Adam and his wife never know what they’re going to be charged for scanning services at OfficeMax’s ImPress print center. I like to imagine that the ImPress employee stands in front of them holding a very long microphone, and tries to build tension before a coworker flips over the Actual Price card. [More]
Retail Services
Why Is Sears Being So Sneaky On This Dishwasher Rebate?
By 12.4.09
On Black Friday, Sears offered free installation on select Kenmore dishwashers in the form of a rebate coupon. The coupon is pretty simple to understand as far as these things go–buy one of the listed models, and Sears will pay for the installation. According to William, however, the listed model that he wanted remained out of stock only for the duration of the coupon. When he asked Sears to honor it the next day, they agreed to–but then after he bought the dishwasher they told him he had broken a nonexistent rule and therefore had voided the coupon. [More]
Never Embarrass Yourself Trying To Unscrew A Wine Bottle Again
By 12.4.09
The horrible thing about screw-cap bottles of wine, says the website butterflywineopener.com, is that they suck all the romance out of bottle opening. But lucky you! “The Butterflyâ„¢ solves that by flawlessly and expediently opening any screw cap bottle while retaining the elegance of traditional wine service.” [More]
Customer Punches Elderly Walmart Greeter In The Face
By 12.4.09
It seems that a Pennsylvania man really, really didn’t want to show his receipt at Walmart. So, allegedly, he punched the 72-year-old greeter in the face. Now, the greeter is severely injured and hospitalized, with half of the bones in his face broken. [More]
Sam Adams Makes Illegal, Expensive Beer
By 12.4.09
Perhaps you’ve heard of Utopias, Sam Adams’ $150-a-bottle beer that’s banned in 13 states. An AP story says the brewery is releasing a new edition of its every-other-year beer, which the story says has the most alcohol by volume of any other beer at 27 percent. [More]
Pay Off $50k In Debt On A $20k Salary In 10 Steps And 5 Years
By 12.4.09
This 30-year old receptionist and single mother of 3 climbed out of a $50,000 debt hole in 5 years using these 10 steps. [More]
Crazy Customer Makes Death Threat In GameStop, Gets Hauled Off By Police
By 12.3.09
A man in Michigan grew so angry that GameStop wouldn’t take back his Xbox without a receipt that he threatened to kill someone and went to get something from his vehicle. The GameStop clerk called 911, and “Four Troy police officers, armed with rifles, stormed into [the] Oakland Mall store” and subdued him. He had an illegal stun gun on him but no firearm. [More]
Diablo 2 Scammer Inadvertently Shines Spotlight On Self
By 12.3.09
Robert usually writes about energy and the environment on his blog. However, he recently ran into a scammer online, and surprised the scammer by fighting back: [More]
An Argument Against Amazon Prime
By 12.2.09
As usual, Amazon is pushing its Prime service these days, offering a free monthlong trial. On the surface, it seems like a reasonable offer for heavy customers: pay $79 and you get free two-day shipping with no minimum order amount and overnight shipping for $4. [More]
Yay I Haven't Been Crushed To Death By Bargains Yet!
By 12.1.09
It’s easy to pick on the people who end up on PeopleOfWalmart.com, but… yeah, it’s just easy. Especially when they trap their babies under a mountain of crap. Parents, I wish I could recall you. [More]
Target Calls Cops On Breastfeeding Shoppers
By 12.1.09
The AP says that police were called when Target employees tried to throw a couple out of the store because the woman was breastfeeding in the electronics aisle. The husband, a Detroit police officer, says they were told by the security guard that the act was “against the law.” [More]
Daddy, Can I Borrow $7 Billion To Buy Cadbury?
By 12.1.09
“Sure you can, junior,” B of A and JP Morgan said to Hershey. “Just remember we’re not made of money.” [More]
Citibank Closes Overdraft Protection Due To Lack Of Overdrafts
By 11.30.09
We all know that banks offer overdraft protection because it makes them money, not because they want to be kind to customers. Still, it seems weird–or maybe just brutally honest–that Citibank would cancel Corrie’s overdraft protection service simply because she’d managed to avoid any overdrafts since she opened her accounts. [More]
Watch Out For Cyber Monday Non-Deals
By 11.30.09
Just as Black Friday has its sleazy underside meant to make you pay more than you should to buy stuff you don’t need, so does Cyber Monday. [More]
Check Luggage Limits Online And Dodge Baggage Fees
By 11.30.09
How fat a bag can I bring? The ad-supported LuggageLimits compiles the carry-on and checked baggage rules for 90 airlines. Just enter your airline, ticket type, departure and arrival city and it will tell you if you’re likely to hit any fee turbulence with your luggage. [LuggageLimits via Lifehacker] [More]
Chase Gave Me A Credit Card I Didn't Want
By 11.30.09
Steven writes about how he feels he was tricked into opening a credit card he didn’t want, then still received the card even after he was vehement about canceling his unauthorized application. [More]
Black Friday Shopping Mayhem Roundup
By 11.29.09
For some reason, Walmart and Toys R Us stores were the focal points of this year’s Black Friday mayhem nationwide. Perhaps because the chains offer both toys for children and toys for adults–electronic ones, at least. Fights and other oddities broke out here and there nationwide. However, shoppers and store employees survived the day with no deaths, major injuries, or significant property damage. [More]
Black Friday Sales Figures Almost Didn't Suck
By 11.29.09
Overall, Black Friday retail sales weren’t too bad, as shoppers sought deals on all sorts of products, focusing on computers (especially netbooks, if Consumerist readers are any indication), flat-panel televisions, and Snuggies. Sales were up slightly over last year nationwide, especially in the western United States, and online sales were up 35% over Black Friday 2008. [More]
