josmul123 wrote:First of all, let me say that ThunderThighs has been amazing over the time she's been around. I don't post much here, but I felt compelled today.

I used to be a daily wooter. I used to buy all the cheap stuff during woot-offs, and I'm even guilty of buying a "nut roaster" a few years ago to "move the woot-off along."

That said, I was reflecting on my Woot account and realized my last purchase was the Santa's sack of crap from last year. I don't think I even visited Woot more than a couple of times throughout the year.

Sometime about 4-5 years ago (when woot was only woot... No sub-sites), I got my first Bunch of Cheer it was full of amazing stuff. I even got a Roomba that fully worked and was just missing the power cord. I felt like I actually had a chance at getting something awesome for my 8 bucks. I had some crappy crap, but it was normally a broken Sansa MP3 player or ten... Something techy regardless of how broken it was.

Then came the sub-woots and the amazon buyout... Then the multiple site redesigns. I watched this site morph from a really neat one-of-a-kind-but-often-copied gem of a site into what it is today... A broken hub of "deals" that just don't compare in value to what we used to see.

The first thing I noticed was the quality of the bags of crap going down, but it was okay because ThreePieceWoot's love notes were legendary.

Then the craps got fewer and far between, and it got to the point where the items inside were almost certainly going to be kids.woot overstock (something that the tech savvy people who frequented woot in its inception don't really have need for). As a 27-year-old man, I have no use for the six high school musical alarm clocks I got in my last sack, but I took it in stride because sometimes you get good crap and sometimes you get bad crap.

A few years ago, my family sat around a kitchen table, each with our laptops, F5'ing woot to score our santa's sacks. As sad as it sounds, it was a neat family tradition that has just abruptly died. We put up with server errors, improperly-sync'd mirrors, broken flash games, and hidden $1 million off coupon codes for years because it was fun, and we did it together.

As woot continues straying further from what it used to be, my shopping habits stray further from woot. The lack of crap on Christmas is the final straw. Woot and I are on completely different pages nowadays, and I doubt I will ever spend another dime.

So to you up-and-comers with light colored squares next to your names, I hope you enjoy the monster you've created because veterans like myself are retiring.

It was all fun and games in the past when Woot's customer service was snarky. Now that you've positioned yourself as this "professional" company with all these different sub-sites, I don't think it's appropriate to be posting things like "we don't need you to buy the Bunch of Cheer on your Facebook page. If you don't need customers, I don't need to be one.

Testify!

Here's a Christmas Present from me to you and all the Wooters. And yes, that's me singing! Enjoy, and Merry CHRISTmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd0mQrPlCvU

mdrcoast wrote:
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.

Happier when woot was a single deal, when things were simpler, and when you could kinda sorta expect to see an awesome present like a Bunch of Cheer on Xmas! Bah humbug Amazon dudes!

msstrickland wrote:Well, its been real woot. After spending thousands of dollars and buying 50+ items on your site, I'm done with this site forever. Definitely the last straw. Being in finance for a large company I understand trying to maximize profitability, but abandoning your loyal customer base in the age of social media is going to prove to be a major mistake.

See you back here tomorrow,same time same place ?

Woot! has lost its way. What was once a proliferation of sums of money from me, has absconded into oblivion with a whimper. I used to look forward to f-5, and woot-offs with intensity and regretted missing even one. Now I just regret. I've been lurking so long, purchasing very little, barely commenting. I'm not happy with the multi-sell approach to woot, and often I am confused with the sites and how to navigate. BUT it's not in Amazons interest to keep guys like me. Its interests have shifted to new and upcoming spenders. I am heartbroke I have to watch and not participate, but then it's not a mom and pop deal anymore. So Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. I may be around and buy something now and again, but it'll have to be a great deal.

To the execs, STOP KILLING OFF OUR SOUL. Your meetings of meetings and redundancy are monotonous and not impressive. Those whom came before you were of better ilk. You will never be your daddy, so stop trying to get rich in 30days or less.

gusvonpooch wrote:See you back here tomorrow,same time same place ?

Doubtful. I'm sure the people are serious when they move on. It's finally the end, the fat lady has sung. Too many items, no one can afford it anymore. We may check from time to time, but we won't waste our hours here as we had in the past.

As a loyal wooter since 2008, I am saddened by the changes. I will continue to frequently check into woot. I have had some variety of woot app on my droid for as long as I have had a smart phone. Unfortunately with all the WOOTplus, I can no longer even use my apps. I have all but given up on the idea and hope for a Boggie 'ol Creature.

I have made 79 purchases, only two of which have been a Bunch of Cheer I find it disappointing that the Bunch of Cheer has become the sole reason that people check/shop at woot, instead of an occasional surprise for the frequent wooters.

I imagine that I will continue to purchase deals that I just can't live without, however the idea of having more concern for your servers than the people crashing them seems like a poor business decision. Perhaps the next time one of the Amazon partners on WOOTplus have servers available, you can perform an upgrade to support the next Bunch of Cheer

Finally, of all things BATTERIES? This is an item we can get on your site almost any day of the year. How about something slightly more unusual/desirable.

Final - Finally - The fact that it auto corrects to "Bunch of Cheer " is insulting in its own right.

Anyway have a Merry Christmas.

I wish Woot would show exactly how many of these stinkin' batteries have sold in the last 12 hours....probably enough that would show people exactly why they chose batteries.

johnwpb wrote:I miss the old woot

+1^infinity

I'm done with woot. Seeya.

LMAO!

"Alkaline Plus batteries provide long-lasting performance in everyday devices such as portable CD players, shavers, radios, smoke alarms and pagers, giving you a dependable solution for the products you rely on"

What decade are we in???

dlcarst77 wrote:I'm sure when those Amazon/Woot execs go back to their giant offices with putting greens, secretaries who have secretaries, and Margarita Fridays (and Micro-brew Mondays, Tequila Tuesdays, etc.) they'll read all of these comments and laugh. Though there are countless Woot fans that are angry that they didn't get their Christmas crap this year, the fact is that Woot will make much more money on these batteries. The crap is in limited supply, but they can sell batteries all day. The casual Wooter visits the site, thinks "Hey my kids just got 17 new toys that take AA's, I'm in for 3" and Woot profits much more than from selling a crappy sack to some lonely guy at midnight.


To all you college types out there studying business, this has been an excellent lesson in how to build a successful business model. Figure out what obsessive people love to make your business stand out from all the others, then when it's bigger than all the others figure out what will make you the most money. Don't worry about the original customers who angrily walk out the door, because now they only make up 5% of your business. Most will stick around anyways, if for no other reason than to complain.

All this carrying on because you did not get a 1 in 800(made these numbers up) chance of trying to get an $8.00 Bunch of Cheer on Christmas day,really? Folks move on with your life and don't take a crapless Christmas as the end of your life.

gusvonpooch wrote:All this carrying on because you did not get a 1 in 800(made these numbers up) chance of trying to get an $8.00 Bunch of Cheer on Christmas day,really? Folks move on with your life and don't take a crapless Christmas as the end of your life.

It's more than that. Remember when woot was one day, one deal? Now it's...I've lost count of how many sub sites and multiple deal woot plusses and sellouts and deals and....well, enough is enough.

I want a deal-a-day web site. Not Amazon. You're welcome to continue to woot, but most of us oldtimer wooters are pretty wooted out with the woot that Amazon doth wrought.

Seeya.

(how do I delete my account?)

gusvonpooch wrote:All this carrying on because you did not get a 1 in 800(made these numbers up) chance of trying to get an $8.00 Bunch of Cheer on Christmas day,really? Folks move on with your life and don't take a crapless Christmas as the end of your life.

This is just the straw that broke the camel's back. It's all the sites, all the woot+ deals that are not woot-worthy pricing, plus the messing with tradition that are causing this dissatisfaction.

Wah wah wah I hate nuWoot wah wah wah.

Seriously, are the batteries any good? I wish woot would have more rechargeable battery deals. I invested in a Crapload of rechargebles for the kids toys but cant ever seem to find any to charge and use.

For all of those wondering why things have changed at WOOT, you might want to consider that they sold out approx. 2yrs ago to Amazon. Just figure I would shed a bit of light for those that are unaware of this fact.

David

Yawn...everyone is going to take their credit card and go home because there was no Santa's Sack of Crap.

See ya!

Crummy website redesign, no bunnies on crack. So sad.....sooooo sad.

The Ghost of Christmas future is here, Woot will not longer be the site it once was.

Thanks for the "Lovecraft" shirt last week, that may be the last.

Anyone seeing the irony in 10 pages of complaints - about not getting what you wanted on Christmas?

Isn't this the behavior we try to teach our kids NOT to have? That Santa doesn't reward? I have a sad for this community now.

gusvonpooch wrote:All this carrying on because you did not get a 1 in 800(made these numbers up) chance of trying to get an $8.00 Bunch of Cheer on Christmas day,really? Folks move on with your life and don't take a crapless Christmas as the end of your life.

Did you even read my post? All my carrying on was because of everyone else whining that they didn't get their chance at an $8 crap sack. I would have liked a chance at one, but I'm not broken up about it, and nowhere in my post did I say I was. My post was a reply to everyone who seems to think their loyalty to Woot keeps them in business, but in reality they make up a small percentage. I fully expect Woot/Amazon to do what makes them the most money, and crap sacks are not what makes them the most money.

Declining by degrees.

First the April Fool's Day crap went away. Then Woot-off's became useless. Now this.

AlexD wrote:Mehhh .... I can get 48 Maxell AA Alkaline batteries fro $14.95 incl. free shipping on amazon ... these are $9.99 PLUS $5.00 shipping ... NOT a good deal Woot

You do realize that this is Amazon, right? Amazon bought out Woot a year or two a go... and it's been down hill ever since.

thumperchick wrote:Anyone seeing the irony in 10 pages of complaints - about not getting what you wanted on Christmas?

Isn't this the behavior we try to teach our kids NOT to have? That Santa doesn't reward? I have a sad for this community now.

A. You've missed the point entirely.

B. Not everyone in this world - including myself - celebrates this holiday in the first place.

C. How exactly does one "have a sad"?

WOOT SPOKESPERSON: "And no, I guess it's true, we don't need you to buy......"

Considering shipping, not cheaper than Sam's Club.

Retail price for a 4-pack of these batteries is $1.

These are light duty batteries for TV remotes or clocks. Do not work with battery drainers like digital cameras.

Wow, went to bed when the comment count was under 100, people went happy then. At this point its like most of the community has either left or is going to start a riot pitch fork style.

I just want an explanation, why Jeff Bezos, why? Are trying to start a sailing team to compete with Larry? Is Prime that big of a money loser? Couldn't find enough crap laying around. The Bunch of Cheer couldn't have cost as much as much as the community good will that you forfeited or the number of people that are leaving never to return over this.

From my POV you had to be making money on the Bunch of Cheer. The quality has gone down, excluding the toilet you sent to some poor guy a couple years back which was truly 'crap'.

BTW how many of the 'Community Super Stars' that you sent Bunch of Cheer#39;s from Col. Crap are pissed about this. Were you trying to blunt the community outrage by throwing them a bone?

Make all of the statements you want about people crying over the lack of a Bunch of Cheer . In the grand scheme of things the likelihood of people getting one is very small, and the majority of loyal Woot!-ers know better than to expect one. The underlying message, and real problem, here is that Woot! is turning its back on what made it great. A lot of the loyal fans came to this site because it was something unique. There was a trendy edginess that made it a refreshing alternative to both one day and online shopping sites alike.

Over the past year or so that has gone away and, in my personal opinion, it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish Woot! from any other online site. The deals don't feel the same, the edginess feels forced, and the unique deals (Bunch of Cheer#39;s) are being stripped away. In short, the site doesn't stand out anymore. Am I going to say I will never shop Woot! anymore? No. But I will say that it is becoming harder and harder to choose Woot!, and I want them to know it. I just hope that someone in the company takes the time to really hear the underlying discontent on these forums and takes it to heart.

With messages like "we don't need you" being posted by the staff on Facebook, however, I fear they may not.

I'm really disappointed in W00T today. It's Christmas day for crying out loud and I thought woot could have done better for us wooters. I can buy these batteries cheaper at my local grocery store without a five dollar delivery charge. The reason us wooters come here is to find great bargains very cheaply. Today's offering is no bargain.

To the people complaining about the complainers:

You might notice a bunch of us who are complaining are frequent buyers. I'm no black box, but I've bought a fair number of things in my time here. In other words, we're not here just for the bags of crap. There were plenty of times I didn't get one, but it was still fun to try.

Part of what has kept me coming back was the fun of of the Woot-offs. One of the first things I bought here was a speaker in the shape of Elvis' head as a gag gift for my mother. Nowadays, you'll find useful things, and some cute things, but nothing really out of the ordinary. And whether something is actually a deal is iffy, at best.

One of the reasons Woot is Woot is because of the community. It seems like Woot has forgotten that, at least in part (I'm still annoyed at that Woot employee over on Facebook, not to mention some customer service interactions I've had in the past). We're the ones who'd refer others, we'd brag about our crap to our friends, and we would come back every single day to see what's new.

Things I'd gotten in bags of crap made fun Christmas gifts, or ended up things I could donate to charity. It really was the crap that kept on giving.

When you take away the fun, Woot's just another site trying to sell us things.

jmp8910 wrote:As a 911 dispatcher working tonight, I thank you for the shout out!

I am an 11 year veteran of 911 and emergency Dispatching (Police, Fire, and Rescue) in my area. Hope your Christmas was peaceful

brianjbrady wrote: Were you trying to blunt the community outrage by throwing them a bone?

Yes, they were.

It has been harder and harder to find great deals on Woot since the Amazon takeover a couple years ago. Almost every time I got excited about something a quick google search would show the same item for pretty much the same price elsewhere. Now, with it loosing it's identity by getting rid of things like x-mas/woot off carp, etc. as well as the new site format, experienced wooters such as myself are spending more time and $$$ elsewhere. Sorry Woot gods, I just think someone up there needs to read these and take in what most are trying to say to you. It has little to do with a Bunch of Cheer that most would not be able to win anyways before it sold out... it has to do with a site that we have enjoyed for years becoming like every other company that values it's stockholders over loyal customers.

Since you deleted my first comment I'll post it again.

Woot = Awesome
Amazon = Awesome

Woot + Amazon = Crap

Thanks for ruining an awesome tradition.

I wonder if TT will be back in tonight -- I didn't get a chance to wish her a Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays to all!

Don't need any batteries, though.

dlcarst77 wrote:I'm sure when those Amazon/Woot execs go back to their giant offices with putting greens, secretaries who have secretaries, and Margarita Fridays (and Micro-brew Mondays, Tequila Tuesdays, etc.) they'll read all of these comments and laugh. Though there are countless Woot fans that are angry that they didn't get their Christmas crap this year, the fact is that Woot will make much more money on these batteries. The crap is in limited supply, but they can sell batteries all day. The casual Wooter visits the site, thinks "Hey my kids just got 17 new toys that take AA's, I'm in for 3" and Woot profits much more than from selling a crappy sack to some lonely guy at midnight.


To all you college types out there studying business, this has been an excellent lesson in how to build a successful business model. Figure out what obsessive people love to make your business stand out from all the others, then when it's bigger than all the others figure out what will make you the most money. Don't worry about the original customers who angrily walk out the door, because now they only make up 5% of your business. Most will stick around anyways, if for no other reason than to complain.

As one of the referenced "college types" I think you have nailed it. I have been "following" Woot for some time and use it quite a bit in my classes as an exemplar of innovation and content richness (obviously, I also have been an active customer). This is a classic example of what you see as products mature. Specifically, classic marketing models (e.g., Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation) predict that there will be important differences between early adopters and later adopters. As a site grows and matures, as Woot has done, you would expect it would change its business model and tactics to appeal to the later adopters. The many sub sites and Woot+ sites are, presumably, designed to broaden the appeal of the site as a whole. While the Amazon purchase of Woot, which I have on good sources is valued at just shy of $1B (Amazon “stole” Woot at $150M), just accelerated the process.

The fact is that Woot is going to continue to evolve to extend the appeal to more customers. You can think of the crappiest bags as similar to coupons or cheap milk at the grocery store; it brings you in the door. Unfortunately, once businesses attain success they no longer need discounts or coupons (e.g., see many coupons for Apple products?). Woot will probably continue to create games and other content-rich material (e.g., Crapbeard’s treasure map), but I suspect there will be few if any bags of “coupons” going forward.

The nature of product life cycles suggests early adopters who want the old Woot will need to create or find a new Woot-like site. This creates a need and an opportunity, which is where innovation usually starts.

Oh yes, thanks for all the crap Woot! Merry Christmas to all!

http://www.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5288058&pageindex=1&replycount=23


See link above. Why it was cool of Woot to send the select few a free Bunch of Cheer that they deemed worthy What about the little guy who trumpets your site outside of the forums, bring new traffic to your site. This all seems Very 1%er….Just my 2 cents. Take it or leave it. All I know is woot has been pretty coal lately. No more do I feel the need to tell everyone I know about Woot in the obsessive compulsive way I did in the past! At last I keep checking and hoping like a fool who lost his love, but things are just not the same anymore. :-)

lawngnome wrote:Woot's response on Facebook:

"There is seriously no Bunch of Cheer this year. And no, I guess it's true, we don't need you to buy the Bunch of Cheer"

The second sentence was in response to another post. Seems a bit rude, but just another sign that old Woot is gone.

The old/original Woot was a bit rude.

davide63 wrote:The old/original Woot was a bit rude.

Maybe so, but they didn't just dismiss their customers out of hand and tell them they weren't needed.

davide63 wrote:The old/original Woot was a bit rude.

Not really. It appeared rude at first glance, but it was just playing rude, and regular shoppers were in on the joke.

Now it has become actually rude.

But I suppose it's true that they are making more money off the new customers to the new site with the new products than they are off us green and black squares, and the sense of community is no longer necessary.

We were a club. People put what they had purchased in their sigs. People would buy crappy stuff to move the woot-off along. Number of purchases was literally a badge of honor under our names.

But that club is no longer part of the business plan.

This is, in fact, a very solid deal. And for all the complainers out there, what do you expect woot to do? - burn down the planet so you can have your crap? It's simply not sustainable on a large scale basis like all you grumblers demand. Woot is all about saving, not burning them so you can have your Christmas crap.

captainproton wrote:This is, in fact, a very solid deal. And for all the complainers out there, what do you expect woot to do? - burn down the planet so you can have your crap? It's simply not sustainable on a large scale basis like all you grumblers demand. Woot is all about saving, not burning them so you can have your Christmas crap.

Yet another fan boy choosing to focus on the Bunch of Cheer issue instead of paying attention to the bigger underlying discontent. Read the overall message of the majority before you blindly focus on a single detail.