Ah, there’s nothing like a fresh clothing fad to make everyone get all excited and start dubbing products “the new Snuggie.” As if we need anymore Snuggies! New to the novelty apparel scene are Jumpin Jammerz, which are, well, footie pajamas. [More]
Retail Services
Trapped In An Infinite In-Store Pickup Loop At Best Buy
By 1.10.11
Michael normally likes Best Buy–which may reflect on the management of his local store, rather than making him an uninformed consumer. Yet he placed an in-store pickup order a few weeks ago at another nearby Best Buy, and the situation has become a case study in bad customer service. Or perhaps nonexistent customer service. See, nobody at this store will pick up the phone. At all. Michael even called the store from inside the store and watched employees work very, very hard at not picking up the phone. [More]
How This $2,000 HDMI Cable Will Change Your Life
By 1.10.11
If you have an extra $2,000 in your home entertainment budget, consider investing it in the 12-meter AudioQuest Coffee cable. Oh, sure, it’s not for everyone, but online customer reviews report life-changing and scientifically impossible experiences that you just can’t get with your ordinary $5 HDMI cable. [More]
Don't Miss Your Nonexistent Prescription Refill Reminder From Target!
By 1.7.11
If you choose to use auto-refill for your prescriptions at a chain pharmacy, be very, very careful if you move, or if you just happen to get one refill at a different store than usual. G. learned the hard way that Target, at least, will refill your prescription, fail to call you, and if you don’t happen to pick up your refill within two weeks: too bad for you; you’ve lost that refill! [More]
BofA Tests New Checking Accounts With New Fees
By 1.6.11
Bank of America is trying out a new system of checking accounts with new rules—and new fees for breaking them. [More]
Holy Crap, The Electric Heated Snuggie Really Exists
By 1.6.11
I’ve never found the Snuggie all that appealing. “Call me when they make an electric, heated version,” I’ve always said. Yesterday, our man on the ground at the Consumer Electronics Show called. The Coz-E, an electric blanket with sleeves, debuted this past fall, and somehow nobody gave me one for Christmas. Or even told me. [More]
Happy 2011, Your Calendar Comes With Year's Supply Of Packing Material
By 1.5.11
Reader Cyndi ordered a calendar from Amazon.com, but what she actually got was more like she’d ordered a bunch of packing material and got a free calendar. Like when you order Chinese food, ya know? Except less tasty. [More]
This Is What Happens When A Life Alert Breeds With A Baby Monitor
By 1.5.11
For some people in the Baby Boomer generation, the answer to taking care of their elderly parents was to give them a Life Alert necklace to call for help when they’d fallen and couldn’t get up. The Boomers are also the generation that popularized the use of baby monitors to keep tabs on their out-of-sight tots. So, with that generation going gray gracefully, some are looking to combine these two ideas into one system for adults to keep tabs on their elderly parents. [More]
Dallas Morning News Trying To Get Freeloading Readers To Pay Up
By 1.5.11
Pay walls haven’t seen much success in the world of traditional media, but the Dallas Morning News is trying its hand at the brick and mortar. The newspaper will allow its print subscribers to view all content online, and will partition off some stories from readers without a $34 print or $17 monthly digital subscription. Digital-only subscriptions will allow readers to view content through browsers or via iPod or iPhone apps. [More]
Censorship Shrink Ray Takes Racial Epithet Out Of Huck Finn
By 1.5.11
A publisher is releasing a new version of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, excising the “n” word from the text. The move comes as a reaction to censorship-minded public schools, which have methodically banished the book from English curriculum. [More]
It’s Time For Another Visit To Target’s Reality Vortex
By 1.5.11 — Updated: 5.20.14
We’ve known for a long time now that Target has a very loose grip on reality. Here are three more pieces of evidence that the discounter just isn’t in the same reality as the rest of us. [More]
Did Citibank Block Your First Purchases Of The New Year?
By 1.5.11
1/1/11 is a nice-looking date, as sets of digits go. But M. reports that the new date caused a hiccup on the debit card that she uses for her Citibank checking account. But, wait–a Citibank representative assured her that everyone had problems with their cards right after the new year began. Really? [More]
OnStar Pairs Up With Best Buy To Offer Service In Non-GM Vehicles
By 1.5.11
General Motors has finally realized that its hands-free OnStar communications system might work better as a retail item than simply as a way to entice customers to purchase GM vehicles. At a press conference on Tuesday night, the company announced it has partnered with Best Buy to sell an after-market version that can be installed in non-GM cars and trucks. [More]
iRobot's Toilet-Scrubbing Robot Is The #1 Thing I Want To See At CES
By 1.3.11
Forget 3D TVs, tablets, smartphones, streaming video devices and hoverboards. They might get all the big headlines at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, but they’ll all also be obsolete by next year’s CES. But a robot that not only mops the floor on its own, but can also scrub around the toilet? Now that’s something I want to see in person. [More]
Bank Of America Reaches $2.8 Billion Settlement With Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Over Bad Mortgages
By 1.3.11
The folks at Bank of America continue to feel the sting of all the bad mortgages they acquired when they adopted Countrywide in 2008. The bank has agreed to pay a total of over $2.8 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims over questionable loans sold to the two government-sponsored enterprises. [More]
Consumerist's Most-Read Stories Of 2010
By 12.31.10
From strange sandwiches to even stranger luggage, from rude receipts to corporate misdoings, here’s a look back at the 10 most read stories on Consumerist for 2010. [More]
In Which I Suggest A Timeline For Various Holiday Shopping Seasons
By 12.31.10
If you think they call me Holiday Cat just because I have some things to say about the handful of weeks from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, you are mistaken. I’m a feline for all seasons, and as such I have a few suggestions on when stores should start selling various holiday-themed products without setting off holiday creep alarms. [More]
At Least This Journeys Promotion Gets Your Attention
By 12.31.10
“Try on shoes, get a free smartphone,” declared a sign in the window of Ryan’s local Journeys store. That sounds like a deal that can’t possibly be true. And it’s not. [More]
