Last week, we published a story from a reader whose Kenmore washer might be repaired someday…maybe, leaving him to buy a cheap temporary replacement in the meantime. Reader Brian noticed the story because he had a similar experience when his local Home Depot sent installers too honest to leave him with a dented dryer. When he complained to the store manager that this left him without an important household appliance, the manager immediately brought over a loaner dryer that Brian’s family got to use for their dryer-less three weeks. [More]
Retail Services
Straight Talk’s Unlimited Data: Actually Sort Of Limited
By 1.30.13
A Straight Talk mobile plan with unlimited everything for $45 per month sounded pretty great to Thom, and he bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy to use with the carrier. All has been well since September, when he subscribed to the plan, but now something terrible has come up. Limits. TracFone (Straight Talk is a joint venture between TracFone and Walmart) tells him that he’s running up against the plan’s unspoken 2 GB limit, and they reserve the right to cut him off. [More]
Kmart Assumes I’m Home All Day, Waiting For My Mason Jars
By 1.29.13
Companies that ship things just can’t win. If a package gets stolen from a customer’s porch: somehow that’s their fault. Kmart has apparently taken precautions against that, blocking UPS from letting UPS drivers bring packages to a depot or leave it with no signature. Bringing it to a Kmart store: not an option. She doesn’t want to stay home all day and wait for a box of jars, her neighbors aren’t home during the day, and the situation has become ridiculous. [More]
Someone Needs To Talk To Kellogg’s About The Meaning Of ‘Value’
By 1.28.13
“Walmart will charge me 50 cents more for the luxury of getting 10 bars instead of just 5!” Mike write when he submitted this photo using the Consumerist Tipster App. He’s being unfair: who doesn’t want to pay extra for the privilege of dragging a bigger box home from the Super Walmart? [More]
6 Things You Can Learn From YouTube Hit “Thrift Shop” Without Having To Listen To It
By 1.28.13 — Updated: 1.29.13
I will be the first one to admit that before today, I had not listened to/viewed “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a YouTube hit with over 69 million views. Why? Because I didn’t feel like it. If you’re the same way, don’t worry — we can keep you in the loop and provide some actual real-life advice as relayed by the song’s lyrics. And you’ll never even have to listen to it if you don’t want to. Win-win. [More]
Sears’s Definition Of ‘In Stock’ Differs From Reality
By 1.28.13
Matt needed a new refrigerator, and he needed one quickly. Well, his tenant did, and he needed to pay for it. He saw that Sears had one available for immediate delivery, and even advertised on their site that they could help consumers out in appliance emergencies. Sweet! Only their definition of “in stock” differs from the real meaning of that term. The refrigerator isn’t in their warehouse. They can’t deliver it. They’re waiting to get more from the manufacturer, and have to leave Matt and his tenant in limbo. [More]
Target Employee Lies To Me About Refund Policy, Short-Changes Me 25% Of Purchase Price
By 1.25.13
If you buy something for $10 and have to return it a couple weeks later because it’s defective, you should get the full $10 back, even if it’s since gone on sale, right? This is a lesson that never made it to the employees of one Target in Tennessee. [More]
BofA CEO: Cleaning Up Countrywide Mortgage Mess Is Like Climbing Mountain With 250 lbs. On Your Back
By 1.25.13
Before the economy nosedived, Bank of America was the aww-shucks upstart from North Carolina who was quietly making its play to become one of the world’s largest banks. Then things turned bad for mammomth mortgage-lender Countrywide and investment bank biggie Merrill Lynch, and BofA swooped in to save both. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Will Take 10 Minutes To Download This Post Over A 56K Modem
By 1.25.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Among the readers and tipsters of Consumerist are a brave band of explorers on a sacred mission to advance human knowledge. Their quest: to find really, really old crap sitting on the clearance rack at Walmart, and take photos so we can laugh at it. They are the Raiders of the Lost Walmart. Here are their latest finds from the field. [More]
Survey: Top Brands For Buzz In 2012 Were Subway, Amazon And… Cheerios?
By 1.24.13
When you think about popular fast food chains, Subway is certainly among them. And Amazon.com is without a doubt the leader in online retail. But apparently the U.S. brand with the third-best “buzz” from consumers in 2012 was a cereal we’ve all been eating since the dawn of time. [More]
We’re Simultaneously Intrigued, Terrified By Live Feed Of Models Reading Promotional Tweets For Target
By 1.24.13
You know how sometimes on Twitter your eyes kind of glaze over when a promoted tweet shows up in your feed? That’s how we initially missed Target’s wacky live feed of models reading tweets aloud to promote products during an all-white themed fashion show. That is until a friend* happened to send a G-Chat simply reading, “This Target thing is weird.” [More]
Squatter Takes Over $2.5 Million Bank-Owned Home, Bank Of America Doesn’t Seem To Care
By 1.24.13
If you’re going to squat, you might as well squat like a rich dude. Just ask the man in Florida who has been enjoying the mortgage-free life in a $2.5 million, 7,200 sq-ft house, all while the owner — Bank of America — appears to be doing nothing to get him out. [More]
Former Sears Employee Attempts To Explain The Shipping Gang’s Apparent Distaste For Boxes
By 1.24.13
There are some retail processes and procedures that no matter how often we write about them, we just can’t wrap our heads around the logic behind them. If there even is any, of course. That’s why we were happy to hear again from our friend, a former Sears employee who just so happened to work in order fulfillment for the company. He wrote in to shed some light on why the company would ever ship something without a box. [More]
How A Tip From Consumerist, A Credit Card, And Some Determination Got Me A Brand-New Nook
By 1.24.13
Kyle really liked his Nook…until it decided to freeze up and no longer work. He was unhappy: it was only two months out of warranty, and he didn’t like the only option that Barnes & Noble presented: trading the non-working device in for a relatively small discount on a brand-new replacement. He had purchased a lot of books he uses every day for work on the Nook platform, and decided to take a loss on those and get a Kindle instead. Unhappy with the whole experience, he vented to us about it. [More]
Best Buy Banking On Amy Poehler To Break Its Super Bowl Ad Losing Streak
By 1.23.13
In 2011, Best Buy joined the exclusive club of Super Bowl advertisers to promote a buy-back program (which we spoiled weeks in advance) that has all but vanished. Last year, it hired a roster of tech biggies to bolster its image as a knowledgeable electronics retailer — and was greeted by chirping crickets. [More]
Sears Apparently Saving On Shipping Costs By Sending My Item Without A Box
By 1.23.13
Here at Consumerist HQ we’ve seen more than our fair share of items that have been ridiculously over-packaged, which while it’s a wasteful, silly exercise in shipping, it’s probably preferred to receiving a battered item. Consumerist reader Hui has a bone to pick with Sears’ shipping gang, as the company just can’t seem to find a simple box to send his items in. [More]
Seems Like Amazon Is Disregarding Georgia’s Efforts To Collect Sales Tax
By 1.23.13
Back on New Year’s Eve, we predicted that a new state law intended to compel Amazon to collect sales tax on purchases made by Georgia residents would probably fail — and that seems to be exactly what is happening. [More]
Amazon Deletes My Feedback About Questionable Marketplace Seller
By 1.22.13
Consumerist reader Wade recently bought a new Alpine Car Stereo from a third-party marketplace seller on Amazon. Or at least he thought he had. [More]
