Black Friday 2023

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Not going to bite this time on Walmart+, but I'm sure they'll discount it again before Christmas and I might then. Amazon is getting unreliable with shipping. For example:

• Every time I've tried Prime Day deliveries, they've failed to do it properly. Stuff arrived early and in multiple packages, or some arrived on time but other parts arrived later in other packages. It was a mess.
• A couple of times now Amazon's faux-shipped something. The latest was showing as "expected delivery by 10pm" all day yesterday, but when I looked at tracking it hadn't left their warehouse. Today it's finally showing "Delayed, not yet shipped." Sure, they'll give me a full refund, but I needed the items earlier.

Originally Posted by issybird

This happens to me fairly frequently. Mostly I get the item, but later; sometimes it never comes.

Same here. Because of shipping issues and failure to deliver services as promised, I didn't renew Prime. My membership ended today.

I am now officially Prime free

I plan on spending the $139 I saved for not renewing on some tech toy from someone other than Amazon.

Today also means I no longer have any paid video services. I now rely strictly on free streaming services.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

The Gray Lady nailed it. In today's NY Times:

It keeps getting worse with each passing year.

It's no longer Black Friday or Black Friday Week or Black Friday Month, it's now Black Friday Quarter (Oct~Dec).

Additionally, Amazon keeps getting worse. They pay more attention to getting new customers than they do to keeping their current customers happy. I guess they figure that once you join, you're now captured forever. So they're now free to reduce benefits and make customer service so horrible that you won't even bother with it.

In days of yore, Black Friday was fun and something to look forward to. Sigh

[binaryhermit]

I've never had issues with items not coming from Amazon, it's more of an issue of their delivery morons delivering to the wrong address, it's rare that they deliver packages that should be at my address to my address and only packages that should be at my address to my address. So if I get an Amazon delivery I either need to track down my package or do their job with packages that weren't delivered to the right address.

[Apache]

My late Amazon deliveries are due to problems with the shipping company. Especially USPS. And it is not just Amazon. I use USPS Priority Express to ship diamonds. Priority Express is guaranteed next day to most locations. (some are two day). I have even had the two day delivery come in late. The only plus is that I get my money back for late shipments. I also had one package, shipped Registered Mail, take two months to go from my location to Rochester, NY. I had to file two missing package claims. The first person assigned sent me 1 email saying he would initiate a search. Never contacted me again. Never replied to my emails. He actually listed the case as resolved. The second person was great. She called me every day with a status update. The package finally arrived after two months. All of the shipping companies are shorthanded. My Fed Ex Driver told me that the Memphis Hub is short 650 people.
Apache

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Same here. Because of shipping issues and failure to deliver services as promised, I didn't renew Prime. My membership ended today.

I am now officially Prime free

I plan on spending the $139 I saved for not renewing on some tech toy from someone other than Amazon.

Today also means I no longer have any paid video services. I now rely strictly on free streaming services.

While they've lost you, they may be getting me back.

The big reason I'm leaning strongly to paying for a year of Prime is Amazon Fresh. The $150 minimum for free delivery was the major reason I dropped Prime, but now the minimum for free delivery has dropped to $100, which is quite doable. The other perks aren't terribly attractive--I thought I would miss Prime Video, but I've barely watched anything during the free trial. But grocery delivery is a really big deal, and Amazon was generally very reliable.

I was at Amazon to check when my free trial ended to see when I'd need to decide, and out of the blue was offered an additional month free. Which also puts me past Black Friday and whatever sales may be of interest. Nice.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

While they've lost you, they may be getting me back.

The big reason I'm leaning strongly to paying for a year of Prime is Amazon Fresh. The $150 minimum for free delivery was the major reason I dropped Prime, but now the minimum for free delivery has dropped to $100, which is quite doable. The other perks aren't terribly attractive--I thought I would miss Prime Video, but I've barely watched anything during the free trial. But grocery delivery is a really big deal, and Amazon was generally very reliable.

I was at Amazon to check when my free trial ended to see when I'd need to decide, and out of the blue was offered an additional month free. Which also puts me past Black Friday and whatever sales may be of interest. Nice.

Cool that you got another month. They offered me nothing to stay onboard.

I don't mind needing a $35 minimum for free shipping nor the longer shipping times. Another hit I took was losing 2% in rewards for Amazon purchases. Prime Visa offers 5% and Amazon Visa only offers 3%. No big deal.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It keeps getting worse with each passing year.

It's no longer Black Friday or Black Friday Week or Black Friday Month, it's now Black Friday Quarter (Oct~Dec).

That happened with Steam's biannual video game sales. It used to be that there were flash deals throughout the two week sales period where four games were discounted more heavily than normal. It was a lot of fun checking in regularly to see what was discounted next and picking up some games dirt cheap that you may have never considered otherwise.

Now everything's discounted at the max discount the entire sale and discounts aren't as steep because of it. It's boring. I still try to wait for the sales to buy stuff, but that's just my hoping to save money, not excitement.

Originally Posted by Apache

I also had one package, shipped Registered Mail, take two months to go from my location to Rochester, NY. I had to file two missing package claims.

Years ago I'd shipped a failed SCSI card back to the company for repair/replacement via USPS. The card had a lifetime warranty, so I insured it at the value that a new card would cost. Weeks later, the company still hadn't received it. I went to the post office to file a claim and the postmaster argued with me saying it wasn't actually worth the price of a new one because it was used. I pointed out repeatedly that the card had a lifetime free replacement/repair warranty.

They did finally let me file the claim, but then the card magically arrived a few days later. I remain convinced someone at that post office tried stealing it, then realized they'd get caught when I filed my claim and quickly put it back in the mail. After that I never used the local post office again, I'd go to the one at USPS' distribution center in Knoxville, TN since I was going to college at UT then. I was shipping a fair bit of stuff during that period.

I haven't had much trouble with the post office where I live now, just that one where I was living during college. And both my failed shipping incidents were definitely not the fault of the USPS. Amazon simply never shipped the items per their own tracker. They just pretended to by giving me delivery estimates.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Cool that you got another month. They offered me nothing to stay onboard.

I don't mind needing a $35 minimum for free shipping nor the longer shipping times. Another hit I took was losing 2% in rewards for Amazon purchases. Prime Visa offers 5% and Amazon Visa only offers 3%. No big deal.

The extra month was a surprise. It wasn't an incentive to keep me from canceling, like what Audible does--I hadn't decided what to do about Prime, but the offer was right there when I went to the section on managing my membership, no strings attached.

[tubemonkey]

Veterans Day Deals -- 11 Nov

Many businesses offer deals exclusively for veterans, reservists and active duty personnel on Veterans Day. The free meals are the primary offers most vets seek out. Since Veterans Day falls on a Saturday this year, some of the businesses are offering their free meals on Friday, while others have promos running even longer.

I'm linking an article from Military.com (see above) where they've listed most, if not all, of the offers available. Pay special attention to the dates and times to avoid missing out. The article also discusses the types of ID needed to qualify for the offers.

Happy Veterans Day

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Manabi

That happened with Steam's biannual video game sales. It used to be that there were flash deals throughout the two week sales period where four games were discounted more heavily than normal. It was a lot of fun checking in regularly to see what was discounted next and picking up some games dirt cheap that you may have never considered otherwise.

Now everything's discounted at the max discount the entire sale and discounts aren't as steep because of it. It's boring. I still try to wait for the sales to buy stuff, but that's just my hoping to save money, not excitement.


Years ago I'd shipped a failed SCSI card back to the company for repair/replacement via USPS. The card had a lifetime warranty, so I insured it at the value that a new card would cost. Weeks later, the company still hadn't received it. I went to the post office to file a claim and the postmaster argued with me saying it wasn't actually worth the price of a new one because it was used. I pointed out repeatedly that the card had a lifetime free replacement/repair warranty.

They did finally let me file the claim, but then the card magically arrived a few days later. I remain convinced someone at that post office tried stealing it, then realized they'd get caught when I filed my claim and quickly put it back in the mail. After that I never used the local post office again, I'd go to the one at USPS' distribution center in Knoxville, TN since I was going to college at UT then. I was shipping a fair bit of stuff during that period.

I haven't had much trouble with the post office where I live now, just that one where I was living during college. And both my failed shipping incidents were definitely not the fault of the USPS. Amazon simply never shipped the items per their own tracker. They just pretended to by giving me delivery estimates.

During Covid, I shipped a customer's ring to a gemstone company to match the stones. Shipped USPS Priority Express. USPS showed it was delivered. I called the company, and they had no record of it arriving. I filed a claim with USPS and the local post office that had delivered the package told me that it was delivered. The driver said he walked up to the door and set the package down and a brown-haired woman opened the door and picked up the package. My packages are always checked to get a signature. During Covid the drivers were supposed to get the customer's name and electronically enter it as delivered. The driver did not do this. The company sent me the video from the front of the building with a two-hour window on each side of the supposed delivery. During that time frame two employees went to lunch and returned, Fed Ex made a delivery and UPS made a delivery. No where did a USPS employee make a delivery. USPS refused when I asked to send them the video. I even contacted the fraud division and got no where.
Apache

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Do any of the warehouse clubs let you be a member, and shop online, without ever visiting the store?

But you do have to visit a Costco to sign up for a membership. Then you can buy online.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tch65721

I belong to both but think Sams is preferable for shopping online for everyday things. I like Sams because the premium membership ($110) includes extended "members only" hours and most everything shippable ships for free.
I can also shop and pay online, select a pickup time and they bring it out and load up the vehicle... all included in the fee. I also really like their app which works great and allows you to skip the checkout line if you do venture inside.

Costco online leaves a lot to be desired IMO. They have good prices on big ticket items but grocery shopping online doesn't really seem feasible. Also, prices seem to be more expensive online. On the plus side, if you actually go in the store they have a lot of high quality and organic items. I think Costco has higher quality food than Sams overall but they make you hunt for it. Yeah, they constantly shuffle crap around to make you look for it.

I don't find Costco moving things around. They have the same stuff in the same places. The only thing is, what you saw one day may not be there the next. That's the way it is with places like Costco, Sams's, & BJ's.

[tubemonkey]

Best Buy 3-Day Sale -- exp 12 Nov @ 11:59 pm CT

3-Day Sale

Featuring Black Friday Deals right now.

Also, My Best Buy Plus™ and My Best Buy Total™ members get more Black Friday Deals.

Sale ends 11/12/23 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Prices valid during, but may start before and end after, the sale dates. Select offers apply only to My Best Buy Plus™ and My Best Buy Total™ members. Limited quantities. No rainchecks. See Black Friday FAQs.

[tubemonkey]

BJ's Club Black Friday Ad Leaked

• 17~27 Nov -- Black Friday
  
• 23~27 Nov -- Doorbusters
  
• 26 N~14 D -- Gift More

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't find Costco moving things around. They have the same stuff in the same places. The only thing is, what you saw one day may not be there the next. That's the way it is with places like Costco, Sams's, & BJ's.

My experience with Costco is that the basic stuff doesn't more around. OTOH, if you are looking for the Tide pods that are on sale, they are likely to be sitting at the end of an aisle at least 3 aisles away from the aisle where laundry chemicals have lived for the last 10 years.