Pull up a stepstool, park your kid’s stroller, and let’s sit down with some Trader Joe’s chicken breasts and Walmart mac and cheese, with Sienna Bakery macademia nut cookies: it’s time for the Recall Roundup. Oh. All of those things have been recalled, really? [More]
Retail Services
Cops Say Couple Bound & Blindfolded Kids Before Leaving Them In Walmart Parking Lot
By 6.15.12
Can children be frustrating, and tough to keep an eye on sometimes? Yes, of course. But that doesn’t mean parents should blindfold and tie up their children to make sure they don’t go anywhere while they’re unattended. A couple from the Chicago area were arrested in Kansas for doing just that to two of their five kids, and leaving them in a Walmart parking lot. [More]
Best Buy Messes Up Remote Starter Install, Turns Car Into Non-Starter
By 6.15.12
Michael paid Best Buy to install a remote starter in his car. The installer on duty went far beyond that, and destroyed the wiring so that eventually, the car wouldn’t start at all. Best Buy covered damage to the wires that became evident right away, but not problems that came up later. Michael has now spent more than $3,200 of his own money repairing damage that he says resulted from the botched installation. [More]
Home Depot Pushes Free Assembly That Isn’t All That Free
By 6.15.12 — Updated: 5.2.16
When shopping for a grill at Home Depot, Amy and her spouse had a requirement that they didn’t think was too onerous. They wanted a grill that had not yet been assembled, so it would fit in their car and so they would only be able to blame themselves if it were put together wrong. “But…but…but… FREE assembly!” insisted employees at their local store, dragging them into an illogical spiral where “free” actually means “we can rent you a truck for $19.99.” [More]
USPS Destroys Package & Freaks Out Over Subsequent Leak Of “Mysterious” Gluten-Free Flour
By 6.14.12
The United States Postal Service should be a bit more careful about packages it handles, especially if it’s going to damage one so badly that its contents start to shake loose. Also? While Amazon probably isn’t going to be shipping any kind of dangerous substances, once Consumerist reader Jeremiah and his wife explained that it was gluten-free flour, surely there’s no need to freak out about it twice. And hey, maybe an apology is in order? [More]
Consumerist Reader Puts Sears 5-Minute Pick-Up Guarantee To Test
By 6.14.12 — Updated: 3.11.13
After reading about another reader’s lengthy ordeal with Sears’ “5-Minute Guarantee” for customers who order items for in-store pick-up, Tony decided to put the retailer through its paces to see how it performed with his order. [More]
Economists: Being Near A New Walmart Actually Increases Home Values
By 6.14.12
While the sight of a new Walmart store going up always causes some area residents to frown, a new report claims that houses within the immediate area of a new Walmart actually see a slight uptick in value. [More]
Failed Walmart Robber Unfortunate Enough To Get Hit By His Own Getaway Vehicle
By 6.13.12
Some people just aren’t very good at getting away with crimes, which is perhaps where the phrase “crime doesn’t pay” comes from, eh? Case in point: A man from New York failed in his alleged attempt to rob a Virginia Walmart, and then had the misfortune to get dinged up by his own getaway truck. [More]
Customers Sue Sears Because Changing Rooms Aren’t Free Peepshows
By 6.13.12
Facing yourself in the mirror of a changing room can be a tough experience in itself (bathing suit season, ugh — am I right, ladies?), but to find out that someone has been peeping on what you thought was a private clothes-changing session is extra uncool. Sears is being sued by about 25 people alleging a former maintenance man hid video cameras and taped women in one of its dressing rooms. [More]
Everything This Appliance Delivery Service Could Screw Up, They Did
By 6.13.12
When Sears sent a delivery service to Stephen’s house with a new dishwasher and fridge, he didn’t have ridiculously high expectations. He did expect installers to show up, not damage the new appliances or his home, not remove items necessary to install the new appliances, and bring all of the items that he paid for. They managed none of these things. And they were late. Now it’s three weeks after the delivery, and he still doesn’t have a working dishwasher. [More]
Movie Theaters Trying To Lure Customers With Any Non-Movie Event They Can
By 6.12.12
In a bid to save the movie theater industry, venues around the country are turning to just about any other kind of entertainment event they can possibly show that isn’t actually a movie. If you’ve got that big old screen and seats for plenty of people, why not pull in some business with say, a nice opera or live boxing match? [More]
Sears, Where “5-Minute Guarantee” Means “We Guarantee To Stop The Clock Before It Reaches 5 Minutes”
By 6.12.12 — Updated: 9.18.14
Consumerist reader Anna says years of unpleasant experiences have soured her on shopping at Sears. But when she saw the store was selling a 20-inch toolbox for only $9.99 with free in-store pick-up — and a guarantee that she would get that order within five minutes of showing up at the counter of get a $5 coupon — she decided to give the once-great retailer another shot. Oops. [More]
Best Buy ‘Bonus’ Means You Pay One Penny More
By 6.12.12
If you purchase this 55″ Panasonic plasma screen TV from Best Buy, they’ll throw in a home theater system for only only $150. This is an impressive deal, considering that the list price for that package is…$149.99. [More]
Just How Fake Is HGTV’s House Hunters?
By 6.11.12
Long-running basic cable staple House Hunters (and its various iterations) are the lifeblood of HGTV, which sometimes seems to air nothing but half-hour after half-hour of incredibly picky people looking at three possible places to purchase, one of which seems to always fit the incredibly finicky buyers’ check list. Most of us have known the show is at least partially staged, but now a woman featured on the show pulls back the curtain even more. [More]
Best Buy: Hacker Attacks Are Increasing For Online Retailers
By 6.11.12
Several weeks ago, we told you how several Best Buy customers were complaining that someone out there was attempting to make bogus, phantom purchases through their BestBuy.com accounts. We wondered at the time if the retailer’s site had been a possible victim of someone cracking into its customer database, but Best Buy says these unfortunate incidents are the result of ramped-up efforts by scammers against BestBuy.com and other websites. [More]
The Most Shoplifted Items Include Pregnancy Tests & Weight Loss Pills
By 6.11.12
When times are tough, the temptation of a five-finger discount can push consumers to shoplift — and it’s not like people are taking just flashy duds or pretty jewelry. Baby formula, pregnancy tests, vacuums and kitchen mixers — many of the most common items are expensive and are therefore being shoplifted, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation. [More]
Here’s A Great Deal On 2007 Consumer Reports Buying Guides
By 6.11.12
Thomas the Tank Engine books are timeless. But Consumer Reports buying guides have a definite shelf life, and we’re pretty sure that 5 years is past the expiration date. Victor spotted these on the clearance shelf at Target. “Of course it’s marked as-is,” he notes, “which is both unhelpful and completely unnecessary to state.”
Wait, Best Buy Replacement Plans Don’t Fix Or Replace Discontinued Gadgets?
By 6.11.12
In October 2010, less than two years ago, Best Buy sold Jason a $630 camera and a $120 Geek Squad protection plan for it. The plan included repair past the manufacturer’s warranty as well as accidental damage. His camera didn’t just get damaged: it fell onto some rocks and shattered. Wow, good thing he bought that protection plan! He brought the shards to a local Best Buy to see about getting the camera replaced. He was told that since Sony no longer makes that particular model, he was out of luck. That would be a nice racket for Best Buy if they don’t have to honor their plan for models that have been discontinued. [More]
