Riot outside Circuit City

[Aristotle]

Digital rage! Crowds want their laptops

Cops had to calm furious shoppers at Circuit City stores around town yesterday as bargain hunters discovered that laptops advertised at $200 were in short supply.

"They bum-rushed the store and we couldn't control the crowds," said a shaken manager at the Rego Park, Queens, store, where cops had to quell an angry throng of more than 500.

"We tried to go outside to give out vouchers to people who were waiting in line first, but it became impossible. We had to call the cops," said the manager, who said he was too fearful to give his name.

Shoppers said Circuit City had only itself to blame. The electronics chain plastered the city with ads touting the discounted Toshiba notebooks - usually priced at $799.99 - but had too few of the computers available at each store, they said. The ads promised only a minimum of 15 at each location.

"They make us wait here for three to four hours and we leave with nothing. They played us," said Zeshan Haider, 33, of Jersey City, who got in line at 3:30 a.m. outside the Circuit City on E. 14th St. in Manhattan only to walk out empty-handed.

"It's irresponsible for the stores to advertise sales, get people all riled up and angry when they've only got like 30 computers in stock," said a police officer who responded to the Manhattan uproar.

Ok, what the hell.

1) You were crazy enough to go shop the day after Thanksgiving. You should know in advance that you're setting yourself up for a helluva lot of disappointment and things being sold out if you shop on that day.

2) They were giving out vouchers for people to get their laptops later, so what is the problem?

3) Um, hello folks. READ THE FUCKING AD: "The ads promised only a minimum of 15 at each location."

4) The idiocy and sense of entitlement of these people amazes me: "They make us wait here for three to four hours". They didn't make you do anything, jackass. Or "It's irresponsible for the stores to advertise sales, get people all riled up and angry." No, it is irresponsible for shoppers to act like rioters just because a store sells out of an obvious loss leader on the busiest shopping day of the year. If you got "riled up and angry" then you need therapy and need to learn how to control yourself.

[kiania]

We get the same with our Christmas sales. But I agree, that is sickening, the idea that the store -had- to sell everyone a laptop. They sold the ones they had to those that came first, its a first-come-first-served offer after all, just like all sales.

[kestra]

anyone who does even a moderate amount of reading flyers knows that these amazing deals come with the bit where the store has only a very limited amount.
Blame yourselves for not reading, idiots!!