[USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before Black/Brick Friday

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calvinwashere2
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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by calvinwashere2 » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:12 pm

For me, it was just an "OK" experience. My discount was also just 10%, one lady got 20% and she was the guest (not that there is anything wrong with that...just saying it was few and far in between). About 10 of the 25 showed up and actually people were let in before 9AM. When I got there I already saw several people inside and one guy had a big haul ready to leave. They didn't give out PABs at the store I went unless you bought $75 or more. No dented boxes or any other big discount which was a bit of a disappointment. I thought for sure they would have something extra for those so loyal to them. I did however manage to get Set 1 because they had extras of those and the tried to hog as many as she can but fortunately for others she was limited to 5 like everything else. Would have been nice to grab something better than 10% off, but getting the PAB and free set for spending over $99 at least made it worth going. I agree that the lanyard would have been nice if had something Lego on them instead of just being red and hanging that around our neck felt a little silly.
Last edited by calvinwashere2 on Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by eliminator » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:19 pm

BrickUpdate wrote:I'd love to see photos of That Guy's haul! Congrats!
yea, me too!

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by that guy » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:28 pm

So it's crazy to me how different each store handled all the 'freebies' and other items. Let me see if I can chronicle the variety of things that were found based on this forum and others I'm on:

PAB Box at the door: Some stores got a freebie to fill today while other had no freebie and no boxes were allowed to be filled at other stores.

PAB Box for $75: Some stores limited 1 per customer, other honored 1 per $75 spent

Holiday set #1: Some stores had them for sale, others had zero (understandable but still a variance)

Holiday set #2: All stores had them but some sold them and others didn't

Open Boxes: Some had them, some didn't (normal operation in the stores but still a variance)

Discount Cards: Some stores handed them out at the door (ideal situation), and some waited until the register and caused extra delays.

Just my observations. :crazy:

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by vman100 » Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:53 am

That's about right. I will note that the regional manager was at our store (Tysons Corner VA) and he recently fired all the previous manager staff (who were awesome) and brought in a new team - so our store was a bit more strict about some of the policies I think because of his presence...the new manager already knows us and usually cuts us some slack but he was pretty rigid on this event.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by zztoy » Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:11 am

Missed the event. Actually misread the invitation and thought it was this Friday. Went to store last Sunday and found this out. I was #1 on list. The individual allowed me to get the 2 of 2 set if I purchased something over $100 plus pick a brick box. I think most of this will be available this weekend anyway. I also bought the 1 of 2 XMAS set. I was told this was a very big event for Lego.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by that guy » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:25 pm

I realize this thread is all but dead, but now that the Black Friday ordeal is over I only have one thing to say. Thanks a freaking lot Lego for inviting me to a special event where I was supposed to get the "BF Deals early", and in fact got screwed by spending most of my money expecting that nothing new would pop up Friday that I didn't see on Saturday morning. And what do I find?? Every other yokel who didn't get invited actually got a better deal than anyone who did get invited. That's an F'd up message to send to those people who are supposed to be your best customers. What a crock of garbage that they went through all the effort only have half their guest lists actually show up (clearly the smarter ones), and now I find that I was a sucker for being one of those that did. Sure I had a chance to get a 50% (and consequently pulled one and spent a chunk of change), but so did all the other people who showed on on BF PLUS they got the killer deals to boot and most stores were stacking the savings. I hope they get their act together next year and create a truly unique event where there's actually a reason for people to show up besides a fancy lanyard.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by vynsane » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:32 pm

Those are all valid points - did you purchase any of the sets that were discounted this past weekend? If so, I would contact customer service and see to the possibility of a refund for the difference.
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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by that guy » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:42 pm

Honestly I might have picked up a couple, but it's not worth the hassle and I'm sure their official position is that the offer didn't stack anyways. It's just the principle of the whole thing. I feel like a tool for believing they were actually going to showcase the entire BF showcase of products and pricing for the invited VIP's.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by natelite » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:55 pm

i almost fell for it, but thankfully tru had my money that weekend, so i decided to sleep in instead. heh heh...

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by sidersdd » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:59 pm

I agree that the 25% off sets should have been available for that price that day at the event. The store manager has asked for feedback and I plan to provide it.

That being said, I did enjoy the event. I wasn't expecting much. It was a good morning to chat with other AFOLs while filling a PaB holiday box. It was an extra opportunity to pull a 50% off. And I was able to get PaB cases for 10% off. I didn't buy any sets that day. Just the PaB cases and some of the holiday ornaments.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by drtabo » Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:15 pm

that guy wrote:Honestly I might have picked up a couple, but it's not worth the hassle and I'm sure their official position is that the offer didn't stack anyways. It's just the principle of the whole thing. I feel like a tool for believing they were actually going to showcase the entire BF showcase of products and pricing for the invited VIP's.
Without mentioning anything, you are accepting reality, although they might be more than accommodating. It's up to you if you want to feel like a tool, but I think you should give them a chance to make it right.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by sadowsk1 » Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:31 pm

that guy wrote:I realize this thread is all but dead, but now that the Black Friday ordeal is over I only have one thing to say. Thanks a freaking lot Lego for inviting me to a special event where I was supposed to get the "BF Deals early", and in fact got screwed by spending most of my money expecting that nothing new would pop up Friday that I didn't see on Saturday morning. And what do I find?? Every other yokel who didn't get invited actually got a better deal than anyone who did get invited. That's an F'd up message to send to those people who are supposed to be your best customers. What a crock of garbage that they went through all the effort only have half their guest lists actually show up (clearly the smarter ones), and now I find that I was a sucker for being one of those that did. Sure I had a chance to get a 50% (and consequently pulled one and spent a chunk of change), but so did all the other people who showed on on BF PLUS they got the killer deals to boot and most stores were stacking the savings. I hope they get their act together next year and create a truly unique event where there's actually a reason for people to show up besides a fancy lanyard.
I'm not glad that you feel you were screwed and that Lego took advantage of you, but I never liked the idea of an invitation only event for Lego fans in general. Initially I was jealous because I think I buy a fair amount of Lego and live within a reasonable distance to their Lego store, I just don't buy a lot through them, usually through other places. After I saw what lego had planned and how it was executed I am glad I wasn't invited. I think everyone should have had the exact same access to deals which turned out to be the case in the end. What is VIP VIP anyways?

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by MitchMitchem » Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:45 pm

FWIW...I did get a 20% "scratch off" on Black Friday...but the manager was a total * about not letting me go back for more sets. The discount DID stack with the 25% off sale which was nice, but I would have picked up a lot more than I did if I was able to spend time thinking about what I wanted.

I think the concept of "bring as much as possible to the checkout counter just in case you get more than 10%" is rather silly...and a waste of time for all the employees to have to put everything back.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by atmail35 » Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:10 pm

I agree that it is kind of lousy that the VIP event didn't include the sale items. However, if I really wanted these discounted items that badly, I would have made another trip or ordered on-line. I still was happy they had the event so I didn't feel obligated to fight the crowds on Black Friday.

I thought about going back to see if I got a 20% or 50% pull tab discount, but to be honest didn't feel that I needed to. There always seems to be a better deal down the road and I think you have to be happy with what you got at the time or be willing to re-buy/return or whatever.

I bought the Imperial Flagship with just a 10% off coupon back over the summer and it still sits unopened in my basement, but I made the choice to get it at that time and I guess I have to live with it!

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by Luciant » Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:44 pm

In all honest, I would STILL be happy in your situation Thatguy.... the Birmingham Lego store wasn't giving out any of the peel offs... they just gave a flat 10% off the total purchase. I'm sure that store was not the only one to do that, so in essence, your VIP early shopping gave you a chance at a 50% discount that a lot of people never even got a chance to get...
I have mixed feelings about new releases: I can't wait to see and get the new sets... but I can't figure out where I'm gonna put them or store them.

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Re: [USA] Special Invitation for VIP Members to shop before

Post by that guy » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:15 pm

Luciant wrote:In all honest, I would STILL be happy in your situation Thatguy.... the Birmingham Lego store wasn't giving out any of the peel offs... they just gave a flat 10% off the total purchase. I'm sure that store was not the only one to do that, so in essence, your VIP early shopping gave you a chance at a 50% discount that a lot of people never even got a chance to get...
Yeah I know and trust me I'm grateful I did as well as I did. But I'm just talking as an overview of how the event was promoted and run. Every store literally seemed to have its own rules not to mention TLGs blatant disregard in actually giving all the BF deales as they said. That's all. All little consistency across the board wouldn't kill them for a sale as big as this. Please don't take this as petty b****ing, it's honestly just constructive criticism for next time.

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