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Got any memorable Black Friday stories?


Brad

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Years ago, my kids, my mom and I decided to "Do Walmart" for Black Friday... it was laid out so strangely... They had huge pallets of "doorbusters" scattered throughout the store wrapped in brown paper with employees guarding them until the "official start". I took my then very young son with me to stand in line for a big screen TV and my mom and teenage daughter were planted in front of the pallet filled with DVD players. I had been in the slow moving line for quite some time when my daughter came rushing over screaming that I had to come quick, my mom had been hit with a flying DVD player and was on the floor! I had to leave her with my son in my place in line (didn't want to miss out on my TV!) ;) while I went rushing to the other end of the store to help my mom. By the time I got there she was back on her feet with a nice bruise on her head, mad as can be that she didn't get a DVD player! Seems as though the employees tossed them off the pallet at "go time" and one of them had a pretty good throwing arm! One person that had witnessed what happened came over and handed her one of their DVD players, as they had gotten more than 1... I thought that was really sweet. It was a Black Friday that I will never forget...

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When my son was about 13 he went Black Friday shopping with my husband.  Myself and our other two daughters joined them later in the morning.   My son excitedly started describing the hoodies and the awesome fuzzy blanket that they picked up to my 16yo daughter and the rest of us.  Unfortunately those items were gifts for the 16yo!  Forgot to give him the memo, oops.

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Last year DH wanted that BluRay Surrond Sound at WalMart, so they had like 4 on a pallet, but it wasn't supposed to go on sale until later in the night, well no one was watching them so he just got one and put it in the buggy and we waited until time to check out. However, it tore up later that same day!! we had to take it back.

:(

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Last year DH wanted that BluRay Surrond Sound at WalMart, so they had like 4 on a pallet, but it wasn't supposed to go on sale until later in the night, well no one was watching them so he just got one and put it in the buggy and we waited until time to check out. However, it tore up later that same day!! we had to take it back.

:(

Is it BF Karma? Can't game the BF gods they will get you. lol Seriously I hate when you get that good deal and it breaks, makes the agony of defeat even worse.

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2 years ago I waited 4 hours for the cheap 32" TV at Walmart that was going to be used as a raffle item for my son's school chili supper.  We were in a nicely formed line zig zagged throught the cosmetics when a lady came up at the moment they would start releasing the tvs and tried to take one out of my hands.  It became a mob mentality with 50 people behind me yelling at this woman...she started going after the couple behind me as I ducked under her and ran to the cash register with a TV that I didn't even get to enjoy!

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I have done BF in four very different locations so far.  Last year we were visiting in-laws in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, so I did my shopping there.  I have been around the area a few times and I am accustomed to seeing the Mennonites and Amish of the area.  I wasn't entirely surprised to see Mennonites out at some of the stores in the middle of the night, but I was surprised to see some Amish also, especially at the Target on US 30 east of town.

 

The front parking lot at the Target was busy so I found a space in a smaller lot to the side of the building.  I was surprised to see that this lot has a small shed to one side where horse and buggys can be "parked."  As I was pulling out of my space around 3:00 in the morning, a horse and buggy in a hurry turned and we were facing more or less head on with the glare of his high headlights in my eyes and we both came to abrupt stop.  As it is easier to back a car than a buggy in a parking lot, I backed up to let him by.  Definitely a unique BF experience.

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Two years ago (2011) we had a bad rainstorm which flooded some people out. They went away for the night, and later in the evening, about 11PM a guy walks up and starts inquiring about the tent and whether anyone was staying in it. I heard someone say that "they left, but were coming back tomorrow" and didn't think much about it that night. When we woke up in the morning, the tent was gone! 

 

Sure enough, the owners of the tent came back with fresh supplies and asked where the tent was. I had overheard the guy say that he was going to meet up with some friends at the other Best Buy in town. One of the members of the affected party made a trip over to Best Buy and sure enough, the tent was there! The funny thing was that it had rained hard again that night and the guy who stole it had to abandon it also! Being principled people, they picked it up and later threw it out at an undisclosed location.

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I'll never forget the year that I started off BF in Kohls.  I had all my shopping list tucked in my cart as I went searching the store for deals.  As I got near the toy section, the aisles were so narrow that I pulled my cart off to the side, so I wouldn't bump into anyone.  By the time I walked back to it, it was gone.  All I saw was all my stuff from the cart dumped nearby.  Sure I was a bit miffed at someone stealing my cart, but I was more p.o.'d that I now didn't have my shopping list for the rest of the day.  Even though at that point in time the lines were halfway around the store, I went through the line person by person until I found and shamed the person that stole my cart. 

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From time to time, Best Buy allows vendors to serve the people food and drink. On one occasion, my wife was anxious to get some boiled peanuts(southern thing) and some hot chocolate. Both items were cold. The vendor did not have a heating solution for my wife when she found both the peanuts and the chocolate stone cold. I then witnessed my wife yelling at the line "You might as well go back, it's all cold"!!! The line immediately dispersed and the vendors packed up in disgrace and sped away. We then offered people in line hot chocolate throughout the night. This scenario would serve us well in later years to keep the goodwill going and make it memorable.

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One year at Wal-Mart-big mistake-was pretty close to the front, but behind me was some guy who, for the entire two-three hours on line, periodically yelled, "Hut-1-2-3", like it was going to be a football scrimmage breaking out. Once the doors opened, there was a near-riot at the electronics counter, with people diving to get the laptops, etc. (I was there for a small item).  On my way out, police were on the way in.

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