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department-stores
department-stores
Macy's Actually Has No Idea What Your Credit Card Number Is
By Laura Northrup on May 14, 2012 8:00 AM
43 Comments
From what we're hearing at Consumerist HQ, it's easy to picture what goes on at Macy's credit card headquarters. When a check arrives, someone throws it in the air, and then it's applied to whatever completely random bill it lands on. That might help explain what happened to Joe, or not. He doesn't even know what his account number is supposed to be in the first place, and no one in the credit card department does, either. More »
(dougtone)
After Last Department Store Leaves, Town Decides To Start Its Own
By Ben Popken on November 14, 2011 12:00 PM
116 Comments
After the last department store in town went bankrupt in 2002, the townsfolk of Saranac Lake, NY, faced the daunting prospect of having to drive 50 miles away just to purchase underwear. Rather than give up or give into complaining, they pulled themselves up by their mud boots and decided to build their own store, and it just opened. More »
JCPenney Removes "Too Pretty To Do Homework" Sweatshirt
By Ben Popken on August 31, 2011 1:25 PM
67 Comments
After a jcpenney sweatshirt that said, "I'm too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me," caused an uproar among bloggers, the retailer has removed the garment from their website and issued an apology. More »
JCPenney Sweatshirt Says "I'm Too Pretty To Do Homework"
By Ben Popken on August 31, 2011 11:00 AM
116 Comments
JCPenney is selling this hot pile of a sweatshirt that says, "I'm too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me." UPDATE: The shirt has now been removed from their website. More »
Dillard's Fired Guy For Eating Two Hotdogs
By Ben Popken on July 11, 2011 1:00 PM
129 Comments
A court has ruled that a Dillard's department store that fired a dock worker after he ate two leftover hotdogs from a company picnic was unjustified in doing so and must pay him unemployment benefits, the Evansville Courier & Press reports. More »
Jehovah's Witness's Suit Over Being Fired For Refusing To Wear Santa Hat Reaches $55,000 Settlement
By Ben Popken on April 1, 2011 11:00 AM
220 Comments
A woman who says the Belk department store fired her after she refused to wear a Santa hat during Christmas has won a in a $55,000 suit against the company, reports the News & Observer. The worker was a Jehovah's Witness, and said her religious beliefs prevented her from wearing such a cap. However, she had no problem with fulfilling her job, which was to wrap presents. For Belk to have won, they would have had to have proved that letting her not wear the cap would cause them "undue hardship." Apparently, they were not able to meet this requirement. More »
(Marike79)
Producers Plan Movie About Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
By Phil Villarreal on March 10, 2011 11:15 AM
31 Comments
Ever watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and think "Wow, this needs to be a movie?" No? Well, that's because you're not a Hollywood producer with the vision to find cinematic potential in giant Snoopy floats, shivering crowds and inane, scripted banter between bleary-eyed hosts. More »
Is This A Macy's Ad, Or A Math Test?
By Laura Northrup on February 24, 2011 8:00 AM
46 Comments
We love to make fun of the asterisk-riddled coupons available at Macy*s, but reader JB sent in an ad that takes confusing sales to an entirely new level. More »
JCPenney Accused Of Manipulating Google Searches
By Phil Villarreal on February 14, 2011 9:15 AM
32 Comments
It's a constant battle for retailers to draw attention to themselves online, and JCPenney has been winning the fight due to some blatant search engine manipulation. More »
(camknows)
Macy's Won't Let Us Use Coupon
By Phil Villarreal on December 21, 2010 2:30 PM
95 Comments
An anonymous reader said she and her sister weren't able to use a Macy's coupon they found in a newspaper. The women stood their ground until the check-out clerk cut them a comparable deal. More »
JCPenney Switching To Priceless Catalogs
By Chris Walters on September 28, 2010 9:00 AM
61 Comments
When JCPenney killed off its traditional Big Book catalog last year, the result was a drop in sales on its website, says the retailer's chairman. Based on that successful strategy—wait, what?—JCPenney says it's killing off its remaining 12 specialty catalogs as well. Instead, it will start mailing out thinner "look books," which will contain a subset of merchandise and no prices. More »
(Christopher)
Christmas Comes Early To JC Penney
By Phil Villarreal on September 27, 2010 10:15 AM
31 Comments
You know it's too early for Christmas decorations when even the people who are paid to be prematurely cheery admit it's way too early to get geeked up for the holiday. More »
Man Convinces JCPenney To Honor Online Price
By Chris Walters on August 16, 2010 9:00 AM
30 Comments
Gerry and his wife tried to buy a pair of sneakers that the JCPenney website had listed on sale. While other products were marked "online only," this particular pair of sneakers was marked "also in stores," so the couple assumed that the price would be the same. Naturally, the store's employees refused to see the logic of this argument. More »
Shrink Ray Hits JCPenney Clothing Now, Too?
By Chris Walters on July 19, 2010 12:30 PM
54 Comments
Kyle just wrote to us that the 36" sleeve on a Large Tall sweatshirt from JCPenney has been reduced to 35". It's not just a manufacturing accident, because the new length is printed in the retailer's sizing charts. But Kyle says for years he's had no problem with JCPenney shirts, and that this all started happening within the past year or so. More »
Macy's Caught Selling Leaded Glass Rubies As Real Rubies
By Chris Walters on July 14, 2010 11:31 AM
51 Comments
In 2004, a "ruby-glass composite"—basically a mixture of ruby and leaded glass—hit the jewelry market. At the time, a jewelry industry watchdog group "concluded that the stones could not be sold as rubies or precious gems under Federal Trade Commission guidelines, since they lacked the durability and value of bona fide rubies." But Macy's has been selling them as good old-fashioned rubies, and its salespeople have been neglecting to tell shoppers the truth at the moment they purchase the pieces, writes David V. Johnson of the SF Public Press. More »
Walmart Admits "We're Not a Dept. Store," When It Comes To Fashion
By Chris Morran on June 11, 2010 1:45 PM
85 Comments
While Walmart may currently be the most popular shopping destination in the country, it still hasn't shaken the stigma among many clothing customers of being a place you go for cheap sweats, underwear and tee shirts. And after years of trying to remove that taint, the retail behemoth has thrown up its hands and admitted defeat. More »
86-Year-Old Receives Surprise $19k Bill From Macy's
By Chris Walters on June 7, 2010 3:18 PM
57 Comments
Lorene Pounds is 86 years old and says she hasn't shopped at Macy's in years. That's partly why she was surprised when Macy's called her up and told her she was delinquent on her credit card account. The other reason she was surprised was they said she owed $19,791. More »
(morsteen)
Kohl's Replaced The Shoelaces My Daughter Snipped
By Phil Villarreal on May 11, 2010 10:00 AM
32 Comments
Many things can happen when you give your kids scissors, none of them good. Greg learned the lesson when his daughter severed the special, glittery laces on her new shoes. Being a good dad, he headed to Kohl's hoping to buy replacements, which the store doesn't sell. Luckily an employee grabbed a display shoe, pulled out the lace and sent Greg on his way to his relieved daughter. More »
Shopper Successfully Haggles Macy's Clerk
By Chris Walters on April 14, 2010 9:11 AM
54 Comments
You never know when an opportunity to haggle might present itself when you're out shopping, as our reader Marty demonstrates. He was able to get a 10% discount on a blazer at Macy's just by asking the clerk at the register. More »
Prison Inmate Charged With Running Major Department Store Credit Card Scam
By Chris Walters on April 5, 2010 1:11 PM
4 Comments
Seven Ohio men between the ages of 27 and 50 were arrested last week and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, after an investigation found evidence that they were gaining access to strangers' store-issued credit cards to buy and resale merchandise. The group's leader, who was also charged, is a 33-year-old inmate at Fort Dix, NJ. Investigators think he initially met one of the Ohio men in prison. More »
