It’s easy to compare Jet, an e-commerce site that held its virtual grand opening today, to Amazon. The startup wants to be compared to and compete with Amazon: its founder’s last venture, Quidsi, sold household goods through the sites diapers.com, soap.com, and wag.com, and ended up acquired by Amazon. [More]
Retail Services
Jet.com Opens To The Public Today, Discounts More If You Buy More Stuff And Waive Returns
By 7.21.15
Citibank Must Pay $700M Over Illegal Marketing, Collection Practices
By 7.21.15
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Citibank and one of its subsidiaries to pay $700 million in relief to more than 8.8 million consumers for engaging in a string of illegal credit card practices, including deceptively marketing and billing for debt protection and credit monitoring services, and misrepresenting fees related to debt collection actions. [More]
Costco, Three Other Retailers Suspend Photo Sites After Third-Party Host Suffers Possible Breach
By 7.21.15
Less than a week after CVS took down its CVSphoto.com site while it investigates a possible credit card breach, at least four other retailers including Costco and Sam’s Club have suspended online photo services following notification by the company that manages or hosts photo services for the sites of a possible data breach. [More]
Craft Store Decorates Festive Back-To-School Tree To Mark Important Holiday
By 7.21.15
Years ago, I temped for about six months in an office where an artificial evergreen tree in one lobby was always on display, decorated for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, or any other event that the tree’s owner felt like observing. I’m not sure whether that creative person or even the holiday mashup artists over at Hobby Lobby would have ever thought of this decoration that reader Jason recently shared with Consumerist, though. [More]
Family Spends Evening Trapped Inside Car Dealership, Escapes Using Electric Saw
By 7.20.15
A family in Massachusetts recently had what was arguably one of their most exciting Friday nights out as a family, when they managed to get themselves locked inside the Chevy dealership where they were car-shopping. The employees had locked up for the night, apparently not noticing the family there. They called for help and none arrived, so they borrowed a saw and cut through the lock. [More]
Walmart’s Getting Really Sassy About Amazon Prime Day
By 7.20.15
While the Internet mocked Amazon’s new shopping holiday, Prime Day, and waited for a cheap large TV that they had no chance to buy, competing mega-retailer Walmart declared their own day of deals. Now that Prime Day has passed, Walmart is still making fun of the weaknesses of Amazon’s event. [More]
Amazon’s Apparel Sales Could Surpass Macy’s By 2017
By 7.20.15
While Amazon used to be the site where you bought affordable books, CDs, DVDs, and electronics, the online retailer is quickly gaining ground as a seller of designer apparel and accessories. [More]
Now Your Kid Can Enjoy A Disney-Licensed MP3 Player That’s Older Than She Is
By 7.20.15
The first film in the live-action Disney franchise High School Musical was released in 2006. Like all Disney properties, it came with a significant amount of licensed merchandise, since that’s how Disney keeps Mickey Mouse in cheddar. So this movie-branded MP3/WMA player found on a shelf at Walmart wouldn’t really have attracted our attention…if it were still 2007. [More]
In India And China, You Can Buy Your Next Home Without Leaving Home
By 7.17.15
Depending on how you feel about the way real estate works now, the idea of sticking a house in your Internet shopping cart and clicking “Buy” may or may not appeal to you. Advances in technology mean that you can buy a new house without even going outside, and get a discount for doing so…in India. [More]
Famous People Pressuring Costco To Stop Selling Eggs From Caged Hens
By 7.17.15
In an effort to get Costco to jump on the cage-free bandwagon, famous faces have been coming out against the practice of keeping hens confined, urging bulk retailer Costco to change its ways. Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Bill Maher have all recently brought the issue to the attention of the public. [More]
Customers Report Receiving $15 Best Buy Gift Cards For $15 After Pricing Error
By 7.16.15
It turns out that our post yesterday about the pricing error at Best Buy wasn’t quite accurate. When the retailer’s site offered $200 gift cards for $15, lots of people hopped on this particular bandwagon and ordered them. However, a tipster reports that some cards shipped out before best Buy caught the error. Some shipped out…and they aren’t worth $200. Well played, Best Buy. [More]
HBO Now Finally Launching On Android
By 7.16.15
Now that Apple’s exclusivity period has come and gone, users of Android devices will finally be able to access HBO Now, the standalone streaming service that lets users access HBO content online without having to pay for a basic cable package (or borrow a friend’s HBO Go password). [More]
Consumers’ Changing Banking Habits Led To 1,400 Bank Of America Branches Shuttering, More Cuts To Come
By 7.16.15
Over the past several years, Bank of America has revamped the way it provides banking services in an effort to cut costs and respond to consumers’ changing banking habits. Those operation modifications have not only included shutting down some drive-thru windows, but the closure of nearly a fifth of the company’s branches. [More]
Cribs Recalled After Reports That Brackets Can Break, Trapping Or Injuring Infants
By 7.16.15
All recalls are important to take note of, but those related to the safety of products used specifically for the youngest consumers – babies – are often of the utmost importance. And while a recent recall for Bexco is relatively small, because there’s a risk of entrapment of infants the issue falls into the “take note” category. [More]
Amazon’s Prime Day Gets Mixed Reviews, But Company Says Sales Were Up
By 7.16.15
While Amazon’s Prime Day didn’t get off to such a great start with customers reporting they weren’t able to get the “lightning deals” in their carts, it looks like the hype surrounding the Prime member-exclusive deal-day paid off: people were talking and spending money. [More]
Google Begins Testing Buy Button On Select Mobile Searches
By 7.15.15
Google has finally made good on those reports that it would simplify the smartphone shopping experience by allowing users to simply hit a “buy button” to complete a transaction straight from sponsored search results, rather than toggling between retailer websites. Today, the company announced it is officially testing what it calls Purchases. [More]
Best Buy Sells $200 Gift Cards For $15, Cancels Orders
By 7.15.15
Late last night, Best Buy posted what seemed like the greatest Black Friday in July deal ever: a $200 gift card for only $15. This was an obvious pricing error, but humans are humans, and people were willing to put up with an Isaac Mizrahi-designed floral gift card if it meant that they would get $185 in free money. Fortunately for Best Buy, they corrected the pricing error after only a few hours. [More]
Amazon’s Prime Day Not Off To A Thrilling Start
By 7.15.15
Amazon’s Prime Day was supposed to be a celebration of the company’s 20th birthday as well as a shopping frenzy festival to rival Black Friday. After more than a week of hype, customers are finding the deals underwhelming. When one reader did find something he actually wanted, he was unable to get the limited-duration “Lightning deal” into his cart. [More]
