Did you do anything nice for a fellow shopper (or see someone do a nice thing)?

[buffaloguy]

We hear a lot of horror stories about how Black Friday brings out the worst in people ... how about some stories about nice things you did or saw done?

 

I got to Gordman's about 5 minutes after they opened. They were giving a bag to the first 300 people and you got 25% off everything that fit in it. I happened to be the 300th person in the door and got the last bag. Two ladies were behind me and they sounded so disappointed (but weren't rude or obnoxious about it). Since I was there only for a couple pairs of fleece pants that were $4 each, I gave them my bag. I told them they sounded like they'd do more damage with it than I would! :) They were sooooo appreciative that I didn't regret it for a second!

 

And at Old Navy, my husband tried on half a dozen jackets for a lady who was trying to buy for her son but she wasn't sure what size he was. He was happy because she told him he was skinny!!

[tinkrbel]

A nice lady at office depot saw me get a grey logitech mouse and let me know they had an assortment of colors a little further up. The cashier at OD asked if I'd found everything and actually followed up and found out the laptop I was considering was still available. I decided against it but it was nice she actually cared and checked stock for me rather than just ask as part of her checkout experience.

[len_mullen]

My oldest joined me for the first time this year. He commented on how nice everyone was -- much different than on TV. I helped a couple people decide on GPS and laptop purchases and disuaded a few more from paying $50 for setup service by explaining the process. The 8G thumb drives were 'lost' for a short time. I stumbled across the basket and returned to the table where the rest were to tell the associate where people could find them.

 

When I left Staples, I held the door for an associate with a desk on a four wheeler. She assumed it was mine and followed me to my car. When we both arrived at my car, I told her that the very nice corner unit was not mine.

 

I left an item behind at Home Depot and an associate ran across the lot in the pouring rain to get it to me. We were running too, so he had to keep up ;-)

 

This is a good thread because everyone I meet in every store was all smiles. Lots of Merry Christmas greetings and good will.

Edited November 26, 2010 by len_mullen
another anecdote

[HansieDZ]

You know how you get to talking to people while waiting in line.....

a lady in front of me at Kohl's was commenting on the crock pot the lady and her daughter in front of her had.

The young girl (around 13) offered to go get another crock pot for the lady in front of me.

She was so grateful and appreciative!

 

It was a pleasant shopping day for me all around :)

[rockpzazz]

My friend and I was at Walmart at midnight, a lot of sections were pointlessly roped off. We helped a lot of people by holding the ropes as they pulled their carts under. Not the greatest thing, but I must say, I'm not sure if I encounted any rude people today while shopping.

[gogophs69]

Shoppers were exceptionally friendly, helpful, and patient in NW Ohio (Bowling Green and Perrysburg). They gave suggestions on items, offered to help hold items in their cart, offered to let me get in a position in line, etc. I was very impressed and it certainly made the experience pleasant especially in long lines in the Perrysburg Wal-Mart (long lines aggravated by no baggers; management just stood around and watched). Sincere appreciation to the kindness of the shoppers in these locations.

[JohnnyLaRue]

whew! I have been reading posts to my students from the what I got thread and they are shocked!

 

This thread they like better.

[SelenaV]

At Target I got a $10/$100 catalina and gave it to a lady checking out a Wii. I held strangers' places in line at WalMart while they went grab more stuff. I had a following when I checked out at WalMart wanting to watch me pricematch. I stayed and helped them pricematch with my ads. I had a great day!!

 

Selena

[bugglebum]

Since I didn't get the PSP at Target, my purchase was going to be just at a $100, so I gave another customer a coupon I rec'd in the mail for a $15 giftcard with a $150 purchase. I could have shopped some more and found another $50 worth of stuff, but I was over Target and it wasn't in my plan.

[AuntieJul]

When I walked into Walmart to try to get the $198 tv doorbuster at 5:30am, I asked people in line (it seemed EVERYONE had one!) where they were located (the maps online were wrong), and one older (late 60s?) gentleman said, "Right over there - and here's my ticket, I already got one." He handed me his ticket. Unfortunately I was probably 30 seconds too late to hear the last call for tickets and didn't get one once they turned it into a free-for-all.... But I was really grateful that he tried to help me out.

 

Maybe it was my BF t-shirt? :)

[elena_398]

Everyone had my Walmart was passing games/ movies to people who called out a title they were looking for. Everyone was so helpful. I was looking for several games... Didn't think they had anymore and this lady walked up to me. Asked if I had gotten it as yet. I told her no and she gave me the title I was looking for! Said she was holding it until she saw me!

[allshoppedout]

At Target I got a $10/$100 catalina and gave it to a lady checking out a Wii. I held strangers' places in line at WalMart while they went grab more stuff. I had a following when I checked out at WalMart wanting to watch me pricematch. I stayed and helped them pricematch with my ads. I had a great day!!

 

Selena

You are very sweet, a few more dozen people like you and there wouldn't be negative reports on tv about BF :)

[allshoppedout]

My hubby did something kind - a lady was loading up her trunk and it was suuuuuuper windy all day. The wind blew her PACKED cart half way across parking lot and he ran and got it for her..SHE WAS SOO HAPPY :) .

[bigjimslade]

I got a ticket for a immigrant family one from India and one from Vietnam. They were at the end of the line and needed 1 laptop each. I also helped people by telling the about GD and how to save money all year!

[123abc]

This young boy offered to get me some of the LandBefore Time videos while we waited to see the other pallets come out.....

 

One WM associate was the only one that new in the Electronic dept that the movies & games were going to be in the dairy section.... everyone else I asked said electronics dept, front section of store.... I made sure to thank him since when I got to the dairy area, they were starting to bring out the pallets.

 

Must say that WM was a great experience, not crazy at all... everyone was helping each other out get items they needed. Great to see!

[angfastic]

I was in line with my BIL for the 32 inch TV's at Walmart and a couple in front of me needed to get a third tv. Since I wasn't buying one I got one for them and they were very happy. My BIL said there was a lady in the TV line who would leave and go shop and bring back stuff to the folks in line who didn't have anyone to hold their spot. The folks in that area were nice. In other parts of this Walmart folks were crazy!

[savvystar]

We had a great day. Most people were friendly and helpful, even the staff at Walmart and Target and you know they were working thier tails off. I helped a lady who was overloaded with stuff keep moving it up in line even though I was about 10 people behind her. And some sweet lady gave me her Blind Side movie when she heard me looking for it because she had one extra. :)

[felixdacat]

I was at a Staples outside of Atlanta this morning. Initially, it seemed very organized. The GM and another manager arrived a little after 5AM and gave a quick talk to the line about giving out tickets. About 20 minutes to 6, they came out and began to hand out the tickets explaining that they were good till 11AM, and that there would be a special line to pick up the items. They also said that we should take our time and if we want, we could shop the store for other items.

They had a plan, but unfortunately, the plan did not work. The copy center area where the ticketed items were to be picked up only had one register. The line quickly grew, with very little movement.

I will give kudos to the general manager. As soon as the lines got reasonable at the other registers, he came over to the ticketed pickup line and began to pull over the non laptop/PC people and send them to the other registers. However, it was then I noticed that the woman who was number one on line that morning and who had been there since 1AM had drifted to last in line for the ticketed items because she had done other shopping. I called the GM over and explained that she was the first customer and she should get special attention. He agreed, and immediately got her rung up. She was thankful, but really, it was the right thing to do.

[WonderWmn999]

We were in line at Target and I went looking for a cart since the line looped throughout the store. Couldn't find one, but did find a carrier. When I found my dd, the woman behind us in line had put our bulky fire bowl under her cart so we wouldn't have to push it through the line. She also gave me something for my heartburn.

 

At Toys R Us a happened to see a woman drop her drivers license while hurrying off. Got it and ran after her. If I hadn't seen that I'm sure they would have found it years later kicked under a shelf somewhere.

[Cinnamonhuskies]

The ladies in front of me that were together and had 2 carts piled high with stuff during our 2 1/2 hour line wait at Menards offered to let dh and I check out ahead of them since we only had a couple bags full of things. This was after they had cut us off racing to the check LOL so dh and I were incredulous that they really offered to let us check out ahead of them!

[noehlp]

Anyone else getting tingly feelings reading this thread?

[siczlo]

:fluffy:

[JennyWLS]

At WalMart the cashier fat fingered the amount tendered when I handed her my money and she looked like she was going to bust into tears trying to figure out my change with a huge line of people behind me. She tried a couple of times, but the pressure of the line was just too much and she was WAY off, like $20 too high. I took my iTouch out of my purse and said, "here's a calculator, I'll help you figure it out" and she looked so relieved. I told her I wasn't out to jack up her drawer or bring more stress into her life :)

[lelee24]

OVerall it was a very different crowd this year. The early opening of Toys R Us and then the midnight opening of Old Navy and Wally World really brought out some differnt folks....lots of younger folks drinking Red Bull to stay up and getting really wound up. Left Old Navy and Wal Mart because the crowds were really crazy and at Old Navy after waiting in line for an hour the staff let people bum rush the door who had jsut walked up and stood across the drive from the door...leaving those of us further back in line around the corner out of luck! The crowd would have run over a lady with a stroller and toddler if my friend hadn't planted herself and held the door for the mom and shouted for people to "back off". LOL, I think it startled the people pushing and shoving right behind us into backing up. The sales associate just stood by and watched unconcerned, but the mom and her toddler were really appreciative. At Wal Mart my friend saw a lady with 2 carts and very few items so she asked if we could have one...the lady told my friend that she needed both of them and to quit giving her s*%t! Not the usual friendly exchange we have on Black Friday with folks :-)

 

On a nicer note, we shared our cart with a couple other moms behind us in Target for our 90 minute journey around the store to the check out counter and a really nice lady in TRU helped us push our pile along to the register when we didn't have a buggy there. So there were still some very nice folks out....I just think the early opening lured some newbies to Black Friday that might not normally come out and that don't know how to behave in a crowded stressful situation. Maybe it was also our choice of stores....not that I don't love Old Navy and Wal Mart prices, but their base customers just aren't the same as Best Buy, TRU and Bed Bath and BEyond LOL!

[Kibit13]

whew! I have been reading posts to my students from the what I got thread and they are shocked!

 

This thread they like better.

I was kinda shocked too. People bought a lot of stuff.

[chilimak]

I was in Build a Bear today and had 3 $5.00 off purchase of $25. coupons that expired at the end of the month. I saw a lady making 2 bears and had a basket of clothes too, so I gave her 2 of the coupons. She was grateful. I was only using 1 and I would rather see someone be able to use them. My husband stayed with my 2 older tween kids at wal mart to get an Xbox 360 at 5 am. One of the people waiting in line was an off duty wal mart employee. My daughter told me he shared his snacks of candy and chips with them. I thought that was nice.

[jlsc]

Husband and I found at Target that they were honoring the Lord of the Rings Bluray DVD error (whole trilogy for $7.99). We grabbed 1 and gave the other one to a lady who was picking all 3 individual movies (7.99 for each) up. Poor lady must of thought I was a little crazy at the beginning, I saw her grabbing all and call over to her to come over. She looked at me and said back "Me?" and I said come here and I explained to her she could get set for only $7.99. She was very happy. Later I heard her on her cell telling someone of the great deal she got!

[Klownicle]

Anyone else getting tingly feelings reading this thread?

Considering im listening to Christmas Music at the same time, yep.

 

I did my usual of people aking how things were done and helping them out etc. But nothing specific.

[lesliepear]

Brought an extra 20% coupon to Gymboree and gave it to a fellow shopper with an armful of clothes!

[disgrajak]

This is not technically a "nice" thing to do, because everyone has to leave a parking space at some point. However, when my sister and I arrived at our local mall at 4:00a.m. we got a parking spot 3 cars from the door (someone had already left---hands full of packages!) and we were happy!! When we left at 11:00a.m., the mall parking lot was insane. When we backed our car out, I looked at the car behind us and it was a teenage boy driving, and a grandma in the passenger seat with some other people in the back. The boy was fist pumping and the grandma was jumping out of her seat doing happy clapps!! They were ecstatic! We started honking our horn and yelled and waved to celebrate them getting our awesome parking spot. It made our day!!!!!!!