General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWalmart deceiving public about "Black Friday" sale items.
Retailers used to brag about opening in the early hours of Black Friday, moving opening hours from 5am to midnight. Apparently thats not good enough anymore and Walmart is opening its doors at 6am on Thanksgiving to shove customers in the door for the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
But are Walmarts guaranteed in-stock deals actually worth skipping Thanksgiving dinner for? We took a look at each of the items Walmart is guaranteeing to be in stock for the first hour of its Black Friday sale and its a mixed bag to say the least. While Walmart is widely advertising that more than 20 items are guaranteed in stock, that number is a bit debatable. Walmart is guaranteeing five video game titles will be in stock at discounted prices, but double counting them by offering up Playstation 3 and XBox 360 versions. That means nearly half of the guaranteed in-stock deals are meaningless to those that dont play games or that have moved on to the Playstation 4 and XBox One.
Its also important to note that Walmart isnt exactly guaranteeing shoppers will be able to walk away with the its guaranteed in-stock purchases on Thanksgiving. If a Walmart store sells out of any item, shoppers can purchase Guarantee Cards and Walmart will ship it to that retail location for customers to pick up before Christmas.
The biggest issue with the Guaranteed In Stock scheme is that Walmart is only allowing customers to purchase one Guarantee Card each. If more than one of the items a customer stands in line for is out of stock, he will have to choose which one he wants most.Thats a raw deal for those who wait out in the cold for several hours rather than spending time with loved ones on a holiday.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/11/24/walmart-black-friday-2013-guaranteed-stock-items-worth-buying/
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)And totally not a surprise.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Waldemart is for Death Eaters
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)"If more than one of the items a customer stands in line for is out of stock, he will have to choose which one he wants most.Thats a raw deal for those who wait out in the cold for several hours rather than spending time with loved ones on a holiday."
Not a raw deal but just desserts for shopping (At friggin' WALMART!) instead of spending time with loved ones on THANKSGIVING DAY. Folks who do this crap have their values waaaaay out of order.
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)in the cold so they can be the first to get in fucking Walmart. If they want to shop at that fucking place instead of spending it with their families or, if they don't have families, spending time with friends, they really deserve to get screwed by those assholes. Being a consumer 24/7 is like letting your soul rot. And if they actually get to buy their Chinese crap, I hope it breaks on them 5 minutes after they get it.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)If you choose to spend Thanksgiving waiting in line for some Chinese made piece of shit, that's your fault, you deserve to get ripped off.
Fuck Walmart and fuck black Friday shoppers. I'm sure this will hurt someones feelings, but if you're standing in line for 10 hours for 10 dollars off a tv, you're part of the problem.
sendero
(28,552 posts)It's idiot consumers that drive this bullshit behavior on the part of retailers.
If they didn't show up, this crap would end, pronto.
I feel pity for folks who are so desperate to save a couple bucks on crap nobody needs that they will go out on Thanksgiving day to get it. Pathetic.
renie408
(9,854 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Forget the BS sales guarantees--WM "items" aren't worth buying unless and until WM reforms to address the real WORKER issues.
Wal-Mart workers and supporters will be doing strikes and protests on Black Friday and throughout the week at stores around the country. You can support workers by showing up to participate at a protest near you:
(Link to map and protest locator below.)
Join Walmart workers around the country on Black Friday (Nov. 29th), the biggest shopping day of the year, as they stand up to Walmart and call for an end to retaliation against those who bravely speak out and a real wage of $25,000/yr.
Don't forget to download all of your protest materials.
Last year you told us you wanted more support and training to make sure you knew what to do. We heard you - and so we're having trainings all across the country - check them out here. If you're not near these, we'll also be having a phone training too (details coming soon).
If you have any questions, email us at support@changewalmart.org
Sign up to visit a store near you on Black Friday!
Map and protest locator at link:
https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/black-friday-near-you
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)LOL
renie408
(9,854 posts)Spending time with loved ones is higher than potentially having to choose between which two chaep things you want to get the most cheaply.
BlueinOhio
(238 posts)Think about this. If the item is not there the customers can go ahead and purchase the item. Now you might or might not get your item you purchased but walmart gets to hold your money and pull interest on it.
A lot of their items on the black Friday sale is not merchandise that they carry year round. Usually factory rejects or rebuilt.
Another problem Walmart did to themselves is that the cheap clearance sales is that the merchandise in the store is made for them from China so they can no longer pass the cost back to the middleman so they just pack it back up and store it in a warehouse for later.
For those who are worried about China I would think that if Walmart would go belly-up it would take down their economy.
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)Walmart has been trying to get into banking for a long time, but the government hasn't allowed them to. Well, it seems like they've worked it out somehow. They've got these Woodforest Banks in their stores now, and it already has a lot of branches in a lot of stores. Their bank seems to have different rules, too, because I was in a store on Veteran's Day and the bank was open. All the other banks were closed, including the credit union where I do my banking. I don't know how Walmart has been allowed to open all those banks -- I guess they claim that the banks are privately owned -- but I don't like the idea of Walmart in the banking business one bit.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Anyone who would shop there deserves to get screwed by them.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... you deserve the screwing they give you.
I have zero sympathy for "Walmart shoppers" troubles. None.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)ALL the ads have that fine print at the bottom.
I don't have much sympathy for anyone that stands in line for hours or days to buy something at ANY store