Consumerist
refunds
Posts Tagged “
Christmas
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refunds
above and beyond
Tiffany's Dazzling Customer Service More Than Makes Up For Shipping Snafu
Ritzy Fifth Avenue jeweler Tiffany & Co. failed to ship Chris' grandfather a bracelet for his wife in time for Christmas. We expect a certain level of service from high-end stores, but Tiffany's extravagant amends caught us by surprise. More »
above and beyond
Pottery Barn Saved Christmas With Good Customer Service
Pottery Barn rescued Reginald's Christmas gift from the clutches of incompetent delivery people who forgot to hand over all the pieces to his Lawyer's Bar & Hutch. Reginald was fuming, ready to tell Pottery Barn that he would never shop with them again—but then he spoke to Jim. More »
surprise activism
Shopdropped iPods Implore Buyers: "Reclaim Your Mind From The Media Shackles"
Joe Ellis arranged for Santa to deliver an iPod to his daughter for Christmas. Santa instead left an anti-capitalist rant. The iPod purchased from a Maryland Walmart contained a note written in ransom-letter caps reading:RECLAIM YOUR MIND FROM THE MEDIA SHACKLES. READ A BOOK AND RESURRECT YOURSELF.More »
quality control
Christmas Cracker Contains Dead Mouse
See, this is why we don't pull apart "crackers" on Christmas in the U.S.—a New Zealand woman found a dead, partially decomposed mouse in hers earlier this week during her family's Christmas celebration. "I had said to my granddaughter 'what's the smell' and we couldn't work it out until we pulled the cracker." Then: Merry Christmas! There's a dead mouse in yer lap! "It ruined my appetite for the rest of the day," she told her local paper. More »
whoops porn
Walmart: Santa Brings A MP3 Player Full Of Porn To A 10-Year-Old Girl
Daryl Hill of Cookeville, TN purchased an MP3 player from Walmart for his 10-year-old daughter. He handed the player over to his daughter thinking it was new, when in fact the previous owner had filled the player with pornography. More »
glitches
Wal-Mart Gift Card Servers Malfunctioning Day After Christmas
John wrote in yesterday to tell us, "I just got back from Wal-Mart trying to buy stuff with my gift cards, but the employees told me that they gift card servers were down across the country. I waited for about 15 minutes as cashiers and managers tried to get my gift card to go through and nothing occurred." More »
clearance
Retail: Can The Day After Christmas Save Christmas?
It's official now, Christmas was "lackluster" for retailers, despite the predicted "last minute" serge of shopping activity. From USAToday:The International Council of Shopping Centers said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year during the November-December period, appear to be coming in just below meager projections, though it said post-Christmas buying could help restore the shortfall.More »
As part of a 3-month fire-safety campaign, the Chinese city of Zhuhai has banned all Christmas trees and related flammable decorations from all stores, malls, restaurants, and other public spaces: "Those that fail to rectify the situation will be subject to legal measures like suspension or closure." [Reuters]
walmart
Woman Asked To Leave After Shopping At Walmart For 72 Hours
Police escorted a woman home after she was shopping, eating, and sleeping in a Georgia Walmart for three days straight. She blended in with the general Christmas madness and sustained herself by eating at the on-site Blimpie. When asked by employees at the end why she stayed for so long, she said, "I'm shopping."
Woman Stays At Gwinnett Wal-Mart For Three Days [WSBTV2 via BoingBoing]
retail
Stores Beg Shoppers To Come Visit This Weekend
Spooked by the (apparently mythological) low numbers of shoppers this season, several retail chains are pulling out the stops in an attempt to lure consumers in over the next 72 hours, reports Reuters. Seven New York-area Macy's stores are now open non-stop until 6pm Monday. Kmart is holding a "64-hour sale" that begins tomorrow morning and lasts until 10pm Monday (we're not sure if the stores are staying open around the clock, however). JC Penney is advertising special sales tonight and tomorrow morning. More »
tips
Vacuum Kills Fleas As Effectively As Poison, Say Researchers
If you end up with a bad case of Christmas Fleas next week—hey, we're not judging—save yourself the expense of buying flea poison. "Vacuum cleaners kill fleas just as well as any poison, surprised U.S. researchers said," noting that a "standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas." Of course, you won't be able to train them after that, but it's your decision. More »
24% of consumers say they won't finish shopping until December 23rd. [Consumer Reports]
signs
The War on Christmas has taken a sneaky left turn, with Coke and Wal-Mart mounting an entirely unanticipated attack on one of the world's most beloved phrases! A reader, Josh, was shopping and/or protesting in his local Wal-Mart recently when he saw this in-store display for soda.
More »
"Hoh Hoh" Says Wal-Mart
The War on Christmas has taken a sneaky left turn, with Coke and Wal-Mart mounting an entirely unanticipated attack on one of the world's most beloved phrases! A reader, Josh, was shopping and/or protesting in his local Wal-Mart recently when he saw this in-store display for soda.
More »
christmas
Dirty Elf Shuts Down Canada's "Write to Santa" Program
You may want to write your own letter from Santa to the kids this year. Canada Post has temporarily shut down their popular "Write to Santa" program, which delivers over a million letters to kids in Canada and elsewhere, while they track down the volunteer who's been sending out obscene letters to kids. More »
christmas
Some Gift Cards Sorta Friendlier, Thanks To FTC
Gift cards have fewer hidden fees and expiration dates this holiday season, thanks to FTC action, reports the Washington Post. A survey by the Montgomery County's Office of Consumer Protection found that about 80% of the 22 retail examined had no fees or expiration dates, could be replaced if lost or stolen and had scratch-off PINS for security.
The same cannot be said, however, of the gift cards issued by banks, like those VISA-backed gift cards...
More »
complaints
Buy.com Doesn't Care If You Want To Cancel An Order
Mr. Grover:More »I have spent the better part of today going through the horribly difficult process of trying to cancel an order with Buy.com and receive confirmation that the money paid, and already taken from my bank account, be returned in as timely a fashion as it was charged to me. I have never had such a difficult time dealing with a company.
