The federal government recently filed a lawsuit over a Countrywide scheme dubbed “The Hustle” that removed impediments to a mortgage approval so the company could sell as many mortgages as possible to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now comes news that a Countrywide exec who ignored warnings about the Hustle is currently running Chase’s foreclosure review initiative. [More]
Retail Services
Your Guide To Black Friday Start Times: Start Planning Extreme Shopping Strategies
By 11.9.12
We already know that Walmart is pushing back its Black Friday sale start time to 8 p.m. on Thursday (yes, that’s Thanksgiving!), but what about all its competitors? When are those doors going to come banging open to allow the frenzied flow of devoted discounters to get to work? Let’s just say it might be a good idea to scheduled dinner early in the day if you want to partake in the retail madness. [More]
Home Depot Uses LG Appliances To Advertise Deal That Excludes LG Appliances
By 11.9.12
If you look at all the LG appliances pictured in the Home Depot flier advertising savings for customers who buy multiple appliances, you might be confused by the fine print at the bottom of the image. [More]
Funny Pictures: Not Always Funny On Second Glance
By 11.9.12
Reader Justin sent us this picture of a comically overpriced microSD card on the shelf at Best Buy. Oh, this storage device is overpriced by $310! Best Buy, you’re so silly! Only it’s not as silly as the casual observer might think, because this isn’t really an item for sale. [More]
Fitbit Doesn’t Seem To Understand How Preorders Work
By 11.9.12
Andy was really excited about the new Fitbit One. He placed a pre-order back when the activity-tracking gadget was first announced, and waited patiently for the projected “early November” ship date. November began, and the new Fitbit began to show up on the shelves of virtual and real-life stores, but not in his mailbox. Why, he asks, does any random person wandering through Best Buy get their Fitbit before early orderers like him? [More]
Amazon To Customers: How’d You Like A Bottle Of Wine To Go With Your New Corkscrew?
By 11.8.12
While many of my Amazon purchases arrive as the result of a glass (or three) of wine and access to the World Wide Web, the company is moving from being the purveyor of wine accessories like wine racks and corkscrews to booze merchants. Specifically, the company announced today that it will be selling wine through the appropriately named Amazon Wine program in certain states. [More]
Walmart Redesigns 5.3 Ounces Right Out Of Great Value Mashed Potato Box
By 11.8.12 — Updated: 11.9.12
An anonymous Walmart shopper stopped by to show us how a nice-looking redesign of the mega-retailer’s house-brand mashed potato flakes masks some shrinkage. Wally World took advantage of the packaging change to shave off 5.3 ounces of dehydrated potato goodness. Of course, the box looks the same size from the outside. It’s still a great value. Just a little less great than before, perhaps. [More]
Walmart Pushes “Black Friday” Back Two More Hours To Thursday “Dessert Hour”
By 11.8.12
You can only push something back so far until its name ceases to have any real meaning. Although if Walmart keeps knocking Black Friday back, it could eventually end up on an actual Friday again. This year the mega retailer is starting its Black Friday specials two hours earlier than the year before, starting at 8 p.m. Thursday during “dessert hour.” [More]
When A Price Is Too Good To Be True, Prepare Yourself For Possible Disappointment
By 11.8.12
Adam happened to see the stand mixer of his dreams listed on Amazon for only $36. That was quite a discount from the list price of $500, even with $76.76 shipping, so he jumped on it. As you can guess, this deal wasn’t real and the Amazon Marketplace vendor certainly hadn’t meant to offer a 93% off sale. The seller canceled the transaction, claiming to have no inventory. Now Adam has no mixer, is sad, and blames Amazon. Is this really Amazon’s fault? [More]
Time Warner Cable Dangling Free Xboxes To Entice Customers To Sign Up At Best Buy
By 11.7.12
People want free stuff. Cable companies need new customers. Best Buy really, really needs shoppers to set foot in its stores. These three facts have all resulted in a promotion that has TWC offering up free Xbox 360s to new customers who sign up for its Triple Play package while visiting Best Buy. [More]
Flashing Your Breast Implants & Spitting At Cops Won’t Make You Any Friends At Walmart
By 11.7.12
It is one thing to be proud of your newly gained physical attributes, but you likely won’t make any friends among your fellow Walmart shoppers by flashing your breast implants at them. A Pennsylvania man who reportedly lives as a woman was arrested for doing just that, and compounded his bad behavior by acting up when the cops came for him. [More]
We Are Shocked, Simply Shocked That Walmart Won’t Let You Pay $1.17 For A $228-TV
By 11.6.12
Here at Consumerist, we’ve seen many a bad consumer try to pull off the old retail switcheroo by sticking bar codes for less expensive items on pricier products. But trying to get away with such a move using a clearly expensive TV and a barcode for a hanger? That’s just not going to fly at Walmart, as one man found out recently in Texas. [More]
Bank Of America Sends New Debit Card To APO Address, Then Remembers They Don’t Send Cards To APO Addresses
By 11.6.12
Brett’s Bank of America debit card stopped working. A merchant he had patronized recently (they wouldn’t say who, of course) had been compromised, and they sent him a new card a month before. The problem: Brett is in Afghanistan right now. The bank sent a replacement card out to him right away by FedEx, but only after it didn’t show up did they remember: oh, yeah, they don’t send new debit cards to APO addresses! Helpful. [More]
Staples Agrees To Let New Best Pal Forever Amazon Install Lockers In Its Stores
By 11.6.12
We’ve heard about Amazon’s new delivery system, wherein online shoppers can send their packages to physical pick-up locations and grab their stuff from lockers. Previously the company announced that the lockers would be at grocery stores and malls and the like, and now it seems Staples is on board to become a locker host as well. [More]
Amazon Trade-In Trades My Camera For Invisible Camera
By 11.6.12
Nate saw that he could get a few bucks for his old Canon Digital Rebel camera using Amazon Trade-In. It was a few bucks more than he could get using eBay, so he packed it up and waited for his $97. They didn’t agree about its condition, so he asked to have it sent back. He received back the manual and cables in a smaller Amazon box…but where was the camera? [More]
Someone Charged $560 Worth Of Kindle Books To My Amazon Account; No One Seems To Care
By 11.5.12
Say what you will about print vs. digital and retail vs. online, but if you were to go into your local bookstore and show them proof that someone had somehow illegally purchased $560 worth of books there, you’d probably get a better response than the one Consumerist reader Joe received from Amazon. [More]
Kenmore ‘Elite’ Means ‘Only Eight Months Until Rust Spots Show Up’
By 11.5.12
Reader Arglex recently remodeled their home and replaced all of the appliances. Like many Americans, the Arglex family have been loyal Sears customers for decades. They believed that Kenmore Elite appliances were, well, elite. Not that they would begin to rust after only a few months and not do their jobs properly. Like keeping ice cream cold. [More]
Cancer Patient Says Wells Fargo Evicted Her In Spite Of Court Order; Wells Fargo Says It’s Not To Blame
By 11.1.12
According to a petition that now has more than 114,000 signatures, a breast cancer patient in California claims that Wells Fargo and the sheriff evicted her from her home of 20 years at gunpoint. Meanwhile, the bank says it wasn’t involved in the [More]
