Consumerist reader Jim was feeling a little frustrated with Home Depot. He’d ordered some parts online for his chainsaw, only to find that one of the two boxes was completely empty. This was just the beginning of a month of misleading assurances, conflicting instructions and overall dissatisfaction for Jim. That is, until he penned an e-mail to Home Depot’s CEO. [More]
Retail Services
Customers Must Sign Waiver Before Eating Hot & Spicy "Pasta Plate From Hell"
By 12.16.11
When a restaurant needs to protect itself from legal action should you harm yourself while eating their food, that’s a clear indication that said cuisine is not meant for the average ingester. Culinary daredevils in Boston sign a waiver before eating the East Coast Grill’s insanely spicy “Pasta Plate from Hell.” [More]
Which Online Retailers Have The Fastest & Slowest Delivery Times?
By 12.16.11
Today is Free Shipping Day, which is pretty self-explanatory, but free shipping doesn’t mean good shipping. That’s why the folks at STELLAservice wanted to know which of the top 25 online retailers were able to get you your order in a timely manner. [More]
A "Buy Nothing Christmas" Can Save Money, Refresh The Holiday Spirit
By 12.16.11
Maybe you just can’t afford to buy Christmas gifts this year — or perhaps you want to revive the true spirit of the holiday. In either case, advocates of a “Buy Nothing Christmas” are doing just that — occupying the holiday season, as it were, by deciding not to shop. [More]
Reader Pays Off Strangers' Layaway Tabs, Becomes Santa Claus
By 12.16.11
Reader Gail read our post last week about a mysterious benefactor who paid off $500 worth of layaway tabs for random strangers at a Michigan Kmart. She found it inspiring, but in a different way from most readers: the story actually inspired Gail and her husband to visit local discount stores and do the same exact thing for some families in her area. She shared how the experience works from the benefactor’s end. “I can’t remember the last time spending $100 made me feel so good!” she wrote. Here’s the best part: she’s not the only one doing this. [More]
Sears Actually Has No Idea When Your Item Showed Up At The Store
By 12.15.11
This holiday season, Sears continues its mission as an elaborate anti-capitalist prank, mocking the feeble attempts that shoppers make to obtain useful information from customer service representatives, and preventing consumers from exchanging money for merchandise. LouAnn, a longtime Sears customer, was left so frustrated after a recent encounter with the retailer that the vented to Consumerist, “I am tired of giving MY money to companies who CLEARLY don’t understand that I have a choice of where and how to spend my money.” That could be a mission statement for this site. [More]
Consumerist Post About Broken Laptop Gets Reader Full Refund Within 3 Hours
By 12.15.11
Once again, Costco saves the day. Last week, we posted the story of Tom, who bought a Sony Vaio laptop from Costco only to have it malfunction a little more than a year after purchase. Sony didn’t seem to want to fix the problem at all, and Costco employees were very kind but couldn’t intervene. Only a few hours after that post went up, Costco contacted Tom, and gave him a full refund for the computer’s purchase price. [More]
San Francisco Begins Roll-Out Of Pay-By-Phone Parking Meters
By 12.15.11
Because apparently paying by cash or credit card is too old-school for some folks, the city of San Francisco has begun rolling out parking meters that allow smartphone users to feed the meter with a wave of their handheld mobile communications device. [More]
6 Weird Things You Probably Don't Have On Your Holiday Wish List
By 12.15.11
We’re not here to judge, but there are a few things floating around out there on the Internet that you probably won’t have on your wish list. But just in case you are searching for the perfect pre-need cremation package or perhaps an all-in-one ukulele band, this list is for you. [More]
Best Buy May Not Make Good On Promise To Delete Your Data Off That Returned Computer
By 12.15.11
A Best Buy customer in North Carolina is obviously not a regular reader of Consumerist. Otherwise, he probably would not have believed the Geek Squad geeks when they promised to delete all his personal info and data from the tablet he returned to Best Buy earlier this year. [More]
Chase To Cut Checking Account Fee Disclosures From 100+ Pages To One
By 12.15.11
When the charitable folks at the Pew Charitable Trusts first suggested that banks could condense their overly complicated fee schedules from over 100 pages to one simple page, it seemed unlikely that any major bank would follow suit. But this morning, JPMorgan Chase announced it would do just that. [More]
More Holiday Buying Leads To More Returns
By 12.15.11
Retailers that rejoiced over big Black Friday numbers that kicked off a strong holiday sales season now have reason for pessimism. More buying means there’s also more buyer’s remorse, with a National Retail Federation survey finding that retailers will refund 9.9 cents for every dollar they take in, due to returns. The figure is up 0.1 cents from last year, and nearly three cents higher than in a better economic climate. [More]
Target Insists We Keep Or Give Away Gift We Didn't Order, Then Asks For It Back
By 12.14.11
Mindy and her husband were surprised to receive a doll in the mail from Target.com, as they’re not doll collectors and a look at the packing slip revealed it was shipped to someone in another city. So they set about trying to send it back, in the hopes that the rightful owner would get it. [More]
Best Buy Pulls A Rare Move And Actually Makes A Customer Happy
By 12.14.11
We get a lot of customer service complaints about Best Buy. So much so, that when a piece of reader mail comes in commending them for doing something good, well, it’s an event that needs to be remarked upon. That’s where James comes in. [More]
Knife Printed With 'USA Quality Guarantee' Is, Of Course, Made In China
By 12.14.11
Think quickly: if you saw the “USA Quality Guarantee” seal on a product you found in a store, where would you assume that it had been manufactured? If you guessed “China,” you’re an awfully cynical person. You are, however, correct.
Reader Stuart, who writes a blog about tools, noticed this little badge of dishonor on a knife for sale at Home Depot. If it’s not meant to make customers think that the knife was made in the USA, then are the words just for decoration?
Target Apologizes To Rebuffed Students; Walmart Ups The Ante With More Cash
By 12.14.11
Yesterday we brought you the story of an Ohio middle school teacher who penned an open letter to Target after an employee told her that she and her group of 25 students would not be permitted to do their annual holiday shopping to benefit a local charity. As you might have predicted, once this news hit the web that goes worldwide, Target had a change of heart — and Walmart made a nice counter-offer to the put-out teacher and her charges. [More]
The U.S. Mint Halts Production Of $1 Coins Because No One Wants Them
By 12.14.11
If you really love $1 coins, you’re probably in the minority. The U.S. Mint announced their vaults are jammed so full of the things, they’re going to pull back on producing them. Not only do they have enough hanging around, the dang things keep coming back because people just don’t want them. [More]
