Consumerist reader Scott says he should have listened to those people who have told him not to shop at Best Buy. I he had heeded their words, maybe he’d have his new laptop instead of having to deal with a store full of employees who apparently don’t care about fixing his problem. [More]
Retail Services
Best Buy Founder Gets A Little More Time To Figure Out How To Buy Company Back
By 12.14.12
Just yesterday it seemed Best Buy founder Howard Schulze would have a stressful weekend, as he was supposed to come with an offer, any offer, to buy his company back by Sunday. But it seems he’s been issued a bit of a reprieve, as the electronics retailer said today that it will give Schulze until Feb. 28 to make his bid for the company. We can feel the relieved exhalation from here. [More]
Woman Cited For Shopping Cart Rage Because There Are Plenty Of Carts To Go Around
By 12.14.12
The nice thing about the supermarket is that they have these large, rolling vessels available to use for free, so shoppers can fill them with items and not have to carry all those groceries. They’re called shopping carts, and unless there’s some special occasion where a store is flooded with shoppers, there are usually quite a few of them available. So punching a fellow shopper in the face over shopping cart rage? That doesn’t need to happen. [More]
Milk, Aspirin, Broadband, And LivingSocial: Some Class Actions You Might Be Eligible For
By 12.14.12
Organic milk, LivingSocial vouchers, Norton Antivirus, Verizon Wireless games, and Clearwire Internet service: what do they all have in common? All of these companies have open class-action lawsuits against them for which eligible customers can file claims and get cash. [More]
At Best Buy You Can Pay $3 More For Someone Else To Open A Product For You
By 12.14.12
Consumerist reader R. came upon quite a non-deal at his local Best Buy and simply had to snap a photo using our mobile tipster app. Because otherwise how could we believe that Best Buy would display a higher price for an opened item than for a brand new one? Well, actually, we’d believe it anyway but proof is always fun. [More]
Best Buy Customer Returns Extra iPads Sent By Accident, Feels Like A Sucker
By 12.14.12
We were surprised, last week, to hear about a Best Buy customer who ordered one iPad, then received a box of five. It was even more surprising when we heard from another customer who had the same problem. We keep hearing from more people who have received iPacks instead of iPads. One of them was Eric, who took them back to the local Best Buy and received a $50 iTunes gift card for his trouble. He was surprised to learn from a fellow commuter about our series of posts. Especially the part where Best Buy offered to let the other customers keep the four bonus iPads. Now he feels like a sucker. [More]
Chicago Strip Club Offers Free Lap Dances To Boost Holiday Toy Drive Donations
By 12.14.12
It’s not Toys for Tots, but the goal is the same: A Chicago strip club is embarking on its third annual toy drive with its unique angle on convincing customers to give this holiday season — you give an unopened toy suitable for a child and you get a lap dance. It’s a simple premise and it’s likely a very popular scheme with the club’s patrons. Lap dances are usually very expensive, after all. [More]
Home Depot Glitch Gives Unexpected Gift To Online Shoppers — Free Orders
By 12.14.12
If you were doing some shopping on HomeDepot.com yesterday morning, you should check your order summary because you might have been the beneficiary of an oopsy by the home improvement retailer that allowed some customers to place orders they didn’t get charged for. [More]
Report: Walmart & Kroger Among Top Bidders For Hostess Assets
By 12.14.12
A Twinkie here, a Ho Ho there — with bidders reportedly lining up to gobble Hostess’ assets, the brand’s snacks could be split up among some big name brands. Walmart and Kroger are said to be in the scrum of companies waiting to bid on the bits and pieces that remain of Hostess during its liquidation sale. [More]
Forget The Whistle: NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Changes Rules For Cab-Hailing Apps
By 12.13.12
You can use an app to order a pizza, another to refill your prescriptions and there’s probably one out there that will just tell you you’re pretty, so why not an app to hail a cab? In New York City, the issue of taxi-hailing apps has been a hot issue, as the apps go against rules that forbid cabs from making pre-arranged pick-ups. That’s all about to change, as the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to approve a temporary new set of rules that will allow such apps. [More]
Gift-Givers, Beware Of Google’s Short Return Window For Nexus Devices
By 12.13.12
Are you buying a product from Google’s Nexus line as a gift this holiday season, or for an upcoming special event? It’s too late for reader Joan, but she wants everyone to know that you should probably make your purchase from somewhere with a looser return policy than the Google Play store if your gift-giving occasion is more than two weeks or so away. That’s because you can’t return items more than 15 days after purchase unless they’re defective. [More]
Chase Damages Woman’s Credit Report With $16,159 Error, Doesn’t Really Care
By 12.13.12
Imagine waking up one day and finding out that you can’t get a credit card because someone at the bank screwed up and told the credit reporting agencies that you owed more than $16,000 to Chase. You’d think that this could be easily resolved — but apparently not without getting the local news involved. [More]
Judge Tells Man He Can’t Wiggle Out Of $28K Hustler Club Tab Just Because He Was Drunk
By 12.13.12
Listen, plenty of people have made mistakes while under the influence of alcohol. But booze does not an excuse make, said a judge to man who sued Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club for fraudulent billing over a $28,000 tab he racked up while he was drunk. It’s not the club’s job to protect you from yourself, ruled the judge. [More]
Kmart Teases Me With Virtual Rebate That Vanishes Into The Ether
By 12.13.12
Shopping online and looking for the best deal like a good consumer, Doug bought his Nintendo 3DS from Kmart. Part of the greatness of this deal was a $30 rebate that would (theoretically) come in the form of a gift code. Sending rebates to customers in the form of an electronic code seems so efficient, doesn’t it? Yes, we suppose it would be, if Kmart had sent the code, and if anyone at Kmart had any idea what it is that he’s talking about. [More]
Best Buy Founder Finally Set To Make Offer On Buying The Company Back
By 12.13.12
The clock is ticking on Best Buy founder Richard Schulze’s bid to buy back the retailer. He has until Sunday to present his offer to the company’s board, and he’s reportedly just about ready to do so. [More]
Best Buy Can’t Actually Find Your Reward Zone Certificates For You
By 12.13.12
David had some rewards certificates from Best Buy available, and they happen to have the BluRay version of the movie “Rudy” in stock for only $7.99. In theory. The disc was actually marked $19.99, but rang up at $7.99, because nothing in life or at Best Buy is ever simple or straightforward. Great, so they straightened that out: now, could they pull up his certificates from within the store? Of course not. [More]
Lidl On The Hook For $260K In Christmas Chicken Dinners After Twitter Campaign Goes Viral
By 12.12.12
Winner, winner, so very many chicken dinners for Lidl to hand out in Belgium. The discount retailer is on the hook for about $260,000 worth of Christmas chicken dinners, after it offered to trade five four-course meals in exchange for every dedicated hash tag on Twitter. So this is either a resounding success or… or Lidl will not call it anything but a success. [More]
Best Buy No Longer Wants Customers Contacting It By E-Mail
By 12.12.12
Best Buy has never been the best at dealing with customer e-mails, but rather than invest in improving that facet of customer service, the retailer has decided to pull the option from its contact form on its customer service page. [More]
