Even though it hasn’t launched, mobile payment system CurrentC is already making headlines, and not just for being hacked. It’s also the reason iPhone 6 users can’t use Apple Pay at some of the country’s biggest stores, including Walmart, CVS, and Best Buy. But the CEO of the Walmart-led consortium behind CurrentC says that its backers won’t be blacking out Apple Pay forever. [More]
Retail Services
Amazon Adds Unlimited Cloud Photo Storage For Prime Members
By 11.4.14
In a bid to dangle a little something extra to attract customers and keep the ones it has signed up, Amazon is now offering unlimited photo storage in its cloud for members of its Prime subscription service. That includes any and all digital images, at no extra cost. [More]
Kmart Will Open At 6 A.M. On Thanksgiving, Stay Open 42 Hours Straight
By 11.3.14
This year, Kmart is sticking with its dubious tradition and opening on Thanksgiving Day. Like last year, they’re opening at 6 A.M., and will keep the doors open for 42 consecutive hours until midnight on Saturday. Maybe if they keep the doors open for that long, someone will wander in. [More]
Bank Of America Says Online Banking Has Been Restored After Outage
By 11.3.14
After Bank of America customers complained this afternoon of not being able to access their accounts online for a few hours, the bank said the issue has been fixed. [More]
Equipment Catches Fire At Amazon Warehouse, Your Stuff Is Fine
By 11.3.14
In the early hours of Saturday morning, there was a fire at the Amazon.com fulfillment center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Warehouse workers and the local fire department were able to contain the fire, no one was injured, and none of your stuff that you haven’t ordered yet was damaged. [More]
Sears Holds Appliance Sale, Redefines The Word ‘All’
By 11.3.14
In recent weeks, Sears has had some really great appliance sales, trying to drum up some business. That’s great news for Sears and for anyone who needs a new dishwasher, but confusing news for consumers who took last week’s ad literally. It offered an additional 15% off “all appliances” for customers who used their Sears credit cards, which some customers naively thought meant all appliances. [More]
Kmart Insists Customers Should Have No Layaway Problems At Closing Stores
By 11.3.14
Right now, there are two seemingly incompatible things going on in Kmart stores: the retailer is pushing layaway contracts for the holiday season, and also closing many stores. While the company insists that this should not lead to customer confusion, it took a while for some stores to get on-message. [More]
John Oliver: Lowe’s Robot Won’t Keep Couples From Killing Each Other At Hardware Store
By 11.3.14
Last week, Lowe’s unveiled the test of a customer service robot at one of its Orchard Supply stores and we pointed out that it’s really just doing the job Lowe’s should be asking of its employees. What we were remiss in mentioning is the other important aspect of home-improvement store customer service — preventing married couples from murdering each other while shopping. [More]
This Target Call Of Duty Promo Is Either Not Bad Or Chintziest Thing Ever
By 10.31.14
The new Call of Duty game comes out next week, and various retailers are doing what they can to lure in buyers. For example, Best Buy and others are putting the game on sale at the exact same time nationwide so that the West Coast doesn’t have to wait hours to gripe about the multiplayer server’s inevitable crash, and Target’s Canadian stores are offering what is either a not-horrible Dorito’s tie-in or the cheapest giveaway we’ve seen in years. [More]
Petition Demands Big Banks Give Consumers Back Our Right To Sue
By 10.31.14
Since 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that it was perfectly okay for companies to take away a consumer’s right to sue — and their ability to join other wronged consumers in a class action — by inserting a paragraph or two of text deep in lengthy, unchangeable contracts, the rush has been on for almost every major retailer, wireless provider, cable company, and financial institution to slap these mandatory binding arbitration clauses into their customer agreements. Now one petition is gathering signatures, calling on the nation’s largest banks to put an end to the practice. [More]
Florida Man Stuffs Chainsaw Up Shirt, Tries To Bicycle Away
By 10.31.14
A few years ago, we shared the story of a bold shoplifter who thought that nobody would notice if he stuffed a chainsaw down his pants and tried to make a break for it. Someone will notice, as it turns out. In Florida, police say that a man tried to commit a similar crime this week, only with the chainsaw stuffed in his shirt. He did not succeed. [More]
Does Using Someone Else’s Costco Card To Steal From Store Count As Burglary?
By 10.31.14
When you leave a store without having paid for something, you’ve likely committed the crime of theft, but if you use someone else’s card to get into a warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s Club and then walk out of the store without paying for items in your bag, have you also committed the crime of burglary? A New Mexico appeals court says no, but it depends on where you live. [More]
Developmentally Disabled Man Falls Over Mall Railing, Dies
By 10.31.14
Police say that what happened yesterday at the Palisades Center mall in the suburbs of New York City was a terrible accident. Residents from a nearby group home for developmentally disabled adults were on a trip to the local mall, and somehow––nobody knows quite how yet––one of the residents fell over a third-floor railing, landing at the bottom of an escalator near the Best Buy store. He died on the scene. [More]
Walmart Shoplifter Threatens To Infect Employee With HIV
By 10.31.14
A wannabe shoplifter at a Dallas Walmart somehow thought it would be a good idea to threaten a store employee with HIV infection rather than get in trouble for trying to pilfer $11 worth of frozen food from the retailer. [More]
Forget Black Friday, Holiday Shopping Season Starts Tomorrow
By 10.31.14
While children and parents around the country are sitting around, regretting the huge amount of sugar and chocolate consumed tonight, the folks at Walmart, Amazon and other stores are not only busting out the holiday decorations, but reducing prices and offering short-term large-scale sales for early holiday shoppers. [More]
Walmart Might Begin Price-Matching Amazon, Other Online Retailers
By 10.30.14
It’s not uncommon for consumers to view items at a store and then purchase them for a lower price online. One of the nation’s largest retailers is apparently tired of losing those customers and may begin price-matching its online competition this holiday season; a trend retail analysts predicted less than a month ago. [More]
Most People Don’t Really Want Gift Cards This Holiday Season
By 10.30.14
Every year, the super-consultants at Deloitte LLP ask people whether they’re interested in receiving and giving any gift cards this holiday season. We used to love the concept: Back in 2007, 69% of people said that they were interested in receiving the plastic cash replacers. This year, that number is down to 37%. [More]
Here Is The Lab Where People Smash Gorilla Glass On Purpose
By 10.29.14
There’s a secret lab at Corning, the glass company, where technicians sit around and torture innocent pieces of glass. They’re not evil glass-haters: they’re testing new formulations of Gorilla Glass, the tough material that most smartphone screens and tablets are made of. Can they make Gorilla Glass tougher and in more shapes in order to replace its possible synthetic sapphire replacement? [More]
