First of all, don’t be fooled by that 00:00:00 countdown in the photo accompanying this post — it’s part of an email forwarded by Consumerist reader Kaleb, and presumably the ticking clock works in the offers sent to customers on the OfficeMax mailing list. But let’s not lose sight of what it really is, at its essence, which is a countdown clock to a “halfway to Cyber Monday” sale. Yes, holiday shopping creep is a thing now and we’ll all have to deal with it. [More]
“Halfway To Cyber Monday” Countdown Ushers In New Era Of Holiday Shopping Creep
By May 21, 2013
Walmart Employees Tell Consumerist About All Those Empty Shelves
By April 5, 2013
We recently told you about a Bloomberg article with first-hand accounts from Walmart workers who claimed their stores had piles of inventory in the back rooms but not enough employees to actually stock the shelves. Walmart HQ dismissed these claims as isolated instances of grousing gripers, so we asked actual Walmart employees to contact us with their insights on this story, and they didn’t hold back. [More]
When You’re Getting Kicked Out Of Family Dollar, Don’t Ask Your 7-Year-Old To Pepper Spray The Employees
By March 21, 2013
If you’re banned from a retail store, it’s probably best to avoid making a return visit. It’s certainly not a good idea to bring along your young children when you do pop by, and it’s definitely ill-advised to ask one of those children to use pepper spray on that store’s employees. [More]
GE Wants To Spend $836 For Repairs On My $500 Washer That Does The Harlem Shake
By February 21, 2013
Reader Philip bought a new washer and dryer on sale last year after Black Friday. They were finally delivered when the family moved into a new house last week. When the time came for the inaugural wash, the machine made a loud banging sound and hopped around the room. GE sent a repairman who, on orders from GE, thought that gutting the washer was an ideal solution. Philip disagreed, pointing out that he would constantly fear a dryer motor fire and would prefer a new replacement, what with the washer/dryer set being newly delivered and all. GE would much rather spend more than the replacement value of the appliance. [More]
Best Buy Gives Up On “No Customer Service E-Mail” Experiment After Only 6 Weeks
By February 1, 2013
Perhaps Best Buy was just in a frustrated, overworked mood because of all the holiday shoppers (who were buying stuff on Amazon) when it decided in December to remove the option of contacting customer service by e-mail. Because that contact info has magically re-appeared on BestBuy.com. [More]
Yet Another Reason Prepaid Debit Gift Cards Are A Terrible Idea
By January 29, 2013
Cody had a Visa gift card, and he used it up to buy a grill, ordering online from Lowe’s for in-store pickup. He didn’t say where the gift card came from: maybe it was a present or he received it from a rebate. It doesn’t really matter. He used it for only part of his purchase. The problem came when he forgot to pick up the grill and other items that he bought for almost a month. The store where he was supposed to pick it up no longer had it in stock, but they couldn’t transfer the purchase to a different store. He needed to get a refund for the grill that he had ordered online, then buy it over again at another store. Easy enough…if he hadn’t used up the prepaid card and then tossed it out. [More]
Maytag Has A Weird Concept Of ‘Soon’
By January 10, 2013
How do you define “soon” in terms of a one-year warranty? Howard doesn’t have an exact timeframe in mind, but he imagines that it’s not “more than nine months from now.” Yet when Maytag sent him a letter urging him to extend his appliance warranties, that’s how much time he had left. [More]
That’s Great, UPS: Just Fling My $1,200 Laptop At The Porch Without Getting A Signature
By January 8, 2013
Steve had the new computer that he bought his wife for Christmas shipped to his home. Where else would you send a laptop? The spare power adapter shipped first, and no one was home to sign for the package, so back to Lenovo it went after three attempts. When the computer was on its way, Christmas was closer, and Steve made sure that there was always someone home to sign for the package in order to make sure he didn’t miss it. He didn’t miss it, mostly because the driver chucked it at the porch without ringing the doorbell. A great big box that says “Hey, come steal this Lenovo Thinkpad!” on it. Well, maybe not those first four words.
Steve writes:
Repair Company Can’t Fix TV Without Parts, Warranty Won’t Replace Repairable TV
By December 28, 2012
How long could your household go without a television? It depends on how many people are there, what you watch, what time of year it is, how the weather is, and whether or not it’s Christmas break and your kids are home from school. That’s the case for Roman’s family, cord cutters who are cut off from television content. Last Black Friday, Roman got a Vizio 3D smart TV from Walmart. Just under a year later, the set doesn’t work. That’s okay, though: he bought the extended warranty. The repair service set up an appointment, then just didn’t show after Roman took a day off work and waited around for them. Why? They didn’t have the part he needed in stock. [More]
HHGregg Keeps Calling Me To Pick Up The Freezer I Already Have
By December 26, 2012
Chris has a freezer. He bought it from HHGregg in November, and has no complaints about it. His problem is with the additional free freezer that the store keeps trying to give him. Sort of. They keep calling to tell him to pick up the freezer. He’s missed all of the calls, which come every two weeks. Would they really hand over a new freezer, though? [More]
Ignore Emails From Online Retailers At Your Peril
By December 24, 2012
Ann bought a coffeemaker for her mother for Christmas, which was very thoughtful. She got a great deal on it from Overstock.com, which was very savvy of her. Now she’s had to buy a more expensive replacement coffeemaker from a brick-and-mortar store, which was very irritating. Overstock, you see, has had some problems getting items to customers. The e-tailer first notified her that her package had been stolen. Cool: no hurry. Then the replacement package went missing, too. [More]
Zappos, Where A 9-Hour Customer Service Phone Chat Is A Good Thing
By December 20, 2012
Many front-line customer service reps are judged on how quickly they can get a customer off the phone, a metric we’ve repeatedly pointed out leads to consumers’ issues going unresolved. But the folks at Zappos.com apparently aren’t as clock-minded, with one record-setting call crossing the nine-hour mark. [More]
Best Buy No Longer Wants Customers Contacting It By E-Mail
By December 12, 2012
Best Buy has never been the best at dealing with customer e-mails, but rather than invest in improving that facet of customer service, the retailer has decided to pull the option from its contact form on its customer service page. [More]
Best Buy Sends Me Wrong Microwave, Promises To Come Swap It Out, Doesn’t Show
By December 12, 2012
This is an exciting but stressful time for Terry’s family. His wife is pregnant, and they also just bought a new house. They ordered new appliances: matching stainless steel items for the kitchen, including one of those space-saving microwaves that goes over the stove. Best Buy technicians delivered and installed the bigger appliances, and the microwave arrived on the doorstep a few days later. It was the wrong color. That’s where Terry’s battle with Best Buy began. [More]
Most Macy’s Stores Will Stay Open For The 48 Hours Leading Up To Christmas Day
By December 7, 2012
If you listen very carefully, you might be able to hear groans of “Aww, man… Really?” coming from retailers other than Macy’s. That’s because the department store company has announced it will have most of its stores open continuously for the 48 hours leading up to Christmas Day. That kind of move puts the screws on other retailers to follow suit with similar plans if they want to grab any of your last-minute dollars as well. [More]
Why Won’t Old Navy Exchange My Jeans That Won’t Fit?
By December 7, 2012
If you go shopping on Black Friday at a clothing store, you should take the time to brave the fitting rooms, no matter how long the lines are. Nick learned this the hard way, buying three pairs of jeans for $15 each. He made it out of the store unscathed, but when he got home, found that the jeans didn’t fit. Boo. Oh, well, he can just take them back to the store and swap them for the correct size, right? Not so fast! [More]
Walmart Shoplifter Dies After Being Shot By Off-Duty Deputy
By December 7, 2012
An off-duty sheriff’s deputy, working in uniform as a security officer for a Texas Walmart, reportedly shot an alleged shoplifter after being dragged by her car in the store’s parking lot. [More]
Sam’s Club Reinstates Oversold Black Friday Orders, Makes Up To Sad Customers
By December 6, 2012
Remember the Black Friday deal at Sam’s Club where too many orders came in for the best deals, and there wasn’t enough merchandise to fill them all? Well, Sam’s Club is doing the right thing for those customers, reinstating the canceled orders and even sending free memberships and gift cards to customers who went and found the same items elsewhere. [More]
