As of today, Target’s chief information officer has resigned. Beth Jacob had been on the job since 2008, and is leaving before the company reorganizes its information security leadership and staff after the massive holiday season breach that hit a mind-boggling number of accounts and still has day-to-day consequences for customers. [More]
Retail Services
Who Wins The Streaming-Service Wars? Netflix, Pretty Much
By 3.4.14
There are many different video-streaming services available to consumers now, but it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out which one is right for you. It all depends on what your favorite shows are, since different streaming services have their own agreements with content providers, and produce their own exclusive content as well. Which one is best? Well, what’s your favorite show? [More]
Supreme Court Takes On Amazon Warehouse Workers’ Case Over Unpaid Time
By 3.4.14
Should warehouse workers have to spend their own free time waiting for security procedures after their work shift is done, or should companies like Amazon have them on the clock during that process? Amazon workers have been fighting to collect pay for that time spent in line waiting for security checks, and the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case. [More]
Men’s Wearhouse And Jos. A. Bank Finally Talk Merger, Might Make This Thing Work
By 3.3.14
Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, the Mary and Matthew Crawley of the modestly-priced suit world, are one step closer to settling down with each other. After months of courtship that included buying another clothing retailer and competing bids to buy each other, the two companies have finally settled down for a frank chat about joining their retail operations in corporate matrimony. [More]
Bacon Joins Lineup Of Ridiculous Walmart Exclusive Pringles Flavors
By 3.3.14
You know how we keep saying that “sriracha is the new bacon?” Well, over at Pringles, bacon is also the new bacon, as Pringles has introduced bacon-flavored chips to go along with the sriracha ones we told you about last week. Like those, they’re a Walmart exclusive. No, this is not a post from 2012 that accidentally got republished today. [More]
Chase To Pay Out $300 Million Over Home Insurance Allegations
By 3.3.14
On Friday, a federal judge signed off on a settlement that will have JPMorgan Chase paying out at least $300 million to around 750,000 mortgage borrowers. It’s the first of what could be several large settlements with major lenders over the issue of forced-place insurance. [More]
Secret Service Reportedly Investigating Possible Data Breach At Sears
By 2.28.14
The retail world is still feeling the aftershocks that rumbled through the industry after Target revealed it was hit in a hack attack that exposed credit card info and personal data of up to 110 million customers. As such, inside sources are whispering that Sears is the focus of a new probe from the U.S. Secret Service to see whether it was the victim of a possible security breach. [More]
Survey Says: Walmart Is Worst Discount Retailer & Worst Supermarket
By 2.28.14
Walmart may be the nation’s largest retailer and its biggest supermarket chain, but the latest results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index once again show that Big W continues to lag far behind all of its competition. [More]
10 Things You Should Never Buy At The Dollar Store
By 2.27.14
A few weeks ago, we presented you with a list of 15 things that you should buy at the dollar store. Okay, great, but it’s a big store: there must be something that you should avoid, either because of crappy quality or because paying a dollar isn’t such a good deal. Right? [More]
Behold The Pop-Up Electric Hot Dog And Bun Toaster
By 2.27.14
Live from the store-closing sale of yet another Kmart, reader Amanda sent us this strange unitasking appliance that we were not previously aware existed. [More]
Sriracha-Flavored Pringles Now Available, Only At Walmart
By 2.27.14
Maybe this means that the sriracha trend is finally over? Nah, probably not. And we’re glad for it. Sriracha-flavored Pringles are now a thing, and are available exclusively at Walmart. [More]
Target CEO Promises “Eye-Popping Irresistible Deals” After Profits Destroyed By Data Breach
By 2.26.14
Earlier today, Target released the eagerly anticipated earnings info for the financial quarter ending Feb. 1. As expected, the massive data breach that saw some 110 million customers’ info stolen by hackers had a disastrous effect on the bottom line for the retailer. [More]
Bank Of America’s Compliance With Federal Mortgage Program Being Investigated
By 2.26.14
While it’s still settling multibillion-dollar tabs tied to the mortgage meltdown, Bank of America continues to face new legal and regulatory pressure. Yesterday, the bank revealed that it is being investigated by federal authorities to see whether it has complied with a program aimed to ease the mortgage-lending process. [More]
After Target Breach, Banks Are Way Behind In Reissuing New Cards
By 2.25.14
The baddies behind the recent Target payment data breach are selling off card data at fire-sale prices and cranking out cards that can be used in the real world, some of the people whose card numbers were breached have a long wait to get their new cards issued. [More]
Here Are Some Dubious Sales At Walmart, Petsmart, And Toys ‘R’ Us
By 2.25.14
How much of a discount should a store place on an item for it to really matter? One cent? One dollar? Does the branding of a “stock up” sale matter when the item on sale is something that you shouldn’t really keep stockpiled in the first place? These are the questions that we ponder here at Consumerist HQ when we read your submissions. [More]
Citibank Demands That Hearing-Impaired Customer Call Them, Hangs Up When She Does
By 2.24.14
Kerry has lost her hearing as an adult, and you can’t call her on the phone. This seems pretty self-explanatory, but apparently it isn’t. At least not to Citibank. They want Kerry to call them to verify a suspicious transaction, but hang up on her whenever she calls. [More]
Toaster Ovens: Good Tiny Ovens, Bad At Making Toast
By 2.24.14
Do you eat toast? Our lightly browned colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports spend a lot of time testing things that you might not think of to test. For example: the quality of toast produced in toasters vs. that produced in toaster ovens. Turns out that you’re better off with a plain old toaster, unless the “oven” part is important to you. [More]
Supreme Court Won’t Stop Class-Action Lawsuits Over Front-Loading Washing Machines
By 2.24.14
After several years of shutting down class-action lawsuits or affirming businesses’ ability to preempt such suits with forced arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court today chose not to hear challenges to a trio of class actions about supposedly defective washing machines from three leading manufacturers. [More]
