“Sales for the month of October were very disappointing, with continued volatility in daily results,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president and CEO of Target Corp. “We expect the recent challenging sales environment to continue into the holiday season and beyond as a result of the economic factors currently affecting consumer spending.”

Walmart is apparently benefiting from a new found frugality among American shoppers.

Are you abandoning Target for Walmart? Or just spending less at Target? What's up?

Wal-Mart sales up, Target down [Bizjournals]
(Photo: fleamobile )

Sean writes:

1) The e-mail I sent to customer service did nothing. They replied that they could do nothing.

2) The store manager called me back the next day to tell me the district manager had given approval to have the store contact the original purchaser, explain the mistake, and ask if they could recharge his card. Once this was completed, they would issue me a gift card for the original amount. She did "apologize for all he craziness" at the store the night of the incident.

3) About a week later I received a call from the district manager asking if everything had been resolved. I said I hadn't heard any updates. He told me that everything had been taken care of (the original purchaser's card had been re-charged) and that my gift card was waiting at the store. I could either pick it up, or they could mail it to me. I asked him to mail it to me.

4) A few days later I received the gift card in the mail. I called the number on the card to check the balance, and it said it couldn't because the card wasn't active. This concerned me, but I thought it could be due to the circumstances it was issued, etc.

5) A few days later, I went to the store to use my gift card. I first stopped at the customer service desk to have them check the balance on the card. They said it wasn't active, and asked if I'd already used it. I said no and that it was a long story, and they went to get the manager. She came out a few moments later (it was the same manager from the night of the original incident) and issued me a new card, which I used immediately.

So, in the end, it all turned out. I was a bit surprised that they didn't offer me anything for the trouble or at least a more sincere apology. But, I guess I should just be happy that they took responsibility and corrected the mistake.

In the future, I'll be much more explicit when making exchanges or returns as to what I want before I hand over the product. And, even though I don't think I should have to, I'll no longer assume the clerk will understand that I'm not the original purchaser if I'm using a gift receipt.

PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Credits Wrong Card For $130 Return, Sends You Away With Nothing
(Photo: qnr - Gone for a while)

David launched an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Circuit City and CC'd us. Let's listen in:

I came to Circuit City hoping to purchase Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set for my wife's birthday. I had tried several other stores before coming to Circuit City, but all were sold out. When I arrived and asked an associate if they had the complete band set in stock, I was pleased to learn that they had one left. However, when they attempted to ring the item up, instead of the $189.99 list price, the item rang up at $10,000.00. We all had a good laugh at this as the associate went for a manager to clear up the error.

The manager looked at the price and told me that that normally happens when an item is marked unavailable because the item was not yet at its release date. Of course, this game was released last Tuesday, Oct. 28, and the manager and various sales associates told me that they had already sold a ton of them. After speaking to his supervisor on the phone (I believe it was a district manager), I was told that they could do a price adjustment to the correct price, but since that would throw off some numbers, would it be all right with me if they set the item available online, where the price is correct, and just pay for it on the web with immediate "in-store" pickup? I was happy to do whatever was needed, and did not mind helping, so I said sure.

Unfortunately, for the next 45 minutes I waited as the employee trying to make this happen ran back and forth from computer to computer trying to get the inventory and the website to match up. Finally, as I had been in the store over an hour at that point, I asked that the manager just do the price adjustment and let me buy the game. He got back on the phone with the district or regional manager, and I was the told that the Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set was not supposed to be released until NEXT Tuesday, so they could not sell it to me. This is untrue. Multiple CC employees told me that they had sold many of the sets earlier in the week. Also, here is a small list of stores and sites selling the set as of RIGHT NOW:

—WalMart
—Best Buy
—Target
—Amazon
—CIRCUIT CITY (At multiple stores, according to the website)

When I told the manager this was not true and that the manager had in fact earlier offered to simply price adjust the price, the truth emerged. The district manager told the store manager that a price adjustment that large would make their numbers look really bad, so they could not do it. The "It hasn't been released yet" line was just that, a lie to tell me so I would leave. This is unacceptable.

This is what I would like from Circuit City:

1. An explanation why Circuit City's internal variance numbers are more important than a customer trying to spend several hundred dollars at your store, and why I was lied to.

2. An acknowledgment that the item I was trying to buy was in fact available, and that I should have been allowed to purchase it.

3. A phone call from the District Manager, Regional Manager, or higher up at corporate to explain 1. and 2. to me.

Finally, one personal observation...perhaps it is customer service like this that is forcing you to close 155 of your stores?

Sincerely,

David

UPDATE:
David has an update and a happy ending!

David says:

I wanted to give you an update for my Circuit City issue. This morning I got a phone call from the District Manager for the Memphis stores and surrounding areas, Michael. He was "mortified" and had investigated the issue with the store in question as well as the asset manager that the store called. He went over what happened with me and addressed all my points. Apparently, there was a company-wide glitch that goofed up the price for my item. He apologized profusely during our 15 minute conversation, and though I did not ask for it, he gave me the complete band set for free. I just got back from Circuit City, and the game was waiting for me there. So, Circuit City, or at least Michael, really went over and above to address my issue.

Sean writes:

I returned a product [yesterday] to the Appleton, WI Circuit City with a gift receipt. The clerk accepted the returned product, but mistakenly credited the original purchaser's credit card (I am not the original purchaser) for the return. After informing me of this, I told her that I did not purchase this product, it was given to me (thus, the gift receipt) and that I intended to return it for store credit so I could purchase a different product. I was told that since the return had been processed and credited to the original purchaser's credit card, nothing could be done. I was advised to contact the original purchaser and try to collect the money myself.

After much debate with the clerk, the supervisor, and the operations manager, I was told there was nothing that could be done, and the only option I had was to go back to the person who bought it, and ask for the money. This is unacceptable.

I entered the store in possession of a product (my property, I was the owner). I gave the product and gift receipt to the clerk to process a return. The clerk accepted my return and gave my money (the monetary value of the product - the original purchase price) to the wrong person (someone other than me). I left the store without my property or the monetary value of the property.

I would like either my property (the original product - a Logitech Harmony remote control) returned to me or store credit (gift card) for the orignal purchase price (approximately $130) of the product.

That's the letter Sean sent to Circuit City's customer service department, although Seans says he has yet to hear back from them. He adds, "What can I do? Isn't this illegal? They accept my returned product and mistakenly give the money to someone else, and then refuse to give me either the product or the money (store credit)? Isn't this theft of some sort? Should I contact the police?"

What do you guys think? Will the police take his report seriously? This certainly sounds like the definition of theft to us.

In the meantime, Sean, you may want to send that same letter to these Circuit City executive email addresses. What happened to you sounds to us like a fireable offense for that supervisor, and you need to make sure your story reaches the people who can see to it that you're compensated.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Motley Fool thinks so. They placed Circuit City at the top of a short list of retailers that you could "kiss goodbye."

The new CEO recently hired some independent advisers who will presumably work to save the company from itself, but is it just too late?

Circuit City's shares are currently trading at $0.42. You might want to use up your remaining gift cards... just in case.

First, he tried firing everyone who knew anything about the products that Circuit City sold (about 3,400 experienced salespeople) then, he responded to the inevitable tsunami of blood that followed... (2nd quarter losses of $62.8 million, and 3rd quarter losses of $207.3 million) by unveiling a retention program that would reward each top executive with $1 million.

Meanwhile, Circuit City's human resources department was wading through their own entrails and trying to hire their own fired employees back.

Finally, Blockbuster tried to move in and take over Circuit City — hoping to "differentiate products in both Blockbuster and Circuit City stores by offering exclusive content and content-enabled devices." Whatever that means. After taking a good hard look at Circuit City's books, Blockbuster decided that whatever Circuit City had, they didn't want to catch it, and called the deal off.

It's clear that Circuit City's new CEO, James "Tourniquet" Marcum, has his work cut out for him, but here at Consumerist we're pro-success. In the spirit of a new beginning, we've decided to share your suggestions with Mr. Marcum.

These comments were all written by you, the shopper. If Marcum wants to turn it around, he'd better listen up.

• CC lost their best employees, which in turn meant they lost their best trainers for new employees.

  How would I fix it? Hire arsonists and collect the insurance money. You're going down in flames, you may as well get paid.
  

• Firing competent, experienced staff so they can hire incompetent inexperienced staff at a lower hourly rate is only one step above off-shoring (which is kind of difficult to do if you want your store staffed with live people on-site!). Scumbags, that's what Circuit City's upper management are: Scumbags. And honestly, I'm insulting scumbags by making the comparison.
  
• When spending at least $2,000 on a HDTV or Plasma TV, I don't think that I can trust the expertise of a 17 year old high school dropout to guide me into choosing which one might be best for me.
  
• Fix the damn CD and DVD sections. Seriously, can anyone find one thing they're looking for?... Highlight the gadgets! I hear people like little handheld things these days. Maybe make them easier to find, easier to fondle etc... Blow everyone away with friendly returns/customer service. Unlike Best Buy where they like to accuse you of committing a crime when returning something.
  
• Stop selling Monster Cable! They would sell exponentially more cables if they didn't want $103 for 6' of HDMI cable. If I see a retailer selling Monster Cable, I will usually look for an excuse not to buy something from them.
  
• The only *good* thing about Circuit City customer service is that it's SO bad, they usually just ignore you. And ironically, I count that as a plus, as there's no faster way to turning me off in a store than to be pestered by incompetent customer service. At least when I walk into a Circuit City, I know that the reps are all going to be huddled together in the part of the store farthest away from me, so I'll be left alone to browse at my leisure.
  
• Make the executives work for a month at random Circuit City stores, with no power or authority to make changes. Spend one week at each in the "Customer Service Booth", and require them to provide responses to each and every inquiry.
  

• What do I find wrong with Circuit City?
  They have higher prices than their competitors, and most of the time they don't have what I want. How do you fix that?
  Cheaper prices. Better selection. Aggressively letting people know that they have both.
  

• Reduce the size of the stores and aim for the higher end customers. Make sure everyone selling an item is an expert on that item, or at least on that category. Spend money on wages, benefits and training to attract and retain those people.In other words, become the opposite of what Circuit City is now, because you're not the best at that and you probably never will be.
  
• Integrate the CircuitCity stores with the CircuitCity website, with the goal of making shopping easier and less stressful.
  
• Does anyone get that good feeling that they get in BB when they walk into Circuit City? No. The stores look ancient, the cust. service is just piss poor, there are never any cash registers open at any store.
  
• Most of these kinds of stores put a bunch of cheap ass computers on display, then hire a moron to help customers. Real computer experts only go to CC or Best Buy because they are in a pinch- not because they want to. I could go to Target and get the same stuff they sell at CC, but it is cheaper.
  
• Stop selling the same thing as Best Buy. Switch to high-end computer parts and systems only. At least then you'd have something different... as it is, there is nothing different between Circuit City and Best Buy.
  

• I would love it if I could feel like when I go in and need to ask a question, it's not being answered by someone who just picks up the box and reads what I just read.

Hire people who know what they're doing. Offer a better selection of products that will interest high-end cash-heavy consumers, and staff your store with people who know at least as much as they do. Clean your stores. Hire enough people so that you can have a register open at all times. Concentrate on the products that people actually want to buy, like handheld devices, cameras, consoles, and other gadgets. Mop the floor and tidy up. Don't let your employees huddle in the back of the store. Make shopping through the website easy. Lower the prices on your accessories to compete with Best Buy. Find friendly people and put them to work behind the customer service desk.

Good luck.

Their new CEO, James A. Marcum, who has only been on the job a week, said:
"We realize the performance of this company is unacceptable to all of our stakeholders and that it is imperative that we take the right steps to accelerate our turnaround."

And so, as is our habit, we ask you, the consumer, to tell us what is wrong with Circuit City and how they can fix it. We'll choose the best comments and share them with Mr. Marcum.

What's wrong with Circuit City?!

Circuit City Posts Wider Loss [Washington Post]

Local 6 says:

"When we see that a nearby competitor might temporarily lower a price on an item, our stores have the authority to adjust their price lower. This can happen in a very small vicinity of stores," the company said in a statement to Local 6.

However, the Problem Solvers found that the prices concerned were not temporary as Wal-Mart described, but consistent over a period of at least two months.

Barnaby [a consumer who reported the price differences] said she thinks that Wal-Mart is charging more for the same products in poorer neighborhoods than in neighborhoods with higher incomes.

"It disgusts me that the people who can least afford to buy the food have to pay more money than everyone else does," Barnaby said.

That’s a serious accusation and the Problem Solvers probed further, Cooper reported.

First, Cooper looked at the most recent census data, which showed the median household income is highest in Apopka — where the prices were the lowest, compared to incomes in Mt. Dora and Clarcona/Pine Hills where the prices were higher.

Cooper brought that data to Wal-Mart's attention and a spokeswoman for the company said she was offended by the suggestion that the company was charging more in poorer neighborhoods.

She insisted that Wal-Mart does not price by demographic, that it remains the low price leader in every market — and that the three stores we visited represent entirely different markets with different sets of competition, Cooper reported.
But when the Problem Solvers checked the competition, they did not find a similar pattern of pricing, Cooper said.

They visited Publix stores in the Windermere/Ocoee area, the Rosemont neighborhood of Orlando, and Altamonte.
The prices of the sugar, condensed milk and asparagus were consistent at all three stores. Visits to different Winn-Dixie stores generated the same results, according to Cooper.

Here are the prices they checked:

Sugar
$2.38 Mt. Dora
$2.36 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.76 Apopka

Condensed Milk
$1.54 Mt. Dora
$1.56 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.04 Apopka

Asparagus
$2.42 Mt. Dora
$2.54 Clarcona/Pine Hills
$1.86 Apopka

Congratulations, Central Florida. You've realized that Walmart's pricing is shady and inconsistent.

Wal-Mart Price Discrepancies Investigated [Local 6] (Thanks, pattie-anne!)
(Photo: RowJimmy )

Andrew says:

I thought this was interesting when you consider that I have not made a purchase there in over a year. Apparently not as "elite" as they claim.

We tried to snoop around Best Buy's site for more information, but we got one of those "we're too busy" messages, so we're guessing "elite" may be something of an exaggeration. In fact, we're hearing that the email might be a mailing list error. Whoopsy.

According to the commenters on this CrunchGear post, the email was most definitly a huge mistake on Best Buy's part. Aw, think of all the disappointed people who mistakenly thought they were elite.

Jim at Circuit City's consumer affairs division wrote,

I have some follow-up information on this matter to share with you.

Thanks to your Web posting, we have been able to determine that a few employees at one of our stores incorrectly charged a customer for work that our firedog techs did on the computer that he purchased. The manufacturer notified us that the PC in question did need a repair and we coordinated the repairs with the manufacturer. The customer should NOT have been charged.

We have reached out to the affected customer to apologize to him for any inconvenience and to make sure a refund is provided. We have also taken steps to ensure that our associates are aware of company policies on this issue.

I hope this information is helpful,
Jim

Frankly, we were suspicious that Circuit City was taking advantage of the faulty PC inventory to make a little extra money, so we're happy to see the company step up and correct this oversight so quickly.

I went to use my coupon, which was not expired, and was told it was invalid. The cashier said it was probably used already. Since I knew I hadn't used it, I asked them to tell me when/where it was used. They couldn't tell me for sure why it was rejected, just that the computer wouldn't accept it. Long story short, no one at Target nor the credit card company could tell me when I had supposedly already redeemed this particular coupon.

Basically, it was their word against mine and the Target did not have to bear the burden of proof. They simply reject the coupon and I'm out the 10% I would have saved on my purchases for that day. Maybe they should put this in the fine print of their ads to solicit Target credit cards? They always ask if you want to save 10% today by opening up a Target Redcard.

That's how they get you. They just asked if you "wanted" to save 10%. Ha! Get it? Ok, we're just kidding.

Put on your negotiating pants and calmly tell Target that you're going to cancel your account, transfer your balance, and buy everything at Walmart from now on if they don't send you another coupon — one that works.

Here's some contact information for Target's CEO just in case the negotiations don't go well, but we sincerely hope it doesn't come to that.

(Photo: What Rhymes With Nicole )

I. says:

I had an extremely frustrating experience at Target today, and thought that your readers deserve to know how the store treats its customers. I’ll start at the beginning.

A month or so ago, I purchased a pair of shoes from Target.com. Unfortunately, when they arrived, I discovered that the supposed size eight was more like 9.5 in this brand (Exhilaration). As soon as I put them on my feet, they slipped off – could not even walk across the room. When I finally made it to Target to return the shoes , I was told by a clerk, whose name is Jay, that my receipt, which I had just printed on my home computer, was not sufficient. She sent me to their store “computer” to print another receipt by logging into my account and accessing the same information I already had in my possession.

I complied with the demand, only to be told midway that I should not continue because I cannot return the shoes anyway. When I asked why, Jay explained that Cherima, the store manager, had deemed the shoes "worn" – their store policy prohibits them from accepting returns on worn items. I stated that I had never worn the shoes because they are about a size and a half too big on me, and told them I would be happy to demonstrate that to them. They were not interested in my demonstrations or in any further statements. Cherima just kept repeating that their "policy prohibits…"

I thought I was a victim of a candid camera prank, but no—they were for real. I asked to speak with Cherima’s boss. She said that he was not there since it was Sunday. The best she could do was give me the phone number of “guest relations”. I asked for a phone – they would not let me use theirs. So, I pulled out my cell and started trying to reach a human. No matter which extension I pressed, I got an automated message. After about four minutes, I gave up.

Cherima repeated their policy … again. Upon hearing it, I lost it and yelled, “I did not wear the shoes, not once!” She told me that she doesn’t think that the situation is “cause” for me to be raising my voice. At this point, I was shaking and on the verge of tears. I told her that I don’t care about the $6.74 that the shoes cost me – I was still there because of the principle. Cherima repeated the policy, showing me some dust around the shoes’ soles. Of course, the smart thing to do would have been to walk over to the shelf where similar shoes are, and show her that all of their soles look like that. But, I didn’t think of that. I asked for the manager’s phone number and left. Instead of calling the manager and listening to the policy one more time, I decided to email Consumerist. I’m attaching a couple of photos of the “worn” shoes.

If you wore those shoes you're the cleanest person in the history of the planet. So at least you have that going for you.

Anyway, these Target employees were being jerks, but don't worry— according to Target.com you can print a postage-paid mailing label and just ship the shoes back to Target.com. So, ultimately, you win. Click here for instructions.

A colleague of mine recently purchased a new Acer desktop for his dad from Circuit City in Lancaster, PA. After the checkout process he noticed a $40 charge from Firedog on his receipt. When he questioned the Circuit City employee about the charge, she replied "Firedog had to fix the computer by updating the bios."

He had seen an advertisement in a local newspaper for a desktop that he felt was a good buy. He knew that his dad was still using an aging desktop and thought this system would be perfect for the kind of tasks his dad uses the computer for. So he drove 30 minutes to pick up the system to give his dad later that evening. When he got to Circuit City, he quickly picked it out proceeded to an employee to purchase system. The first thing out of the sales associates mouth were, "You'll need to upgrade the system if you plan on using it for anything beyond surfing the web.".

A little history about my friend, he is the new systems purchaser for the company we work for. He knows about hardware and software and what they are capable of doing. He is NOT an inexperienced buyer when it comes to computers.

So he turned down the video card upgrade, the hard drive upgrade and memory upgrade that the sales associated recommended he would need. Of course all of these upgrades were services that Firedog could perform for a fee. He told the sales associate, "Look, I know what I'm buying and this is all I need.". After convincing the sales associate of this, they finally started the check out process. So he slides his credit card through and signs for the purchase. The sales associate hands him his receipt and he is on his way to his dad's with his new computer. Until, after a quick scan of the receipt, he notices a $40 charge from Firedog. He turns right around and asks the sales associate what the line item was for. The sales associate replies that Firedog needed to setup Windows Vista and flash the bios for the computer to work.

What?

To which he replies, "So you setup Vista, which was working just fine in order to update the bios?". Yes, says the sales associate. Regardless of the fact that Vista booted up just fine with out the update, he was more disturbed with the fact that Circuit City would sell him a computer that they knew didn't work or so they say. Unfortunately, he was short on time and did not press the issue in the store. Later the next day he sent off an email to the Firedog supervisor for the store explaining his disappointment in the nickel and dime charge.

Back to school shoppers beware!!!

Travis, your friend shouldn't stop with the Firedog supervisor of the store. He should contact Circuit City's executive level and let them know that you specially refused any additional "help" from this Firedog associate, only to have him meddle with your purchase without your consent and then charge you for it. They owe your friend a $40 refund.

From MSN Money:

Part of the issue is in the market itself, with the spread of mass production and wide availability of consumer credit. But consumers are also less knowledgeable, explains Paco Underhill, president and CEO of market research consultancy Envirosell and author of "Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping."

Americans in their 20s and 30s are now at least one generation removed from the era of homemade clothing and hand-crafted wood furniture, Underhill says. "In the 1950s, 90% of homes had sewing machines, which means women knew something about how clothes were put together. They could look at something in the store and tell if was of good construction or crappy construction," he says. "In my office, I don't know anyone who has bought a custom suit. They don't know the difference between off-the-rack and custom."

This reminds me of a post we did awhile back that talked about the buying habits of millionaires. They buy things gently used or they buy high quality new merchandise. They don't waste money on cheap crap. I'm not a millionaire, but you don't need to be in order to shop smart. The MSN Money article offers some tips on which items to buy "cheap" and which ones not to. Here are a few:

* Mattress: SPLURGE. You sit, sleep and God knows what else on this item. Get a good one.

* Men's dress shirt: SKIMP. If your suit is well-tailored and the tie spectacular, the shirt will be an afterthought.

* Chef's knife: SPLURGE. One 8-inch chef's knife is all you need.

It's good advice, but we don't think you should think of it as "splurging." It's not irresponsible or decadent to buy a quality item that you can use for decades at a reasonable price. (Of course, just because a product is expensive doesn't mean it is high quality...) And remember, if an item is high quality, sometimes can buy it used!

Which products do you "invest" in for the long term?

Should you skimp . . . or splurge? [MSNMoney]
(Photo: big-film )

Can you explain to me Target's bulk pricing on their Degree deodorant? As you can see in the attached picture - I could buy one deodorant for $1.82, or a two-pack for $3.89 from my local Target here in Chicago! Am I paying for the plastic they use to keep them together? Neither one is on sale, this is their regular pricing.

This is either Target trying to take advantage of people not paying a lot of attention and fairly assuming that two together will be cheaper than buying two individually, or just bad pricing!

People write us all the time about Target doing this with all sorts of products. We're pretty sure they're banking on you not paying attention.

Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America [Flowing Data](Thanks, synergy!)

My wife-to-be and I had registered at Target for our wedding, knowing that consumers have had a bad experiences returning items off their registry without a receipt. Well, we got ourselves married (yay!) and lo and behold, we had present duplicates, including a set of blenders that lacked a gift receipt.

We went in and exchanged the duplicates that we could, and complained (loudly) about the blender that we couldn't. What we didn't expect was for the rep we were working with to pull us aside and tell us to come back in a few days and we should be able to return it off of the registry.

I went in this morning, and it did! They have re-added the Gift Purchase Log, and you are able to return items off of that without a receipt if you let them scan your ID. The rep I was working with this morning was unaware of the change, but the manager set her straight right away!

Victory for the consumer!

We are pleased to hear that this silly policy has been fixed.

(Photo: crawfishpie )

So the brand name is "Genuine Steakhouse," therefore they are Genuine Steakhouse Steaks. This does not mean anything. They are not "genuine" anything, nor are they coming from a "steakhouse," except for, I guess the slaughterhouse, which is a house where steaks come from. The next sentence, "100% freshness guaranteed or your money back" is also pretty lean on meaning. One would hope that spoiled, past-due meat would not be sold in the first place and I think it's safe to say that, should that meat accidentally get sold, it would certainly be accepted for a refund. Then again, I don't know much about Wal-Mart, so maybe they are always selling rotten meat and not giving you money back for it. Who's to say.

What they have cleverly done here is put a bunch of connotation-rich words near each other, in a construction that prevents the words from having any kind of actual meaning that might make it incumbent upon the company to provide anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Genuine Steakhouse...100% guaranteed...money back. A casual gloss could easily give you the false impression that they are somehow guaranteeing that this meat has a certain level of quality, or comes from a specific steakhouse, or something like that. In fact, they are just announcing the fact that they are putting a trademarked brand name on run-of-the-mill USDA-whatever meat, and then guaranteeing that they won't sell it once it putrefies.

Oh, Richie, this is what happens when you think about Wal-Mart too much. It's bad for your health. Speaking of bad for your health, if you click on over to the SteakHouse Steaks page at Walmart.com, you'll see that concerning the "100% guaranteed fresh" bit..."*Restrictions apply. Please see store for details."

Eek.

Meaningless, You Mean It's All Been Meaningless [I Feel Crazy]
Wal-Mart Steaks

“Humiliating is not the word for it,” Gipson told KHOU news. “I was horrified. I think they singled me out because of the amount of money that it was and (thought) I was trying to get over on them.”

Nothing she did convinced the Wal-Mart manager to drop the charges. Finally, after 48 hours behind bars, the District Attorney's office released her after she provided the purchase receipts. You might think that was the end of Ms. Gipson's ordeal. Nope.

From KHOU:

Gipson said Wal-Mart then added insult to injury when she got a letter in the mail.

“I started to read it and thought, ‘Oh my God.’ They are asking me to pay them when it was clearly their mistake,” said Gipson.

The letter demanded Gipson pay Wal-Mart $200 to settle a shoplifting charge. It is a charge that never existed, though.

KHOU says that they contacted Wal-Mart and were told that the decision to press charges was up to the law enforcement officer at the scene. KHOU also notes that the copy of criminal complaint they obtained shows that the store manager is the one who pressed charges.

TSU student jailed on bogus Wal-Mart forgery charge [KHOU](Thanks, nick!)

"We are looking at different options," Gary Severson, a Wal-Mart senior vice president, told MarketWatch during a store tour with media.

The Consumerist would like to take this opportunity to thank Wal-Mart for ensuring the continuing existence of this site. This is going to be fun!

Wal-Mart eyes expansion in electronics services [MarketWatch]

(Photo: Ryan McFarland )

From the Charleston Daily Mail:

The Milton Middle School student jerked her hand out of the produce box to find a stinger in her finger and a tan, 1-inch-long creature still attached, William said.

The girl turned to her father and said something he at first didn't believe.

"She said a scorpion stung her on the finger," William, 36, said. "I didn't believe her at first, but then I saw it run underneath (the box)."

William said he immediately called his wife, Paula, who is a paramedic, and told her what had happened.

Paula drove to the store, picked up Megan and rushed her to nearby Cabell-Huntington Hospital.

William said before his wife had even arrived, Wal-Mart employees were on the scene and helped scoop up the exotic arachnid so it could be taken to the hospital for identification purposes.

William said he also peeled a sticker off a watermelon showing the shipment was from Mexico, which he hoped could help hospital workers treat his daughter.

The sting was harmless, but it caused a stir at the West Virginia hospital where Megan was treated. No one had ever seen a scorpion sting before. "They had to look it up on the Internet because it is so unusual in the area," Megan's father said. "Everybody came down to look at it." Walmart says they'll be checking that watermelon shipment for more scorpions— just in case.

12-year-old W.Va. girl gets scorpion bite in the produce department [Charleston Daily Mail]
(Photo: babasteve )

Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears are all contesting the FCC's recent fines against them for not properly following analog transition rules in their stores, reports Ars Technica. Last week, Best Buy submitted a 41-page response (PDF) that claimed among other things that the FCC has no authority to fine them.

Best Buy's boldest claim is that the FCC "has not claimed any express authorization from Congress to enact the Labeling Rule, and none exist." In other words, they claim the FCC doesn't have the authority to force retailers to label all analog TVs with warnings that they will need a digital converter after to receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 17th, 2009.

Additionally, the company claims that its violations were accidents and not "willful" as described by the FCC, and that the FCC's report contained errors, such as listing a model that doesn't exist.

"Best Buy: FCC has no power to fine us over analog TVs" [Ars Technica] (Thanks to forgottenpassword!)

RELATED
"Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence"
Best Buy's Response [Ars Technica]
(Photo: Getty Images)

No word yet on whether Target and Kroger (who also offer a $4 drug program) will match Walmart's new offer. Midwest grocery store chain Meijer offers some commonly prescribed antibiotics for free with a prescription.

Wal-Mart offers more low-priced drugs [Reuters]
(Photo: Aaron K Smith )

She writes:

As a long time fan of Target, I am absolutely disappointed about their new "return" policy. I couldn't wait for the day to get married, and with regards to this letter, couldn't wait to open a Target wedding registry of my own! Only to find out Target has become completely untrusting of their customers and treat us as if we're thieves! We sent our wedding guests almost exclusively to our Target registry, which malfunctioned, and now we have duplicate sets of gifts that we cannot return.

When we attempted to return them, and showed how the gift registry malfunctioned, they insisted that it was our guests' responsibility to attach a gift receipt & accepted no fault. Of course, since our guests were purchasing from a wedding registry they trusted, none of the guests attached a receipt. Not to mention it looks pretty tacky to tape on a receipt to an expensive, nicely wrapped gift. So the manager suggested we go back to our guests and ask for a receipt so that we can return their gift. We felt that would be very rude to do to our guests, and just do not feel comfortable disappointing people like that, especially after they spent so much money on a gift they thought we would love. The manager also told us "that's the point of a registry, to get what you want" - Of course! But that doesn't mean we need two croquet sets, two coffee makers or two wine racks! We felt we were being very reasonable, we didn't even want cash back; we would gladly accept store credit.

To top things off, I received a wok in the mail that became damaged during shipment. It came wrapped in target paper, included target shipping paperwork, and all we wanted was to exchange it for a non-damaged wok or receive store credit. They still proceeded to tell us that we needed a gift receipt, and refused to return it for us until we talked to upper management. The whole process took over 30 minutes!

We have received over $1000 in gifts from our Target registry, and if we would have known about this absurd return policy, we would have stayed with Bed Bath & Beyond and Macy's, both of which have no problem with satisfying their registry customers. I do wedding photography for a living and talk with brides on a daily basis, I'm warning everyone to stay clear of Target's wedding registry. I hope Target realizes quick what they are doing to some of their biggest fans.

Target, it's a sad day for you when people feel more welcome at Walmart than your store.

Ex-Customer of Vero Beach Target,
Chrissy

Sadly for Lampert, the most shoppers "discovered" Kmart stores were dirty, understocked, and oddly overpriced.

The latest old idea that Lampert is going to make new again may be the "Sears catalog." The Chicago Tribune seems to think that its an old idea that may actually save Sears:

"If you think about what the Big Book originally tried to do, it was to open up all this stuff to people living in the cabins in the Plains, and that's essentially what they're doing," said e-commerce guru Bill Bass, who ran Sears' online business before Lampert took control of Sears in 2005. Bass currently is co-founder and CEO of Fair Indigo, a fair-trade direct merchant of clothing. "When you think about the power of the Internet, that's what it's really good at."

Brand expert Jonathan Salem Baskin is one who sees the potential. He outlined his self-described radical idea for saving Sears on his blog, envisioning Sears.com as "a gateway to whatever is hot." He suggests Sears host branded boutiques from vendors around the world. Its 3,500-store base could shrink and function as a place Americans can go to pick up or exchange merchandise.

"Talk about a rich heritage," said Baskin, president of Baskin Associates Inc., a Chicago-based brand consulting firm. "Like anything, it would take some commitment. Why couldn't Sears bring the world to me?"

How is Sears doing these days? Are they still having major problem with their repair division? Tell us at tips@consumerist.com, and put "Sears" in the subject. Remember: We love pictures.

Sears: Virtual approach to a vintage retailing idea [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo:I na aina e )

The world's largest retailer said Tuesday in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine its stance.

Deborah's husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. Family lawyer Maurice Graham of St. Louis said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

'It's a good day for the Shank family,' Jim Shank said in a statement.

Wal-Mart has been roundly criticized in newspaper editorials, on cable news shows and by its union foes for its claim to the funds, which it made in a lawsuit upheld by a federal appeals court.

The case put a spotlight on the growing use of reimbursement claims by health plans, experts say.

Roger Baron, professor of law at the University of South Dakota and a specialist in health-plan law, said health plans have become 'very aggressive' about subrogation since the 2006 Supreme Court decision.

'It's free money. They want the free money,' Baron said.

Lynn Dudley, vice president for policy at the American Benefits Council in Washington D.C., said the negative publicity around the case was beginning to draw the attention of lawmakers who might want legislation to stop or limit subrogation.

'Capitol Hill is paying attention,' Dudley said.

Wal-Mart drops injured worker claim [AP]
(Photo:CrawfishPie)

Greetings from Austin, Consumerist. I thought y'all might like to hear tale of a visit to a local Walmart (store 1185, for those keeping track).

The journey started last Thursday evening, March 20 at around 10pm. I noticed I was low on food, deodorant, and a few other essentials that guarantee I'm a pleasant person to be around. Seeing how I've never had a major problem at Walmart, and its the closest grocery store, I decided I would go to Walmart, as usual.

I arrived to find it busy, as always. So I start getting the groceries. I almost get run over by one of those fork-lift-pallet-carrier things by some negligent employee near the yogurt/cheese area. Still, I survive and decide it's not worth griping about.

After getting groceries, I decide to finally get that deodorant. They no longer carry my favorite deodorant. I'm forced to accept a second rate brand (tainted with lead?) that makes me slightly unhappy. NO!

These two minor events aside, I arrive at shortest check out line with its light on. I wait patiently in line as the cashier (the soon to be very evil and rude) Shanda checks out the person in front of me. She turns her light off as she finishes checking this lady out. When I start putting my stuff on the conveyor belt thing, she lashes out at me saying "her light was off the whole time" and that "she would not check me out". Displeased with this result, I calmly remind her of her job responsibilities and I manage to get to check me out, even though "she did not have to check me out, but she would".

About 2 minute later, her supervisor comes up, telling her to pull out. She then relates a story about how "this idiot is forcing me to check him out". Of course, I get somewhat upset at this characterization of myself. At this point, however, the supervisor, tells me that "her cashier was already checking me out, so be quiet, shut-up, and don't come back".

I basically try to approach the supervisor to talk to her after checking out (at her podium-thing) and she runs off socializing with all the other cashiers. I finally get her to stop, but she refuses to reveal her name to me and had her name-tag backwards. Fortunately, a very friendly cashier in another line gave me the supervisor's name, Yvonne.

So there you have it Consumerist, I'm not supposed to ever go back, and if I was to come back, I'm supposed to take their corporate draconianism in the a** and "Shut-up". Thoughts?

David

(Photo:Jeff Holbrook)

"Please don't stick me up," a cashier told the shopper on Feb. 2, according to the Nevada chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Wal-Mart apologized in a letter signed by Rolando Rodriquez, a vice president and regional general manager.

"I can assure you that the associate in question was disciplined in accordance with our employment policies as a result of the situation," Rodriguez said without disclosing details.

Wal-Mart apologizes to Muslim woman mocked for wearing face veil [InFocus]
(Photo:chasingfun)

Moving to upgrade its walk-in medical clinic business, Wal-Mart is set to announce on Thursday plans for several hundred new clinics at its stores, using a standardized format and jointly branded with hospitals and medical groups.
The first of the new Clinic at Wal-Mart walk-in centers, as they will be called, is to open in Little Rock, Ark., in April and be run by nurse practitioners employed by the St. Vincent Health System, a three-hospital group in central Arkansas.

Wal-Mart also says it plans to brand 200 of the new clinics with RediClinics, one of the Revolution Health companies of Steven Case, the AOL co-founder. Those are to be operated in partnership with various local health care providers. RediClinic, which already operates 13 clinics in Wal-Mart stores, plans to open one of the new units in Atlanta in April and another in Dallas next summer.

"We have learned that people are willing to receive their health care from the front of a store or the back of a drugstore," said Dr. John Agwunobi, a medical doctor who is a Wal-Mart senior vice president. "But customers also have said they would rather it be delivered by a trusted name, a local health care practice, a trusted local provider of care."

Would you use a Walmart clinic?

Wal-Mart Will Expand In-Store Medical Clinics [NYT]
(Photo:Mark Schiefelbein for The New York Times)

Peter Hafer is currently in jail, accused of rappelling into a Kentucky Kmart after closing in order to steal jewelry. Mr. Hafer requested a new public defender be assigned to his case, when the request was denied, he "snapped" and punched his attorney in the jaw.

"I just hit him," Hafer told WLEX, "I mean, pretty much... yeah. I just knocked him out. I kinda just went into rage and... you know what I'm saying? I really didn't realize what I was doing until like, you know... I was on the ground when they grabbed me. "

When asked about the rappelling incident, Hafer had this to say:

"Them are just accusations. They don't got no physical evidence whatsoever, just some guy, got caught up accusing me of being in there, and they don't have nothing else."

Any attorneys looking for some pro bono work in Kentucky?

Defendant slugs lawyer [CNN]

Now it's looking more and more like both Sears and Kmart are doomed. Customers are "staying away from Sears stores in droves," says the New York Times. The stores themselves, rather than serving as a marriage between great brands and good prices, are (to be perfectly frank), ugly overpriced sh*tholes.

From the NYT:

The Sears Essentials strategy, now called Sears Grand, offers a case in point. This was a plan by Mr. Lampert to compete with the new breed of smaller strip shopping centers, anchored by stores like Best Buy, Home Depot and Target. Sears stores, found mostly in enclosed malls, were losing prized customers to the smaller centers. But by converting Kmart stores, which were near the smaller centers, into Sears Essentials, the company hoped to lure shoppers back to buy Kenmore washers, Craftsman tools and Diehard car batteries.

"I have always believed that Kmart customers had the inclination to buy more valuable products at Kmart if presented with the right value offerings," Mr. Lampert wrote in a letter to shareholders in late 2005.

But Sears Essentials flopped. It was not because Kmart shoppers rejected Sears products, but because the experiment seemed to consist only of tossing Kenmore stoves and Craftsman hammers into an old Kmart store, rather than creating a vibrant new shopping experience.

The former Kmart in Parsippany, N.J., is typical. Three years ago, it was converted into a Sears Essentials store. By all accounts, the store could have been a success; it sits in a bustling suburban shopping center, surrounded by popular retailers like a ShopRite grocery store and a Bed Bath and Beyond.

But beyond introducing new brands, Sears invested little money in the store. In November, a visitor found mismatched floor tiles in the lobby, Reagan-era beige shelves in the food aisles and a ragged brown carpet in the clothing department.

Near a customer service desk, a broken pipe dripped water from the ceiling into a garbage pail. Workers said the pail, intended as a quick fix, had been in place for two weeks while they awaited repairs. They also said business in the store was terrible.

Burt Flickinger, a longtime retail consultant, said: "Eddie has cut costs and raised prices for two years. But shoppers are not stupid. They figure it out and shop someplace else."

A Sears spokesman disputed that the stores were down at the heels but acknowledged that the company must work to "improve the customer experience." He said the company has improved the profitability of the Sears Grand stores and still considers the original concept valid.

The NYT doesn't mention other causes for concern besides slumping sales. For example, Sears' recent privacy dust-ups suggest that they're not especially concerned with protecting their customer's personal information—a mistake that can come with a costly lesson. Just ask TJX. And then there's the repair devision, about which Consumerist receives endless complaints and no resolutions.

As one analyst mentioned in the Times article put it: "We just can't avoid the cliché 'rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic' when considering the proposed new operating structure for Sears."

Saving Sears Doesn't Look Easy Anymore [NYT] (Thanks, Craig!)
(Photo:Allan Ferguson)
(Photo:Getty)

"Defendants' infringing dresses are 'wrap' dresses made of materials designed to look like silk jersey, a style consumers and the general public have come to associate with DVF," the complaint said.

Target stopped selling the dresses on its Web site on January 23 after the designer sent it a notice about it, according to the complaint, but the dresses are still available in Target stores.

Designer Von Furstenberg sues Target over dress [a wire service]

I typically prefer to make jokes at Wal-Mart's expense. Target, however, is forcing me to make a joke with Target as the punchline. Every time I go into the store, I have to stand and gawk at the point of purchase Red Bull display. A 4-pack is $5.89 and the 12-pack is $19.99. Seems to me that you could just get three 4-packs for $17.67 and save yourself a cool two dollars. Also, this is Target's standard pricing for these items as I check every time I go in Target to see if they have wised up. Also, it saddens me to say that I have seen customers purchase the 12-packs. So maybe Target has it figured out after all?

Grey

From the WSJ:

Chief Executive Philip J. Schoonover said, "Our sales performance, while disappointing, was in line with our expectations. The company saw significantly improved performance over the last two weeks of the month, but the sales improvement was not enough to offset the weakness experienced at the beginning of the month."

We'll get you started with, "Where the hell do you pay?" Every time we're in a Circuit City there is no one stationed even remotely close to anything that resembles a register. If you do manage to spot someone who is employed by the store, he's usually c*ck-deep in boxes behind some sort of counter, trying not to cry. If there is something that appears to be a check out aisle, it's roped off like a museum exhibit. "Gather round, kids. This is what people used to use to execute retail transactions, back in the early 21st century."

Actually buying something is a 12-step process that involves little public library catalog kiosks that are randomly placed all over the store. Finding someone to able and willing to help you purchase your item is like finding a 1UP in Super Mario Bros., except instead of a free life, you get a sales pitch for an extended warranty. And you're just buying AA batteries.

Your turn.

Circuit City Sales Fell in December [WSJ]
(Photo:cmorran123)

So what has turned the tide for Wal-Mart?

Johnson traced it back to strategy changes that the retailer made in January.

Wal-Mart hired a new advertising firm, Martin Agency, ranked by Advertising Age as one of the top five agencies of the year in 2006. In the same month, the company named Stephen Quinn as chief marketing officer.

Said Johnson, "Quinn used to be CMO at Frito-Lay. Industry insiders say he has a very strong marketing mind."

Wal-Mart strengthened its branded electronics offerings by introducing Dell computers to its stores in June. In September, Wal-Mart discarded its staid "Always Low Prices" slogan for a new tagline - "Save Money. Live Better" - in time for the holidays.

"If you make a promise like that, you have to deliver it in your store," Johnson said.

Industry experts said Wal-Mart backed up that theme by being the first to aggressively slash prices on thousands of toys in late October followed by a round of early discounts in November on some of the year's hottest electronics.

Target chose not indulge in an early price war with Wal-Mart.

Analysts said Wal-Mart appears to have outperformed Target on grocery purchases as well, which account for a big chunk of both retailers sales.

"There's a real sense of urgency at Wal-Mart. The stores had that festive feel and look in early November," Johnson said. "In some Target stores I visited, the level of service varied from indifference to non-existent."

"This holiday season Wal-Mart really outmaneuvered Target in service," Buxbaum said.

"As a merchandiser, you can't ignore the customer experience. The level of helpfulness in Target stores is approaching Home Depot territory," Johnson said.

How Wal-Mart stole Christmas [CNNMoney]
(Photo:meghannmarco)

There was no mention of Mark "Anybody Wanna Buy A Subprime Lender?" Ernst, of H&R Block. Or JetBlue's David "Mortified" Neeleman, a nice guy who apologized himself right out of a job.

Angelo "You Can Afford It" Mozilo of Countrywide was scoffed at a bit, as was Kerry "KerKil" Killinger of WaMu. Mesa Airlines "Jonathan Ornstein received the most write-in votes by employees, investors and employees of competitors." Impressive.

And no, Phil "Pink Slip" Schoonover of Circuit City didn't win either, even after firing the last 6 people at Circuit City who knew anything about televisions.

It was Chairman Eddie Lampert of Sears Holdings, because he apparently has absolutely no idea how to run a bunch of stores:

Lampert's mantra has been profits over sales, which makes sense if it works. As recently as March, in his shareholder letter, he suggested better times were imminent when he said, "We believe we have stabilized Kmart's Ebitda and are now in a position to grow from that base." But retailers, especially those trying to improve themselves, require considerable capital infusions to drive sales.

So far, for all of Sears, including Kmart, the strategy has failed miserably. Not only have same-store sales (which Lampert says are "overrated" as a metric) gone deeper into the red, but gross margins, Ebitda and operating income for Kmart are also going in the wrong direction.

Worst CEO award goes to Sears' Lampert [Marketwatch]

Bad news for toy retailers like Toys R Us and electronics retailers like Circuit City, but good news for Walmart:

Wal-Mart plans to keep a steadier flow of customer traffic this year by planning out an early discounting season rather than waiting until mid-December to clear out slow-moving merchandise. Consumers' acceptance of Wal-Mart's flat-screen TVs and other expensive gizmos is a stark contrast to their rejection of its higher-end clothing. No one wants to say they buy their clothes at Wal-Mart, but anyone will get a Sony there.

"That's why Circuit City and Radio Shack are closing so many stores," [Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a New York-based retail consultancy], says.

Toy Scare Could Help Wal-Mart [Forbes]
(Photo:bea&tsm)

I wanted to let you know that Costco customer service is awesome. Last Sunday, My family went to Costco to shop. I saw they had a good deal on a chair mat. Right before we checked out, I went back to get it. As we were headed to the exit, my wife figures out they overcharged her for something. So (with help from a CSR) we split up so I could load the car. Well, I put the chair mat somewhere and forgot about it. (probably against the car) I realized it later that night that I had forgotten it, and had written it off. Today, I went to Costco to get a prescription filled and I thought I would ask about it. Apparently an employee found it, logged it, and put it back on the shelf. The CSR told me to get another one off the shelf and gave me a note to get through the cashiers with it. The cashier then radioed to the receipt checkers, so I didn't even have to wait in the exit line!

(Photo:Rick Takagi)