Holiday Shopping Gripes

The holiday shopping season is here and a new poll by Consumer Reports shows many of us have gripes about it.

Posted 10:04 p.m. Dec 9, 2009 — Updated 10:04 p.m. Dec 9, 2009

From the malls to Target and Wal-Mart—even drugstores, shoppers are everywhere looking for those special treasures!! Yep, the holiday shopping season is well underway! And as much as many of us WANT to get into the “holiday spirit,” I don’t think it’s so easy. In fact, according to a new Consumer Reports poll of more than 12-hundred people—MANY of us have a lot of gripes about holiday shopping! Some of the top annoyances:

-Retailers putting up holiday decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving: Fifty-four percent say stores should wait until Black Friday!

-Six in ten people hate be hounded to buy an extended warranty for things like electronics. (By the way-- Consumer Reports' research shows for most products, extended warranties are a waste of money.)

-Nearly a third of those polled don’t like crowds or parking problems.

-Sales that aren't really sales and coupons that EXCLUDE most of what’s in the store!

-Retailers pushing their credit cards

-Employees trying to sell you stuff at the register

-Cashiers that ask for your phone number

But the BIGGEST holiday shopping gripe according to the poll: stores that don’t open all of the checkout lanes.

And something that might surprise you--almost no one in the survey was annoyed by holiday music or store greeters! Ring-a ling, hear them sing! So what bugs you about the holiday shopping season?

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