Thursday, September 15, 2011

Scarred For Life: Missoni x Target

Okay maybe that title is a little melodramatic, but unfortunately kinda the way I'm feeling right now.  Yesterday was the day after zigzagmania and I managed to make it out of bed at, oh, noon--however a general feeling of malaise hung with me all day long.  Not getting any sleep the night before due to zigzag fever probably had something else to do with it.  I'm going to stop carrying on about this after today, but in the interest of telling you how I really feel will cut loose in this post.

It all started when the dreaded Target Style refused to say what time the ol' Missoni line would be released online.  They did little teasers like 'bright and early in the morning' and 'you can sleep for a couple more hours', but refused to specifically state a time--likely because they knew that mayhem was about to overtake their site.  Nevertheless that was the beginning of the end.  Around 3:15am I checked the site and got on with ease.  Like a fool I thought, 'hmmmm they must have planned because this is relatively seamless'.  Famous last words.  Cut to scene and there I was in the middle of checkout:  the beloved throw, an iPhone cover and one other item I can't remember due to PTSD when the damn site crashed.  Really Target? REALLY??

These words now evoke feelings of terror.

For the next 3 hours I attempted to get back into the site just to access my cart and check out with 3 measly items, but oh no.  That would have been asking too much.  During this time I also waited on hold for an hour for a customer service rep who could pull up my transaction and check me out.  Nada! When I finally got through she did, indeed, pull up my online shopping cart...but refused to assist me in the checkout process stating I had to wait until the site came back up.  Excuse me lady, but that's like other people butting in front of me in line, isn't it?  Meanwhile everyone and their mother was attempting to access the site and some of them apparently were able to do so because when I got back in at, oh, 7am the damn throw--the one thing I really wanted--was SOLD OUT.  Even better?  Ol' girl on the phone had given me a 'reference number' for when I would, inevitably, call back again to complain that the contents of my cart had been pilfered out from under me while I entered the security code from the back of my card during CHECKOUT as the site crashed.  That's how close I was!!  By the way...that reference number showed what had been in my cart when the site crashed.  And would always hold that screen shot according to her.  

Isn't that special?

They knew this was happening to thousands of people, but rather than honoring those of us who had waited our turn and made legit transactions they just ripped our merchandise out of our carts and let others run off into cyberspace with it...kind of just like the in-store experience so many people had.  They would politely put something in their cart, leaving other things for other customers, when the crazy eBayers and soccer moms would roll up, attempt to steal the goods, and run off into the men's fitting room to 'decide what they really wanted' aka ALL OF IT even if it wasn't in their size.  

By mid-day I was down from a raging fire to a smolder so took my crazy looking hair out to the car and zipped over to a local Target to survey the damage.  Zippo on the clothing due to the antics described in yesterday's post.  Everything had been pillaged by 8:05am leaving nothing except a few pairs of shoes.  One of those pairs happened to be knit flats in a size a little too big for my niece, but she'll grow into them. Examine the evidence:

Cute, right?
Why do I feel like throwing them against the wall?

By mid-afternoon I had made two transactions for two iPhone covers...finally one of those transactions went through.  Here's hoping the goods show up and the order doesn't get cancelled.  Maybe they'll accidentally send me the throw they owe me.  Yeah, right.  

I'm sure you're thinking 'oh get over it' and all I can say to you is, I will, but until I do you can talk to the hand.  Because if I had been standing in-store with 3 items and the register went down while I was in the process of waiting for my credit card transaction to go through no one would have been able to steal my stuff off the register.  Right?  Herein lies my real issue.  Pushers, shovers and store hoarders aside, the web experience was dismal.  And people who waited up all night, essentially waited for nothing.  And Target couldn't give a flying you know what.  THAT'S MY PROBLEM.  Why couldn't that customer service rep have checked me out?? Why could she look at my cart online, see the contents and refuse to check me out.  I mean she used a polite tone and asked her supervisor and everything...but at the end of the day left me to swing in the wind.

Well swing this!! *insert the bird* (I bet sponsors are just lining up right now *cough*).  The experience killed the desire for the line, which is really sad.  And now I want to heave those little shoes into outer space, but won't because I know my niece will love them.  And I almost got scratched getting them.  And I still want that stupid throw because I heard they are really nice. Ugh!!

Consolation:  today I found a very cool facebook page called Locked out of Missoni for Target - FAIR Trade Here.  People are listing items they are going to return or would be willing to trade for other items...and some of them will actually sell items to you at a reasonable price + shipping.  A wonderfully kind woman messaged me and may have a throw for me.  I'll keep you updated.  The ironic thing is this page has brought together, at least at this stage, fair and reasonable people who are not making things easy for the eBayers wanting to gouge.  I highly suggest heading over and 'liking' their page--if you'd still like something and your local store is sold out, someone there might have your item.  Target's customer service could learn a thing or two from the admins running the page.  And those ill-mannered shoppers could also stand to take a lesson from the way patrons are trading/selling goods amongst each other.  Word

42 comments:

Ann said...

That was a fun and cool read... ♥

Can't really blame you.

Love that Missoni collection for Target.

m_b said...

i know what you mean, it's not just the throw, it's the principle! this is why i never shop online. it's scary that i don't have the product in my hand as i turn over my precious credit card numbers - because who knows what could happen? (case in point.) i hope you get the throw. thank goodness for nice people, right?

Marina said...

They are so cute! I want them! :) I wish we have target here :)

Lissy said...

The Missoni for Target thing was an utter disaster. Target should have planned and managed that way better. I had a similar thing happen where I was going to check out, the site went down and my stuff was gone. I did end up getting a few other things only to receive an email saying most of them would be delayed. At this point, I'll believe it when I see it that anything actually shows up!

Tabitha said...

Wow I would be a little traumatized too. I just didn't even bother attempting cause I feared for my life (a la Wal-Mart on Turkey Day). Thank you for sharing the Fair trade page - good for those people to have great morals.

Lilacandgrey said...

Carrie- I spit out my coffee when I read about the shoes for your niece! I literally had those in my hand and the rain boots- however I HAVE NO NIECE lol! for a second I thought to myself, "should I but these just in case I have a daughter?" then I said Nah...I am sure a REAL little girl will want these...ugh the madness!
Lilac and Grey

Courtney Erin said...

Deep cleansing breaths - the nightmare is over. That's seriously sucks hardcore though - so many horrific stories emerging about the chaos...I really hope the throw reaches you, you've totally earned it.

xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.com

Callie Grayson said...

I can completely relate, I went to the store and there were some cool people with each of us sharing what we picked up and didn't want. BUT then there was a pair of rude and I mean REALLY RUDE ladies, following me around the store and picking up everything I was looking at....I tried to be nice and hold a conversation they actually ignored me. seriously, just looked at me and didn't say a word.

but I got 2 dresses from different shoppers. One from women who was shopping for her daughter (who was on the phone and couldn't come in) she didn't want that dress and it fit perfectly.
The other from two women who were really nice that came in the dressing room saying that it would look really good on me.
so there was a silver lining.

I will keep a look out for that throw for you! my target didn't have the throw or the shower curtain which I wanted.
I will be checking periodically, since the girl told me they will be getting items through out the week.
xx
callie

Closet Fashionista said...

SHEESH! Your story SUCKS! That is so annoying that they wouldn't check you out when they could SEE YOUR CART! I would write a letter to target and complain, maybe you'll get some free stuff out of it .... *sigh*
Hopefully you get your throw!
http://www.closet-fashionista.com/

Michelle (Confessed Travelholic) said...

I hate online shopping! It can be so frustrating. At least you got those cute flats though :)

17 Perth said...

This whole Missoni for Target is still so hard to believe. You are not the first person I have talked to who had items "stolen" out of their "cart"...I mean, really target? And have you noticed that the commercials are still on tv? I have to say, I do want to flip the channel or a bird for that matter when I see it come on. Fingers crossed you get the throw. : )

Danielle (elleinadspir) said...

I returned one item, people keep saying I should have put it on eBay, but price gouging people just seemed wrong. I was lucky, my store was bare, but I got some discards from people who were walking around and a few from the fitting room discards. In the end, I had quite a haul. Sadly, no blanket for me either :(

Tara @ Haute Lunch said...

The exact same thing happened to my cart- pilfered! :( Honestly, the way Target handled this whole situation makes me not want to spend money there at all anymore. There are so many other stores that have much better customer service, and I'd rather give my money to them. I don't even want the items I had in my cart anymore, honestly. How disappointing.

erica said...

People went flipping crazy! One of my friends works for corporate Target and said that they didn't expect to sell completely out of everything the first day. They have an insane amount of bandwidth on their website and since it never crashes black friday why would it crash with this...however it did three times. When I went to the store Tuesday forgetting about this opening up the store was already swamped at 9 am... NOTHING was left and when I was walking through the clothes section where NOTHING was left a girl knocked me down because she thought my umbrella had the pattern and she wanted. The umbrella was sticking out of my purse and is solid hot pink with an E on it. People were even crazier than black friday and I dont think anyone could have expected that. My friend did tell me however that since this is the biggest partnership ever they will replenishing everything multiple times.

Taylor said...

I totally missed out, all i wanted was a throw too...and do you know what the Hubs said, why don't you just buy a real one baby....THIS IS WHY I LOVE HIM! But i still want that one! ;) Cuz my boys, spill on the couch! And i want the pretty one all for mommy!

Johanna said...

You kill me. I love the part about throwing the flats against the wall...albeit they are pretty darn cute!

Anonymous said...

I want to say I'm done with Target and the designer collaborations, but I fear they'll suck me in and team up with Chanel or something.

Anonymous said...

i read about this online and i can honestly say (although i might shoot myself for it later), im glad i dont live in the US and have access to target online. i would have been cursing nonstop if i went through this ordeal.

TheChambrayCountess said...

Wow, I had not even attempted to get anything online and I am really glad I didn't. I think Target was smoking during the planning meeting for this-- I mean, how could they NOT have known the website would be mobbed with people and develop a plan?

At least there are some decent people out there, as you mentioned at the end of your post. I hope you get the items you want, but I am personally done with the whole thing!

THE ALTERNATIVE WIFE said...

OMG I'm totally fuming on your behalf! This is the kind of thing that drives me absolutely crazy! Hope you're able to get that throw somehow. I was one of the unlucky ones too but I didn't have the horrible experience you did. Sorry! xoxo

The Blonde @ Stylish3 said...

I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience, but I'm also sort of happy because this post was pretty damn funny!

I went to my local Target around 9:30 and we still had a decent amount of stuff available (one of hte perks of living in a smaller city I guess). I'm going to be posting about my experience soon!

locked out of Missoni for target- fair trade here said...

Hi! thanks for the mention! I was thoroughly disgusted as well, both with the online situation and then the behavior I kept hearing about. So I started the Facebook page- please come by! No gouging, niceness and sharing are the only rules!

Lorin

Tiffany Kadani said...

Wow! I had no clue this was all going on!

I am a firm believer in good customer service but it doesn't start with the people who are helping you- it's the people at the top. Those in charge need to handle their business better. Maybe they'll hear you.

amy b.s. said...

the whole missoni/target thing is just so crazy! although i'm headed there today after work to see if anything is left. as it's montana, it's highly likely.

Mal said...

Yeah, the whole launch was such a disaster, I managed to place an order before the site crashed, but nothing has shipped, so I'm fretting about that. And my local store was so cleared out, the whole thing is just frustrating.

I'm on that FB group too, love it, such a smart concept!

http://chicgeekery.blogspot.com/

The Suburb Experiment said...

The cool part about going shopping was finding a sistership with the non-crazies that were also there. They got up early for the love of Missoni - not to resell it on eBay. Guarding each other carts, sharing items. I'm interested to see if there is actually more merchandise on it's way like Fashion Meets Food says. Considering there's signs on every rack at the Tacoma Target stating that this was IT, quit asking. :)

Jenn
The Suburb Experiment

Lori Peterson said...

That sucks. Target needs to send you that Throw ASAP or make the chick who refused to check you out hand deliver it with an apology.

Taylor said...

waaaah - the crazies begin for missoni. i cant believe target's site crashed!! well, i can. but still, a lot of people must want some missoni. i hope you get everything you always wanted in the end!

Robyn said...

I've had that happen before and it's excruciating! I don't understand why if something is in your cart, it can still be purchased by someone else. And yeah, why couldn't she have just checked you out? It's not as if it would be unfair to anyone else. You had the good sense to call. And don't get me started about people in stores. People, as a whole, are reprehensible. Grrr. I feel ya.

fifi said...

loved this post feeling the same... but at least i was able to snag the velour hoodie and shorts online i keep going back to the target site thinking it may magically restock! the clerk at target did say to check back at the store everyday at 8 because they should replenish instore...so if anyone is feeling like making a target stop everyday for the next few weeks they may get lucky! lol

Oliviaaa said...

I've been checking ebay for that throw... and it's beyond ridiculous what some people are charging! Quite the experience you went through! Does this kind of stuff even happen to anyone else???

Josie said...

That's RIDICULOUS, Carrie. Like, really ridiculous. I'm so sorry. Not just about your stuff -- although that totally sucks -- but that it happened at all. I love the throw but I'm so glad I didn't attempt to get anything online or -- possibly worse -- at the store.
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

A Crimson Kiss said...

Reading your note at the bottom reaffirmed my wavering faith in humanity.

The web experience was dismal. You know when your site is going to crash, and you try harder not let that happen. And when it does, you apologize like all get out and fix the problem. There's really no Godly reason why items in your cart shouldn't have been claimed as yours. That's crazy. Target is crazy. Missoni for Target was a shitshow, and I am SURE Target knows it.

But there's the hope of that throw, glimmering in the distance.

kimbirdy said...

this sounds just like most online ticket-buying experiences for shows. within seconds of being on sale, scalpers with their hundreds of computers have bought out all the tickets, turning around to sell them at ridiculous prices. i'm so sad that seems to be happening now with online shopping! why can't we {as a society} take better measures to sell things online in reasonable ways, or just stick to the old school way of doing things - more product in stores. i'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. i hope you get your throw!

Kris10 said...

I totally understand your feelings! Argh...while I didn't do the online thing (I couldn't get through period), I went to 5 stores. I got a couple cute things, but the thing I wanted most was the throw!!! Oooooo and those blasted eBayers make me so made selling things at ridiculous prices. If they didn't want it for themselves, they should have left it on the shelf (or out of their online shopping cart) for someone that really does. It's just mean and it makes me so mad! and sad :'( I hope we both get our throws...

Alexa said...

A little bit of overkill I say. I mean cute things...but you know...cute getting mauled for? I don't think so.

Claire Kiefer said...

When I pretend that instead of Missoni it was something like Louboutin for Target (HA), I can get closer to understanding how you feel. SUCKS that you didn't get your beloved items. I wanna see the throw. I'm going to have to go check out pics. Maybe it's fate that you didn't get the throw, b/c then your Blanket might have been jealous.

Lila said...

I'm surprised after last years Target horror story you returned. Good luck on the wrap, i am sure it is gorgeous.

Kara Endres said...

This is why I have a love/hate relationship with those designer target collabs. Unless you act like a deranged red eyed crazy hunter (losing all self respect), you don't have a chance to get anything. I waited up for this one and then figured I wouldn't end up with anything since they weren't saying a launch time so I went to bed and didn't even bother going to the store until like 3pm since I didn't want to be in the middle of the madness. Did end up ordering something, so we'll see if it comes.

Grace (The Stripe) said...

I died laughing reading this. Oh man, what a disaster. I didn't bother... but those flats you got are pretty adorable!

OneCraftyFox said...

With so much drama in your life already, how dare they add more!! lol

Anonymous said...

Oh I feel for you sister!
Know what Im looking forward to? Shop the Versace for H&M in November!

ha
ha hahahaaa

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails