they should impose limits. Especially when they only get 4 of each game or three laptops total. I think limits would make it easier on the employees as well.

 

These stores need to be held responsible for the environments they create. They create the chaos, they create the unsafe conditions. Yes, people need to be held responsible for their actions and the stores need to also.