Last Friday, I did go out to take advantage of Black Friday, and one of my places to hit was Macy's because I can usually find some rather insane deals there. In fact, it has come to where my Mom and I will call one another with "damage reports" to see who bought what, and how much money we saved off of retail.
I'm perusing the racks, and I happen to wander into the sportswear section, and I run across this nice jacket at 50% off. One problem though, I'm at the Macy's in Marlow Heights, smack dab in the middle of Redskins territory, and I'm a Ravens fan, so no, I was not buying it that morning.
I decided to do a little online hunting to see if there were any online stores selling the jacket for that price. There weren't any, they were all at the full price. Now of course it became my mission to obtain said jacket in Ravens colors. My next step was to try another store, in this case, the thought was to try the Macy's at Columbia Mall since it was between Baltimore and DC. I ended up meeting with my buds TB and CW to hunt for the jacket and possibly do other shopping as well. I get to the Macy's and start walking through the men's section...I can't find any team apparel anywhere, so I ask someone. It turns out that this Macy's doesn't sell team apparel.
Say what? With the sheer number of folks I saw walking around in team apparel at the mall, there's a market that particular Macy's is not tapping. We tried looking through JCPenney and Sears for the same item, but they weren't carrying the jacket. I did run across the jacket at a Foot Locker, but they wanted full price for it. Screw that, not when I can get it for half off.
My next tactic was to start calling other Macy's (thank you VZ Navigator business search). I tried the Glen Burnie and the PG Plaza Macy's before I started to look at some of the entries on the list. It occurred to me that my next call should be to the Owings Mills Macy's. (Trivia for Ravens fans: Why would I think to call the Owings Mills location?) I make the call, and sure enough, they report they have a section of Raven's gear. Half an hour later, I'm pulling into the town center and heading into the Macy's. I find the jacket in the size I want, confirm it's still at the sale price, and make the payment. The guy at the register recognized me as the slightly crazed person who had called looking for Ravens gear. Seriously, the phone call went something like:
Him: [Intro]
Me: Do you carry sports team apparel?
Him: Yes we do
Me: Do you carry Ravens apparel?
Him: We have a big section of that.
Me: I'll be over immediately, I've been searching for this particular jacket all day but I was stuck in Redskins country!
(Yeah, I get crazy when I'm on a mission for a bargain).
So mission accomplished, I got the jacket and I love it, and at a price that no one else had it for, even if it took some work to find it. Macy's also is not helping me right now by handing me coupons for stuff, because I can think of a few more bargains I wouldn't mind getting my hands on.
Showing posts with label bargains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bargains. Show all posts
December 03, 2009
January 22, 2008
Issues and Bargains
This day did not start out in the best of ways. I get to work, plug in my radio, and am listening to some music when suddenly the music freezes in one spot. This has happened on the rare occasion with my radio and a reboot fixes it. Not this time however as I am greeted with "Error, please plug into a PC via USB to recover."
Great, so my radio is basically dead until I can get home and fix it. I go home, plug it in, and run the recovery program. I get to the screen to start the recovery and bang "Your radio cannot be recovered, please call Sirius at XXX-XXX-XXXX for further assistance.
I call up the tech support, we try a few things, but it turns out that my radio is now a paperweight. I can't even get it replaced under the warranty because guess what, it expired a month ago. So the guy looks and offers me a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $150. Since my only other options are to downgrade to a new Stiletto 10 for $150, buy a brand new Stiletto 100 for $200, or go insane and spend $320 on the next-generation Stiletto (AKA Stiletto 2) I decide to just get the refurbished.
However, something didn't sit right with me after I had placed the order, based on some earlier research I had been doing. I went over to Sirius' website and looked under their "reconditioned radios" and lo and behold, a refurbished Stiletto 1oo for $120. That's $30 less than what I had just been charged over the phone.
I got back on the phone immediately with Sirius' general customer service, the first person said he couldn't do anything to cancel it because the warranty department had placed the order. I then got my E-mail receipt for the radio, and there was a phone number, so I called that one. I explained to the woman on the phone that I had just had it ordered on the phone because my other Stiletto was now a brick, but I saw it was cheaper on the website. She said that if it had shipped already she couldn't cancel it, but she would go on ahead and take a look at my original order. Before she did the cancellation, she asked about the price I was looking at, to make sure I hadn't forgotten about tax on my order. I told her that I was looking at the Sirius website and it showed a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $120. She said "Oh I would be on the phone canceling this order and going through the website too!" She was able to cancel it since the order had been placed so recently (15 minutes ago).
I went through the website and started to place the order, then I saw the field for "promo code." One Google search later and I found a working 15% off code, so after tax, I am replacing my Stiletto for $110.
It sucks that I have to go through with this, including the fact that I lost all of the music I recorded off of the radio, but at least I'll have a working unit, I don't have to go through the hassle of changing out my car kit again, I have a 1 year warranty on this unit in case it blows up, and I may have an extended warranty via my credit card.
If by some miracle I get my bricked unit to work, I'll have to work to recover the music.
Great, so my radio is basically dead until I can get home and fix it. I go home, plug it in, and run the recovery program. I get to the screen to start the recovery and bang "Your radio cannot be recovered, please call Sirius at XXX-XXX-XXXX for further assistance.
I call up the tech support, we try a few things, but it turns out that my radio is now a paperweight. I can't even get it replaced under the warranty because guess what, it expired a month ago. So the guy looks and offers me a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $150. Since my only other options are to downgrade to a new Stiletto 10 for $150, buy a brand new Stiletto 100 for $200, or go insane and spend $320 on the next-generation Stiletto (AKA Stiletto 2) I decide to just get the refurbished.
However, something didn't sit right with me after I had placed the order, based on some earlier research I had been doing. I went over to Sirius' website and looked under their "reconditioned radios" and lo and behold, a refurbished Stiletto 1oo for $120. That's $30 less than what I had just been charged over the phone.
I got back on the phone immediately with Sirius' general customer service, the first person said he couldn't do anything to cancel it because the warranty department had placed the order. I then got my E-mail receipt for the radio, and there was a phone number, so I called that one. I explained to the woman on the phone that I had just had it ordered on the phone because my other Stiletto was now a brick, but I saw it was cheaper on the website. She said that if it had shipped already she couldn't cancel it, but she would go on ahead and take a look at my original order. Before she did the cancellation, she asked about the price I was looking at, to make sure I hadn't forgotten about tax on my order. I told her that I was looking at the Sirius website and it showed a refurbished Stiletto 100 for $120. She said "Oh I would be on the phone canceling this order and going through the website too!" She was able to cancel it since the order had been placed so recently (15 minutes ago).
I went through the website and started to place the order, then I saw the field for "promo code." One Google search later and I found a working 15% off code, so after tax, I am replacing my Stiletto for $110.
It sucks that I have to go through with this, including the fact that I lost all of the music I recorded off of the radio, but at least I'll have a working unit, I don't have to go through the hassle of changing out my car kit again, I have a 1 year warranty on this unit in case it blows up, and I may have an extended warranty via my credit card.
If by some miracle I get my bricked unit to work, I'll have to work to recover the music.
December 22, 2007
Merry Christmas to Me
Today has been a day of errands, I picked up packages at the UPS store and went shopping for JH. I tried Modells because I heard they were having a sale, but they didn't have the items I wanted. So I was heading for the parkway to go into Baltimore when I decided to try the Sports Authority to find what I was looking for. I found what I was looking for, and I know he will like it, I'm not saying what it is here since he reads this blog ;-)
If you're a Baltimore Ravens fan, the Sports Authority in Laurel (and probably other ones as well) have a 30% off sale on all Ravens merchandise, including jerseys, from what I saw, you're looking at being able to buy an authentic for $70 and a replica for $52.50. The sale runs through Jan 1, so if you need a last minute gift, or you just want something for yourself, consider buying in the next week. I may see if I can score a coupon from them for after Xmas for even further savings.
Anyway, so I then dropped by the Bottom Dollar because I knew they had a sale on frozen veggies, 1lb bags for 50 cents so I stocked up since I should be eating more veggies anyway. I grabbed a few other staples and headed out the door.
I decided to make a stop at REI to check out prices on a Coleman stove. First of all, I need a gas burner so I can use my wok; second, I love camping, and I grew up with my parents always using their Coleman propane stove, in fact, they still have it 25+ years later because those things are meant to last. My only criteria was that it has to be Propane, I will not use one of those "dual fuel" stoves. Target had a Coleman propane stove for $43, and it was pretty nice, in fact, REI had the same one for $46. However, they also had a different model stove on sale for $39, guess which one I picked up? The best part? The Coleman website is selling this particular stove for $64.49. So I scored a deal and as soon as I get my hands on a new tent and sleeping bag, I'll be all set to camp again.
Now that the dishes are done and the steak is ready to be turned into a burrito, it's time to finish here. Tonight I'll be seeing JH for dinner and then going to a holiday party. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my cousin and some of her kids and grandkids.
If you're a Baltimore Ravens fan, the Sports Authority in Laurel (and probably other ones as well) have a 30% off sale on all Ravens merchandise, including jerseys, from what I saw, you're looking at being able to buy an authentic for $70 and a replica for $52.50. The sale runs through Jan 1, so if you need a last minute gift, or you just want something for yourself, consider buying in the next week. I may see if I can score a coupon from them for after Xmas for even further savings.
Anyway, so I then dropped by the Bottom Dollar because I knew they had a sale on frozen veggies, 1lb bags for 50 cents so I stocked up since I should be eating more veggies anyway. I grabbed a few other staples and headed out the door.
I decided to make a stop at REI to check out prices on a Coleman stove. First of all, I need a gas burner so I can use my wok; second, I love camping, and I grew up with my parents always using their Coleman propane stove, in fact, they still have it 25+ years later because those things are meant to last. My only criteria was that it has to be Propane, I will not use one of those "dual fuel" stoves. Target had a Coleman propane stove for $43, and it was pretty nice, in fact, REI had the same one for $46. However, they also had a different model stove on sale for $39, guess which one I picked up? The best part? The Coleman website is selling this particular stove for $64.49. So I scored a deal and as soon as I get my hands on a new tent and sleeping bag, I'll be all set to camp again.
Now that the dishes are done and the steak is ready to be turned into a burrito, it's time to finish here. Tonight I'll be seeing JH for dinner and then going to a holiday party. Tomorrow I'll be visiting my cousin and some of her kids and grandkids.
July 12, 2007
Busy (at least outside of work)
Finished Order of the Phoenix, now to read Half Blood Prince before Deathly Hallows comes out next Friday. On top of that, I have lines and music to memorize for GodSpell. I have been given the part of John/Judas, so that does mean a bit more work, but it should be fun. I have a soundtrack of the music numbers and I have already downloaded it to my Stiletto so I can listen and learn. We open August 24, and the show looks like it will be fun.
Saturday is a board meeting with GreenBeLT Pride to discuss recent events and how we can continue their success. We had a lot of new people show up, now we need to find a way to keep them there, especially guys. I could stand to lose my status as the "token gay man" at our events. Besides, Labor Day is coming up, and we need to start planning so we can have the most fabulous float in the parade again :-D
After meeting, I am off to Baltimore with Joshua, first to pick up a pair of running shoes from Holabird Sports. There was a particular pair of Asics I was interested in; the place I would usually buy from were selling them for $95 plus shipping, Holabird was selling the exact same shoes for only $76, and I could do in-store pickup. I'll definitely take a bargain any day.
A jaunt down the inner harbor, and then it's off to a party, which should be lots of fun. After that, I am planning to go watch basketball on Sunday, and perhaps see the new Harry Potter movie as well.
Now if only work could be busy like this right now. As it is, all is quiet on my surveys, but I know it will get crazier next month when the next systems test occurs for my listing surveys. Still, I hate when basically I have no work coming down from my sponsors. There's only so long that I can take playing around with another instrument and seeing if I can tweak its performance for the next major revision. I did get a problem case in the field, but I think it's one of those flukes where it just happened because I have been unable to re-create the problem. Isn't that how it always goes?
Saturday is a board meeting with GreenBeLT Pride to discuss recent events and how we can continue their success. We had a lot of new people show up, now we need to find a way to keep them there, especially guys. I could stand to lose my status as the "token gay man" at our events. Besides, Labor Day is coming up, and we need to start planning so we can have the most fabulous float in the parade again :-D
After meeting, I am off to Baltimore with Joshua, first to pick up a pair of running shoes from Holabird Sports. There was a particular pair of Asics I was interested in; the place I would usually buy from were selling them for $95 plus shipping, Holabird was selling the exact same shoes for only $76, and I could do in-store pickup. I'll definitely take a bargain any day.
A jaunt down the inner harbor, and then it's off to a party, which should be lots of fun. After that, I am planning to go watch basketball on Sunday, and perhaps see the new Harry Potter movie as well.
Now if only work could be busy like this right now. As it is, all is quiet on my surveys, but I know it will get crazier next month when the next systems test occurs for my listing surveys. Still, I hate when basically I have no work coming down from my sponsors. There's only so long that I can take playing around with another instrument and seeing if I can tweak its performance for the next major revision. I did get a problem case in the field, but I think it's one of those flukes where it just happened because I have been unable to re-create the problem. Isn't that how it always goes?
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