Experts continue to point their fingers at Europe for rising gas prices. Last month the continent’s credit crunch was the culprit, and this month it’s rising prices of Brent crude oil in the North Sea that’s guilty of pushing gas prices up to an average of $3.51 per gallon as of the end of last week. [More]
Retail Services
Citibank May Have Double-Charged Customers Using Its Bill-Pay App
By 2.10.12
Whoopsadaisy! Citigroup has accidentally been charging many customers more than what they owe for months, with some of them not even realizing it was going on until the bank sent out a notification. Cit’s bill-pay app for iPads was the culprit in many cases, charging customers twice what they owed for bills or mortgage payments. [More]
Going To The Movies Is The Most Expensive It's Ever Been
By 2.10.12
All the whizbang 3-D hoopla IMAX excitement at movie theaters is coming at a hefty price, as the National Association of Theatre Owners says the average ticket price was at a record high in 2011. [More]
Nothing Says Romance Like A Valentine's Day Tour Of A Sewage Plant
By 2.10.12
Traditional Valentine’s Day celebrations might smell of flowers, delicate perfume and the aroma of chocolate wafting through the air as you sit in front of a roaring fireplace and pledge eternal devotion, but who needs those meaningless gestures when you and your loved one can breathe in the scent of sewage during a tour of a wastewater treatment plant? [More]
Target Will Not Price-Match Other Targets
By 2.10.12
Two Target locations, only a short drive apart. One line of dinnerware on clearance. Jordan and his fianc√© registered for dishes that were on clearance at the time. As stock began to disappear from local stores, they decided to just go ahead and buy all of the pieces they could before they disappeared from stores altogether. Oddly, the place settings were cheaper at one store than the other. The ways of retail pricing are mysterious, but what Jordan learned is that buying the same item at the same chain a few miles away doesn’t mean that price-matching is going to happen. [More]
Kraft Bringing Back The Formerly Homeless "Man With The Golden Voice" For Anti-Hunger Campaign
By 2.10.12
For fans of “The Man with the Golden Voice,” also known as formerly homeless man Ted Williams who was discovered on YouTube, enjoyed his 15 minutes of intense media attention, filmed a voiceover for a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese spot and sort of faded back into oblivion, you’ll be glad to know he’s back. Williams is helping Kraft with a Valentine’s Day campaign against hunger. [More]
A Midnight Sale Where Midnight Never Comes
By 2.10.12
Sloan thought that it might be worth it to stay up and online to check out an advertised midnight sale on BestBuy.com. “Midnight,” in the case of this sale, meant the stroke of 12 AM on the East Coast, or 11:00 in the Central time zone where Sloane lives. When 11:00 came and went with no sale, he called up Best Buy to see where the sale had gone. They assured him that it would start up at midnight in his time zone. That didn’t happen, either. [More]
$25 Billion Mortgage Settlement Is Just The First Step Toward Cleaning Up Mortgage Mess
By 2.9.12
There are a lot of good things about today’s $25 billion settlement between the five largest mortgage servicers, the Dept. of Justice and the attorneys general of 49 states. But in spite of the huge price tag on the deal — which could grow even larger if other lenders sign on — it’s only the beginning of cleaning up the aftermath of housing market collapse. [More]
Best Buy Thinks A New AC Adapter Is A Suitable Replacement For Laptop Battery
By 2.9.12
Back in 2008, Courtney bought an Asus laptop at Best Buy and decided that plunking down $329.99 for Geek Squad Black Tie Protection would be a good investment in case something went wrong with the computer. That extended warranty included one free battery replacement so with the clock ticking until it expired, Courtney decided to take advantage of this benefit to replace the current not-so-great laptop battery. [More]
7-Year-Old Walmart Shopper Fights Off Attempted Kidnapping In Toy Aisle
By 2.9.12
I can’t be the only one whose mother used tales of in-store child abductions in an attempt to keep me from wandering off during trips to Sears and Bradlees. She also instructed me to scream like something that screams really, really loud if anyone ever tried to do anything sketchy. A 7-year-old girl in Georgia seems to have learned that same lesson. [More]
Bank Of America Doesn't Seem To Care That 'Dead' Customer Is Actually Alive
By 2.9.12
We thought the whole zombie fad was over, but don’t tell that to the folks at Bank of America who seem to be having some problems with deciding whether or not a customer is alive or dead. [More]
Don't Make The Mistake Of Buying These Popular Counterfeit Items
By 2.9.12
No one wants to buy something they thought was Louis Vuitton, or an iPad, only to take it home and discover it’s nothing but a lousy fake. It’s big business though, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection snagged around 25,000 counterfeit goods valued at $178.9 million total last year. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular items you should be avoiding, shall we? [More]
Adventures In Honesty: Chase Credit Card Rewards
By 2.9.12
Zach’s parents used their Chase rewards points to send him a nice gift. He was thrilled to find three $25 gift cards to Amazon! Except, um, they had only sent him one. It was obviously a mailing error, and Zach reached out to Chase to straighten it out. Having a customer call in to complain that he received too many gift cards was apparently an unprecedented event at this Chase call center. But for raising an honest son, Chase will reward his parents with extra points. [More]
DOJ, 49 States Reach $25 Billion Settlement With Five Largest Lenders Over Robosigning
By 2.9.12
More than a year after several of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders temporarily suspended foreclosures after it was revealed that they had been using untrained, unqualified “robosigners” to process foreclosure documents, the U.S. Justice Dept. and the attorneys general of 49 states have announced a $25 billion settlement that will result in mortgage reductions to some homeowners. [More]
If You Give Sears Your Phone Number, They Might Harass You Like A Clingy Stalker
By 2.9.12
Sears, Sears. We know that you’re desperate. But acting clingy and desperate is no way to win over customers, especially the ones who have just made a purchase in your store. While it seems like every retailer is pushing their service plans on customers, they don’t usually resort to phone stalking, like what you did to your poor customer Mike. He had to resort to contacting the FTC and your corporate offices about the stalking.
It’s over, Sears. You should have taken the hint one of the first few dozen times you called. Now Mike really never wants anything to do with you again.
Viacom & Amazon Are Close To Combining Powers Against Netflix In Video Service Deal
By 2.8.12
The video world, much like love, is a battlefield these days, with everyone pointing their guns at Netflix. On the heels of the Verizon/Redbox joint venture offering streaming video and DVD rentals, Viacom and Amazon are said to be close to signing on the dotted line in their effort to launch a standalone video subscription service. [More]
Sears Might Repair Your Fridge, Isn’t Really Sure
By 2.8.12 — Updated: 1.9.13
For generations of Americans, Sears has simply been where you go when it’s time to outfit your new home. (At one point, you could even order your house itself out of the Sears, Roebuck catalog.) They, and their Kenmore appliances, were trustworthy, reliable, and quintessentially American. Now? Is Sears any of those things?
Waiting for the second repair on her two-year-old fridge, Joyce was surprised to learn that her Kenmore is just an LG with a badge slapped on it. Oh, and no one knows when the new compressor is coming, or whether it’s actually been ordered at all.
Bank Of America Plaza Auctioned Off For Missing Mortgage Payments
By 2.7.12
Bank of America Plaza, the tallest building in Atlanta, went on the auction block today, in a perfect example of things that go around you know, coming around. How does that medicine taste now, Bank of America? Your landlords missed mortgage mortgage payments and now they have to sell. We’re sure that must be soo hard. [More]
