darkSpyro

Does anybody think it is possible that Activision is having supply problems with this latest wave release? Just seems strange that Target stores are not getting more supply in more quickly.

Quote: SkylanderPrime

Does anybody think it is possible that Activision is having supply problems with this latest wave release? Just seems strange that Target stores are not getting more supply in more quickly.

As lesty communicated....the quantities with Target were negotiated by Activision. Secondly, Activision could be having some short term stock issues, but it also could be manufactured to get people interested in the "chase". Last year come Mar/April everything was in full swing again.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Skylanders Dad

#1: Electronics has its own management. These people, as well as associates, are typically required to be knowledgeable about the products their dealing with.

I think you grossly overestimate the requirements for working in these areas. I can't speak for Target (aside from some of the employees I've dealt with), but even Electronics is staffed with with barely-above-minimum-wage employees who have likely received little-to-no specialized training.

Quote:

#2: Every one of you commenting knows exactly how ridiculous the Skylanders frontage/shelf space is in these stores.

Yup. Which is why when managers see empty pegs (which they were right before/after Christmas), they see their sales going down, down, down. Oh, what's this? We have these cases of merchandise to fill this entire aisle of pegs in the backroom? We're holding them for what? To sell them? Oh. How about we do that then...

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#3: We're YEARS into this thing now. Any reasonably informed manager of the electronics department taking 30 seconds to look at the upcoming ad could see this coming

Here's the thing though... I'd be willing to bet that 98% of the people at store level involved in the decisions that lead to the figures being put out early care less about Skylanders than I care about Miley Cyrus' next CD. Likely, they look at the ad, they see they're on sale, and don't really understand that they actually had such a deal going on... they just think "Oh, Skylanders are in the ad... again..." I wouldn't even be surprised if some of them thought something along the lines of "I don't know why they even put these in the ad - they're gonna sale no matter what... why waste the space?" Heck, think how many Target and Walmart employees have no idea about their own exclusive figures...

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#4: Communication to follow what should have been informed delegation. Honestly, what would it take to communicate this? A couple minutes of chat between the department manager and the associates working the weekend? Tops?

Communication. The number one challenge faced by every business - no matter how big or small.

In 2006, the world's largest retailer found themselves with an interesting problem on their hands... It seems they were selling a t-shirt with some pretty henious imagery on it. This story made national news headlines and was a pretty big deal. Way bigger than little plastic toys.

And yet, in spite of their best efforts, it seemed the company just couldn't get it communicated to the stores to get these horrible shirts off the sales floor. It was bad enough that the United States Congress got involved, asking the company to report to the US Government what steps they were taking to remove the product from stores. Yet, 62 weeks after the initial recall, the shirts will *still* spotted for sale inside of a store.

Communication - it's what sank the Titanic.

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But it is aggravating that folks on here can't just be annoyed and vent about an obviously annoying situation without other folks ragging on them for it.

I think there's some of us who just got tired of all the overly dramatic venting... and have often tried to explain why this isn't that big of a deal and isn't something to get worked up over. And we just like to hear ourselves type.

You post just gave me this vision of some Target store manager doing a walkthrough and seeing a bunch of empty skylander racks in electronics, calling over an electronics manager and/or associate and saying "What is this? Why is this all empty?" The electronics associate saying "Well, they all sold out in the holiday rush." And the store manager barking "well go check and find some more inventory in the back and fix it before I get back from lunch." Associate goes back to look and finds wave 3 box(es) and shelves them...within 30 minutes all of it is sold out...Manager comes back from lunch and asks why it wasn't fixed. Associate tries to explain...but just shrugs, giving up. Like one of those Beetle Bailey and the Sarge moments. LOL

The Walmart story is funny and sad.

This thread is the definition of "First World Problems".

I've been on both sides of that story you pictured.

Quote: dinoah2005

Quote: Himewad

People keep whining about these retail stores, saying its bad management or whatever. You need to stop. Stores like Target get such a tiny percent of their profits from Skylanders, THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE ABOUT SKYLANDERS AS MUCH AS YOU DO. Once you all realize this, you will sleep better at night. You'll get them eventually. If you don't get them on day one, it's not the end of the world.

This post just gives more proof of "Bait and Switch". They "Don't care" so lets take advantage of the situation.
You are right, It is not the end of the world but that also doesn't mean that it is right to advertise something and not have it during the week of the sale. Releasing them early so that they are not available for the sale is, lets just say Poor Management, on the boarder of False Advertising and as close to Bait and Switch as you can get.

Technically, the ad did not say they would have any wave 3 figures - it just says Skylanders. It had a picture of wave 3 figures, but we have seen many times before that the print ads don't necessarily show what will be in stock, unless it specifically says so by naming the figure.

Just called 2 separate target's and they both said that they never received any of the target exclusive characters. Target placed an add, maybe not specifically stating but at least implying that these toys would be purchasable at your local target store without even sending the product to all of their stores? How is that not false advertisement? Target is intentionally misleading it's customers without intent to make good on its promise of exclusive product. No where in the add does it state that product will only be available in some areas.

I know from my Christmas experiences that UPS has had some serious issues this holiday season. My Aunt sent us package with an estimated delivery date of December 11th. It showed up on the 30th. I bought something off of Amazon a bit before Christmas and that delivery date was missed as well. Internet is filled with similar stories.

I'm not saying Target did or did not do anything, but I do know that shipments may not have even arrived through no fault of their own.

Quote: SkylanderPrime

Does anybody think it is possible that Activision is having supply problems with this latest wave release? Just seems strange that Target stores are not getting more supply in more quickly.

It's just the after Christmas run. Happens every year, shelves are full, then kids get the game and go nuts with the Christmas money. Stores are hesitant to over-stock, in case the run isn't as big lest they be stuck with tons of stock that won't move and takes a significant amount of shelf/storeroom space. It's a balancing act. My Target was way overstocked in the days leading up to Christmas, but in the few days after they are now wiped out - of everything except the traditional shelf warmers. Many parents will not buy many figures, and expect to have their kids select them after the holidays instead of trying to guess what they want most.

Also consider that inventory season is now upon us, restocks will come a bit more slowly for the next month as stores count up their inventory (shipments throw this off). Having overstuffed shelves means more to count and it takes longer. By February, things will return to normal.

Quote: Xzarnu

Just called 2 separate target's and they both said that they never received any of the target exclusive characters. Target placed an add, maybe not specifically stating but at least implying that these toys would be purchasable at your local target store without even sending the product to all of their stores? How is that not false advertisement? Target is intentionally misleading it's customers without intent to make good on its promise of exclusive product. No where in the add does it state that product will only be available in some areas.

Every store have received some shipment of the characters. I'm guessing these stores put them out early, and didn't realize they were on ad. In a perfect world, Activision would have given Target a huge supply of these characters to meet demand, but this wasn't the case. Most likely, they agreed to only give Target so many through this exclusive, and then promised other retailers "X" amount of wave 3 swappers to sell when the exclusive window is open...possibly as soon as a week from Saturday. Not making apologies or excuses, but I just urge people to not think that Target tried to use any kind of "bait and switch" to lure customers in. Products are only allowed to be advertised if inventory is sent to all stores (unless otherwise stated in the ad). Yes, I know it sucks that so many skylander fans can't get their hands on these characters ASAP, but hopefully it will be soon for those of you who haven't found them yet.

Quote: Skylanders Dad

Quote: DutRank

"Quantities limited; no rain checks"

This excuse might only hold water for a couple more days...My understanding is that Target will only get one more shipment in this week-towards the end of the week...My local got one Mon/Tues and it was all wave 2 guys. So their shelves are stocked with some skylanders, but neither of the advertised figures (stink and spy) have been anywhere near a Target with very very few exceptions at maybe a less frequently visited Target somewhere in the boondocks between Sunday and now (what we've learned here thanks to the magic of technology and this wonderful forum)...

So if nothing is doing for wave 3 in these next few days ...That means the entire circular's period would have literally zero stock of what has been advertised. "Quantities limited" very clearly implies that there will be...quantities...to limit. The fail will be with them...and if somebody pulled the "false advertising" card out...I would say that Target had it coming.

So you are at Target from open to close right? Did anyone ever think that maybe, just maybe, the Skylanders were there and you just missed out because someone else got to them earlier that day? Because you don't see them in stock means they were never in stock to begin with then.

And as someone already said, a few hundred people missing out on new Skylanders is the least of Target's worries. They already have 40 million people pissed off and another 40,000 who got unactivated gift cards for Christmas. Target doesn't care about skylanders right now.

Quote: DutRank

Quote: Skylanders Dad

Quote: DutRank

"Quantities limited; no rain checks"

This excuse might only hold water for a couple more days...My understanding is that Target will only get one more shipment in this week-towards the end of the week...My local got one Mon/Tues and it was all wave 2 guys. So their shelves are stocked with some skylanders, but neither of the advertised figures (stink and spy) have been anywhere near a Target with very very few exceptions at maybe a less frequently visited Target somewhere in the boondocks between Sunday and now (what we've learned here thanks to the magic of technology and this wonderful forum)...

So if nothing is doing for wave 3 in these next few days ...That means the entire circular's period would have literally zero stock of what has been advertised. "Quantities limited" very clearly implies that there will be...quantities...to limit. The fail will be with them...and if somebody pulled the "false advertising" card out...I would say that Target had it coming.

So you are at Target from open to close right? Did anyone ever think that maybe, just maybe, the Skylanders were there and you just missed out because someone else got to them earlier that day? Because you don't see them in stock means they were never in stock to begin with then.

And as someone already said, a few hundred people missing out on new Skylanders is the least of Target's worries. They already have 40 million people pissed off and another 40,000 who got unactivated gift cards for Christmas. Target doesn't care about skylanders right now.

This question is ridiculous considering the tidal wave of information we can get on these waves just by scouting this forum, reddit, ebay and the like.

However, I can answer that I have been to Target: Sunday morning at open...Monday morning at open...Monday afternoon at around 6 PMish...Tuesday morning...Wednesday morning...and this morning.

On Sunday-with the kid, I was informed that all the new ones were gobbled up by a Scalper midday Friday. There was one other family there...Mom/Dad and 2 kids...and man was Mom pissed. LOL Was told a new shipment would be coming in Monday, try then...

Monday morning (without my kid on the way to work-since I pass Target on the way right at opening time no less)...Nothing on the shelves. I didn't bother asking anyone cuz, well, it was morning and I was going to work...Just checked and left.

Monday afternoon after work (upon my kid's request cuz "check monday" was what the employee said)...Went back...Got the 4-1-1 that shipment would come in that night and be out by tomorrow...so come first thing or else the collectors would beat us to them...HOWEVER, the (very helpful) associate informed me he could not verify what swappers were in the shipment, so he was disclaiming basically "If the new ones aren't in there, don't come looking at me"....I don't blame him for disclaiming after witnessing rage mom Sunday. LOL

Tuesday morning...Shelves are stocked with the new shipment....All wave 2. My kid was like "COME ON MAN."

Wednesday morning: Nada...Associate was there and my kid wanted me to ask..."Come back Friday and try."

Today: Checked anyway because some peeps on here have said Thursday is a shipping day...didn't ask anyone...just in and out real quick on the way to work "just in case" since all it costs me is a couple minutes of time.

Tomorrow morning I try again...On my own. Being off on Tues/Wed I had my little one wake me up BOTH DAYS to go hunting for Stink Bomb the magnificent...I'm calling him Waldo at this point.

Add all of this personal anecdotal to absolutely NOBODY posting anything here or anywhere I've seen online about getting Wave 3 Sunday forward...I am fully 100% sure that there was no actual stock this week to speak of thus far.

*shrugs*

The best part of this-Besides the fact that we'll be nicknaming Stink Bomb "Waldo"-is each time, cuz I am feeling worse and worse about this...I offer Zoo Lou or Roller Brawl (2 skylanders always in stock that we don't have) as a consolation prize and my kid keeps refusing them. LOL Poor Zoo Lou. I get Roller Brawl...cuz, well, the girl thing...But Zoo Lou just ain't got that special something I guess. I see him languishing everywhere.

Just for future trips, Thursday is not a truck day for stock. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the days to check. The only stores that get stock trucks everyday are 24hr Targets and some Super Targets.

Thanks for the heads up. It's tricky cuz I have this fear that they'll do the midday thing again on me...and I'm morning or evening guy due to work (and Skylanders Mom told me never again after the Ninjini TRU event debacle last year)...So last week they did that on Friday...This week they did the morning after.

Oh...I forgot to add that I went in by myself last week on Friday morning on the way to work...because peeps here were saying they got them early. Forgot to add that salt in the wound. Missed 'em by a few hours since they were put out midday.

This has been a truly special hunting week. Eye brawl last year has nothing on this one. Gamestop, how I adore thee for coming through that one glorious day last January...

It's not the fact that they didn't have them that bothered me (well it is, but I don't blame them for that) It's the fact that they either NEVER got them or they have boxes in the back and refuse to look for them. I showed up Sunday morning prior to opening. They shouldn't post "Get them first" in the ad if that isn't possible.

There was no street date on the swappers. My Target told me they did not have them on Saturday, called another one and they had all three hanging on the pegs. The manager verified there was no street date so he sold them to me on Saturday. You all have to remember most of these employees are high school non college kids who really know nothing or don't care to be informed. They are just there for the paycheck.

There are probably a dozen different places where 'failure' could have accorded. I'm sure some are potentially Target's fault,some Activision, and possibly some third party distribution/manufacturer etc. From the customer standpoint, we're just guessing.

I ended up finding all 3 on that Sunday on my 4th trip to a Target. The first Target really ticked me off as they didn't have 3 of any Swappers (much less the wave 3) in stock for the B2G1 sale.

I wasn't a fan of Target for Skylanders before and definitely not now. I know this issue isn't all their fault, but they still don't have decent stock and still are likely to be less knowledgeable than TRU. I'll get Nitro Freeze Blade, but nothing else. And I really hope they don't get another exclusive. I know other stores screw it up too, but this was not good at all.

One target by me in levittown, ny has a sign up that says they cant look in the back for specific skylanders and they refuse to do it everytime i tried asking last yr for giants. I did find 1 stink bomb which i took, son took spyrise and wife took rumble rouser. Still looking for stink bomb for my son cause now he wants him to, no luck today at all. I did however find a series 2 bash which i think might have been resealed and returned as an xmas return as he just doesn't look right, at least my brother was happy to finally get him as he has no bash at all.

i think someone here posted that it is in there Policy if something is not out front that they must look in the back for what you are asking for and to just mention that it is there policy to a manager.

Mention "It's your policy!" when you're not even sure what the policy is?

Don't do that....

This morning was a bust. The Target employees are laughing at me now at this point. "4th time's the charm"....Come on Target employees...If yer gonna mock me, get it right...This is the 8th time.

inb4 peeps start posting about midday shipments today and I'm snookered again.

Never again.

Every parent reading this...Trust me...NEVER inform your children about release dates or have them hunt with you. Or, if you do, have the (quoting Major League 2) "mobbles" to say no.

Honestly, I can only blame myself. Thinking I was being a cool dad and showing my kid all the trailers on the computer for the year...I should have seen it coming that the ones in that freaking "You can do it like this...You can do it like that" announcement video would plague my existence. Waldo the farting skunk may win this round...but the rumblings about the ice skating skylander will be silenced. *reminds self to go home today and tell my little one that the last 3 won't be released until July*

Awe--laughing at you? I'm sorry. I'm not even trying to find them at target. It seems so unlikely that I am just going to wait until there is plenty of stock. Good luck....

Quote: Skylanders Dad

Every parent reading this...Trust me...NEVER inform your children about release dates or have them hunt with you. Or, if you do, have the (quoting Major League 2) "mobbles" to say no.

Honestly, I can only blame myself. Thinking I was being a cool dad and showing my kid all the trailers on the computer for the year...I should have seen it coming that the ones in that freaking "You can do it like this...You can do it like that" announcement video would plague my existence. Waldo the farting skunk may win this round...but the rumblings about the ice skating skylander will be silenced. *reminds self to go home today and tell my little one that the last 3 won't be released until July*

I learned this long ago. I only tell him of releases if I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt they will be there. The look on his face is the same if he is at the house or in the store, and this way my wife and I can take turns being the hero (she doesn't participate much in the hunt). I've really only had a close call once due to this, when a Best Buy employee claimed they didn't have New Super Mario 2 on release day (not having the new Mario game on the release day? Yeah, sure...). The look on his face was heartbreaking. Fortunately, the department manager came up and saw him then went and personally found them. The only "release" of Skylanders I took him to was Dragon's Peak, and only then because I knew they had one with my name on it - and I was still a bit anxious over it. It helps to expect retail employee mistakes, then when they come through you are pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed when they don't come through. My TRU, for the most part, doesn't disappoint - but that doesn't mean I don't check at times if things that are dated get put out early - just to be sure.

It's much easier to get them when I can find them, then dole them out in due time when he has done something deserving. And a new figure simply coming out doesn't qualify for that. I almost always have a back stock put up for such events, even now - my wife and I agreed what I had gotten was too much for Christmas combined with other things, so we held some back for later. He usually finds out from friends when some things come out, but I'm almost always ahead of that curve and he knows that he doesn't get figures just because (well, every once in a while he does).

I learned this during giants with hotdog. told m son about him and everyday he asked is hotdog out...now i just find them in store and let him choose. he picked spyrise and is ok with waiting till his bday for stink bomb and rumble (thou if i do find stink bomb he prob will get him on little xmas.

I'm not going to comment any further on this, as I can't speak for Target or Activision.
The only thing I can say is this entire game is set up as a chase/hunt/collectible experience.
If it wasn't, Activision would just set up a firm release date for every character, have it available at all retailers, and not come out with any chase or color variants at all. Not making excuses for the current shortage of wave 3 swappers, but this isn't the first time it's been difficult finding a figure, and it won't be the last.

I believe it's true that they're supposed to check in back. Now, what the exact policy is word for word? I don't know. But I do know that if they know not all of them are out on the floor, they do check in back. They've always been like that at my local Target. They're trained to be helpful and to do all they can to help with things that may be difficult to find. Heck, when they haven't found something, even from a serious search of it both on the floor and in back, they say "Well, we can check at another Target" or "They might have it at ____ store (aka not Target)".

@Skylanderdad I honestly feel bad for you. Not only having such bad luck, but employees laughing at you? You can point out this behavior and anything else you don't like through verbal or written means. That just isn't ok. It's not acceptable behavior in any retail store to mock your customer. I've worked retail, and I know that's not allowed. The unfriendly reception you've received also isn't ok. They're supposed to help. If they're being completely uncooperative and unfriendly you can complain. You have the right to!

Now, we've had interesting points raised about all this. There could be trouble with UPS still. There could also be terrible weather problems. I live in a (thankfully) warmer climate and don't deal with a "high temp" of -10 this time of year. But I do know some of us do. There could be many different problems that have made a perfect storm of fail. We don't know. We're not in places to know. I realize there's frustration in not getting what you want when you want it, or when they dated it to be out. Fact is, this wasn't deception! Now I get that there are people throwing "False advertising" and "bait and switch" around, but neither apply here. They didn't put up those ads to pull you in and deny you a fig. If they did that, do you think they could get away with that?? Activision fines stores for breaking hard street dates. They're not gonna risk losing money because someone gets greedy. All stores tightly budget so they can maximize profits, but that goes back into the system to get more things to sell. If they lose money from a stupid mistake, that can hit them hard. It means the money they already invested in this or that inventory is now lost and they're in debt. Not good. Not smart. And if these toys are really "not important" to Target, why risk something like that over them? This wasn't intentional, or they'd have fired each employee who'd purpotrated it. They couldn't afford to keep them, if they take a hit like that. And if even us fans know about the fining policy, you can bet the stores do! Especially corporate!

Bait and switch involves showing something to customers, but actually giving them something else intentionally. Since they have no idea what's in a Skylander box until they open it, how would that work exactly? If they tried to open each and every box to seperate them into what they want to sell you and what they don't, they'd have a huge mess on their hands! And marking them to show which are the ones they "don't want to sell you"? No. That would take a ridiculous amount of time to do this. Time they need to use for stocking shelves, helping customers, and keeping the sales floor clean. Big stores just don't have the time (and during non-peak times) likely not the manpower to do that and take care of everything else. If as some of you say, they're only in it for the profits, then think about this: their profits would drop.

If they have parents coming in to get figs, they want them to be happy. Making them happy will not involve lies. Parents hate being manipulated about stuff for their kids. They want ___ item. They don't want someone to make it so their kid can't get ____ item. If they lied about ____ items and intentionally deceived, they'd lose customers. As a number of people have said "I won't go there again". How is this helping Target, if it's all a "big deception"? As anyone knows, if you find something you like, and are treated with respect, you'll want to get something else. You might look for alot of something elses. Considering that Skylanders run between $10 and $15 in the us standard, they'd be risking a much larger potential profit for a lower one. That's not sound business. A greedy business wouldn't do something that stupid! They would lose too much, to gain so little, and how is that helpful to greed?

I don't think Target is deceptive or greedy. I think they've bungled something, but it was accidental. Should they have done it better? Yes. Should things be changed to make it better? Of course! You can be part of that by telling them. Nothing will change if no one says there's a problem. This goes for anything in life.

I don't think there's a policy that they have to check in back. That's what the handhelds do. They can scan the shelf tag and see if there are any in the back.

Also, sometimes, folks do actually know what's in back without having to go back there and look every five seconds when someone asks...

Well, I can understand if they don't know sometimes. For instance, something could have just arrived and not be in their computer yet. But wouldn't they have to put it in there before you could buy it? That, and it depends on if they even have a handheld available to check. If they don't, then they'd have to go check. I've seen sometimes where they didn't have a single one in some areas. Usually it's a very busy day though. Like near Xmas.

I was able to get the three new swappers on the 29th. Another guy was there and got a set of three. We were both there when the store opened. There were none out and the guy asked about them. A very helpful target employee checked the back and came out with only one box. After she checked out the first guy she said to me as I was checking out I cannot believe this is all we got and I live in a big city.

Quote: DutRank

"Quantities limited; no rain checks"

Ah that great catch of a bait and switch, do you want to know why I enjoy that slogan so much? You have to actually have quantities to begin with. When you see an employee first hand actually abuse the system, maybe someday you will understand how much of it is the people that are working the department are a part of the problem. Out of 20 Target employee's do you want to know how many were actually just honest good people? 2.

Quote: TheLurk

Well, I can understand if they don't know sometimes. For instance, something could have just arrived and not be in their computer yet. But wouldn't they have to put it in there before you could buy it? That, and it depends on if they even have a handheld available to check. If they don't, then they'd have to go check. I've seen sometimes where they didn't have a single one in some areas. Usually it's a very busy day though. Like near Xmas.

yea the day i got mine i ask if they had got them in, because i had got one from another store so he ask could i bring it ion so he could use his scanner to see if he could see if there were any in the back. i brought it in and when he scanned it, it pulled up about 3 cases so he went to the back to get the ones it pulled and it was older wave 1 and wave 2 cases. I said no that is not the new ones so the scanner pulls the same thing for the new ones as the other wave swappers. So he went to put them back and when he came back he had another box. he said that this one had a W3 one it instead of W1 opened it and it was the new ones. He explained that both scan as the same thing so going in the back and actually looking does work since the W1,W2 and W3 are all mixed in together in the back so if they dont know what to look for then they just assume they are the same.

Quote: obidawsn

Do we complain that TRU falsely advertised when they continue to put Boomer in their ad?

I don't think the boomer adds have said that they are going to have boomer. The target add clearly states "At Target First! New Swappable Characters" and has the 2 of the 3 new ones pictured.


Quote: TheLurk

@7Habits I would also disagree with you. Mismanaging a sale can involve not getting the product to a store in a timely manner. If say, you have bad weather at your warehouse's location or their box's destinations, you can have some stores simply bare of that product. This is not a deceit. I don't think the stores you're referring to are actively trying to mislead by not getting product. They don't have any control over what Skylanders are sent to them. Indeed, they can't even tell what comes in until they crack open the box! It's in their best interest to stock the shelves with them. Bare shelves waste space. But Target (at least my local ones) tries to respect street dates and have products available for sales as well. An unhappy customer is a customer who won't return. This is not a conspiracy to make you unhappy. It's bad management of a sale, and there's no way it'll be good for anyone, customer or employee. When it comes down to it, the bad handling of this will be noted (especially if customers complain about it) and there will be words exchanged.

@obidawsn Didn't they also advertise Thumpback when he wasn't out yet too? >.>

I understand all the problems with logistics...the simple fact is some stores did not have the characters that were advertised during the sale period. I'm sure Target is not intentionally misleading customers, but they are also not accepting rain checks which doesn't do much to help customers. "Bait and Switch" is when something is advertised on purpose at a low price when the store doesn't actually have the product, and then they sell you a similar model at a higher price...so by definition and the law the swap force thing is probably not "False Advertising".
I will say that I think big chain stores get away with something close to "Bait and Switch" and as a consumer I feel it is done all the time and is pretty much the same thing but is like a loop hole that is used (advertising a product that they know will get people to come visit, when the supply of the advertised item is very small or non existent, knowing that you are likely to purchase other things while you are at the store) and they use the fact that they are big stores to get away with it. No one is going to challenge them on it because we all understand that weather, human error, supply...can affect why things didn't work out the way they were supposed to. The fact that they are not offering rain checks, when they never had the supply is shady. I'm sure they don't mind having several thousand irritated, understanding customers, that visited the store 7 times during the week to buy skylanders that they never had, who instead of skylanders, bought icees, pretzels, clothes, food, cosmetics, toys,...
I'm sure I'll shop at Target again, but they certainly have some customer service areas that they could work on.
1. Being able to actually tell a customer when a product was due in for sure.
2. Having Rain Checks for items that were advertised but were never available.
3. Having employees that were willing to look in the back. (when I worked at TRU in the 90's, I learned really quickly with most customers, that even if I knew we didn't have anything that the customer was asking for, that I should go double check in the back anyway. If only to make them feel like they were helped and on the rare occasion that something was overlooked). If the customer looked desperate, I would tell them the truth, "We aren't showing anything in the inventory and I didn't see anything come in on the last truck, but let me go in back and check for you just in case", and I would follow through with what I said.

In summary, whether intentional or not, many targets didn't have the product they advertised and customers spent gas money and time to check on products that were advertised but non existent. Maybe not "False Advertising" in a lawyers world, but definitely "False Advertising" in the consumers mind.

Another point that makes no difference, but I wanted to say. I worked retail and service jobs for many years and the part you said about an unhappy customer is a customer that won't return is not true in my experience. Many of what employees considered the unhappiest and hardest customers to deal with, at all of the jobs I have had, end up being regulars who show up time and time again at the worst times to try and find things you are doing wrong and try to abuse you over and over. It's like they enjoy confrontation and giving people a hard time for things that are out of their control. Acting calm and trying to help them without getting confrontational actually enrages them.

Edit: It's in this format because I went over the text limit. '''

@7Habits Ok. The fact that they ran out before the actual day is not the same as saying "they never had them in the first place". Most stores were never told to hold them back for Sunday. The fact that they put them out early is not shady. The fact that they had no supply by Sunday therefore is also not shady. They were never told, so the memo that they were in "limited supply" was also never mentioned. How can you hold it against stores if they put out a supply of figs that, for all they know, could be one of many boxes to come? They didn't do a raincheck probably because they can't tell what is coming in a given box. Sure, they can tell the warehouse to send them more. But what will be in those boxes? Does the warehouse even know? When they didn't have any indications outside the box between wave 2 and 3, they could swear a blue streak that the box coming will be wave 3, but they can't know until it's opened. And just assuming that the box you get in that day is full of new figs without even checking? You'd have alot of angry parents!

I know I sound irritated, and I am. I've had customers accuse me of the most insane things sometimes, and I guess I can't help feeling mad at these sort of arguments. Yes, Target bungled this. Yes, they need to never let it happen again. But, please, don't always assume that this is another conspiracy of the Great Big Box Store.

I can agree with some points you made however. Not all Targets seem to behave the same. If you went to the one I do, you'd see that. They really do check in back there. They actually do care that you didn't get what you wanted. And I've seen managers personally speak with customers about their problems. Seriously. I'm not saying they're perfect (what stores is??), but they seem to "get it" when it comes to customer service.

Now, I'm concerned with reports of rude and unhelpful behavior. That's really bad. No matter how many problems you might deal with during the day, you don't take it out on your customer. I've had bad days. Heck, I've had some crazy ones! But I've never never went and mocked a customer. Even if they mess up something I just cleaned. Even if they don't look at me and hand something off to me when they don't want it. Even when I was yelled at and called stupid repeatedly when it was explained (by a manager) that it didn't work that way, but the customer insisted it did, and she knew better, more experience, ect. I didn't hate her for that. I never yelled back. I apologised and tried to make sure things worked out. I understood she was in a bad mood. She looked tired too, which never helps. We all have longs days. And when people come into a store, they don't come to put things in their proper place and keep things neat (though some do, and I have thanked them for it). They come to relax and enjoy themselves. They find what they need or want, and take it at their pace. So while it's understandable to get tired of certain questions being asked so often, an employee must put it in perspective. The customer asking that question doesn't know it's been asked alot. For them, it's the first time it's been asked. Don't get mad. Take a deep breath, think about the right answer, and calmly respond. If the people running Electronics in your area are so immature and hot-tempered that they can't treat a customer decently, they shouldn't be in the job. No buts. Even if the pay is lower than some jobs, it's an honest living. There is no shame in it. If they think they are too important to do it, then they should be told to seek out a job that is "worthy" of them. They bring their attitude and personality with them wherever they may go, but if they can't get along with people, they'll never get the respect and priviledge they may seek.

I know I ranted there, but I just don't like the idea of employees acting nasty to people! It gets me about as much as the "conspiracy of the Big Box Store"!

As for the comment about customers who come to abuse....I haven't seen that so much. I have seen people try to push for a better deal, even if they're already getting it, or want a deal on something which is obviously not on sale. It happens. *shrugs* Mostly, in my experience I've gotten either very friendly smiles or just ignored. It's fine. I've always done my best to help and make things easier. If I've been asked about something out of my expertise, I've gotten ahold of someone who knew more. Retail is not easy. It sounds easier than it is though. You can say you put things on shelves, return things to their place, and ring up purchases, but the tasks actually involve knowing something about where things go and how things work. And of course, actually caring about any of it. You'll never survive it if you don't care. But I know you know this.

I went to one of my targets and they had put them out early, that is when I picked up two of them (no stink bomb left). This store checked in the back and tried to help (the electronics guy kept telling me that "Nintendo" was having a problem with shipping, but I let that go because the count on his inventory seemed to match what was left on the floor. He was probably looking for Nintendo boxes in the back). I checked back with phone calls and visits during the week and they didn't get any more shipments during the sale period. This store fits the, sale that was not properly managed part. I ended up going back on Saturday and picking up the regular Night Shift at 50% off.

The other store I can assure you fits the "Never had the item" and "Poor customer service and knowledge" description. I visited the store every day since before Christmas and they have never got a shipment of any new skylander figures since before Christmas. I am the type of person that always thinks that there is a percentage chance that I may have missed something, but I am 99.999% sure that they have never had the new swappers in their store. I spoke with several employees during the week and none had ever seen or heard that the new swappers had come in, I made several calls during the week with negative results. During almost every visit, sometimes twice in one day, an employee that I asked would check the inventory count and the number only went down, and finally on the last day of the sale I was able to speak with an employee that assured me that they had not ever received these items, he also told me that someone else had complained to a manager to try to get a raincheck and that the manager would not budge. He said it was out of his hands.

Keep in mind, like I said, most of my work history has been in retail and service jobs, some of which have had mentally abusive regular customers, so I know how it feels to be an employee who wasn't told everything, didn't have proper training in an area they were thrown into, who's hands are tied because of a willful manager, who has equipment that won't work when a customer is in a hurry, who has had policy changes that could result in me getting terminated if I let the customer do what they were able to do the week before...Keeping all that in mind, it is a very rare occasion that I even bother an employee for help. Having worked retail though, it does annoy me when someone is making up a lie or passing on bad information because they are trying to cover up the fact that they don't know something or they are too lazy to check on it and that is precisely what was going on at this particular target. I have good BS radar and the former Game Stop employee that I talked to was not only full of it, but he was doing everything he could to avoid going in the back. I almost laughed out loud while he was talking, because the 3rd time I guided the conversation towards him checking the back (I was telling him what size the box was and what it would say on it...) and he deflected it with "I used to work at game stop and they will put it on hold for you...", I kept getting these visions of Monsters living in the storeroom at Target. I kept wondering why this guy was so terrified to walk 6 or 7 steps to the back and look for it. Keep in mind, talking to two employees, no customers that I could see around.

Anyway I have written way too much again. Not being argumentative or anything, I realize others have had similar experiences and some have not. I almost enjoy when I meet people like the former game stop employee. It gives me stories to tell and laughing in my own head while keeping a straight face, when someone is feeding me BS is one of my favorite past times. I've learned to control the comments I make after the BS, because I'm usually non confrontational and people get defensive when you ask too many questions about their incorrect information, whether the information was incorrect on purpose or not. I probably won't ask him a question again though. Now I have a guy at Wal-mart and Target that make me smile and almost laugh every time I see them "working".

Quote: jbmindtrick

Went to 3 stores in my area in Wisconsin on Sunday. One said they had 1 of each and that sold at 8:01 or whatever. Other two stores, nada. Monday, nada for all 3. Tuesday, nada, for all 3. Whether it's just false advertising, bait and switch, bad logistics or plain stupidity, it doesn't matter. The point is, as a small business owner (which I am), if I advertised something and didn't deliver on it you bet my a$$ I would do everything in my power to rectify the situation-vouchers to honor the deal and contacting us, holding them would be a nice start.

The thing you stated that raises issues for me is them saying they only had one of each. A box contains more than 1 of each to start with which leads to either they released them early or they had employees buy them or placed them in the back to buy later.

@7Habits Lol Nintendo?? Man, I hope he gets that straight or he'll always say "there's nothing in back" becaus those mysterious "Nintendo" boxes are full of 2DS's and not figs! Curses! As for the other store...wow. They really had the inventory number go down and yet, "they didn't have them"? Really? How can they tell that lie with a straight face? Either they never had them, or they had them but they were, as thunder1648 suggests, held for employees. I don't think they can do that while working, but if they're off on that day, maybe.

I love that the guy proclaimed himself a former Gamestop employee, then proceeded to tell you that you can get the figs there. He wouldn't go in back to confirm, and yet he sounded like he was trying to advertise Game Stop instead of doing his job. Maybe he should go back to Game Stop? It's a smaller store and probably less stressful.

All in all, I'd think about reporting their actions. The lies, the rudeness, the laziness. It's all bad and needs to stop.

target sucks with skylanders.
the only place that loves skylanders is best buy, but nobody buys them so they're stuck with them.
well at least my best buys.

Let it Die... Let the topic die!