11/28/09

Fear Of Black Friday!



I have a fear of shopping on this day. I never, ever, EVER do it! Well, usually I don't. My sisters made me go this year. They talked me into this insanity in a moment of mellow comradery.
We were sitting around on Thanksgiving, about ready to pack it in and head home after a wonderful day. My sisters had been pouring over the sale ads and planning their shopping strategy based on a 5 am start time. We live in Maryland and they planned to go over to Delaware to some outlet malls for the deals. Delaware has no state sales tax! I found something in the Wal-Mart ad that I wanted and asked them to pick up for me. After another 20 minutes of planning, we (WE? What? ME?) decided to head out for the midnight openings and finish up at Wal-Mart for the 5 am. Does turkey make you stupid?
We drove the 2 hours into Delaware to a completely full shopping center. No sleeping in the car, we were hopped up on pie! Giddiness aplenty! We shopped in this center for 3 hours. We got some bargains, laughed, stood in line with lots of other jolly maniacs. All good, well, the Old Navy experience aside. That store was nuts! I walked through the door and straight into line. What is it with Old Navy? The place is always about 95 degrees and it smells bad, made me want to pass out! Apparently the shoppers were oozing gravy from their pores because most every store I went into was hot and stinky, yuck! Except for the Kate Spade store, that boutique smelled like leather and money, ahhh. No stink shall cross that threshold. I couldn't afford to buy anything but it gave my nostrils a delightful rest.
We stopped for refeshments at 3:30, laughed some more and on to the Wal-Mart! Ok, the words Kate Spade and Wal-Mart should NOT be in such close proximity but there you go, everything was a little zany!
We had to park half a block away (fa la la) walked over to the store and discovered that the line was halfway around the store. Wow. At 3:45 am on Friday, it was cold and very windy! We weren't wearing coats. You can't wear a coat while power shopping! Who asked that question anyhow? Silly. 45 minutes and we are inside. While still in line employees were walking along announcing some of the big ticket items that had already sold out. Of course the store wasn't supposed to open until 5 and it was about 4:30 when we heard the first sold out announcement. *sigh* Our first priority was getting hold of 6 of one item, a widget, doesn't matter it was in the sale ad. An employee pointed us in the proper direction (it was an electronic item but was in the hunting section??). This location was at the opposite end of the store and, no lie, it took us 20 minutes to get ourselves over there only to find it wasn't the right widget. We questioned employees who "went to look" we sent delegates from our group to other rumored locations. My BIL snagged a cart from some silly person who left it unattended for a moment (good job!). A group began to form there with us as we were all looking for the same thing. We did snag 6 of the more costly widget, just in case. Bil and a sister went off to find the store manager. They complained to said STORE MANAGER about ads item lost in store, searching for an hour. STORE MANAGER tried to blow them off but BIL followed and pinned him down again. STORE MANAGER said he would give us the higher priced widgets for the lower price. He said, just have cashier call me when you get up there. A big win! Off to get in line and wait for another half hour. We had a full cart, probably about $500 in merchandise. Our turn. BIL is walking point, I am his back up, 2 sisters are between us and a very long line. You know this did not go well. BIL told the story, store manager, yada, yada. We stood there for another 20 minutes while cashier gathered various Wal-Mart employees, one employee even flashed her badge at us (hello my name is Julie I am a support manager) yikes, I'm super impressed now Julie. STORE MANAGER finally answered her on her walkie talkie and refused to follow through on the promise he made to us! 10 more intense minutes ensued, rational pleas, fist pounding, anger and frustration as we would have been out of that store an hour ago if the STORE MANAGER had not lied to us. Finally, I refused to buy anything and directed my, formerly merry band, to vacate. There were 4 police officers quite nearby. This happened at the Wal-Mart on Route1, Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. Oh yes, I am writing a letter. Frustrating?
Having an adventure with my sisters, all night, on no sleep......priceless!
Trusting the integrity of this STORE MANAGER on Black Friday......worthless!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you - walking out I mean. I bet you can find that widget thingy on-line for less...

Leilanie said...

Wow, what a crazy day! I went shopping on Black Friday too. My first time shopping on my own. The other times was when I was little and didn't really pay too much attention. This time, I came to buy a netbook, and waited outside for about 15 minutes, came inside, found my netbook, and waited in line for two hours. Not as crazy as yours, but still tiring.

The Bee said...

LOL - funny story! I don't find Old Navy to be stinky but maybe that's because I usually shop on the website. Smells fine to me.

Me-Me King said...

Does turkey make you crazy? Apparently so....you are a much bigger woman than I to brave the crowds.

Good for you....holding your ground!

Ann said...

With the mood I've been in lately I probably would have made a scene before being escorted out of the store by security.

Cruise Addict said...

Walmart and customer service is an oxymoron. I am happy to live the Black Friday experience vicariously through your post. As you were crossing state lines I was well into my first REM cycle. Funny Turkey makes me tired. I must find out which brand makes you giddy? :-)

I do hope the rest of your Holiday was a happy one.

JAS said...

Wow seriously I hate Walmart. I'm so glad you didn't buy anything after that. Who do they think they are. Well sounds like you had a great adventure. Your post totally made me laugh. I'm following your blog.

Sandee said...

What a Black Friday horror story. Yikes, I would have been boiling angry. Awful. Will you give a go next year? Not at this store of course.

Have a terrific day. :)

BeadedTail said...

You were very brave to venture out on Black Friday! We did our Black Friday shopping online which I'm glad since I'm now fighting crowds here at Disneyland.

Jude said...

How frustrating for you guys, but it sounds like you had a nice get together up until that point. Thanks so much for stopping by even though I haven't been returning visits the past week, really appreciate your time. Walmart really is a creepy store.

Jeff Aspacio said...

My fear is not getting what I hope to buy on Black Friday! But I am also easily frustrated so I don't think I can make it through a Black Friday

Carrie Wells said...

Holy moly...I don't know if anyone would have gotten out of there alive if that happened to me. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it.