Even though the company that manufactures the Kindle e-reader for Amazon has already developed color screens that still utilize the Kindle’s E Ink technology, the e-tailer’s CEO says a full-color Kindle isn’t on the immediate horizon. [More]
Retail Services
iPhone 3GS Now $97 At Walmart … 4G Coming Soon?
By 5.25.10
Walmart has dropped the price of the iPhone 3GS to $97, which is $2 less than Apple charges for the older 3G model. The move has fueled speculation that Apple plans to announce the next-generation iPhone at its developers conference next month. They may as well. It’s not like anybody’s going to be surprised to see it.
Walmart Employee Fired After Trying To Stop A Shoplifter
By 5.25.10
Here’s a sad story from Wichita, KS: A Walmart customer service manager noticed a man walking out of the store with a computer. She stopped him to ask for his receipt after the alarm went off and got punched and kicked for her trouble. After that, she got fired. [More]
World Still Isn't Quite Insane Enough To Pay $20 For Shrek Tickets
By 5.25.10
It turns out Shrek Forever After will not go down as the movie to break the $20 IMAX ticket barrier, because the AMC ticket pricing was a mistake and corrected soon after media reports circulated about the sign of the apocalypse. [More]
HDTV Lies Exposed By Industry Expert
By 5.24.10
The next time you go shopping for a new HDTV, keep in mind that the brightness and contrast settings don’t adjust brightness and contrast, and most of the fancier-sounding image quality controls don’t do anything except possibly degrade the image. Also, motion blur in live video is largely imaginary, which is good because advertised response times are highly exaggerated. And hey, that impressive “dynamic contrast ratio” the manufacturer is crowing about? Most of the extra contrasty goodness happens when there’s no image on the screen. [More]
Zappos Eats $1.6 Million In Pricing Snafu
By 5.24.10
Zappos-owned e-commerce site 6pm.com had a little pricing problem this weekend: A glitch in its system marked down every product in the store to $49.95. By the time the problem was fixed, the store had lost $1.6 million. So, did Zappos cancel the orders or charge the customers the “correct” price for their goods? Nope. The company ate the loss, saying it was “the right thing to do for our customers.” [More]
VIDEO: Angry Homeowners Rally Outside BofA Exec's House
By 5.24.10
Embittered homeowners and activists packed the yard of a Bank of America executive on a recent weekend, and they brought their bullhorn. [More]
Trader Joe's, Walmart Sprouts Recalled For Salmonella
By 5.22.10
Sprouts sold at Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Kings Super Market, Numero Uno Stores, Cárdenas Markets, Gonzalez Northgate Markets, Wal-Mart stores, Jons Markets, and Canton Foods have been recalled after an outbreak of salmonella sickened more than 20 people in 10 states. [More]
16 Items They Only Sell At Chinese Walmart
By 5.20.10
BuzzFeed has compiled 16 photographs of things they only sell at Chinese Walmart. We have chosen three of our favorites. [More]
900,000 Walmart GE Coffee Pots Are Ready To Set Your House On Fire
By 5.20.10
The CPSC has announced the recall of 900,000 GE coffee makers that were sold at Walmart. The retailer has received 83 reports of overheating, smoking, melting, burning and fire, including three reports of minor burn injuries to consumer’s hands, feet and torso. Reports of property damage include a significant kitchen fire and damage to countertops, cabinets and a wall. [More]
Ex-Panera Bread CEO Opens Commie Not-For-Profit Eatery
By 5.20.10
What is a meal at Panera Bread worth to you? A former Panera location in a prosperous St. Louis suburb has reopened as “St. Louis Bread Company Cares,” a restaurant where customers can select a meal, then pay what they think the meal is worth–or as much as they can afford. If customers can’t afford to pay anything, they can volunteer to work there. A not-for-profit foundation runs the restaurant, which opened this week. [More]
1-800-Contacts Comes Through For Your Eyes In An Emergency
By 5.20.10
1-800-Contacts is the rare company where an actual human picks up the phone when you call–no maze of phone menus. Peter tells Consumerist that he had a fantastic experience where a customer service rep went above and beyond in the service of the health of his eyes. [More]
Amazon Coupon Codes For May
By 5.19.10
ProBargainHunter has got the entire list of Amazon’s official coupon codes for May. Here’s some of the deepest discounts: [More]
Best Buy: Let Us Install The PS3 Version Of Red Dead Redemption
By 5.19.10
Reader IfThenElvis has submitted, for your approval, this photo of Best Buy asking you to let them install a PS3 game. [More]
Target Says You Are Buying Crap You Don't Need Again
By 5.19.10
Target’s first quarter profits were up and things are looking better for the retailer’s troubled credit card division. The secret to their success? Consumers are buying more “discretionary merchandise,” which is retailer speak for ” various bullsh*t like video games and cheap designer clothes that you don’t technically need to survive.” [More]
Kmart Wants Your Dirty Laundry
By 5.19.10
If you live in Iowa City, Iowa, you’ll soon be able to do your laundry at Kmart. I don’t get it either, but that’s what the retailer has announced. It will be testing a laundromat addition to one of its Kmart stores in the city, and has named it Kwash. I’m assuming you’re supposed to pronounce it K-Wash, but for the first five minutes I kept reading “quash” and wondering how in the hell that was supposed to make me think of clean clothes and cheap goods. [More]
Maybe You Won't Notice The Newegg Watermark On This Sears Product Page
By 5.19.10
Shopping for a monitor on the Sears website, reader Ben discovered something strange on the page for the HP Pavilion 2009M. The product photo had a watermark on it. But not a Sears watermark–a Newegg watermark. [More]
Elderly Woman Accidentally Donates $5,365 To Goodwill Inside Sock
By 5.19.10
If you like to hide large amounts of cash around your house, make sure to remember where you put it. And if you do tend to forget, make sure to check the crevices and pockets of everything before you donate it to charity or throw it away. This goes triple when cleaning out the home of an elderly relative. A 96-year-old woman in Asheville, N.C. recently donated a blanket that contained more than $5,000 in cash–and the Goodwill store managed to locate her and return the money. [More]
