Almost two years two the day after she claims she chomped into something hard in a McDonald’s double cheeseburger, a woman in Illinois has filed a lawsuit against the fast food giant. [More]
Retail Services
Petsmart Redefines Coupon Expiration Dates
By 7.7.10
If a coupon says that it expires on July 4th, most people assume this means that you can use it on July 4th. Not so, in Petsmart’s universe. In their coupon vortex, July 4 ends at 6:00 AM on July 4th. Which is a little weird for an online coupon, but completely insane for a printable in-store coupon when no Petsmart store opens until several hours later. [More]
Woot To AP: You Owe Us $17.50 For Copying Our Content
By 7.6.10
When Woot announced last week that it was going to be acquired by Amazon.com, just about everyone wrote about it. However, of the many media organizations that covered the deal, only one has floated a policy that would charge bloggers for the kind of excerpting that’s historically been considered fair use. So, when the Associated Press, in writing about the Woot-Amazon deal, borrowed some of Woot’s own verbiage, the deal-a-day site struck back and told the wire service it expected $17.50 for the words. Or the AP could just buy two pairs of Sennheiser in-ear headphones and call it even. [More]
Don't Be Hilarious On The Internet Or Best Buy Will Suspend You
By 7.6.10
We’re a bit late to this little drama, so excuse us, but apparently the author of the funny “iPhone VS Evo” robot voice videos has been suspended from his job selling cellphones at Best Buy, despite the fact that the video never even mentions Best Buy, instead calling the fictional store “Phone Mart.” [More]
Walmart Aims For Store In D.C.
By 7.6.10
Now that Walmart has finally triumphed over Chicago, it’s setting its sites on the remaining urban markets that have so far resisted the retailer. The Washington Post says an unnamed source has told them that Walmart is in final negotiations with a plot of land “on New York Avenue NE near the intersection of Bladensburg Road.” The area currently houses an auto parts shop and a strip club, among other businesses. [More]
Internet Sales Tax Bill Introduced Again
By 7.6.10
Last week, Massachusetts Rep. Bill Delahunt introduced a bill called the “Main Street Fairness Act,” which is a stupid name for a bill. The text of the bill hasn’t been released yet, but if passed, it would presumably set up a process where sales tax could be collected on purchases made over the Internet. As anyone who has shopped online over the past decade is probably aware, this has been an ongoing and thorny issue, since billions in online sales tax would provide a welcome revenue stream for struggling states. [More]
Countrywide Sued For Discriminating Against Black And Latino Mortgage Buyers
By 7.2.10
The Illinois AG filed a lawsuit this week against Countrywide, alleging that the now imploded mortgage lender steered blacks and Latinos into riskier subprime loans more often than whites, even when they qualified for safer mortgages. [More]
7 Things Ex-Geek Squad Employee Wishes Every Computer Novice Knew
By 7.2.10
Not all Geek Squad technicians are ex-Domino’s delivery guys trying to siphon porn from your computer, some of them actually have a heart. This guy gal does, and it keeps breaking over and over again as he she sees clueless consumers queuing up to pay for service for mundane computer issues they could have prevented with just a teensy bit of know-how. Perhaps that is why she no longer works there. In any event, he she sent us a list of 7 different money-saving tips he she wished every computer owner knew. Most Consumerist readers probably know them, and most Best Buy customers don’t, so send this on to your Aunt Gretchen and lose Geek Squad some business: [More]
Amazon Coupon Codes For July 2010
By 7.1.10
Amazon.com has uncaged their new July coupon codes. Here’s some of the deeper discounts: [More]
Walmart Is Trying To Fill My Yard With Plastic Garbage Cans
By 7.1.10
Shantelle tells Consumerist that she ordered one garbage can from Walmart online. No one is entirely sure how, but she ended up with five cans instead. She could give them away or start a drum circle, but now she’s stuck with a dilemma: how does she return something to a store when she never bought it in the first place? Will Walmart ever catch up with her and charge her for the four additional cans…even though there’s no documentation that she ever received them? [More]
Amazon Buys Woot
By 6.30.10
Woot, frequent denizen of Consumerist’s Morning Deals, just got bought by Amazon, frequent purveyor of nearly everything imaginable. [More]
Does Your Baby Need Designer Diapers?
By 6.30.10
Do you look at your baby and say, “I love him/her so much, but why can’t he/she be more fashionable?” Well, the braintrust at Pampers has come to your rescue with a new line of colorful poop-and-pee-absorbers designed by Cynthia Rowley. [More]
What Do $155K Shoes Look Like? Kinda Like $15 Stripper Heels
By 6.30.10
When Paul Simon sang “She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes,” we don’t think he was daring anyone to actually make said shoes. But jeweler House of Borgezie has gotten pretty close, slapping over 2,000 diamonds on a pair of stiletto heels and charging $155,000 a pair. [More]
Use This Chart To Pick The Best Smartphone
By 6.30.10
Lifehacker reader Apollo Clark has put together a matrix that compares seven of the most popular and/or feature-packed smartphones on the market, as well as the iPad for some reason. If you’re planning on trading up to a fancy new phone/multimedia device in the next couple of months, it’s worth checking out to see which phones best align with your wish list. [More]
American Eagle Wants A Note From Charles Schwab Before They'll Accept My $15 Return
By 6.30.10
Tiffany tells Consumerist that she thought that returning a pair of $15 sunglasses to an American Eagle store would be a simple transaction. This seems sensible enough. What she didn’t know that her bank issuing her a new credit card was simply too much for the chain’s computers. Bringing in her credit card statement wasn’t enough, and now store employees now insist that she have her bank issue her a personalized letter in order to issue the refund. [More]
Dollar Tree Annexes Canada, Sells 61-Star American Flag
By 6.30.10
This American flag found for sale at Dollar Tree has either fallen through a crack in space and time from a future when the United States has annexed Canada, or the Chinese company that produced it screwed up. Dollar Tree, for its part, claims that the flag is a “patriotic banner” and not supposed to be a regulation American flag. Right. [More]
Smooth Down Your Lady Parts With Camelflage Or Camel Ammo
By 6.29.10
Think of five of your women friends. Pick one of them. Guess what? They’ve got camel toe. Camel toe is an embarrassing syndrome that affects one in five women annually. Besides the personal discomfort, it carries a social stigma that can lead to feelings of isolation and needs to consume entire pints of Ben & Jerry’s. Now there’s Camelflage, and Camel Ammo, two innovative products designed to smooth down your lady parts. [More]
Blind Taste Test: Costco Generic Beer About As Good As Brand Name
By 6.29.10
Our friends at Consumer Reports were curious about Costco’s generic (sorry, “Kirkland Signature”) beer sampler, which includes German Style Lager, Pale Ale, Amber Ale, and Hefeweizen. In the name of science, they got a bunch of people and some comparable brand name beers… then duct-taped the bottles so nobody could tell what they were drinking. [More]
