Although consumers were warned several times this year that gift cards might not be the best option when buying something for their loved ones, some likely continued buying the plastic cards as gifts. If you found yourself on the receiving end of a not-so-wanted or needed gift card, you now have the option to trade it in for a Walmart gift card – and a couple of big catches. [More]
Retail Services
Walmart Offers Gift Card Trade-In Program If You Don’t Mind Getting Less Than The Card Is Worth
By 12.29.14
Be On The Lookout For Boxes Of Rocks When Shopping For Post-Holiday Deals
By 12.29.14
In the coming weeks, some retailers will be offering deals on unsold stock of popular holiday gift items. Sometimes stores are up-front about whether or not a particular product was previously purchased and returned, while many just put these items back into inventory with the truly new stuff. That’s why you need to open up those boxes before you leave the store — or else risk getting home to find you’ve purchased a box of rocks. [More]
Walmart Loses Customer’s Black Friday Order, Tells Her To Re-Order At Full Price
By 12.24.14
We know that mistakes happen and things occasionally get lost in shipping, especially when you’re talking about the world’s largest retailer during the year’s busiest shopping season. But if a retailer admits to misplacing your order, it shouldn’t try to cash in on its own screw-up by charging you more than you had already paid. [More]
Walmart To Raise Base Pay At 1,434 Stores Because Of State Minimum Wage Hikes
By 12.24.14
As a result of minimum wage increases coming in nearly half of the U.S. states next year, the lowest-paid employees at about 1/3 of Walmart’s U.S. stores are reportedly due for a pay bump in 2015. [More]
LinkWallet Doesn’t Ship Wallets, Promises Refunds By December 2015
By 12.23.14
Back in early September, Consumerist featured the LinkWallet, an ultra-thin, smartphone-connected wallets funded through Kickstarter that caught backers’ imaginations and $59,000 of their money. There were several similar wallets available around then, but what distinguished the LinkWallet was the creators’ apparent inability to ship wallets. LinkWallet had assured everyone that the wallets would ship by the end of 2014: how’s that going? [More]
Video Shows 78-Year-Old Walmart Worker Injuring Hip Trying To Check Shoplifter’s Receipt
By 12.23.14
While we certainly understand and appreciate the idea of employing older Americans as greeters at Walmart, we cringe every time we come across a story of another elderly worker injured after being put in the position of trying to prevent shoplifting. [More]
Retailers Extend Hours, Enable Last-Minute Christmas Shopping
By 12.22.14
If you celebrate Christmas, yet aren’t done with your shopping yet, don’t feel bad: the nation’s retailers are here to help you spend your money as the business days count down to the holiday. Some department and big-box stores are open around the clock, and online retailers will help you avoid human interaction while using express shipping to order gifts. [More]
Target Shoppers Get Go-Ahead To Sue Retail Giant Over 2013 Hack
By 12.19.14
A year after Target discovered it was the, well, target of one of the largest retailer hacks ever, and a few weeks after banks got permission to sue the corporation, Target shoppers have now gotten the all-clear for their lawsuits, too. [More]
Reminder: Don’t Buy Gift Cards From People Standing Outside Walmart
By 12.19.14
With just a few days remaining to finish your holiday shopping, you might feel compelled to buy a gift card and call it good. While that gifting idea might be suited for your needs, authorities are reminding consumers that you shouldn’t purchase the cards from a stranger standing outside a retailer — or a stranger walking around anywhere shilling gift cards, for that matter.
. [More]
Kmart Layaway Customers: Keep Your Eyes Peeled For Refunds
By 12.18.14
If you’re one of the many upset people we’ve heard from after Kmart canceled many layaway orders and at first, told some customers refunds might not arrive in time to buy replacement Christmas presents, keep your eyes peeled for that money to be coming back to you soon, if it hasn’t already. [More]
Former Countrywide Exec Who Helped Secure Bank Of America’s Billion-Dollar Settlement Gets $57M
By 12.18.14
Back in August, the Department of Justice announced a record-setting $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America to resolve multiple federal and state claims involving the bank’s bad behavior leading up to the collapse of the housing market. Now, the former executive who became a whistle-blower to assist federal prosecutors in the matter is set to receive $57 million of the hefty settlement. [More]
Police: Man Faked Heart Attack At Walmart While Pal Took Off With Cart Full Of Toys
By 12.18.14
You’re shopping or working at Walmart when a young man collapses in front of you, showing signs of a heart attack. What do you do? You tend to the victim, because you are a human being with a soul. However, police say when this happened in Florida, two men took advantage of the functioning souls of the people around them to steal a cart filled with toys. [More]
Amazon Prime Now: One-Hour NYC Delivery So New, Only One ZIP Code Has It (So Far)
By 12.18.14
UPDATE: A rep for Amazon tells Consumerist that while the new service was only available in the 10001 Manhattan ZIP code when it launched this morning (and of this writing), the company is adding other areas of the city throughout the day.
Here’s a hypothetical: You wake up one morning to find that you’ve run out of toothpaste, what do you do? Sure, you could walk the two blocks to the local drug store and pick up a box. Or if you’re an Amazon Prime member you could just sit on the couch and wait an hour for some paste to be delivered, that is, as long as you live in a small section of Manhattan and feel like paying a shipping cost double that of the toothpaste. [More]
Amazon Offers Special Deal On The Perfect Gift: Sticks
By 12.17.14
Wooden sticks are a wonderfully versatile item. You can use them to hit people you don’t like, or to knit homemade mittens for people you do like. You could use one to stir paint, or use a pile of them to build a house for dolls. Only your imagination limits the possibilities. [More]
USPS Workers Say They’re Overworked Thanks To Delivering Your Holiday Packages On Sundays
By 12.17.14
Once upon a time, Sundays provided a much-needed day of rest for the nation’s postal service workers. But that all changed when the United States Postal Service and Amazon kicked off a partnership to deliver packages seven days a week, and now, a year later, workers say the deal has resulted in long hours and weeks without a single day off. [More]
Kmart Apologizes For Layaway Debacle, Says Some Cancellations Were “Inadvertent”
By 12.17.14
UPDATE: Sears Holding Company has now posted a new entry on its blog with instructions for customers affected by the layaway fiasco. [More]
Goodwill Puts All Of The Good Stuff In Special Hipster-Focused Boutique
By 12.17.14
Attention young, hip shoppers: do you want to dress yourself in thrifted clothing, yet you don’t want to spend hours combing through the racks of actual thrift stores? Great news for thrifty shoppers who are too snobby or pressed for time to shop in thrift stores: Goodwill Industries is trying out new store formats for people who only want designer-label goods, and for hipsters. [More]
Seller Hit By Amazon Glitch Reportedly Threatens Buyers With Debt Collection If They Don’t Pay Full Price
By 12.16.14
Following a major software glitch that allowed consumers to purchase hundreds of items on the Amazon UK marketplace for mere pennies, it appears that some retailers are trying to recoup their lost income from customers, even going as far as to threaten debt collection if purchasers don’t pay full price. [More]
