Stores like Argos came up short on Black Friday - it's time they scrapped it

The chain offered reductions on highly sought-after goods - which it appears it simply didn't have available for sale

Walking the line: an Argos distribution centre. The company had to apologise for failing customers

Argos was forced to apologise to many of its customers this week after it made a complete mess of Black Friday, the pre-Christmas shopping event invented by retailers to flog off old stock. The chain made the mistake of offering reductions on loads of highly sought-after goods – which it appears it simply didn't have available for sale.

Reader Josie Cole ordered an iPad Mini and an iPod Touch from Argos on Black Friday to take advantage of the discounts offered. They were birthday gifts she needed by Wednesday, so she arranged delivery for Monday.

They never arrived. So she went on the Argos website to track her order – and to her surprise, was told it didn't exist, even though the money had already left her bank account. She turned to The Independent for help, and after our intervention Argos agreed to have the items sent to her local store so she could pick them up in time.

So many people turned to social media with similar complaints that the store was forced to make a general apology to all customers. It told me: "Black Friday was Argos's biggest day ever for customers ordering via digital channels. Overall web visits on the day were around 12 million, with peak trading times seeing 18 transactions per second. Argos had over 800 vans on the road who delivered tens of thousands of orders on Black Friday itself."

Argos wasn't the only retailer whose website crashed on Black Friday – John Lewis was one of the others – but it's clear to me that the stores should be scrapping their preposterous marketing tactic. The day is designed to create panic among shoppers that they will miss out on a bargain if they don't act quickly, but the truth is that there were very few bargains to be had – and those were quickly sold, leaving thousands unhappy.

Shops do have a responsibility to customers, which they seem to have forgotten in the feeding frenzy of Black Friday, when all they focus on is the chance to boost profits.

After her upsetting experience with Argos, Josie told me: "It's the first and last time I will use Argos. What's the point in them advertising all these deals if they can't follow through with it?" She's not the only one who feels that way, and there are many others who've sworn never to shop at certain retailers again after being let down. Shops may have boosted their profits by their dodgy sales tactics, but they've alienated many customers.