topic Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience in Community Chat

Cyber Black Friday Experience

Twins Mom — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 21:12:46 GMT

Ever so frustrated when I sat down minutes before deals were to begin on Target.com. Item could be selected for quick pick but not able to put put in cart. Searching by name did not produce item in flyer. Neither did item number. So disappointed and angry when finally told out of stock. Doubt if ever there. Can’t say if I will depend on that again.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

BirkiLady — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 21:51:54 GMT

@twins mom wrote:
Ever so frustrated when I sat down minutes before deals were to begin on Target.com. Item could be selected for quick pick but not able to put put in cart. Searching by name did not produce item in flyer. Neither did item number. So disappointed and angry when finally told out of stock. Doubt if ever there. Can’t say if I will depend on that again.

@twins mom- I'm sure the items were available. There are Truth in Advertising Laws. Target is huge and has a legal department which ensures they follow those laws to the letter.

Target was open for their Black Friday sales for several hours on Thanksgiving. Confident the savvy shoppers were on-line as soon as those sale prices were posted. You do know the sale items are limited? First come; first serve is the name of the game on all holiday sales. Don't let your BP rise; it isn't worth the hassle to shop during the holidays anyway!

Next year, shop through the year and have it all done before Halloween. Everything will be paid in full, you'll be so organized and the season will be enjoyable.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

chrystaltree — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 21:58:41 GMT

Of course the items wre availabe, Target would not lie about sales and open the door to a storm of bad publicity. The sales started yesterday or even the day before and millions of people were online shopping today. You just lost out. My friend was up at 3am and online shopping at Toys R Us and Target. She wasn't going to wait for daylight.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

Kachina624 — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 22:37:01 GMT

Don't let the size of the company determine whether their offers are legitimate or not. Walgreens used to be famous for advertising items they didn't have in stock; classic bait and switch.....until the Texas Attorney General sued them.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

GenXmuse — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 23:57:40 GMT

The Target site was wonky today. I’m not finding their prices to be competitive anymore so I only shop there every 3-4 months.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

Twins Mom — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 02:12:00 GMT

I jumped on line minutes before “opening” on thanksgiving. No luck with same response that I had this morning at store opening time. Item not available in store. When item is detailed in search area, it should come up. I have, however, had some of same luck with QVC searches.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

software — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 13:54:39 GMT

DD & I debated whether we should go the online route or shop in person.

After some discussion, we decided to shop in person and we got everything we wanted at a great price. No waiting on delivery.

I've never been a big online shopper, I am surrounded by great retail.

We had a great time shopping. Standing in the check out lines in a couple of places wasn't fun but we took turns. Some of the stores limited the number of shoppers inside, which was great. I had to wait maybe 5 minutes in line outside but when one came out, one was allowed in. And once inside, shopping was a breeze. Not crowded and short check out lines.

Most of the stores were very well organized and prepared for the sales.

And being in the south, even though one of our malls made national news for a fight, everyone was very polite and patient.

Every time I used my debit card, I held my breath. I figured all the sales would over load the system or there would be some other failure. I did get one decline, but after trying again, my purchase went through.

I get back home to double check my bank balance and there was a message on the home page something about certain transactions were impacted and are now recorded. Seems my bank wasn't ready for Black Friday! My account was fine.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

scatcat — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 14:43:40 GMT

Of course products sold out. Of course websites were slow. Of course lines were long. Driving home from my SIL’s at 7:00 on Thanksgiving we passed a WalMart. Every parking spot was full. We found it depressing.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

dex — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 15:05:42 GMT

@software I think if you don't get out into the hustle and bustle once in awhile that you are missing out.It is kind of like watching a football game on tv or actually being at the stadium.The crowd feeds on each other's excitement and the noise and action are heightened.BF shoppers have their game plan and strategies to get to all of the stores where the deals are scored..Some people win and some lose but the rush and defeat can be seen and felt...You can stand in cashier lines proud of your shopping skills with all of the other victorious shoppers or you can be frustrated at home by all of the internet problems and overloads.Black Friday is an event...you can choose to be a player or side lined.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

software — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 17:15:32 GMT

There's still Cyber Monday

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

SharkE — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 18:25:07 GMT

Surely people will be back to work and school on Mon.

When me and hubbo will get out.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

Twins Mom — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 14:50:39 GMT

I agree that stores were not all that bad. Enjoy the “bonding” that somehow comes out in some of the buying experiences. Enjoy touching, comparing, seeing what’s out there, get ideas. Computer screen does not get me in the experience or excited.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

threecees — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 15:50:41 GMT

Kohls on-line experience was just as bad. Tried to get PS4 Monday when they said all their on-line specials began. I even spoke to customer service in my local store the Saturday before all about ordering the PS4 online. They said that I would be able to do it.

They never told me in store at Kohls that the PS4 was not online until Thursday. I called toll free number and complained and my local Kohls store. No where on the Kohls flier did it say certain items NOT available until Thursday.

Tried online Thursday morning and til I completed check-out they were no longer in stock. I never had a problem with Kohls until now.

Ended up buying the PS4 at Gamestop.com. What a hassel that was too! It was easy to order online but I was charged twice for one item. Been trying to get in touch with any HUMAN at gamestop but you receive a message that you will experience heavy call volume with at least a 30 minute wait. Friday I was holding for an hour and 15 minutes.

Saturday morning at 9:00 on the dot I called back to receive the same message at exactly the time they opened. Still can't get thru to get this duplicate charge off my account. My local Gamestop can not do anything for an online order. They gave me another telephone number. Same stupid recorded message. They won't answer.

The store told me to call Monday. Somebody better help me soon. Now I am so

disgusted with that store.

It is better to stand in line for HOURS at a store and get what you want!!!

I did it at Walmart and got my smart t.v.s

Next year, I will still remember what LOUSY experience I had with Kohl's and Gamestop!!!

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

VaBelle35 — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 15:57:52 GMT

Macy's website had issues. Not as bad as last year though.

I read on a link on here somewhere that many retailers upgraded their websites this year due to problems last year.

Not every Target store carries every item. I have 10 Target stores within a reasonable driving distance (1 hour) and the stock of each one is very different.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

Moonchilde — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:32:21 GMT

OMG teh drama.

Black Friday deals, like any sale items, are always limited. Items are limited to products on hand or in the warehouse when there are no sales. You wouldn’t go into Macy’s on a Tuesday in August and be shocked, dismayed and furious if they didn’t have every piece of clothing you want in your size; you’d deal with the reality that they’re out. That happens. Stores run out of things. Yes, very low prices and very special deals won’t have one to go around for every single person who wants one, on a national level - how many thousands are trying for the same thing?

Websites (any website, even Amazon’s) get wonky when they get slammed; it’s a fact of life. I experienced it Friday and yesterday both, but I just dealt with it. I had a far worse experience with the Jim Shore website in October when I wasn’t sure if a duplicate order went through, emailed them, and was ignored and as well they didn’t answer their phone during their own working hours. The only way I was ever sure what was going on was days later when I got one shipping notice.

I once tried for a BF deal at BB on an iPad about 3 years ago. I was online before Live sales began and ordered within 3-5 min of Ready-Set-Go time. I missed out. Think how many people were online across the country ordering at the same time I was, and they maybe had 1000 to go around. It’s just luck.

People still expecting the universe to provide them with whatever it is they want, period, and if it can’t be provided to their preference, the sky will fall.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

stevieb — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:41:06 GMT

@dex wrote:
@software I think if you don't get out into the hustle and bustle once in awhile that you are missing out.It is kind of like watching a football game on tv or actually being at the stadium.The crowd feeds on each other's excitement and the noise and action are heightened.BF shoppers have their game plan and strategies to get to all of the stores where the deals are scored..Some people win and some lose but the rush and defeat can be seen and felt...You can stand in cashier lines proud of your shopping skills with all of the other victorious shoppers or you can be frustrated at home by all of the internet problems and overloads.Black Friday is an event...you can choose to be a player or side lined.

I'll choose the sidelines...

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

stevieb — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:41:54 GMT

@SharkE wrote:
Surely people will be back to work and school on Mon.
When me and hubbo will get out.

Exactly and my guess is most of those 'sales' aren't going anywhere...

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

stevieb — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:44:39 GMT

I agree, you can't always rely on a website and I don't mind getting out and actually going shopping, but there's really no good reason I can see for electing to do it on the same day that too many others are doing the same thing... If I miss an honest to goodness sale well then I miss it...

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

stevieb — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:48:24 GMT

I sometimes enjoy going to Target, but their website is clunky at the best of times... I'm also not sure how sophisticated their computer operations are, especially from store to store... I almost never use coupons, but had a handful that actually had some value... Went to redeem them and was told that they'd never been programmed into 'the system'... Target offers pretty good CS, though, and so it worked out for me, because they gave me more off 'for the inconvenience' than the value of the coupons.

Re: Cyber Black Friday Experience

KingstonsMom — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 18:52:08 GMT

@stevieb wrote:
@dex wrote:
@software I think if you don't get out into the hustle and bustle once in awhile that you are missing out.It is kind of like watching a football game on tv or actually being at the stadium.The crowd feeds on each other's excitement and the noise and action are heightened.BF shoppers have their game plan and strategies to get to all of the stores where the deals are scored..Some people win and some lose but the rush and defeat can be seen and felt...You can stand in cashier lines proud of your shopping skills with all of the other victorious shoppers or you can be frustrated at home by all of the internet problems and overloads.Black Friday is an event...you can choose to be a player or side lined.
I'll choose the sidelines...

@stevieb

Me too!

I'd rather have an enema than to join the mobs of people, some crazy, many violent, voluntarily.