Nick became a customer of Bank of America since 2003, and hasn’t had any major issues, so he has stuck with them. Until now. He works in Afghanistan, and needed to wire some money to his mother. No problem! He just needed to sign up for a free program that lets customers prove their identities before transferring huge sums of money. Free if you’re in the United States and own a smartphone, that is – otherwise he would have to pay $20 for a physical card and wait for it to slowly meander through the military mail system. [More]
Retail Services
Apple Slaps Open Source Start-Up With Cease & Desist Over "App Store"
By 6.22.11
Apple’s untiring defense of its application to trademark the phrase “App Store” continues. But this time, the Cupertino Crew isn’t squabbling with Microsoft or suing Amazon. No, Apple is going after a small start-up software company you may have never heard about. [More]
Transformers Director Explains Why His Movie Is Worth Paying More To See In 3D
By 6.22.11
Although 3D movies are no longer all the rage, Michael Bay, director of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, claims that his film is worth forking over the extra $3 to $5 in order to see Autobots, Decepticons and Shia LaBeouf’s befuddled expressions pop off the screen. [More]
Target Updates Coupon Policy To Limit BOGO Stacking
By 6.21.11
One of the hardest things about being a dedicated couponer is keeping up to date on each of the store’s ever-changing coupon policies. Target has just posted a new update to its coupon policy to limit how BOGO (Buy One Get One) coupons can be stacked. (Stacking is when you combine in-store coupons with manufacturer’s coupons to beef up your discounts). Here’s the rule change: [More]
Chase Redeems Your Rewards Points Via 19 $50 Checks
By 6.21.11
Summer and her fiancee returned from an out of town trip this weekend to find that the Stupid Shipping Gang had paid them a visit while they were away. But instead of a tiny thing packed in a giant box, it’s several tiny things packed into an excessive number of envelopes. [More]
Walmart Shopper Jumps On Hood Of Getaway Car To Prevent Beer Heist
By 6.21.11
We’ve run our fair share of stories of Walmart employees whose anti-crime heroics got them into trouble, but now comes the story of a customer who decided she was going to succeed where Walmart loss prevention staff failed. [More]
Supreme Court Blocks Walmart Sex Discrimination Suit
By 6.20.11
The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a group representing as many as 1.5 million women cannot proceed with a class action sex discrimination lawsuit against Walmart. The decision, which overturns an earlier ruling in favor of the class action, means the women will have to file individual claims against Walmart. [More]
Target Store Votes Against Unionization
By 6.20.11
Workers at a Target store in Valley Stream, N.Y. voted against unionization, but the union has vowed to try again, alleging the retailer illegally intimidated workers. [More]
Mannequins Getting Jazzed Up With Celebrity Faces & Runway Poses
By 6.20.11
If there’s one area of retail calling for reform, it’s those unsightly lifeless mannequins, right? Sarcasm aside, it is interesting to note that stores are trying out some new tricks with mannequins, including giving them the faces of celebrities and having them emulate model poses. [More]
Marilyn Monroe's Iconic White Dress Sells At Auction For $5.6 Million
By 6.20.11
We knew we should’ve been saving our pennies up all these years, and now it’s too late: Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white dress from The Seven Year Itch has sold at auction for $5.6 million. [More]
Do DVD Rental Store Closures Make Summer Road Trips Tougher?
By 6.17.11
Now that spotting an open Blockbuster location is a novelty that merits a double take, and scores of other video rental chains have vanished, movie fans who want to rent some DVDs for the road have had to change the way they operate. Redbox remains an option for nightly rentals, and Netflix will still ship out discs via the mail, but gone are the days you can stop by a rental store, browse and pull some discs off the shelves and not have to return them for a week or so. [More]
Nook Beats Kindle In Consumer Reports Ratings
By 6.17.11
For the first time ever, a Nook has beaten the Kindle in the Consumer Reports ratings. [More]
California Kills Automatic Phone Book Delivery
By 6.17.11
Add phone books to the growing list of things that will one day make you feel old for living in a time in which they existed. The California Public Utilities Commission approved Verizon’s request that the residential white pages would no longer be delivered statewide automatically. Yellow Pages, and government and business listings will still be distributed. [More]
Chase Says No To Credit Increase On One Card But Nearly Doubles Limit On Other Card Without Asking
By 6.16.11
The inner workings of Chase’s credit card business have Consumerist reader Jon scratching his head. After being turned down for small limit increase on one credit card, the bank goes ahead and nearly doubles the credit limit on a second card with an already higher limit. [More]
Target Recalls Additional 375,000 Booster Seats Because Kids Keep Falling Out Of Them
By 6.16.11
Almost two years ago, Target recalled around 43,000 Circo booster seats because a fault in the seat’s buckle could end up with a child on the floor. But after kids continued to fall down and go boom, Target decided this week to expand that recall by 375,000 seats. [More]
Report: West Virginia Cheapest State To Score Cigarettes, NY Most Expensive
By 6.16.11
Smokers everywhere complain about taxes tacked on to cigarettes, but those in some states have far more reason to complain than others. An unscientific but seemingly thorough spot check found that New Yorkers have to fork over $11.90 for a pack of Marlboro Reds, while West Virginians need only part with $4.74. [More]
Walmart Hopes Small Stores Will Shore Up Slumping Sales
By 6.16.11
Continuing its trend of opening more smallish Walmart Express stores and hoping to buck a two-year-long sales slump, Walmart confirmed plans to go crazy building its Mini-Mes. The company, which already has opened 185 of the stores, hopes to add as many as 100 more by January. [More]
Sorry, Best Buy Can't Sell You A Non-Scratched DVD
By 6.16.11
If brick-and-mortar retailers and entertainment companies want their customers to keep showing up and paying for content, it might help if they worked together to make sure that the DVDs on their shelves are playable, and not mysteriously scratched all to hell. Spencer bought two “American Dad” box sets at his local Best Buy, seeking out the least-mangled one on the shelf. He checked the DVDs of one set when he reached his car, found scratched and smudged discs, and headed back into the store to see if he could get a refund. Unfortunately, he could have ripped the DVDs in his car in the intervening ten minutes, and Best Buy wasn’t interested. [More]
