Target Stores: What's Really Going On?

When Target's "Black Friday" sale came around, I thought I had done everything as correctly as possible. I verified the times and dates in the circular, as my goal was to purchase the Lego City Airport which was regularly $79.99 on sale for $49.99 starting November 23. This sale was part of the 2 day sale and began at 6 a.m. Well, the say before I had logged on to Target.com just to view the Lego set, and in doing so, saw that the set was only available online and not in stores.

Fast forward to 6 a.m. on sale day, and the Lego set was still marketed at its regular price of $79.99. As I really wanted to purchase this set, I was willing to give it some time, so that the other times zones could hit 6 a.m. Soon the hours passed: 7, 8, 9....... fast forward to 4 p.m., and it still is the regular price. As I wanted to get it for a family member, I was determined to keep checking. At 8 p.m. it was still not marked the sale price and before going to bed at midnight it was oddly taken off of the website. I searched by "Lego" and viewed the entire Lego items, but to my shock no Lego City Airport.

So I was up bright and early to log on to the last day of the "2 day sale" today and was very excited to see that the Lego set was posted on Target's site. Also, the sale price was reflected and "mysteriously" after being in stock all day yesterday at the $79.99 price (which was supposed for be $30 less, but was not marked), today at the $49.99 price it is sold out. "No way," I thought. I knew better.

You see, the last time I had attempted to view that Lego set was during the midnight hour, and like I had stated it was missing from the Target website. It had to have popped up between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to be "on sale" and "sold out." While this could very much be true, I am outraged by Target's sale tactics. Remember, this set was part of the two day sale. So to summarize what happened during the " 2 day sale" here it is:

Day 1: Lego City Airport listed as regular price $79.99, when it should have been listed as the sale price of $49.99. This item was listed as the regular price all day, and then disappeared completely during the midnight hour.

Day 2: Lego City Airport "magically reappears" at 5 a.m. and is listed as the correct sale price, but "just so happens to be sold out." There is no way for me to order it at that sale price and wait for more to come in, if that is the case. Also remember that the item was available online only and not in stores (as per yesterday's website description).

So, I don't know, you tell me.... as a consumer would you not be upset? I mean, this is different from standing outside waiting in line only to find out something was sold out. Why? Because on the day of the sale, consumers were not even able to purchase this at the advertised sale price, and then when it does get listed as the "official" sales price, it is "magically" sold out.

I want to hear from anyone else who has experienced a similar problem. Did you try to buy the Lego set from Target and have the same problem I did? What about the dvd's that were advertised as $5.98 (Happy Feet and Open Season) that were still listed as $14.99 both yesterday and today on Target's website? I am beyond angry, because now, thanks to Target, I wasted so much time and energy trying to purchase sale items that were never meant to be purchased, at least not at those advertised sale prices.

Disclaimer: The opinions presented in this article are my own and do not reflect the views of any other person but myself. They are based on my shopping experiences on November 23-24, 2007.