What could possibly go wrong when combining meat flavors and carbonation? A lot, unless you happen to be the biggest buffalo wing fan in the entire world. That hasn’t prevented a company called Lester’s Fixins from reaching for the blue cheese stars with its Buffalo Wing Soda flavor. [More]
Retail Services
Bank Of America Starting To Nudge Its Mortgage Write-Down Plan Along
By 5.8.12
Like the super-slow fat cat that it is, Bank of America is finally easing its rump into a mortgage principal writedown plan, as part of the $25 billion settlement between it, other large mortgage servicers and the government. It announced today that it will start to contact homeowners who may be eligible for the program beginning this week. [More]
The Word "Used" Should Never Describe Sanitary Products For Sale
By 5.7.12
Anyone can appreciate a good bargain on a used product that works just as well as when it was in brand new condition. Used cars? Great! Gently worn clothing? Sign me up. But perhaps when describing an item such as say, feminine hygiene products, such a term should not be attached. [More]
At Least I Tried To Buy A Vacuum From Best Buy
By 5.7.12
Gregg ordered a new Dyson vacuum this past weekend, and used a Best Buy gift card toward the purchase. When he arrived at the store, his order wasn’t ready, even though the exact item he had ordered wasn’t on the sales floor. They couldn’t rush the online order process, couldn’t give him back the $30 from the gift card for his in-store purchase, and couldn’t do much of anything useful. So he waited for a refund and bought the same item from Lowe’s. The notification e-mail never did come through. [More]
More Than 1,000 Etsy Shops To Shut Down For Day To Protest "Collective" Shops
By 5.7.12
A few weeks ago, the Etsy folks stirred up a hornet’s nest of hate among its own sellers and the handmade goods community in general by featuring an Etsy shop that some accused of mass-producing furniture. Etsy didn’t help itself by later defending the shop, saying it is a “collective.” This hasn’t gone over well with a number of Etsy sellers and buyers who plan on taking a “vacation” on May 10 in protest. [More]
Instead Of An iPad 3 From Walmart, How's About A Box Full Of Notepads Instead?
By 5.7.12
Forget about all that high-tech fancy pants electronics stuff, who needs an iPad 3 when you can have a box full of fresh yellow notepads to scrawl on? There have been a few complaints at a Walmart in Michigan, with customers claiming they thought they’d bought an iPad 3, only to find stacks of paper in the box once they brought their items home. [More]
At Sears Card, 24-Hour Customer Service Means 'Whenever We Feel Like It'
By 5.7.12
Citibank now administers the Sears Card, but in order to keep their branding consistent, Citi is sure to keep the experience of dealing with Sears Card just as confusing and customer-unfriendly as dealing directly with Sears. That’s what Cat discovered while trying to contact their customer service, anyway. While the number on the card promises “24-hour customer service,” in the evening, there’s actually no way to get through. [More]
Target, I'll Buy Three 4-Packs For Less Than The Price Of One 12-Pack
By 5.4.12
Target makes us giggle on a consistent basis. It’s always trying so hard to offer customers a deal, but somehow, its resident mathematicians keep on failing at putting together a real discount. Consumerist reader Dane spotted the most recent pricing error and sent us a tip using our mobile tipster app. [More]
Bank Of America Tells Family It Won't Foreclose, Tries To Foreclose Anyway
By 5.4.12
For two years, a family in Washington state has been waiting for Bank of America to get its act together and finally figure out whether it’s evicting them or whether it’s going to adjust their mortgage. [More]
California Pension Fund Sues Walmart Leaders Over Alleged Bribery Scandal
By 5.4.12
When you’ve got shareholders with a lot invested in your company, and you’re caught up in the midst of a bribery scandal, well, said shareholders might not be too happy. A California pension fund that holds more than 5.3 million shares of Walmart is none too pleased with the company and how it’s handled the alleged bribery situation in Mexico. [More]
You Will Never Stop These Shipments Of Kenmore Filters
By 5.4.12
Automatic re-ordering of items you use a lot of can be a wonderful and convenient thing. But if you don’t want the thing anymore, ending that perpetual re-order can be a colossal pain in the butt. Dave had the water filters for his Kenmore fridge set for annual re-orders from Sears PartsDirect, but discovered a cheaper source. He tried to cancel the re-order, but wasn’t able to, so he removed all credit cards from his Sears account. They sent the filters anyway. [More]
Home Depot Delivers $2500 Worth Of Appliances, Won't Accept Money For Them
By 5.4.12
Consumer thought experiment: if Home Depot delivers some appliances to you, but never bills you for them, are they free? If that were true, a California grandmother got one heck of a Cyber Monday deal on more than $2,500 worth of kitchen appliances from Home Depot. That’s not what she wanted. She’d rather just pay the hardware mega-chain already, but they won’t accept her money. A computer glitch makes it look like she already paid for the appliances, and Home Depot won’t accept her money. [More]
Bank Of America To Drop That Whole "Bank Of Opportunity" Thing
By 5.3.12
For several years, Bank of America — via the gravelly voice of Kiefer Sutherland — has referred to itself in ads as the “Bank of Opportunity.” Now, realizing that this slogan may not quite fit the public’s image of BofA (and it would just be too easy for the bank to say “Pick on the other guys for a change”), the nation’s second-largest financial institution is shifting its branding gears. [More]
Utah Woman Finds Free Prize In Her Tampons — Cocaine
By 5.3.12
When you buy a laptop for a couple bucks at a salvage and recovery store, you take a chance it might not be good as new. But if you’re buying a box of tampons from the same outlet, you might ask “what could possibly be wrong?” Well… lots. [More]
Diners Say They Were Locked Inside Restaurant For Refusing To Pay Automatic Gratuity
By 5.3.12
It’s a common policy at many restaurants in the U.S. — if you have a party of a certain number or more, say, five or six, gratuity will be automatically added to your bill. But should you be able to refuse to pay that gratuity, if the service wasn’t so great? One group of friends thought so, and ended up locked inside a restaurant until the cops arrived. [More]
Amazon Getting Into The Business Of Making Its Own TV Shows
By 5.3.12
Amazon has already learned how to tie its own shoes, and now it wants to figure out how to have its own successful TV shows to offer on its streaming service. Netflix has its web shows already, so it seems it’s time for Amazon to catch up to the other kids. [More]
Target Stops Selling Kindle Over Reported "Conflict Of Interest"
By 5.2.12
Even though Amazon’s Kindle e-reader has been a top seller for Target since the retailer began selling the device in 2010, the Minnesota-based chain is pulling the Kindle from stores and has already stopped selling it on Target.com. [More]
Straight Man Says Best Buy Employee Outed Him On Facebook During Phone Servicing
By 5.2.12
We are well aware that many of our readers have had a tough time dealing with Best Buy employees. But we’re pretty sure that being outed on Facebook during the process of a phone servicing session pretty much takes the “You’re Terrible With Customers” cake. [More]
