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Your search for “christmas” produced “904” results
9 Examples Why You May Want To Avoid Homeowners Associations Like The Plague
By Chris Morran on May 15, 2012 12:15 PM
161 Comments
We watch a lot of real estate shows here at Consumerist HQ, especially the many variations on the "show three places and pretend to pick the one that you're already in escrow on." And while home buyers always remember to ask, "Are there HOA fees?", they don't ask the more important questions, like "Why in the world am I buying a place with an HOA?" More »
Recall Roundup - Banzai Inflatable Slides, Kolkraft Bassinets, And More
By Laura Northrup on May 10, 2012 12:33 PM
10 Comments
There are some particularly scary recalls this week, including a massive pet food recall for dog foods manufactured by Diamond, some bassinets that might collapse and hurtle babies, and those Banzai water slides are finally being recalled after allegedly killing one person and paralyzing another. More »
The Fax Of Shame: How It Really Feels To Lose Your Home
By Laura Northrup on May 2, 2012 8:00 AM
121 Comments
C. and her husband are a young couple who moved into their first house just a few years ago. Unable to manage their mortgage payments, they asked their lender, PNC Mortgage, for help. The bank offered them a monthly payment $500 higher than the mortgage they couldn't pay in the first place. Their house has sat empty and on the real estate market since January, waiting for a buyer to come along for a short sale. One did, and the nightmare is almost over. Or it would be, if PNC would just stop calling the couple and any relative whose phone number they can find, almost every day. More »
MetLife Hit With $500 Million Settlement Over "Death Master" File
By Chris Morran on April 23, 2012 4:15 PM
25 Comments
The Social Security Administration's "Death Master" File sounds like something that is guarded by a specter resembling the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, but it's really just a list of everyone who has recently moved on to another plane of existence. Regardless, the nation's largest life insurance company is now on the hook for $500 million after being accused of using the Death Master File for its own benefit while ignoring it when it could benefit others. More »
How Amazon Was Amazing To Kindle Customer
By Laura Northrup on April 12, 2012 11:45 AM
48 Comments
Mike wasn't looking for a freebie. He just had a few cosmetic scratches on the touchscreen of his Kindle Fire and wanted to know if there was a way he could minimize them or buff them out. He called up Amazon to ask, and their solution wasn't a healing screen cover or a special polish. They shipped out a new device to him the very next day. More »
(meg)
Best Buy Scans Customer's ID, Tells Him He's Returned Too Many Items
By Chris Morran on April 10, 2012 11:15 AM
195 Comments
In early 2011, Best Buy began requiring a photo ID with all product returns, even if you had the receipt. As we noted at the time, it wasn't just to make sure that you were the person who made the purchase; it was also intended to identify people who had a history of returning items. Now a man in Connecticut is finding out just what it takes to end up on the retailer's bad side. More »
Did JCPenney Actually Lower All Its Prices By 40%?
By Chris Morran on April 5, 2012 2:30 PM
61 Comments
Back in January, JCPenney dove head-first into its rebranding efforts by announcing it would get rid of nearly all of its short-term sales in favor of marking down everything by 40% all the time. So did they actually follow through on their promise? More »
Even Best Buy Doesn't Like Big Box Stores, Announces Plan To Close 50 Of Them
By Mary Beth Quirk on March 29, 2012 10:00 AM
132 Comments
Like a giant, unhelpful dinosaur mired in a tar pit, Best Buy has finally stopped struggling and realized that its big box store model might not be the best. The company announced they're closing 50 of those stores this year, and will scale things back size-wise to try and boost revenue. More »
Let's Look Back And Laugh At Retail Gas Prices Over The Last Decade
By Chris Morran on March 19, 2012 2:30 PM
102 Comments
Retail gas prices are currently hovering just a few percentage points shy of the all-time high set back in 2008. So we couldn't think of a better reason to go for a (rather expensive) drive down memory lane to gawk with fondness at the last decade of gas price volatility. More »
Worst Company In America Round One: UPS Vs. USPS
March 16, 2012 12:00 PM
80 Comments
We hope these two parcel-punting pugilists know how to deliver the punches, because they both seem to have a problem delivering your packages. More »
Worst Company In America Round One: Target Vs. Best Buy
March 13, 2012 9:30 AM
157 Comments
Go make some popcorn and gather the family by the glow of your data-receiving device of choice — It's Worst Company In America time! And it looks like the first blood to be spilled in the WCIA 2012 Octagon of Shame will come from the veins of one of these two retail titans from Minnesota. More »
Best Buy, Where "In Stock" Means "We Will Have It In Stock Eventually"
By Chris Morran on February 27, 2012 2:38 PM
23 Comments
One would think that Best Buy might have learned from the public relations disaster of this past holiday season, when a number of BestBuy.com customers didn't get their orders in time for Christmas because the company didn't want to tell them the items were back-ordered. But this is Best Buy, where learning from mistakes is apparently against company policy. More »
How Walmart Is Making Americans Even Stupider
By Laura Northrup on February 22, 2012 9:35 AM
194 Comments
Reader "Nick" manages a store that sells DVDs. And while store managers have many, many legitimate gripes that they could share with the Consumerist Nation, Nick has a very specific complaint about Walmart. It's his belief that Walmart is making Americans stupid. Well, stupider. Hear him out. More »
Facebook Hasn't Even Gone Public And People Are Already Selling Fake Shares
By Chris Morran on February 3, 2012 3:30 PM
29 Comments
You're all educated, gorgeous people so you are fully aware that shares in Facebook won't be publicly available for several more weeks. But that didn't stop a woman in Wisconsin from using fake stock in the website to pay for home repairs — she even gave some to her daughter for Christmas. More »
(RLHyde)
At Lids, Clearance Hats That Aren't On Clearance
By Laura Northrup on February 3, 2012 10:32 AM
28 Comments
Patrick bought three hats from online hattery Lids, but they didn't fit. No problem-that's what return policies are for! He contacted the company about returning the hats, and learned that he wouldn't be allowed to because they were on clearance. Which is interesting, because Patrick saw no indication on the site that these hats were on clearance. More »
You'll Need A Working Credit Or Debit Card To Use That Hulu Gift Subscription
By Laura Northrup on January 26, 2012 9:31 AM
34 Comments
G. wanted to buy his daughters a six-month subscription to Hulu Plus to watch some shows, but didn't want to give Hulu the ability to keep billing his credit card into perpetuity. Hulu offers prepaid gift subscriptions, though, so he could simply purchase a code, and the streaming-video party would stop when the subscription ran out. Right? Not so fast. More »
GE Doesn't See The Problem With An Oven That Won't Cook Anything
By Laura Northrup on January 25, 2012 9:30 AM
40 Comments
For some reason, Terry expects the GE range with double ovens that he bought just a few months ago to do unreasonable things, like heat up to a consistent temperature, or perhaps cook some food. But his roasts remain un-roasted, and his cakes won't bake. What's wrong? None of the technicians GE has sent see a problem with the oven. More »
(XISMZERO)
Toys 'R' Us Rewards Program: Where A $5 Certificate Isn't Quite $5
By Laura Northrup on January 25, 2012 8:05 AM
70 Comments
Toys 'R' Us should want to reward Dustin handsomely. He has five kids, and his family buys an awful lot of toys there. It's not the store itself but its rewards program that's giving him problems. He used rewards certificates and $34.88 in cash to buy a toy, but when he went to return that toy, he learned that the rewards program is less straightforward than it seems when you need to return something. More »
(XISMZERO)
Macy's Consumer Protection Department Protects Me By Canceling My Orders
By Laura Northrup on January 19, 2012 12:32 PM
24 Comments
Macy's is very concerned about Susan. Apparently. She's not sure why, but their "consumer protection" department has intervened and canceled four of her last six orders, making her lose out on eBates.com rebates and items that subsequently went out of stock. The reasons for the cancellations make sense on the surface...except that they aren't actually true. Her phone number matches her credit card. Nothing else should raise a red flag for fraud. Who is Macy's protecting her from? More »
FedEx Gives Someone Else A Very Merry Popeye's Christmas With My Credit Card
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 17, 2012 3:00 PM
94 Comments
FedEx wanted its customers to have a very Merry Christmas — even if they're not the customers who should be receiving a package with a credit card in it. Gabe had to have a new Visa card overnighted to him, and felt confident because the delivery required a signature. Apparently, any old signature will do. More »
