The debut of the iPad 2 means that you can get some sweet, sweet deals on the original iPad if you know where to look. D. knew where to look, which was a local Verizon Wireless store. Not the first place most people would go for iPads. Including, from what D. observed, the store’s own staff. When D. brought to store employees’ attention that their iPads in stock were marked down to $299, they suddenly didn’t have any more stock. Then they did. Then they didn’t.

So some odd behavior from the employees at the Verizon Wireless store in [redacted]

VZW put their iPad1 stock on clearance, so the price for the 16GB model was $299. Great deal right?

Except I got some odd run-around.

2PM: Walk into the retail store and ask about the iPad. Associate says he has stock, sees the price, and does a double take. Goes to talk to his manager to see if there is a price mistake. Comes back and tells me they have no more stock.

4PM: Call the exact same retail store and ask about the iPad. Different associate answers the phone and confirms they have half a dozen units in stock. But I cannot reserve one because they are on hold.

6PM: Walk back into the retail, am told they don’t have stock. When asked about my phone call at 4 and how the associate had said they had reserved stock, they act like they never recieved it and further insisted they had no stock (on hold or otherwise).

So, the question is, did the associates of the VZW store see the sale, and buy it for themselves? Or did the associate on the phone, for whatever reason, lie to me?

Or is this normal, acceptable behavior for retail in general?

In any case, I feel that I won’t be visiting this retail location again anytime soon.

Huh. Imagine that. Current and former phone-slingers in the audience, does this make sense? Would a store really have that poor a concept of its own inventory, or snap up a great deal in nanoseconds like this?

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