Thread Of The Day

You think the holidays are a stressful time for shoppers? Imagine working at a department store.

In this thread at retail-worker.com, Macy’s employees rant about their worst experiences with customers this Christmas season.

http://www.retail-worker.com/forum/about10227.html

Tis the season to be jolly.

Fa la la la la la la la la.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Early this morning, a Long Island Wal-Mart employee was crushed to death by an overanxious crowd of Black Friday shoppers. Apparently the crowd grew so large, the doors could no longer contain them. When the doors broke off their hinges, the crowd poured in like water through a broken dam. Unfortunately, the worker was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In today’s thread, the members of gottadeal.com discuss this tragic event:

http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=128223

Human stampede deaths are something you expect to hear about in third world countries, not “civilized” countries like ours.

I looked at all the major store ads for Black Friday, including Wal-Mart, and can’t figure out what the big deal is. There were a few decent bargains, but nothing spectacular that I would call a “doorbuster”.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. Major retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City, Toys R Us, Sears, Kmart, Staples, Kohl’s, etc. have great bargains to jump start the Christmas shopping season. Laptop computers and flat panel televisions are popular items on this day.

To get the best deals, you have to be in the stores early. Some people even go to the store on Thursday night after their Thanksgiving meal to wait in line outside of a store. In many parts of the country it can be quite cold.

The members in this forum thread at GottaDeal.com are those people. Here they discuss what they will be wearing.

http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=124543

I plan on wearing my pajamas, sheets, blankets, and pillows, on a queen size bed, surrounded by walls and a roof. I might reconsider if somebody is giving away 65″ tvs to everyone in line.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I have to mention woot.com again because right now they are in the middle of a Woot-Off. During this special time, they sell a limited amount of one item. When it sells out, they quickly move on to the next item. So during a Woot-Off, they may sell dozens of different products in a day or two instead of the normal one item per day.

The most coveted item for Woot fanatics is “Random Crap”, a.k.a. “Bag of Crap”.

Woot Bag Of Crap

Wooters who order the random crap do not know what they will be getting, but each crap order cost only $1 plus $5 shipping. It is best to order the maximum of three, because shipping is still only $5. Most items in this potluck package are not very exciting, but usually worth more than what you pay. Sometimes much more.

Thousands of Woot members eagerly wait for the rare “Random Crap” sell. The instant woot.com lists it, their servers are overwhelmed. Only a small percentage of members are able to make it through the ordering process. The rest all come to this thread to complain.

http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=2685943

The main reason I am writing about this is because I have tried several times in the last couple years to get my hands on these bags of crap. I could never get past the “server busy” screens. Today, somehow, I finally succeeded. I actually was able to order three of them. Most people who were lucky enough to order today’s crap are reporting they could only get one. You can see my post in the thread as “allnicksgone”.

I can’t wait to see what I get. Stay tuned. I will post an update here at ThreadOfTheDay.com when it arrives. Woot, if you read this blog, I’m not picky, but I sure could use a big, flat panel t.v., and a surround sound system, and a printer.

Hmm, I sound like a little kid writing a letter to Santa Claus. That’s what woot will do to you. Make you a kid again.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Woot.com is a whimsical deal-a-day website. Every day, they sell only one product. At midnight, they move on to the next item. The majority of the products are electronics, but they can be anything. I have seen pens, pistachios, vacuum cleaners, wine, 65 inch tvs. Whatever the item, it is always a great deal and shipping is a flat $5 no matter how big or small the product.

Most days I pass on whatever they are selling, but still go back every day to read the write up of today’s product. They are always hilarious. Their writers are brilliant.

I have bought a few items there and have been very satisfied with my purchases. Recently, Woot was offering a nice looking Breville 800ESXL espresso machine. Williams-Sonoma and Bed Bath & Beyond sell it for $400. It gets good reviews on Amazon.com where the best price is $380. Woot’s price was only $150 so I jumped on it.

The reason I bring this up here on ThreadOfTheDay.com is because each product does have it’s own forum thread. This is only the second time I have highlighted a forum I participate in. The first was “Isla Mujeres Dolphin Rescue“.

It turns out this great deal is turning out to be a bust. Many of the espresso machines are being reported as defective, including mine. Lots of them have a weird problem where the internal pump continuously directs water to the excess water tray that sits under your coffee cup on the machine, completely bypassing your coffee grounds. This has caused quite a few flooded kitchen counters as the pump can kick on even when the power is off.

Here is a link to the thread. Since it is a long one, I skipped ahead to when people’s machines begin arriving and they report the condition of their espresso makers.  There is a very high percentage of members with defects. What a mess.

http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=2608562&PageIndex=7&ReplyCount=373#post2621223

Despite this hiccup, I will probably continue to use woot.com. I am sure they will get this straightened out somehow. Also Breville seems like a good company and have promised new machines to those who called them, including myself. I hope everything works out. Stay tuned.

Popularity: 21% [?]

ThreadOfTheDay.com is finally back. I took much more time off from the computer than anticipated.

We start back with this thread at RipOffReport.com. It has been going on for years, and would take hours to read every single post, especially the ramblings of the man who started it.

He got caught eating merchandise at Wal-Mart and not paying for it. He claims he did pay and thinks pounding on his Bible hard enough will convince everybody else.  He claims Wal-Mart is out to get Christians and mentions what a good Christian he is thousands of time throughout this thread. It is people like him that give true Christians a bad name. He has traced his bloodline to Daniel Boone, so somehow that is supposed to prove his innocence.

He obviously isn’t telling the whole story. He says the merchandise was only $11, but he was hauled off to jail in another county. To me it sounds like he must have a previous record or maybe even warrants. He even states that after he was caught, he offered to pay for any alleged merchandise his “illness” may have caused him to forget, but he knows for a fact that he paid for everything.

Shoplifters always offer to pay after they know they are busted. In their mind, they think that makes it less of a crime. If that was the case, everybody would be doing it. Just go in the store and take whatever you want, the worse that can happen is you have to pay for it.

Here is the thread:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/138/RipOff0138892.htm

Popularity: 3% [?]