My letter to Lego concerning the Cmas Eve "Sale"

[earl9371]

My kids and I are huge fans of your product. I’ve shopped extensively at your online store for several years now as there’s no Lego store in our area, and I’ve always found your customer service to be the most helpful and nice I’ve ever encountered.

I’m not one to write letters like this, as I used to work in customer service myself and saw my fair share of over-the-top “how can you sleep at night” letters about minor missives. However, my extreme disappointment over a recent promotion on your website has led me to get in contact.

You’ve created a lot of ill will toward your operation in our house – and from what I’m reading online with a lot of fans around the country – with what we’ve come to call “The Christmas Eve Massacre” on your website. I’ve got your site bookmarked at my work, I check the sale page several times a day, I suffered through with the 27 items you had stuck on your page this summer for many months, etc.

I was absolutely floored when I opened the page last night to find the remnants of a sale than many of your fans truly believe never existed – and if it did exist it was executed in a way that, well, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If the items on your site truly existed at the sale price, then to dump 200 of them on your website on a night when most people are centered on their families is a disservice to the bread-and-butter fans who (used) to frequent and buy from your operation.

Sure, I should have bought the Taj Mahal earlier. I’m mad that I didn’t, and whenever I see that price on your site and it listed as sold out I get a little kick in my gut. But when I call 15 of your brand stores this morning and they tell me they haven’t seen them in months, then I start to doubt the validity of your sale.

Several months ago, I heard rumblings that a large big-box retailer was selling a piece that had been retired a year ago. I called your customer service to see if they knew if it was being reintroduced, and they said 10 of the pieces had just been uncovered in your warehouse and I could order one if I wanted. I felt like I’d won Powerball. I know these things can happen where you have a few available and they just turn up.

But – so many, at such a low price, with no heads-up, and on Christmas Eve? I’m having a hard time putting my finger on it, but it’s just disappointing. I saw a post on one fan website concerning this where someone said, “This is just painful to scroll through”. I agree, and there are many other core fans of your product out there who feel the same way.

So best of luck to you, Lego. Call it sour grapes if you will. In my view the proverbial shark has been jumped, and we’ll be leaving for awhile. Other retailers who don’t drop big sales with no notice on Christmas Eve – and then rub our collective noses in it by leaving sold out items on their page for who knows how long – will be where I’ll shop.

[FireWolf]

I am too disappointed the sale was completely unadvertised. But most of the products were sold out in the first place like the advent calendar and minifigures. Only 1/4 of the products was instock when the sale started.

[cstojano]

I hit my local Lego store pretty early after opening. There were two guys there buying tons of stuff, hundreds of the 50% off sets. That's fine I suppose. But nothing was really even marked down in the store yet. I knew what prices things were because I saw the sale online. But rather than mark down in store sets the workers were sorting pieces and such. I guess my point is that clearly the company is a bit mom and pop when it comes to stuff like this. I cal tell you Walmart is no better though, but this works to our benefit.

About the sales. Yeah its frustrating seeing the prices on the screen. They need a better web system that doesn't continue to show sold out product. But really you didn't miss anything I think. Most of the major sets were long gone. Taj, Merry Go Round, Green Grocer - no one got them at those prices.

What also kills me is that my local store stopped doing dented box items. I can see the reasoning there I suppose. But now they go from expensive to dirt cheap with little in between except for clearly unwanted sets (Anakin's fighter).

[Moz1976]

I shall be writing a formal letter of complaint as well, completely agree with what has been said I would have liked the Green Grocer.

1/ My main issue with lego is how the hell they can justify a sale when at a time spent with the kids.
2/ The 'sale' email I received was at 15:30 hours on Christmas day - they had all sold out by then anyway
3/ I seriously question how many items were actually available as I had enquired about the the 10178 at-at walker just 2 days previously when they were £89.99 and they had sold out! So why dangle a non existent carrot and offer 50% off when they don't exist anymore - not saying they were all sold out before hand as I have no proof but it all stinks to me.

I would like the Death Star but £279 is too much for me at the moment, if there was 50% off that they would be gone in minutes, maybe they should limit to 1 per person even then they would be gone quickly. Lego sales staff told me the Death Star would never be discounted as it is so popular but I can not believe what they say anymore.

[BobaFett2]

LEGO Stores have 50% off sales? And I'm pissed about the shop, most worthwhile things were gone...

[ncbarrett]

While I agree it does suck to miss the good sets, this is one reason I never wait for a sale to get the sets I want.
You always end up getting burned.

And remember, LEGO is about making $$, not giving stuff away.

[slacker]

I didn't see the sale thread until xmas day. Out of the blue my brother in-law decided to call the store. Guess what? somebody picked up the phone. He asked when they would open on sunday. They said 7am. He asked if they were open now and they said no. They were there to stock the shelves. At 7am, everything they had for sale was out. Let's just say that they didn't have much left of the larger sets. Everything that was on sale was tagged. So there was no surprise. I'm lucky to have one store that is 10 minutes away. I was also lucky to go early as we got pounded with snow. I'm disappointed that I didn't get some of the smaller sets like Vader's tie and the police car. All in all I was extremely happy with what I got.

Did lego do this last year?

[legitimatealex]

I don't see the problem here. Sure the sale was unadvertised but the only products that were truly sold out when it started were the huge sets and the collectible minifigures. Nothing else. Everything else was there.

Sure it was slimy to advertise the large sets when they weren't there, but everything else was. Everything else they listed. People snap up the sets on sale. It can't be helped. I got there at the beginning of the sale but didn't order anything for about two hours and there was still a large selection.

Sorry you didn't get what you wanted but I can't say that it was LEGO's fault. They were blowing out a huge bunch of excess stock they had left over after the Christmas holidays. This was not a thank you sale, it was just a liquidation sale. The online store can only send out what they have in the warehouse, not everything they have in every single LEGO store.

[locutis]

I'll repost my experience here, that I posted on another forum:

Well, I don't know about other people, but I placed a fairly substantial online order for sale items, then called to inquire about the "Sold out" items. I was directed to call the online customer service, which I did. After waiting a minute, I spoke with an agent, and explained that I just placed an online order for sale items, and wondered about some of the "sold out" items. He asks me for the order number, and the item numbers of the items I am inquiring about. After a few minutes, he comes back and says that even though they were marked as "sold out" online, I could have them added to my order. He further explains that when their warehouse hits a certain level of remaining inventory, they mark the website as "Sold out" to allow for some of the orders to process and catch up, with people having the items in their carts, etc. I was able to order several quantities of each of the pirates sets that were on sale, and they had been marked as "sold out". I later received an email from Lego S@H confirming my order, and the added items were listed below my original order in a separate section of the email.

Edit: Further to my comment above, when I was speaking with the agent, he mentioned that the "Sold out" was a function of their shopping cart system, and effectively as soon as the sale started many items would have been switched to "Sold out" immediately as people placed the items into their shopping carts. The system reserves their items in carts for a set period of time or activity, and then when the customer is inactive for a period of time, the item is reclaimed back into the system. So an item can be switched from "Available" to "Sold Out" and back to "Available" as people add to their shopping cart, it sells out, then people abandon their carts, and the items are returned back into the system for other customers to order, and then more people add to their cart when it's "Available" again, and so on. At least that was his explanation for the Pirates Sets switching back and forth while I ordered.

[hatcher]

My only issue with the Sale was the putting on sale items that have been sold out for weeks already. That was not nice to mock us that way.

I did find some things odd about the sale though. The put every Prince of Persia set on 50% off, except the magnet set. Don't get that. The only thing from Toy Story they put on sale was the Jesse key chain, and the Build a Zurg, except the Zurg wasn't half price. Shockingly, its still available.

They put the alll the pirate sets on 50% off, but they didn't put the Imperial Flagship on sale at all. The Medieval market place, which has out lived the entire Castle Line by almost a year not on sale either. The flagship I can understand not clearing (still relatively new), but the marketplace seems to me like a no brainer. But, it wasn't included.

Half of the Star Wars magnet and key chains on sale, the other half not. Some of which have been available for sale far longer than the ones on clearance.

Regardless, I've got a few things on my watch list, but I probably won't pull the trigger, as I seriously overspent my budget in December.

[cstojano]

Talk about things I don't get, how about lego NOT putting the poly bag turkey and Halloween bats on sale. Not that I'd buy them but still. Seems like a no brainer to put the winter bakery on sale after Xmas as well. That I would buy, no dice.

[Mantisking]

Talk about things I don't get, how about lego NOT putting the poly bag turkey and Halloween bats on sale. Not that I'd buy them but still.

They did that in-store. I picked up a Bat and a Pumpkin polybag for a dollar each.