Re-watching the Back to the Future movies recently, I remembered how deeply the tween me once longed for a hover board like the one Michael J. Fox races around the Hill Valley of 2015. While it’s unlikely that we’ll see a real hover board on the market in the next five years, the 30-something me still wants one. [More]
Retail Services
Rad Or Bad: The Individual Pie-Making Machine
By 11.16.10
For anyone that ever wanted to make a pie but doesn’t want to share with others (or spend several days feasting on pie leftovers), there might be an answer — the Breville Pie Maker. [More]
Walmart: Where 'Rollback' Actually Means 'Price Increase'
By 11.15.10
How does Walmart stay profitable when they’re always announcing “rollbacks” on the prices of the stuff it sells? Judging by this photo, they do it by actually increasing the price. [More]
Man Reports Own Amazon.com Order As "Suspicious Package"
By 11.15.10
Police blotters can be depressing, but sometimes they’re just wonderfully amusing. Take, for example, the plight of a mercifully unnamed individual who reported his own Amazon.com order as a suspicious package. [More]
Here's The Vending Machine That Recommends Drinks Based On Facial Recognition
By 11.15.10
Ever stepped up to a vending machine and scratched your head as you mulled over the options? Now there’s a vending machine in Japan that will recommend certain products for you — based on your face. [More]
More Cheese From Costco Recalled For E. Coli Contamination
By 11.15.10
Ten days after announcing that a brand of gouda cheese sold at Costco had been linked to an E. coli outbreak, the FDA has issued a recall for some gorgonzola cheese sold at Costco, also for E. coli contamination. [More]
Best Buy Plasma TV Prices Crash Below $400
By 11.12.10
Attention morons who’ve smashed their TVs by using the Xbox Kinect in a room with a ceiling fan: Best Buy is offering a 42-inch plasma TV for under $400 as part of its Black Friday sale. Just find another room to put it in before hooking up your 360. [More]
74% Of You Maniacs Plan To Shop On Black Friday This Year
By 11.12.10
Who will you be fighting for a parking space at the mall this year? A recent survey by Market Forice Information indicates that almost three-quarters of the American public plan to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving this year, and sixty-one percent plan to do some shopping online on the next weekday, or “Cyber Monday.” [More]
Grocery Shrink Ray Zaps Costco Diapers
By 11.11.10
Buying diapers at Costco seems like a decent way for parents to save money, but eagle-eyed Consumerist reader Eric noticed that he’s no longer getting quite so much bulk for his buck. [More]
Best Buy's Ordering And Inventory Systems Still Defy Common Sense
By 11.11.10
Dorian had a really great online shopping deal: $50 worth of reward points if he spent $100 or more at BestBuy.com. Amazing! He writes that he placed an order, but his mistake was requesting in-store pickup. His local Best Buy store couldn’t get him the items through in-store pickup: even when he physically went to the shelf and found the items he had ordered. It just doesn’t work that way. [More]
Walmart Offers Free Shipping
By 11.11.10
Starting today, Walmart.com is offering free shipping on gift items, including toys and gadgets. [More]
Why Can't We Resist These Classic Sales Pitches?
By 11.10.10
No matter how savvy we are as shoppers, there are still some time-tested sales pitches that will make some of us at least give some thought to making a purchase we otherwise might not have made. [More]
Amazon Wants You To Read Mags on Kindles And Books Wherever You Want
By 11.10.10
In an effort to get more magazines and newspapers onto the Kindle platform, Amazon has begun offering publishers up to 70% of the revenue their periodicals bring in. To get the cash, publishers would have to make their rags available on not just Amazon’s hardware Kindle, but on the Kindle app on phones and computers. The deal could make it easier for consumers to read, say, the latest imponderable Malcolm Gladwell essay, and keep their place when moving from computer to phone to iPad. It could also undermine efforts by Apple to position the iPad as the best platform evar for periodicals. [More]
GameStop Is Out Of The Game You Want? Order It For In-Store Pickup, Return 10 Minutes Later
By 11.10.10
The bad news: the GameStop where Ambyr went to buy a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops for her husband only had enough copies of the game to fill pre-orders. The good news: In GameStop’s universe, to “pre-order” means that you leave the store that just refused to sell you a game, order that game online, and then return fifteen minutes later. Bad for logic, good for Ambyr. [More]
Target Tells Employees To Hand-Process Coupons Until They Fix Shortchanging Glitch
By 11.9.10
We first reported that Target’s cash registers were shortchanging customers’ coupons back in August. It only took until late October for the company to admit it. Now, with the Holiday shopping season ramping up, Target is actually doing something about it. [More]
Costco Watches Are So Cheap It's A Copyright Issue?
By 11.8.10
The Supreme Court is weighing a decision that will affect whether discounters can offer cheap goods from foreign manufacturers without violating U.S. Copyright law, says the AP. [More]
Govt Report Shows Debt Dropping, But Credit Cards Haunt You Forever
By 11.8.10
The Fed is out with its latest report on consumer credit, and it’s filled with good news — kinda sorta. While the report says that, for the seventh consecutive quarter, consumers are borrowing less and paying off more of their debt, that doesn’t necessarily mean the economy is healthier. The numbers “can be a result of both tightening credit standards and voluntary changes in saving behavior,” said Fed economist Donghoon Lee. So, maybe you’re borrowing less because you don’t want to get stuck with more debt — or maybe it’s just because nobody wants to lend you money anymore. [More]
Amazon To Get Even More Amazon-y With Purchase Of Diapers.com & Soap.com
By 11.8.10
Taking one step closer to becoming the Acme Corporation from the Road Runner cartoons, Amazon.com announced today that it plans to purchase the company that owns both diapers.com and soap.com for $500 million. Because, why not? [More]
