Just because something is on sale, even a sale only available to holders of a store’s discount card, that doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. Want a real-life example? Here, the sale price of a container of cat litter is higher than the sale price of a container that’s actually larger. Fuzzy math, or subtle bias against customers who aren’t able to carry a 31-pound box? [More]
Can You Pass Papa John's Math Test?
By September 7, 2011
When David went to the Papa John’s website to order up a pizza, three deals greeted him. This wasn’t a pizza-purchasing experience; it was a math test. Can you spot the best deal? [More]
Get Your Free Xbox 360 From Dell For Only $100
By August 18, 2011
It was probably a glitch and not a nefarious plot on Dell’s part, but Chris found it odd when he tried to take advantage of Microsoft’s back-to-school promo where a free Xbox comes with certain Windows laptops. Dell’s site kept showing that adding on the free Xbox promo made his total $100 higher than with just the computer. Huh? [More]
This LivingSocial Deal Comes With A Free Math Test
By May 25, 2011
Mark sent along this deal that came up on group deal site LivingSocial for his area. You can get two tickets to a Camden, NJ Riversharks game for $10, or four for $26. While $26 is the normal price for two tickets, this makes sense. But it still doesn’t make very much sense. At least no one went for that deal, though, right? [More]
Target Redefines "Price Cut" To Mean "Add 37 Cents To That Price"
By May 24, 2011
Math is hard, right? Plus, minus, add, subtract… argh! So maybe we’ll have to forgive Target for their confusing advertising when it comes to a “price cut” on deoderant. [More]
Office Max Proudly Advertises Their Fuzzy Pricing Math
By May 1, 2011
This fuzzy math that Laurie found at Office Max seems like your everyday pricing error– a stupid sign posted by bored and underpaid worker who doesn’t bother to question authority. But look deeper. That sign says “As advertised.” That means that Office Max put out a circular or other advertisement bragging that they’re selling correction tape for one cent more than they normally do. Grab your coat, honey! We can’t possibly miss this once-in-a-lifetime sale! [More]
The Easter Bunny Has Very Poor Math Skills
By April 26, 2011
Is it an Easter miracle, or just fuzzy math? Reader Elgog sent in this photo of a chocolate bunny, wondering, “Apparently ¼ of the bunny equals about 5 servings. Does this make it a diet chocolate bunny?” No. If there are five servings, each of which consists of one-quarter of the bunny, that means that the fifth person is on a diet. Obviously. [More]
The Children's Place: Where 3 for $20 Equals $20.97
By February 17, 2011
After Mario bought some shirts at The Children’s Place shortly before Christmas, he discovered that the “sale” the store was running on the items he bought was a bad deal. Using an amazing trick of fuzzy math, the store actually increased the price of the items that Mario bought by putting them on sale. Wait, what? [More]
Billshrink Helpfully Suggests How I Can Spend More Money
By February 15, 2011
Billshrink is an incredibly helpful service that lets you know when you could be spending less on a service that you use. But when things go wrong, it’s a little silly and not helpful at all. Ben reports that he keeps receiving these notices about how he could spend more money on his Verizon Wireless bill. [More]
AT&T: Where Seven Months Equals Two Years
By January 27, 2011
AT&T is a powerful company, but we didn’t know that they were powerful enough to interfere with the passage of time. Yet they are! They used their magic to take Mark’s seven-month-old DSL modem, and transform it into a 2-year-old DSL modem. [More]
How I Stopped Verizon From Swallowing My $100 Rebate
By December 30, 2010
The Verizon computer nearly tricked Joshua out of a $100 rebate with some mathematical Three-Card Monte, but he made like a human calculator and stood firm, arguing his way into getting the fair price. [More]
Let's Hope Energy Drinks Improve Your Math Skills
By December 15, 2010
Frank spotted this sign at his local Stop & Shop. “And to think, one of the reasons we moved to this town was for its highly touted education system,” he laments. Maybe the employees of this convenience store are from the next town over. [More]
When Sears Says It Has 'A Number Of Options Available,' It Means That Number Is 2
By October 22, 2010
Sick of being bombarded by Sears’ rewards program spam, David went to opt out of the program. He was presented with this plethora of options of how to reduce his email load without cutting it off entirely. [More]
When Target's '2-Day Shipping' Really Means 5 or 6 Days
By October 20, 2010
Shipping estimates for many online sellers come from realms in which the customary rules of math do not apply. Not only do ends of business days and weekends tack on time to shipping estimates, but additional bonus days tend to pop in as well. [More]
How Have You Fared At McNopoly?
By October 11, 2010
For strictly journalistic purposes not having anything whatsoever to do with me being a sucker for silly, addictive promotions, I visited McDonald’s four times over the past week to collect Monopoly game pieces. Emboldened by the ubiquitous ads that say one in four game pieces are winners, I racked up 40 chances to become a millionaire, or at least a Redbox free rentailaire. But all I have to show for my endeavors are five pounds gained and a free medium fry. [More]
Best Buy: Our Website Is Always Correct, You Must Be Wrong
By September 23, 2010
When you find a discrepancy between the information on a retailer’s website and the information a product’s manufacturer prints on the package, who should you believe? Brie tells Consumerist that when she found such a discrepancy, Best Buy employees insisted that their site couldn’t possibly be wrong. The product packaging, they insisted, must be misprinted. Well, no. [More]
Parking Garage Math: Where Two Minutes Equals One Hour
By September 17, 2010
Where do two minutes equal an hour? A parking garage, of course. Everyone knows this, but what about when another customer delays you and pushes you past the one-hour mark? Nathan tells Consumerist that while the customer ahead of him in line argued with the garage attendant, his own time in the garage passed one hour, and the attendant insisted that Nathan pay for the full two hours. [More]
Amazon Needs Math Lessons
By August 26, 2010
Brian shopped for a webcam on Amazon and faced this confounding pre-checkout screen. [More]
