Late last night, two separate lawsuits were filed against JPMorgan Chase & Co and its Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Dimon, accusing the bank and its management of excessive risk that led to trading losses of at least $2 billion. [More]
Retail Services
Alleged Customer Sues Over 2010 Racist Walmart PA Prank
By 5.16.12
Loyal Consumerist readers and retail-watchers may remember the 2010 incident in which a 16-year-old took over the PA system of a New Jersey Walmart and announced, “Attention Walmart customers: all black people must leave the store.” The prankster had done the same thing a few months before, and was charged with harassment and bias intimidation for each incident. Now, more than two years later, someone has filed a lawsuit against the store over the incident. He claims to have been in the store at the time of the prank, and that the incident led to “depression, anxiety, anger, loss of sleep and appetite, paranoia, and antisocial tendencies.” [More]
Sears Offers Crappy Tools And Service, First-Rate Apologies
By 5.16.12
We’re still not quite sure what Sears is. It pretends to be a retail operation, but in reality acts more like its existence is an elaborate anti-capitalist prank, aiming to keep consumers from exchanging their money for tangible goods. Take, for example, the case of Michael. He would like to order a Craftsman steel workbench frame from Sears, and Sears is doing its best to prevent him from owning one. [More]
Oscar Mayer Lifts Veil Of Secrecy On Ingredients With New Line Of Meats
By 5.15.12
Pink slime backlash is seeping into all things meat related. If a consumer is going to eat some meat, companies are figuring out that hey, maybe they’d like to know what exactly it is that’s going into their bodies. Which is why Oscar Mayer has announced a new line of meats with no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors. [More]
Rattlesnake Makes Terrible Walmart Greeter, Bites Customer
By 5.15.12
In a Walmart Garden Center, an outdoor area filled with plants, it’s not surprising that you might encounter some critters. Maybe a large bug, a moth, a frog, or even a grass snake. While shopping for mulch for his medical marijuana plants on Friday morning, a 47-year-old Washington state man reached down to pick up what he thought was a stick, and ended up rushed to the emergency room with a rattlesnake bite. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Set To Introduce Front-Lit Kindle In July
By 5.14.12
Since the introduction of the iPad, e-book fans have generally fallen into two camps — those who prefer the E Ink technology in Kindles and Nooks because it causes less eye strain and uses relatively low battery power; and those who prefer the backlit screens of tablet computers, which allow them to read without the need for a secondary light source. The Nook has come up with one possible solution, and now Amazon is reportedly set to launch a Kindle that would use a front-lit system to allow people to read in the dark. [More]
Pizza Shop Owner Claims He Caught An Angel On Surveillance Video
By 5.14.12
Someone call Ghost Hunters: A pizza shop owner in Bloomfield, Pa., says he’s caught evidence of an angel from his security camera outside the store. Bob says he found the shot taken in the parking lot around 6 a.m. on Friday, featuring a white image with a distinctive image in the upper part of the photo. [More]
Best Buy Chairman To Step Down After Investigation Finds Former CEO Had Relationship With Employee
By 5.14.12
Richard Shulze, the founder of Best Buy is leaving his role as company chairman, after an independent investigation found he had failed to report allegations of personal misconduct by former CEO Brian Dunn to the board’s audit committee. [More]
This Power Strip Is Ideal For Outdoor Use, Just Maybe Don't Use It Outdoors
By 5.11.12
Consumerist reader Fred was strolling through his local Home Depot in Connecticut when he checked out this Belkin power strip, which says right on the front of the package that it is “ideal” for outdoor use. Apparently, “ideal” is Belkin-ese for “not advised.” [More]
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon On $2 Billion Loss: "We Have Egg On Our Face"
By 5.11.12
JPMorgan Chase dropped a hefty financial bomb on everyone yesterday, admitting that it lost $2 billion in six weeks after some bad trading decisions. CEO Jamie Dimon revealed the news after trading closed last night, admitting that the company only has itself to blame. [More]
Why You Shouldn't Use PayPal On Target.com At All
By 5.11.12
In past reader stories posted to this site, we’ve learned that if you you use PayPal to buy an item from Target online, then later return it, you’re only going to get store credit back. That’s cool if you shop at Target a lot, but not so cool if you don’t. Now Bethany has discovered an exciting and infuriating variation on this concept. If you order something from Target using PayPal and it’s never delivered, sure, you’ll get a refund. In the form of an e-gift card to Target. [More]
How My Ex-Wife Is Unintentionally Keeping Me Away From My Money
By 5.11.12
If you’re going to be goofing off on the Internet anyway, you might as well make some money at it, right? That’s how so many of us find ourselves doing tiny tasks using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk in the wee hours of the morning. Reader Alex recently started using it, too. He’s built up a nice balance, which he would like to withdraw using his Amazon payments account. Only he can’t, because that account is a joint one with his ex-wife. Who he never added to his payments account, but might have had a wedding registry with long ago. Now Amazon has locked him out of his payments account entirely, and he can’t fix the situation. Hey, $75 is $75. [More]
Now You Can Force Your Friends To Finally Read 'Harry Potter' With Kindle Lending
By 5.10.12
If you’re sick of trying to foist various large tomes from the Harry Potter series on your friends so they can finally see for themselves how exciting Quidditch is, there’s relief in sight. Amazon announced today that Kindle owners can now borrow Harry Potter e-books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. [More]
Mall Now Requires Teens Shop With Parents After 6:00 P.M.
By 5.10.12
For teens at the NorthPark Center mall in Dallas, there’s no more whiling away the hours loitering at the food court with their school chums. If kids under the age of 18 want to hang at the mall after 6:00 p.m., they now have to do it with parents in tow. [More]
Groupon Goes National With A Loyalty Rewards Program To Woo Merchants
By 5.10.12
Groupon is on a quest to woo merchants and consumers alike with a loyalty program that is now going nationwide. It started the initiative last fall in select markets, in an attempt to try and help local businesses hold on to some of those new customers who come calling as a result of daily deal promotions. [More]
Amazon Says It Will Never Compensate Us For Or Assist With Problems In Any Future Deliveries
By 5.9.12
Consumerist reader L. and his wife have been loyal customers of Amazon since the giant e-tailer started out, he says. But because of a recent email his wife received today, he says they’re going to reconsider their allegiance. [More]
Dozens Or Hundreds Of Apple Devices Burgled From Chicago Best Buy
By 5.9.12
How many Apple gadgets did thieves remove from a Chicago Best Buy this past weekend? Police gave the media a modest estimate of only $42,000 worth of iPads, MacBooks, and GPS devices. However, an unnamed source whispered to CBS Chicago that the figure could be closer to $200,000, with the haul including a few hundred iPads. [More]
It Kind Of Makes Perfect Sense That Captain Morgan Is Being Sued For Piracy
By 5.8.12
That swashbuckling rum drinker Captain Morgan is facing some rough legal waters, as another company is suing its parent company, claiming it pirated a pouch cocktail design. Pirated! See how funny that is because he’s a pirate and he takes what he wants and now… I mean, you get it! I know you do. As our tipster writes, “In other news, water is wet.” [More]
