If you think you get what you pay for when you buy sunscreen, you might be in for a surprise. Our less-sunburned cousins at Consumer Reports recently put a dozen sun-protection products to the test and the ones that came out on top were also among the least expensive. [More]
Retail Services
Store-Brand Sunscreens From Target, Walmart, Walgreens Outperform Higher-Priced Options In Test
By 5.23.13
Wells Fargo Employee Accused Of Stealing $10K From 90-Year-Old Customer
By 5.22.13
A personal banker at a Wells Fargo branch in Atlanta has been arrested and charged with felony theft for allegedly tricking an elderly customer into giving him more than $10,000. And she may not be the only victim. [More]
My Late Mother’s Broken Kindle Leaves Me Brokenhearted, Amazon Goes Above & Beyond
By 5.21.13
Consumerist reader K. had one very important reminder of her late mother — her mom’s beloved Kindle. She says her mom treated it like a sensitive piece of electronic equipment, and really loved it. Every night when K. went to bed, she would read a book on the device and says it always made her smile and think of her mother. But when that Kindle broke, it seemed those sentimental moments would be over for good. [More]
Man Who Stole $624,000 From Walmart Is Ruining It For The Rest Of Us
By 5.21.13
Ever wonder why stores are so strict about receipt-checking and returns? It’s not simply because they hate consumers — they might, but it’s not the sole reason — it’s because there are people out there like the South Carolina man accused of using forged receipts and counterfeit goods to steal at least $624,000 from Walmart over the last few years. [More]
Scammers Pretend To Buy Gas Station, Hold Amazing Sale, Run Away
By 5.21.13
A strange gas station scam in Minnesota didn’t hurt customers, exactly: it benefited customers. The scam victim was the owner of the gas station, who thought that they had sold the place to credible new owners. Instead, after a glorious one-day sale with everything in the convenience store half off and gas about forty cents per gallon below the local market price, the sale collapsed. The owner says that the down payment check bounced, the buyers disappeared, and $50,000 in cash was missing…along with the gas and merchandise that local customers pounced on during that too-good-to-be-true sale. [More]
Warranty On My Sears Air-Conditioning Might Be Voided Because Sears Won’t Call Me Back
By 5.20.13
A year ago, Sears installed a new air-conditioning system for Consumerist reader Donna. The system also includes a warranty that requires someone come out once a year to do a maintenance check, but after two months of trying to get someone out to her house, Donna was looking that the possibility of her warranty being voided because no one would return her calls. [More]
Graphic: Which Internet Biggies Are Even Slightly Concerned About Your Privacy?
By 5.20.13
When it comes to online privacy, many consumers assume that their service provider, or the websites they are browsing, have the users’ best interest in mind and that these companies won’t simply hand over your information to authorities. These people are mistaken, as are those who believe that no online companies make user privacy a priority. The truth, as usual, is a bit from column A and a bit from column B. [More]
Target Testing Out Its Own Streaming Video Service With Employees
By 5.20.13
Is there something missing from your streaming video routine? Perhaps, but even if you’re totally sated by the players already in the online video arena, Target is reportedly getting ready to throw its own hat in the ring with a Netflix-like movie service. Thus far it’s only testing it out with its own employees. [More]
Zombie Amazon Returns More Common Than You Might Think
By 5.17.13
Earlier this week, we asked whether our readers had any experience with zombie refunds: items that you sent back to a retailer, only to have your refund later reversed for no clear reason. We heard from a surprising number of people whose transactions have risen from the archives and devoured their bank accounts. [More]
JCPenney To Require Structural Inspections Of Factories In Bangladesh
By 5.17.13
Retailers and manufacturers continue to react to last month’s tragedy at the Rana Plaza factory outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. Days after Walmart announced its own program to review and inspect manufacturing facilities in the region, JCPenney has outlined its plans to audit factories. [More]
Man Jailed For Rubbing Pepperoni On His Weiner At Grocery Store
By 5.17.13
Earlier this week, a northern New York man was caught doing a terrible, terrible thing to an innocent stick of pepperoni. He was arrested and put behind bars…not just for lewd behavior in public in a Hannaford store, but because they had to destroy the pepperoni he had defiled afterward. [More]
Security Questions Aren’t Very Secure When Your Whole Family Knows The Answers
By 5.17.13
If you’re a forgetful person or have too many accounts to keep track of, the ability to reset an account password by typing the answers to a few questions about yourself can be a lifesaver. But there’s a dark side, too: it leaves you vulnerable to social engineering. Or having your Amazon password reset by your 94-year-old dad. [More]
Wells Fargo Forecloses On Homeowner Who Made Payments Too Early
By 5.16.13 — Updated: 5.17.13
A homeowner in Orlando is confused, and with good reason. He says he not only made his mortgage payments on time to Wells Fargo, but that he sometimes paid early and sometimes paid more than he was supposed to. And yet, the bank decided to foreclose on his home. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find MP3 Player From 2005 Marked Down To Only $100
By 5.15.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Exploring the clearance section of his local Walmart, Eric made a rare and fascinating discovery. Well, as we’ve learned on this site, not all that rare, but it is pretty fascinating to see an electronic gadget that’s around eight years old sitting on the shelf, marked down on “clearance” to a comically high price. [More]
Judge Tries, Again, To Slap Wells Fargo With $203 Million For Overdraft Policy
By 5.15.13
It’s been nearly three years since a U.S. District Court first ordered Wells Fargo to pay out $203 milllion in refunds to settle a class-action suit involving the bank’s overdraft policies. Since then, the bank got a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside that mountain of cash, saying California law can not override federal banking laws. Now the original District Court judge is once again ordering the bank to fork over the $203 million. [More]
Zombie Amazon Return Rises From Dead, Gets Charged To Credit Card
By 5.15.13
We’ve discussed zombie debt, zombie bills, and zombie accounts, and even zombie retail on this site before, but we had never heard of zombie returned merchandise…until now. Reader Michael reports that he returned something to Amazon in March 2013, received a refund, and that was the end of the story. Until it wasn’t the end of the story. [More]
DOJ: Steve Jobs E-Mails Show That Apple Engaged In E-Book Price-Fixing
By 5.15.13
While all of the publishers involved in Justice Dept.’s e-book price-fixing lawsuit have settled, Apple has continued to maintain its innocence. With the trial set to begin in early June, the DOJ has some evidence it believes paints Apple in a rather damning light. [More]
Walmart Creates Its Own Bangladesh Factory Safety Program
By 5.15.13
While major European retailers have moved to sign a legally binding accord aimed at improving working conditions and factory safety in Bangladesh, the large American retailers have yet to join. Now, amid reports that some of its products had been made at the Rana Plaza facility that collapsed in April, taking the lives of more than 1,100 people, Walmart is creating its own program to inspect these facilities. [More]
