Staples runs occasional sales where everything that you can cram in a bag gets discounted. “Hmmm,” writes reader Jack, “how many chairs or other furniture items do you think will fit in this Staples bag?” That depends on whether Staples has begun to outfit dollhouses and architectural models with office furniture. [More]
Staples Now Selling Dollhouse-Sized Office Furniture
By June 17, 2013
Man Jailed For Rubbing Pepperoni On His Weiner At Grocery Store
By May 17, 2013
Earlier this week, a northern New York man was caught doing a terrible, terrible thing to an innocent stick of pepperoni. He was arrested and put behind bars…not just for lewd behavior in public in a Hannaford store, but because they had to destroy the pepperoni he had defiled afterward. [More]
Amazon Packs Your Snacks Extra Safely In A Box Ten Times Too Big
By May 9, 2013
Alex says that when a giant box from Amazon arrived on his doorstep, he was puzzled. There was a huge, huge box, but all he had ordered were some Munchies brand peanuts that were on sale. (Having Prime makes you do that kind of thing.) That couldn’t possibly be all that was in the box: there was enough space in there for hundreds of packets of peanuts. He had only ordered 32. So what was in the box? [More]
We Don’t Want To Hear About Your Disappointing Flowers This Mother’s Day
By May 1, 2013
There’s only a week and a half until Mother’s Day, and we have a goal. We do not want to publish any disappointing wire service flower photos on Monday, May 13. None. Because everyone reading this right now who plans to order flowers will proceed to the friendliest, best-reviewed local florist they can find and order directly. [More]
Will The Edge Of Glory Really Let You Slice A Tomato WIth A Credit Card?
By April 3, 2013
Have you always dreamed of slicing vegetables with the sharpened edge of a plastic credit card? Yeah, us either. But pitchman Anthony Sullivan does just that in the ad for the Edge of Glory, an inexpensive, small, and easy-to-use gadget that claims to sharpen any knife in your drawer. Is it worth $10.99 plus shipping and handling? According to tests by our super-sharp siblings down the hall at Consumer Reports, the answer is “maybe.” If you only have cheap knives. Or want to chop your food with a credit card. Which actually works. [More]
Why Does Target Need To Scan My Driver’s License To Sell Me Nicotine Patches?
By March 18, 2013
Rodney’s son asked him to pick up some nicotine patches, so he did. Rodney, an ex-smoker himself, knows the agony of nicotine withdrawal, and was happy to help him out. Up to a point. He wasn’t happy enough to let Target scan his driver’s license and hold on to the information that he had bought nicotine patches when he hasn’t smoked in years. The thing is, his caution is entirely justified. He could very well land on a data broker’s list of recent smokers. [More]
Let’s Resolve The Twist-Ties Vs. Plastic Clips Battle Before Anyone Gets Hurt
By March 13, 2013
There’s been a major battle brewing among those of us who like to close plastic bags. Are you gonna go with a twist-tie, which can be repurposed into a cat toy, or a plastic clip of the kind often seen to close bread bags, which can be bedazzled and sold online? Your answer matters to those in the $10 billion a year business of making bag closing devices. [More]
Don’t Worry, The Caterpillar You Found In Your Dinner Is Totally Safe To Eat
By March 13, 2013
Unless that’s what they set out to eat in the first place, people aren’t thrilled to find insects in their food. Reader V. and his family are vegetarians, and were even less thrilled than most people to find a worm in their package of frozen edamame from Trader Joe’s. When he wrote to complain, the company was pretty transparent about what the critter was and how it ended up in their dinner. The company gave a refund. But V. found the company’s assurance that the critter was safe to eat insensitive. [More]
From The Museum Of Failed Informercial Products: Fushies
By March 12, 2013
For every Snuggie and Slap Chop, products that transcend direct-response ads to become cultural touchstones, there are many, many more flops. Once they were new and exciting products that filled a need you never thought you had, but they never caught on. Their web sites sit empty and even the trademarks have been abandoned. But thanks to YouTube, the ridiculous ads will live forever. [More]
Do People Go Gun Shopping With Zombies In Mind?
By February 28, 2013
Between “The Walking Dead” and “Warm Bodies,” there’s a lot of zombie-related entertainment in the zeitgeist right now. But do people have a possible zombie apocalypse in mind when they’re looking for firearms to defend themselves in an emergency? Maybe. Sort of. Not really. [More]
Bed Bath And Beyond’s Towers Of Towels Are A Beautifully Folded Lie
By February 27, 2013
If you’ve been to a Bed, Bath and Beyond store, you’ve seen them: the shelves and shelves of perfectly folded towels, stacked up to the ceiling. They look nice, and that’s an awful lot of towels, isn’t it? No. It isn’t. Photos exposing the towel towers as the shams they are frequently make the rounds on social media sites, blowing everyone’s minds. [More]
Make Sure That Local Florist You Found On Google Really Is Local
By February 11, 2013
Let’s say that you want to order some flowers for your aunt in Omaha. You remember the frequent warnings on this site to go directly to a local florist, so that’s what you do. You type “florist omaha” into Google, scroll past the paid listings and the ones Google has plotted on a map, and choose a shop with a nice-looking website. Perfect! Only this “local” florist isn’t so local. You tried to make the right choice, but are hurting the very neighborhood flower shop you were trying to patronize when you typed those words in Google. [More]
Ulta Has Secret Limits On Clearance Items, Won’t Sell Me 27 Hair Straighteners
By January 31, 2013
Courtney was on a mission. It’s her job to find things for people at low prices, and then buy them in large quantities. For example, one day she learned that beauty chain Ulta had Big Chi Digital Hair Irons, which usually cost $169.99, on clearance for $49.99. Score! One of her clients wanted these, and there were twenty-seven of them in stock. Now, “Clearance” should mean that the store is trying to clear out stock, and should be happy if someone comes along and scoops up everything on the shelf. Right? Not at Ulta. They’d rather not sell items at all than sell them to Courtney by the cartful. [More]
Staples Offers 99 Cent Stamp With Free Shipping, Wants $10 Shipping After Orders Go Through
By January 30, 2013
Oops. Staples offered a great deal on self-inking address stamps that seemed too good to be true: 99 cents for a stamp, with free shipping. By the time the transactions went through, the deal actually was too good to be true, making deal-hunters sad and upset with Staples. [More]
6 Things You Can Learn From YouTube Hit “Thrift Shop” Without Having To Listen To It
By January 28, 2013
I will be the first one to admit that before today, I had not listened to/viewed “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a YouTube hit with over 69 million views. Why? Because I didn’t feel like it. If you’re the same way, don’t worry — we can keep you in the loop and provide some actual real-life advice as relayed by the song’s lyrics. And you’ll never even have to listen to it if you don’t want to. Win-win. [More]
How Online Price-Matching Would Work In The Best Of All Possible Worlds
By January 18, 2013
When readers write to us to complain about their experiences with in-store pickup, they’re measuring what actually happened against a sort of retail Platonic ideal. “This item has a different price on your website, retailer!” they expect to say at the register. “You are correct, good sir; let me give you that better price,” the cashier should say, pressing a magical “savvy Internet reader” button on the cash register that unlocks those prices. Alas, this doesn’t happen. Or does it? [More]
BJ’s Apologizes For Crappy Pecan Pie That We Never Complained About
By January 15, 2013
Jonathan’s family bought a pre-made pecan pie for one of the winter holidays…Christmas, Thanksgiving, something like that. He doesn’t even remember. The pie wasn’t all that great, but the family didn’t think to complain to BJ’s about it. They had other things to do during the holidays. So they were surprised when they received a coupon in the mail for a free replacement pie, along with a letter apologizing for the poor quality of the pecan pie. [More]
Meijer Customer Service Saves The Day After Surgery
By January 14, 2013
Amanda was exhausted, after dealing with her mother’s post-surgery care and bringing her home from the hospital. Neither of them anticipated that the biggest problem would that day be with getting her post-discharge prescriptions filled. One of the medications was more obscure than she had imagined. They visited three different pharmacies in their rural area and were ready to give up hope when they finally visited the pharmacy at the local Meijer. They had the drugs! For $250! Oh, no. [More]
