Two of last year’s WCIA Final Four return to square off as Bank of America, who thumped Time Warner Cable in the Elite 8, goes up against Ticketmaster, fresh off its victory over Anthem BCBS. [More]
Retail Services
Price Is No Object At These Best Buy Stores
By 4.21.10
From separate Best Buy stores, in different parts of the country, David and Adama sent us these two pictures of deeply confusing, Target-worthy sales. Would you like to buy a Blu-Ray of “The Fugitive” for only $14.99? Or you could go a few inches away, where it’s $14.99. If you need something to play it on, you can get a Blu-Ray plater for 50% off its original price if you buy a TV. That original price is either $129.99 or $149.99 depending on where you look. [More]
Dodgers Are Also Holding Yankees Series Tickets Hostage To Ticket Block Plans
By 4.21.10
Stefan, who lives in Dodgers territory, writes in to say his team is running the same upselling scheme as the New York Mets when it comes to Yankees tickets, forcing fans to buy the tickets in blocks rather than individually. [More]
Meet Your Worst Company In America 2010 Final Four!
By 4.21.10
After three rounds of voting, 28 of the most despised companies in the U.S. have fallen, beaten and bloodied as they attempted to win the coveted title of Worst Company In America and the elegant golden poo trophy that goes along with it. Now, with just days left in the tournament, only four remain. [More]
Uniqlo Paying Record $300 Million For Fifth Avenue Spot
By 4.20.10
Retailers around the country may be shuttering branches and going out of business, but New York’s Fifth Avenue is apparently recession-proof. Setting a record for a New York retail lease, Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo will pay $300 million over 15 years for a spot on Fifth Avenue and 53rd street. [More]
Man Spends 24 Hours In A Walmart, Lives To Tell The Tale
By 4.20.10
Over at Zug.com, Bayan Rabbani shares all the details — good, bad, and ugly — of the 24 consecutive hours he spent wandering around — making friends, eating food, getting a manicure — in a Super Walmart in Texas “with absolutely no regard for my hygiene or sanity.” [More]
Amazon Sues North Carolina, Says It Won't Divulge Customer Names
By 4.20.10
North Carolina’s tax collectors want to find out which of the state’s residents have bought untaxed goods from Amazon over the past seven years, so they visited Amazon’s HQ in Seattle and demanded the retailer turn over its records. When Amazon said no, the state threatened to sue. What it got instead was a preemptive lawsuit from Amazon that “says the demand violates the privacy and First Amendment rights of Amazon’s customers.” [More]
7-Eleven Will Now Sell You Used Games Along With Slurpees
By 4.20.10
Likely looking at GameStop’s profit margins and deciding there’s more ways to squeeze money out of customers than by selling questionable hot dogs and Slurpees, 7-Eleven is entering the used games fray. [More]
Mets Sing 'Take Me Out To The Upsell'
By 4.20.10
Anthony wants a ticket to see the Mets host the Yankees at Citi Field, and is annoyed that the Mets will only sell him tickets in groups of five or more. He sent us his email exchange with a CSR: [More]
T-Mobile Wants Me To Pay $6K For Charges On Stolen Phone
By 4.20.10
Stephanie says a pickpocket swiped her cell phone a year ago and stuck her with a $6,200 bill, thanks mainly to calls to the Ivory Coast, the country so clean it was named after two types of soap. [More]
Duo Busted For $80,000 Target Gift Card Scam
By 4.19.10
We at Consumerist have always warned of the downside to buying gift cards, but we never thought to tell you not to buy gift cards with stolen credit cards and then use those gift cards to buy $80,000 worth of electronics at Target. Because that’s exactly what a pair of gentlemen stand accused of doing at Target stores in Long Island. [More]
Embassy Suites Wants To Sell You Bedding And Alarm Clocks
By 4.19.10
Embassy Suites plans to launch a site next month that will let people buy sheets, comforters, pillows, coffee pots, and alarm clocks just like the ones in their hotel rooms, reports national hotel paper USA Today. A Hilton executive in charge of the Embassy brand says the company doesn’t plan to make much money off of it and that the items will be priced below retail, but I’m not sure that means you’ll find any bargains. [More]
PHOTO: Walmart Sells Diabetes… For $24.88
By 4.19.10
For anyone who ever thought that shopping at Walmart could make you sick… Here’s the photographic evidence you’ve been waiting for. [More]
Are Newspapers Covering Costs By Gouging Readers Placing Obits?
By 4.19.10
Writing on his Reflections of a Newsosaur blog, Alan D. Mutter contends newspapers are sticking it to those who place paid obits in their pages. He said the San Francisco Chronicle wanted $450 for a 182-word death notice. Mutter says the gouging may be part of an industry-wide trend. [More]
Walmart Receipt Checker Helps Customer, Justifies Existence
By 4.16.10
Wes writes that he has discovered a previously unknown use for retail receipt checkers. They can help you to determine when a store is ripping you off, rather than the other way around. [More]
Chase To 15% Of Cardholders: Drop Dead
By 4.16.10
15% of current Chase credit card users are going to get the axe, Chase CEO Jamie Dimon announced in a shareholder letter this week. “In light of new regulations,” that forbid sucking in customers with zero-interest introductory rates and then ratcheting up lunatic penalty rates, “we deem them too risky.” Other highlights from the letter (PDF): [More]
Let Costco Outfit You For The Coming Apocalypse
By 4.16.10
Everyone loves Costco for its high quality and low prices for items as diverse as wine, toilet paper, cashews, and caskets. What you may not know is that for only $800 (plus shipping) you can store enough freeze-fried food to feed one person for a year, two people for six months, and four people for three months. You can get everything at Costco. [More]
Sears Spares No Expense To Not Give You A New Dishwasher
By 4.16.10
Bob tells Consumerist that his Kenmore dishwasher has several times due to the same problem–caused, according to one repairman, by a design flaw. It seems that it would be more cost-effective for Sears to replace his dishwasher with one that does not randomly die. Sears does not agree, and requires that an appliance fail four times due to the same problem in the course of a year before it can be replaced. When Bob complained to Sears about his issues, they offered to reimburse him to pay someone to wash his dishes. [More]
