UPS delivered a large, light, somewhat damaged box to Erick’s workplace. What was inside? Gosh, what if it was damaged when the box was dented? Better open it to make sure. [More]
Retail Services
Don’t Try To Sell Your Target Gift Card For Cash Inside The Store
By 7.3.12
When Heather tried to sell her son’s old crib, she learned that it had been recalled and contacted the retailer, Target, to find out how to get a refund. She was told that if she brought the crib to a Target store, she would receive a refund on the spot. What she wasn’t told is that the refund would be in the form of a Target gift card. With the nearest store an hour away, she doesn’t visit regularly and has no use for a gift card. She’s on a tight budget and has more use for cash. She tried to find a fellow customer to buy it from her until store management asked her to stop. From their point of view, she brought in a recalled item without understanding Target’s policies, and was soliciting customers inside the store, attempting to sell her gift card for cash. [More]
Can I Survive The Wells Fargo Takeover Of Wachovia With My Account Terms Intact?
By 7.3.12
Keith has had the same bank account for eight years, but during that time “his” bank has been four different banks thanks to mergers. Ameribank became First Union, which became Wachovia, which in turn was gobbled by Wells Fargo. That’s just how the history of American banking has worked: what’s the big deal? For the first time in all of these mergers, additional fees will be imposed on Keith’s account. He wants to keep things the way they’ve been for the last eight years, and Wells Fargo wants to move on. Well, it wants to move on to taking more money out of Keith’s wallet. [More]
Leaky Dishwasher Wrecks Hardwood Floor And Ceiling Below, Sears Shrugs
By 7.2.12
Sometimes, you buy a defective appliance and your only problem is that that the appliance doesn’t work. It’s sad, but you replace the item, either using a warranty or by purchasing a new one. Sometimes the company will stand in your way, and you have to fight them for a replacement. And then sometimes your defective appliance warps your hardwood floor, leaks through to your basement ceiling, and causes more than $4,000 worth of damage. That’s what happened to Nachos Grande and his wife (not his real name) when they bought a defective Whirlpool dishwasher from Sears. [More]
AutoZone Cashier Made Me Donate To Charity Against My Will
By 7.2.12
Stuart was shopping at Autozone, and stubbornly insisted on reading everything on the credit card reader screen before agreeing to it. The chain was doing a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraising push at the time, and when the screen asked whether he would like to donate a dollar, the cashier reached over and pressed “yes” for him. There was some confusion, but ultimately when Stuart complained, the store employees didn’t see why he was being so stubborn. After all, it was for charity, and only a dollar: why did he care that the store was charging him money he specifically didn’t give them permission to charge? [More]
Barnes & Noble, Amazon Know Which Sections Of Fifty Shades Of Grey You’re Reading Over And Over
By 6.29.12
While anyone with a Kindle or Nook knows they can download e-books from the Internet, not everyone is mindful of the fact that they are also sending information back to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (or Google, or Apple). It’s not just so that you can switch between your e-reader, laptop, phone and tablet without losing your bookmarks and notes; it’s also so that these e-book sellers can share this information with the publishers of the books you’re reading. [More]
Bank Of America To Pay Woman $300K It Owed For Trying To Foreclose On Her 4 Years Ago
By 6.29.12
A Texas woman’s “nightmare” of three court cases in six years is finally over, after a judge ordered Bank of America to pay her the $300,000 it’s owed her since 2008. Trudie’s troubles all started after a hurricane damaged her home in 2006, and her then-mortgage company told her not to worry about paying her loan for three months so she could get back on her feet. [More]
Best Buy Quits Offering Replacement Plans For Cheap Earbuds
By 6.29.12
For once, it’s easy to understand a situation from Best Buy’s point of view. They used to sell $4.99 replacement plans for relatively cheap earbuds––those costing $10 or less. Pithecanthropus thought this was a great idea, given the longevity of a cheap pair. Especially if you have a string-loving cat in the house. But Best Buy has wised up and is no longer offering replacement plans for earbuds that cost $30 or less. That makes sense, but makes Pithecanthropus sad. [More]
Nationwide Helium Shortage Could Sink Your Summertime Party Decorations
By 6.28.12 — Updated: 10.23.12
While some people think of helium as being a never-ending source of floating balloons and chipmunk voices, the relatively warm winter of 2012 has apparently resulted in a nationwide helium shortage that could leave summer weddings and parties with fewer floating decorations than people had hoped for. [More]
Best Buy Needs Your Personal Info To Sell An XM Radio Receiver, Can’t Tell You Why
By 6.28.12
Here’s what Ted wanted. He already has an XM Radio subscription, and he wanted to buy a replacement radio. His was broken, but Best Buy carries them, and Best Buy stores are everywhere. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? Just stop in, exchange money for radio, leave, walk out. Not so fast, there, Ted: Best Buy needs your name, address, and phone number before they can sell you a radio. And they have no idea why. [More]
Survey: Barely Half Of E-Mails To Major Retailers Receive Adequate Responses
By 6.27.12
If you’ve ever written an e-mail to a retailer and either never received a reply or received one that did not adequately answer your question, you’re not alone. In fact, according to a new survey, retailers only provided complete responses to customers’ e-mails 54% of the time. [More]
Stuck Without Refund, Should I Listen To Walmart Or PayPal?
By 6.27.12
J. is stuck between two commercial titans and regular Worst Company in America contenders: Walmart and PayPal. After he returned a defective tablet for a refund, Walmart held on to the money. J. filed a PayPal dispute, and has been told to drop the dispute in order to get a refund from Walmart. PayPal says not to drop the dispute. Who should J. trust? [More]
New Chase Devices In Stores Will Accept Payments From Mobile Phones
By 6.27.12
JPMorgan Chase is taking a step toward its mobile future with an announcement today that it’s started the process of equipping merchants with newfangled devices that will accept payments both from mobile phone signals as well as cards embedded with computer chips, and the traditional magnetic strips. [More]
Louis C.K Says He’s Trying To Do His Fans A Solid By Selling Show Tickets Himself
By 6.26.12
Louis C.K., the potty-mouthed comic with a beloved FX show and a devoted gang of fans, might love to sling insults and poke fun at his audience during stand-up routines, but that doesn’t mean he wants them to have to pay out the ear for tickets to his shows. He announced via an email blast that tickets to his upcoming tour will be sold exclusively on his own web site. [More]
Beer Giant Anheuser-Busch Set To Gorge Itself With Expected Takeover Of Grupo Modelo
By 6.26.12
Do you prefer a Corona Extra over a good ol’ Bud? Soon those two very different beers could be brethren under the giant umbrella of Anheuser-Busch InBev, as the company is reportedly close to buying the half of Grupo Modelo it doesn’t own already. One big beery family. [More]
At Target, ‘Price Cut’ Means Keep The Same Price
By 6.25.12
Yolanda noticed something strange on the shelf at Target. Well, maybe only strange if you have no experience with shopping at Target. An item on the shelves was labeled “Price Cut,” but if you moved that price tag to the side, there was no price cut at all. [More]
Delivery Guy Thinks This A Wise Place To Hide My Amazon Package
By 6.22.12
Imagine you are delivering a package to someone’s house and you want to leave it in a place where it won’t get stolen or damaged. We don’t know what ideas you might be coming up with, but we’re hoping this isn’t one of them. [More]
Chase Sends Customer’s Entire Payment History & Personal Info To Complete Stranger
By 6.22.12
After three years of continual back-and-forth with a bank over a mortgage adjustment, one would think there’s nothing that bank could do to surprise you. And then it goes and sends documents containing information that even an inept ID thief could use to rob you blind. [More]
