Presold?
Black Friday customers who arrived at the Walmart store here, expecting to purchase an e-Machines laptop for the $198 Black Friday price were surprised to find the entire shipment of 37 units had been assigned to other customers the day before.
A store manager admitted that the only way for a customer to know that tickets allowing later purchase of the machines were being distributed early would have been to call the store and ask.
Such tickets are used by other stores–such as Best Buy–but were not mentioned in Walmart’s Black Friday advertising, which only said the laptops would be on sale from 5 a.m. until 10 a.m.
“That really sucks,” said one unhappy customer when he learned he could not purchase a laptop, despite at the store at 5 a.m. when the sale was supposed to start “How was I supposed to know to call?”
The Walmart manager, named Mark, said other tech products had been pre-sold in the same way as well, but did not elaborate.
Tickets or no, people were lined up before this guy was. Unless this store did something wrong, they stayed in line before the laptops were sold. What did he expect – to be allowed to cut in front of the others?
Uncle Bob. I work there and had to listen to all the groans and moans.I think the ticket system is fair but should not have been passed out untill 4:30.People did not know they had to be in line at 1A.M.
Would it had made any difference if tickets were not handed out until 4:30? If you have 12 laptops and 15 people show up starting at 1 AM to get them, so long as they stand in line and wait for them, does it matter if they get their tickets at 1 AM or 4:30 AM? Either way, the last three people in line are not getting a laptop. At least, handing out the tickets at 1 AM, those last three people are better able to comprehend that they’re not getting one.