BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE gate entrance to the LIME flagship office was bursting at the ‘seam’ yesterday morning (Nov. 27) as hundreds of phone-crazed individuals converged to take advantage of the company’s first-ever Black Friday Crazy Sale.
The early-bird sale coincided with a tradition observed in the United States of America (USA) dubbed “Black Friday” (the day after Thanksgiving) during which retail prices are significantly reduced.
Word of the spectacular event spread like wildfire less than 24 hours before its commencement, initiated by representatives’ appearance on a local radio programme.
Depriving themselves of sleep, the patrons flocked to the store and, for an approximate two hours, seized the opportunity to purchase one of the discounted handsets. A number of customers told SKNVibes that they arrived at the store as early at 2:00 a.m. seeking to capitalise the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Security officers worked attentively to maintain order while allowing the crowd to trickle onto the compound, but just about 15 minutes into the sale, the two blackberries [the Storm and the Gemini] offered by the company for a spectacular $399 each, were finished, which left many customers a trifle dissatisfied. However, customers received opportunities to purchase other significantly reduced handsets.
While many expressed their appreciation for LIME and its Black Friday Sale, a significant number of individuals expressed their frustration having not just waited for hours but also having to leave without acquiring the handset of their desire.
One disappointed customer claimed that it was a “sale gimmick” and the company “should have stated in its advertisement that the offer is limited to the first 25 customer or whatever amount they had on this special sale, instead of saying there is only a limited amount”.
“I, like many others who have left our homes and chores undone to capitalise on the offer, would have been satisfied to know that the 25 or so phones were sold to those persons who were there before us. I think LIME’s management should take this observation into consideration when they next have a similar promotion,” the customer opined.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Terrence Crossman, Head of Customer Service and Retail, named the sale a “tremendous success” having served an approximate 700 customers. He thanked them for their patronage and apologised to those who were left disappointed.
“Indeed it was a tremendous success. We want to thank our customers who made it out very early this morning to take advantage of the promotion that we had. We were able serve as much as 700 customers…and we want to apologise to those customers who were unable to get the Blackberry phones that they would have expected.
“The demand for Blackberries far surpassed what we had anticipated and we actually doubled the number of Blackberries that we put out on our market today. But we said we are going to go back and see how we can come back and see what changes we can make for the next promotion,” he said.
