The moment when an elderly relative of yours uses a word that is completely unacceptable in today’s society (and was back then as well) that elicits an automatic cringe is likely a familiar, uncomfortable thing we’ve all experienced. So for all those watching a cartoon cat and mouse chase each other, smack each other around and generally taunt each other in the 1940s and 1950s, Apple and Amazon want to warn viewers that Tom and Jerry might say some questionable things, just like your Great Uncle George used to. [More]
Retail Services
Should Amazon Warehouse Workers Be Paid To Wait For Security Checks?
By 10.3.14
It makes sense that people who work in Amazon warehouses have to go through security screenings when they leave work: the job is not very well paid and consists of boxing up an unfathomable variety of items at a fast pace. The Supreme Court will decide whether the workers’ employer––temp agencies that supply the warehouse workforce––should pay them for time waiting in line for screenings. [More]
Chase Data Breach Hit 76M Households, 7M Businesses; Account Info Not Stolen
By 10.2.14
Remember that coordinated hack attack against JPMorgan Chase and other banks from August? Chase now says information — but apparently no payment data — on some 76 million households and 7 million small businesses was compromised. [More]
Supreme Court Will Hear Case Of Abercrombie Job Applicant Denied Because Of Hijab
By 10.2.14
Back in 2008, a 17-year-old in Oklahoma applied for a job at a local Abercrombie Kids store. She made the cut, but learned that the store’s “look policy” wouldn’t allow her to wear a religious head covering. Just over a year ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission won the right for employees to wear religious head coverings while they battle the cologne stench at Abercrombie, but the headscarf itself isn’t what this case is about. [More]
4 Things We Learned About The Psychology Of Costco’s Free Samples
By 10.2.14
Anyone familiar with Costco knows about the wide variety of free food samples that shoppers can score when pushing their oversized carts around one of the wholesale clubs. But as you’ve probably guessed, these samples aren’t just about providing free piecemeal lunches to customers. [More]
Pepsi To Start Selling Naturally Sweetened Soda — But Only On Amazon
By 10.1.14
Latching onto a double dose consumer trends, Pepsi will start selling naturally sweetened sodas, free of the artificial kind many people are eschewing these days, but the only way to buy the drinks is going to be online in an exclusive deal with Amazon. [More]
Study Sponsored By RetailMeNot: Customers Save $200/Hour Using RetailMeNot
By 10.1.14
A whitepaper written by a University of Texas economist and the staff of coupon site RetailMeNot.com came to a shocking conclusion: consumers can save a lot of money by using RetailMeNot and other online coupon and savings resources. How much? The site’s own statistics show that shoppers save around $17 per purchase by using deal websites, and parents with children at home saved almost twice that amount. [More]
Walmart’s Online Grocery Order Pickup Center Is Here
By 10.1.14
It looks like a lime green gas station, but the new Walmart store concept in the chain’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas doesn’t fill your gas tank: it fills your car with groceries. Announced earlier this year, Walmart Pick-Up Grocery opened on Monday, combining Walmart prices with the experience of not needing to get out of your car. [More]
Your Car From 1999 Or After Doesn’t Need A Tune-Up
By 9.30.14
Most people who drive learn the essentials of driving, traffic, car maintenance, and road rage skills from their parents. That’s what parents are for: to pass on their wisdom as well as their bad habits. We also pick up bad or outdated information along the way, like the requirement to change our oil every 3,000 miles. Or the belief that cars need frequent tune-ups. [More]
Home Depot Pepper Spray Spat Sends 4 To Hospital
By 9.30.14
The good news: It’s a Home Depot story that doesn’t involve your credit or debit card information being stolen. The not-so-good news: More than a dozen people at a California Home Depot had to be treated after a customer decided that it would be a good idea to use pepper spray on another customer. [More]
Famous, Non-Hachette Authors Join Protest Over Amazon Feud, Seek Anti-Trust Investigation
By 9.29.14
The ongoing feud between Amazon and book publisher Hachette is drawing out the big names such as Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie and other well-known, highly successful authors. So what sets these authors apart from those already pushing for Amazon to end its standoff with the publisher regarding e-book sales? Well, none of them are actually Hachette-published authors and they signal a new push for federal regulators to investigate Amazon for its allegedly shady e-book pricing tactics. [More]
Guy With A Sweet Mustache Allegedly Went On California Costco Shoplifting Spree
By 9.29.14
I’ve always wanted an awesome nickname. Apparently I should just ask the Santa Cruz, CA, police department for their input. I am officially crowning them the unofficial nickname kings (and queens) for the name bestowed on an alleged serial Costco thief: El Mustachio the Magician. [More]
Amazon Building Warehouses Everywhere, Hopes Christmas Gifts Actually Arrive By Christmas
By 9.26.14
Holiday time is shopping time in America, and millions of families turn to Amazon to get their gifts. But last year, Santa’s sleigh had some trouble getting where it needed to be on time: last-minute buying, bad weather, and snafus at UPS and FedEx meant plenty of presents were still in transit when kids went looking under the tree in the morning. Some Christmas delivery miracles occurred, but Amazon still had to issue plenty of apologies, refunds, discounts, and Prime extensions. But Amazon is determined not to see a repeat in 2014, if their year of planning and building pans out. [More]
Does Walmart’s “Savings Catcher” Actually Work?
By 9.26.14
Walmart recently began touting its “Savings Catcher” program, which allows shoppers to scan in their receipts and have Walmart determine if the customer could have paid less elsewhere. If so, the difference goes on a gift card (that can only be used at Walmart, of course). But should you trust putting your price-matching in Walmart’s hands? [More]
USPS Wants To Leave Groceries, Other Stuff On Your Doorstep At 4 A.M.
By 9.26.14
Earlier this month it was announced that the U.S. Postal Service was testing out how badly it could screw up the delivery of Amazon Fresh grocery shipments in the San Francisco area. But a recent regulatory filing shows that USPS has hopes of bringing its laid-back, carefree delivery approach to groceries and other items all around the country. [More]
Retail Experts: Sorry, But Stores Will Open Even Earlier This Thanksgiving
By 9.24.14
In 2013, we were scandalized that retailers rolled back their opening times, kicking off the Black Friday festivities as early as 6 A.M. on Thanksgiving Day. Not everyone found this idea horrifying, though, because retailers reported record Thanksgiving weekend sales last year. In their desperation to boost sales somehow by the end of 2014, experts in the industry say that America’s retailers are going to ignore that whole idea of a Thanksgiving holiday again this year. [More]
Texts From Walmart Sent To The Wrong Person Prompt Man To Confess To Murder
By 9.24.14
When most people get texts or letters meant for someone else, we either shrug it off or ask whoever it is to stop sending those mistakes. But when Walmart started texting a North Carolina man about prescriptions for someone else, he thought it meant he’d been discovered as a murderer after killing a woman 17 years ago. [More]
Amazon Testing One-Button Ordering Device For Connected Homes
By 9.24.14
These days, everything from your TV to your light bulbs to your front door deadbolt to your crock pot can be connected to the Internet, so why not one button that lets you instantly order replacements and supplies for these devices? [More]
