Black Friday

[DelayRepay]

Noting some of the media visual scenes, would it be right to assume that the British shopping public are somewhat different than their American cousins in the way that they behave at such events?

Yesterday some of the British public behavior was worse than a pack of animals that had escaped from the zoo. I don't know how Americans behave but if the purpose of Black Friday is to queue up outside Tesco in the middle of the night to have a fight, knock people over and save about £10 on out of date low quality goods, then America can keep it!

 

[starrymarkb]

Noting some of the media visual scenes, would it be right to assume that the British shopping public are somewhat different than their American cousins in the way that they behave at such events?

Not really, though there are usually some fatalities in the States (not sure if shooting or just crowds)

 

[Bakerloo]

Noting some of the media visual scenes, would it be right to assume that the British shopping public are somewhat different than their American cousins in the way that they behave at such events?

Not in some of the footage I've seen.

 

[Antman]

Yesterday some of the British public behaved like animals that had escaped from the zoo. I don't know how Americans behave but if the purpose of Black Friday is to queue up outside Tesco in the middle of the night to have a fight, knock people over and save about £10 on out of date low quality goods, then America can keep it!

No, no, no.....................................animals would never behave that badly

The problem in Manchester appeared to be Tesco not getting in enough security staff and when they couldn't cope they had to call the police to help them out..............every little helps!

 

[Aldaniti]

Ticky, tacky Tesco. A retailer I have avoided at all costs for the past few years, and yesterdays pictures help remind me of just a few of the reasons why.

 

[FQ]

Asda doing a 'Black Saturday' too.

http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/535225/stream_img.jpg
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-11-29/shops-brace-after-black-friday-for-saturday-deals/

After the effects of yesterday, another day is just plain stupid!

 

[Aldaniti]

It's quite pleasing to see that a few stores have come out and said that sometimes, just sometimes, there is some business that they don't actually want. From what I can see, a lot of what is being sold is tat, such as cheap TV brands you have never heard of. And on that subject, just what is this obsession with buying TV's in this country?! I bet most of those pictured have already got a perfectly functional TV in their house, whether they have a valid licence is another matter I suppose.:roll:

 

[starrymarkb]

It's quite pleasing to see that a few stores have come out and said that sometimes, just sometimes, there is some business that they don't actually want. From what I can see, a lot of what is being sold is tat, such as cheap TV brands you have never heard of. And on that subject, just what is this obsession with buying TV's in this country?! I bet most of those pictured have already got a perfectly functional TV in their house, whether they have a valid licence is another matter I suppose.:roll:

Those odd TVs (Polaroid & Blaupunkt etc) are rebadged Chinese imports. The 40 inch Polaroid one that ASDA were selling for £140 is normally on sale for £160, so not a big discount in reality. But for the last month at least one store has had one on sale for £500 (and they are not bothered about selling it at that price). Then they can claim a massive discount in all the other stores when the promotion started.

Sports Direct do this a lot, the small print says the higher prices were charged in their Shirebrook store (which is actually the Warehouse and I don't think the public are welcome!)

 

[CC 72100]

After the effects of yesterday, another day is just plain stupid!

But if it gets money in the tills for the retailer, and that's the only thing they're concerned about, and they've got second-quality stock lying around needing to be shifted, surely it's a no-brainer?!

 

[Greenback]

I take promotions and sales of this type with a huge pinch of salt. I tend to ignore the claims of huge price cuts, what matters to em is whether I need an item, and the price that's being charged for it at the time I want it.

 

[CC 72100]

I take promotions and sales of this type with a huge pinch of salt. I tend to ignore the claims of huge price cuts, what matters to em is whether I need an item, and the price that's being charged for it at the time I want it.

I'm much the same - the current price at the end of the day is the only one that matters, given that that is the price I will end up paying for the item.

 

[455driver]

No, no, no.....................................animals would never behave that badly

Quite agree with this, but the bit below, oh dear!

The problem in Manchester appeared to be Tesco not getting in enough security staff and when they couldn't cope they had to call the police to help them out..............every little helps!

So you think the public behaving in that manner is normal and acceptable do you? :roll:
But this is completely at odds with what you wrote above!
The problem was with the neanderthals queueing up pure and simple!

 

[GB]

I don't know how Americans behave but if the purpose of Black Friday is to queue up outside Tesco in the middle of the night to have a fight, knock people over and save about £10 on out of date low quality goods, then America can keep it!

The Amercians are insane. Last year a woman maced a group of people so she got get the deal (police were obviously then involved) and a few years ago a Walmart employee was killed by being continuously trampled on during the rush.

 

[Butts]

I take promotions and sales of this type with a huge pinch of salt. I tend to ignore the claims of huge price cuts, what matters to em is whether I need an item, and the price that's being charged for it at the time I want it.

Dreams and DFS must be the prime proponents in this area with their "perma-sales"

 

[DelayRepay]

No, no, no.....................................animals would never behave that badly

I've changed it now.

 

[Ash Bridge]

I was just wondering if our near neighbours in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany or indeed the rest of Europe,are witnessing the same same scenes that we have?

 

[bussnapperwm]

We've still got cyber Monday to go!

 

[deltic]

Given that we've gone four pages without it, a reference to the actual source of the name could be useful.

Black Friday marked the time of the year when retailers would be 'in the black' after having made losses from July 1 through to that point. Thanksgiving being a holiday on a Thursday, it made for a good chance for retailers to have a promotion on the Friday as people would be likely to take a day off (to bridge between Thanksgiving and the Saturday, making it a four day weekend) and be free to do lots of shopping

Things have changed since it first came about (for example, the US fiscal year now starts on 1 October instead of 1 July, and businesses can now choose their own fiscal year) but the point still remains that the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the high point of the year for retailers.

If you don't want Black Friday in the UK, stop buying stuff from the USA.

This is a bit of an urban myth - the term Black Friday originated in Philadelphia where it related to the congestion caused by people going to the sales on their day off after Thanksgiving.

The media seemed to have made up the story about it relating to retailers moving from the red to the black. Most stores will make a high proportion of their profits in the run up to Christmas but few could survive if they were loss making for 11 months of the year.

I fail to understand the logic of Black Friday sales as operated by some stores - if you are offering 20% of all goods in store as some were - this suggests to the shopper that prices are 20% higher than they should be (presumably the store is still making a profit on its discounted goods) or that the shop has stocked itself full of goods it cant shift.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Is there nothing in law that can be used against those stores who did not provide enough internal security both to ensure both safety for their customers that they have sought to attract by the pre-advertising and to ensure public order was maintained? It is said that a particular Tesco store in the Manchester area had called out police support at a time of night when the police resources were sorely needed in the city centre. Will any stores who called for police support be billed for the services of those police officers?

 

[455driver]

It is said that a particular Tesco store in the Manchester area had called out police support at a time of night when the police resources were sorely needed in the city centre. Will any stores who called for police support be billed for the services of those police officers?

More importantly will any of the morons the Police were called out to deal with actually be charged with anything instead of the normal 'released without charge' that is the reason people act the tw@ on a Friday or Saturday night, because they know they will get away with it, in fact some people treat a night in the cells as a free hotel room they even get breakfast coz it is their oomun roits innit!

 

[12CSVT]

No doubt many people were appalled at Friday's events, such as those idiots fighting over a television (seen in post #18).

Worse to come, in three weeks is Black Eye Friday, so called because the Friday before Christmas is the worst day of the year for drink related violence according to police statistics.

 

[jon0844]

Tesco and Asda each sourced stock especially for Black Friday so could easily make up any retail price they wanted. Many others would have done the same, as it's the stuff that gets people in the store to hopefully clear the place out like there's a storm coming (you always need a new TV, toys, games console etc if there's a storm - not food).

Me? I just went to John Lewis that was very busy but still civilised and got £100 off the new iMac. Probably the only day you'll get any proper discount on brand new, current, Apple products.

I also think we can lay the blame at Walmart (Asda) for trying to bring Black Friday to the UK, not Amazon. I say this from memory so might be wrong, but I remember these sales from longer ago than sales online. Of course Amazon now do deals all the time, but when they do any additional discounts at least it doesn't mean people starting to riot to get them.

 

[muz379]

Quite agree with this, but the bit below, oh dear!



So you think the public behaving in that manner is normal and acceptable do you? :roll:
But this is completely at odds with what you wrote above!
The problem was with the neanderthals queueing up pure and simple!

The shoppers behaving in the manner they did acted in a completely disgraceful manner and should be ashamed of themselves . The blame for their actions rests soley on their shoulders , nobody made them act like that .

But as far as I am concerned Tesco also needs to also take a look at itself for whipping these people up into such a frenzy then setting them loose on each other and its staff . What store Manager in their right mind looked through the doors/shutters etc and saw the baying mob outside and then decided to disregard the safety of their staff and the safety of these customers and just slide the doors open and let them all rush in like a pack of animals .Knowing full well there wasn't enough tat for them to all get their hands on.

Quite a few Asda stores had similar black friday events however they drafted in extra security and staff and only let a certain number of customers in at a time because they knew about the potential for trouble . Maybe this is informed by Asdas ownership by walmart and the negative publicity fatalities at their American black Friday events have had on the company . But they certainly seemed to have the events better managed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Me? I just went to John Lewis that was very busy but still civilised and got £100 off the new iMac. Probably the only day you'll get any proper discount on brand new, current, Apple products.

so you too bought obsolete technology on "black friday" as well

 

[jon0844]

Despite an iMac having limitations on account of essentially being a laptop inside a big screen, I've had no complaints with my 2009 model that this is now replacing and should easily last another 5 years - or more. I say that as I doubt we'll see more than a 5K screen in the standard 27 inch model and I don't want anything bigger!

I already wanted the new iMac so had taken the decision when it was announced to wait as Apple always did discounts, which it didn't this year - but John Lewis did.

I'd never just go out to buy something on impulse because it's supposedly cheap, and as such I went into JL at 9am, got my receipt, had some breakfast, went to the collection point to pick it up and was home by 10am. It was a very pleasant experience and totally unlike Asda, Tesco etc.

 

[muz379]

Despite an iMac having limitations on account of essentially being a laptop inside a big screen, I've had no complaints with my 2009 model that this is now replacing and should easily last another 5 years - or more. I say that as I doubt we'll see more than a 5K screen in the standard 27 inch model and I don't want anything bigger!

I was jesting , Im actually writing this on my Macbook pro that I bought in 2010 and is still going strong . Only thing Ive had to replace is the charger which was done under my apple care when it was 2 years old . The one I have now is on its way out But the laptop itself still has another few years in it before I even start to think about replacing it .

More than can be said for the Dell laptop I had before this which was in two distinct separate pieces after just 18 months of ownership .

The specs might be slightly obsolete even when I bought it . But I cant fault the build quality . and for what I use it for its more than adequate .

 

[jon0844]

I saw the smiley, but thought I'd give my reasons anyway. I need to justify to myself (and the wife) why I spent £1800 on a new computer!

I also wanted to say again about how good John Lewis was, and I forgot that they also said that they'd match other Black Friday sale prices too. But, given Asda and Tesco were selling no-name products (albeit branded Polaroid or Blaupunkt) it's obvious that John Lewis wasn't selling most of what the supermarkets were trying to palm off on idiots as bargains.

Any genuine product (e.g. Xbox, some Sony mobile phones and tablets, Google Chromecast) being discounted was likely discounted by no more than 10% or perhaps even less. Indeed, my iMac was only 5% off (but even that's still good for Apple!).

 

[muz379]

I saw the smiley, but thought I'd give my reasons anyway. I need to justify to myself (and the wife) why I spent £1800 on a new computer!

I also wanted to say again about how good John Lewis was, and I forgot that they also said that they'd match other Black Friday sale prices too. But, given Asda and Tesco were selling no-name products (albeit branded Polaroid or Blaupunkt) it's obvious that John Lewis wasn't selling most of what the supermarkets were trying to palm off on idiots as bargains.

Any genuine product (e.g. Xbox, some Sony mobile phones and tablets, Google Chromecast) being discounted was likely discounted by no more than 10% or perhaps even less. Indeed, my iMac was only 5% off (but even that's still good for Apple!).

Hahaha It indeed took some justifying to myself when I parted with £850+£49 apple care for my mac book (student discount ) But 4 years on and its still going strong . more than can be said for any other laptop Ive owned and many that friends have owned and it has been used a lot . The battery life on this 4 year old machine is still better than the battery life of a HP laptop a friend of mine purchased brand new not that long ago .

Yeah the offers on Xboxes and Playstations weren't that good , they just bundled games or downloadable content credit with them and you have to ask yourself are the games really worth £60 a pop anyway .

As for the Tesco/Asda TV's , like I said earlier in the thread tesco and asda just try and make the screens as big as possible for as a cheap as possible . However the result of a £89/£99 32Inch tv is that you are only getting a 720p set which IMO is pointless

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Me? I just went to John Lewis that was very busy but still civilised and got £100 off the new iMac. Probably the only day you'll get any proper discount on brand new, current, Apple products.

I sense another discerning shopper. We went to the John Lewis store at Cheadle Royal on Saturday which is only a fairly short car ride away to buy Christmas presents for the younger of our grandchildren and the store was filled with the usual well-behaved people enjoying the shopping experience.

 

[Butts]

I sense another discerning shopper. We went to the John Lewis store at Cheadle Royal on Saturday which is only a fairly short car ride away to buy Christmas presents for the younger of our grandchildren and the store was filled with the usual well-behaved people enjoying the shopping experience.

Paul, was it your Butlers day off that necessitated your having to convey yourself to the said John Lewis in order to purchase the aforementioned merchandise

 

[jon0844]

Our butler was sent to Asda. You might have seen him on the news fighting with the nanny over a £50 TV...

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