Why give someone an expensive diamond? All it does is lie there and look pretty and it won’t keep you warm in the winter months. While it might not seem as exciting or romantic, consider a few useful gifts that will help your loved ones save money this holiday season. [More]
Retail Services
Only The CEO At Cuisinart Has The Power To Send You A Shipping Label
By 12.22.11
Jennifer bought the Cuisinart coffeemaker at right about a month ago. It lists for $145.00, and you can get it from Amazon for, as of this writing, $75.45. Unfortunately for Jennifer, her appliance just plain stopped working, and nothing she did at home would fix it. Cuisinart agreed to send her a new one, and even waived the shipping fee, but they want her old coffeemaker back. This wouldn’t be a problem, but the cost to ship the large and heavy machine is $47.62. That amount would put Jennifer more than halfway to just buying a new machine. [More]
Walmart Pulls Baby Formula From Shelves As Precaution Following Death Of Newborn
By 12.22.11
Out of precaution, Walmart has pulled a specific lot of Enfamil powdered baby formula from the shelves of all its stores following the death of a newborn child in Missouri earlier this week. [More]
Not-So-Secret Santa Picks Up $16K For 1,000 Shoppers' Holiday Layaway Items
By 12.22.11
Call it holiday cheer or call it the best bandwagon we’ve ever seen, but yet another kind-hearted consumer has plunked down cash to make the season a bit brighter for his fellow humans. A man in Laguna Beach, Calif. shelled out almost $16,000 of his own money to pay for layaway items of 1,000 Kmart shoppers. [More]
Sears In-Store Pickup: Not Fast, Not In Stock, Not Helpful
By 12.22.11
Sears is trying to coax actual customers into its stores with great sales, but don’t be fooled. They’re still Sears. Donald ordered some tools for in-store pickup in order to save on shipping, but the store didn’t actually have the items they promised. Not “didn’t have them waiting for him,” but “didn’t have them at all.” While he waited for forty-five minutes, he couldn’t help but feel insulted when he saw a sign touting in-store pickup as “fast, in stock, and helpful.” Zero for three, really. [More]
Texas Drought Spurs Mistletoe Shortage
By 12.22.11
If you’ve had a hard time finding mistletoe hanging at your office — encouraging festivity-endorsed sexual harassment — credit a Texas drought for causing a shortage in the smooch-mandating parasitic plant. [More]
DOJ Settles With BofA For $335 Million Over Countrywide Pushing Minorities Into Subprime Loans
By 12.21.11
Nearly four years ago, we first reported on allegations that Countrywide Financial, the failed lender that was bought by Bank of America after it collapsed, had their system set up so that non-white loan applicants were steered toward subprime loans, even if they could have qualified for a standard mortgage. Well, the wheels of justice turn remarkably slowly in Washington, DC, but today the Justice Dept. finally announced a settlement with BofA for $335 million over these allegations. [More]
New Device Lets You Pay Cash To Fill Up Your Tank Without Leaving Deposit
By 12.21.11
If you want to pay cash at the gas station, chances are you either need to pre-pay or leave some sort of deposit inside before the attendant will even unlock the pump. But a station in Saginaw, MI, is testing a new pump technology called Post-Pay that allows cash-paying customers to unlock the gas pumps with a mere swipe of a driver’s license. [More]
Consumer Reports Poll Says 14% Of Shoppers Lie To Cover Up Lack Of Gift
By 12.21.11
You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch. Or at least a liar, according to a new poll by our astute older siblings at Consumer Reports. While some of us hem and haw and promise a gift in the future, a full 14 percent of shoppers lie outright when they haven’t bought a gift for someone. [More]
Best Buy Waits Until Now To Admit It Doesn't Have That Stuff You Ordered On Black Friday
By 12.20.11
In case you are calendar-challenged, Christmas is less than a week away, meaning you have precious little time to get your shopping done. Unfortunately for some people who thought they were getting things done early by ordering through Best Buy’s website over the Black Friday weekend, they are just now finding out that they are out of luck. [More]
Walmart Managers Turn Away Wannabe Secret Santa
By 12.20.11
The biggest trend this holiday season appears to be people who have some money doing something nice for those who might need it by anonymously paying for layaway purchases. But when a woman in Houston attempted to do this at two of her local Walmarts, managers at both stores turned her away, citing a nonexistent company policy. [More]
Don't Fall For The "Locked Debit Card" Text Alert Scam
By 12.20.11
With holiday shopping season heading into the home stretch, it’s prime time for ID thieves. Which is why some people might fall prey to scammers who text cell phone users with alerts that their debit cards have been locked. [More]
How An Attempt To Return TV To Best Buy Left Man With No TV And No Refund
By 12.20.11
Eli thought he could just walk into a Best Buy with a TV and a gift receipt and walk out with a refund or store credit. But this is Best Buy, where nothing ever ends up the way it’s supposed to. [More]
I Didn't Loudly Announce I Was Tipping, Does That Make Me A Bad Consumer?
By 12.19.11
We’ve all done the Conspicuous Tip — you wait until the barista or employee behind the counter is looking before you stuff the dollar in the tip jar, lest you be thought a non-tipper. But should that apply in a confusing situation involving a hotel shuttle and a cupholder full of bills? Bill found himself wondering if his failure to narrate his act of tipping makes him a bad consumer. [More]
Day Of Holiday Shopping Hell Ends Happily, Thanks To Target Employees
By 12.19.11
When store employees can remain calm and help customers during frantic holiday shopping, everyone wins! Consumerist reader O. had a long day of navigating crowds desperately trying to finish buying gifts, so losing a bag full of merchandise at Target was a bummer of a way to end the experience. [More]
How To Be A Return-Friendly Shopper This Holiday Season
By 12.19.11
You may think you’ve bought the perfect gift for everyone on your list, but at least some of your recipients are likely to disagree: Last holiday season, nearly one in seven adults returned a gift within the first two weeks after Christmas. And many shoppers make it harder for them by leaving out gift receipts or failing to look into retail return policies. [More]
Saab's Money Struggles Finally Lead It To File For Bankruptcy
By 12.19.11
After trying for months to be the little Swedish car company that could, Saab has given in and filed for bankruptcy amid long-standing money problems. The trouble started last March, and the company stopped making vehicles in April. [More]
Is This Normal? Cracker Barrel Gives Me A Free Meal To Make Up For A Short Wait
By 12.16.11
It’s refreshing to read about good customer experiences, and in this case, we’re just as happily baffled as our reader Nicole. She’s looking for some consensus regarding Cracker Barrel — you see, she and her sister got a free meal, without asking for it or even complaining to wait staff after waiting a short time to get their food. [More]
