Taking a page right out of the screenplay for the 1996 Tom Cruise hit Mission: Impossible, some nimble crooks managed to descend from the ceiling of a Best Buy in New Jersey and help themselves to a $26,000 jackpot of Apple laptops — without ever touching the floor. [More]
Retail Services
Report: iTunes Pressuring Record Labels Away From Amazon
By 3.4.10
Looks like the potential for Amazon’s mp3 store might have some at Apple’s iTunes store a little worried. A new report claims that iTunes has been using its leverage to keep the record labels from making potentially high-profile deals with Amazon. [More]
Why Won't Tupperware Send Me My Cereal Bowl Lids?
By 3.4.10
Brandy likes Tupperware very much. Well, she used to. She writes that when she sent in for a warranty replacement for some of her items, the company neglected to send her the coordinating lids…and now won’t answer her e-mails. Without its lid, a Tupperware cereal bowl is just a plastic bowl. And what’s the point of that? [More]
Arrest Warrant Issued For JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
By 3.4.10
Last week, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was a wanted man in the city of Atlanta. The city solicitor issued a warrant for his arrest. [More]
Walmart Debuts Truly Unbeatable Sale
By 3.2.10
Yes, we suppose the only way to beat this sale is to have a store give you money for taking the thing off their hands. [More]
Why Does Tiger Direct Want My ID And Utility Bill?
By 3.2.10
We get a lot of readers asking us about the rights and wrongs of when you should and shouldn’t show your ID when making a purchase. But it’s a rare occasion when someone writes in to share a story of having an online retailer asking to see ID. [More]
Banquet Spaghetti Meatballs Box Vs Reality
By 3.2.10
On the left is a box of Banquet brand frozen spaghetti and meatballs. On the right is what is inside. Disappointed at the lack of visible meatballs, reader reader Sonia snapped the photos and sent them in. On the one hand, that’s what you get for eating $1.00 Walmart frozen pasta and meatballs. On the other, well, couldn’t they have left at least one in? [More]
Magazines Admit: We Have No #*&%ing Clue What To Do With iPad
By 3.1.10
While many media outlets were heralding today’s news that magazine giant Condé Nast plans to bring five of its biggest selling titles to Apple’s new iPad tablet thingy, if you actually read what the Condé memo says, it becomes apparent that they really have no idea what they’re dealing with. [More]
Walmart: Just Take This Chicken For Free, We Don't Actually Sell It
By 3.1.10
Reader DW sent us a gross picture of some nasty gray ham from Walmart (see below) and also let us know that there is mysterious non-Walmart chicken showing up in the store. The people who work at Walmart don’t know where the chicken is from, but they will give it to you for free. [More]
How To File A Complaint With The FTC
By 3.1.10
Here at Consumerist, we’re constantly writing about online frauds, scams and misleading deals. But for all our writing, we’re not a federal agency. That’s where the Federal Trade Commission comes in. The good folks over at the FTC have just put together a short video demonstrating how easy it is for you to file a complaint with them on their site or over the phone. [More]
Cashmere Toilet Paper Cheaper Than Wiping With "Luxury Knitwear"
By 2.28.10
Just in case Charmin isn’t doing it for you anymore, UK retailer Waitrose has come up with what it calls a “super soft cashmere loo roll,” designed to “put a smile on your face.” Um, no matter what we’re using when we’re doing our duty, it’s unlikely to make us smile.
Waitrose says the product — which is really just plain old paper with some cashmere extract tossed in — carries the same “stamp of quality” as the “finest luxury knitwear.”
Hey, Best Buy, Way To Drive Another Customer Away With "Optimization" Nonsense
By 2.27.10
J. in California tells Consumerist that he liked Best Buy. He was a loyal customer until he attempted to buy a laptop there for a friend, and ran up against a brick wall of strangeness and dysfunction, all in the name of… Geek Squad optimization. [More]
Hot Topic Steals Adorable Designs From Webcomic
By 2.27.10
Update: Meghan and Hot Topic have settled this situation. Fans of the adorable webcomic Kawaii Not were surprised to discover buttons made from comic panels for sale at Hot Topic. The problem? The artist sort of didn’t license the designs to Hot Topic, and they are copyrighted. Artist Meghan Murphy does sell her own buttons…and these aren’t those. [More]
Great Value Detergent Is A Better Value If You Hack A Hole In The Side
By 2.27.10
Josh got down to the bottom of his bottle of Walmart’s Great Value house brand laundry detergent and made a terrible discovery. Poor bottle design means that most customers aren’t using all of the detergent that they pay for. He found an extremely unattractive, yet effective solution to the problem. [More]
Citibank Is Sorry For Printing Your SSN On The Outside Of Envelopes
By 2.26.10
This January, Citibank sent out 600,000 mailers with their customers’ social security numbers printed on the outside of the envelope. Whoopsie! [More]
Reach Countrywide Executive Customer Service
By 2.26.10
Here is some Countrywide executive customer service info. Even though Bank of America acquired Countrywide, some of this contact info is still valid. Former Countrywide customers who experiencing post-integration account difficulties have reported success using it. [More]
Consumer Reports Gets Patriotic, Names Best American Cars For 2010
By 2.26.10
While the Congress frets about the millions of Toyotas on the road that probably shouldn’t be, our grease-monkey brothers at Consumer Reports were busy getting domestic. They just released the list of their Top Picks for vehicles put out by American car companies. [More]
