Going shopping this long weekend? Working in the retail frenzy? We want to hear your tales of commerce, mayhem, bargains, chaos, fun, and greed. You know, Black Friday. Don’t forget to put the Consumerist Tipster App for iOS or Android on your smartphone so you can beam your experiences right to Consumerist HQ. If you don’t have a smartphone, we like regular old e-mail just as much. [More]
Retail Services
Retailers Try To Win Over Employees Who Work This Thanksgiving
By 11.27.13
The Thanksgiving barrier has been breached by retailers, and the previously untouchable holiday is now just another day on which to have a big sale. In an attempt to win over employees who may not be too thrilled about having to eat Thanksgiving dinner at noon so they can make it to work on time, some stores are providing perks to workers who sacrifice their Turkey Day in the name of doorbuster deals. [More]
Gingerbread Goes Inclusive With Sugar Cookie Chanukah House
By 11.27.13
Looking for a fun Thanksgivukkah(TM) activity this weekend while your Christian neighbors put up their tree? Why not try frosting together the adorable sugar-cookie Chanukah House from Manischewitz? [More]
Keep Entertained While Trapped With Your Family This Weekend
November 27, 2013
Don’t want to spend Thanksgiving weekend watching football with cousin Sally or you can only listen to your brother’s new Tuvan throat singing album a few dozen times before it starts to sound repetitive? Then it’s time to take your phone/tablet/laptop/Omnitool into the room that used to be yours before your mom turned it into her office/photography lab, and binge-watch your way through the weekend. Thankfully, the good people at AVclub.com have put together this handy list of older TV shows that will help you pass the time. [AVclub.com] [More]
Sears Commercials Through The Decades: Jingles, Car Repair, Bruises
By 11.27.13
Sears: it was an iconic American retailer, and now has become more of a cautionary business tale as it struggles for relevance and tries to shed more real estate and scrap itself for parts. Many years ago, though, Sears was a central shopping experience in Americans’ lives. Americans who bought boom boxes and played “Space Invaders.” [More]
Fulfilling That ‘Banker Bro’ Stereotype In Job-Hunting E-mails Is A Bad Idea
By 11.26.13
It’s one thing (though still obnoxious) to be a brash, backstabbing alpha male when you’re out on the town with business associates. It’s another for a job applicant to be so dimwitted as to put that same arrogant attitude into an e-mail and assume it’s not going to be forwarded around, and probably end up on the smartphone screen of the very people you’re insulting. [More]
Amazon, Best Buy, United Airlines Make Consumer Reports’ Naughty List
By 11.26.13
While the bearded guy at the North Pole is making his list and checking it twice before he heads out to deliver toys and/or coal on Dec. 24/25, our pals at Consumer Reports have already decided who they think deserves a shiny black hunk of anthracite in their stockings. [More]
Walmart Workers Don’t Understand Store’s Return Policy, But Think They Do
By 11.26.13
In the retail shopping realm, there are few things worse than running up against an employee who is not only mistaken about his or her store’s policies, but insists that you are the one who does not understand the finer points of that retailer’s rules. [More]
Undercover Investigation: Working At Amazon Warehouse Can Cause “Mental & Physical Illness”
By 11.25.13
For all the times you’ve felt like working could send you straight into the arms of the mental health care system, an investigation into a UK-based Amazon warehouse claims conditions were so stressful, they could cause “mental and physical illness.” [More]
Black Friday Shoppers Set Up Camp At Best Buys Nationwide
By 11.25.13
For some people, the weekend before Thanksgiving means house-cleaning and checking their grocery list for the big feast on Thursday. For others, it means setting up a tent in front of Best Buy and settling in for the rest of the week. For these people, at least, Best Buy opening at 6 P.M. on Thanksgiving Day is good news.
Walmart Employees & Supporters Planning Black Friday Protests At 1,500 Stores
By 11.21.13
Just like last year, Walmart associates and other supporters in communities across the country are planning on protesting at a number of stores on Black Friday, about 1,500 locations this time around. At the heart of those campaigns are supporters’ concerns over 825,000 Walmart workers who are paid less than $25,000 a year, alleged illegal retaliation against workers and improved labor standards. [More]
FDIC & OCC Ask Banks To Please Stop Issuing Payday Loans As “Direct Deposit Advances”
By 11.21.13
While many payday lending operations are not directly tied to federally insured banks, some of the biggest names in banking — most notably Wells Fargo — offer what are effectively payday loans via “Direct Deposit Advance Loans.” But today the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have given some guidance to the banks they regulate, basically saying “That’s enough of that, don’t ya think?” [More]
Thieves Smash Chase Branch, Drive Off With Entire ATM
By 11.21.13
“Needless to say, you’re not going to be able to use this ATM this morning,” observed a TV reporter standing in front of the Orlando, Florida Chase branch where an automated teller machine was ripped from the building. No. No, you’re not. [More]
Walmart Hasn’t Paid $7,000 Fine For 2008 Black Friday Trampling Death
By 11.21.13
We mentioned the other day that it’s been five years since the tragic Black Friday trampling death of a Walmart employee. In the years since, Walmart has spent millions of dollars trying to avoid the meager $7,000 fine from OSHA, and still has yet to pay it. [More]
Costco Apologizes For Bibles Labeled As “Fiction” At California Store
By 11.20.13
Costco’s had some explaining to do after the pastor of a non-denominational church in California happened upon a particular display of Bibles at his local Costco store. He says he was shopping for a gift for his wife when he found a bunch of Bibles with price tags reading “fiction.” [More]
Walmart Will Match Any Competitor’s Holiday Sale Price, Including Black Friday
By 11.20.13
Walmart might not be kicking off the early-morning hours and consumer frenzy of Black Friday a week early, but they’ve launched Black Friday price wars a week ahead of time. They’re matching other retailers’ sale prices during Black Long Weekend, and will match any sale price on an identical product purchased at any time between November 1 and December 24. [More]
Kmart Has Customers Jangling Over Men Jingling Their Junk In New Ad For Joe Boxer
By 11.19.13
Another day, another ad that could be seen as either clever or so suggestive that social media is roaring over the indecency of it all and how could you put that on TV, etc. This time it’s Kmart’s turn to face the Internet firing squad over an ad that features men jingling their junk like so many melodious bells in Joe Boxer shorts. [More]
Apply For A Job Or Shoplift A Sex Toy, But Not Both During Same Shopping Trip
By 11.19.13
It’s good to multi-task and combine errands in one trip, saving time and fuel. It isn’t such a good idea to get drunk, then visit a sex shop in order to steal an “adult toy,” then apply for a job at the same shop. [More]
