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Official One-and-Only "What I Got" & "My Black Friday Experience" Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2012

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Marcster

Marcster

Posted
Posted

...There was countless ways this could and should have been handled but the failure was never addressed and this was common knowledge that this item did not and was not going to arrive as promised in the ads....

Often times the item that "never arrived" was already bought up by the employees before the store opened for Black Friday.

 

"Never arrived" is a response that generates less anger from the customers they have to explain it to.

stevens322

stevens322

Posted
Posted

Originally Posted by jesusluvu

Mine started off horrible with Kmart - Got better with Walmart / Target / Belks and other mall stores / Then got worse with Kmart :

 

My letter to Sears Holdings :

 

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to let you know about my Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday experience with the Kmart store on Wade Hampton Blvd in Greenville, SC. Let start off by stating that I have attended all of Kmart’s Thanksgiving Day sales and Black Friday sales for about 12 years now. This year I am truly beside myself. I will start with the Thanksgiving Day sale. The Thanksgiving Day sales started at 6am this year. I was in line at 2:15am and number 16th in line. It was about 34 degrees, but yet we persevered despite the frigid tempers and pushed forward for the door buster sales. By about 4:30am there were about 400 people in line that was stretching the entire length of the building. Around 5:30am the sales associate and assistant manager came out side to assist the lines and started to pass out the tickets for the door buster items. They passed out “8” tickets and then brought out a table and placed all of the tickets on the table. They did not instruct the crowd nor allowed the people that stood faithfully in line for hours the opportunity to get the tickets for the deals they stood in line for. Instead they allowed the people from the very back of the line to rush up and the people that were just getting out of their cars to take the tickets off the tables and leave me and the other “VALUED CUSTOMERS” without anything. I spoke to the manager Ms. Shirley and all she could do was apologizing, but could not offer any resolution to the matter. So I and a lot of other people that camped out in front of the store received none of the items that we rightfully should have had. This was very hurtful and dangerous as a mini riot almost broke out to get the tickets and in response to not getting a ticket after standing in line for hours just to be treated in this manner.

 

After all of the above I still decided to go back out for the Black Friday 5am sale that Kmart had. I was already out shopping for the other sales around town and still working on just a few hours of sleep that I got the day before since I was in line for the Thanksgiving Day sales at your store as well. So I mustered the energy to be in line at 2am again. This time I am “1st “in line and waited patiently as I wanted the 52” RCA LED TV for $399 that was listed in your ad. I waited in 30 degree tempers yet again. Around 4:25 two sales associates came out asking if everyone was signed up for shop your way card and letting everyone know that some deals would require you join to get the price. About 4:35 another guy came out (one of the ones that set the tickets on the table the day before) and was asking what everyone was in line for. I told him I was in line for the TV. He went back in and came back and was telling everyone that there merchandise was in stock, but he told me that the TV ( THE ONE THAT IS LISTED IN THE AD ) was not there and that NO ( NOT ONE ) Kmart store had received this item. I was at a loss for words. 2 Days in a row I sat in the COLD for nothing. 2 days in a row I lost sleep. I passed on 2 other offers for TV’s because I was going to get this one in Kmart. I asked one of the girls that were doing the shop your way sign up if I could speak to the manager. She went to get one only to come back and tell me ( in front of everyone) That “ the manager on duty ( Jerome ) said that “ He was not coming out right now because it was too cold “. My mouth dropped. Everyone in the line had a response to this. The other girl that was with her said “he did not say that de he”. She replied “yes he did” and she said NO that is not good and went to get him herself. He never came out and I never spoke to him. Ms. Shirley came in about 20 minutes later and I spoke to her and expressed my displeasure about the ongoing issues I was having with Kmart. She apologized and said that she would look into the matter and call me with the possibility that the item would come in and I would be able to purchase it at that same rate. I am sorry but that is not good enough for me. I sat in line twice in the freezing cold for what? I was not offered a comparable substitution – even though you had 55” TV’s sitting right there in electronics. There was no notification that the ad item was not available at all – ALL WEEK. That’s blatant FALSE ADVERTISEMENT. As I explained to the store manager that if there was a misprint in your ad you are quick to put up a note in the front entrance, on the door, by the item and on the counter at customer service. There was countless ways this could and should have been handled but the failure was never addressed and this was common knowledge that this item did not and was not going to arrive as promised in the ads. Despite the issue with the tickets for your Thanksgiving Day sale I still spent over $300 at your store that day. I am inclined to take it all back at this point. I am looking for a swift answer on why this failure was never addressed to the public and what is going to be done to rectify this situation and compensation for my time and distress in these matters. I will also be forwarding this letter to the BBB, SC Attorney General’s office and the local news. I am highly upset and offended about this entire situation.

Seriously?

 

 

 

Yes and I am still very upset about this. Waiting for the news agency to call me back. I can not and will not let this one go. I will wear mmy Gottadeal shirt on the news if my story gets picked up

Wow, sorry to hear about your horrible experience. We normally shop the one in Mauldin, SC. Usually have a good experience there, but didn't go this year.

jesusluvu

jesusluvu

Posted
Posted

Wow, sorry to hear about your horrible experience. We normally shop the one in Mauldin, SC. Usually have a good experience there, but didn't go this year.

Yes,

 

I prefer that one over all the rest in our area. The staff is more receptive and respectful. The one on Wade Hampton is just closer to my home.

peppysfireball

peppysfireball

Posted
Posted
I would never wait in line either. My tv died the week before black friday last year and when I called Sears, they told me all the tv's were on sale at the same black friday price. The only difference was you got more rewards points. I just drove there and picked one up at the same black friday price.
2chia

2chia

Posted
Posted

No wonder I feel down in my Black Friday shopping. Only got 2 thing to show for myself.. :confused:

 

Pre-Black Friday - Deal of Day from Best Buy - Wii Mario and Sonic London Olympic game $17.99.

Tiger Direct : Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" $179.99

Kohls : Disney First Princess - Snow White $5.99

Black Market White House : a pair of gorgeous shoes $29.46(with 30% discount in) original $128.88

 

The only item not for me was the doll and the Wii game .That tablet doesn't really count because I had use my cc card reward that I have accumulated for little over 1 year so technically ,my cc card pay for it so I only spent $30 ?! For myself... :eyepoppin

AndreaInNC

AndreaInNC

Posted
Posted

I only have a few things to return. It was one of those "buy it, if I don't want it return it" kind of shopping trips!

 

Now if DD21 can actually decide what type of Beats headphones she really wants, my shopping will be finished!

breandmia

breandmia

Posted
Posted

Whew... Where do I begin?

 

First I started Cyber Shopping online Tuesday and Wednesday

 

Amazon.com - LeapFrog Explorer 1 and the Lorax on DVD- Total $63 something ( Saved about $40)

Kohls.com- Step 2 Kitchen- $35.00 after Kohls Cash and ShopatHome Credit ( regular price $129.99)

Best Buy.com- All 4 Twilight Saga Blu Rays- $3.99 each and for Breaking Dawn $9.99. I had a $5 certificate so only $18 something after tax. Free Shipping for all 4 Blu Rays!

 

Wednesday Afternoon- Meijer, I priced matched the Toys R Us ad, on the Digital Simon and Scrabble Game. After Mperks those two games were FREE!! Hopefully I can submit those reciepts for the Hasbro Rebate for a MM!!

 

Thanksgiving Morning- Meijer- Grocery Items on sale- .99 BC Cookie Mix- I had various coupons making them free or at the most .19 ( I got 16) Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles- On sale for .99 cents - $1/2 Q= .49 cent each ( I got 16 Boxes) Ragu Pasta Sauce- $.99 cent- $1/2 Mperks= .49 cents ( I got 8) I also got $.69 cent wrapping paper ( I got 4)

 

DH cooked Thanksgiving Dinner Wednesday evening and me and my family ate dinner around 1pm on Thursday. DH took a nap and went and got in line at Sears at 3:30 pm. By the time he got there, there was already line .....20 people. Anxiety set in for me, because I knew there was only a 5 of the Toshiba 50 inch TV that I wanted. Sure enough at 7pm when they passed out the tickets all of the Toshiba's were gone in like 2 seconds. Luckily DH didn't give up and asked about the 4am Doorbuster, which was the 50 inch Panasonic Plasma.. also for $299. BINGO! The guy handed DH and the two ladies behind the last tickets. NO MORE TVs!!! If you were not in line by 3:30pm, there were none left. People were showing up at 7:30pm for a 8pm sale expecting to get a ticket or even worse, rushed the store to find that all the TVs were already spoken for.

 

Since we couldn't buy our TV until 4am, We had 8 hours to kill!!

 

We went home to take DH's car home and drove my van. We had no other plans, we just went to all these stores just to see what we could find.

 

Walmart- We got the $9.44 Wafflemaker(found abandoned in random place..yay) 2 Wireless Mice @ $8 each. 1 HDMI cord for $8, and that all. We only spent $35.00

Target- Hat and Glove Sets for the girls- $3 each. BOGO Gloves for me-$3 Jenga Game- $7 -Fire Pit $30 ( DH has wanted one for a long time) Horton Hears a Who DVD- $4- Spent $53.00 in Target

 

It is now 11pm and we are hungry, so we went to Steak and Shake for Burgers and Frys and some Caffeine! - Spent $18 after tip

 

Its Midnight now..and it starts raining. We head to Best Buy to peruse, and find that the line to get into BestBuy is at least a mile long...NO LIE!! So we parked, and fell asleep for about 10 minutes. The line up was moving at a snail pace, so we left and headed to Kmart.

 

Kmart...ugh.. I hate Kmart. It is so disorganized and old. We did find the Password Journal for DD8 for $14 that was on her list, bought a King Size Comforter Set for $28 and a bath towel robe thing that DH wanted for $7. Spent $50 and got a $5 GiftCard back, and a coupon for $1.00 per gallon of gas at Speedway... wasn't expecting those two at all. Woohoo!!

 

By this time its freaking 1am and WE WERE TIRED!! We finally gave up and went home to take a nap. We got back up at 3:30 to go back to Sears to pick up our TV. It was deader than Bin Laden in there. They still made us wait to 4am to check out, so we walked around empty Washington Square Mall until 4am. Got our TV, and went back home and CRASHED.

 

By 7am my nephews and my kids were up. ( My sister stayed the night so we could shop). There was no point in staying in bed, so I got up and cleaned up the kitchen and made breakfast ( I only half cleaned it the day before). Surprisingly, I wasn't too too tired.

 

I got the kids settled with DH, my sister left and I had one last trip to make at Meijer. Their sale didn't start until 6am. Its 10am now, and the store is QUIET!!! I was so surprised.

 

At Meijer I got a Triple Crock Pot Cooker. Price was $49.99- $15 General Merchandise Mperk= $37.00 OOP, recieved a $5 MIR Form, and a $20 OYNO. Net price $12!!! DH will use it for his catering functions.

 

Went back home and laid on the couch for most of the rest of the day. Found out DD8 is a great babysitter... LOL!

I had a great BF!!

HansieDZ

HansieDZ

Posted
Posted

So what is everyone returning???

Quite a bit:

a coat,Roku XD, men's shirt(maybe just an exchange on this),maybe an electric throw,shirt for me.That's all that I can name off the top of my head but I am sure there is more.

I might ask if any one in the family wants to buy these things before I return them though.

I always plan on returns so it doesn't actually bother me.

Delaney34

Delaney34

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanksgiving Day online:

 

Lowe's.com- Allen + Roth 30 inch wall clock $24.99

 

Bestbuy.com- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2-titanium silver-$179.99

 

In person or at store:

 

Walmart

A friend convinced me to go to one that is not local, but she said she has gone to this one and had a great experience; decided to trust her and we had a blast and a much better experience than the local one:

 

BH&G 7 piece comforter set brown, beige, teal colors $34.88

BH&G 700 thread count sheet sets *2 $19.99

Beautyrest alternative down comforter full/queen $15

Beautyrest gel fusion mattress topper queen $29

Sunbeam waffle maker $9.44

Memory foam mats *2 $5

Fur real pet dog Cookie $15

8GB SD card $5

Girl/boy pajama sets $4.50 each

Smurfs movie DVD $2

Smurfs holiday DVD $3.96

Vtech Vreader software cartridge $12

Lalaloopsy twin comforter set with sheets included $24.99

 

Office Depot

They opened at 5am- got there and in line at around 4:30 am; Line was not long at all:

 

Realspace corner office desk $89.99

HP 4500 All-in-one printer $39.99

Targus stylus $4.99

 

Build-A-Bear:

Got the BF Snowgirl bear $5 plus matching outfit $5-had $10 gift card- free for bear and clothes; bought a pair of ice skates shoes for it for $8 plus tax

 

Bath and Body Works

Had a coupon for a free item worth up to $13- bought a lotion for $12 got the other lotion free with coupon

 

Went to Best Buy later that Friday to get store pick-up

Went to get the Tab 2 I ordered online, and decided to check out other things at store; saw an employee with the BF white one with $20 gift card and asked if could exhange for the one I bought online-both same price; was able to do it:

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 white with $20 gift card

Rocketfish tablet leather tablet case $24.99

Targus laptop cooler $9.99

 

Overall, got some great things for BF

Edited by Delaney34
TTFN10000

TTFN10000

Posted
Posted

I picked up Sears New Tires deal buy 4 goodyear tires on sale for 87.00 each at Sears and get a $100.00 instant gift card plus double shop your way points came to 559.00 with the warrenty and alignment. My mom gave me 100.00 towards the tires for her car I put the 459. in and then Sears gave me an instant $100.00 Gift card back to go Christmas Shopping.

 

I also picked up 2 World at war Xbox games originally 29.99 on sale for 10.00 plus my husbands 10% off, I got the $14.00 car carpet with a few cars at Target and also the pajamas at Walmart for 4.40.

 

I picked up Big points with Shopkick and cashed out at Targets register for 16.00 in gift cards.

 

Also went a few other places.

kingbobb

kingbobb

Posted
Posted

I did more pre-BF on-line shopping this year than ever before.

 

Amazon had deals all week. Skylander Series 1 figure, a Canon printer, Brave (ended up breaking my "No Blu Ray" rule because the combo set was cheaper than the DVD alone). Missed out on a couple more deals. They go fast! Amazon had nearly everything else on my list at some point during the week.

 

Best Buy had their BF deals available on-line starting on Wednesday, so we picked up S10 of Smallville, S4 and 5 of Chuck, and S4 of Fringe.

 

Thursday I shop only at Meijers. I went out at midnight to Wal Mart last year, and I'll never do that again. I'll likely not shop anywhere else on Thanksgiving, either. Meijer has always been open on holidays, so I don't feel bad shopping there. I think I got an Angry Birds game and a B1G1F Skylander set.

 

We ended up being up late on Thursday anyway...our 3 year old doesn't know when to go to sleep some nights..so my wife hit Kohls around 1:30. BF at Kohls is one of our spending splurges. This year we spent over $400, nabbing a huge amount of stuff, saving some $800 off Kohls retail price. Plus $150 in Kohls cash. She also swung by Target to get Sherlock Holmes 2 on DVD and Just Dance Disney Party for Wii.

 

Friday it was back to Meijers for Angry Bird plushies and Lego Batman 2.

 

Wal Mart had marginally better deals on several things we bought this year, but between the negative treatment of their employees to the terrible BF experience I've had at WM in the past, I never really thought of heading there. Last year I found several of their BF deals on-line starting on Saturday, but this year the pickings were far slimmer.

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