Wal-Mart Threatens Legal Action Against GottaDeal.com

[jarerice]

I think it was has already started to back fire on them and they know it!

[mghtymth27]

What About A Link To Another Website That Is Not Gottadeal (call It Bradspage.com). "technically" It's Not Published On Gottadeal.com....

It's not to hard to come up with another webpage. I'm sure someone will do it once the ads are "leaked" and since they weren't around to get the letter, they didn't know any better so Wal-Mart will have to send a stop letter but by then it will be to late.

[jenniferw72]

I am now even madder at them than I was before. I can't believe them.

Here is what I e-mailed Mr. Slimey,

 

I have just viewed the comments made in reference to GottaDeal.com and the "Cherry Picker" customers we have been identified as. I am very disgusted with Wal-Mart at this point and I am ready to take my business elsewhere. I simply don't understand what the big secret is. Aren't those ads to entice customers to your store?? Don't you want people to WANT to come to Wal-Mart. Remember, people don't just go to Wal-Mart for Black Friday. Most Wal-Mart customers do the majority of their shopping their, for groceries, etc. I don't understand why this has become such a big issue. If the ad is out, it's out, BIG DEAL!! All the more customers for you. It's free publicity, which puts money in your pockets. You are giving the message that you don't need customers.

 

I'm afraid Wal-Mart may be losing out this year, especially when other stores (like Target) have their ads posted and yours is not. People's money will already be spoken for before your sale is ever made public, and I'm sorry to say, at that point, you've already lost. I don't think very many will be rearranging their plans and trying to come up with more money. You may have underestimated the amount of visitors websites like GottaDeal have. Not only are people viewing it on those websites, but they are relaying it to their friends, families, neighbors, co-workers, blogs, webpages, myspace, etc. Some have even called their local news and had news reports done on their dissatisfaction.

 

You may want to reconsider unless you can stand to lose over 2 million customers.

 

Thank you for hearing my concerns,

 

Jennifer

[heavenlysshine]

Attention granted!

 

 

"Dear Sir,

 

I am a single mother of two children that uses sites such as gottadeal.com to plan early on how much my Christmas loan will be to give my children nice things for Christmas. Being the sole breadwinner in the home it is very important that I manage my money wisely around the holidays and having your ad as early as possible helps me in this endeavor. I do not understand why WalMart feels that gottadeal.com's early Black Friday ad leak hinders you in any way, other than your having a poor ad compared to other stores. Most times this is not the case and I am not disappointed in your ad. Gottadeal gives you free advertising and gets millions of unregistered visitors to its site daily, along with thousands upon thousands registered users. When you take that amount of people that are known and put them together with the many people who do not use gottadeal that are simply friends and family of registered and unregistered users who depend on loyal WalMart shoppers such as myself to guide them to your store and let them know how much money they will need to be saving, you have many, MANY millions of customers that you are potentially alienating with this horrible marketing move! I have used gottadeal for years to ensure that WalMart will be the first, and most times only place I shop on the day after Thanksgiving. Stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City have let the consumer know that they will not follow your lead and sue when their ad is leaked. This speaks volumes as to how much they value not only their customers, but also gottadeal, etc for the FREE ADVERTISING. I am sending this email to let you know that while I do not endorse a total boycott of your stores en masse (yet), I do strongly suggest that you work with sites such as gottadeal that give you free advertising, not against them. You are collectively showing yourselves to not value loyal customers who support you on Black Friday, along with every other day, year after year."

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, I know I was probably not using my best grammar what with the run-on sentences, but y'all, I am HOT!

[conj]

ok, I sent off my message to Mr. Simley

Mr. Simley,

 

I have been following the story of your corporation's attention to the Black Friday ad and web-sites. I was lucky enough to stumble across the story on CNet and have been following the information on Gottadeal.com. Honestly, I am disgusted by the mess.

 

I agree, Wal-mart has a right to control the release of their Black Friday ad. They have no obligation, however, to pursue any legal action to enforce that right. I believe your corporation has badly miscalculated your customer's loyalty in your strategy.

 

For a store who claims to value your customers you treat us quite poorly. The prices are low, and so is the level of respect we get from corporate and store staff. You no longer honor the shelf price - even when the error is clearly yours, you do not price match your own website, you do not deliver ads to my house, and you threaten 1 man operations who try to help shoppers like me!

 

I called to voice my concerns on this issue, and listened to recorded messages for many minutes telling me how you value your customer. The call center representative diligently listened to me, documented my concerns and told me someone would get back to me in 2 or 3 days. No one has responded. Not much action shown on your part to "value" me.

 

I travel during the thanksgiving holiday and have to have a Black Friday plan in place long before that week. If you will not release the ad legally through sites such as this, you will lose my business.

 

Like many internet savvy shoppers, I not only shop for my family, I help organize other shoppers Black Friday plans (and shopping excursions throughout the year) through diligent research. If you multiply that by all the Gotta-deal members alone the trickle down effect for you is likely to be much larger than you've imagined.

 

The CNet article refers to "cherry picking". Yours is not the only establishment who tries to lure shoppers with good deals. Sure, we go for the loss leaders, but we stay for the convenience of one-stop-shopping. I myself have spent thousands of dollars at my local Wal-mart (which has to be the smallest wal-mart in the country) even though it is dank, cluttered, and less than ideal in customer service. All for simplicity. ease. Forget it. I will go out of my way to offer your competitors my loyalty.

 

I hope Best Buy, Kmart, and Target, Brooks and the like all chip in to buy you a thank you present for driving your customers towards them.

 

In addition - your feedback form chokes on submission. Again - a wonderful example of the service Wal-Mart offers.

[zxcvbnm]

I wrote an email to the corporate link in the new update. Wally World is being immature to say the least.

[Brad]

Just an update on the (very unscientific) poll that's currently on the BF site:

 

Will Wal-Mart's legal threats affect your decision to shop there on Black Friday?

 

Yes 2,629 (74%)

No 925 (26%)

[Mikesgirl]

I just recieved and auto reply email from Tara Stewart.

 

from Tara stewart's email

 

I will be traveling on business Oct. 23-25 with limit access to voicemail and email. Please try Angela Bolinger at 479 204 2478 if your need is urgent. If you are a member of the media - our hotline is 1-800-331-0085. Thank you,

[conj]

heee heee, poor Angela.

[jenilyn]

Bet she's swamped when she returns eh?

[heavenlysshine]

Busy emailing everyone else I can get my fingers on. Hope y'all are doing the same!!!

[Brad]

To clarify something that has happened more than once already in this thread:

 

DO NOT POST PERSONAL HOME OR CELL PHONE NUMBERS OR HOME ADDRESSES OF WAL-MART EMPLOYEES IN THIS THREAD

 

We want to do this all through the proper channels. Thank you for your cooperation.

[wyntyrose]

Thanks for catching it fast Brad, calling homes is NOT the way to do this.

[elena_398]

I received a response from Walmart today about my email that was sent....Just told me that to see Black Friday specials see Walmart online on November 19th.

[Crazy Mama]

Mr. Simley,

I just wanted you to know that I take offense to you saying all of the gottadeal shoppers are cheap. I like a good deal, but I can tell you that my money will be best spent elsewhere and not at Wal-mart this year. My husband has been of the mindset that he has hated Wal-Mart for years but I still continued to go despite that. Well, guess what - I won't be patronizing your great store this year on BF and if this attitude of "Screw you" stays in response to any shopper then guess what...I may just have to take my husband's mantra of I can find it at Target for a few dollars more but who cares - Walmart is evil so I will gladly spend more to prove my point.

You can't even get how ignorant you all sound. A FEW emails? Sure make light of it but I will be telling my friends, family, and anyone that will listen that you don't care a dang bit about anyone - just the money and apparently not even that so much.

Glad you consider me to be a demographic that you aren't looking to reach anyway. My husband and I are both college grads, have 2 children under the age of 4, and lots of holiday money to spend.

Shame on you, Walmart for the PR nightmare you've created.

 

Crazy Mama (real name used in email)

 

 

 

Re: This posting and this article

 

 

 

10-23-2007, 11:05 AM #442

bigjhowe

New Member

 

 

 

 

Joined: Oct 2005

Posts: 10

 

 

 

This is a situation where Wal-Mart is well within their rights to file suit if these ads are posted. Those who look at these ads are generally cheap and pick and chose what stores they want to go to. Wal-Mart markets for cheap shoppers but not THAT cheap!

 

I can't believe you guys are calling in all day wasting Wal-Mart time and what not with these very unimportant concerns.

 

 

 

 

 

Messages posted to the forums on GottaDeal.com, another Black Friday site, show many shoppers vowing to call and e-mail Wal-Mart to voice their displeasure. Some like commenter "christib327" couldn't understand Wal-Mart's decision. "I think this is crazy and will also be sending an e-mail. Honestly, the early release of the ads is what gets me excited and out there. Wal-Mart is usually at the top of my list to shop BECAUSE I've seen the ad early and can get my game plan together."

 

Simley said Wal-Mart had received a "few" feedback messages from customers about the Black Friday legal notices, though he refused to characterize the nature of the responses.

 

Also, Black Friday Web site fans aren't necessarily the best customers of the retailer anyway, Baker said. "They go to cherry pick a couple things really cheap. That's not going to make a lot of money (for retailers) in the short term or even long term." And though they would say otherwise, the Web masters behind those Black Friday sites are probably "overestimating" the importance of their sites in driving customers to stores, he added.

 

In other words, people are going to shop anyway. So in the long run, even if some customers are displeased, clamping down on its intellectual property is not only Wal-Mart's right, but it likely won't hurt it at the register come the day after Thanksgiving.

 

"This is America, nothing has an effect on shopping," Baker said. "Truly the biggest impact on Black Friday is the weather."

[dswright]

The only reason I want to see the Wal Mart ad is to price match things at Meijer. Wal Mart has done enough to alienate the American public that is shows in their retail performance month in and month out.

 

They use the excuse that gas prices are pinching the consumer, yet Kohls, Target, Penneys, among others have no problem meeting Wall Street estimates. The list of former Wal Mart shoppers is growing by the thousands daily. First, the layaway issue ticks people off, then this notice is sent out.

 

To survive in today's retail environment, you must do what your customers want you to do. There are too many other choices to do otherwise. KMart used to be big too, look at them now.

[Crazy Mama]

Ah to see Walmart in the state that kmart is in now. HAhahahahahahahahahahaha! Evil laugh indeed, that would be kind of sweet.

[Crazy Mama]

and an answer already!

 

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but the stories people have passed on to me

do not represent our position.

 

I've tried to access Gottadeal (which seems to be the source) but I get

a message that says, "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP

address." Apparently, Gottadeal doesn't want Wal-Mart to see what it is

telling its patrons.

 

We are only concerned with one fact: that trading in this material is a

violation of federal laws. All we're doing is reminding the websites

that they need to follow the law. I hope you understand our position.

 

-j."

[wyntyrose]

All I got was an auto bot reply. Darn, oh well my business once lost will not be gotten back.

[Bunniq]

I wonder if they sent anything to the companies that run sites like myspace and youtube.

 

Just a thought.

[conj]

Brad - can we clear up the access issue and let him see what we are saying?

[abentley]

I got the same response as well. Has any one had any luck with local news or papers?

[Mikesgirl]

Walmart is probably blocking all their computers from accessing gottadeal. that way they cant see how mad we really are

[Brad]

Brad - can we clear up the access issue and let him see what we are saying?

If I knew what his IP was I could unblock it. It must have been blocked from a previous year as I haven't blocked any WM IP addresses this year.

[conj]

maybe someone should call and tell him to try again

[jenilyn]

and an answer already!

 

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but the stories people have passed on to me

do not represent our position.

 

I've tried to access Gottadeal (which seems to be the source) but I get

a message that says, "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP

address." Apparently, Gottadeal doesn't want Wal-Mart to see what it is

telling its patrons.

 

We are only concerned with one fact: that trading in this material is a

violation of federal laws. All we're doing is reminding the websites

that they need to follow the law. I hope you understand our position.

 

-j."

I got the EXACT same reply, could have at least sent a few diff. standard replies to vary things a little! Nice to know it was most likely not read completely if at all.

Here's what I got:

 

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but the stories people have passed on to me do not represent our position.

 

I've tried to access Gottadeal (which seems to be the source) but I get a message that says, "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address." Apparently, Gottadeal doesn't want Wal-Mart to see what it is telling its patrons.

 

We are only concerned with one fact: that trading in this material is a violation of federal laws. All we're doing is reminding the websites that they need to follow the law. I hope you understand our position.

 

-j."

[andyw06]

Don't worry, for those who want to see the ad early, you'll be able to. If it's not posted on GD, there will be literally hundreds of other places to see it, and it will be up to WM to find each and every little web site, forum, blog, etc... and send their lawyers after 'em.

 

Believe me, people who up until now had no idea what Black Friday even was will now be posting the ad around just because WM says not to. This is going to backfire for them so badly, and we'll all be here to laugh at them when it does

Their ad sucked last year for me, But they really are being arrogent about this entire thing.

[Uberfemme]

All we're doing is reminding the websites that they need to follow the law.

That's rich. This from a company accused of not only hiring illegal workers, but locking them in the store so they can't leave. Yeah, posting the BF ad is way worse than that.

 

ETA: This is just one example of Wal-Mart breaking the law.

[aprncess]

and an answer already!

 

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but the stories people have passed on to me

do not represent our position.

 

I've tried to access Gottadeal (which seems to be the source) but I get

a message that says, "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP

address." Apparently, Gottadeal doesn't want Wal-Mart to see what it is

telling its patrons.

 

We are only concerned with one fact: that trading in this material is a

violation of federal laws. All we're doing is reminding the websites

that they need to follow the law. I hope you understand our position.

 

-j."

Oh what a crock, if they really wanted to know what was being said, they could find a way to get here to see it and they don't have to worry about what Gottadeal is saying, the patrons have enough to say all by themselves about what it is Walmarts doing and how they feel about it!

 

Walmart Ads Leftout - Millions Are Really Ticked!

[heavenlysshine]

I received a response from Walmart today about my email that was sent....Just told me that to see Black Friday specials see Walmart online on November 19th.

I got the same form letter from the site. I also got a reply from john simley. It said the exact same thing he is replying to everyone else, but mine did not mention the supposed i.p. ban.