Thanks to steady price drops and ubiquity on store shelves, HDTVs have become the norm in American homes, entering 60 percent of households. Those who have gone the extra technological mile to don glasses and buy 3D TVs, though, are still a tiny minority. [More]
Retail Services
Have You Had Trouble Using Best Buy Gift Cards Online?
By 12.30.10
In recent days, we’ve received numerous complaints from people who attempted to use Best Buy gift cards to make purchases on the store’s website, only to end up frustrated and trapped in BB’s byzantine customer service maze. [More]
Are Drive-Thru Adult Stores The Wave Of The Future?
By 12.30.10
Like it or not, adult videos and sexual aids are a multi-billion dollar business. And while many who purchase these items are more than happy to do so over the internet, some still like the immediate satisfaction of picking up their x-rated goods at the local adult emporium. One such store in Alabama has found a way to make those customers happy without them ever having to leave their cars. [More]
Home Depot Cancels Sale, Overnights Free Tool To Customer After EECB
By 12.30.10
SgtBeavis ordered a clearance item from Home Depot last week. The site claimed that the item was on backorder, and let him place the order. Then they canceled it. Fortunately, the good sergeant reads Consumerist, and decided to write to the CEO of Home Depot to get the situation fixed. It worked: Home Depot overnighted the item to his house for free. He and his woodworking buddies were stunned, [More]
BP Dumps Huge Oil Slick On Bank Of America To Earn Title Of 2010's Biggest Business Debacle
By 12.30.10
In what will probably come as a surprise to no one, Consumerist readers have overwhelmingly selected the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the biggest business debacle of 2010. [More]
Best Buy Cancels Order Due To Pricing Error, Then Puts It Through At MSRP
By 12.30.10
Online pricing mistakes happen. When they do, the retailer isn’t obligated to sell the item to you at the original price. Life and retail just are not fair. However, what companies are not supposed to do is cancel your order at an erroneous sale price, then put it through again at the much-higher original price that you didn’t want to pay. That’s what happened to John’s brother and some other posters on the sale forum Slickdeals. [More]
Judge: Walmart Not To Blame For Man Crashing Into Parking Lot Pole
By 12.29.10
Some of you may remember the story of the man who sued Walmart after he crashed his truck into a pole in one of the retail chain’s parking lots. Many readers were dismissive of the man’s claim that the store was at fault, and it looks like the judge in the case agreed. [More]
Vote Now For The Biggest Business Debacle Of 2010
By 12.29.10
We asked for your input in nominating the biggest business screw-ups of the year and you responded. Now is your chance to vote for a loser from the final five nominees. [More]
Utah Police Chief Placed On Leave After Yelling At Walmart Employees
By 12.29.10
Yelling profanities at store employees is frowned upon by the Perry, Utah police department, so the Chief has found himself with a little extra vacation time this holiday season after he got into an altercation at a Walmart in another Utah town. The Chief was placed on paid administrative leave while police investigate the innocent. [More]
Amazon Patents Tech That Returns And Exchanges Bad Gifts Before You Get Them
By 12.29.10
Call it “The Bad Gift Filter.” Amazon has patented a system that could intercept the yet another sweater Aunt Janice has sent you and automatically return it and exchange it for something you actually want. [More]
Allstate Sues Bank Of America Over Bad Countrywide Mortgages
By 12.28.10
Think Bank of America is regretting the day it decided to salvage Countrywide? The acrid aftertaste of that acquisition just got a little worse with the news that Allstate Corp has sued BofA and 18 other defendants, alleging losses on more than $700 million of mortgage securities Allstate purchased from Countrywide. [More]
Is It Impolite To Return Or Exchange Gifts?
By 12.28.10
Returning gifts can be a tricky and sensitive proposition, especially if the gift is from a loved one who really thought they had found just the right thing for you. So to help you navigate this minefield, we turned to etiquette expert Anna Post of the Emily Post Institute for advice. [More]
BofA Tries To Foreclose On Couple That Never Missed A Payment
By 12.28.10
Bank of America told this couple that their house would go into foreclosure on Christmas Eve, which came as something of an anti-Christmas Miracle to them considering they had never missed a single mortgage payment. [More]
Sears Launches Video Download Service
By 12.28.10
As we reported back in June, Sears would be launching a video download service sometime around the holidays. Well, the holidays are here and so is the service. [More]
What Will You Do With Your Gift Card Haul?
By 12.28.10
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, odds are you’re a gift card or three richer than you were before. Perhaps your employer blanket-gifted the office with them in lieu of a year-end bonus, or maybe a friend or work contact slipped you one as a show of appreciation. [More]
Cop Records Himself Detained At Walmart Receipt Check
By 12.23.10
A tipster has sent in an audio recording of himself being stopped at the Walmart doors for refusing to show them his receipt. He says that it’s in his pocket and he just doesn’t feel like getting it out. According to the reader, two of the men who stop him are sheriff’s deputies. When he asks one of them their name, the man responds, “John Doe.” Our reader, who says he is a cop of 20 years himself, says it took nearly half an hour of asking them whether they are placing him under arrest or if he can be on his way before they let him go. [More]
A 28-Year Santa Dishes On Kids' Requests
By 12.23.10
Portly men who don the visage of Santa Claus hear the darndest things. A man who has played Santa for 28 years started blogging about the poignant, funny and sad things kids have told him over the years. [More]
Here Is Why Bank Of America Is Being Sued
By 12.23.10
Last week, the attorney general in Arizona filed suit against Bank of America, alleging that it hadn’t made good on its promise to implement a functioning loan modification program. And while Christine doesn’t live in Arizona, her story should give her state’s attorney general reason to consider joining the legal fray. [More]
