Briefly, I heard on the national news that today there was trouble in some Wal Marts in different part of the country. However, I didn't have a lot of time to pay attention. Then I heard the local news earlier tonite......they were saying that trouble broke out as well at a couple of Wal Marts locally.
It turns out that Wal Marts advertised lap tops for under $400. Their customers were loving it......it seems some have been waiting in line as early as 3 AM so they could snag one of these cheapie laptops. Only problem.......many stores had less than 15 of the suckers. It was the cheesiest of come ons....thousands were clamoring for a only a few laptops. And Wal Mart wasn't providing any rainchecks. XMAS commercialism at its worst......promoted by good Christians.
*******************************************************
Wal-Mart shoppers miffed by lack of items
BY CRISTA ZIVANOVIC
219.933.3229
czivanovic@nwitimes.com
Some shoppers who got to the Schererville store this morning as early at 2:50 found their hourslong wait to snag a half-price laptop computer was in vain.
They were upset to find the store at the corner of U.S. 30 and U.S. 41 apparently had stocked fewer than 20 HP Pavilion Notebook computers -- advertised as $378 online and $398 in a newspaper insert that said, "while supplies last."
Tim Swart, 17, of Griffith, a computer student at the Hammond Career Center, said he and his friend waited in the cold for two hours, hoping to buy what he said was an $800 laptop for half off.
Once inside, Swart said they had to wait in line for maps directing them to where the laptops were located. But the computers weren't where the map directed, said his mom Sharon Swart, also of Griffith. By the time they found the true location, they were about 50th in line, Tim Swart said.
"If they had had 100 computers, we definitely would have gotten one. But they sold 15, and then they stopped," he said.
Sharon Swart said she complained to the store manager, who assured her someone from the company would call her back.
"He was very nice. I told him, I understand it isn't your fault, but what are you going to do for me to make me come back to your store?" Sharon Swart said. "The ad said, one to a customer, so both my son and I waited in line, because we each wanted one."
Tim Swart said several people complained loudly enough to draw security officers who led them away. Swart said he saw a security guard escort a man and a woman up to the front of the store after they started yelling.
"They were arguing about all kinds of stuff, not enough computers or DVDs, and about cutting in line. But I guess they had more DVD players than laptops," he said.
"One of the people who worked there said, 'We only had 15, and they're sold out already,' " said Dori Palilchuk, of Griffith, who also wanted an HP laptop and arrived at the store at 4 a.m. and met up with the Swarts.
A Wal-Mart employee who answered the 800 number said the amount of items available at each store differed and directed The Times to the company's corporate offices. The public relations department did not return a call.
Tempers flared at other Wal-Mart stores across the country, because they ran out of advertised electronics in minutes, according to CNN and Associated Press reports.
In Cascade Township, east of Grand Rapids, Mich., a woman fell as dozens of people rushed into a store for the 5 a.m. opening. Several stepped on her, and a few became entangled as a man pushed them to the ground to keep them away. One of the injured in Grandville, Mich., also was after a bargain notebook computer, according to an AP report.
The same computer discount was the catalyst for trouble at an Orlando, Fla., Wal-Mart, where a man who cut in line to buy one was wrestled to the ground, according to a video shown by an ABC affiliate, WFTV-TV.
"That was terrible shopping," said a woman at a Maryland Wal-Mart who would only go by Ms. Newman because she was supposed to be at work.
"There were fights. Some folks were there at 1 a.m., but they didn't get what they wanted."
Four Wal-Marts contacted by CNNMoney.com said they received limited supplies of the HP laptop, ranging from 15 at a store in Michigan to about 65 at the Maryland location.
-- The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.
thetimesonline.com |
