WIRED has a cool story about Gerald Blanchard, the world’s most ingenious thief and bank robber, who once parachuted onto a Viennese castle to steal the famed Koechert Diamond Pearl, and how he was eventually caught by two grizzled cops in Winnipeg, thanks to a Walmart worker’s tip. While Gerald was meticulous in preparing for his heists… [More]
Retail Services
My Compost Barrel Was Made In The USA, By Which I Mean 'China'
By 3.25.10
Glenn bought a Suncast compost barrel that was labeled “Made in the USA” on the box. So it’s only natural that when he opened up the box he found another box that revealed the included hardware was made in China. [More]
Worst Company In America 2010: Sears/Kmart VS Walmart
By 3.24.10
It’s a big box battle! Economic powerhouse and receipt checking enthusiast Walmart VS notoriously incompetent repair scheduling and pricing error specialist Sears/Kmart. [More]
Worst Company In America 2010: Bank of America VS Citibank
By 3.24.10
It’s been another rough year for the banking industry. The CARD Act is hitting them where it hurts — in the fees. Bank of America shed a CEO who is being sued for fraud by the AG of New York. All of this is apparently so distracting that Bank of America can’t remember which houses it’s supposed to foreclose on, and Citibank can’t remember that your social security number isn’t supposed to go on the outside of mailing envelopes. [More]
Why Does Walmart Want To See ID To Buy WD-40?
By 3.24.10
Last week, we learned that Target is now scanning IDs of customers who buy canned air. Today, we’re hearing that Walmart needs to see some identification before it will sell you a can of WD-40. [More]
Jewelry Store Ruins Engagement Surprise With Pointless Junk Mail
By 3.24.10
How important is the element of surprise? Do you want to be surprised when you receive a gift? When people are about to throw a surprise party for you? What about when you accidentally learn that your boyfriend is about to propose…thanks to a stray piece of junk mail? [More]
You Don't Need HDMI 1.4 Cables For 3D TV
By 3.24.10
If you’re ready to shell out $3,000 for a new 3D-capable TV (plus as much as $150 for each additional set of goofy goggles), you can still save a few bucks in one place: cables. Despite what the aggressive electronics dealer might say, any high-speed HDMI cable will work just fine with today’s 3DTVs and Blu-ray disc players. And those so-called HDMI 1.4 cables? They’re not even allowed to mention them. [More]
Everything Is Five Bucks, And Completely Random, On Fiverr
By 3.24.10
Fiverr is a website where people post gigs they’re willing to do for five dollars. Does it work? I dunno, but it’s a lot of fun to read through the offers: someone will burn a small paper effigy of your enemy, or send you a sock puppet, or turn a photo into a cross-stitch pattern for you. My favorite is, “I will give you $10 if you find two people to give me $5 for $5.” [More]
Study Finds Grocery Store Shoppers Are Honest Folk
By 3.24.10
The people on that People of Walmart website may wear some ugly t-shirts, but at least they’re honest when it comes to dealing with strangers. According to a new study that looked at how markets, religion, and the size of a community impact concepts of fairness and punishment, Walmart grocery shoppers in Missouri came out on top in terms of treating the other side fairly and punishing selfishness. [More]
Fed Makes Sure Gift Cards Are Still A Bad Deal
By 3.24.10
When the CARD Act went into effect in February, it also included new rules designed to limit some of the more egregious practices of gift-card issuers, like early expiration dates and “dormancy” fees. However, Congress put the Federal Reserve in charge of interpreting the new law, and yesterday the agency unwrapped its new collection of rules. Is it too late to return this one? [More]
Saks Closing Two Oregon Stores, Maybe More To Come
By 3.23.10
Fans of high-end retail shopping may be in for some sadness. The CEO of Saks & Company says they are definitely closing two Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Portland, OR, and that other underperforming stores may soon be on the chopping block. [More]
Target Ignores Its Own Ban, Lets Petitioners Annoy Shoppers
By 3.23.10
Target has a ban on any sort of petitioning or fund-raising activities in front of its stores, even in California, but G says that yesterday he went to the Target in Vallejo, CA and ran into a group of petitioners at the entrance (see photos). [More]
Best Buy Clarifies Its Policy On Imaginary Sync Service For 3D Glasses
By 3.23.10
Last week, HD Guru pointed out that Best Buy was advertising 3D glasses syncing as part of a $150 installation service for people buying 3D TVs. The problem with the offer is it’s not necessary (or even possible) to manually “sync” your 3D glasses with a 3D TV. Now Best Buy has responded to the post, partly by explaining that some customers might not know that the glasses sync up automatically and that they can depend on Geek Squad to educate them. [More]
Anonymous Protestor Leaves Pile Of Manure In Chase ATM Vestibule
By 3.23.10
Someone who was fed up at Chase made a special deposit on the floor of one of their ATM vestibules in NYC a couple of days ago. Fortunately for the clean-up crew, it looks like it was manure and not actual human poop. [More]
My Walmart Broke Away From Corporate Policy By Refusing My Receiptless Exchange
By 3.23.10
D says he bought some clippers from Walmart, then turned around and decided to take them back and exchange them for something of higher quality. Management turned him down because he had no receipt, despite the fact that the move apparently broke away from Walmart policy. [More]
Sued By Chase For $7k, In Debt For $40k+, I Think I'll Declare Bankruptcy
By 3.23.10
Justin’s friend who was being sued by Chase Bank for $7,500 has an update for us after he and his friend read our advice and your comments on his situation. Turns out he’s not just in debt for $7,500, but for over $40,000: [More]
Costco Gives You An Extra $120 Discount And Won't Let You Pay It Back
By 3.22.10
Reader Gina writes in to let us know that her local Costco won’t take the $120 her boyfriend is trying to give them. You see, Gina and her boyfriend are honest people, and they contacted Costco to let them know the store had made a $120 error on their bill. Costco doesn’t want their money, however. It wants Gina’s boyfriend to have something called a “Happy Birthday.” What’s that? [More]
As The Economy Improves, Shoppers Ditch Walmart
By 3.22.10
The NY Post says that they’ve found a correlation between economic growth and same store sales at Walmart. Their theory is that as the economy improves, people run away from the big blue box. [More]
