The problem seemed easy enough to solve. SMM asked a Circle K cashier to pre-pay $20 on a gas pump using his credit card. Only the pump didn’t stop at $20 like it should have: it kept going until it reached $23.42. No big deal: SMM headed back in the store to pay the extra three and a half bucks. That’s when he learned that somehow, the first $20 he paid didn’t count. [More]
Retail Services
CFPB Rolls Out Tool To Help Students Comparison Shop For Financial Aid
By 4.12.12
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in its infancy, but already it’s taking steps to create tools that can help people in a very real way. It rolled out a beta version of a cost comparison shopping tool, aimed at guiding students and their families through the process of researching financial aid options. [More]
Want To Spy On Your Friends' Bank Accounts? Lend Them Your iPhone!
By 4.12.12
Letting someone borrow your iPhone to log in to their bank’s app quickly, then log back out is no big deal, right? Like letting a friend borrow your computer to check their web-based e-mail. They log in, they log out, they leave no trace. Unless it’s Chase’s iPhone app. Then you get all of their account alerts, no matter what you do. (Short of deleting the app, we assume.) [More]
Beaver Anal Gland Sacs & Other Weird Stuff You've Probably Eaten
By 4.12.12
All the talk about “pink slime” had us wondering, “What other weird things have we been eating?!” While the answers provided by the foodies at Consumer Reports often didn’t come with illustrative names such as pink slime, it did leave us a better bit informed — and a lot less hungry! [More]
Stuck With A Forged Check? Homeowners Insurance To The Rescue
By 4.12.12
The bad news: Someone passed a bum personal check to you as a payment. The good news: Your homeowners insurance policy might cover you — even if you got stiffed with bogus cash. [More]
Cops Turn Food Trucks' Social Networking Presence Against Them
By 4.12.12
It’s bad enough when your parents learn how to use Facebook and/or Twitter (sorry Mom, Dad) but what’s even worse, if you’re say, a food truck business, is when cops rain on your social networking parade. Police in Chicago have studied up on how the whole shebang works, and have been turning businesses’ social media savvy against them. [More]
How A Shirt With 'Made In The U.S.A.' On The Front Can Be Made In India
By 4.12.12
The design on a T-shirt can have very little to do with where the garment itself was made. Today, for example, I’m wearing a Cute Overload shirt that was made by American Apparel and is made of cotton, not from winged hamsters. But Jeremy thought it was strange that a shirt his girlfriend bought at Kohl’s has “Made in the USA” in fairly large print on the front, but was made in India. [More]
This Kebab Seasoning Is Unlike Any Other Meat Spice We've Seen
By 4.12.12
Consumerist reader Ashi was surfing the interwebs, perhaps on the hunt for just the right kebab seasoning, when he happened across a promising item sold through Amazon. “Sadaf Ground Meat Kabob Season, 1-ounce.” Sounds tasty — too bad it’s being sold with a picture of an entirely different product. [More]
How Amazon Was Amazing To Kindle Customer
By 4.12.12
Mike wasn’t looking for a freebie. He just had a few cosmetic scratches on the touchscreen of his Kindle Fire and wanted to know if there was a way he could minimize them or buff them out. He called up Amazon to ask, and their solution wasn’t a healing screen cover or a special polish. They shipped out a new device to him the very next day. [More]
Don't Be Tempted By Cash-Back Rewards At The Gas Pump
By 4.12.12
National average gasoline prices are undoubtedly heading for the $4 per gallon mark. And the offers of cash back or other rewards at your local station — where gas prices are probably a lot higher — may look awfully tempting. But don’t think you’ll reap windfalls if you sign up for that new gas station credit card! [More]
DOJ Agrees On E-Book Price-Fixing Settlement With Three Publishers
By 4.11.12
Only hours after filing suit against Apple and six book publishers over allegations of e-book price-fixing, the Justice Dept. said has agreed on settlement terms with three of those publishing companies — HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. [More]
Can Bricks-And-Mortar Retailers Beat Amazon At The Pricing Game?
By 4.11.12
In recent years, retailers across the country have taken issue with Amazon and other online stores that don’t collect sales tax in most states, saying it gives e-tailers an unfair advantage and offers consumers an easy way to skirt their sales tax obligations. But recent studies show just how far apart prices at bricks-and-mortar stores — and their websites — are from what consumers will pay on Amazon. [More]
Best Buy CEO Resigned Under 'Personal Conduct' Cloud
By 4.10.12
Earlier today, the retail world woke up to the news that Best Buy CEO Brian “My Job Here is” Dunn had resigned from his position as the head of the electronics retailer. But new statements released by the company shed a bit of light on just why Dunn ended his 28-year career at Best Buy so suddenly. [More]
California GameStops To Warn Used-Game Buyers That "Free DLC" Isn't Necessarily Free
By 4.10.12
While some experienced buyers of used video games may know that the “free additional content” burst on game’s packaging probably only applied to the original purchase of the game. But as part of a class-action settlement announced earlier today, GameStop stores in California will now alert buyers that any additional downloadable content (aka DLC) will likely have to be purchased separately. [More]
Best Buy Scans Customer's ID, Tells Him He's Returned Too Many Items
By 4.10.12
In early 2011, Best Buy began requiring a photo ID with all product returns, even if you had the receipt. As we noted at the time, it wasn’t just to make sure that you were the person who made the purchase; it was also intended to identify people who had a history of returning items. Now a man in Connecticut is finding out just what it takes to end up on the retailer’s bad side. [More]
Amazon Trying To Rival Google & Apple With New In-App Purchase Capability
By 4.10.12
Amazon is attempting to bolster the apps offered in its online store by letting users make purchases within those applications. In-app transactions are an important part of business, so of course Amazon is likely rubbing its hands together gleefully with this news, as they’ll now be able to rival Google and Apple. Or try. [More]
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn Resigns
By 4.10.12
After three years as Best Buy’s top executive and biggest public cheerleader, CEO Brian Dunn has said goodbye to the electronics retailer. [More]
Good Luck Finding "Titanic" On DVD These Days
By 4.10.12
If the coming centennial of the sinking of the RMS Titanic has got you feeling nostalgic, perhaps you might consider taking in the ultra-blockbuster 1997 version of the movie. In that case, Paramount wants to make sure you head to a theater to see the re-released 3D version. The movie is tough to find at home, and nearly cost-prohibitive if you can manage to dig up a copy. [More]
