From the same deranged marketing brains that brought us gingerbread Oreos and candy corn Oreos, get ready for another seasonal-themed, frosting-filled snack cookie. Watermelon Oreos are officially a thing, America. [More]
Retail Services
Former Staffers: Bank Of America Rewarded Us For Lying To Homeowners, Losing Paperwork, Denying Modifications
By 6.17.13
In sworn statements provided for a lawsuit by homeowners against Bank of America, a half-dozen people who reviewed loan modification applications for BofA say the company encouraged staffers to lose applicants paperwork so that it could later be denied, putting homeowners at further risk of losing their homes. And if these people are to be believed, some folks out there may have lost their homes so that a BofA employee could get a Target gift card. [More]
Rude Amazon Vendor Calls Me ‘Stupid,’ Only Wants Good Feedback
By 6.14.13 — Updated: 6.25.13
Robert found a great deal on swimsuits on Amazon, so he ordered a half dozen. What he didn’t notice during the ordering process was that the vendor is in China, and his purchase wouldn’t show up for six weeks. Sigh. Oh, well. He could deal with that, but didn’t like the seller hounding him for good feedback before he even received the items, then when he was unhappy with them. [More]
Apple Exec: I Protected Consumers From High E-Book Prices By Letting Publishers Set High E-Book Prices
By 6.13.13
Earlier today, Apple executive Eddy Cue — the architect of the company’s iTunes and e-book business — took the stand in court to face questions about his company’s role in alleged price-fixing of the e-book market, where he admitted that Apple had actually mulled over an even worse idea than mere price-fixing. [More]
Best Buy To Merge Reward Zone Site With BestBuy.com In Attempt To Gain Online Customers
By 6.13.13
As things stand now, members of Best Buy’s Reward Zone loyalty program who want to shop online have to do so through a dedicated section of BestBuy.com, which is probably not a good idea for a retailer that is having trouble converting in-store looky-loos into online buyers. And so, as part of a major overhaul of its website, Best Buy will finally be integrating the two sides of BestBuy.com. [More]
Why Does Everyone Love Costco So Much?
By 6.12.13
There aren’t a lot of shining successes in American’s most recent recession, but one company that has done well and even managed to grow is Costco. Why is that? The traditional wisdom is that customers love the prices and selection: for Consumerist readers, it’s also the return policy and the warranty extension. What’s the deal with why we love Costco so much? [More]
Stupid Shipping Gang Seals Dog Food Bag With Stickers, Hopes You Won’t Notice
By 6.11.13
Unlike most efforts of the Stupid Shipping Gang, Cheryl’s bag of dog food that came from Amazon wasn’t comically over- or under-packaged. It was comically over-stickered. At some point, the top of the bag split, and someone sealed it off with “TEAM LIFT” stickers, thinking…the customer wouldn’t notice? Yeah, we don’t know. [More]
Amazon Expands Grocery Delivery Service, To Offer $299 ‘Prime Fresh’ Subscriptions
By 6.10.13
After several years of testing grocery delivery service in Seattle, the online retailer has expanded its AmazonFresh program to Los Angeles. Customers in the L.A. area will also be able to try out Amazon’s new “Prime Fresh” plan that offers same-day or overnight service of groceries and other items. [More]
Here’s Another Dose Of Chuckleworthy Amazon Reviews From The Reader Hall Of Fame
By 6.7.13
If there’s one thing we know about or Consumerist readers, it’s that you like to make yourselves laugh, and by extension, the rest of us. Last week’s call for more hilarious Amazon product reviews was more than heeded — our cup basically overfloweth and by cup of course we mean the tipline. Keep’em coming, and enjoy this fresh round of chuckles for the time being. [More]
Costco Offering Free Hepatitis Vaccines To Customers Who Purchased Recalled Berries
By 6.7.13
We told you earlier this week about a hepatitis A outbreak in several states that authorities had linked to a berry mix sold at Costco stores. Now comes news that the warehouse chain is offering free vaccines to those who have eaten the recalled berries. [More]
Best Buy Employee Helps Me Out — By Telling Me To Go To AT&T Store
By 6.6.13
Like the goodhearted Macy’s Santa in Miracle On 34th St who tells customers they can get better deals at Gimbels, there is a Best Buy employee out there who felt compelled to aid one Consumerist reader by letting her know that she’d be better off heading to the AT&T store for her particular needs. [More]
OnTrac Claims They Delivered Another Phantom Package
By 6.6.13 — Updated: 6.7.13
Our readers generally love Amazon Prime, but complain about the regional delivery services that Amazon contracts with in some areas in order to make that fabulous free two-day delivery possible. Carriers that include Ontrac and Ensenda seem to get the job done okay most of the time. When things go wrong, though, customers who had the wacky assumption that “out for delivery” meant their packages would actually be delivered get upset. [More]
Wells Fargo To Pay $38.5 Million In Response To Claims It Neglected Bank-Owned Homes In Minority Neighborhoods
By 6.6.13
Add another stack of zeros to the running total of mortgage-meltdown-related cash laid out by banks, as Wells Fargo has agreed to pay a total of $38.5 million to advocacy groups and regulators to resolve complaints that the bank neglected foreclosure properties in predominantly non-white areas. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Branch Out, Visit 7-Eleven And Barnes & Noble
By 6.5.13
The retail archaeologists known as the Raiders of the Lost Walmart tirelessly search the world’s retail outlets for the finest and longest-buried antiquities. What kind of ancient wonders did they turn up this week? Well, good news if you’re a time-traveling hockey scout. [More]
Survey: Best Buy And Walmart Are Most Popular Stores For Showrooming
By 6.4.13
For the two of you unfamiliar with the term, “showrooming” is the practice of going to a bricks-and-mortar retailer to get an eyes-on experience with a product before ultimately buying it online. A new study confirms what many of us had already assumed — that the practice isn’t relegated to holiday shopping, that price-matching is probably the only way to curb it, and that many showroomers just don’t like dealing with retail employees. [More]
Viacom Goes Running Into Amazon’s Streaming Arms After Split With Netflix
By 6.4.13
Now that Viacom and Netflix are over, done with, broken up, splitskies, never ever getting back together, don’t think the cable programming giant is crying into its pillow every night, soaking it with the desperate tears of the unloved. No, it’s moving on — straight into the loving arms of Amazon’s streaming video service with a new, multiyear licensing deal. [More]
AMC’s Location Surcharges Take Shine Off Some Gold And Silver Discount Passes
By 6.4.13
If you’re one of the many people who buy bundles of discounted Gold and Silver tickets to see movies at AMC theaters, you might think that you’re done paying for your passes when you hand over your cash at the store. In many cases, you’d be right, but regular AMC theatergoers in Southern California would be wise to bring some extra money to the cinema, as the nation’s second-largest theater chain is about to slap discount pass users with “location surcharges.” [More]
Target Employees Need To Learn Their Own Price-Matching Policy
By 6.4.13
We don’t want to sit here and lecture Target on how to run its stores, but maybe some people at Jared’s local store could use remedial price-matching policy lessons. Jared wanted them to match an advertised price on something dear to the Consumerist community: cat food. Yes, the store running the sale is Pet Supplies Plus, and the sale price requires a loyalty card, but the card is free. We’re not talking about Costco here. Yet the store refused to budge, even though Target’s written price match policy contradicted what they were saying. [More]
