I am on a movie bing now (I have both Netflix and Blockbuster free subscriptions going on which is allowing me to test out a whole bunch of DVDs to see what is worth buying), if you have the chance to see Planet Earth I HIGHLY recommend it. It is a BBC program in the same realm as a National Geographic (it is visually stunning and blows away National Geographic) in a 4 disc set and it is Awesome (notice the capital A in Awesome). I’ve only gotten through the first disc in the set so far and I love it… So I ordered these Christmas Reindeer front lawn decorations from Sears online and I chose to do in-store pickup to save myself the $7 shipping charge I would have been hit with to have it delivered to my house (there is a Sears location 2 minutes from me so what the hey). If you are not familiar with this process here is how it works, you place your order, choose in-store pickup, and then wait for an email telling you that the item is at the store and ready to be picked up (and by doing this you avoid shipping fees). I got that email telling me to get my butt to the store to pick up my reindeer (which were an awesome sale that I posted about in the Forums section). So I take my hop, skip, and a jump to Sears and I go to the front desk, hand them the print out of my order which said the items were at the store, wait a minute for the girl to punch some things into the computer, and then hear the words “Ummm, sorry, these items are not here…”

Now understand this, I had this exact same experience occur to me with Sears a few months ago. I went there to pick something up only to be told that the item wasn’t there. What did I do in that instance? I got mad. I told them that they were wasting my time, making me drive to the store, wait there for 20 minutes while they searched, etc… and I demanded the manager. Long story short, this was for an air mattress that was on clearance and I ordered for $10, well after I gave them a piece of my mind they ended up giving me the cheapest air mattress that they had in stock which was a $50 Swiss Army one. I gave them a gruff ‘thank you’ and walked out (a happy camper though I didn’t show it… and this Swiss Army air mattress is money). Back to the now, so the manager comes over and says he’ll look in the back stockroom. He searches for 15 minutes and can’t find the reindeer. He checks in his computer to see if he should have any on the floor and it tells him there are 21 units on the floor. GREAT! He’ll find me 2 of them and I’ll be on my way… So this guy is walking up and down aisles looking for the things. He calls over another guy who also starts looking, and eventually they call over a third guy who also starts looking. After I was in the store for 35 minutes they discover 2 reindeer hidden behind a few boxes. I get my reindeer and let them know that it was the 2nd time this type of thing has happened to me at Sears and if this is how Sears operates then I won’t be coming back. He ended up giving me a $5 off any purchase coupon and then I left. So what’s the point of my story? It is two-fold, one is that sometimes a deal is not worth it, especially when it pertains to Sears and their in-store pickup, and secondly is if you ever get stiffed in any way, shape, or form you should speak your mind to them and they will usually find a way to compensate you for it. I’ve read articles recently about Sears’ troubles in terms of losing customers to the Walmarts, Kmarts, etc… and maybe they should look at this example and try to get their act together.

So what deals have been going on… there’s a few that have come across my desk. The first deal is for Things Remembered where you can Save Up to 50% Off on Ladies Jewelry! I’ve ordered from Things Remembered before and was happy with my purchase, but I’ve never ordered any jewelry from them. They have some sterling silver in the $15-$30 range which sort of resembles Tiffany’s jewelry (except the price tag is about…ohhhhhh $150 cheaper).

If you’re a fan of Express there is a printable 20% off coupon that is good until 12/15, you can find the coupon Here.

If you’re a fan of the Jackass movie(s) then you’ll be excited about this, the new movie Jackass 2.5 is going to be released for free online from Dec 19-Dec 31. During these dates you can watch it for free at Jackassworld.

Here’s a reminder that the DeepDiscount DVD sale is ending in a few days on 12/16. This sale is Buy 1 DVD box set Get 1 Free. A few of the better ones that I see on there are The Simpsons, Futurama, and The Family Guy which will come out to be $14/season, and King of the Hill for $10/season with the promotion. You can find the sale here: Link to sale. There is also the same type of sale at fye.com. The DVD Box set selection is pretty different between the two places so you have a wide variety. Also, FYE has Lost Season 3 for $29.99 (after rebate). Not as good as the price mistake deal I pointed out in the Forums for $24.99 from J&R (which I was able to get in on, but it died a rather speedy death) but still a pretty good price compared to the $35-45 price tags I’ve seen around. Amazon has double features DVDs on sale: 50% Off Double Feature DVDs (as low as $5.49 for 2 movies).  One of these that I would recommend is Runaway Jury and Class Action for $5.49, can’t beat that price for 2 movies.

Here are a few of the deals I’ve posted in the Forums section: Crocs as low as $9.99, a Gamecube for $59.99, video games for all systems up to 50% off, and a Baskin Robbins Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon (to name a few) so check out the Forums if any of these tickle your fancy (don’t really like that saying but it came to mind so…)