Computers and Electronics
Last month Best Buy gave Ian a free Xbox 360 due to a snafu while handling his extended warranty.
Walmart can try to spin itself as being on the side of good all it wants, but if it ever suspects you of shoplifting, you may find that you’re powerless to fight back. In the case of a couple accused of shoplifting some Bic lighters in Niles, Michigan this past August, Walmart detained them, the police came and cuffed one of them, their two kids were taken to a security room, and—after a review of security footage proved the couple’s innocence—they were banned for life from all Walmarts. To top it off, Walmart’s legal team has sent the couple a letter asking to be reimbursed for 10 times the value of the lighters, even though the police determined no shoplifting had taken place.
For secretly stealing users’ phone number by exploiting a backdoor iPhone vulnerability, app developer Storm8 got slapped with a class action lawsuit.
After we proposed tracking Starbucks’s roll out of Christmas products as a metric to gauge yearly Christmas Creep, we got a fair amount of comments saying they saw no problem with Christmas stuff coming out once Halloween was over. So, inside, a poll: at what point does Christmas Creep become acceptable holiday display?
“Oh my God, I see eyes!” screamed Carla Hill after opening a bag of greens from Walmart.
Over at The Awl there is an intensively researched fact-check of Cintra Wilson’s review of the Manhattan JC Penney store, which at the time, we described as “simultaneously hateful and boring.” The review-of-the-review features photographs of the mannequins Ms. Wilson described as “obese.”
So you’re shopping and have a choice between Sweater A, and Sweater B, the one that saves polar bears. This so-called “embedded giving” where you buy something and part of the money goes towards a charity has become quite popular, especially during the holiday season, but did you ever stop to think if the polar bears are really getting the money?
Walmart announced yesterday that it will be slashing prices to below wholesale on 10 of the most popular DVDs that will be released soon, says the LA Times. Target announced that it will be matching Walmart. Amazon has not yet responded.
Did you play with a Slinky growing up? Well, that makes you a loser, because your toy didn’t make Good Housekeeping‘s Yahoo list of the greatest toys ever made.
Clothing
Perennial Consumerist favorite banker and insurance company USAA announced yesterday that they’re expanding eligible membership to all honorably discharged vets, regardless of dates or lengths of service.
Target loves to keep you on your toes. Which is the better deal? 110 wipes for $4.79 or 80 wipes for $4.79?
Clothing
After we posted yesterday about a T-Mobile customer being greeted by pictures of topless women when he logged into his account to pay his bill, some of you asked, “What’s the problem?” Several readers’ stories answer that question. (Censored but not exactly tasteful pictures inside.) UPDATE: T-Mobile response inside.
Peter, who wrote in last month to complain about being text-spammed by Payless Shoesource on his phone, wasn’t the only customer they annoyed. A man in California has filed a class action lawsuit against the shoe company and Voice & Mobile Broadcast Corporation, which is the marketing company it hired to run the campaign.
How casual is too casual for an airplane’s first class section? If you paid for first class, and a bald guy in a Puma running outfit sat down across the aisle from you, would you honestly feel short-changed? United seems to think it’s inappropriate.
Are you looking to get a smartphone on the Verizon network anytime soon? Make sure that you like it before you sign a contract, since starting November 15th, Verizon will be imposing a higher early termination fee—up to $350—on contracts for “advanced” devices. That means smartphones.
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