After sorting through a mountain of nomination e-mails, we’ve whittled down the field of competitors for this year’s Worst Company In America tournament to 40 bad businesses. Here’s your chance to have your say on how these players will square off in the bracket, and which bubble teams will get left out in the cold. [More]
Retail Services
The Competition Is As Fake As The Blood: Why New Video Games Are Always The Same Price
By 3.15.14
Video games have gotten ridiculously predictable. Not in stories, writing, or mechanics (although sometimes those, too) but in release, pricing, and distribution. When it comes to the big-budget blockbuster console-ready games, by now pretty much every player can recite the pricing timetable by heart. [More]
Only A Third Of Bank ATMs Using Windows XP Have Upgraded Ahead Of April 8 Deadline
By 3.14.14
Banks all over the world have known since 2007 that Microsoft would stop support for ATMs running Windows XP on April 8 of this year, but with that deadline looming, only one-third of those 2.2 million machines have upgraded their outdated software. [More]
Costco Sliced Fruit Packs Recalled For Possible Not-Yummy Salmonella Flavoring
By 3.14.14
The FDA and the Oregon-based company that produces Kirkland Signature Real Sliced Fruit packages for Costco have issued a recall of nearly 60,000 cases of the product because the last thing you want with your freeze-dried fruit is Salmonella poisoning. [More]
Prosecutors May Seek Larger Penalty For Countrywide Exec Behind “Hustle” Scam
By 3.13.14
Last fall, Bank of America and former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone were found liable in federal court over a Countrywide scam that had bilked bailed-out mortgage-backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of piles of cash by selling them worthless mortgages. Mairone was originally expected to face a $1.1 million penalty, but that was before she got a big bonus from her new gig. [More]
Target Ignored Malware Warnings, Could Have Prevented Data Breach
By 3.13.14
What if a major retailer made a large investment in anti-malware software to protect its information systems, finally put the new program in place, and then ignored the warnings that the new system gave? That’s what sources tell Bloomberg Businessweek is what happened in the weeks before Target’s massive payment information breach. Target could have stopped the breach, or even ended it before baddies could get hold of customer data. [More]
Amazon Clears Up Dates For New Prime Pricing
By 3.13.14
As we reported this morning, the annual subscription rate for Amazon Prime is going up from $79 a year to $99 a year. However, there was some confusion over exactly when that change was going to take place. [More]
Online State Sales Tax Solution Remains Elusive After Congress Declares ‘Fundamental Defects’ In Senate Bill
By 3.13.14
After years of attempts to craft a federal law that would affirm states’ rights to tax online purchases, the issue may still be far from being resolved. The House Judiciary Committee has put the brakes on the Marketplace Fairness Act passed by the Senate in May. [More]
Amazon Jacks Up Rate On Prime Memberships To $99/Year
By 3.13.14
Amazon said in January that it was considering increasing the annual subscription rate on its Amazon Prime program — which includes free two-day shipping on many purchases and access to the site’s library of streaming videos — by twenty to forty dollars. This morning, the e-tailer began notifying customers that it is indeed jacking up that rate from $79/year to $99/year. [More]
Do Younger Shoppers Love Costco As Much As Their Parents?
By 3.12.14
A large number of Consumerist readers are in the “Millennial” generation, and really love Costco. That’s just anecdotal information based on the contents of our inbox, though: some investment analysts are starting to wonder whether today’s young adults will buy their own memberships and get their frozen meat by the crate, their toilet paper by the truckload, and their honey a gallon at a time, just like their forebears. [More]
Card Canceled After Target Data Breach Hit With Fraudulent Charge Anyway
By 3.12.14
The massive holiday season Target data breach is the gift that just keeps on giving consumers more headaches. Replacing a compromised card may not be enough to prevent fraud, it turns out: criminals may still be able to charge purchases to your old account even if you thought it was closed. [More]
Consumer Reports Talks To Target, Cleans Up Detergent Label
By 3.11.14
You might look at a bottle of laundry detergent and idly wonder whether the bottle really contains 96 loads’ worth of soap. Then you probably keep on using the soap and forget that you ever questioned the wisdom of the label. Fortunately, our clean and fresh colleagues over at Consumer Reports have a calculator and a mission to save us all from inaccurate dosing caps. [More]
Swatch Sues Target, Claims Retailer Copied Designs
By 3.11.14
Last week, Swatch filed a federal lawsuit accusing discount retailer Target of stealing its designs. Wait…Swatch is still a thing? Plastic watches are still a thing? Target sells plastic watches? This ’80s revival really has gone too far. [More]
Bank Of America’s New Debit Card Charges $5/Month For Something That Is Free On All Accounts
By 3.7.14
Bank of America is in the news because it’s testing a new debit card that won’t let customers overdraft. For that privilege, cardholders will pay a $4.95/month fee and they won’t be able to write paper checks. Thing is, anyone with a bank account can turn off overdraft protection without being required to pay a fee. [More]
Will Amazon Get Those Drones After All? Judge Dismisses FAA Fine For Commercial Drone User
By 3.7.14
Chin up, Amazon! Turn that frown upside down, local brewery sending beer through the air! Delivery by commercial drone might still be possible, despite the Federal Aviation Administration going around putting the kibosh on the unmanned aerial vehicles. A federal judge has dismissed the FAA’s only fine against a commercial drone user. [More]
Wells Fargo To Repay Homeowners Stuck With Forced-Place Insurance
By 3.6.14
Days after a judge signed off on the $300 million JPMorgan Chase forced-place insurance settlement comes news that Wells Fargo has reached a deal that would put a little bit of money back in the pockets of some homeowners who got stuck with overly expensive insurance policies by the bank. [More]
Get Your Copies Of “Battilefield 4” And “Assassins’s Creed IV” At Kmart While They Last
By 3.6.14
It’s inevitable: whenever a post about Kmart appears online, wise guys pipe up to ask, “Kmart is still a thing?” Not anymore in some metropolitan areas. Reader Ryan, browsing a store in Las Vegas, thinks that he knows why this is. [More]
How To Not Suck… At Buying In Bulk
By 3.5.14
Like most folks, we here at Consumerist love a good deal. The problem is that sometimes stuff that appears to be a big money-saver is actually a big money-waster. [More]
