Denied by Wal-Mart
Posted by marshall Tue, 14 Dec 2004 08:30:00 GMT
It's just past 1AM here, and I just got back from Wal-Mart. For the past two years, I've gone to Wal-Mart for the midnight release of the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Collector's Box Set, which have a little statue and a bonus disc in addition to the Extended Edition discs. Wal-Mart has generally run some special deal for those who show up at midnight where the price is lower than Best Buy by a couple of dollars, and it's kinda fun to hang out with the group of fans that shows up.
But tonight I walked away empty-handed.
This was the final Lord of the Rings event: the release of the Return of the King Extended Edition. Tonight was the last midnight release, and Wal-Mart completely ruined it. Lara and I both managed to stay awake until midnight (successfully fighting off the first call of the bed at 10PM), and we both went to Wal-Mart to pick up the collector set. I stood in line until midnight, when they opened the boxes. Lots and lots of the normal RotK Extended Edition boxes...but no collector sets. Those of us in line asked about the collector sets. The Wal-Mart employees stared at us blankly and walked away, presumably to go check. Waiting...waiting...twenty minutes go by...someone in line goes to see if he can get a status update...finally an employee returns with a few more boxes. They're not the collector sets, they're the trilogy boxes. One girl in line begins talking about how she has a final in the morning. The guy next to me says he already ordered the normal Extended Edition from some New York company that pre-sold them, and is here to collect the final statue. And the Wal-Mart employees say...
"Well, it's not on the sign."
They have a sign by the video area showing a few of the new releases, and the collector set isn't listed on it. But then, neither is the normal RotK Extended Edition that they just put out. Never mind that it's advertised on the Wal-Mart web site as being in stock. Never mind that for the past two years the collector sets have been released at midnight (with in-store promos no less). Never mind that Best Buy and nearly every other major DVD vendor is advertising it. There are around 20 people who have been standing there for close to an hour now waiting for them to bring it out, but it's not on the sign, so they won't even go look for it. And they don't even apologize. "You'll have to come back in the morning," they say.
So tomorrow I'll go get it at Best Buy. And I don't think I'll be going back to Wal-Mart anytime soon.
Welcome to the light side of the force... Wal-Mart is a terrible, terrible place. You'll be happier on this side. I'm sorry you were unable to acquire the movie. Legolas (probably REALLY talking about Wal-Mart): "The way is shut... it was made by those who are dead... and the dead keep it... the way is shut."
I couldn't be happier for you, Marshall. Now of course I'm not happy that you had to go through this and walk away frustrated, but I am glad that there are two more souls in this decaying land who have seen this light. Wal*Mart is EVIL. They are a horrible company that are microcosmic of all that is wrong with America. Phase 1: Build a Super Center (TM) in every 20 square mile plot of land in America. Phase 2: Offer untouchable prices, drawing droves of automatons. Phase 3: Drive the local shops out of business. Phase 4: With all competition gone, raise prices and laugh at the customers who've nowhere else to go. Celebrate by eating babies and shooting puppy dogs. Phase 2 is complete, phase 3 is nearing completion. Help prevent phase 4 by fighting phase 3!
Well, I'm not sure I'm ready to join the "only local shops" group...I did end up getting it from Best Buy, after all. It's more a matter of service. In the case of Wal-Mart, the disadvantages of the poor service there have outweighed the advantages of low prices for me. Best Buy hasn't yet pushed me to that point. Unfortunately, the local shops can often be even worse: inconvenient hours, tiny selection, *and* high prices. Might as well order it online in that case. If Phase 4 ever happens, there will no doubt be a Phase 5, where an enterprising group of people finds a way to provide better service at lower prices. Then they become successful, start to expand, and the cycle begins again. The nice thing is that when it comes to stores like Wal-Mart, it's not like there's any real difficulty for the customer to start buying from a different store. It's not like cell phones or software where the company can lock you in.
I'm so sorry to hear of your disappointment. I'm not your typical Wal-Mart shopper... however, this year I did make an effort to patronize them in opposition to Target. Wal-Mart was most magnanamous in their support of the Salvation Army, and Target shut them out. So, I decided to show my appreciation this year to Wal-Mart. Small businesses will always continue to be the backbone of US business -- viva la enterprise! Oh, and Happy New Year, too!