Organic food is getting a bit of a makeover. Retail giant Walmart is joining forces with a one-time organic food powerhouse to offer the increasingly popular fare at more affordable prices for consumers. [More]
Retail Services
Bank Of America Ordered To Repay Consumers $727M For Sketchy Marketing Practices
By 4.9.14
Bank of America just received a hefty bill from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to repay $727 million to consumers wronged by the bank’s deceptive marketing practices regarding credit card add-on products. [More]
What Is This Scary Heartbleed Bug, And Why Is Everyone Freaking Out About It?
By 4.9.14
One second everything on the Internet appears normal, and the next thing you know, everyone is talking about some security bug called “Heartbleed” that’s out to get us all. So what is it, and is it as scary of a problem as it seems to be? [More]
Consumerist’s At-Home, Hands-On Impression Of The Amazon Fire TV
By 4.7.14
Last week, Amazon unleashed its new video-streaming device the Amazon Fire TV (or fireTV, as the label reads), which the company says would be faster and easier to use than competing devices like the Google Chromecast Apple TV and the Roku products. We recently purchased one to see if it lives up to those promises (and because the Consumerist Bat Cave can never get enough streaming video). [More]
Amazon’s Dash Device: Speak Or Scan Grocery, Household Items Onto A Grocery List
By 4.7.14
In case your closet full of gadgets and gizmos isn’t quite stocked to the overflowing brim just yet, here’s another Internet connected doodad: Amazon has launched a device called the Amazon Dash that’s basically a stick you can talk into or use to scan groceries and household items to add them to your grocery list. [More]
Lands’ End Divorce From Sears Complete, But They’re Still Roommates
By 4.7.14
After twelve years together, Sears and Lands’ End have officially split. They’ve been through a lot together: Sears bought the former sailing gear retailer in 2002, before the formation of the sprawling disaster that is Sears Holdings. For a while at least, absolutely nothing will change for consumers. [More]
Who Will Go Head-To-Head In The Worst Company In America Final Death Match?
April 4, 2014
When the sun rose this morning over the Worst Company In America Salvage Yard, awakening Rusty the lazy junkyard dog who couldn’t scare off a squirrel, four battered, bruised, nauseated, and bed-headed contenders greeted the dawn in contemplative silence, knowing that two of them would be gone by sundown. In their hearts, they hoped to survive the day while the doubting devils whispering in their ears reminded them that a loss could bring sweet relief, an end to the ceaseless brutality of the last few weeks; a victory just meant one more brawl. Now, as we cart the defeated off the battlefield, we leave behind one tournament vet and one WCIA rookie to prepare for Monday’s Final Death Match. [More]
Do Not Set Bird Seed On Fire To Distract Walmart Staff From Shoplifters
By 4.4.14
Shoplifting is a crime, a scourge in the retail business, and very, very bad. Do you know what’s worse than than shoplifting, though? Setting the store on fire to distract store security while your companion shoplifts. Now a Minneapolis woman has been charged with two counts of arson, and the Walmart store where this happened sustained six-figure damage. [More]
More Dish Soap Is A Worse Deal At Walmart
By 4.4.14
Larry has learned well here at Consumerist. When he was shopping at Walmart recently, he picked up some dish soap. Before assuming that the larger quantity was the better deal and tossing the 38-ounce bottle in his cart, he stopped to do some math. That’s when he learned that the math on these bottles was a little fuzzy. Sudsy? [More]
Bank Of America May Pay $800 Million For Questionable Credit Card Add-Ons
By 4.4.14
There’s another big legal bill on the horizon for Bank of America, as reports indicate the bank may soon agree to pay $800 million to settle allegations tied to sketchy add-on services for credit card customers. [More]
Presenting The Final Four Contenders For Worst Company In America 2014
April 3, 2014
Can it be? Has there really been so much bloodshed is so little time? It seems like only yesterday when the field of contenders stood before you at the opening ceremonies, waving their logo flags while proudly sporting their WCIA sweaters that Ralph Lauren’s distant cousin Kevin designed especially for the occasion. Now the industrial grade carpeting of the Worst Company Padded Playroom is stained with… well, you don’t actually want to know what all is in there; don’t worry, our friend Terry got us a good deal on a cleaning service and you’d be surprised what a well-placed area rug can cover. But back to more pressing matters… [More]
Amazon Now Using Lockers For Return Shipping
By 4.2.14
Do you know what’s an even worse problem for online retailers than customers who never get their packages? Shipping back the items that customers did receive, but don’t want. Fortunately, Amazon has found a way around this problem: since late last year, they’ve using their lockers designed for deliveries to send products in the other direction. [More]
Comcast Cruises Past Verizon, Walmart Upsets Bank Of America In Worst Company Quarterfinal Action!
April 2, 2014
Worst Company In America Quarterfinal action kicked off this morning with a doozy of a double-header, one resulting in one of the tournament’s most decisive victories and the other going down to the wire in this year’s latest buzzer-beater bout. [More]
As Fewer People Overdraft, Banks Are Raising Overdraft Fees
By 4.2.14
If you’re still opted-in to overdraft “protection” — which protects you by slapping huge fees on every purchase you make beyond the available funds in your account — you should probably opt out, as the costs associated with this lucrative system are on the rise. [More]
Amazon Finally Unveils New fireTV Streaming Thingy. What Is It?
By 4.2.14
After years of speculation, reports, and rumors that Amazon was developing some sort of set-top box, the company finally pulled back the curtain on the long-awaited development this morning. It’s called the fireTV and it does just about everything you’d expect a new streaming service to do; perhaps more if your expectations were low. But is it worth it? [More]
Time Warner Cable Ekes Out Another Win, To Face Monsanto In Worst Company Quarterfinals!
April 1, 2014
Two weeks ago, 32 bad businesses entered the Worst Company in America velodrome. But since they didn’t all bring their racing bikes with them, they just began beating the holy snot out of each other for our readers’ amusement. Giants fell, upstarts pulled upsets, and battle-hardened vets relived their glory days when they could more easily lay claim to the Golden Poo. Now, after two rounds of out-and-out, completely organized mayhem, eight contenders still stand, but to quote the greatest movie ever made in the history of films with the word “highlander” in the title: There can be only one. [More]
You Don’t Have To Go Home, But You Can’t Stay At Walmart Drinking Beer For 2 Days
By 3.31.14
Back in the wilder days of my college youth, we knew the fun was over when the bar powers that be came on over the loudspeaker, saying “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” Perhaps a New York Walmart could’ve used such a reminder for a woman accused of trespassing at the store for two days, just chilling out and drinking some beer. [More]
Walmart Finally Admits That Its Empty Shelves Are A Big Problem
By 3.31.14
For the past few years, a growing number of Walmart customers have complained about threadbare shelves, while Walmart workers say it’s a result of being understaffed and mismanaged. Now the nation’s largest retailer is admitting that it’s losing billions of dollars by trying to be cheap. [More]
