Consumerist
-
walmart
Walmart To Pay $7,000 OSHA Fine In Worker Death
Earlier this month, Walmart avoided criminal charges in the trampling death of a worker at a Long Island store last November by setting up a $400,000 victims' compensation fund and giving $1.5 million to local non-profits and social service programs. But that settlement didn't stop an ongoing investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Now, the government agency has announced the results of its probe, declaring that workers were put at risk "due to the store's failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles." The company will be fined the maximum penalty allowed: $7,000. Walmart has 15 days to appeal or pay up. More » -
blackest friday
Settlement In Shopper Stampede Case; Wal-Mart Avoids Criminal Charges
Wal-Mart will not face criminal charges in the death of temporary holiday worker Jdimytai Damour at its Valley Stream, NY store. Damour was posted at the front of the store when the out-of-control early morning crowd broke the door down, and he was trampled to death. More » -
sears
Customer Sues Sears Over Bogus Black Friday Deal... And Wins
Once upon a time, way back in November, a St. Louis MBA student named Cheri was the one of the first inside her local Sears store on Black Friday morning. She rushed to get the best deal they were offering — a washer and dryer for $599. To her dismay, she found out that the heavily advertised deal was not available — customers were being asked to pay now and get the washer and dryer in 30 days. Even with this disappointment, the deal was too good to pass up, so she agreed. Months later there was no sign of her washer and dryer, so she took Sears to court. And won. More » -
office depot
Office Depot Comes Through With Stellar Customer Service, But Then Doesn't Deliver On Promise
Jake couldn't place an order for an Xbox 360 deal on Black Friday—yes, we're talking about a failed transaction from two and half months ago—but he got surprisingly helpful customer service from Office Depot. Margaret at the Office of the Chairman even gave him her personal number and promised him a raincheck of sorts in the form of a gift card for a future purchase. Her offer sounded almost too good to be true, and maybe it was, because as of February he still hasn't seen a gift card. And Margaret won't return his voicemail messages, not even to say the deal is off. Update: Office Depot saw this post, and they contacted Jake. More » -
blackest friday
Shoppers Cracked Jokes As Trampled Walmart Worker Died
The Seattle Times has a disturbing story the describes the scene at the Valley Stream, NY Walmart, where worker Jdimytai Damour died of asphyxiation. Shoppers were apparently cracking jokes and making fun of him as paramedics struggled to save his life. More » -
walmart
Jdimytai Damour, RIP
Artist Jeremy Scheuch made this digital image of Jdimytai Damour, the Walmart worker who was trampled to death by a crowd of Black Friday shoppers after they broke down the front doors and stormed in.
"Art is subjective, but I didn't mean to cause offense in any way," said Jeremy. "People were shopping at the Wal-mart the next day as if nothing had happened. I was appalled at the events that happened and this was my reaction."
Black Friday [jeremyscheuch]
-
blackest friday
Shoppers Suing Police Over Deadly Walmart Stampede
Who is to blame when shoppers attack en masse? The store? The individual shoppers? The police? Two shoppers who say they were injured during the deadly Walmart Black Friday stampede in New York are suing the local police — claiming that they didn't do enough to calm down the crowd minutes before the mob surged through the doors killing one employee. More » -
black friday
Black Friday Sugar Rush Won't Last For Retailers
While Black Friday revenues were up from last year, retailers are just getting a quick high. The crash starts tomorrow. More » -
-
black friday
2 Dead In Toys 'R Us Black Friday Shooting
The floors of a Palm Desert, CA Toys R' Us ran red on Black Friday after two gunslinging representatives from "two groups of individuals that have a dispute with each other" opened fire. [AP] (Thanks to Tim!) -
tragic
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled To Death As Mob Tears Doors Off Hinges
The New York Times is reporting that a temporary employee of a suburban New York Walmart was trampled to death when a throng of shoppers tore down the front doors of the store and surged inside. More » -
black friday
Charts: Mac Black Friday, MacMall Or BestBuy?
There's some nice discounts this Black Friday on the usually deal-proof Macs, but who's got the better price? MacMall, or BestBuy? Going through the full discount list is a pain, so MacRumors has put together a handy comparison chart of the prices on the current models for you. The biggest difference is in the MacBook pros, which MacMall has at $200 off vs BestBuy's $100.
Black Friday Discounts on Macs Have Begun [MacRumors] (Thanks to David!)
-
If you're a Black Friday newbie, you might want to check out this shopping guide from Consumer Reports. It has links to the best Black Friday information sites, as well as tips for grabbing the best deals. [Consumer Reports]
MORE » -
black friday bingo
Play Black Friday Bingo
Here's your official Consumerist Black Friday Bingo Card, inspired by "28 Bad Things That Will Happen On Black Friday." I added a few of my own as well. Full-size inside. I made it using the free bingo card maker at teach-nology.com. -
black friday
28 Bad Things That Will Happen On Black Friday
A Fry's electronic worker has posted his predictions for 28 bad things that happen inside stores this Black Friday. There's things on there like registers being down, full-on face-punching between customers, and customers and employees getting away with shoplifting. It's not just for Fry's, I imagine these things will be happening in stores across America, assuming people have any money left to go Black Friday shopping this year. Maybe you can make the 28 things inside into a Bingo Card and play against your friends... More » -
black friday
Price-Check Your Black Friday "Deals"
I'm really interested to see what happens with "Black Friday," the hectic shopping day after Thanksgiving where retailers traditionally mark down their products for Christmas deal-seekers, this year. As the shark has been so thoroughly jumped on this shopping spree, the deals have gotten worse and the retail trickery more tricky, so can a consumer still make out? More » -
black friday
Black Friday Is Getting Silly: Best Buy To Hold Essay Contest
Retailers are scared this year, what with the whole economy coming crashing down around their ears and all, and the Black Friday marketing frenzy should be crazier than ever this year. Best Buy is even holding an essay contest. The topic? Why Black Friday shopping is an "important family ritual." Yes, seriously. More » -
black friday
"Black Friday" Starting At Halloween This Year
"Black Friday" is traditionally known as the day after Thanksgiving where retailers drastically cut their prices and offered crazy door prizes to pack the Christmas shoppers in, but this year, it's going to be earlier than ever before. Dealnews reports that now it's no longer just a day, it's a season, and it's starting at Halloween. Dealnews expects Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon to start offering Black Friday-esque sales early on gadgets like LCD TVs, Blu-ray players, and GPS devices. This is officially the creepiest of all Christmas Creeps.
A Black Friday like no other: How the economy is changing Black Friday [Dealnews]
-
economy
Guess What Kids? You Ain't Getting $@%* For Christmas
A new Reuters polls says that shoppers will be cutting back on gift-buying this holiday season due to, you know, being broke. The poll found that there are six times as many shoppers planning to cut back than there are consumers who are planning to spend more than last year. The pollster in charge called these results "staggeringly bad." More »
black friday
New York, 5:00 AM
Sun Nov 8
7 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@consumerist.com
Co-Executive Editor:
Ben Popken
Email | AIM | Twitter
Co-Executive Editor:
Meghann Marco
Email | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Chris Walters
Email | Twitter
Weekend Editor:
Carey Greenberg-Berger
Email | AIM
Associate Editor:
Alex Chasick | Email
Assistant Editor:
Laura Northrup
Email | AIM | Twitter
Comments Moderator:
Email | AIM
Contributing Editors:
Lucy Bayly | Email
Phil Villarreal | Email
