Imagine that you’re going about your business at your local Walmart when you see…Beyoncé. Must be a cardboard cutout, or some kind of hologram technology, right? Not for the shoppers at one Boston-area Walmart this weekend where the superstar paid a surprise visit. [More]
Retail Services
Even With 10% “Our Bad” Discount, Target’s Sales Down After Credit Card Disaster
By 12.23.13
Over the weekend, Target went into damage-control, attempting to lure customers back into its retail stores by offering a 10% discount to everyone — not just the 40 million customers whose credit card numbers were stolen between late November through mid-December. But even that apparently wasn’t enough to bring customers back during the last-ditch holiday shopping weekend. [More]
The 10 Colleges That Received The Biggest Payouts From Credit Card Issuers Last Year
By 12.20.13
Last year, a group of around 15 credit card issuers paid a total of more than $50 million to various schools and school-affiliated organizations in order to market credit cards to people at those educational institutions. Around 70% of that money came from a single Bank of America-owned credit card company, and though hundreds of schools received some sort of payment for helping introduce cards to college students, just the 10 largest single payments account for nearly 30% of the $50 million. [More]
Stolen Target Credit Card Info: The Perfect Holiday Gift For the Criminals On Your List
By 12.20.13
Merry Christmas, and be sure to check your online statements: security investigations reveal that the tens of millions of credit card numbers stolen from Target shoppers in the weeks since Thanksgiving are indeed flooding the black market and making their way around the world. [More]
Look On The Bright Side, Target: At Least These 3 Credit Card Hacks Were Bigger Than Yours
By 12.20.13
Target is probably having a very unmerry holiday season right now dealing with the credit card breach that likely affected about 40 million accounts. Target might be the retail version of a sad Charlie Brown at Christmas right now, but hey, it could be worse. No, really. [More]
Costco Settles Gender-Discrimination Lawsuit for $8 Million
By 12.20.13
Giant wholesale retailer Costco has tentatively settled a gender-discrimination class-action lawsuit for $8 million, the Seattle Times reports. The settlement will become finalized if the court approves it at a hearing in February. [More]
Target “Deeply Regrets” Letting Someone Steal 40 Million Credit Card Numbers From Customers
By 12.19.13
In case they missed the news last night, Target customers around the country are waking up this morning and learning that they may be one of many millions of consumers whose credit and debit card information was compromised during the course of a nearly three-week-long security breach at the retailer. Big Red, you’ve got some explaining to do… [More]
Happy Holidays: Target & Secret Service Investigating Credit/Debit Card Breach
By 12.18.13
Because it’s not the holidays without family, friends, gifts, reindeer, and news of a massive breach of credit and debit card records, the folks at Target are reportedly looking into the possibility that its customers’ information may have been compromised during the busiest shopping season of the year.
—–
UPDATE: The U.S. Secret Service has confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that it is investigating the data breach, which is believed to have taken advantage of a vulnerability in the network of some 40,000 card-scanning devices used at Target stores nationwide. [More]
Walmart Not Responsible For Morons Who Say Racist Things Over Store Intercom
By 12.18.13
You probably remember the 16-year-old idiot from New Jersey who in 2010 commandeered the public address system at his local Walmart to announce, “Attention Walmart customers: All black people must leave the store.” The teen’s subsequent arrest was not the end of the story, as at least one shopper has tried to sue Walmart for damages related to the incident. But a federal judge has ruled that Walmart should not be held responsible for the actions of the teen. [More]
Sure, You Bought a Disney Digital Movie from Amazon, But You’ll Never Own It
By 12.18.13
Instantly accessible movies, TV shows, and games are one of the most convenient inventions of the early 21st century, but they’re not without their problems. One big problem? Just because you bought and paid for a digital good doesn’t mean you actually get to keep it. [More]
The Good, Bad & Ugly Of Stores’ Holiday Return Policies
By 12.18.13
As much as we’d all love to believe that everything we give to our loved ones — and everything we receive from them — this holiday season will be exactly what we want and need, and that it will fit our bodies and/or be compatible with everything we already own. But odds are that a lot of us will be returning at least one thing to a store in the days and weeks after Christmas, so it helps to know retailers’ return policies. [More]
30 Tissues Disappear From Redesigned Kleenex Box At Costco
By 12.18.13
As we all know, Costco is the place to get the hottest deals on huge quantities of consumer goods. For example, you can buy a box of Kleenex tissues that contains 260 pieces. Which isn’t a very big quantity, come to think of it…but now it’s shrinking. [More]
7 Examples Why You Should Always Check Inside That iPad Box Before You Leave Walmart
By 12.17.13
As most regular readers of the site know, iPad boxes seem to be the perfect fit for scammers who buy the device, take it home, remove it from the box, seal it back up and return it for a refund… only to saddle some unsuspecting future customer with a box full of useless crud later. [More]
Sears Admits: People Only Come To Our Stores To Park
By 12.17.13
This holiday season, Best Buy is embracing their reputation as America’s Amazon showroom in their marketing. It’s not clear yet how well this strategy is working, but another retailer has an ad campaign based on the same concept: embracing and turning around what consumers make fun of them for. This commercial for Sears that’s currently on the air takes a perceived weakness (Sears has vast, empty parking lots) and turns it into a selling point. Kind of. [More]
Sears Chat Rep Orders Wrong Dishwasher: That’s Your Problem
By 12.16.13
It all seemed to go so well. When a California man saw a great Cyber Monday deal on a Kenmore dishwasher at Sears, he hopped right on that. $700 off a $1419 appliance? Yes, please. When he learned that the order was in error, though, and he could only have the great price for a dishwasher in the wrong color, who was at fault? Sears wanted him to pay the difference. [More]
To Someone At Target, This Sign Makes Sense
By 12.16.13
Attention hibiscus fans: we’re very sorry to inform you that you missed this sale within Target’s reality vortex that ended on Saturday. You know, in case you needed to stock up on sugar/salt scrub at 0% off. [More]
“Layaway Angel” Earns His Nickname By Paying $20K Worth Of Strangers’ Balances At Walmart
By 12.16.13
All it took for a stranger to plunk down $20,000 at a Florida Walmart was overhearing a customer saying she’d have to cancel her layaway purchases. The so-called “layaway angel” was at the store buying bikes for a charity event and decided right then to extend his generosity. [More]
Sheriff: Co-Worker Shot Up Walmart Employee Of The Month’s Car
By 12.16.13
At Walmart, the Employee of the Month award comes with no cash or prizes. The title is the honor. That honor was important enough at one Florida Walmart that a co-worker who didn’t get the honor shot at the car of the official Employee of the Month. [More]
