Out of stock items Rant!

[aimlyles]

So far my only issue has been with amazon. On 12/12 amazon had the crayon makers in stock (or so it seemed) I got 2 with free shipping, I got an email the next day saying that due to high demand it may not arrive in time for Christmas. I upgraded the shipping to standard and it changed the arrival date to 12/24. As of today it says it hasn't shipped but still has 12/24 as the arrival date.

I have a feeling they will not be hear by 12/24 unless they are not updated their site...I haven't even gotten an email or anything telling me what's going on. What I don't understand is why they would have had it in stock but not have them to ship...UGH!

 

[MAH4546]

Unfortunately for most retailers, their "loss leaders" serve only to make most of us leave the store empty-handed and with a bad taste in our mouths, causing them to lose future business in this troubled economy.

No, they don't. Loss leaders work. "Most people" just end up buying-up. If that was not the case, stores would not bother with this successful strategy.

 

[jessica52877]

I'll add Amazon to my crap list! I ordered the Star Wars Lego Dictionary only to find a thread on here this morning stating it was backordered. I remembered I hadn't gotten mine so went to check and sure enough my date has been changed, never shipped and not one in stock. Amazon could have cared less! I didn't want this for Christmas but for my son's birthday, giving them even more days to still get it to me but she told me not a chance! NICE! An email would have been polite! I purchased it 2 weeks ago!

 

[jenlynn0808]

I'll add Amazon to my crap list! I ordered the Star Wars Lego Dictionary only to find a thread on here this morning stating it was backordered. I remembered I hadn't gotten mine so went to check and sure enough my date has been changed, never shipped and not one in stock. Amazon could have cared less! I didn't want this for Christmas but for my son's birthday, giving them even more days to still get it to me but she told me not a chance! NICE! An email would have been polite! I purchased it 2 weeks ago!

I think I saw that a few weeks ago at Sam's Club, I think DD was looking at it. Maybe give them a try...HTH.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I have been waiting for the Crayola glow dome to come in. It was a last minute addition to DD7 wish list. A couple weeks ago Target had it for $18. They were sold out so we got a raincheck. I figure I will wait and end up getting it for her from the Easter Bunny. I doubt they will get it in before Christmas.Everystore around here is out of stock so she'll have to wait!!!

Apparently Glow Dome was a "secret" hot toy. My nephew really wants one and I had a really hard time finding one. I went to Target 10am that Sunday morning it was in their ad for $18 and they were all gone. Then I couldn't find them anywhere, even at full price. I lucked out and happened to find one at Michael's (where I wasn't even looking for it) it was $40, but I had a 40% off coupon thank goodness.

 

[puffkin]

You have to understand, stores are scared to stock much in this economy. They had to do their Christmas buying in the spring/early summer, and they had NO idea what the shoppers would be spending at that point. Hopefully, next year, this will all be a memory!!

Our Target has done this for YEARS so I don't blame the poor economy. I remember going in for a camera deal in February...got there at 10 am on Sunday and got the last one. I said wow, these must have been a hot seller and the guy said they only had 2 to start with. Children's clothes and shoes are horribly stocked. You are lucky to find one of each size. It doesn't matter what time of year, Target just seems to have poor stock.

I bought patio furniture in April. It doesn't really get warm here until late May. I wanted the table and 6 chairs. They only had 2 chairs and no more for the season. The season hadn't even started! These weren't even advertised or on sale. I was able to drive an hour away and get the other 4 chairs and table.

Now Target has opened a store near me (above store was 10 min away, new store is 5 minutes). Stock is MUCH MUCH better at the new store. But that store also seems a lot less busy than the other one, but at least I have a chance of getting sale items there

 

[cjackearl]

My irritation is with Kmart. The week (or maybe 2) before Thanksgiving they had the GeoTrax RC Timbertown Railway on sale for $29.95, which is 1/2 off. Both our local Kmart as well as Kmart online had them out of stock, so I got a raincheck, good until 12/13. The person that issued me the raincheck told me to keep checking back. Never in. On 12/11 I went in and talked to the CS manager who told me they call the customer when the item comes in. I told her my number was never taken. She looked at my raincheck and told me she didn't know how it had been issued without the associate getting my phone number, but she'd check to see if it could be shipped from another store. No dice. The item is no longer going to be carried by Kmart. She offered to let me use the same percentage off on another GeoTrax item, but I didn't want anything else. I wish I would have known that the item was no longer going to be carried. I could have been looking elsewhere for sales during that 3 or 4 week period.

 

[ammdc7]

Don't forget that most companies are not making as many of the products that retailers sell. Production is down across the board, meaning it's not the retailer that is denying you this product, it's the manufacturer of said product. Same goes for prices, if they are not making as many, the cost can go up.

 

[richmond282]

Last week Target had a digital camera for $29.99 on sale but they were sold out. I've been calling EVERY morning when they open up to check if it came in on the truck and was told no! Looks like my daughter will be getting a photo of it (I have a raincheck)

Anyone else something they need and it's sold out?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Interestingly, I saw 2 of these cameras in a lady's hands today. It was still $29.99.

 

[LBIJim]

I got a rain check from Target for a dvd player that has yet to arrive on that infamous truck. It's been 3 weeks now. This is the second time I've gotten a rain check from Target where the item never shows up. .

About 10 years ago I got a raincheck at Target for something like a blender or coffee maker. And about 8 years ago for a computer game. Never received a call or e-mail from them on either occasion when the items were back in stock; I found out on my own by checking the shelves a week or two later.

I still like Target, but I rarely bother with rainchecks anymore anywhere. If the advertised product is out of stock I either buy it elsewhere another time or forget about it all together.

Jim

 

[81felgs]

Kmart is at the top of the pile for me. They had a Fisher Price Kid Tough camera advertised for $40.00. Instead of me driving all over creation only to find no camera, I called about 6 stores in my area. At 4 of the stores, the CS person answered the phone and then proceeded to transfer me to toys. 2 of the stores, no one from toys ever picked up and it rang back to CS 4 times. At one of the stores, someone picked up. As he was about to pick up again to tell me if he had the item..the phone disconnected.... So I tried to call back, got transferred to toys again..and then no one picked up. All in all, I spent about an hour on the phone. The total savings (Kmart sale price vs. Target full price) was $9.99. I don't think it was worth all that time I spent aggravated on the phone to save that little amount of $ in the long run and I ultimately just paid full price for the stupid thing at Target.

 

[IDoDis]

Why not just use the raincheck for that percentage off a different DVD player?? I believe it gives you that option.

It was a special Black Friday purchase so there was no percent off. Target does give rain checks for certain BF items and this was one of them, but they never got any more in (although they said they would).

 

[Forevryoung]

An update to my Best Buy drama-

I have the video game because I price matched it at Target BUT Best Buy says that they will honor the price when they get the game in a month or so (it's backordered now, wasn't when I purchased it). My order number will be canceled because I can't pick up the item in their 8 day window

The kicker is that I received a pickup reminder email from Best Buy today. You would have though that they would be able to alter their system. I'm not going over there a 3rd time for them not to have it.

Crappy customer service, easier to just price match to Target and never step foot in Best Buy again