Although there’s no official recall announcement yet, if you’re currently chomping on a Costco frozen berry blend called The Townsend Farms Organic Anti-oxidant Blend, you should know that health officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a five-state outbreak of hepatitis could be linked to the product. [More]
Retail Services
Amazon Sends Pre-Smushed LEGO Set In Intact Box
By 6.3.13
Marc’s son likes to build LEGO worlds with his grandfather, who got him a super amazing Batman Arkham Asylum set for his birthday this week. It seems that the Stupid Shipping Gang got hold of the box, but not in a way that we might expect. Somehow, the box that the set came in had been stomped on, but the box that it shipped in was intact. [More]
Couple Who Met In The Aisles Of Walmart Gets Hitched In Layaway Section
By 6.3.13
Proving that not all Walmart romances have to be of the Craiglist “Missed Connections” kind, and giving hope to all those lonely souls wandering the aisles late at night searching for love or something like it (a can of frosting is one serving, right?), a couple who met at Walmart in 2005 got hitched in the store’s layaway. Because sometimes love takes time, see? [More]
Walmart Making Changes In Its Produce Section Because No One Likes Wilted Lettuce
By 6.3.13
Walmart has a problem with its fresh fruits and vegetables. Namely that some of its customers have been complaining that its produce aisle is far from fresh, which has prompted the ginormous retailer to announce steps it’s taking to improve the quality of those products, including sourcing more food from local farms and weekly checks of its produce aisles in more than 3,400 stores. [More]
These Amazon Reviews Might Not Sell Any Products But They Sure Make Us Giggle
By 5.31.13 — Updated: 5.30.13
A few weeks ago we had a couple chuckles over a round-up of hilarious Amazon product reviews, those bits of tongue-in-cheek humor and working of words through the medium of comedy are, in most cases, more of a reward than whatever the product being sold is. We asked you, dear readers, to rustle up a few of your favorites, and hoooo boy, did you come through. [More]
Consumer-Friendly Checking Account Practices Vary Wildly From Bank To Bank
By 5.31.13
Unless you’ve been hiding under a bed for the last six years, you probably know that the banking industry isn’t exactly beloved by many American consumers. As a reaction to public sentiment (and threats of regulation), a number of banks have begun phasing in some more consumer-friendly practices, but a new study shows these changes are not industry-wide and that several banks are still years behind. [More]
Pals Realize They Should’ve Added “Get Arrested” To Bucket List As Well As “Retail Theft”
By 5.31.13
Kids these days! They make these pacts, give in to peer pressure and end up– what’s that? Two adult women made a silly deal to do a bunch of stuff on their bucket lists and wind up in jail? Oh, well, that’s different then. And still ridiculous. [More]
Costco Sample-Server Fatally Shot After Pulling Knife In Store
By 5.30.13
A Virginia woman hired to hand out pizza samples at Costco was fatally shot yesterday by a sheriff’s deputy after she began acting strangely and brandishing a knife in the store. [More]
Nation’s Two Largest Funeral Companies To Merge, Form Bereavement Voltron
By 5.29.13 — Updated: 1.2.14
Back in 2008, Service Corporation International, the nation’s largest funeral-service company, made a bid to acquire the second-largest company, Stewart Enterprises Inc. The smaller company rebuffed its suitor, but reconsidered after an offer this year. The two companies will now form one large mega-death-services-corporation just as baby boomers are about to consider planning–and more importantly, pre-paying for–their funerals. [More]
Amazon Getting Into The Original Content Game With Plan For Five TV Shows
By 5.29.13
Now that Netflix is stirring up a whole lot of viewers for its original series like House of Cards and this little show called Arrested Development, other media bigwigs are trying to figure out how to get a piece of this sweet, sweet action. To that end, Amazon announced today that it’s planning five new TV series in the nearish future. [More]
Wells Fargo Closes My Account After $32,000 Fraud, Allows Bogus Payment To Go Through On New Account
By 5.29.13
Imagine waking up one day to find your bank account has not only been compromised, but that more than $30,000 in fraudulent checks have been written on it. Then to make matters worse, once things seem to be resolved, another bogus charge is placed on an entirely new account. [More]
Enjoying Video Games Is Not A Crime, Except Maybe At Target
By 5.29.13
Things that Michael could not be trusted to do at Target: carry a game from the electronics department to the front of the store without stealing it, and provide a reliable price-matching amount from Amazon. It’s totally excellent that they’re willing to price-match Amazon and all, but Michael shared his story because he’s sort of bemused that something as simple as a game got him treated like a criminal. [More]
Walmart Marks Ancient MP3 Player Down To Slightly Less Hilarious Price
By 5.28.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
We have great news for fans of obsolete technology! If you’ve been waiting to get hold of an MP3 player that’s old enough to receive its First Communion, you don’t have to pay Walmart’s high price of $109.72 for one. No, the glorious MobiBlu is now on clearance for only $60. [More]
Walmart To Pay $81 Million For Dumping Hazardous Waste In California
By 5.28.13
The thing about hazardous waste is… well, it says it right there — it’s hazardous. As in not good for people, the environment, or anything in general. Which is why you can’t just go dumping it wherever you want, like sanitation drains. Walmart just pleaded guilty today on charges that it did just that in California, and is now on the hook for a hefty amount. [More]
Think You Can Tell A $99 Wedding Dress From An $1,800 One?
By 5.24.13
Times used to be, you wanted to buy a wedding dress, you had to go to bridal shops boasting designer creations, with the prices to match. But now retailers are getting into the wedding game, providing cheaper options for customers. Target just threw its veil into the ring with its new line of bridal gowns starting at the low price of $99, which made us wonder — can anyone even pick out the less expensive gowns from their pricier counterparts? [More]
Target, Macy’s Reject Fee-Fixing Settlement With Credit Card Companies & File Fresh Lawsuit
By 5.24.13
Last summer, some of the country’s largest retailers reached a settlment with Visa and MasterCard that was supposed to put to rest qualms the businesses had with the credit card companies’ alleged practice of fee-fixing. The $7.2 billion settlement didn’t sit well with some, including Target and Macy’s, prompting a group of retailers to file a new lawsuit this week, effectively rejecting that previous agreement. [More]
Amazon Wants To Sell Your Vampire Fan Fiction To The World — If You Keep It Clean
By 5.23.13
Have you ever loved a book or movie so much, say, a teenage vampire romance, that you just can’t stand it when it’s all over? Fan fiction, that distinct genre that takes existing characters off into new storylines, or rewrites those stories in a more satisfactory way only rarely pays off for writers, but Amazon’s new Kindle Worlds wants to change that. [More]
Joystiq Readers Join Raiders Of The Lost Walmart, Try To Report Defunct Games
By 5.23.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Back in 2010, before Consumerist’s Raiders of the Lost Walmart had a name and a mission, we shared a fascinating bit of retail archaeology: a copy of the multiplayer game Tabula Rasa, released in 2007 and shut down in 2009. We thought it was bad when a reader spotted a copy on the shelf in 2010, but a Joystiq blogger visited Walmart and found a copy just a few days ago. [More]
