I should have known it would happen. I told myself that I was not going to go Black Friday shopping this year. But somehow a couple days before the day I managed to have a change of heart and decide that Black Friday might be a good day to purchase a space heater for our basement. You see, our office is in our basement, so I spend a lot of time down there. And if we had pet penguins or polar bears they could spend a lot of time down here too. It’s COLD. As in snuggle in two shirts and a bathrobe with a blanket and a dog on my lap cold. When I first started blogging I actually brought my laptop upstairs to the kitchen table to work because I was so cold in the basement. But that was sorta cramping our style, not to mention our dinner. And I was paranoid about spilling food on it (since of course I was too lazy to take my laptop off the table every time we ate).
But I digress.
So anyway, the hubs and I decided that a space heater was the solution. And with Black Friday just around the corner we thought perfect timing. We can get one on Black Friday at a blue light special price (remember the Kmart Blue Light Specials?) We had been to a local retailer that carried a lot of them just a few days before and spent some time mulling over our options. We wanted a bigger sturdier model, not a small one that our dogs could easily knock over. But the ones that we were eyeing carried price tags of up to $100, some up to $150. Then the Black Friday ads came out. That same retailer had a space heater like we were looking at for $49. It did not look exactly like the ones we had previously been looking at (I didn’t remember them having that particular model the day we went there to check out options), but it was similar. The retailer opened at 6am Black Friday so we figured we could get out of bed early for that.
So we went. There was a massive line stretching around the building when we got there. We sat in our car until they opened the doors and then we followed the masses in. We found the space heater relatively quickly and managed to find a checkout line that was actually short. It was overall a pretty quick and painless trip, and we congratulated ourselves on a Black Friday success!
For three glorious days it was warm in our basement. It was fantastic. Then yesterday the damn thing was making pathetic noises and now it is apparently dead. Arghhhhh.
So as I write this I am wearing two shirts and a bathrobe and I have a blanket on my lap. The tip of my nose is cold! And I am frustrated about having to take the stupid space heater back and kicking myself because it was such a rookie mistake. Everyone knows that retailers usually stock inferior quality models of many items to run the Black Friday deals on, right? Shoulda known. When we go back to the store we’ll have to spend some time figuring out exactly which model we want, and then I will see if I can find a deal online. After all, Green Monday is coming up! For those of you who have not heard of Green Monday, check out Grayson’s guest post at Frugal Rules yesterday. There may actually be better days to shop at this time of year than Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
Is anyone else out there woefully disappointed in a Black Friday purchase?
Photo Credit: A National Acrobat @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/xctmx/
Sorry to hear about the space heater not working out : ( They are so nice when they are working! I am also skeptical about the quality of Black Friday goods, though I know some people who have had good experiences (myself with luggage, but we’ll see after our next few trips!). Yes, Grayson did a great job of pointing out good days to shop!
Yep, we’ve learned our lesson!
Yep, crap on sale is still CRAP!
Sorry you made that rookie mistake, lol. Oh well, it happens to the best of us! =)
Thanks, totally true!
That’s frustrating! I stayed away from the stores on Black Friday–the entire holiday period actually. I get dizzy in stores that are normally crowded, so busy days are not an option regardless of the lure!
Good call on staying away, I’m thinking it would have been a better idea if we’d done that too!
We have become space heater dependent lately. Our apartment is so drafty that we have a space heater for each room. Cant wait to see our electric bill this month!
Sorry for your horrible heater! Can you return it?
We better be able to! We’ve got the receipt and that’s on our to-do list for Saturday.
A double whammy of ‘Grrr and Brrr’! Sorry to hear that Dee! Hope you get a better replacement.
Thanks, we hope so too!
Sorry the heater conked out on ya. Funny that you went shopping for that because I almost did the same thing as I need a new portable heater for my office. I looked over the deals in paper on Thanksgiving but I like my sleep to much and there was no way I wanted to go deal with the crowds….
I’m thinking you probably got a better deal sleeping!
I’ve never braved the madness of black friday, probably never will, especially if they’re selling poor quality merchandise.
I don’t think all the big Black Friday deals are poor quality merchandise- but I do think that sometimes retailers bring in lesser quality items to rub door buster deals on and make it look like a steal. I think your strategy of just not shopping that day is probably wise 🙂
Sorry you had this experience, Dee. Space heaters are a great way to help reduce heating costs, too, since you are just heating the space you need.
But, yes, generally they get you in the door with cheap “crap” on Black Friday.
Yes, we are looking forward to having a warm basement again once we get the space heater returned/exchanged!
Another reason why people should be more careful and should be wiser where Black Friday shopping is concerned. Sorry to hear that the warmth in your basement was short lived but glad that you mentioned the Green Monday guest post Frugal Rules. Here’s wishing you the best of luck on your next heater purchase. :))
Thank you!! Seems like we are going to need it!
I can’t say I’m disappointed about any black Friday purchases because I didn’t make any. I’ve always made it a point not to leave my house on that same Friday each year.
Good call!
Sorry to hear about the crappy Black Friday purchase. This happens so often. Retailers actually have different models created for Black Friday just so they can offer deals. It doesn’t happen all of the time, but I have seen it from behind the scenes. It pisses me off!
Yeah, me too! At least we were able to return it.