NEW YORK — Sorry Amazon. It’s not living up to the hype.
Unhappy Amazon shoppers vented on Wednesday about its “Prime Day” sales, slamming the online retailer with the hashtags that included: #unhappyPrimeDay, #AmazonFail, #gobacktosleep and #PrimeDayFail.
Amazon had promoted the 24-hour sale event as having “more deals than Black Friday” and teased major savings on electronics, home appliances and baby products.
But based the response on social media, the site’s “Lightning Deals” weren’t that electric and some products sold out in a matter of seconds.
One customer on Twitter took issue with Amazon’s claim that Prime Day would be bigger than Black Friday, saying it was more like April Fool’s Day.
https://twitter.com/wonnor_coods/status/621216793068216320
Another frustrated shopper user said the sale items sold out in seconds — even “a bunch of crap that no one wants…”
Amazon Prime Day will usher in a new era of fake shopping holidays http://t.co/UegG4S1803
— Money (@MONEY) July 15, 2015
Some were perplexed that even items like “sharpies” were gone in a flash, with one person using the hashtag “amazonsucks.”
@MiaTaylor I couldn't even get the sharpies – they were sold out in seconds! #unhappyprimeday #amazonsucks #iwantmysharpies
— Jackie Dana (@jadana17) July 15, 2015
The backlash was captured by one shopper who tweeted: “Now whenever something in my life goes wrong or I have a bad day, I’ll say I had a #primeday.”
Looking through #PrimeDay deals… pic.twitter.com/SqqQlUPReb
— Joe Masciovecchio (@JoeMoshKC) July 15, 2015
Now whenever something in my life goes wrong or I have a bad day, I'll say I had a #primeday.
— Mia Taylor (@MiaTaylor) July 15, 2015
“Jamal” took to Twitter to call it a “horrible sale with misleading promotion. Where’s the stuff we want?”
#AmazonPrimeDay is a horrible sale with misleading promotion. all these deals on candy and insoles. where's the stuff we want? @amazon
— Jamal (@JamalJimoh) July 15, 2015
Another user tweeted, “When I die I want whoever’s responsible for #AmazonPrimeDay to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.”
"When I die I want whoever's responsible for #AmazonPrimeDay to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time." – Unknown
— Mmm, Tasty 🥃 (@HitEm20) July 15, 2015
Despite the social media backlash, Amazon was pleased with the sales day in a statement to CNNMoney.
“Prime Day has been exciting so far,” Amazon said. “We have years of experience with these types of events and we stagger the deals to make sure the fun will last through tonight.”
Walmart, which also hosted a mega-sale on Wednesday, didn’t seem to be experiencing quite the same blowback on social media from shoppers.