UPDATE: Amazon Gay Book Removal Was Massive Prank, I Did It, Claims Troll
Retail Services
NY Post Picks Up Consumerist Reader's ATM Skimming Story
By 4.12.09
Check it out, we’re in the New York Post today. They picked up our reader Dan’s story about finding an ATM skimmer at a Chase/WaMu, along with the skimmer spotted by Gizmodo reader Sean after they ran Dan’s story. Neat!
Let Supermarkets Help You Save Money
By 4.12.09
Consumer Reports is gearing up to release their supermarket ratings, but the preliminary results show that supermarkets are trying to help consumers by extending sales and rewarding loyalty. Inside, six ways to save a few bucks next time you fill up your shopping cart.
Best Buy Sells 9-Year-Old Discontinued Hard Drive As Brand New Western Digital, Refuses Refund
By 4.11.09
Jon spent $250 on a Western Digital VelociRaptor but what he received from Best Buy was a Quantum Fireball, a discontinued hard drive that hasn’t been sold for nine years. Best Buy, of course, took no responsibility for the odd swap, and said that Western Digital must have accidentally sold a competitor’s discontinued drive. Western Digital, of course, said that a Best Buy employee stole Jon’s hard drive. We’ve seen this happen before with Best Buy, and Jon has made it clear that he knows how to bite back…
Amazon Introduces Packaging Feedback
By 4.10.09
Is Amazon trying to kill off our “stupid shipping gang” tag? Alex wrote to us today to point out that now there’s a new “Packaging Feedback” link under your “My Account” page on their site. Among other things, you can leave feedback on the size of the box relative to what’s inside.
Probably At 4 Cookies The Real Savings Kicks In
By 4.10.09
Edward found this sign at a Subway shop in NYC. We appreciate that they’re doing the addition for us.
Morning Deals
By 4.10.09
Highlights From Dealhack
- Buy.com: [Netbook] HP Mini 10.1-inch Intel Atom Netbook PC $280 Shipped
- Reebok: [Shoes] Save Extra 20% off Sale Shoes and Apparel
- Barnes & Noble: [Magazine] Save Extra $5 off Magazine Subscriptions
3 ATM Skimmers Found In One Week At Chase/WaMus – What?!
By 4.9.09
Three different ATM skimmers were found this week and reported on blogs, raising the question of what the heck is going on considering these are supposed to be a rarity. First, our reader Dan found a skimmer on a WaMu/Chase ATM in LA. Gizmodo picked up the story and subsequently their reader Sean Seibel found a skimmer on a Chase ATM in Manhattan’s East Village. Then this kid Nick McGlynn found a setup similar to the one Sean did, also on a Chase ATM. Now, when our reader Dan took the credit-card snagging device skimmer to the police he said they, “got a big kick out of the skimmer, saying they’d never seen one in person.” Hmm… Let’s look at a bunch of sexy ATM skimming photos and figure out what’s up with all these skimmers cropping up…
Teenager Tries To Bankrupt Family By Sending $4,756.25 In Text Messages
By 4.9.09
Here’s an idea, don’t use your phone to send 300 texts a day at school. Not only will your parents not get a bill for $4,756.25, you won’t go from As and Bs to Fs and you also won’t get your phone smashed with a hammer.
Morning Deals
By 4.9.09
- NewEgg: [Kitchen] West Bend SHTO100 Toaster Oven for $19.99 w/ coupon EMCLRLV27 w/ Free shipping
- Amazon: [Babyfood] Save Extra $20 off Tastybaby Organic Babyfood
- Dell Small Business: [Monitors] Dell G2410 24″ 1080p LED-Backlit Widescreen LCD Display for $233 + free shipping
- KitchenAid: [Kitchen] KitchenAid closeout on mixers and other appliances
Morning Deals
By 4.8.09
- Ralph Lauren: [Clothing] 30% purchase through April 14th with coupon code RLSP2009
- Simple and Delicious: [Ketchup!] Free 24-oz Bottle of Hunt’s Ketchup w/ Coupon + $10 Coupon Book (free registration required)
- Geeks: [Camera+] Polaroid 8MP Camera with Free 7-inch LCD Photo Frame & 2GB Secure Digital Card $150
Rumor: AT&T To Start Forcing iPhone Data Plan On iPhone 3G Owners Who Aren't Using One
By 4.8.09
The iPhone blog says that AT&T is going to start contacting iPhone owners who aren’t using an official iPhone data plan and force them to sign up for one. The crackdown supposedly starts tomorrow in the Atlanta and Austin markets, and expands nationwide by the end of the month.
Senators Introduce Bill To Ban Text Message Spam
By 4.7.09
Senators Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida, have introduced the m-SPAM Act, which would update the CAN-SPAM law to include text message spam. “The m-SPAM Act would explicitly bar marketers from sending text messages to any mobile number in the national Do-Not-Call registry maintained by the FTC,” reports InternetNews.
Worst Company In America: Starbucks VS Bank of America
By 4.7.09
Expensive coffee that “tastes burnt”? Or the owners of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide?
Macy’s Makes Fun Of Coupons With Its Latest Coupon
By 4.7.09 — Updated: 11.26.13
Did you know the asterisk in the Macy*s logo is actually part of a clever branding campaign to associate the brand with fine print? It must be true, because no other department store has such a love of fine print on coupons—and such an apparent hatred of actual coupons. Their latest masterpiece in exclusions won’t cover electronics, wigs, mattresses, shoes, watches, about a million clothing brands, and more. What does it cover? Probably a shoehorn from the Notions for Men department.
Best Buy Gives Reader $30 Gift Card For Selling Her "New" DVD Player Preloaded With XXX Movie
By 4.7.09
After Lisa’s story of how she bought an ostensibly new DVD player from Best Buy only to find an adult DVD already in it went up on Consumerist, the retailer contacted her and sent her a $30 gift card. The original DVD player cost $29.99. That was nice of them, as Lisa was more amused than bothered at the situation in the first place. She wrote, “It was pretty funny! At first my husband was thinking, “Sweet!!! Score…” when we opened it up. We got a good laugh, but then I started thinking, “Wait a second, we bought it as a regular item, not open boxed. Why is there a DVD in there then?”
By 4.7.09
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A Walmart cashier from Shreveport, LA was caught copying down customer’s credit card numbers and using them to buy items from the store where she worked. As you can imagine, the police caught on to this brilliant scam pretty quickly. She was arrested when credit card numbers were found in her purse. [KSLA]
