20 different ways to make good use of carpet remnants. We like the idea of having them in the car for throwing under the tires in case of too much mud or snow. [Frugal For Life]

Want to reduce your Bank of America spam mail? Our commenter tinder posted a link to their opt-out page in our earlier post on Chase spam. [www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/]

[cybercjh.com] http://cybercjh.com/blog/2008/03/19/target-yeah-we-probably-dont-got-that/

Ah, mine dear Target. How doest thou expect to increase sales and compete with thine arch enemy Hell-Mart when thou hast not in stock what thou hast advertised in thine circular?

So, Tina and I have decided to turn our sitting room into a real sitting room. You know, a comfy place to park your butt after a long day of … uh … sitting and typing … and thinking. Thinking makes you tired. Anyway, we see this in the Target circular: Oooohhhh, pretty. And, it can also be used outdoors once we screen in the lanai and get the pool and tiki bar installed. (Oh, speaking of the tiki bar … I wrote to Pepsi and asked them if they would like to be the official sponsor of our tiki bar. In exchange, I promise not to serve Coca-Cola products. I have not yet heard back from them but I’m confident negotiations will begin soon.) Anyway, Tina and I talk about it and we decide what pieces of the wicker set we want and off to Target we go to make our purchase. I must say that the Target employee that helped us was very nice and friendly and very apologetic for what was about to happen: So, we went home with just 4 of the 9 things we originally went there for. I’m going to the Stuart store tonight to see if they have the love seat and the coffee table. Tina is probably going to stop at the Boynton Beach or Delray Beach store on her way home tonight to see if they have the end tables and the other lamp. With gas prices the way they are, why does Target find it necessary to force their customers to drive all over creation to multiple stores to complete the set that’s advertised in their circular? Seems kinda dumb to me.

Order your pictures on Flickr. Then, try to pick them up at Target. Then, try again. And, again…

On Friday morning, I ordered some pictures off Flickr and I chose to pick them up at the Target store in Stuart. I get there around 6pm and I’m told that the employee who works in the photo lab was out sick and nobody’s pictures were printed. Well, I’m not going to get mad although I can’t understand why that person was the only one in the store who can work the photo lab. I just shrugged it off and said I’d be back next week. Yesterday (Tuesday), I go back to the store and I’m told that the photo lab employee is on her 15 minute break. So, I hung around for a while. Eventually, I end up back at the photo lab where the employee tells me that she has no record of ever receiving an order from Flickr under my name. Ugh. Why not? I got a confirmation. So, I just left and figured I’d go home and e-mail Flickr to ask them what in the hell is going on. Later that night, I get a call from the photo lab employee who said she found my order after rebooting her computer and my pictures will be done by tomorrow. So, I’m going today. We’ll see what happens.

[blogs.clevescene.com]

Hello,      I wanted to write about an experience I have had with CompUSA's TAP group.  Now that all the stores are closed, I had an issue with my MacBook Pro's battery no functioning correctly.  When the store had announced it was closed, I immediately ordered the "replacement battery" that came with the extended plan.  Now, My Apple battery finally died.  Opened my battery that they had sent me, only to find out that it was DOA.  Great.   I immediately called the TAP Group, only to find out that they cannot do anything because "it is outside of the re-work" policy.  I had talked to four different departments in total, all of them told me that there is nothing they can do.  Now I am stuck with two dead batteries, and no service plan that will cover it.   Also, just for a laugh I asked him about the "two broken screens" policy, as they had told me that even if you crack the screen, or even put a knife through it, it was covered.   Turns out that CompUSA stores were using a loophole in the system to cover this.  I just wanted to share my story, in hope of maybe this will enlighten other people to never trust a service plan again.   Isaac

Going along with all the recent posts about reciept checking, I've been thinking about tricky ways stores could make reciept checking mandatory.  My favorite theory (which I hope never comes to fruition) is the following: What if a store were to sell you merchandise, but claim that the bag and reciept were their property (akin to my University ID stating "This card is University property")? Could they print a line on the reciept & bag to the effect of "This reciept/bag is WallyWorld propety and must be surrendered on request of WallyWorld or their designee"?  Your merchandise is yours once it's been paid for, and they have no business seeing it, but the reciept and bag were not purchased- they technically still belong to the store. Any thoughts?

Chase is no longer increasing the rates of cardmembers based on their credit-bureau information as of March 1, 2008.   http://www.cardratings.com/creditcardnews/2007/11/chase-will-no-longer-increase-rates.html

Hey consumerist! This is an awfully tiny window you have me typing in here! ;) Following is a letter I am sending off to Micro Center Customer Ralations regarding a positive experience I had at my local store. It is exceedingly long for your format, so please feel free to edit the hell of it if you'd like to use it. -Aaron
On Saturday, March 15^th, I purchased a $400 digital camera from my local Microcenter (3710 Highway 100 South, St. Louis Park, MN). Considering how difficult it can be to actually exchange cash for goods and services at retail stores these days, I thought I would write this letter outlining my very positive experience.   Micro Center’s March ad showed a Canon Powershot 5IS for $400.00. I have been looking at a number of cameras over the past month and this was one of those atop my list. It was available on the internet for as little as $289, but based on anecdotal horror stories about buying cameras online, I decided to purchase locally.   In my town, we have both Best Buy and Circuit City. Neither of these choices appeals to me, as I have had less than stellar experience at both. Once inside a Circuit City I feel as if I am being literally accosted by no less than six sales people in any given department; perhaps I tend to come in when business is slow. Best Buy is the polar opposite; I generally can’t find an employee to save my life; not that I’d want to talk to one anyway. I do my research and find that I am considerably more informed about a given product than any of their “trained” staff. I also abhor the receipt checking that goes on there. Suffice it to say, I refuse to give either of these chains my money, despite the fact that they both had the camera for $50 less than Micro Center’s advertised sale price. I also avoid Wal-Mart, but that’s based on a completely different set of principles.   I did not consider the $50 a problem; I could just print out the price from Circuit City’s website and ask for the difference.   I wandered into the ridiculously crowded camera/memory/accessories area. With so many customers around, I wondered if I was going to be able to talk to anyone. I found the camera I wanted, but the display case was devoid of anything, not just the Canon. I worried that they might not have much in the way of stock, so I got an associate’s attention and asked if they had the camera. After checking the computer, Brandon indicated they had several. I showed him my printout and he agreed to do match the price, provided that Circuit City had the camera in stock. Apparently it is policy to match prices only on in-stock items. Not surprisingly, he could not get a person on the line at two different Circuit City stores. Since their website indicated that the item was available for pickup, he decided that was enough to adjust the price.   Now, one of my biggest complaints regarding the two previously mentioned stores, is the relentless pursuit of the extended warranty. I never buy them, ever. I did ask Brandon to list the benefits of Micro Center’s, but at a cost of $100-150, it was far too expensive. I told him I still had the six year old camera I was replacing, and it was in perfect condition; I was careful with my electronics. His response? “Okay. Some people aren’t quite so careful, and need a plan to protect them.” That was it, no hard sell. I felt as though he respected that I fully understood the implications of forgoing the warranty, and was making an informed choice.   As we headed for the checkout, Brandon enquired as to whether I need and memory cards; since I have other devices which use SD memory, I did not.   Now, I tend to be wary of the inflation of a purchase with over-priced, unneeded accessories, but I really got the impression Brandon was concerned with my having everything I needed, rather than his commission.   He did remind me about batteries, and I discovered a fifteen minute quick charger complete with four Nimh cells. I think it was the car adapter that sold me on the rather high $40 cost.   Brandon offered to meet me at the register while I was off getting batteries, saving us both time.   I paid $427 for the camera and rechargeable kit, and off I went. I was genuinely happy both with my purchase and the experience. I am usually quite ticked off upon leaving one of the other stores.   In closing, thank you, Micro Center for operating a retail store with a consumer-friendly environment. And, thank you Brandon Hoel for respecting me and my time and getting me in and out of your store quickly and smoothly.   I want to mention that I work as a desktop technician, and often I am asked by my customers where they should purchase a cable, upgrade, or accessory. Based on my repeated experience at Micro Center, I have in the past, and will in the future, feel perfectly comfortable in sending customers your way.

My Recent Best Buy experience: I am a 22 year old computer engineer. I am also a garage drummer. In my garage I have my kit a 4.1 surround sound and a laptop. <a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i30.tinypic.com/1zdi5l.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> The laptops built in sound card was terrible so I wanted to upgrade. I head over to my local best buy and look for the Creative USB 5.1 surround sound (http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10702). Now some background I worked at a best buy for a year, and im well aware that the staff is generally untrained and incompetent. But this leads into something I didn't expect; blunt lying. On my search around the computer dept I could not find the sound card, In the past I had seen it there and so I figured maybe they placed it somewhere else. So I looked for a sales associate. I find one and he points to the spot that I had just been searching and walks away from me. Ok I am fine with that. I find the dept lead and tell him the product I am trying to locate. He heads over to there computer system and types in “creative USB” it comes up with multiple internal sound cards but no external. Now I expect him to just say “Sorry we no longer carry that item” and I would be on my way, This did not occur. The dept lead turns to me and says “ theres no item like that you cant upgrade a laptops sound card” I politely responded “well there is a usb sound card out there ill just check another store” he responds “ excuse me but obviously I am not making my point, your just going to waste your time going to another store, it doesn't exist.” Now I am a generally mild tempered person but this bothered me. Because had I known any less I may have taken this persons advice and go home unsatisfied, I could just see that he had the mentality to often lie to customers. I finally responded and said “ok, you obviously dont know what you are talking about I am just going to leave.” he then again says louder “you are just wasting your time, just buy a better laptop” Thats it I had enough. I approach the store manager thats walking around w/ a balloon attached to his clipboard and explain the situation. The store managers response was “ our computer sales associates are well trained and if they say it does not exist, it must be true and you are wasting your time.” Appalled I shake my head leave the store and head to our local “micro-center” At micro center I pick up my creative usb 5.1 as well as a information card on the product. I head home and log onto the creative website as well as new-egg and print out the detailed specs on the product. I head back to the best buy, with my information in hand on this product, I approach the store manager who was quite surprised to see me again. I show him the product and information that I had collected. He then pages over the dept lead that I spoke to, and I requested an apology for his actions, “obviously the product exists I just want to know why you were so insistent on why I should give up my search for this product” with a stunned look on his face, he says “this is ridiculous I don't have time to deal with this Bullsh&*” Says this in front of his store manager, The dept lead just walks away and the store manager requests me to leave the store. Again appalled I said im sick of this service I want the number to cooperate I am going to file a formal complaint. The store manager responds in saying you cannot do this cooperate does not take complaints. I said ill find out for myself. Again he refuses to give me the number, At this point im getting heated and making a bit of a scene. Security comes over and is now “escorting me” out of the building. I later called the cooperate office and told them of my experience they apologized and said action would be taken, which It probably wont but, for anyone that goes into theses stores expecting a knowledge base, do your research first. Thank you, ACR.