Now that the regulatory heat is off on overdrafts, Bank of America is jumping back in with overdraft-related fees. They are also increasing the monthly fee and changing their requirements for avoiding it. [More]
Retail Services
Cost Of Funding SETI vs A Citibank Exec's Bonus
By 5.4.11
On the back of news that SETI, an array of satellite dishes that search for extraterrestrial intelligence, would be shut down, John at μcosmologist put together a infographic to compare the cost of running it against other things. For instance, it costs $2.5 million a year to run one SETI satellite, while one Predator drone costs $4.5 million. A Citibank exec’s bonus? $19.3 million. And if just a small part of the $10.7 billion Starbucks made last year was put aside instead of paying for their employee’s health insurance, we’d have ET’s whole city in the bag. In comparison, continuing to send and seek out bleeps into a silent and uncaring void isn’t that much. Check out the full version here, and stick around for the money shot by scrolling all the way to the bottom. [More]
Number Of Households With TVs Dips For First Time Since 1992
By 5.4.11
With seemingly everyone falling all over themselves to buy HDTVs at falling prices, it seems baffling that the number of American homes equipped with TVs dropped for the first time in nearly two decades. But that’s the result Nielsen has derived from its research. The firm announced the 2012 Advance/Preliminary TV Household Universe Estimate (UE) will be set at 114.7 million, slipping from the 114.7 million 2011 figure. [More]
Chase Ends $4 And $5 ATM Fee Tests… For Now
By 5.3.11
After nearly two months, Chase has finally stopped charging exorbitant ATM fees to non-customers in Illinois and Texas. But that doesn’t mean the fees won’t be back soon. [More]
Should Best Buy Have Fired Employee For Chasing Down A Shoplifter?
By 5.3.11
A three-year employee of Best Buy is now out of work, not for selling stolen TVs out the back door or taking returns without photo ID, but because he chased down a man attempting to pilfer a pair of laptops from the store. [More]
Have 342 People Died From Storms Lately? Sears Can Help You Clean Up!
By 5.2.11
Devastating storms have ripped across the country in the past few weeks, leaving at least 342 dead and entire blocks and houses demolished. As a home appliance retailer, what’s your first thought? That’s right, targeted upsell. Several of our readers have sent in this email they got from Sears which says “Affected by the storm? Sears can help you clean up,” and then displays the wet vacs, chainsaws and generators you can buy. The 10% off Sears water extraction service could come in handy, but the email struck some of our readers as being in poor taste. [More]
USAA Knows There's A Bug In Online System, Waits For Me To Find It
By 5.2.11
It’s so funny how math works! In the case of Consumerist reader Sam, he got a glimpse of the delightful ways math can be manipulated when comparing his USAA online money manager balance with the bank’s internal ledger. At one point, his balance was thousands of dollars different between the two. [More]
Walmart CEO: Our Customers Are Running Out Of Cash
By 4.29.11
Walmart CEO Mike Duke says the company is continuing to slash prices, but the chain’s quest to remain the cheapest big-box store may not matter to many of its customers, who are running out of money faster than usual, thanks to higher gas prices and the sluggish economy. [More]
Survey: Going Green Is For "Crunchy Granola Hippies"
By 4.29.11
A new study from ad agency OgilvyEarth has found that “Green Rejecters,” who rebel against everything from reusable shopping bags to hybrid cars, are more likely to be male than female, and consider going green an expensive indulgence for “crunchy granola hippies or rich elite snobs.” [More]
Advertisers Fire Back At Government Over Proposed Food Marketing Guidelines
By 4.29.11
Yesterday we wrote about the proposed guidelines put forth by a federal interagency working group regarding the marketing of food to children. The “principles” asked for food companies to market products with healthier ingredients and gave suggested limits on things like fat and sodium. The ad industry is less-than-pleased by the news. [More]
50-Year Sears Customer Vows 'Never Again'
By 4.29.11
Nicholas in California has shopped at Sears for his entire life. His parents shopped at Sears. His grandparents shopped at Sears. Now, after a recent experience, he says he won’t ever shop there again. What kind of experience would drive a customer to say that? He copied Consumerist–and his entire e-mail contacts list–on his letter to Sears. Spoiler alert: it involves incompetent customer service. [More]
Government Proposes New Guidelines For Marketing Food To Kids
By 4.28.11
Earlier today, an interagency working group consisting of folks from the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and the Dept. of Agriculture, issued a set of “proposed voluntary principles” it hopes the food industry will ultimately adopt in its marketing to the youth of America. [More]
Man In Cow Suit Steals 26 Gallons Of Milk From Walmart
By 4.28.11
Call him the Hamburglar for the dairy crowd. An 18-year-old Virginia man was arrested earlier this week after somehow managing to slip past the Walmart greeters and loss-prevention staff with 26 gallons of milk… all while crawling around in a cow suit. [More]
Walmart Tests Out Its Own Version Of Fresh Direct
By 4.28.11
Walmart is testing out “Walmart to Go,” an online grocery delivery service similar to Fresh Direct. As the nation’s hugest grocer, Walmart brings some big guns to the table, the most important of which is the price gun. [More]
Walmart Getting Back Into Gun Business At Many Stores
By 4.27.11
After several years of selling rifles and ammunition at only one-third of its stores in the U.S., Walmart has decided to introduce the products back to store shelves in nearly half of its 3,600+ stores. [More]
Bank Of America To Charge Penalty Rates To Customers With Late Credit Card Payments
By 4.27.11
Starting June 25, Bank of America will begin charging penalty interest rates of nearly 30% on new purchases by customers who miss payments. [More]
Tips For Saving Big Bucks On Baseball Tickets
By 4.27.11
Before you can buy me the peanuts and cracker jack, you need to get tickets to the baseball game. There are ways you can snag deals on tickets to even the biggest games, and save some money for beer, food or cheaper seats at future games. [More]
Sears, This Is Why No One Likes You
By 4.27.11
In-Store pickup for online orders from Sears is such a promising concept. You order something, pick it up a short time later at your local Sears store, bring it home, and enjoy your new and properly functioning appliance, tool, or gadget. Seasoned Sears shoppers and faithful Consumerist readers know that things often don’t work that way. Today’s exhibit: David, and his fight to get Sears to sell him a functioning toaster oven. [More]
