Post-Target LOTR screw up: Target cancels orders

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Game_Dude_3

CAGiversary!
I just got an e-mail from Target saying that they cancelled my LOTR BR trilogy order for 7.99 because they were 'out of stock'. They cite their store ad that says they only had limited qualities, although I don't understand how that applies to the web site.

I'm getting some feedback from others reporting the same. What bugs me is that the web site will say when an item is out of stock, and I purchased the set before it was out. I strongly believe this is BS and was wondering if any one else got an e-mail and how we can go about still getting this deal.
 
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In a way I'm disappointed.

But then again, I only bought it because it was 8 dollars. I don't know what the hell I would've done with a worthless inferior version of the Lord of the Rings anyway. Those transfers are godawful. There are HDTV versions of the extended scenes on the Internet anyway - mix those in with the Blu-ray theatricals and you have a better quality product than the legitimate set.
 
[quote name='lawdood']How did you miss out on that $7.99 each price when Amazon had them for that before this ever went up on Target's website? Amazon had them for that price since Monday, this only went live what, Friday?

I had my 3 in hand from Amazon well before any of us had any idea this would be offered online by Target.[/QUOTE]

We missed out because we just now got an email with a cancellation. Yesterday they told us we'd still receive it but it'd be in January. That appeased most of us, and now they just send a mass cancellation. It's too late to order it from amazon for 7.99.
 
I just had the same thing happen to me. They didn't even pretend to be concerned about cancelling an order that was already paid for. They just said "Thank you for being a valued Guest." (After reminding me that I can buy this at the regular price if I'd like). GRRR! I think I'm finished buying from Target.
 
[quote name='avwjase']And my target ad from SUNDAY (http://www.black-friday.net/target-ad-scan.html#) said $7.99 for all three. Just because the online became live later and saved me a trip to Target doesn't mean that they didn't advertise the price much sooner than that and I skipped the Amazon sale because of that.

It's clear some of you guys just wish to be trollish a-holes, though. Obviously it's the consumers fault because he was lied to. Hey, I'll speak with my wallet and just not shop at Target anymore. Works for me.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I know the ad said that, but I think everyone knew the odds of finding one in store for that price would be very tough on BF morning not to mention the limited quantities already on hand at most Targets. All I'm saying is if you were willing to spend $7.99 per movie you should have realized that and made sure to grab them at Amazon rather than just rolling the dice.

And just because someone has a different opinion than you doesn't mean they're a troll or a-hole, they might just have a better take on reality, that's all. Have a good evening.
 
[quote name='lawdood']Yes, I know the ad said that, but I think everyone knew the odds of finding one in store for that price would be very tough on BF morning not to mention the limited quantities already on hand at most Targets. All I'm saying is if you were willing to spend $7.99 per movie you should have realized that and made sure to grab them at Amazon rather than just rolling the dice.

And just because someone has a different opinion than you doesn't mean they're a troll or a-hole, they might just have a better take on reality, that's all. Have a good evening.[/QUOTE]

You're right. If no one heard back from Target, then more people might have gambled with amazon. But, if a company sent you an email letting you know that there would be a delay with the order, wouldn't you have just waited too? You could pay $25 now or wait a few weeks and get it for $10.xx, and if you didn't just need it right away, that's a better price.
 
[quote name='mitnosi']I got this also, estimated arrival of like the first week in January.[/QUOTE]

This is code for "they're not sending it to you." They did the same thing with me when they messed up the Mass Effect 2 CE pre-orders. They corrected it, set it up and then every 3 weeks I'd get an e-mail "forcing me" to update my order (why? I'm not sure) until they eventually canceled it.

fuck Target Online.
 
[quote name='mr_bungle']You're right. If no one heard back from Target, then more people might have gambled with amazon. But, if a company sent you an email letting you know that there would be a delay with the order, wouldn't you have just waited too? You could pay $25 now or wait a few weeks and get it for $10.xx, and if you didn't just need it right away, that's a better price.[/QUOTE]

Like I previously stated, the price at Amazon went into effect well before anyone even knew this would appear online at Target's website.
 
[quote name='lawdood']Like I previously stated, the price at Amazon went into effect well before anyone even knew this would appear online at Target's website.[/QUOTE]

And as I previously stated, they told us we'd be getting it. You don't think some of us had to wait until the weekend to get it? My plan was to order it from AZ, but then my buddy was going to Target and was going to look and see if they had a set, I told him to look for me (I don't have one near me). I found this, as did he, and he ended up not getting to go to Target. So, I kept an eye on my email to make sure I'd hear something before the weekend was over, and sure enough I did, which kept me (and everyone else) at ease.

As Kid Rock would say, "you can say I'm wrong...but you ain't right" :lol:
 
[quote name='mr_bungle']And as I previously stated, they told us we'd be getting it. You don't think some of us had to wait until the weekend to get it? My plan was to order it from AZ, but then my buddy was going to Target and was going to look and see if they had a set, I told him to look for me (I don't have one near me). I found this, as did he, and he ended up not getting to go to Target. So, I kept an eye on my email to make sure I'd hear something before the weekend was over, and sure enough I did, which kept me (and everyone else) at ease.

As Kid Rock would say, "you can say I'm wrong...but you ain't right" :lol:[/QUOTE]

Well, I'm more right than you as I have the three movies from Amazon for $24 sitting in front of me which I'm content with and am not whining about my Target.com order being canceled, as it was just like everyone else's. ;) :lol:
 
i had the one saying it would be delayed, responded, and then they canceled my order too :(

luckily i price matched the one copy i had purchased before finding it online. The CS lady had to call a supervisor because she didn't believe the price.
 
[quote name='lawdood']Well, I'm more right than you as I have the three movies from Amazon for $24 sitting in front of me which I'm content with and am not whining about my Target.com order being canceled, as it was just like everyone else's. ;) :lol:[/QUOTE]

Good for you, can't argue with that. Hope you enjoy them. And FYI, I really don't like the movies all that much. For 24 dollars, yeah...I guess, just for the collection. However, I'm more pissed that they pulled this move than anything.

And you're still no more right than anyone in this thread. Opinions and elbows, slick ;)
 
target.jpg


We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses Targetsses

MasterTarget betrayed us. Wicked, tricksey, false. We ought to wring his filthy little neck. Kill him. Kill him

OH NOEZ TARGET COME BACK WITH TEH PRECIOUS!
 
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Did anyone try checking what the trilogy rang up for in store on Sunday? I know it actually did scan as $7.99 on Black Friday when I got mine, but I haven't had a chance to check since.
 
[quote name='karkyco']
target.jpg


We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses Targetsses

OH NOEZ TARGET COME BACK WITH TEH PRECIOUS![/QUOTE]

Winner winner chicken dinner! :applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:
 
[quote name='mr_bungle']First off Target wouldn't lose millions over a trilogy. I'm pretty sure they don't have to pay much more than 7.99 for the whole set. Retailers who buy in big quantities like that don't pay much more than pennies. I knew a guy at GS once who was training a worker emphasizing the importance of software sales (this was before they were so pro-trade in) saying that he might pay $17 for a new copy of a game and then they sell it for $60, but a system that costs 299 might cost them $295, so they aren't getting much profit.

[/QUOTE]

Wait, what? Are you pulling shit out of your ass, sir? So a set retails for $80, but a big company like Target only pays $10 for it? What the hell are you smoking? Warner Bros wants to make money too. Target probably pays somewhere near $40-$50 for a set. Maybe even more. You're acting like these big companies that buy a ton of shit mark up their items 800% all the time. They don't.

Who was that guy you knew at GS? Care to get me in touch with him? If he can buy games for $17, I would like to get his information and start a business with him. Stores selling games make about $12 per game they sell. They make even less on Nintendo games. Something like $9-$10. That's just a "rough" estimate too. It can be less than that. Very rarely is it ever more than $12 unless it's some sort of bundle. The publishers and developers have to make money too, after all.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']Wait, what? Are you pulling shit out of your ass, sir? So a set retails for $80, but a big company like Target only pays $10 for it? What the hell are you smoking? Warner Bros wants to make money too. Target probably pays somewhere near $40-$50 for a set. Maybe even more. You're acting like these big companies that buy a ton of shit mark up their items 800% all the time. They don't.

Who was that guy you knew at GS? Care to get me in touch with him? If he can buy games for $17, I would like to get his information and start a business with him. Stores selling games make about $12 per game they sell. They make even less on Nintendo games. Something like $9-$10. That's just a "rough" estimate too. It can be less than that. Very rarely is it ever more than $12 unless it's some sort of bundle. The publishers and developers have to make money too, after all.[/QUOTE]

His "contact" at GS was the local assistant manager. Pay him no mind.

BTW, the collective angst, rage, and drama of this thread is really a site to behold. fucking 5 stages of grief in here, too damn funny. We should be reaching stage 4 with various individuals in the thread shortly:

  1. Denial – "I feel fine."; "Order postponed? CANCELLED?!? This can't be happening, not to me. Maybe it'll ship...oh who cares, I didn't even want it anyway, it's not even the extended cuts so it's garbage..."
    Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of positions and individuals that will be left behind after Target denies them the LOTR blu ray trilogy for $7.99 deal.
  2. Anger – "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "DAMN YOU TARGET!"
    Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Any individual that symbolizes life or energy or the LOTR trilogy on blu is subject to projected resentment and jealousy.
  3. Bargaining – "Just let me get if for the $7.99 per movie price."; "I'll do anything for the precious...I could've gotten the three movies separately for $7.99 from amazon now I'm fucked, so Target owes me"
    The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay getting fucked over by Target. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, "I understand I will not get the deal, but if I could just have more time..."
  4. Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm not going to get the deal... What's the point?"; "I miss my precious, why go on?"
    During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of getting denied by Target. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the denied person to disconnect oneself from things of love and affection, such as the precious. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed.
  5. Acceptance – "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well accept it."
    In this last stage, the individual begins to come to terms with his lack of the precious
FULL DISCLOSURE, btw: I "missed out" on the midnight madness of the online pricing fiasco, but checked store availability Friday morning, ran some errands and went to a store that said "available" as of 10:00 or so. I leisurely strolled in, searched around and found 2 of the trilogies. Rang up $7.99 no problemo. In and out of there in under 10 minutes.
 
The website should had not advertised the $7.99 price, just put a message saying only sold at store and all of this would be fine, and second mistake in sending the delay order until january, just send the cancellation order and you would have less angry people, hopefully some of you can get on the phone and make them pm the price at the store for future stocking.
 
I didn't realize someone created a thread about this. I have been posting in the BF thread. Anyway, I posted this and I don't know if the info made it into this thread yet, so here it is:

[quote name='MachineElf']The people at SlickDeals are pissed about the LOTR trilogy situation. One of them started a Facebook group to reference when calling with complaints. I joined and would like to see what comes of this. I miss out on deals all the time and it is not a big deal but this time they didn't simply not have it in stock, they sent me an email saying it would be delayed, and then killed my order all together leaving no chance to PM or pick up in store (which many people did). Here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_152312984814518&notif_t=group_activity[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']Wait, what? Are you pulling shit out of your ass, sir? So a set retails for $80, but a big company like Target only pays $10 for it? What the hell are you smoking? Warner Bros wants to make money too. Target probably pays somewhere near $40-$50 for a set. Maybe even more. You're acting like these big companies that buy a ton of shit mark up their items 800% all the time. They don't.

Who was that guy you knew at GS? Care to get me in touch with him? If he can buy games for $17, I would like to get his information and start a business with him. Stores selling games make about $12 per game they sell. They make even less on Nintendo games. Something like $9-$10. That's just a "rough" estimate too. It can be less than that. Very rarely is it ever more than $12 unless it's some sort of bundle. The publishers and developers have to make money too, after all.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, what I typed came out wrong. I do know these retainers pay more than pennies for these sets, I meant they wouldn't lose millions of dollars though. Especially on small orders. They could have even just limited everyone to one order.

I don't have a 'contact at GS', btw. This was a guy I knew from acquaintance only. But I did hear him telling that to a trainee one day. Could be totally wrong, I've never worked at GS. I used to see the numbers at a video store I worked at part time though and the owner got movies for roughly 13-15 each when he ordered so many, and this was a mom&pop outlet. Not sure though about big orders. So i apologize for coming across as daft.

And to the guy with old 'gief in his picture..please tell me you copied and pasted that and didn't type it all out...bc if you did, that's sad.
 
I did buy the 3 separate movies from Amazon before the Target thing happened. But my order, which was supposed to get here Wednesday, appears to have been lost by UPS. It sucked, because I was planning on some movie nights over the holiday for me and the kids. Now, if Amazon just refunds me I'll be pissed - I'll have missed out on BOTH deals on the movies! (And the only reason I say that is I can just see Amazon CS screwing up and refunding me instead of sending another set - when I asked them about the delay they said to wait a few more days before asking for a refund - which I did not ask for...)

I ordered some multiples from Target under my name, and 1 under my wife's name in case they honored single non-hoarding orders for some reason. No dice - both were canceled.

I went in to the store in the afternoon on BF and couldn't even see a spot where they would have sold the trilogy out of, let alone any actual stock there :roll:. Personally, though, $16 more for the movies shipped to me (assuming they ever get here) was well worth not having to camp out at Target for the slight chance of finding the set there.
 
So how long we give this before it makes The Consumerist, hmm? Didn't take too long for the Wal-Mart Iron Man 2 fiasco if I remember correctly.
 
I was pretty sure this would happen. I bought one early to price adjust, bit when the online sale happened I was pretty happy cause I was about 45 minutes away from target during bf. Then I got the delay email. And I was certain they were waiting until the instore sale ended so people couldn't do that, so I made sure to go back and price adjust in time (which went fine and thereq was a sign for the sale and everything). And sure enough, once he sale was over, cancelled. Knew it was coming. Sorry to everyone that missed out, target was real unclassy about this.
 
^^^ Arg, why didn't I do this!? I thought they didn't allow price adjusting or price matching on Black Friday? When I went to Target in the evening on Black Friday (around 6pm) it was nearly empty so it would have been a breeze to go to the CS counter.
 
I'm glad I got up at 3:30 AM and waited in line at Target. I got my two copies. :)


[quote name='ssjmichael']Really? You really believe that? You're telling me Target's thought process was "We're going to put the individual sets up for 7.99, but on top of that let's just make the whole fucking trilogy 7.99 as well". And you believe this?

If so, then can you please explain why the printed ad said next to the picture "Normal Price up to $24.99". Let that sink in and come back to me about whether Target originally intended for the entire set to be 7.99

Also: There's a reason Amazon matched Target's 7.99 price for the movies, but not the trilogy[/QUOTE]

At Target, the price RANG UP as $7.99. There was no price match or customer service counter involved. I took my two Blu sets to the checkout lane and bought them with no problem.
 
really dumb. I got the email earlier and read it while half asleep...

needless to say, the email woke me up... but its not like we didnt all see this coming?
 
[quote name='lawdood']Yes, I know the ad said that, but I think everyone knew the odds of finding one in store for that price would be very tough on BF morning not to mention the limited quantities already on hand at most Targets. All I'm saying is if you were willing to spend $7.99 per movie you should have realized that and made sure to grab them at Amazon rather than just rolling the dice.

And just because someone has a different opinion than you doesn't mean they're a troll or a-hole, they might just have a better take on reality, that's all. Have a good evening.[/QUOTE]

The price for LOTR went into affect Wednesday. That is when I ordered mine. Now, let me walk you through this since you seem to have issues figuring out how someone could order from Target and skip Amazon.

Black Friday Ad - 7.99 LOTR
I decide to try to get one at Target Friday morning. If that failed, THEN I would order somewhere else.
But hey, Wednesday night the price went live at 7.99 on the website!
Happy day! I ordered and it saved me the trip to Target and fighting the black friday crowd.
I get a confirmation that the order would be shipped.
I get a further e-mail that there was a delay but the order will be shipped.
After all of the weekend sales are over, poof, no... we were just kidding. They won't be shipped.

Seems pretty clear to me why someone would miss the Amazon sale. It's not as if the Amazon price on the LOTR movies was a one day only sale and could be a backup plan for someone wanting to get it cheaper at Target.
 
[quote name='io']^^^ Arg, why didn't I do this!? I thought they didn't allow price adjusting or price matching on Black Friday? When I went to Target in the evening on Black Friday (around 6pm) it was nearly empty so it would have been a breeze to go to the CS counter.[/QUOTE]
I didn't think so either, but they do. I grabbed two of those 2tb hard drives and a copy of Fable 3 on Wednesday. Went back Friday morning and got them price adjusted. I thought the CS lady was gonna kill me, but she didn't fight it.
 
Lol damn. Glad I just bought mine from Amazon who is always good for their deals. I wonder if the backlash is strong enough they might pull a Walmart (IM2 anyone?) and 'suddenly' have these in stock for the $7.99 price. Then again, Target is pretty shitty so I highly doubt it. Just take your business elsewhere and move on.
 
On Wednesday my target had 1 trilogy bluray left, so I hid it in the pet Ile. Showed up Friday at 9:00am and walked out the door with my 7.99 trilogy:D. I also ordered on line and got the cancelation email.
 
On Wednesday my target had 1 trilogy bluray left, so I hid it in the pet Ile. Showed up Friday at 9:00am and walked out the door with my 7.99 trilogy. I also ordered on line and got the cancelation email.
 
So I got the email last night, and I called customer service, and I talked to them, and she basically was telling me no, so I said can I speak to your supervisor/manager, she said hold on, came back on the phone and said that when it comes back in stock on the website, I can get it for 8 bucks, I just have to call. That its on my account. But who knows when it will come back in stock.
 
[quote name='bigant262']So I got the email last night, and I called customer service, and I talked to them, and she basically was telling me no, so I said can I speak to your supervisor/manager, she said hold on, came back on the phone and said that when it comes back in stock on the website, I can get it for 8 bucks, I just have to call. That its on my account. But who knows when it will come back in stock.[/QUOTE]

the listing will probably disappear... like it never existed at all.
 
Hindsight is 20/20 but, as others have noted, if people were really intent on getting the LOTR movies for such substantial discounts, they should have hedged their bets by ordering the amazon individually pricematched ones for $7.99 a pop, pre-bought the trilogy in store for a Friday price adjustment, attempted a pricematch at another retailer such as WalMart, or gotten to a physical Target location early enough to be sure to get one Friday morning.

Guy who asked whether I typed out "The 5 stages of LOTR BluRay Trilogy for $7.99 at Target grief", please. Copied from wikipedia with a little creative editing thrown in. Okay, so I'm enjoying a nice helping of schadenfreude with this thread, but people do need to lighten up. *I say as I hug my two $7.99 copies of the set*.

Funniest part is, I don't even give a shit about them, I certainly wouldn't have paid $7.99 individually for the "crappy theatrical cuts" as others here have called them. It's just a little extra fun getting a deal that practically no one else got, particularly when there was next to no effort involved in getting it.

Seriously though, there will be plenty of deals on these blus and the trilogy in the future for everyone to partake in, considering how overprinted they are and the fact that the extended editions will eventually be released.
 
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[quote name='typical guy']I'm glad I got up at 3:30 AM and waited in line at Target. I got my two copies. :)




At Target, the price RANG UP as $7.99. There was no price match or customer service counter involved. I took my two Blu sets to the checkout lane and bought them with no problem.[/QUOTE]

Read what I wrote. If they intended to ORIGINALLY sell it for 7.99 why did the print ad say "Normal Price up to $24.99"

No one who is saying this wasn't originally a price mistake has answered that. Target may have honored it in their system later on, but it's clear as day that it was INITIALLY a mistake. Hell, there wouldn't be a need for a memo if they intended to sell it for that price originally. Prove me wrong..
 
[quote name='InvaderZim']Some companies will do what they can to make the customer happy. Target has never been one of these companies.[/QUOTE]
Seems to me honoring a mistake in their ad that caused them to lose a ton of money was doing something to make their customer happy. Yeah, what they did with the website orders suck, but there's no doubt they sold thousands of these trilogy sets at a huge loss b&m.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']Read what I wrote. If they intended to ORIGINALLY sell it for 7.99 why did the print ad say "Normal Price up to $24.99"

No one who is saying this wasn't originally a price mistake has answered that. Target may have honored it in their system later on, but it's clear as day that it was INITIALLY a mistake. Hell, there wouldn't be a need for a memo if they intended to sell it for that price originally. Prove me wrong..[/QUOTE]

1bizkittroll.jpg
 
I can definitely see how people missed the Amazon deal. I had originally bought the 3 for $8 each, because although I had heard some talk of this Target deal, I was pretty certain it was going to fall through and I wasn't about to head out to actual *stores* for BF. Then the memo about it leaked, and once I saw their price adjustment policy didn't exclude *anything* dealing with BF (only clearance, which this obviously would not be), I decided to pick one up preemptively and cancel my Amazon orders. Then the website deal happened. If both the Target deals fell through, I would have been bummed, but hey, it was surely a HUGE loss for them, and I've been shot down for less reasonable reasons. I don't think Target did anything really wrong - all business' want to make money (and most don't see the correlation between happy customer's and more money). Also, how many people didn't know anything about the LotR sets, let alone this website debacle? Target's not losing any sleep over this one.
Amazon's BttF lightning deal? Little sore on that. They needed more stock. My B&N order for $5 more hasn't even shipped yet, and I was hoping Amazon would bail me out.
 
[quote name='exRounder']the listing will probably disappear... like it never existed at all.[/QUOTE]

Bingo. It will never come back in stock.
 
Same boat as most everyone. Ordered 1, went through fine, delay email - just like the B2G1+15% off Kinect games a couple weeks ago (which did ship) - then the cancellation email.

Bit of a PR problem for Target, loss of customer satisfaction and trust. Can't instill those qualities in customers if you deprive them of deals so lamely, especially when items are in stock, then delayed, then cancelled (aka "lying", as it's definitely available) - without any sort of restitution.

The damage is done, and a lot of consumers (not resellers, mind you - don't care about them) simply won't trust the online version of Target. Heck, I've already had issues with and lost trust for BestBuy.com pre-orders.

And this whole business of Target.com being separate from Target... Seriously? So hard to take an item off the floor and ship it, or send it back to a warehouse for someone's online order?

Not buying the spin.
 
I sent a quick email last night playing dumb and asking why it had been canceled. Here is Target's response.

"I'm sorry to hear about the cancellation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy pack from your order.

We do what we can to keep orders going smoothly, but sometimes unexpected changes to our supply will cause us to cancel an order. I know this can be frustrating and I'm sorry for any inconvenience.

We've had a lot of orders for this blu-ray, and we always fill the orders starting with the oldest orders first. There was a high demand, and by the time we got to your order we ran out of stock. Because of this, we had to cancel this the motion picture trilogy from your order.

I see that this motion picture trilogy is currently available in our local Target stores. If you’d like, just visit your nearest Target store with this DPCI number:058-40-0021 and ask a team member to point you to the item.

You can also contact Target Guest Relations at 1-800-440-0680 (select Option #5 for store merchandise) and we’ll be happy to look up this inventory at your local Target store.

If they're out of stock, they'll be able to point you to the closest store that does have the item.

Great Products. Great Value. And great guest service every time you visit Target.com. That's what shopping with us is all about, so it's disappointing to hear that we've let you down.

Thanks for getting in touch with us. I hope you'll give us another chance and visit Target.com again. "
 
I got a apology letter from them and a gc when I said that I hated their service and Walmart is better retailer then them. Which is true.
 
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