Image Credit
It’s time for The Lounge again! This week it is being hosted by Robo Mum so go over and check it out!
This week I had a more serious rant planned but circumstances happened that means that I am going to be all #firstworldproblems in my rant today.
If you have kids, then you are most likely quite aware that it is Toy Sale time. The time of the year when perfectly sane (not me obviously) mothers turned into certified psychopaths in the pursuit of toys for their children. I haven never gone in store to a toy sale for this very reason…I don’t play well with ignorant, selfish people and well I’m not really in the mood to be carted off by security after telling someone to suck a dick. I’m *smart* and do it all online. At least I was until last night.
The Big W toy sale started online at 9pm last night…at least it was supposed to. The site crashed at 3 mins after 9pm and chaos ensued. I spend the next 2.5 hours (yes you read that right) refreshing the page, trying to get one damn thing in my cart.
Twitter and Facebook all heard my rantings and swearing at the computer when I would finally get something in the cart, only to have it refresh and lose the lot! It suddenly hit me. Holy fuck I was officially a parent. Well not that I hadn’t been one before but here I was sitting for 2.5 hours on a website that refused to load and crashed more than Lindsay Lohan after a bender.
After finally getting all of my stuff in the cart, going through most of the checkout process (it was now 1130pm)..it turned out that ‘No deposit layby’ means ‘You don’t pay off anything from your layby but you do have to pay an admin fee which is payable now’. IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING! I had zero in my bank account and so couldn’t put the damn layby on because of a $2 admin fee. If I had known that the damn admin fee was not included in the ‘no deposit’ layby then I wouldn’t have wasted 2.5 hours of my life refreshing a website.
Yes it’s all very first world problems but I am a control freak…things have to go the way that I have it in my head or I lose my shit. So fingers crossed that all of the stuff I want will still be available tomorrow when I can afford that little old $2.
Something got your goat this week? Share it with The Lounge.
In the mean time go watch this video of goats…it’s hilarious.
Wow. Since we stuck our ‘no junk mail’ sign on our letterbox earlier this year, I had no idea it was toy sale time! So peaceful in this household this year! No kids scouring the catalogues exclaiming ‘I would like this, this and this…’ and no impulse shopping from me. Peaceful…
I have not been involved in the toy sales, but have similar issues with airfare sales (which is my thing) – you go thru 50 million screens only to discover it will cost you $85 in admin fees for a family of 5, or worse, it doesn’t like my credit card and will only deal with my partners (even tho they are linked…)
I have found the admin fees for flights are crazy Lydia. I booked a flight for DP’s daughter last year and was hit with $30 in extra fees.
This year only Kmart had a paper catalogue so we sat down at the computer and made a list from the catalogue and I told him that he would have to ask Santa for them.
Yep. The toys in the shops are there for you to know what you want to ask Santa for for christmas and to buy birthday presents for people ;). My eldest gets all excited at the shops when he sees what he likes so I tell him that we will have to remember to ask Santa for it.
Hopefully you get what you want from the toy sale. I would have been furious if I had gone that far and then had to stop. I know with Kmart last year you could save your wishlist and then add to it later. Can you do anything like that with BigW or did you lose what was in your cart?
The catalogues are my favourite part of the toy sales. It is an excellent opportunity to get the kids involved in a bit of collage and get them to ‘choose’ what they like. Then I cut it out and they glue it down. Then that night I get my pen out and cross out what I will not be getting them, and write a list of what I will get for christmas and birthdays for them. I don’t buy all of what they want, I gauge from their response how much they liked it and then prioritise. We also use the toy sales as a way of them to start thinking of what they want to ask Santa for, for christmas. My youngest is too young to really care but my eldest loved it. We also often look at the toy section at BigW etc and then when he sees the things he had asked for, I know he really wants them. He has been asking for a certain truck since he seen the youtube review for it a few months ago. He will be getting it for his birthday this year 🙂
That’s a great idea. I went through it with DS and wrote down the stuff he wanted then ignored the stuff that I had no intention of buying. He wanted a talking Sulley mask from the Big W catalogue but for $36 it was a big no. DP was not impressed with the firestation and thinks that DS won’t like it…I told him I would send him to work with him after telling DS that Daddy was going to buy him the fire station lol. I have heard nothing but, when can I get the firestation, can I get it now, can we ring Nanny and she will buy it lol.
LOL! Mr M wanted that mask too. I told him no straight up and it didn’t get glued but I was pretty open to some other things that he wanted as I know they are things that have had his interest for a while. He really wants the dino park car track thing from Kmart that is $35. That one is on my maybe list. I know he loves cars and dinosaurs and he loves watching Jurassic Park. I just have to decide whether I want to be picking up that many pieces and if so, to get it for his birthday, Christmas or from Santa. He was mainly interested in the Kmart catalogue though unfortunately. I think I might layby some so it delayed my at home storage time.
They might have to be stored in Pops shed until Santa can pick them up.
$2 admin fee how bloody ridiculous. Companies are getting away with this all the time, like the credit card fee ticketek charges which is a scam as credit card is the only way you can pay. Good luck with getting all the stuff you are after!!
Thanks. I am going to try again in the early hours of tomorrow and hopefully I will be more successful.
Like I told you last night while you were waiting for the cart, I avoid these things like the plague. Maybe it’s coz my kids are little and they’re still happy with whatever they receive. Maybe when they get older I’ll pay more attention. I hope it all went through and you didn’t waste your time. X
DS is happy with whatever too, but I like being able to get him bigger stuff and know that I don’t have a massive outlay because it will be on layby for nearly six months.
I am never aware of sales of any kind. Aus Post and others do still dump junk mail despite our sign, but I just put it straight in the recycling. Oh, except EB Games because I signed up for their emails.
I must say though, this really. Admin fee for what exactly? Accepting your order? Bloody nonsense.
It’s an admin fee for them to prepare the Layby :/
I mean, in my rather obscure fashion, that I am aware of EB Games sales because I get their emails.
I used to be addicted to those bloody sales, but three kids later and NUP – not doing it, not even going to look at catalogues, (okay my mum might have another POV because she wants to get cheap bargains and pay them off) My kids have enough toys!
Sucks you had such a late night and there was no vodka involved 🙁 x
Oh there was vodka involved! I couldn’t have gotten through that without vodka lol
I’ve never been big on the Toy Sales – my poor children will tell you just how EMPTY their toy room is (of course they will) – and my only experience of them is when I accidentally venture into Big W looking for a quick underwear purchase only to see queues stretching from lay-by ALL THE WAY around the store.
Bug out! Bug out!
DS room is nearly empty at the moment because he refused to pick them up so into garbage bags they went and they are in the car boot until further notice.
I’ve never understood why some parents go crazy over these mid year toy sales, but I guess they are the smug ones come December who’ve got Christmas all sorted while I’m stressed. I really should sort my shit out and get interested. I hate Christmas shopping!
Glad you finally got all you wanted. xo