My wife - who's working today - wanted me to go to the outlet mall w/ a pass we were given (there's a huge yearly convention here, and a pass to it gets you all kinds of interesting things). If you bring the pass, you get a $50 gift card.
I got the kids dressed, and drove 20 minutes to the outlet. We went to the management office, where a line had already formed. We were told we needed both the pass AND the outlet mall's smartphone app to get the $50. I download the app, open it, and sign up. Then I'm supposed to click the "Flash Sale" button - with my GPS location service enabled (proving I'm physically there) to receive the gift card. For some reason, it's not working. We check the permissions, enable and disable location services, uninstall and reinstall the app, restart the phone - do everything under the sun to get this thing working. On top of that, I have this new phone I'm not familiar with yet, slowing me down. Furthermore, the kids are getting more and more impatient, while I watch person after person pass me by and receive a gift card without issue.
While I'm getting more frustrated, they announce they're down to their last 10 gift cards. After that, they're gone. App still isn't working. Great - all that way and frustration for nothing!
But wait, no, it's not over after all! They called me in to the office, told me they could tell I did everything I could do, and gave me a gift card. No sooner I get my gift card than they're all out and turning everyone else away.
Sweet.
I text my wife that I got the gift card, but they're only good until tomorrow night at 6 PM. She works all day today and all day tomorrow. So she happily says, "Ok, well, you're already there - go use it on yourself!"
Nice!
While I was dickin' around with the app to get the gift card, I had noticed a Nike ad that was promoting the running shoes I've been pining for (for over a year). They were on sale - "This weekend only!" and discounted from $150 to $75. Half off! Not bad! Then, they had my exact size and color I wanted. After using the $50 gift card, the remaining balance was only $30 (w/ tax and whatnot)!
Save for a bit of frustration, I'd say that was a fairly beneficial shopping trip for me!
I got the kids dressed, and drove 20 minutes to the outlet. We went to the management office, where a line had already formed. We were told we needed both the pass AND the outlet mall's smartphone app to get the $50. I download the app, open it, and sign up. Then I'm supposed to click the "Flash Sale" button - with my GPS location service enabled (proving I'm physically there) to receive the gift card. For some reason, it's not working. We check the permissions, enable and disable location services, uninstall and reinstall the app, restart the phone - do everything under the sun to get this thing working. On top of that, I have this new phone I'm not familiar with yet, slowing me down. Furthermore, the kids are getting more and more impatient, while I watch person after person pass me by and receive a gift card without issue.
While I'm getting more frustrated, they announce they're down to their last 10 gift cards. After that, they're gone. App still isn't working. Great - all that way and frustration for nothing!
But wait, no, it's not over after all! They called me in to the office, told me they could tell I did everything I could do, and gave me a gift card. No sooner I get my gift card than they're all out and turning everyone else away.
Sweet.
I text my wife that I got the gift card, but they're only good until tomorrow night at 6 PM. She works all day today and all day tomorrow. So she happily says, "Ok, well, you're already there - go use it on yourself!"
Nice!
While I was dickin' around with the app to get the gift card, I had noticed a Nike ad that was promoting the running shoes I've been pining for (for over a year). They were on sale - "This weekend only!" and discounted from $150 to $75. Half off! Not bad! Then, they had my exact size and color I wanted. After using the $50 gift card, the remaining balance was only $30 (w/ tax and whatnot)!
Save for a bit of frustration, I'd say that was a fairly beneficial shopping trip for me!
