As anyone who lives or works in a major city can attest to, the last few years have seen a huge growth in the number of quality food vendors selling their items from trucks parked on city streets. While the food truck trend might be at or nearing its peak, it may have blazed a trail for other businesses to think about going mobile. [More]
Retail Services
Chase Ordered To Pay $100M To Credit Card Customers For Boosting Minimum Payments
By 7.24.12
JPMorgan Chase hit up its customers for some additional cash back in 2008 and 2009 when it raised minimum monthly payments on many of its credit cards from 2% to 5%, and now it seems the tables have turned. As part of a class-action settlement over litigation brought by customers, the bank has agreed to pay $100 million to its cardholders for improperly boosting payments in order to generate higher fees. [More]
Woman Figures Any Price Tag Will Do, Switches Store Labels Around To Score Cheap Toys
By 7.24.12
We’d like to say we’re shocked, simply shocked that a woman is accused of switching out price tags on pricy toys like Lego sets in exchange for cheaper ones in order to buy the items and resell them for a profit. But we’re not that surprised, because we’ve seen this sort of very bad no good behavior before. [More]
Walmart Comes Out Against Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement
By 7.24.12
Earlier this month, when the Visa and MasterCard announced a massive settlement in the legal battle over credit card swipe fees, it looked like the seven-year-old dispute had finally come to an end — and that we’d all soon be seeing credit card surcharges at retailers. But in just the last few days, the nation’s largest retailers have come out in opposition of the settlement. [More]
Best Buy Compensation Consultant Quits Over Useless Bonuses
By 7.24.12
In the last six months, Best Buy’s CEO has resigned under a dark cloud, its founder has stepped down and thousands of employees face “intensive induction training.” But while the retailer is making all sorts of public to-do about accountability and change, it’s reportedly handing out bonuses to senior employees that have nothing to do with performance. [More]
Waffle Joint Blames Groupon’s “Shocking Business Practices” For Its Demise After Only 3 Months
By 7.24.12
A Washington D.C. waffle joint that opened its doors just three months ago has announced it’s going out of business, which in itself isn’t news. Businesses in the food industry often don’t make it, after all. But in this case, the shop’s owner is blaming Groupon’s payment practices coupled with the sudden surge in demand for waffles as the reason for the restaurant’s early demise. [More]
Sears Might Need Customers But Bears Are Not The Most Ideal Shoppers
By 7.23.12 — Updated: 9.25.13
Struggling retailer Sears should be cheered by the fact that it still has customers who want to check out its electronics — even if said customers happen to be fuzzy, 150 pounds and well, bears. A young brown bear wandered into a Sears over the weekend at a mall in Pittsburgh, but wasn’t even allowed to look around before it was tranquilized and taken away. Meanwhile, one of its furry friends showed up later for some grub. [More]
EA Settles Price-Fixing Lawsuit But Apparently Still Has Madden Monopoly On NFL Games
By 7.23.12
Electronic Arts (aka our Worst Company In America winner) has settled a lawsuit alleging that it was overcharging for some of its most popular sports titles, including Madden NFL as well as NCAA Football and Arena Football games. But while the settlement restricts EA’s ability to sign exclusive deals with the NCAA and Arena Football, it appears its Madden Monopoly on NFL titles will march on intact. [More]
Women Forget The “Take The Baby With You” Part Of Their Walmart Shoplifting Plan
By 7.23.12
Perhaps the saying should be changed from “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” to “Don’t forget while attempting to shoplift to also bring your child with when fleeing the store.” A mother and her sister are accused of leaving a 1-year-old behind when running from a robbery attempt at Walmart. [More]
Bank Of America Customers Now Have Fewer ATMs To Use
By 7.23.12
If you’re a Bank of America customer and you sensed that the number of BofA ATMs out there had shrunk in recent months, you were not hallucinating. The company says it decided to pull 1,536 — nearly 1-in-10 — of its ATMs out of use in an effort to cut costs. [More]
No, Best Buy Employee, I Won’t Come To Your House To Get My Stolen Racy Photos Back
By 7.20.12
Just because you hand over your phone to a Best Buy employee does not mean they’re allowed to pilfer your photo collection and burn said pictures onto a CD. A Virginia woman claims an employee promised to help her transfer her iPhone’s contents onto a newer model, and after stealing her racy photos, invited her over to his home to get them back. [More]
Olympic Tourists To Compete In Epic Line-Standing Competitions At London’s ATMs
By 7.20.12
What’s more annoying than someone calling it an ATM machine? A super long line at the ATM, which is going to be the reality for many tourists cruising into London for the Olympic games. Officials are warning tourists of epic queues, advising travelers to bring their own British pounds instead of trying to access ATMs. [More]
Home Depot Won’t Process $8,000 Order Because It Can’t Decide If It Will Accept My Gift Cards
By 7.20.12
Consumerist reader Sam was in a bit of a pickle. He’d recently moved from Florida to Texas, where he’d bought a home with the aim of fixing it up. To help him in this effort, Sam’s family and friends had given him several thousand dollars worth of Home Deport gift cards. Problem is, Sam accidentally left those cards back in Florida. But since he had all the info for the cards, Home Depot said it would be no problem. Or wait, maybe it will be. Or maybe not. [More]
FCC: Internet Service Providers Are Actually Delivering The Speeds They Promise
By 7.20.12
Internet service providers take your money and promise to send you speeding along an information superhighway, dangling the carrot of fast connection times to get your business. And according to an annual report card by the Federal Communications Commission, while Verizon and Cablevision are the leaders in providing advertised speeds, it seems most ISPs are getting better at being more consistent on delivering the goods as well. [More]
B&B Owners Ordered To Pay Gay Couple $4,500 For Refusing To Rent Them A Room
By 7.19.12
It’s taken three years, but the owners of a B&B are now being ordered to pay a gay couple $4,500 after refusing to rent them a room at their inn, based on the fact that the men were gay. The owners argued before a hearing with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in Canada that they had a constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion on their side. [More]
Unwitting Smugglers Had No Idea Delightful Chocolate Eggs With Toy Surprises Inside Are Illegal
By 7.19.12 — Updated: 3.14.13
We can picture the scene perfectly: Two guys on the way home from a trip to lovely Vancouver approaching the U.S./Canadian border. Suddenly, there’s a current of fear when guards search the car and inform them they’re smugglers. Each man pictures the other cackling evilly while shoving drugs or laundered money into a secret compartment in the car. But wait! It’s just illegal candy with a toy inside. Whew. [More]
Chase To Disabled Veteran: Sorry For Making You Do All That Paperwork For A Loan We Don’t Offer
By 7.19.12
There’s nothing quite like slogging through tons of paperwork for months in pursuit of something very, very important, and then having the rug just pulled out from under you, is there? A disabled veteran says his bank, Chase, executed just such a disappointing move while he was trying to buy a home under a special Illinois loan program for veterans. [More]
“Amazon Yesterday” Shipping Bends Time & Space, Would Be Worth Price Of Prime Membership
By 7.18.12
Last week, we talked about Amazon’s plans to speed up its delivery times and increase the number of items it offers for same-day delivery. But no matter how many warehouses Amazon builds or how many trucks it leases, it will never be as awesome as the purely theoretical “Amazon Yesterday” shipping. [More]
