Jay Goltz, a small business owner in Chicago, thinks there are three reasons why customer service is so terrible at so many companies.
Anna Wintour Doesn't Understand Why Price Fixing Has To Be Illegal
By July 30, 2009
The editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, proposed a novel solution to the problems that plague clothing retailers at a recent industry meeting. And by “novel” we mean “she’s completely clueless.”
Watch Out For Best Buy's Extended Warranties
By July 30, 2009
HD Guru took a deeper look at the extended warranties and service plans Best Buy pushes on customers who buy expensive electronics like hi-def TVs. You probably won’t be surprised to find out that the fine print negates a lot of what the person or pamphlet on the sales floor will try to promise you—but you might be surprised at just how useless these plans can be when you get right down to it.
Teavana Salesperson Throws Involuntary Tea Party
By July 8, 2009
When you think of “boutique tea,” you probably don’t associate it with obnoxious upsells and sneaky add-ons. If you do, perhaps you’ve visited the same Teavana outlet as one of our readers. Michael was so annoyed with his recent visit to the Willow Grove, Penn. store that when he realized what had happened, he had to share it with Consumerist over a nice cup of white needle tea.
The Duct Tape Shoplifters: Coming Soon To A Mall Near You?
By July 7, 2009
Watch out for organized, highly trained teams of shoplifters in your local mall. They aren’t small-time operators—they stole $23,000 worth of bras and panties from a West Virginia Victoria’s Secret. No, really.
Kmart Launches Christmas Site In July
By July 7, 2009
You know “Christmas in July?” Kmart does. They sent a mailing out to customers today about their new site, Christmas Lane. It promises “the best deals for Christmas, 5 months early.” To us, that’s more of a threat than a promise.
Best Buy Shrinks Reward Zone Program
By July 6, 2009
Reader IfThenElvis forwarded us the following email he received alerting him to changes in the Reward Zone program from Best Buy. He adds, “I can’t tell if this is good new or not. I suspect not.” It’s not the end of the world or anything, but it definitely marks a slight constriction in the program.
Why The Fashion Industry Can't Make Clothes That Fit Actual People
By June 19, 2009
Another week, another article about brick-and-mortar stores phasing out their plus-sized clothing lines. (Edit: And here’s another!) For those who missed it, Tatiana the Anonymous Model over at Jezebel posted an interesting essay on the economics of women’s fashion, comparing pattern development issues designers face when developing both petite and plus sizes.
Eddie Bauer Jumps In The Bankruptcy Pool
By June 17, 2009
Eddie Bauer is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy, and it says it hopes to be sold outright rather than try to reorganize, refinance, or liquidate. The AP says the clothing company had “$476.1 million in assets and $426.7 million in debt at the time of the filing Wednesday with the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware,” and that by declaring Chapter 11 now it hopes to reassure suppliers and stave off impending cash flow problems.
Circuit City Sends Rebate Check One Year After Purchase
By June 4, 2009
Jan bought a keyboard from Circuit City last year. Since then, the company filed Chapter 11, the stores liquidated and closed, and another company bought the name. But last week, Jan finally-FINALLY-received her rebate check. Now she wants to know: is cashing this thing a good idea?
Punishing Customers For Buying More: Now Worldwide
By May 28, 2009
Theoretically, if you buy more of something, you should pay less per item, or per unit. That’s the entire point of buying things in bulk. Right? Not necessarily. To confuse the logical part of your brain this fine morning, here’s a collection of instances where customers pay more when they buy more.
Sorry, 2009's Clothing Discounts Will Be Less Insane
By May 27, 2009
Clothing retailers are holding off on their crazy, desperate discounts a bit, and plan to discount less aggressively this summer. Why? Women’s Wear Daily reports that it’s not so much that the economy’s improving (it really isn’t) or unemployment has stopped rising (it hasn’t) but Americans need stuff. Retailers anticipate that they will need to mark down, but not at the desperate levels that have characterized the last six months or so.
Credit Card Processors Launch A New Strategy To Defeat Theft
By May 26, 2009
This fall, credit card processors will being rolling out a new approach to preventing data theft, based on the assumption that it’s impossible to thwart every attack. Instead of keeping 100% of criminals out, they’ll segment and encrypt the data into such small chunks that it will no longer be a cost-effective crime.
Need A Suit? S&K Menswear Closing All 105 Stores
By May 25, 2009
The decline in the “work clothing” market continues to take its toll. S&K Menswear are closing all 105 of their retail stores. The liquidation will be handled by Gordon Brothers, so don’t expect any actual deals. Going-out-of-business sales started on Thursday, May 21.
By May 22, 2009
Circuit City is dead. Long live Circuit City! Circuitcity.com is already about to relaunch. They’ll let everyone know via Twitter when they open. No word whether they will actually be distinguishable from TigerDirect.
Size 16 Goes Online-Only In Ann Taylor Stores
By May 21, 2009
Ann Taylor will no longer carry size 16 items in their retail stores. “But they’re keeping it online,” our tipster Dena observed. “In other words, ‘Hey, wide load! Stay out of our stores! Oh, but keep giving us your cash.’”
Reader Has Amazing Best Buy Experience
By May 19, 2009
Our reader The_Lone_Gunman just had a great experience with the Best Buy in Irving, Texas. Snark fails us at a time like this, so we’ll just humbly print his email.
The Sort-Of Comeback Of CompUSA
By May 19, 2009
We previously reported that CompUSA refuses to die, and has reappeared. What I never expected to see was an article in BusinessWeek touting the reborn CompUSA’s success.
