Don't Lie to Us, People!

Don't Lie to Us, People!

Monday, November 26, 2007

We are sick to death of stores over-promising and under-delivering so-called holiday deals.

We love a good bargain, but nothing pisses us off more than when a store promises us something they can't deliver. Case in point: On Black Friday, ridiculous deals were advertised, but even if you arrived at the store by 7 a.m., those $200 laptops and $700 plasma TVs were sold out. That's because hundreds of other people were crazy enough to camp out in front of these places for 72 hours—even if it meant eating Thanksgiving leftovers delivered to them by relatives on the cold, hard sidewalk. Listen, retailers: When you advertise Wii availability, and we show up five minutes after the store opens, we expect to get a freaking Wii. What we don't want to hear are those two dreaded words: "Sold out!" Look, we're Moms—we don't have time for this nonsense! If you don't have a Wii, quit telling us you do (or else reimburse us for the babysitter we booked to sleep over). The only real way to stop the madness is to buy online—if they're out of stock, they'll at least say so. What are your holiday shopping horror stories? Do tell.

5 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

I got up at 5am to go to sales on Black Friday. Most were sold out.

- Anonymous

Posted 11/26/07 05:07 PM

I had mixed experiences on Black Friday. What I went out for, a digital picture frame, was sold out before the store opened. I went to JCPenney and was there at opening time. I went straight to the “doorbuster deals” area and after I didn’t see the frames advertised, asked an employee where they were. She said, oh, those sold out before Thanksgiving. Nice. But then my sister and I walked across the street to HHGregg to see if that store had a good deal on a digital frame and walked out with a $599 37 inch LCD that was advertised as “limited supply” and which we weren’t even planning on because we figured they’d be sold out. Who would have thought?

- J-Mac

Posted 11/26/07 05:46 PM

If they advertise it they really should make sure it’s in stock—this happened to me too and it’s totally rude—I wrote the store manager a letter and they did give me a gift certificate but really, not enough.

- Beth C.

Posted 11/26/07 07:30 PM

Geez. I always thought 5am wasn’t too late to get the real deals on Black Friday. I guess I’m wrong.

- Daniel

Posted 11/27/07 08:42 AM

How is it rude of a store to be out of stock? How about you start blaming the other customers who camped out instead of blaming the employees or the manager? What are they supposed to do, put aside a bunch of them in case people show up late? You snooze, you lose, sister. Nobody gives a crap that you’re a mom. Just because you have a kid doesn’t guarantee you a Wii, sorry. First come, first served. End of story. It’s customers like you who make me hate my job.

- Sarah

Posted 11/27/07 05:35 PM