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Best Buy Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale

November 26th, 2009

Best Buy Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale Line
My mom and dad live very close to Best Buy in Tyler TX so I will definitely be driving by there and will have to make a drive by to see just how many people will be camped outside the store this year. A few years ago my dad bought some emachines and wii’s from Best Buy and made a handsome $800 profit on everything he resold on Ebay. My dad did not get in line right after Thanksgiving dinner but he did get in line around 4 a.m. People are now getting in line at Best Buy as early as right now. You heard me right. There are probably people already in line, sitting on a couch, camping in a tent at Best Buy at 10:20 AM Nov 26 2009. Can you imagine being in line this long to buy a TV or Wii? I couldn’t handle it but the fact of the matter is that is no longer what most of these people do. There are shifts in which a few people will go in together to buy a lot of merchandise. They will stay in line in shifts and trade out every few hours. This way everyone gets their sleep and no one completely wastes their Thanksgiving day.

I asked the Best Buy security guy in the Tyler TX location if there were any rules when getting in line for the day after Thanksgiving day sale. He said the only rule was to, “be nice”. If ever there was a day to be nice I would think Thanksgiving day would be that day. I hope everyone behaves and is kind while nudging themselves in line, it is Thanksgiving don’t you know?

So I will not be at the Day After Thanksgiving sale at Best Buy this year which is my normal tradition but I will be driving by with my camera to take pictures of the phenomenon which is my weird traditional thing to do on Thanksgiving along with eating Turkey and watching football.

I wonder if people will be able to sell Playstations and Wii game consoles on ebay this year at inflated prices. So far it has been done for the last 3 – 5 years so I don’t see why it will not be the same this year. This type of profiteering reminds me of that “The Office” episode when Dwight bus up all the unicorn toys and sells them at 500 % above retail.

I will be posting my picture of the Best Buy line later on tonight after I have settled down from a big Thanksgiving day feast.

Electricity Bid in Tyler Texas

September 30th, 2009

Electricity Bid is an online comparison site for electricity rates in Tyler Texas. There are other sites out their that also compare electricity prices and plans but Electricity Bid concentrates on comparing rates in a clear apples to apples comparison. All fees and charges are disclosed in their comparison chart so the electric service customer in Tyler knows exactly what they will be paying when they sign up for electric service.

You may call Electricity Bid at 1-903-245-4989

Some other sites like Electricity Bid that compare multiple electricity companies are Powertochoose, Watttochoose, Chooseenergy, Saveonenergy and electricityTexas. Power to Choose is the state of Texas run website that has attempted to inform the public of their choices when it comes to picking a Texas electricity company. Some Texas electricity providers have attempted to abuse the state run website by advertising variable rates with a low quoted price. When the customer signed up the price would sometimes be much higher than what was shown on the site.

One particular electricity company in Texas that did this explained it like this, the variable electric was that price at the time the customer signed up but the utility did not switch them on that date. During the time of signing up and the utility switching them the electricity rate had gone up. Most consumers including myself would assume that the first months rate would be locked in based on what was quoted on the site. Many energy consumers were surprised to find out later that this electric company was not locking in the advertised variable price for the first month and to most people this represented a bait and switch ploy to gain new customers at inflated prices.

Some comparison sites that compare Tyler Texas electricity rates use customer confusion regarding price to trick people into a “too good to be true” offer. The customer signs up with the electricity company and pays a few cents more than they perceived the electricity rate to be in the advertising. Most customers let this type of thing slide and wait out their contract. A few electricity service customers complain and very few actually contact the PUCT and or the Attorney General of Texas. It is important if a Texas electricity customer has been tricked into an electric rate through false advertising to make a complaint with the PUCT. We recommend first trying to find out and resolve the issue with the electric company and if you still feel more should be done to file that complaint with the state of Texas.

You can file a complaint with the PUCT at : Complaint Form

Electricity Bid is a local Tyler Texas company that has been providing online comparison services for Texas electricity companies and rates for many years. Electricity Bid is a for profit company but maintains a clear apples to apples comparison of electric rates from several reputable electric companies. Many in Texas do not realize that they can switch from what used to be the monopoly electric company in Tyler, TXU Energy. By comparing electricity prices from several reputable stable electric providers in Tyler Texas you can observe just how much cheaper electric rates can be against a familiar brand like TXU Energy. Sometimes TXU may have cheaper electricity rates then the providers Electricity Bid displays on their website. It is important to compare what TXU is offering with the electricity rates on Electricity Bid to form an accurate apples to apples comparison and to calculate the savings by going with a less familiar brand but stable and reputable none the less.

TXU Energy is a very good company and has provided electricity service in the East Texas area for many years. Unfortunately TXU does not have very good prices (as of Sept 2009) in comparison to several competitive electricity providers who have entered the deregulated electricity market. Texas deregulated back in 2002 and from time to time TXU Energy has been the price leader and sometime in the future they may make it to that position again. Since their are cheaper electric companies in prices it serves everyone in East Texas and Tyler well to check out a local electricity comparison site like Electricity Bid and compare energy prices from multiple Texas electricity providers.

Electricity Bid can be found simply by using your favorite browser and typing electricitybid dot com

A Google or Yahoo search for Texas Electricity Bid will also likely bring up their website. You can compare and sign up for Tyler Texas electricity service all online without ever even having to make a phone call. If you would like to talk with someone on the phone you may call 1-903-245-4989

You may read an article written by a local Mexican American and his personal experience with higher electricity bills in the winter months. He currently is with TXU Energy.

Broadway Square Mall: A Grown-Up’s Perspective

September 30th, 2009
Tyler Mall

Tyler TX Mall

As a kid growing up in Tyler TX, Broadway Square Mall was the coolest place in the world. Not only was it full of other kids, it had a video arcade right across from a pizza shop. If I wanted to, I could spend an entire Saturday hanging out with my friends in the Air Conditioning.

Today, kids still dominate Broadway Square Mall. Teenagers, anyway. What does Broadway Square Mall have for young Tylerites today? The usual suspects: A half-dozen jewelers, a food court, a radio shack across from a GNC, the obligatory Hallmark store, and the Preppy Tri-Fecta of Abercrombie, the Gap, and Old Navy. More notably, the mall is anchored on three sides by department giants Sears, JCPenney, and Dillards.

If you are looking for the typical comforts of a suburban mall, you’ve got it here. You’ve got your freshly baked pretzels, your frozen yogurt, your Santa stage, sitting idle for most of the year. If you like kiosks, you can renew your cell phone plan, buy a pair of sunglasses, and get your picture cartoon-ized in no time flat. There are lots of girlish stores to make ladies feel prettier: Body Shop, Talbot’s and Victoria’s Secret. And for the guys, there’s Finish Line, Foot Locker, and toys at Game Stop. The little kids can’t go arcading anymore, but they can manufacture a new best friend at the Build-A-Bear workshop.

Notably absent from Broadway Square mall is a movie theater. We thought that there was no coffee shop but we are wrong. There is now a Coffee Beanery franchise in there now, thank goodness! Other than that, this mall offers exactly what we’ve become accustom to at other identical suburban shopping centers: cookie cutter stores and over-inflated prices.

I stopped going to the mall years ago for three reasons. First, it’s crowded, especially around Christmas time. Second, I can almost always find merchandise elsewhere for cheaper. For example, I used to frequent the music store at the mall to buy CD’s, but now I just go to iTunes. But my primary reason for avoiding Broadway Square Mall is the fact that it seems to be dominated by young prima donnas.

This became clear to me when I was a senior in high school, leaving the music store with a Beatles CD in hand. My cousin and I were walking mindlessly toward the west exit when we passed a bandanna’d young man who was threatened by my trajectory. “Hey man. You’re walking too CLOSE to me.” He announced to everyone. “Did you hear me? I said you’re walking too CLOSE to me.” Another wanna-be gang banger trying to pick a fight. My cousin laughed and we walked out without honoring the gentleman with a response.

Fair or unfair, that picture still defines Broadway Square Mall for me. It is a place where young, bored teenagers walk circles for hours on end, loitering in store after store, trying to attract the opposite sex with either spaghetti straps or machismo. They are there not because they need something, but because they have nothing better to do.

Here’s the good news: If you need to go to Sears for a lawnmower, Dillards for a dress, or JCPenney’s for a Tony Romo game jersey, you can enter those store directly without ever entering the mall at all. And if, like me, you really want to run in and out only take advantage of Old Navy’s cheap T-shirt deals, try not to walk TOO CLOSE to anyone.