Why am I writing an article unrelated to home theater? Well I've been gearing up for Black Friday posting articles to get everyone ready for Black Friday, so what better way to kick off the season than with the Facebook promotion that Lowe's was running today. I was more than a little happy at visiting Ultimate Electronics today so I was in a good mood and ready to get into the holiday spirit for Christmas. This evening I sat down on Facebook to try a little bit of the Lowes game. The premise was simple Lowe's was going to give out coupon codes for various items and allow them to be bought at up to 90% off. So I friended Lowe's and sat there waiting until 12:01 when they were going to start the contest. Around 12:01 Lowe's put up a Kitchen Aid mixer that could be had at 90% off using the promo GIFT!!!. I put one of these in my cart, added the promo code and amazingly it worked, I got the mixer for $18 (well $19.64 after tax). I was in the process of putting it in for in store pickup in their checkout for the Hamburg store and the site goes down. Only problem is the site does not go back up. First I was a bit angry, I shot off a couple of angry emails to Lowe's, had it just been me I'd have eventually gotten over it. All those pieces of great stereo equipment I've found at thrift stores over the years have made up for one small miss, I'd have gotten over it.
So anyway I wait about a half an hour, Lowe's posts a comment saying that the site crashed despite their preparations and that all the 100 90% off coupons were used up! This seems a bit hard to believe, I was not able to redeem mine, despite it being in my cart and having gotten as far as selecting my store. Then floods of angry posts start turning up in Facebook from people probably not unlike myself. Just how many people ended up in the same boat is hard to say. Some of these people probably had to go to bed as they have to work in the morning, I am fortunately off on Friday so I felt it my duty to tell the story on their behalf. I sat around for another 45 minutes here just to see what would happen and now my shopping cart is empty and I'll apparently never get the $19.64 Kitchen Aid mixer but I think there are some points that should be gathered here.
While Lowe's said they were prepared for the event they obviously had not anticipated the demand. This leaves the problem open to other retailers in the future, if the servers can't handle the load the same problem will represent itself again. Is running an online promo on Facebook the best way to kick start the season? Instead of walking away with a great kickoff to the Black Friday excitement they angered many customers, myself included, some who will never shop there again. Of the 20 or so promised deals they offered one. The website crashed, some of us who had the item in their cart will never receive it. While I did not stay up late for this promotion intentionally, others probably did, and if only one of the 20 deals barely materilized, the others never having shown up, that leaves a good portion of people who probably are very unhappy.
To shoppers expecting Black Friday to work out perfectly I can say this, plan ahead, and don't expect everything to go without a hitch. It still seems that waiting in line at least gives you a better shot. You can gauge the physical demand of an item a lot better in person. If 2000 people are in line at Wal-Mart and you know there are probably only 200 of the item at least you can leave. With an internet promotion such as this you could be sitting at home thinking no one is looking and even if you're first in line you could get bitten and get nothing for it.
This promotion was unimportant to me, however some of you may have been counting on this as a gift and I feel sorry for you that Lowe's couldn't pull this promotion off. Hopefully with some luck future holiday promotions will turn out better than this disaster did. Hopefully those of you who stayed up late for this, like I did, get at least an apology from Lowe's and hopefully the rest of your holiday season and Black Friday shopping works out for the better.
Comments
its all over for Lowes...biggest fail since KFC ran out of chicken....I posted a link to this site on the Home Depot Facebook fan page...congrats!!
Ha! A stupid little mixer and a bunch of butt hurt people won't ruin Lowe's! They still gave away 100 mixers for $20 that are normally $181. So they lost a lot of money on this offer...almost $17,000 on this and they're still going to be going strong! Home Depot didn't even offer any promotions like this, what a great store. Who cares that a lot of people didn't get a mixer?? At least the 100 who were ready to go did! And now thousands are complaining when they probably wouldn't of gotten one anyways!
same thing happened to me... so if we got the code and put it in were we one of the lucky 100? or were they giving that promo to everyone and just the first 100 who finished up before us got it?
i got one you guys just werent fast enough.
I've got broadband and was in the second they posted the promo code as I had two windows open. It showed the amount in cart and I was selecting the store for pickup when it crashed.
we were fast, site crashing does not require speed test on our side of the fence
If I weren't on my laptop I'd have printed the screen and had proof in hand, I'm sure they'd have honored it in store, but it is all in the past now. I'm all for Black Friday if the retailer runs the promo right, but a lot of people wasted a lot of time here tonight, and it wasn't just those who didn't get in on this deal. Lowe's promised more deals and just folded up shop after one. If I had to work in the morning and sat here all night for that, I'd be angry too. My mom got mad and went to bed, and frankly I can't blame her. I've done a few other promos like this and they didn't crash, so either traffic was heavy or it was poorly planned, but I want to know how Lowe's plans to resolve this mess.
At least you got it in your cart. I kept trying to add it to my cart even before they released the promo code and it just kept telling me my cart was empty. Server crashes I understand. But, that had nothing to do with a server crash or the luck of the draw. It's so sad that they will leave such a bitter taste for so many because of this poorly executed promotion. Am I "mad as hell"? Nope - but I am a little annoyed. I'm sure I'll get over it by tomorrow morning.
I put the item in my cart prior to the code being offered, but that is beside the fact, the fact is regardless I've got nothing to show for it. You could stand outside Wal-Mart or Best Buy on Black Friday for a TV and you might get one. You at least have a stack of 100 you can see going down. Here you don't. I had one in cart but I don't get it in the end. A little like someone grabbing it out of your cart at the checkout line because the registers go down.
100 people got one, and you weren't one of them.
Seriously, stop crying.
I'd hate to see you after the Powerball drawings every week.....
I was processing checkout when the site went down. That means I had one. It is like being in line at the store with the item in your cart, the registers going down and having the item taken out of your cart.
I really don't care about getting one, but the promo was bad and probably angered more than a few people. I'd have not written the article otherwise.
It's AMAZING to me how many people make the same claim as Erik Beljan when I honestly had no problem completing the transaction. I was stunned at how smooth the site was running at the time. I was expecting it to be down. Even the load time of each page (and there were several) seemed normal.
Go figure.
You obviously did not read the details of the deal that they posted BEFORE the deal went live. Putting it in your cart did NOT guarantee you one. You had to be completely checked out. All the way to the final button. The first 100 to do THAT got the deal. Most people already had an account set up, info in, mixer in their cart, store already selected, and their credit card number copied and ready to paste....all before the code ever came out.
Can't complete the checkout if the site crashes.
No, you can't. But obviously 100 of them were faster than either of us and those split few seconds got them through then the remaining 1,000's of us hit and crashed it.
Technically if you already had the promo code applied and were in the process of checkout you should be one of the 100 to get one. Like the in store analogy, akin to having someone grab it out of your cart when you were shopping. If you had a TV and were in line at a store and someone took it out of your cart after the registers crashed wouldn't you feel disheartened?
My personal complaint is how poorly the promo was executed and went off, not if I got a mixer or not. While you can't account for the server crash ahead of time the rest of the setup could be made to avoid any confusion. Now they have legions of angry people on Facebook, and waited a half an hour to address the concerns with a rather cryptic message? If they go about and repeat this tomorrow how do we know there won't be a repeat of the situation.
I'm sure there were people that stayed up into the long hours to hopefully get one for 90% off, or possibly even 20% off. The site was down for at least 45 minutes, and some of those people probably didn't have that time to waste because they may have been trying to get a Christmas gift and probably have to work in the morning. It is for those people that I feel sorry for.
Oh, and also, the 20 deals were NOT for tonight. It's over the course of the promo!
I think however they were planning on more than one deal over the course of the night but the duration of time over which the 20 deals would be revealed wasn't terribly clear either. A lot of people thought they were for tonight too.
I think the main point is the negative publicity this has generated is not what everyone was hoping for, and not a good way to kick off the holiday and Black Friday season.
Lowes exact words:
"The 90% off coupons will be released on Facebook beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time, Friday, 11/5 and throughout the weekend."
The point for me is that you are misrepresenting the facts, thereby misleading your readers into a false view of what the expectation should be. Lowe's did their due diligence in clearly posting, several times, all the rules and details. They can't make people read them, but it's crazy to me that people don't and then get mad for something that they themselves have wrong. Yes, it has generated negativity, but the question remains is SHOULD it have? Is Lowe's in the wrong, or are all these upset people actually the ones who are wrong? I choose the latter.
If they say there will be 20 deals released and you figure it out over the weekend, you'd figure maybe 5 deals a day if you figure they do one again Sunday night. Regardless of that it does not have to be 90% off coupons, and I doubt many people stayed up until their site came online again to redeem the 20% off coupon that they offered thereafter. It isn't about 90% off it is about poor execution. They did one and a lot of people seemed to be expecting more. I'm not really misrepresenting anything, just giving the interpretation that seemed to be the most widely held interpretation of what Lowe's said. Granted it wasn't what was said, but what was implied by what they said. That is one issue.
Again, IMHO in the cart it is as good as yours and will have a difficult time convincing those who had the item and were in the checkout process otherwise. I'm sure those of them like me are in the minority, but it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
In regards to the rest of the weekend can you really see Lowe's trying this promo again after tonight? You have maybe 10-15 happy people, hundreds if not thousands angry. Can you really see them coming back tomorrow with another 90% off coupon only to have the same repeat itself again? Granted a lot of people were turned away by tonight, but even if 1/3rd of the people show up it will probably still crash the site.
You are not going to convince me that I'm in the wrong for being angry when I have two web browsers, open, enter the code cost is in the cart seconds after it is posted and am in the process of checkout when the site crashes. You're going to be fighting an uphill battle for everyone that was expecting more than one deal tonight, again even if you factor Sunday night you're thinking a couple of deals a day. Lowe's also left people hanging for a good long time to see what happened. Lack of clarity, lack of execution and lack of a good response on the part of Lowe's. Granted we can't control computer problems, however I'd like to see how they respond to this.
This is too funny. It wasn't enough to have thousands of sore people posting nonsense and crying on the Facebook wall. You actually felt the need to write a story about it?
I ordered mine, got the discount, and had absolutely no problems. I'm willing to be the other 99 lucky people that got one did not have a problem either. It's apparently the tens (or hundred) thousand or so people who were unlucky who "had problems." I don't know. What I do know is the promotion worked perfectly for me and the lag was hardly noticeable.
Peace.
EXACTLY! I can't believe someone wrote an article over it...its not like anyone died over not getting their dang mixer. People are pathetic and that nonsense on Facebook is just horrible...Its sad to see so many "Adults" on there throwing a fit over a mixer.
Everyone should be happy Lowe's even did this so soon before Black Friday. No other stores did. Man I can't wait to see these people out on the actual BLACK FRIDAY. They're gonna cry like babies.
Boo hoo. I'm sick of people complaining all over Facebook on the Lowe's site about this crap. What do people expect?? Only 100 coupons and thousands of people going for the SAME ITEM. Of course the site is going to slow down and of course not everyone is going to get one. I'm just shocked at how childish people are being and how badly they're bashing Lowe's. Get over it. Black Friday is coming up and people will have other opportunities. It's pathetic that people are being so whiny over this and demanding coupons...at least Lowe's put up the offer in the first place...which no other stores did this early. And Lowe's DID apologize saying they will get another promotion up...which they shouldn't be obligated to do just because the first one didn't work out due to a site failure. And just because people are acting like little babies over it. Sheesh. Its just hilarious to see "adults" on Facebook throwing a hissy fit over a cheap mixer. Drop it and find one somewhere else. The odds of someone even getting one were 1 in a million in the first place. This isn't even that shocking that a site crashed due to too many people going on it at once. Can't believe such a big deal is being made...move on. Its called BLACK Friday for a reason! You can't always get what you want!
The funny thing to me is all the people (the author of this article included) claim they had the PERFECT, infallible set-up. It was apparently inconceivable that they could not have checked out in time because of all their super great preparations. Yeah, you and thousands of other people had your fool-proof system, super high speed connection, and lucky rabbit's foot.
Give me a break.
Sam Erickson-
I agree! There were thousands of people going after ONE item at the SAME time...that's definitely going to put a dent in their little perfect internet connections. People just don't see the bigger picture, they just feel oh so ripped off when it was just a good deal being offered by Lowe's...if you got one, you got one...If not, then well you see how those people are acting on Facebook! Its ridiculous. My favorite is the idiot who said he was going to go to Lowe's, get a mixer, and throw a $20 at the clerk and leave. That'll get him as far as jail when he's not paying the full $181 for the mixer. People are idiots. Who says its the stores fault? You can't just walk into any Lowe's and expect this. It was for 100 people, and those people got the mixer....so that wouldn't work for them anyways. 100 only. Not everyone and their mom Lol
I was able to get a mixer tonight. I've tried many other types of promotions before with no luck. Amex My Wish List is just one that I can think of. Most promotions are gone in seconds. I think it's ridiculous to complain when it was stated that just adding the coupon to your cart didn't guarantee that you would get the deal. FYI, my final checkout time was 9 min after the hour but I was fully expecting to see that the coupon code had been removed since I wasn't fast (or lucky) enough but was very pleasantly surprised to see that it went through.
That's awesome that you got one! Personally, I didn't even try for one, I didn't want one but I got caught up reading the comments and I was just shocked at how rude people were being just because they didn't get one. You got one and so did the other 99 people that got the coupon and was fast enough. Its just pathetic that hundreds of people are STILL complaining on Facebook when they probably wouldn't even of gotten one in the first place. And yeah you did have to complete the checkout to get the item...just putting it in your cart wasn't enough and most people have neglected to read that as it was stated. People are just so rude about it. Congrats on your new mixer though!
I was more disappointed than angry. I thought the 90% off coupon was for ANY item so I was all set to get a new fridge. No dice.
And, right before everything came to a halt, I thought, "This many people all trying to go to the same page will crash the system." And, I guess I was right.
I'll still go to Lowes three times a week. I spend thousands there each year for my business, and except for this incident, I think they do a pretty good job.
There were 3 of us in my house trying to get 1 mixer. One of got through to checkout with a $20 mixer and the computer froze. I got my hopes up for about 5 minutes and we couldn't get any farther. I think I will just stick to what I know. That was a hassle.
To those following this, a couple of hours ago the thing was up and running again and the code worked. Did Lowe's do it as a courtesy? Was it a glitch? My mother and I bought got mixers and I just got back from picking them up about a half an hour ago. What is good to report is that the MIXER20 coupon is working again too, so if you wanted 20% off you can at least get that at this point. Hopefully they keep the site up and running though if they try and run more over the weekend.
So, not only did you whine and cry and stomp your feet to get what you want, but you also killed all the other deals that were supposed to go on yesterday. But that's okay. It doesn't matter what they were going to do. Just as long as you got your precious mixer.
I love how you censor the comments here too, by the way. Good job turning The Examiner into a personal blog site.
I didn't whine, stomp my feet, or even care about the mixer, however a lot of other people did care. I reported on exactly what happened to me and, based on the comments, a lot of people. I went on there and tried their site when it was finally back up and got it then, not because I complained to Lowe's or wrote this article. I did not kill the deals. Lowe's did by not being prepared for it. You can't pass the blame off on me for it.
I'll censor comments I feel are offensive as I choose. It is not about you or me or even in relation to this, but if I feel the conversation has headed in a direction I feel unsuitable I have the right to remove the comment. If it is not constructive, insulting or similar I can remove it. If your comment is removed you can contact me and I'll tell you exactly why I did it.
I don't mind that you may disagree with me, and it is not like Lowe's caved into me because I complained or that I destroyed the deals, I'm just one voice of many, so a few thousand people read my article, but how many more were left in the dark? The facts here were simple:
1. People were in the process of finalizing the checkout of the $18 mixer when the site went down. Probably the minority, but there probably were more than a few.
2. Other deals that were implied never arrived and Lowe's was slow to respond as to exactly what was going on. Imagine waiting up if you had to working thinking someonething was about to happen when nothing did.
3. Other people merely hoping for the 20% off (still not a bad deal), were unable to access the stie because it crashed.
Of course I'm going to be mad when the site goes down when I'm trying to complete my transaction, that is natural. Lowe's did not take the proper preparation for it and gauge the demand, plain and simple.
Had people not complained what would have happened, the site would have crashed a few more times, probably more so on the weekend when people had time to worry about it. Then what? More angry people.
Will you be doing a follow up article? Lowe's fixed the issues they yesterday and have been giving away deals all day - many, many 90% off and 20% off coupons were redeemed today and there are two more days of deals ahead.
buy.com fraud bait & switch story below...
http://phillipbrunelle.blogspot.com/2010/11/buycom-customers-want-answer...
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!