Walmart is ramping up the price war on another front. Instead of hardcovers, this time the retailer is cutting prices on turkey and flat-panel TVs, reports Bloomberg.
Retail Services
Yesterday's T-Mobile Outage Affected 2 Million Users
Boy, T-Mo is on a roll lately. First they gave Perez Hilton fits by losing his Sidekick info, then, presumably in a misguided attempt to make up for it, they began showing boobs to one of our readers (they are still investigating), and now as an encore — a massive outage.
Morning Deals
Clothing
Walmart Prepares For New Push Into Major Urban Areas
If you live in Chicago, New York City, or Philadelphia, expect to start hearing some noise about Walmart in the coming months. The retailer has announced that it’s going to “step up efforts to mobilize local political support” so that it can finally open stores in those cities, reports the Financial Times.
Radio Shack Opening Mobile Phone Kiosks In Target Stores
One problem I’ve always had when shopping for jacked-up prices is I can’t find enough crazy to go along with it. Same thing for the crazy: I know where to go to get cart-loads of that, but I can’t find the 2400% markup! What I need, clearly, is for Radio Shack to open up specialty kiosks inside Target stores, so then— oh hey! It’s the Bullseye Mobile Solution!
Reader: "Paid My T-Mobile Bill, Saw Some Boobs"
Reader Andrew has an interesting problem: whenever he logs onto T-Mobile’s website to pay his bill, T-Mobile flashes him.
Streaming Movies: Best Buy Preparing For A World Without DVDs
Best Buy announced a “a Best Buy-branded offering, available starting early next year,” that will stream “first-run DVDs” online directly to consumers, says the NYT Bits Blog.
Are Banks Blocking Large Walmart Check Card Purchases?
Josh finds himself unable to use his Bank of America check card to make large purchases at Walmart. When he calls customer service, he’s told the bank blocks large purchases at the store because such transactions are “considered a risk.”
Government Helped CIT Limp Along Long Enough To Keep From Ruining Christmas
According to SpendMatters, one big reason the government burned through $2.3 billion in TARP funds for CIT even though it was buckling under debt was to try to avoid ruining everybody’s Christmas this year.
What Mobile Platform Do You Use?
Consumerist needs to get on your mobile device so bad it hurts. But first, we need to know which platform you use. Take our poll and tell us!
Take More Notes, Save Money
Yesterday I grabbed a notebook app for my smartphone and spent a couple of hours organizing the various content folders—ideas for Consumerist, gift lists for Christmas, things to look up later on a computer—so that I could capture information more efficiently. Wait, why s ths n Cnsmrst? Because The Simple Dollar argues that by keeping a notebook and using it all the time (Lifehacker calls it “ubiquitous capture”), you can end up saving money.
QVC Tricks Thousands Into Overpaying For Wii and Accessories
Reader Joe/Mordecai spotted an awful QVC deal on a Wii, a crappy game and some accessories.
Morning Deals
- Clothing
- Brooks Brothers: [Apparel] Save at least 15% and up to 25% off All Orders
Dickies : [Apparel] 50% Off Everything + Free Shipping w/ Coupon NOV50- JC Penney : [Apparel] 20% Off $100 Purchase + One More Coupon CATHKSPC
- Lands’ End: [Clothing & Accessories] Lands’ End coupon: $10 off $10 or more
- 6pm: [Shoes] 45% to 76% off Privo women’s shoes at 6pm.com: Deals for $22 + $7 s&h
Amazon.com Thinks Reader's Balls Are Splendid
Amazon’s new PayPhrase service has its advantages and disadvantages, but one curious feature is that the system generates sample phrases for you. Usually these are pretty innocuous and uplifting—”Laura’s Amazing Effort” and the like. But not for Gil. The PayPhrase system took the opportunity to comment on his private parts, and generated the phrase “Gil’s Splendid Balls” for him.
Recall Roundup: Extra Scary Edition
It’s Halloween, and what’s scarier than exploding DVD player batteries and killer flatware? Or dairy lurking in an innocent-looking tortilla? What about a zombie ATV that accelerates on its own?
3 Cellphone Apps To Block Texting While Driving
We’ve been talking about the dangers of texting while driving for a while, and if you’ve been paying attention, you know it’s no joke: texting is 23 times more distracting than talking on a phone. In spite of this, most people do it anyway. If you just can’t help yourself, here are three apps that will limit your ability to text while driving.