Best Buy employees protesting midnight opening on Black Friday

[bjl584]

Thanksgiving At Best Buy: Workers Rebel Against Early Black Friday Openings, Shortened Holiday

I personally think that it is crazy to stand in line at midnight for anything. You won't find me anywhere near this madness.

[disneysteve]

The whole "Black Friday" phenomenon is insane. The stores are nuts and the customers are even more nuts. Enough said.

[photo]

I often wonder about all the energy expended. What if these people applied that same energy to other selfless pursuits?

[KiwiJo09]

I went the last two years to Black Friday. Last year, we went to toys r us. That was nuts. This year, I'll be working on Black Friday at 6am, so I'll be far away from the malls. Anyhow, I already finished my holiday shopping.

[Shewillbemine]

My CEO once told me something about the workplace and employees that I believe to this day:

"You don't like working here or the policies we have? There's the front door."

These Best Buy workers should quit if they don't want to work the hours. The reason they have jobs is that Best Buy sells products.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by Shewillbemine

These Best Buy workers should quit if they don't want to work the hours.

So if you like what you do, and like the hours 364 out of 365 days, but want to spend time with your family on 1 of them - you should quit?

I mean think about it, it's not like they're working a 12am-2am shift. They're prob there from 11pm-8am or 10pm-7am. A full shift - that will require them to come in on their holiday to prepare the store. When would they get to sleep to be prepared for that shift?

The reason they have jobs is that Best Buy sells products.

The reason Best Buy sells products, is that they have jobs.

How many products would Best Buy sell this black Friday if the employees decided to go on strike?

[disneysteve]

Who is really to blame here? It is a circular argument.

If stores didn't open so early, customers wouldn't be lining up to save a buck on some "door buster" sale.

If customers weren't willing to line up so early to save a buck, the stores wouldn't need to open early.

Stores do this because the customers come when they do. If the customers would stop coming, the stores would stop doing it.

Us - we're buying almost all of our holiday gifts from Amazon as we have done for the past few years. We've already got most things and just ordered some more the other day.

[bjl584]

The stores are reacting to their customers and to their competitors. Store A starts their sale at Midnight, so Store B starts theirs at 10PM in an attempt to steal market share from Store A.

There used to a lot of laws on the books that prevented stores from being open on certain days and at certain times. Most of those are long gone now, but one that I can think of that is still active is that here in Pennsylvania car dealerships are not allowed to be open on Sundays.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Who is really to blame here? It is a circular argument.

Although I understand how it appears to be from both sides, I still think that the customers are pretty much asking "when do I have to be there to be in on this deal?" and then the stores are the ones who answer that question. I don't see this as a circular situation.

If you want a computer for 70% off or whatever, you've only really got 1 opportunity to take advantage of that. What are you supposed to do? It's not like you can just say, "no I don't want to come in at 5am - please give me the same opportunity at 1 in the afternoon." Either you show up when they say the offer starts, or you miss out.

My point is, the average customer has no power in this situation.

If Best Buy decided to start their Black Friday special offers at 3pm, the customers would line up to be there at 3pm.



I don't know of anyone who has been saying, "gee I really wish they'd start this Black Friday thing a lot earlier in the day" but I do know several people who are saying, "this Black Friday thing is getting ridiculous."

Customers aren't the ones requesting to open the store earlier. They're just requesting a great deal. Best Buy then determines the hoops the customers have to jump through to make that deal happen.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jpg7n16

My point is, the average customer has no power in this situation.

I'd have to disagree with you on that point. The customer has ALL of the power. Don't show up. What do you think would happen next year if Best Buy opened extra early tomorrow night and nobody came? Would they do it again? Probably not.

Just because a store holds up a hoop doesn't mean you have to jump.

[GREENBACK]

I've worked on more holidays than I can count so the employees don't have my sympathy there. There are plenty of others to take their place if they want Turkey instead of employment. As for Black Friday? You couldn't hold a gun to my head to get me to participate. If I were in retail I absolutely would take full advantage of those who want to stand in line all night to buy my products. I'd scratch my head at the lunacy all the way to the bank.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I'd have to disagree with you on that point. The customer has ALL of the power. Don't show up. What do you think would happen next year if Best Buy opened extra early tomorrow night and nobody came?

On this one, I just see things differently.

Customers want a deal. The corporation determines and controls everything the customer has to do to get that deal.

The way I see it - if you don't show up, someone else will - and you'll just miss out on the great deal you wanted to get. What good is that?


I've personally already said "no" to the Black Friday madness. I just don't go. I also never get to participate in those 1 day offers. One year they were offering a computer I wanted at a great price. Even though I really wanted it, there was nothing I could do because I wouldn't show up in line at 4am to be one of the 1st 150 people or whatever it was to get that deal. I felt powerless in that situation. It was either do what they ask, or miss out.

So I didn't go. What good did it do me? Zero.

Did the corporation learn their lesson from me not showing up and push the deal to a reasonable hour, like say 9am? Nope.


Spoiler - I ended up buying my computer a few weeks later from a different company for hundreds more than I would have if I participated in the madness

[Shewillbemine]

Originally Posted by jpg7n16

So if you like what you do, and like the hours 364 out of 365 days, but want to spend time with your family on 1 of them - you should quit?I mean think about it, it's not like they're working a 12am-2am shift. They're prob there from 11pm-8am or 10pm-7am. A full shift - that will require them to come in on their holiday to prepare the store. When would they get to sleep to be prepared for that shift?


The reason Best Buy sells products, is that they have jobs.

How many products would Best Buy sell this black Friday if the employees decided to go on strike?

I highly doubt that Best Buy employees work 364 days out of a year. If I applied to work at a place like Best Buy, I would certainly know that the store is one of the hottest stores for Black Friday and other sales/new releases. It goes with the territory. You don't like it, work somewhere else.

And last I checked, most families aren't eating Turkey dinner at 12 midnight.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Shewillbemine

And last I checked, most families aren't eating Turkey dinner at 12 midnight.

In defense of the workers, while you are correct that families aren't eating dinner at midnight, that doesn't mean working those hours doesn't interfere with family plans. If I spent 4pm-8pm with my family, would I be rested and ready to go to work at 11pm? Nope. What if my family isn't local? I live in NJ and we spend Thanksgiving in Maryland every year, about a 2 hour drive from home. We were just getting home around 11pm. I was in no shape to drop off my family and go to a job at that point. I was exhausted from a long day of travel and visiting family. So if I had to be in for a midnight shift, we would have had to skip the family holiday celebration entirely.

I understand that it is part of the job. I'm not arguing that issue. My wife was a retail manager for many years so I know the drill. I'm just saying that to suggest that working at midnight wouldn't interfere with holiday plans is incorrect.

[elessar78]

Us - we're buying almost all of our holiday gifts from Amazon as we have done for the past few years. We've already got most things and just ordered some more the other day.

I "enjoy" shopping off amazon. Truthfully, the shipping fee annoys me I wish they could be more efficient with lumping orders together, but obviously it can be through multiple vendors so it's not possible. But overall, we can be so much more productive, as we don't have to leave our house, fight through the mall crowds.

We started talking about getting all our shopping done from one on-line store last year to save on shipping.

But online shopping is MUCH more pleasant than going in store during the Holidays.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by elessar78

I "enjoy" shopping off amazon. Truthfully, the shipping fee annoys me

The vast majority of items we buy on Amazon are eligible for free shipping. If an item doesn't offer free shipping, we don't buy it unless the total price is still less than what we'd pay locally.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by Shewillbemine

I highly doubt that Best Buy employees work 364 days out of a year.

Sorry, why does the specific number of days matter? Not all employees work M-F only, and last I checked, Best Buy was open 7 days a week. So collectively, employees are working 363 days a year. They are off on Christmas and Thanksgiving (well not anymore). So they would be happy with the arrangement of having 2 paid days off. As a whole, they do work that often.

But that's not even the point. The point is that the number of days they are satisfied with the work schedule is significantly larger than the 1 day they're not.

If I applied to work at a place like Best Buy, I would certainly know that the store is one of the hottest stores for Black Friday and other sales/new releases. It goes with the territory. You don't like it, work somewhere else.

I think you misunderstand what change was made this year. It was well known that Best Buy and other retailers open early on Black Friday. Employees were aware of that, and some had worked for years under that arrangement (the arrangement being, off Thanksgiving, come in early on Friday). But this year, companies bumped the time back all the way until Midnight, forcing employees to come in ahead of that to prepare the store actually on Thanksgiving. That was not part of the original arrangement, but they had no choice to comply, or attempt to find other work in this economy.

I personally would have liked to see all the midnight retailers' employees protest the opening and not come in.

How long until the deals start Thanksgiving afternoon?

And last I checked, most families aren't eating Turkey dinner at 12 midnight.

Last time I checked, I never said they did.

Most families eat dinner somewhere 5-7pm. Also most employees like to get at least 6 hours sleep before working an 8-10 hour shift.

So if you had to come in at 11 on Thanksgiving to prepare the store and wanted to get 6 hours sleep, what time would you need to go to bed? A: be in bed at 4-something. So while your family usually gets together for Thanksgiving dinner, you'll be asleep.

Under the usual arrangement (store opens at 5am), you'd have to be there about 4am to prepare. What time would you go to sleep? A: be in bed at 9-something. Which although isn't optimal, you still have time with your family on Thanksgiving.

Maybe you don't care about time with your family (some of whom flew in just to get together for Thanksgiving), or about getting any sleep before an 8-10 hour shift, or about Holidays, or about your corporation controlling your life, but some of us do.

[bjl584]

I work part time in retail, and I can tell you that the people who make retail their sole source of income are constantly getting a raw deal.

What was encouraged today is grounds for termination tomorrow. This week you are required to work 10 hours of overtime, and tomorrow your hours get cut in half. The vacation policy changes out of nowhere, and now someone that has 4 weeks paid vacation is cut back to 2 weeks.

So, for Best Buy to announce at the last minute that they are going to be opening at the midnight on Thanksgiving night is not an unusual move in the world of retail. It's not right, but it's not unusual, and many of the employees probably took it in stride. For them, it was no different than getting written up today for something that was okay last week, or being told once again that there are no raises again this year, or having their hours cut back again. You eventually get broken down and become numb. Not a good way to live, but that is the reality of it.