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What to do about line jumpers?


ilikefree

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I posted this on another thread, but it was so funny I had to share....a couple of years ago, everyone in line collectively agreed to let a handicapped man in a wheelchair to the front so he could get in the doors safely....when the doors opened, he left his wheelchair blocking the doors and got up and ran. :) Some people will do anything for a deal...

That is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh:cheesy:

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Line jumpers will always get paid back eventually - I hang my head in shame as I recall BF 1996 when me, my mom, and my aunt went to Walmart and got in line just as the doors were opening... my mom must have gotten a sudden adrenaline rush because she shoved people's carts out of the way and nearly knocked down an employee as she blew past the line and the screaming people still outside waiting.

 

My aunt and I just stood there, blinking at each other. :shock:

 

When we caught up with this crazed woman I call mom, she had severely sprained 2 fingers during her initial "push" into the carts. Paybacks are hell.

 

My aunt and I spent the rest of our time in Walmart avoiding her so we wouldn't have to suffer guilt by association or something...

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Line jumpers will always get paid back eventually - I hang my head in shame as I recall BF 1996 when me, my mom, and my aunt went to Walmart and got in line just as the doors were opening... my mom must have gotten a sudden adrenaline rush because she shoved people's carts out of the way and nearly knocked down an employee as she blew past the line and the screaming people still outside waiting.

 

My aunt and I just stood there, blinking at each other. :shock:

 

When we caught up with this crazed woman I call mom, she had severely sprained 2 fingers during her initial "push" into the carts. Paybacks are hell.

 

My aunt and I spent the rest of our time in Walmart avoiding her so we wouldn't have to suffer guilt by association or something...

Sorry, but, I was LOL. I have seen many of these people like your Mom on BF's in the past.

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A lurker chimes in....

 

We had a different challenge last year. DD, her friend and I were at Walmart by 3. We were the only car in the parking lot. Others joined us at 3:30 and there was probably several hundred people there by 4. We stood at the door until 5 when the employees opened the far side door. We were now near the back of the line. These girls are small, so they wormed their way to the front.

 

Had I not had the brave teens with me, we'd have missed out. They had both the computer and VHS/DVDR by the time I got in the door.

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A lurker chimes in....

 

We had a different challenge last year. DD, her friend and I were at Walmart by 3. We were the only car in the parking lot. Others joined us at 3:30 and there was probably several hundred people there by 4. We stood at the door until 5 when the employees opened the far side door. We were now near the back of the line. These girls are small, so they wormed their way to the front.

 

Had I not had the brave teens with me, we'd have missed out. They had both the computer and VHS/DVDR by the time I got in the door.

 

Hmmmm Good plan, maybe I should hire my nephew and a couple of his skinny little friends,

I've actually been taking some self-defense classes to help me out for BF, maybe I'll take my "walking stick" LOL

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We encountered line jumpers last year at BB. Once the line started to move, they just tried to jump in right in front of us. All of the people around us started yelling at them until it caught the attention of the officer at the door, who pointed to the back of the line :D
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The line jumpers I dislike are the ones that send, what I call, the "rep" to stand in line, then as it creeps towards opening time, family member after family member slowly meet up with the "rep". They laugh and joke with that person like it's a long lost family reunion. Those are the worst.

 

I'm lucky, this year my loss prevention manager volunteered for the opening, me and my partner have the late shift this year.

 

I still think that if these businesses did away with the "early bird" specials, and just ran these specials all day, had rainchecks, and had plenty in stock, that we wouldn't have to deal with all this extra police on duty type stuff, extra security to round up the line jumpers, etc.

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I think the worst I have ever seen, was at the Walmart in Grants New Mexico. It is a small town and a small Walmart. I was traveling through New Mexico and as it turned out, the town of Grants was where I would be for the bf sales. Walmart had the cheap laptop I wanted, so I arrived at 3 a.m. and took my place in line. I was 8th in line and the store would open at 5 a.m. I had called ahead and found out the store had 8 of these laptops, so I figured I had a good chance of getting one. I had never been to this Walmart and had no clue as to how the store was setup. It was cold as heck standing out there as the temperature was hovering at 10 degrees. The time was now 4:00 a.m. and my number eight in line had now become 12th. It seems the third and fourth persons in line were employees of a company (refinery, prison...can't remember now). The company has a big Christmas party every year and the employees were there to purchase gifts for the party. It seems they had a huge budget to work with as they were planning on purchasing the bigger ticketed items. They had well organized sheets of paper with photos and details of each item they were intending to buy. I was impressed!! All of this was fine with me until others employees started dribbling in and of coarse they got in line with their co-workers. Then they started making phone calls to others to make sure they were up and on their way. To top it off, it seems those well organized sheets of paper also had names assigned to them. As a co-worker would arrive they would hand them their assigned sheet and go over the details to make sure they understood their assignment. By the time the doors were getting ready to open, the two original co-workers had grown to ten or twelve. I had grumbled, stomped my feet and voiced my opinion, but it seems this is how it goes every year. My neighbors in line were not real happy about the situation, but they were not willing to do anything about it either. I had never been a pusher, shover, runner etc. when the doors opened for a bf sale. But, when the doors opened that cold morning in Grants, I pushed, shoved and ran like the wind and was first to arrive at the electronics department. I got my laptop and all the other items on my list. As for the company employees, I ran into a few of them in the store....they were walking around with dazed looks, with their sheet of paper in hand.
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The potential for violence is real and will eventually cost a large retailer a LOT of money. I'm a big guy, but I am not about to start a fistfight when some jerk decides he "just brought the coffee" to those in front of me.

 

The NO COST solution I offered to our local CC manager was free, easy and ignored.

 

Starting when the line is 20 deep (maybe 1 1/2 hr early), walk the line with a odd colored sharpy. write a small number (or use a unique stamp) on everyone's left hand. When the line is 60 deep or so, make the first 20 show their mark and do a new one on the other hand. " No mark, end of line".

 

Repeat with letters, numbers or colors as needed.

 

That would prevent "...she was saving a place for me..", and ".. I was here earlier, I just went for coffee..." and "... I have a gun so I'm getting in line here...".

 

I will never stand in line at CC on BF again. When they get sued for the injuries of a fight, I will testify to my ignored suggestion, however.

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Every man, woman, child, or anything in between for themselves! If you want it bad enough, go for it! Unless the retailer is sensible and hands out tickets to the people lined up first or has rent-a-cops, there is nothing to stop you or anyone else from getting in as quickly as possible whatever way necessary. Right or wrong, that's how it is.

 

If I'm touched to try to stop me, that's battery. I'll sue and make your life suck so bad you'll wish you had just handed me the cash for the laptop instead.

 

I only make but so much an hour and there's just no way to come up with that kind of savings any other way. So I have to do what the gladiators did and gird myself for battle and get that deal!:gdparanoid:

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The line jumpers I dislike are the ones that send, what I call, the "rep" to stand in line, then as it creeps towards opening time, family member after family member slowly meet up with the "rep". They laugh and joke with that person like it's a long lost family reunion. Those are the worst.

Yes! They always end up right in front of me, and I smile like it's ok, but inside I'm thinking... :gdno:

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I scream and cause such a commotion you would think I was being physically assaulted. I did this at TRU last year when a bunch of snot nosed kids thought they would just slip into the front of the line. I also have a large and mean looking husband who will back me up.

That's why I like being in the security profession...I get to carry cuffs, lol!

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Last year when the Nintendo Wii came out I arrived at 11pm to join the 6 or so people already in line. As the night wore on another 35 or so people slowly joined the line. 5 minutes before 7 am some woman got out of her car and tried to go to the front of the line. She was real defiant and stated that the ad said these go on sale at 8 am and she is here before 8 am so she is going to get one. Of course, we heckled her and caused a commotion. When the store manager came out a few minutes later we explained what was going on. She was told to go to the back of the line like everyone else. Unfortunately she ended up getting one because they had like 40. I hate people who think they are better than the rest of us.
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Every man, woman, child, or anything in between for themselves! If you want it bad enough, go for it! Unless the retailer is sensible and hands out tickets to the people lined up first or has rent-a-cops, there is nothing to stop you or anyone else from getting in as quickly as possible whatever way necessary. Right or wrong, that's how it is.

 

If I'm touched to try to stop me, that's battery. I'll sue and make your life suck so bad you'll wish you had just handed me the cash for the laptop instead.

 

I only make but so much an hour and there's just no way to come up with that kind of savings any other way. So I have to do what the gladiators did and gird myself for battle and get that deal!:gdparanoid:

So as you push me out of the way when i block you jumping the line I can sue you for assualt and buy the items on line in the nice warm house you and your lawyer bought me huh?:yup:

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Guest Mom1979

Last year when the Nintendo Wii came out I arrived at 11pm to join the 6 or so people already in line. As the night wore on another 35 or so people slowly joined the line. 5 minutes before 7 am some woman got out of her car and tried to go to the front of the line. She was real defiant and stated that the ad said these go on sale at 8 am and she is here before 8 am so she is going to get one. Of course, we heckled her and caused a commotion. When the store manager came out a few minutes later we explained what was going on. She was told to go to the back of the line like everyone else. Unfortunately she ended up getting one because they had like 40. I hate people who think they are better than the rest of us.

I had to read that 2x to get it but man she was not in the right!

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Line jumpers will always get paid back eventually - I hang my head in shame as I recall BF 1996 when me, my mom, and my aunt went to Walmart and got in line just as the doors were opening... my mom must have gotten a sudden adrenaline rush because she shoved people's carts out of the way and nearly knocked down an employee as she blew past the line and the screaming people still outside waiting.

 

My aunt and I just stood there, blinking at each other. :shock:

 

When we caught up with this crazed woman I call mom, she had severely sprained 2 fingers during her initial "push" into the carts. Paybacks are hell.

 

My aunt and I spent the rest of our time in Walmart avoiding her so we wouldn't have to suffer guilt by association or something...

That just cracked me up!! Thanks for the laugh. :D

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