It appears that Walmart is taking consumers’ willingness to do their banking outside of traditional banks to heart. The mega-retailer unveiled plans today that would put low-cost checking accounts into the hands of just about any consumer across the country. [More]
Retail Services
Man Sues Costco For $670,000 After Receipt-Checking Incident Leaves Him With A Broken Leg
By 9.23.14
Over the years we’ve told you about all kinds of crazy situations – from pepper-sprayed employees to arrested customers – that arose when a consumer refused to show their receipt when leaving stores like Sam’s Club and Best Buy. Now a man in Oregon is suing Costco for $670,000, claiming that a receipt-checking dispute left him with a broken leg. [More]
Artist Claims Someone Stole Her Painting From Etsy And Is Now Selling It Through Walmart
By 9.23.14
For millions of artists Etsy.com offers a personalized marketplace to sell hand-crafted, unique items without the hassle of mass production or working with national retailers. Only that’s not how it’s working for one artist who claims her painting is being sold through Walmart’s website without her permission. [More]
Minnesotans Only Have A Week Of “Tax-Free” Shopping Left On Amazon
By 9.23.14
You can now add Minnesota to the growing list of states where Amazon will be collecting sales tax from customers after a surprise announcement on Monday that, starting Oct. 1, shoppers in the state will start seeing the tax added to their purchases. [More]
Groups Say Walmart Violated Election Laws To Get Employees To Donate To PAC
By 9.22.14
Walmart can’t donate directly to their own “pro-business” political action committee, they can’t make employees donate to it, and they can’t pay employees for donating to it. Those things would all be against the law, and would draw the ire of the Federal Election Commission. But the company is legally allowed to create incentives for employees to donate to their PAC by creating matching charitable contributions. The problem? The only charity in play is one that gives to Walmart employees. According to a complaint lodged with the FEC today, that means Walmart is still basically paying off employees to make political contributions, and should be stopped. [More]
Target Learns To Round Up, Or Is Maybe Just Confused
By 9.22.14
This fan at Target has a regular price of $15.99, but was advertised in the chain’s circular as $16. “Apparently they are proud to advertise a $0.01 price hike,” writes tipster Bob. Is that it? Or has Target started to round prices up in order to make them more logical? [More]
Lululemon Sends Customer 19 Extra Running Hats, Lets Him Keep Them
By 9.22.14
The Men’s Cool Running Toque from Lululemon costs $32, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It is a sweat-wicking hat to wear while running. While a hat that keeps you both warm and cool is valuable to runners, even the most laundry-averse runner can’t possibly need twenty of them. Yet Lululemon sent one customer 20 hats, then told him to just go ahead and give them away. [More]
Did Home Depot Ignore Hack Warnings From Employees?
By 9.22.14
While the millions of us who shopped at Home Depot during the five months in which hackers were siphoning off customers’ credit/debit card data from in-store payment systems are keeping our eyes on our accounts and credit reports, former employees at the nation’s largest home improvement retailer claim they warned the company about the possibility of a breach years ago. [More]
$400M Loan From Its Own CEO Is Only 1/10 Of What Sears Needs To Stay Alive
By 9.19.14
I don’t know about you, but if someone loaned me $400 million, it would just about cover all my debts. But I’m not a sagging national retail operation that hasn’t been relevant in decades. If I were, then I’d probably need a much, much, much bigger loan to get out of hock. [More]
Procter & Gamble Removes Microbeads From Toothpastes, Still Insists They’re Safe
By 9.19.14
Microbeads are little plastic beads that appear in face washes, toothpastes, and other personal-care items. They aren’t so beautiful for America’s waterways, where the tiny beads could end up in the stomachs of the fish and fowl we like to gaze at and eat. Some lawmakers want the beads banned, but Procter & Gamble is the latest personal-care products company to dump them voluntarily. [More]
Let’s Celebrate Christmas In October 1989 With Kay-Bee Toys
By 9.19.14 — Updated: 12.21.16
We’ve been cataloging the spread of Christmas Creep, the debut of Christmas merchandise and decorations earlier in the season, for some years now, but it’s important to remember that aggressive Christmas marketing before Thanksgiving and even before Halloween is not a new phenomenon. Don’t believe us? Let’s take a trip back in time to 1989, when video game consoles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, and Transformers ruled the line drawings of the Kay-Bee Toys ad. Wait, this is really 25 years old? [More]
Sears Survives For Now, May Not Make It Through 2016
By 9.18.14
Earlier this week, we learned that Sears Holdings Corporation is borrowing $400 million to pay its bills from a hedge fund owned by its own CEO. Yet experts look at this transaction from the outside and wonder: what does it tell us that the company’s own CEO has stopped offering it unsecured credit? [More]
Home Depot Says 56 Million Credit/Debit Cards Compromised In Breach
By 9.18.14
Weeks after it was first reported that Home Depot’s in-store payment systems had been breached for many months, the world’s largest home improvement retailer has finally given some idea about the number of accounts that may have been compromised. [More]
Walmart Mexico Investigated Over Promotional Cockfight
By 9.18.14
Walmart’s Mexican operations are being investigating by authorities in the city of Boca del Rio, where customers complained a Walmart store hosted a cockfight to promote a soft drink company. The retailer says it’s the customer gripes are overblown and that, while there were indeed roosters pecking at each other, no actual cockfighting took place. [More]
Toxic PCB Contamination At Walmart Return Center Leads To Evacuation, Lawsuit
By 9.18.14
Hundreds of workers at an Indianapolis Walmart returns processing center may have been contaminated with a toxic substance last month. While the center was evacuated and employees are now undergoing medical tests, one employee has filed a lawsuit against the mega-retailer. [More]
Sears Promises 5-Minute Returns And Exchanges Without Leaving Your Car
By 9.18.14
Sears is expanding the number of in-person services that they offer to customers who are horrified at the prospect of walking into a Sears. Now you can perform in-person returns and exchanges at your local store, but without getting out of your car. What kind of wizardry is this? It’s the department store chain’s new bid to win over customers with ease and convenience. [More]
Chase Proactively Replacing Some Debit, Credit Cards Involved In Home Depot Breach
By 9.17.14
Home Depot has yet to confirm the estimated number of customer credit and debit card accounts that were compromised during the data breach that affected thousands of stores for five months, and it’s not known whether much of the stolen card info will ever be sold by the hackers now that everyone knows about the massive theft. Regardless, JPMorgan Chase has already begun the process of replacing some cards for customers who may have been affected. [More]
Sears Borrows $400 Million From Its CEO, No Conflict Of Interest Here
By 9.16.14
Sears Holdings Company keeps losing money, and they need to borrow some cash. What do you do when you have trouble getting a loan and really can’t afford to pay a lot of interest on the money you desperately need? You ask your parents. In the case of Sears, its dad is Eddie Lampert, the company’s manifesto-writing chairman, CEO, and biggest investor. [More]
