Earlier this year, Amazon began offering one of the very few categories of items not already available from the mega-retailer: collectibles, including the famous Saddle Ridge Hoard of rare gold coins. This may or may not catch on with Amazon shoppers, but raises an interesting question: what if you could easily make an offer on any item on Amazon, or even any item for sale online? [More]
Retail Services
Kmart Ruins Christmas By Canceling Layaway Orders, Holding Onto Refunds
By 12.16.14
UPDATE 12/18: Kmart says it’s finished processing all refunds, and customers should be receiving them “soon.”
UPDATE 12/17: Kmart has apologized for the debacle, saying some contracts were “inadvertently” canceled but people still might not get the item they ordered in time. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Will Stay Open For 39 Hours Straight Leading Up To Christmas Eve
By 12.16.14
It’s no 100-hour marathon like Kohl’s is holding this year leading up to Christmas, and it’s not the four straight days of staying open its stores have pulled in the past, but Toys “R” Us is extending its holiday hours for last-minute shoppers again this year. [More]
Eddie Lampert Blogs Mini-Manifesto About Why Sears Has Shed 200 Stores
By 12.16.14
Americans seem to love and hate their Kmart and Sears stores: our posts linking to unofficial but comprehensive closing lists have been very popular in the last few weeks. Americans apparently love to complain about their Sears Holdings stores, but don’t really want them to go away. Sears Holdings CEO and chief manifesto-writer Eddie Lampert recently took to the company’s blog to explain why the chain is getting rid of up to 200 stores. [More]
Court Affirms $151M Ruling Against Walmart For Making Employees Work Off The Clock
By 12.16.14
When employees claim that their employer systematically forces them to work through breaks or other times during which they aren’t getting paid, how far do they have to go to prove that this is not a fluke particular to just a few stores? This is the question at the core of Walmart’s most recent appeal of a 12-year-old lawsuit that could cost the company nearly $200 million. [More]
Amazon Extends Free Holiday Shipping Deadline, But Still Can’t Control Weather
By 12.16.14
With the countdown to Christmas officially in the single digits, procrastinators of the world had better get a move on ordering their gifts if they want them delivered by the holiday. That is unless you plan to shop with Amazon, apparently. The online retailer is giving those dragging their feet a little extra time by extending their free Christmas delivery. But, as we’ve learned in the past, just because the company says you’ll get your gift in time doesn’t mean it will actually happen. [More]
Another Layaway Angel Swoops In, Pays $50K Worth Of Bills At Pennsylvania Walmart
By 12.16.14
In a season where there can be Grinches around every corner and bah-humbuggers just waiting to get ya, it’s always fun to hear about those layaway angels who go around paying off other shoppers’ bills all in one fell swoop. We’ve landed a big one today, folks — someone’s just paid off $50,000 in layaway items in Pennsylvania. [More]
HBO Go Now On Amazon Fire TV Boxes (Not So Fast, Comcast Customers)
By 12.15.14
The Amazon Fire TV set-top box just got a lot more worthwhile for people wanting to add HBO to TVs without getting additional cable boxes. That is, unless you’re a Comcast customer. [More]
GameStop CFO Says Company Will Weather Walmart, But Hints At Continued Store Closures
By 12.15.14
There are currently around 6,000 GameStop locations, meaning most people don’t have to drive very far to trade in a used game. But how will the company weather the two storm fronts of increased competition from major retailers and the shift toward digital downloads of games? [More]
Layaway Angels Fan Out, Hit West Virginia And Tennessee
By 12.15.14
Layaway is a useful tool that some retailers only offer during the holiday season. Let lets consumers without access to credit pick out gifts and pay them off over time––and, as one mother pointed out to me, keeps gifts hidden at the store, far away from impatient, snooping kids. Layaway was dying out before the Great Recession, and came back with its own folk heroes: the Layaway Angels. [More]
Today Is The Biggest Shipping Day Of The Year
By 12.15.14
Today is it: traditionally, December 15 is the highest-volume shipping and mailing day of the entire year. The U.S. Postal Service will process 640 million cards, letters, postcards, periodicals, catalogs, and packages today alone. FedEx is doing its part, processing 22.6 million packages today. UPS says that its busiest day will be next Monday, as people try to get last-minute Christmas gifts to their destinations. [More]
Amazon Marketplace Glitch Brings Early Christmas To Shoppers, Nightmare For Sellers
By 12.15.14
Every once in a while a company will suffer an online glitch that leads to consumers purchasing items at bargain-basement prices. While most of the recent buying free-for-alls came courtesy of deeply discounted airline tickets, an issue on Amazon’s UK marketplace Friday gave new meaning to the idea of a holiday fire sale when thousands of items went were priced for a little as one penny (or 2 pennies if you’re in the United States). [More]
Santa Exists, Dropped $20K To Pay Off Toys ‘R’ Us Layaway Accounts
By 12.12.14
News stories about “layaway angels,” people who stop by a retailer’s layaway counter and pay off the balances of strangers, became very popular during the holiday season of 2011. They’ve since become a recurring tradition, and this year we have mostly heard about people spending five-figure amounts to pay off everyone’s balance in a show of generosity. [More]
The LEGO Female Scientists Are Back, Maybe Indefinitely
By 12.12.14
Earlier this year, LEGO introduced a limited-edition set of minifig female scientists along with essential work equipment like a telescope and a dinosaur skeleton. They sold out quickly, and many female fans of LEGO and/or science were disappointed that the set wouldn’t become permanent. Just in time for Christmas, LEGO quietly put the set back up for sale, and they may be available permanently in the company’s retail stores. [More]
Customers Complain Of Rashes From The Fitbit Charge
By 12.12.14
Fitbit claims that only about 2% of the people who purchased its best-selling Force wearable fitness tracker experienced skin reactions, some of them extremely painful, itchy, or unpleasant. We don’t know yet what proportion of buyers of the company’s new Charge wristbands have complained of skin irritation, but we now know that it’s more than zero: including a reviewer for Yahoo Tech who otherwise liked the device. [More]
If You Plan To Steal $10,000 From Your Job, Don’t Use Your Employee Info For Transactions
By 12.12.14
Several months ago Consumerist reported on what might have been Walmart’s worst employee: a worker arrested for stealing cash from a customer and food from the company’s deli. While that incident was indeed bad, a Tennessee employee who allegedly stole thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash by using her employee information might just take over the title. [More]
Bank Of America’s Laughable Defense For 5 Years Of Unwanted Robocalls
By 12.11.14
Earlier today, we told you about a $1 million judgement against Bank of America for making five years of unwanted robocalls to a couple who sent the bank multiple cease and desist demands. Since then, BofA has reached out to Consumerist with an explanation that is too funny to just post as an update within that story. [More]
Best Buy Promotes Itself With Hilarious Reference To Real-Life Murder
By 12.11.14
If you’re not a listener of the podcast “Serial,” you might have glanced at something that Best Buy tweeted earlier today and thought that it was either a complete non sequitur or a very roundabout promotion for mobile phones. “We have everything you need. Unless you need a payphone,” said the official Twitter account of America’s biggest electronics retailer. Ha ha! Murder is hilarious! [More]
