Meijers Black Friday a JOKE!!!!

[timandlesley]

I am so upset. My hubby got up at 3:45 and was at Meijer at 4:00 they said they would be dropping things in the isle starting then so that is when he arrived. They had bikes advertised for 25.00, normally 100 for kids and we wanted the Video Now XP bundle with 9 games for 39.99. Well he said there was a huge line in the toy dept. at 4:00, he waited, they didn't bring anything out until five. When they did they said they ONLY HAD 3 BIKES!!! What is up with that, why in the world have it advertised if you only have 3 bikes. My husband said the people started rioting they were furious and they then of course bring out the cart of bundled video now xp's that we desperately wanted for our son and they only had 20 of those. So the people in front o f my hubby furious about the bikes said "well we aren't leaving without anything" and started frantically taking the xp bundles 2-3 at a time and my husband who lunged for them got NOTHING. What a horrible morning. Oh well.
Lesley

 

[basketrn]

Same situation in Indianapolis, had a lot of bikes but only 10 video nows....really bummed!!

 

[disneychrista]

Sorry, I know how it feels. A few years ago I tried to get Game Boys for my kids but when I got there (5 mins after store opened) they were gone. I am sure they only had a very small quantity. That is the first and last time that I ever tried to get anything on BF. Now we go out to get the Mickey Snowglobe at JcPenny and to watch all the madness.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I think Black Friday is a showcase for how greedy and grasping we americans can be.

We get into fights over a 50 dollar discount, lured out of bed by promises you know, in your heart, are too good to be true, and venture out to stores, surrounded by more riches than most people will ever see.

It's so wrong, people.

Black Friday appeals to the greed in us, and I'm personally appalled at how popular it has become...

 

[Sandcass]

I was curious about Meijer because I noticed in the ad that it said the total number of items that would be available "chainwide".

I don't feel greedy for shopping on Black Friday. Of course, I don't get VIOLENT about it or anything. But I do love a good deal and don't mind dealing with the crowds to get one.

We went to Best Buy for their BF deals and it wasn't too bad.

 

[ceecee]

Materialism at it's finest.
Best Buy gets only a few things too, at least their ad tells you how many they will have. It's amazing how truly mean people can get.

 

[timandlesley]

I called Meijer just to let them know, because even though I wasn't there for a bike it made me angry for those who were there who were and also the fact that they were so ticked off that they took our Video Now xp's out of spite. They said they had 21 bikes per store and that employees can loose their jobs if they take them. He said it sounded like that is what happened so he was going to look into it. Oh well, so sad.

Lesley

 

[summerrluvv]

Kohls price matches so my sister used the Meijer ad at Kohls and got the bundle for $39.99. A woman in the line at Kohls gave her the ad.

 

[graygables]

I think Black Friday is a showcase for how greedy and grasping we americans can be.

We get into fights over a 50 dollar discount, lured out of bed by promises you know, in your heart, are too good to be true, and venture out to stores, surrounded by more riches than most people will ever see.

It's so wrong, people.

Black Friday appeals to the greed in us, and I'm personally appalled at how popular it has become...

and think of what the rest of the world thinks of Americans when they see that on TV.

 

[C.Ann]

The stores do this ALL the time.. I just can't understand how many years it's going to take before the customers catch on to this tactic..

 

[lisajl]

My DD had to work at Meijers this morning at 3 am. They were not allowed to buy anything that was on sale until after their shift was over.
They were not allowed to hold anything in the back room or have another co worker hold it back for them.
I don't know about your Meijers but ours is very good. No, they did not have enough of the items to go around, but most stores don't.
It is just a lure to get you in there and spend some of your hard earned cash on other things you see.

We saw nothing in the ads that we needed, so we stayed warm and snug in bed while my dd and her co workers were yelled at by people that were angry.
The kids had nothing to do with how many bikes there were.
One of her friends was yelled at because of the limited number of game boys (or whatever was on sale) and after he explained the situation to the customer, the customer then apologized.

It's just stuff people.....

 

[timandlesley]

I know, believe me I don't ever want to be in the shoes of those having to work these black friday deals, and I understood there were only 20 of the things we wanted, I just don't understand how in a matter of an hour the available bikes went from 21 down to 3, obviously someone was getting them. If those would have been available we would have been able to get what we wanted because those who were so angry about the bikes began grabbing anything they could get their hands on. I will definitely stay in bed next year.

Lesley

 

[4formickey]

the same thing happen at walmart. they only had about 20 laptops per store. I order my laptop from dell and slept until 7am.

 

[timandlesley]

Kohls price matches so my sister used the Meijer ad at Kohls and got the bundle for $39.99. A woman in the line at Kohls gave her the ad.

Are you serious?? I wish I would have thought of that!!!

Lesley

 

[seashoreCM]

OT:

I was listening to a discussion at City Hall regarding the building of a Wal Mart store and related zoning changes. The notion entered my mind: Suppose that the city stipulates that the store must honor advertised prices for at least three days and have stock or rainchecks or comparable items on sale at comparable savings, all in order to reduce traffic jams outside the store.

New thought: And to reduce the need to supply regular duty police to maintain order.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[dj2]

i'm sorry you had such a bad experience. it sure sounds hit or miss.

there were 5 items i wanted from meijer this year, and 4 of them were already out on pallets or shelves by the time i got there at 3:30. i waited in a line for the 5th item, the mp3 player, which wasn't going to be brought out until 5:00. the sales people had them all in a cart, and handed them to the people in line. I was at the front, so i don't know if there was a problem with line-cutting towards the back.

i think it would have been better for the store to hand them out before 5:00. what's the difference, really, about waiting until then? it's still first come first served. and if i hadn't had to wait in line for 75 minutes, i would have been roaming the store until 5:00 when the cash registers would ring up the sale prices---probably putting MORE things in my cart!

people near me had the bikes. there were at least 20, maybe quite a few more, but they handed them out to people long before 5.

it's unfortunate that they don't have some sort of storewide policy to be fair to everyone.

i always assumed that you took the "chainwide" number of items and divided by the total number of stores. it never occured to me that the distribution might not be "even."

-dj

 

[nbodyhome]

I think Black Friday is a showcase for how greedy and grasping we americans can be.

We get into fights over a 50 dollar discount, lured out of bed by promises you know, in your heart, are too good to be true, and venture out to stores, surrounded by more riches than most people will ever see.

It's so wrong, people.

Black Friday appeals to the greed in us, and I'm personally appalled at how popular it has become...

Amen!

I was glad to go out today and get my normal grocery shopping and such done this morning, I certainly couldn't have done it yesterday. It is like the whole lemming thing, where the news reports and stores say "come today" and everyone runs to the mall/BestBuy/Circuit City, etc. That isn't a cut on anyone here - I just don't personally get it. I start my shopping during the first 75% discount at Target after-Christmas sale, and by BF, I am almost done. There is absolutely nothing worth me getting up at 5am for, fighting crowds and spending a bunch of money. It's just stuff!

Denise

 

[timandlesley]

Thanks to you guys and this thread I went to Kohls today with my Meijer add from Friday and got two of the Video Now XP bonus packs that are normally 80 bucks for 39!!! They honored the ad's. THANK YOU!!!!! I am so incredibly happy.
Lesley

 

[caseywirth]

My DD had to work at Meijers this morning at 3 am. They were not allowed to buy anything that was on sale until after their shift was over.
They were not allowed to hold anything in the back room or have another co worker hold it back for them.
I don't know about your Meijers but ours is very good. No, they did not have enough of the items to go around, but most stores don't.
It is just a lure to get you in there and spend some of your hard earned cash on other things you see.

We saw nothing in the ads that we needed, so we stayed warm and snug in bed while my dd and her co workers were yelled at by people that were angry.
The kids had nothing to do with how many bikes there were.
One of her friends was yelled at because of the limited number of game boys (or whatever was on sale) and after he explained the situation to the customer, the customer then apologized.

It's just stuff people.....

I've worked in retail and I know I a lot of people who did, and when there are sale items, people who work there find ways to get around holding, hiding things, all you have to do (if hiding the item in the stockroom doesn't work) is have a family member or friend get there early and have it waiting for them to buy for you.

 

[fran99999]

I also took my Linen n things ad to Walmart for the Robosapien $79 at Walmart $39.99 at Linen n things. I had the ad in my hand was going there next stop when the people in front of me were talking price matching. It does have to be an exact ad. So if they are bundles they usually are chain specific to avoid the price matching. But I did save a ride and about $40.