A family in California thought they’d purchased their dream home last summer, only to later find out that the property had been stolen and illegally sold to them. Now they’re stuck making mortgage payments on a house they could be evicted from at any moment. [More]
Retail Services
Pay For This, Not That! When Buying Tech
By 6.15.11
Four rules of thumb to help you decide which features are worth paying for when buying your next gadget or gizmo, courtesy of the New York Times: [More]
Walmart Workers Try Non-Union Organization Effort
By 6.15.11
Walmart users are again trying to band together and pursue better pay, benefits and treatment on the job, but the new organization effort won’t involve a union. The Organization for United Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, has reportedly signed up thousands of members in an attempt to unionize workers without actually unionizing. [More]
How Hackers Stole 200,000+ Citi Accounts Just By Changing Numbers In The URL
By 6.14.11
Details have emerged has to how hackers were able to steal over 200,000 Citi customer accounts, including names, credit card numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses. It turns out quite easily, in fact. All they had to do was log in as a customer and change around a few numbers into the browser’s URL bar, NYT reports. Facepalm. [More]
Bank Of America "Significantly Hindered" Federal Review Of Loans
By 6.14.11
Lest you think it’s just consumers having a difficult time getting information and assistance from Bank of America, a newly uncovered report states that BofA stymied a federal review of loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. [More]
The "Don't Join A Union" Video Target Makes New Employees Watch
By 6.14.11
Behind Target’s “we’re hip and different” veneer lurks a company that intensely discourages its workers from joining a union. Gawker has posted a copy of an anti-union industrial video Target shows its new employees called, “Think Hard Before You Sign.” It’s kinda creepy. Here’s a transcript of the video. Some highlights: [More]
Jiffy Lube Ditches Dubious Oil Change Frequency Stance
By 6.14.11
One of the great myths of car maintenance — that vehicles need oil changes every 3,000 miles — has taken a significant hit now that Jiffy Lube has changed its policy and will no longer recommend oil changes to customers on that schedule. [More]
Court Denies Walmart Appeal Of $187.6 Million Judgment
By 6.14.11
Pennsylvania Walmart employees scored another victory against the company in their case that accused the company of substandard labor practices. A state Superior Court judge panel denied Walmart’s appeal of a $187.6 million judgment in 2006. [More]
Buying Laptop At Best Buy Ends In Misery And Failure For All
By 6.13.11
All Rob wanted to do was buy a laptop at his local Best Buy for the price shown on the website. As we know, sometimes this can be a bit of a problem. What followed was a comedy of errors as the guys in the khaki pants try to foist off on him a display model laptop that doesn’t even have the right battery. When Rob gives up and orders one directly from Best Buy with in-store pickup, it turns out to be defective. The experience of then trying to get a straightforward refund is then equally defective. Go big blue! [More]
Chase Repos Wrong Car
By 6.13.11
At first, this woman thought her used car, financed through Wells Fargo, had been jacked from the front of her house. She reported the car as stolen and filed a claim. It was a bummer because she had been only two years away from paying off the five year loan. Then she got a call from Chase Auto Finance who said they had repo’d the car because the previous owner didn’t finish his payments. Whoops! Chase had taken the car without securing a lien on the title! [More]
Newegg Respectfully Disagrees With Best Buy's Claims To "Geek" Trademark
By 6.13.11
Last week, we told you about Best Buy sending a cease and desist letter to Newegg.com over its use of the word “geek” on shirts and other marketing materials and Newegg’s ad featuring someone that looks like a Best Buy employee. Well, over the weekend, Newegg posted its response to big blue’s allegations. [More]
Avoid Credit Card Problems When Traveling Overseas
By 6.13.11
Most credit cards in Europe have an embedded PIN chip in them, called an EMV card. Almost no American credit cards do. This causes big problems for Americans traveling in Europe but there are a few ways to minimize the hassle. [More]
Decreasing Demand, Falling Oil Prices Lead To Gas Price Dip
By 6.13.11
The road trip activity that goes hand in hand with the end of the school year tends to drive up gas prices, but drivers are instead finding a bit of relief at the pump. Thanks to a drop in demand, an expected increase in production and fading crude prices, U.S. gas prices have dropped 4 percent over the past three weeks. [More]
Walmart Employee Arrested After Driving Her Car Into The Store
By 6.10.11
Early morning shoppers at a Georgia Walmart got a little more than a nice elderly person greeting them at the entrance this morning when a store employee drove her vehicle into the building. [More]
9 Confessions Of A Former Geek Squad Geek
By 6.10.11
Consumerist reader K. recently ended his 4.5 year tenure as a Geek Squad member at Best Buy. And while he says that he considers his time there to be “generally a positive experience,” K. did feel that there is some backstage info the public might want to know. [More]
Missing Cat Lived In Home Depot For Months
By 6.10.11
A cat that vanished from its home nearly a year ago — and was presumed dead by its owners — spent months living in a Home Depot in Michigan, until an employee brought it into a vet to get it a checkup and discovered it was microchipped. [More]
Sears Takes Four Appliances Back, Refunds You For One
By 6.10.11
By Sears standards, maybe Benjamin was lucky. More than two months ago, he bought two washers and two dryers from his local store to go inside a coset. When they didn’t fit in the appointed space, he sent them back under the rational assumption that Sears would credit him back for the purchase. This was an incorrect assumption. [More]
Bank Of America, Chase, Wells Fargo Penalized By Treasury For Really Sucking At Loan Modifications
By 6.10.11
Yesterday, the Treasury Department released a scorecard of just how well (and poorly) the largest mortgage servicers are doing at meeting certain benchmarks of its Making Home Affordable program. Not surprisingly, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase — the three largest servicers — were called out for needing “substantial improvement,” meaning that the banks will not receive millions of dollars in federal incentives until they get their acts together. [More]
