Here's their official statement:

"Based on market conditions and the completion of our initial due diligence process, we have determined that it is not in the best interest of Blockbuster's shareholders to proceed with an acquisition of Circuit City," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO. "We continue to believe in the strategic merits of a consumer retail proposition that would bring media content and electronic devices together under one brand. We will pursue this strategy through our Blockbuster stores as a way to diversify the business and better serve the entertainment retail segment."

Whatever Circuit City's got, Blockbuster doesn't want to catch it.

Blockbuster Withdraws Proposal To Acquire Circuit City [Blockbuster]
(Photo: Maulleigh )

We purchased 2 46' Magnavox hdtv's on Dec 9th, 2007. At the time of purchase, Sears was offering a 0% interest for 24 months.

We have been being billed for interest for the past few months and I have been unable to resolve this.

The department manager "max" said it was an error entering the promotion in and he would take care of it. Nothing was done however. I talked with the executive customer support people this morning, so we'll see.

Any suggestions? I am a teacher, and my wife stays at home with our kids. These tv's were Christmas presents for our parents, and I cannot afford the interest that is being unfairly charged.

Ordinarily, we'd suggest that you try to escalate your complaint with an EECB (executive email carpet bomb), but since it's Sears we're talking about here there's probably no point. We suggest that you gather all of your paperwork together and file a small claims lawsuit against Sears for the interest that you've been wrongly charged. We believe that this will get the fastest response. It sounds scary, but suing big corporations in small claims court can be fun and easy.

If small claims court isn't your thing, or you feel it isn't worth the (modest) court costs, you can also report them to the BBB and your state's attorney general. Sometimes that does get Sears' attention. Not often, but sometimes.

Anyone else have any suggestions? We'd love to hear about tactics that work with Sears, if you know any.

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 )

My recent problems with Sears have driven me so crazy I checked to see if you had EECB contact info. When I saw all the stuff you had on Sears, I thought you'd love this story. I'll try to be short.

As background, I have an irrational loyalty to Sears. In the last 5 years I have spent probably over $20,000 on appliances, mattresses, and power tools there. I drive by 3 Home Depots to get to Sears; I want them to succeed for some bizarre reason. I don't even get it, haven't really even had great experiences, but nonetheless keep on going back. In May I tried to buy a lawn tractor, which is where the problem began.

ROUND ONE: The day after ordering the tractor online, I went back to check the order status and saw nothing. So I called Sears and they said the order had been declined by AMEX. I asked, "Was anyone going to call and tell me?" and she said, "No, we don't do that." So I called AMEX, told them to take the charge (which they denied declining), and called back to place the order live. She then told me that it would take 3 WEEKS for delivery. (Do you know how much it costs to pay someone to mow 3 acres?) Reluctantly, and accepting the situation in good humor, I agreed.

ROUND TWO: 3 WEEKS later: nothing. No call, no delivery, nothing. I call Sears, and they again blame AMEX. I explained that AMEX cannot possibly be the problem since I spoke to them live. I also noted that in the intervening three weeks, I charged a $15,500 set of airline tickets and $18,100 for a new roof, both of which zipped through without a problem. Nonetheless, I told him I'd replace the order if they didn't make me wait 3 more weeks. He put me on hold for an eternity and then agreed. I had bought the tractor on sale so I actually think he was doing some work to recreate the original terms of the sale. I told him I would not hang up until he confirmed that the charge went through so there would be no more opportunity to blame AMEX. He laughed and agreed, and we hung up friends. I suggested that they call customers when a sale doesn't go through, because that's a way to GET MORE MONEY, and he said he'd pass that along. Which he clearly didn't.

ROUND THREE: My tractor, now ordered twice, was scheduled for delivery today, so I called last night to confirm. What a shocker, same story. Now, normally I would just say screw it and order somewhere else, but (1) it takes a long time to research tractors, and I didn't want to go through that process again, and (2) I had gotten a really good price or $1299 for a $1799 tractor and I wanted them to honor the price. ALso, the sales for tractors all happened around fathers day and now I would be stuck at full price somewhere else. I should also note that one bizarre thing about Sears tractors is they have identical models where one model is on sale and one isn't. I don't get it, but the picture on the site does show them in different colors, but when you click "compare," they are exactly the same - every word, every spec. So when the woman said, I'm sorry, it's out of stock, I laughed (as did she) and suggested that they give me one of the identical ones at the sale price. She said that a supervisor could do that and told me to call back today.

ROUND FOUR: So I called this morning, asked to go to a supervisor. I explained what happened, that I've been waiting 6 weeks now for a tractor, and can't belevee that no one at Sears actually seems to want to take my $1500.

Me: I just want to know, can you get me the same or similar tractor at the same price, delivered this week. (She put me on hold and in the meantime I went to sears.com, found an identical tractor at the same SALE price, in case she was too incompetent to do so).
Manager: That's not possible, I can give you the same tractor for $1800.
Me: Why would I pay more for the same tractor? Can't you honor the same sale price you originally gave me?
Manager: Because it's not our fault the card was declined.
Me: But it is your fault, because the customer service guy told me it was not declined, and promised me the sale went through. We went through a big exercise to make sure it wouldn't be declined.
Manager: I can let you talk to someone else.
Me: No, just do what the last guy (who wasn't a supervisor) did, and give me the original sales price. You have a record of that transaction, right?
Manager: I'm not going to do that. I can let you talk to someone else.
Me: NO, LET"S JUST ORDER THIS OTHER ONE (the identical one I found on sears.com), fully ready to put myself through another round of wholesale incompetence.....sound of silence....the bitch hung up on me!

I got transferred to some other customer service line, and the first thing the woman said to me was, We don't do Sears.com problems. I asked who I could talk to, and she said, there's an email on sears.com. I asked if she wanted my $1500 or wanted to lose a loyal customer, and she said, you'll need to go to sears.com.

Please note, and I swear on this — I have always been polite, never rude, just insistent and clear in what I want. And I've asked each person why a company which loses a sale due to an (alleged) credit card decline doesn't call the customer to let them know about it, and they all say, We just don't do that. I've had $10 orders not go through other companies for one reason or another, and the company at least emails me to let me know. It's like Sears doesn't want to succeed or make the sale, or secretly delights in knowing that I'm sitting around waiting for my non-existent delivery to show up.

And to hang up on one of the last people in America who haven't totally given up on this piece of shit company? Is just plain stupid. Whatever, I guess I'll have to go to Lowes.

Really, Gregg. We'd love to tell you to write an EECB or something to Sears, but let's be honest with ourselves. They just don't care.

(Photo: So Cal Metro )

"This is a quarter of steady progress," CEO Philip J. Schoonover said in a conference call with investors. "We still have a long way to go, but I'm encouraged by what we've been able to accomplish."

Accomplish? Does anyone want to tell Phil that he's supposed to be selling electronics? No. That would be cruel.

Meanwhile, there's been no word on Blockbuster's plan to buy the troubled retailer. Presumably, they're still thinking it over.

Circuit City loss increases; next quarter may be worse [Star-Tribune]
Circuit City Posts a Wider Loss as Sales Fall [NYT]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

I was contacted by Anita Strepka in corporate who told me I was absolutely correct and that the supervisor should not have refused giving me the gift card.

I was then contacted by the local general manager who asked me to explain what happened. After explaining he told me that he would send the card, but that the policy was that you have to wait in the store for at least 24 minutes before qualifying!

I told him, that according to corporate and their website the 24 minutes starts as of the time stamp on the order confirmation email. He disagreed and we ended the call. He then called back 10 minutes later to apologize and said that I was correct and he was wrong... I guess he went to their website.

So what did I learn? Not even the general manager understood a policy that has been in place for 2(?) years, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the supervisor didn't either.

The good news? Anita Strepka was awesome and apologized over and over. She said that she was part of the team that started this program, so she was well versed with the policy.I complained on Wednesday 6/4/08 and got my $24 gift card in the mail on Monday 6/9/08... not a bad response time.

Hey, everyone makes mistakes, but it's a good thing Dustin is out there keeping them honest.

My complaint to the police department was determined by them to be unfounded. The investigating official told me that the police officer was working off-duty employment to provide security at Home Depot, and therefore her actions weren't those of the police department. He also stated that she had the right to detain me in her capacity providing security at Home Depot, even though she was wearing a full Metropolitan Police Dept uniform.

We're not exactly shocked that the Metropolitan police would shrug this off as "not their problem", but it's still frustrating that they don't take responsibility for people who are wearing their uniform. Since you were able to resolve the issue with Home Depot, however, we'd say your efforts were not in vain.

Anyone out there know more about Washington D.C.'s shoplifting laws?

(Photo: Marike79 )

336-658-3599 (takes you directly to a live a executive customer service rep)
1-866-900-4650 (general executive customer service pool)
email: execustservice@lowes.com

Here's a guide to how you should act once you reach them.

(Photo: Ruth L)

"We got carried away," Murphy said. "All of a sudden you have larger stores than you need. We also have a store fleet that's older than we'd like it to be."

The company will eliminate Baby Gap and Gap Kids stores and incorporate them into their adult stores, according to CNNMoney.

Will this fix the Gap? Is less really more?

Gap CEO Announces Plan To Shrink Store Size [CNNMoney]
(Photo: bopo )

So, my wife & I stopped in at Wal-Mart to get a few things. I didn't have long before I had to be at work, but we had enough time to do our shopping. So we get what we need, pay at one of their express lanes, and then went to leave the store. It's at about this point that we notice a line of several carts waiting for the people greeter to search through their bags and check their receipts.

Since I didn't have a lot of time to waste, I simply went around the line and started out the door. At this point the people greeter told me I had to stop and allow her to go through everything I just purchased. I politely told her that she did not in fact need to search my property, and that they lost any right to go through the items in my cart when I paid for them. I proceeded to walk out of the store.

While I was transferring everything from the cart into the car, several Wal-Mart asset protection employees approached me, and asked to see my receipt. I told them no, at which point they stated that the merchandise was stolen. I told them I paid for everything, but did not have any more time to waste with them. I started to back out of the parking spot, when one of them tried to walk behind my car, I told him to move out of the way, that I didn't want to hit him. He said he was getting the license plate, so I waited a few seconds for him to write it down, then proceeded to back up. Another one of their employees called the local police department. I also called to give them my contact information, and let them know what happened.

Then I called the store manager to make a complaint about the way I was treated. He stated that they had just started a policy to check receipts for any unbagged items. I explained that they were going through every bag in every customer's cart, and that the delay this created was unacceptable. He said he had not heard anything from his staff, but he would follow up with them to find out what was going on. I gave him my name and phone number, and he said he would follow up with me. I have not heard anything yet.

About thirty minutes later my wife received a call from an officer of the local police department. He asked for our side of things, and then said he would smooth things over. While I understand that most people would just show the receipt and let them poke through your things, there really is no reason to do so. If you were any where else, and someone accused you of being a thief, and then asked you to let them search through your things to prove your not, would you allow it? I wouldn't, in fact my reaction would be to leave, quickly. Thats what I did in this case, and thats what I plan to do in the future. If enough people were willing to stand up for their rights, this would stop happening.

Other readers have had luck referring their complaints about overzealous receipt checking to the executives at Wal-Mart. Here's some instructions on how to craft an EECB to lauch on Wal-Mart, as well as some contact information.
(Photo: Jeff Holbrook )

Consumers are gouged an extra $0.40 on average.

"My little girl drinks between two and three gallons of milk a week,” said Queens Democratic Councilman Eric Gioia. “And when you're being overcharged 40, 50 cents per gallon — I'm going to be okay, but there are a lot of families, if you've got a number of kids, that it can be really difficult."

If you're thinking "$0.40? That's nothing!," you're not alone. Potential mayoral candidate and supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis also supports gouging local business:

"The supermarket business is a dying breed in the New York area," Catsimatidis told amNewYork. "Fifty percent of the supermarkets in New York City have gone out of business in the last 6 or 7 years because they didn't charge enough."

"[Speaker] Quinn should take Economics 101. It's inexcusable that an official of the city of New York would just try to panic people."

He's right, you shouldn't panic. If you see a grocer selling milk for more than $3.93 a gallon, or $2.01 per half gallon, call the state's special anti-price-gouging hotline, at (800) 554-4501.

Report: Majority of Sellers in City Are Overcharging for Milk [The New York Sun]
Catsimatidis Sour On Quinn Milk Report [The Daily News]
(Photo: Getty)

From the AP:

Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates, said he thinks Lampert will need to dramatically realign business units — and even consider shutting down the discount Kmart brand — if the retailer has any hope of remaining viable to the American consumer.

"It's going to get a lot worse," he said. "Given these results, I think Lampert really has to now face up to major, major store closings."

Sears is in the midst of a high-stakes restructuring aimed at reconnecting with customers and reinvigorating atrophied same-store sales, which have fallen for the past nine consecutive quarters. The company is also searching for a new CEO.

The company said its troubles were due to the soaring cost of gas and food leaving less money for would-be customers to spend at Sears and Kmart. It seems that these customers are also defecting to warehouse stores and buying in bulk: Costco isn't having any problems — their profits are up 32%.

Sears Holdings swings to 1Q loss on slumping sales [AP]

(Photo: Joseph Hoetzl )

From Reuters:

At the company's annual meeting in Atlanta, investors complained that efforts to improve the shopping environment have not fully trickled down to all stores. Finding goods on the shelf and helpful workers who make eye contact with customers is difficult, they said.

"I want you to know how badly we need more aprons on the floor," said Gary Patton, a 16-year Home Depot employee from South Carolina. "I just long for the days back in the beginning when we were the destination store. Now we're just one of the other stores."

Shareholder Ken Kaplan said he hoped a move to boost the bottom line would not keep the retailer from spending money to attract knowledgeable workers.

"Pay what it takes to get the ones who defected, the good ones, back from (rival) Lowe's.

In the past year, Home Depot's stock has fallen about 30%.

Improve Service Home Depot Shareholders Say [Reuters]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

"By creatively combining the assets of our new online channel with the many advantages of our stores and vice versa, we're giving customers an elevated experience that we believe they'll find more satisfying than anything else in bookselling today," said Borders CEO George Jones.

The attempts to mimic the experience of shopping in a "real" bookstore with "Magic Shelf." New releases and other popular titles are placed cover out on a "shelf." Shoppers can browse left tor right, up and down, or by category. Borders says:

"We wanted a real bookstore online," said Kevin Ertell, senior vice president for e-business at Borders, in an interview with the Free Press last week. "What we did to capture that bookstore feel was putting the Magic Shelf on the sign-in page."

Does it actually mimic the bookstore experience? Eh, maybe if you shop at a bookstore that carries 12 titles per shelf. What do you think?

Borders

Borders starts online chapter [Detroit Free Press]

It all started in the '80s, when corporations birthed the phone tree out of a desire to cut costs and, understandably, gain some distance from their outlandishly outfitted customers. They took the need for space too far, even as America cleaned up its act, forgetting that bad customer service is a bad business decision.

“I’ve listened to thousands of people interacting with machines,” Mr. Rolandi said. “You hear sighs of resignation. You hear people swear. If businesses knew what I knew, they would not design them this way. Many people do not take into account the emotional state of the customer. When you call someone for customer service, you’ve got a problem and you’re probably in a bad mood. You hear someone telling you your call is so important that we won’t let you talk to a human. Then they slap people with too many options, and eventually, you’re in a fight with the system. When you do get a customer representative, you’re loaded for bear.”

The popular conception of outsourced call centers ruining our lives isn't quite right. Fewer than 10% of call centers are based offshore. As Americans, we can all be proud of the more than 100,000 call centers we host, excluding telemarketers.

The Times thinks the tide is slowly turning in our favor.

For the first time, American corporations are acknowledging “customer service as something worth paying for rather than just red ink,” said [Jon Anton, director of benchmark research at the Center for Customer Driven Quality at Purdue,] who looks at call centers worldwide and, using a number of criteria, compares how well they work. “If you can satisfy customers and keep them buying, it’s as important as marketing.”

He said that in the last year or so some large companies have been creating a chief customer executive, whose success is measured not on profit, but on customer retention.

Another reason for this change is that the very technology that is driving us crazy is helping people fight back.

Consumers are posting their experiences with customer service online and warning people away from businesses that do not offer a good follow-up with customers. Secondly, there are Web sites that tell customers how to get around an automated system.

The Times cites Netflix as one example of an enlightened company switching its emphasis from automated support to well-trained, empowered call centers. We've lauded Netflix before, but don't know of many other companies that are cutting down phone trees in favor of quality support.

What do you think? Are companies slowly improving their service, or are consumers just getting better at biting back?

Far From Always Being Right, the Customer Is on Hold [NYT]
(Photo: Getty)

Bill ultimately entered his payment information 7 times. Each attempt cost him $233.15. Now his account is out $1,632, and Microsoft is refusing to help.

He writes:

My name is Bill. I work at a large University and deal with Microsoft quite frequently as an IT Manager. Recently I went to purchase the new Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate operating system from their online store, Windows Live Marketplace for my personal use on my home computer. I filled out all the appropriate documentation and submitted my order to them with my debit card information and the nightmare began....

Upon selecting "submit" from their site I was immediately taken to a page stating "Microsoft cannot be contacted at this time" or similar, "Please try again later." So needing a license for Vista right away I resubmitted it and, again, got the same thing "Microsoft cannot be contacted at this time, please try again." After 6 attempts, finally, the 7th attempt was successful and I was able to purchase a copy of Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade (which turns out was not what I wanted in the first place). I thought all was well until the following morning... I received a call from the fraud prevention department at my bank stating I had been charged by Microsoft 7 times at $233.15!!!!!!

This was completely unacceptable and I immediately phoned Microsoft when I got to work. Microsoft stated to me that the problem was with the bank and that the charges hadn't actually posted to my account and I just need to wait for the bank to update their info so this is what I did. After a couple days nothing had changed in my bank account. I was still in the hole roughly -$500.00 thanks to Microsoft.

I called Microsoft again and was told my issue would be "escalated". Ok I thought. No problem they recognize the problem and are working to address it and get this taken care of. WRONG. They did in fact remove a couple of the charges (4 of them) but what about the other 3???? I contacted Microsoft Windows Live Marketplace and stated it has been about 2 weeks and I have still seen no change in my bank account. I then told them I would now like to get a refund as well for the one copy I did actually receive. That return was processed in the same phone call the way I would expect the others to be credited back to my bank account. WRONG again. So by this time I have spent almost all month without any money and being late on all of my bills and now, almost a month later, am STILL waiting on Microsoft to refund the other 2 charges that were posted to my account at $233.15. This is almost $500.00 and for someone who gets paid monthly is completely unacceptable. I have been calling Microsoft now for 2 weeks straight and all the Microsoft Windows Live Marketplace keeps telling me is "I am sorry sir your issue has been escalated to our product delevopment team and you should get a call back today or tomorrow." WRONG yet again.... Everytime I call its the same story "... it has been escalated sir sorry" "we will call you tomorrow" ..... No call.

I am really irritated and have asked numerous times for a number or email address to "Product Development" and they keep telling me they don't even have that information and that the system they use doesn't even tell the support person I am speaking with that contact information. WHAT KIND OF SYSTEM IS THIS?

I now have overdue bills and am going hungry for what would appear to be the rest of the month.... I suppose this is what I get for trying to do things legitimately with Microsoft... A big smack in the face.

I give Microsoft a lot of business being and IT manager at a large University but am extremely dissatisfied with this whole experience. I will be seeking Unix/Linux alternatives.

Please Help!!!!

The charges posting:
The charges clearing:
Bill could have protected himself by charging Vista to his credit card. Since Microsoft is unwilling to reverse the clearly erroneous charges, it's time to ask the bank to stand up and fight for its customer. If conversations don't help, leap over the hurdles of incompetence and fire an Executive Email Carpet Bomb at both Microsoft and the bank.

(Photo: johnsu01)
RELATED: Contact Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Jason writes:

On Thursday I went to Blockbuster and rented a videogame for 8.47$. The next day I checked my online statement to find out that I was charged 8.47$, and then another separate transaction from Blockbuster for 1$. Considering the guy behind the counter had no idea what he was doing at the time I figured he made a mistake and called the Blockbuster back to investigate. They informed me that it is a relatively new policy on all in-store rentals for debit/credit cards in which before charging you the rental for the game, they first bill your card $1 to make sure that it is active, then they bill the rental in addition to that. The manager I spoke to said that they refund the $1 at a later date, but here I am almost a week later with no refund. If this is even legal, why not just charge the $1, and if it works, charge the normal rental price subtract the $1?

Ugh.

(Photo: Seth W )

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)

Our reader Eyebrows McGee pointed us to a fun, albeit slightly depressing (if you're concerned about the future of the human race) website called NotAlwaysRight.com, where retail veterans post transcripts of their worst customer interactions. Read for fun, but also for examples of how not to behave as a consumer.

Me: “Can I help you?”
Customer:“I’m looking for non-fiction.”
Me:“What kind?”
Customer: “Just non-fiction.”
Me: “Okay…do you want history? Or science? Psychology?
Business?”
Customer: “No, just NON-FICTION!”

Customer: “Tell me; is your cleaning solution toxic?”
Me: “You mean the stuff we use to clean fresh ear piercings?”
Customer: “Yah, that stuff.
Me: “Well no sir, I don’t believe it’s toxic. There isn’t really anything in here that–”
Customer: “–because I ingested a whole bunch of it!”
Me: “Why?”
Customer: “I was out of mouth wash. I needed mouth wash.”
Me: “But it isn’t mouth wash…it’s used to clean piercings…”
Customer: “I know, do you think I’m stupid?! That’s why I’m worried!”

Customer:“These things don’t work! They are hard to swallow and I nearly choked to death.”
Me: “Ma’am, they are suppositories. You don’t swallow them, you insert them rectally.”
Customer: “What does that mean?”
Me: “You unwrap them and insert them in your rectum.”
Customer: “What’s my rectum?”
Me: “Ma’am, please forgive me, but your rectum is your butt hole.”
Customer: “Well up yours too!” *stalks off*

(This is not the first time someone misunderstood when we explained how to use a suppository. It’s the only time we can tell a patient “up yours” and get away with it!)

www.notalwaysright.com

The answer of course, is "false." If you managed to guess correctly, you're smarter than the average Californian. Two researchers at Berkeley conducted a scientific poll in an effort to determine how much Californians knew about their state's privacy laws. It turns out that large amounts of consumers have no idea that it's perfectly legal for lots of different kinds of companies to sell their information without their consent, including pizza delivery places.

From the research paper:

Pizza delivery companies, since they are called so frequently by consumers, are a hub for collecting personal information. A delivery company can collect and aggregate caller identification information (typically name and phone number), ask the customer for their phone number (which may be different than what is displayed by caller identification), and in order to process the order, acquire the delivery address. Pizza delivery information is used by private investigators and by governments to track individuals. In the marketing context, pizza delivery databases have been discussed as source for phone numbers for wireless 411 databases.

When we asked Californians whether they thought pizza delivery companies could not sell personal information without their consent, 54.7% incorrectly answered true and 5.8% said they didnʼt know.

Other scenarios in which consumers assumed they were protected from sale of their personal information: donating to a charity, registering a product warranty, giving a phone number to a cashier at checkout, registering a product rebate, and ordering from a catalog.

Research Report: What Californians Understand About Privacy Offline [via CL&P Blog]
(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend )

It's sort of old news by now, but I had pre ordered Grand Theft Auto 4 (for Xbox 360) and left a $8 deposit well over a year ago at the GameStop in Hicksville NY. When I arrived at the store on Thursday 5/1/08, just 2 days after the release of the game (4/29/08), I was told that they were sold out of the game. "But I reserved a copy." I said. I was told by the goofy teenage employee that "It is GameStop policy to only hold reserved games for 48 hours." So I immediately went into "Where is your manager mode". After explaining that his manager wouldn't be in for another another hour, the employee got nervous and after what can only be described as divine intervention, found "the last copy" of the game under the counter. I said great, thanked him and left with my game.

When I opened the package minutes later, untampered security seal and all, I found that the original game was replaced with a used and worn gangster rap CD. (see image attached). I quickly brought it back to the store, and after the kid giddily took a few pics with his camera phone ("Dude, holy shit, I've never seen anything like that."), I was told again that I had received the last copy of the game and that he was in no position to issue me a refund. If I hadn't foreseen this becoming a huge pain in my ass, I would had thought it was pretty damn funny - my friends certainly did! Boyz N Da Hood, really?

Now a LONG story made somewhat shorter - I made several phone calls to Take 2 Interactive, the manufacturer of the game, while I waited for the GameStop manager to arrive. While dealing with Take 2 I was given a 2 hour royal runaround, however almost everyone I spoke to had a very pleasant British accent. After speaking with everyone from the shipping department to a frustrated Scotsman in the Technical Support department, I realized this could only end with an abrupt and unsatisfying dead end. Eventually I gathered that I would have to take it up with the retailer.

After speaking with the store manager, who was no help, he told me I need to take it up with the manufacturer. Already tried that! I asked for his corporate number and his district manager's phone number as well. I tried the corporate number first where I was told that they could do nothing for me, and I would have to get in touch with the DM. After leaving a few messages with the District Manger over several days, I finally got a hold of him. I have to say, when I did finally get a hold of him he was begrudgingly willing to get me a new copy of the game. Can't say that he believed my story at all, but none the less I was happily carjacking on my TV later that night!

Thanks for your time, hope this is useful for your site, which I love!
~Greg

Oh, we love you too, Greg. We have to say that the District Manager of that Game Stop is a nice guy. It's always good to hear about these stories getting resolved without anyone crying and pulling their hair out.

"Given the very difficult economic environment, our company performed relatively well compared to the competition in the first quarter," said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive.

The AP, however, couldn't resist hinting that pissed off former Marshall Field's customers were at least partly to blame for Macy's unpopularity:

Macy's has struggled with disappointing sales and resistance from shoppers in some markets where the Macy's name replaced local favorites after its 2005 buyout of May Co.

While Marshall Field's customers are certainly the most vocal (Chicagoans are pathologically resistant to change. See: "Wrigley Field"), Macy's has a nasty reputation for displacing other local favorites as well.

Macy's reports loss on weak sales, beats estimates [AP]
(Photo: Mr.Oliver )

Wesa ordered a cast iron pot from Macy's and it got packed in these special packing peanuts which Macy's says are 100% biodegradable. They're made from corn and potato starch. Macy's says you can dissolve them in water and pour in the garden, yard, sink, or toilet, or put them in the compost, put them in the ground, or simply throw them away where they will "dissolve in the landfill." Pretty neat! The accompanying flyer is inside.

When husbands, boyfriends, and sons go shopping for womanly gifts, it's like shooting fish in a barrel for store clerks—these guys usually want to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible, and either they'll decide in a snap what to buy or they'll happily take your advice on what makes for the best gift. Either way, it's easy money with little hassle. Somehow, though, Kohl's jewelry counter clerks missed this bit of retail advice—here's how they lost a $300 sale from a guy who was ready to buy and bolt earlier this week.

I usually don't bother to go ahead and Google for an email address, however after leaving your store on Powers Blvd tonight with $500.00 still in my pocket I felt like Kohl's was missing the boat on their male shoppers in general.

I'm 35, in sales, two kids, wife etc, and am basically the kind of male that goes into a store if its a holiday, potential disaster, or I'll be leaving with some electronics or golf gear.

Tonight I was going into your store with the thought in mind that I can pick up a nice set of earrings or something between 200-400 dollars for this Sunday. As I walked in at about 6:40 or so, I made the quick right, walked around the counter and decided that we're going to end up spending about 300 on a pair of earring that I thought the wife would enjoy. Now I don't know about you, but for me this kind of decision takes about 2 minutes (Please don't let my wife know this, as she would misinterpret my ability to quickly choose something for her as not caring enough)

So I looked up and around to locate the counter person so that way I could make the purchase, and quickly exit the store before I got caught between a crowd and a sale (This did happen to me the time I brought my daughter into your store to get a new coat because she lost her old one. I accidentally was standing in the aisle waiting to pay when had to push my kids to safety because a restocking of some items was going on in the ladies dept.)

Anyway, back to the jewelry/earrings - I am watching the counter person empty out and count up her drawer (It's about 6:55) and it turns out she can't hear me, or the other two gentlemen at the counter at that time. Now I am all for hiring people w/ handicaps but I do not believe this counter person was deaf, however I am unable to prove that due to her not flinching as the gentleman next to me was surely heard by someone 50 ft away.

After this, I just left.

Now, I have ran a dollar store for two years out of school for my family, I even worked for Lord and Taylors before they turned into just another store, and I can't help but feel that if employees where trained or reminded before holidays like xmas or mothers day that people like myself would be coming into the store, usually they will have the $$ to spend and where just to come right up and say something like "Hi, do you need some help finding what your wife wants?" that you'd be doing your shareholders a favor.

A 35 yr old male who doesn't enjoy shopping has the attention span of a 3-year-old when he is buying something that he normally wouldn't. If you could somehow capture them as they walked though the door or wandered the aisles you'd do even better. If there is a store that does that for you that's reasonable please let me know, I still have my $$ in my pocket tonight.

(Photo: net_efekt)

I thought I'd send along an interesting find from when I visited a Linens 'N Things (the one going through bankruptcy), they had some Rowenta Irons marked UP by $10... and then had a $10 LNT gift card promotion sign right next to them. It's no wonder they're going bankrupt! I think they need to be a little more savvy than this. I mean, are consumers so stupid that they won't notice that the $10 LNT gift card promotion is on a produce with a handwritten price that's $10 higher than retail?

We think this is evidence that Linens 'N Things has just given up. They're not even trying anymore. How sad.

Returns caused by problems like "I can't figure out how this works" and "buyer's remorse" make up all but 5% of returns says the Wall Street Journal, and retailers are using engraving to fight back:

The company in 2006 added an option allowing consumers to engrave their name or other message on a Vaio computer. It expanded the program to its digital cameras last year. Sony says the program was started to let customers personalize products, but a side benefit for Sony is that engraved products can be returned only because of defects or other reasons that are the company's fault.

Return rates on engraved Sony Vaios are negligible, compared with about 5% for non-engraved PCs, the company says, saving more than $1 million so far. "I have a feeling that people are understanding the condition that you can't return it," Mr. Abary says. "But also once they have engraved it, they feel like it's a part of them."

Electronics retailers spend a mind-boggling $13.8 billion a year reboxing and reselling the crap that you return, says the Wall Street Journal. Most returns are "because a product was too confusing to use."

The War On Returns [WSJ](Thanks, Robert!)
(Photo: gothick matt )

On Sunday, May 4, 2008 I went to the Home Depot on Joppa Rd, Baltimore County Maryland. My purchases includes several plants, pots, and tile sealer. I went to the self check-out line because of the speed and scanned my items. Before I could indicate I was paying by cash the machine wanted me to enter a zip code, I entered 11111 because it's really none of their business. The next screen wanted me to key in if my items were for home or business use. I had no ability to bypass this screen even thought I did not want to answer this question.

I requested assistance from the employee assigned to the area because again I do not feel I need to report to Home Depot where I plan to use items I purchase. I was told my transaction would not be completed without providing the information requested. I left without my items.

What next? Is "big brother" going to screen my cholesterol levels before allowing me to by diary products at the grocery?

I have e-mailed my concern over this interaction to Home Depot and all I have in response is some statement about sending this on to someone else in their system. Clearly, most individuals who utilize the self-checkout want to get out quickly and do not stop to question the invasion of privacy issue. If this is an attempt by the Home Depot to collect information as a survey, I would hope they would have the sense to request an individual's cooperation.

Thank you for the forum where I can at least vent to a group who seems to care.

Sincerely:

Helen

Yuck. You already emailed the store, but if you're really concerned about letting Home Depot know that this stupid survey cost them your business, feel free to launch an EECB (executive email carpet bomb). The CEO's email address is Frank_Blake@homedepot.com. For more information about launching an EECB, click here.

What do you think about "surveys" like this one? Do they affect where you choose to shop?

(Photo: cmorran123 )

The cashier first claimed that there was a limit of 5 cartridges per week, and then threatened to send Chris' picture to other stores. Finally, he confronted Chris, saying "I don't know where you're getting these, if you're stealing them... but it needs to cut down."

Chris writes:

I've finally had my first really angering customer service issue. But a little bit of background:

I run a computer repair business. Obviously, I'm constantly buying/selling computer supplies and equipment, and one of the things I get from customers and my vendors are empty ink cartridges. From my vendor they arrive assorted, so I take the ones I need for the models my customers have, and recycle the rest. I also get quite a few when customers upgrade printers. I recycle the empties at Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot, since I don't do enough in volume to recycle directly with the ink companies. Each store gives you $3 per cartridge to spend at the store. It's a bit long to explain where I get them; and cashiers are puzzled when I tell them I run a computer repair business (since I'm only 20 and look young) so I usually say I get them from friends and it's done. Funny sidenote: once a cashier at Staples read my jacket that says my company name and said "So I guess you're going to give this money back to your employer, right?" Yep, I sure am.

At Staples, it's awesome. I'm actually on a friend basis with one of the cashiers, and when they gave out coupons for recycling cartridges, I would use them online all the time. For the reason of them having a robust online store with great prices and rebates, I spent close to $3700 after coupons with them in 2006. This year I'm almost at $1000, so I'm not a once-in-a-while customer. Staples recently changed to put the credit from recycling on your Staples Rewards card, but I don't plan on ramping down my spending given the great service I always receive.

At OfficeMax, it's a different story. They've never given out coupons, and their prices aren't that great in store or online. However, instead of recycling 3 ink cartridges for a total of $9 in credit, they allow you to recycle up to 5 cartridges for $15 in credit. This puts their prices back at being decent. Unfortunately, they don't have great prices in store/online, so I only buy in store with cartridges. I follow the rules, limit of 5/day/person. I have brought my girlfriend or a friend sometimes as well.

There's a single cashier/manager/something there that has a problem with me. To be honest, I don't even see him that much, but he feels like I'm taking the money out of his wallet when I use the cartridges for credit. It first started with him telling another cashier in a way to get me to overhear that there's a new limit of 5/week. BS. Then he outright lied to my father and I by saying that the coupon system was down, forcing me to drive to another store to get memory cards for my dad's camera.

Today was a new low. While checking out, he walked up to the checkstand and here's the conversation that ensued (he's Cashier, but not the one ringing me out, she's very nice):

Cashier: Excuse me if you don't mine[sic] me asking where did you get the cartridges?
Me: I get them from friends.
Cashier: That's impossible, you have too many of them. You come in with these and you come in with your girlfriend or a friend.
Me: (getting angry) OK, well, I'll go to the [redacted] store from now on.
Cashier: Well, I have you on camera, I'm gonna send your pictures to the other stores so they know to look out for you.
Me: At Staples, they have a box from HP - aren't you getting money for these?
Cashier: Yes well it needs to cut down.
Me: Let me ask you, am I taking the money from your wallet? Am I reaching in to your wallet and taking money out?
Cashier: No, but I'm in charge of it and it needs to cut down, I don't know where you're getting these, if you're stealing them or-
Me: No, I'm not stealing them.
Cashier: but it needs to cut down.
Me: OK.

Why would he be sending my picture around unless I've done something wrong?

I'm getting sick and tired of being treated like a common criminal because I use coupons. I play by their rules and still they don't like it. If they don't want to take coupons they should remove the program.

Thanks,
Chris

OfficeMax needs to realize that recycling is good, not bad. Try having a calm conversation with the cashier's manager, and explain your business and that you appreciate having an outlet to help you recycle. If that doesn't help, call corporate and ask the people running the MaxPerks program why their employees hate the environment.

(Photo: Getty)

This afternoon I visited the Kohl's store in Moline, Illinois. When I was checking out I elected to pay with my Visa card. After sliding my card through the card reader I signed the screen when prompted. My cashier asked to see the card, which I handed over to her. She handed my card back to me and then asked to see my identification, to which I respectfully declined. She said I had to show my ID or I could not leave the store with my purchases...

I explained to her that customers using Visa credit cards do not have to show identification as a condition of purchase as long as the back of the card is signed (mine is) and to compel them to do so is a violation of the store's agreement with the credit card company.

She flatly denied that this was true and again asked for my ID. It was at this point I realized I was dealing with someone who through her persistent need to argue with me has no interest in customer service and told her I was not going to show her my ID and demanded she void the transaction. I told her I did not need to give Kohl's my money if they were going to argue with me about something which I know to be fact.

I found her request especially odd since she took my Visa card, handed it back, and then asked for my ID. What was she going to do with the information on my ID?

I thought I would bring this matter to your attention. Perhaps the management team at the Moline store need to be brought up to speed on merchant's agreements with credit card companies.

If there are questions about this matter, I direct you and the Moline store's management to please see page 29 "Rules For VISA Merchants."

Therein you will find:

"Although Visa rules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID, merchants cannot make an ID a condition of acceptance. Therefore, merchants cannot refuse to complete a purchase transaction because a cardholder refuses to provide ID. Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of their regular card acceptance procedures. Laws in several states also make it illegal for merchants to write a cardholder’s personal information, such as an address or phone number, on a sales receipt."

Afterwards, I went to the Target store next door and made a similar purchase with my Visa card and did not have to surrender my personal identification to do so. After that I visited Best Buy, a local grocer, and another department store and not one of them batted an eye at my Visa card or asked for my ID.

So, please, enlighten me: what is going on at Kohl's where a customer is treated in such a manner?

In these days of rampant identity theft I find it unreasonable beyond belief that a small, simple purchase in a department store warrants me handing over my "government papers" to a retail cashier when it clearly is not necessary.

Your former customer.

Asking for identification is a one-way street, and you are the traffic cop. Let's review:

• Good: Stores accepting your credit card without requesting identification.
• Good: Writing "Ask for ID" on the back of your credit card, allowing merchants to request identification.
• BAD: Stores demanding identification as a condition of using your credit card.

See the difference? You have the power. If you don't want to show identification, don't. Nothing a store says or does can make you provide identification.

Straighten out ill-trained merchants by reporting them. Here's how to contact Visa:

Visa
Phone Number: 1-800-VISA-911 (International: 1-410-581-9994). Or call the number on the back of your card
Mailing Address:
Visa U.S.A. Inc.
P.O. Box 194607
San Francisco, California 94119-4607
Online: Your card issuer's website may let you send them complaints about merchant violations and start a dispute if your were charged a fee to use your card.

Visa will fire off a stern letter to the store in question, and your next shopping experience should be hassle-free.

PREVIOUSLY: Writing "Ask For ID" On Your Credit Card Won't Stop Fraud, But It's Still A Good Idea
How To Report Merchants For Requiring A Minimum Purchase Or Making You Show ID
(Photo: Getty)

Nick writes:

Hey Consumerist,

I enjoy your website quite a bit.

I don't usually have too many consumer related issues, but I've run into something today that was sort of odd and thought that you guys may or may not be interested.

When I woke up today, I got into my usual routine, checking around the web to see if there were any places that had the Nintendo Wii in stock. As luck would have it, Toys'R'Us said they had them in stock. I'm thrilled, I've been saving up for a few months to get a Wii, and finally, I can get one. So I order one around 10am.

I get an e-mail at 12:55pm saying that, sorry the Wiis are currently on back order. I'm bummed out, but not crushed. I go back to the Toys'R'Us page, and guess what, they're still saying they are available. At this point, I find this really annoying. They are not telling customers that these have been backlogged on the site, but are sending out e-mails saying as much. I took a screencap of the site (still listing it as available at 1:15 or so).

I still really want my Wii, and would like to know when it'll be shipping. I call thier customer service, and I am helped by a very polite lady who tells me they are unable to say when the backorder will ship. Cue further dissapointment. I've sent of a polite e-mail through their web e-mail interface to express my disappointment in the handling of not only my own order, but continuing to take orders even though they knew they were selling a product they didn't have in stock (but were listing it as in stock).

I'm really pretty bummed out with this whole thing. I haven't canceled my order yet, because I'm hoping by some miracle this will come through. I don't know if you guys at Consumerist would be interesting in something like this or not, I don't know if this is par for the course when trying to get a Wii. Nor am I sure what benefit this will really have, maybe you guys could do soemthing with this at least.

Toys"R"Us' letter to Nick:

Dear Nicholas,

Thank you again for your recent purchase at Toysrus.com & Babiesrus.com.

We have received your order 85439XXXXX-000, and wanted to let you know that there has been an unexpected delay in the shipment of the following items:

Item: 4172131
Description: Nintendo Wii Console
Quantity: 1 @ $249.99
Shipping Method: Standard Ground

Shipping to the following address:

Nicholas
Address

We want to assure you that your order will be fulfilled once the the item(s) becomes available. Once we are able to ship the item(s) you will receive a shipping confirmation email with updated tracking information.

All of your order information will also appear in the My Account section of our website where you can:

* Track all your orders
* Change your passwords

Please allow up to 60 minutes for your order information to be updated on our system.

http://www.Toysrus.com/checkout/index.jsp

Thank you once again for your order and selecting Toysrus.com & Babiesrus.com! We are continually expanding our selection to serve you better, so be sure to visit us often for new items and the latest promotions. If you have any further questions concerning shipping, order status, payment or other website policies, visit the Help area of our website at http://www.Toysrus.com/help .

Sincerely,
Customer Service

This e-mail was from a notification-only system; please do not reply to this message.

Nick's response:

Good Afternoon,

I was writing to express my disappointment in your handling of my order 85439XXXXX-000. I was really looking forward to getting a Nintendo Wii, and was excited to hear that Toys'R'Us had them in stock this morning (Friday, May 2nd). I placed my order in the morning, and then at 12:56pm received a notice that the order had been placed on back order.

I was rather annoyed that this was the case, but understand that sometimes these things can happen. But then I checked the Toys'R'Us website, and the item was still being listed as available. I took a screencapture of this at 1:10pm. While I am personally disappointed that my item is on backorder, I am even more disappointed that Toys'R'Us continued to claim that they were available, even though they clearly were not at that point.

I am also terribly disappointed that when I called customer service to find out when they might be shipping, to find out that no one could even give me an estimate of when they might ship.

I am leaving my order active with you currently in hopes that you resolve this issue quickly, but all and all, I have been very let down with Toys'R'Us.

Respectfully,
Nick

Don't be ashamed if you don't have the Wiis, Toys"R"Us. Nobody does.

If Wii-hunting is integrated into your morning routine, consider popping into the Nintendo World Store early one morning to buy one in person. As a responsible retailers, Nintendo won't take your credit card unless the console is in stock.

Nintendo Wii Console [Toys"R"Us]
RELATED: Why Are Nintendo Wiis So Hard To Find?

(Photo: Sister72)

Since last fall, eight mostly midsize chains — as diverse as the furniture store Levitz and the electronics seller Sharper Image — have filed for bankruptcy protection as they staggered under mounting debt and declining sales.

But the troubles are quickly spreading to bigger national companies, like Linens 'n Things, the bedding and furniture retailer with 500 stores in 47 states. It may file for bankruptcy as early as this week, according to people briefed on the matter.

Even retailers that can avoid bankruptcy are shutting down stores to preserve cash through what could be a long economic downturn. Over the next year, Foot Locker said it would close 140 stores, Ann Taylor will start to shutter 117, and the jeweler Zales will close 100.

The surging cost of necessities has led to a national belt-tightening among consumers. Figures released on Monday showed that spending on food and gasoline is crowding out other purchases, leaving people with less to spend on furniture, clothing and electronics. Consequently, chains specializing in those goods are proving vulnerable.

Because retailers rely on a broad network of suppliers, their bankruptcies are rippling across the economy. The cash-short chains are leaving behind tens of millions of dollars in unpaid bills to shipping companies, furniture manufacturers, mall owners and advertising agencies. Many are unlikely to be paid in full, spreading the economic pain.

Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies [NYT] (Thanks, Stephanie!)
(Photo:hive)

"Another $50 million will come from requiring online retailers like Amazon that do not have a physical presence in New York to collect sales taxes on purchases made by New Yorkers and remit them to the state.

Oddly, until now New York residents have been asked to voluntarily provide their total sum of online purchases on their state tax forms in order to estimate a tax payment, but InternetNews wrly notes it "evidently has fallen short" of the expected revenue goals set by the state.

Although there's likely to be a legal challenge to the law, it's also possible that other states will use it as a model to levy their own sales taxes whenever there's an affiliate presence in-state. In the near future, at least, it looks like New Yorkers will soon have to start paying sales tax on Amazon purchases.

"Legislators Back Spending Rise in State's Budget" [New York Times] (Thanks to Andres!)
"'Amazon Tax' Lands in New York" [InternetNews]

RELATED
"Amazon Doesn't Love New York Tax Plan" [InternetNews]
(Cat: izarbeltza)