John ordered a washer and a dryer from Best Buy. First, he says Best Buy showed up early for the delivery, so naturally, John wasn’t home. Then they assembled the pedestals for the washer and dryer on some gravel in front of his house, damaging them. After that, they left the appliances with his neighbor.
Retail Services
By 1.20.09
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The inauguration is over so you may now commence sending pix, texts and phonecalls using your cellular telephone devices.
Please, No Pix Or Calls Until After The Inauguration
By 1.20.09
So as to avoid the warned-of network outages and delays, The president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association would like all patriotic citizens to “do their part in decreasing network demand by texting instead of placing voice calls, and holding off on cell phone pictures or video until after the events are over.” [Washington Post]
Hey Look, It's Contact Info For Walmart's CEO
By 1.20.09
A very nice anonymous reader just sent us contact info for Michael Duke, the new CEO of Walmart (as of February 1st, 2009). Please use it wisely.
By 1.20.09
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Best Buy is selling Far Cry 2 for Xbox 360 for only $29.99, for some reason. It’s selling elsewhere for $59.99. Backordered online, but you may still be able to find it available for in-store pickup. [Best Buy] (Thanks to Chris!)
Video: The Brooklyn Target, "An Abortion Of Retail"
By 1.20.09
Here’s part 2 of FIPS investigation into why the Target at the Brooklyn Atlantic Center is the Worst Target Ever Created. Their video crew probes more into the shelves that are at best, disheveled, and at worst, empty. When we posted the first video, some said Target should get a break, they’re recovering from the holidays. Well, this one was shot 15 days after the holidays. It still looks like crap. It also looked like crap before the holidays too. The real culprit? Management that doesn’t care and poorly trained employees. C’mon, Target Corp, you need to send an attack squad to fix this store. It looks like a freakin’ TJ MAXX. Video inside [NSFW, curseywords].
Morning Deals
By 1.20.09
- Central Parking System: $15 coupon to park for 6 hours in Manhattan
- Amazon: Free: So Indie It Hurts: Roir Rocks Volume One” album download for free
- Wilsons Leather: Kenneth Cole Messenger Bag for $49.99, down from $200
Highlights From Buxr
- Shop4Tech: Cobra microTALK PR 190-2 10-Mile Two-way Radio for $27.16 after coupon:PB15 w/ Free shipping
- Amazon: Hoover U5507-900 Elite Auto-Rewind Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner for $71.97 w/ Free shipping
- Sears: Craftsman 83 pc. Insert Bit Set for $16.49 + Shipping (Free in-store pickup)
Highlights From Dealhack
- TiVo.com: Save 10% off Series2 Dual Tuner or $50 off High Definition TiVo HD DVRs + Free Shipping
- Meritline: Voice Key Telephone Adapter for Skype $20 Shipped (turns USB jack into standard phone line)
- OfficeMax: AOC 2217V 22-inch LCD Monitor $150 Shipped
Highlights From Dealnews
- Buy.com: Q-see Indoor Camera with Night Vision for $41 + free shipping
- Apple Store: Refurbished Unibody Apple MacBook 13″ Laptops from $1,099 + free shipping
- Shop4Tech: Personal Alcohol Detector for $15 + free shipping
Morning Deals are purely an informational service for the readers, Consumerist receives nothing in exchange for their posting.
Amazon.com "White Glove Delivery" Will Open Box, Place Gently On Table
By 1.19.09
Amazon’s “White Glove Delivery” seems primarily aimed to combat the sordid state of big-box retail; hand-delivering products, mostly televisions, into your home. However, if you follow their logic, I am not sure it exactly pans out.
Belkin Apologizes For Review Fraud, Sort Of
By 1.19.09
- We’re very sorry this happened;
- We don’t condone unethical behavior
- We’ll try to remove the fraudulent reviews;
- Our business partners had no role in this fiasco.
The one thing that’s missing? The fate of ethically-challenged dimwit Bayard (edit – and anyone at Belkin like him), who the Daily Background has since caught posting his own fraudulent reviews for Belkin.
Morning Deals
By 1.19.09
- Newegg: MSI Wind Nettop Barebone Lightweight Desktop PC $130
- Abe’s of Maine: Nikon 10MP Camera + 4GB Card $170 Shipped
Belkin Caught Paying For Positive Reviews
By 1.19.09
Belkin Business Development Representative Michael Bayard has been caught offering to pay anyone willing to leave perfect reviews of Belkin products on Amazon, Buy.com, and Newegg. Even worse, the highly unethical strategy seems to have worked—almost fifteen pages worth of Belkin products on Amazon have perfect five-star ratings.
Sprint's 'Unlimited' Messaging Package Charges You Per Message
By 1.17.09
Sprint offers an “Everything Messaging Family” package that promises “unlimited nationwide, text, picture and video messaging to anyone on any network.” The catch? Unlimited seems to mean “you have the capability to send messages, but you’ll still have to pay for each message you send.” Erica has called in twice to clear up the mistake, but the CSRs are telling her it’s not a mistake. Oh. Well then, is it a lie?
No More Free FICO Scores For WaMu Customers After March 9
By 1.16.09
It looks like after March 1, 2009 quondam Washington Mutual cum Chase customers won’t be able to get their FICO scores for free anymore through their bank. Those people in the picture look pretty excited about yet another WaMu feature being taken away. Woohoo, indeed. [Chase] (Thanks to Luke!)
Reach BoA Customer Service On Twitter
By 1.16.09
Bank of America is now on Twitter, user “BofA_help.” They have a pretty boy named David Knapp who is here to solve your problems and answer your questions about Bank of America. He seems to be both handling inbound requests and scanning for people on Twitter with BofA problems and reaching out to them. Certainly faster than sending Ken Lewis a letter. (Thanks to Brandon Savage!)
Two Wisconsin Walmarts Evacuated Due To Mysterious Odors, FBI Investigates
By 1.16.09
The FBI is investigating an incident in which a mysterious chemical was released in a Wisconsin Walmart sending 47 people to the hospital — and is not investigating a Walmart in the same county that had to be evacuated the next day due to an odoriferous sewer problem. What an odd coincidence.
By 1.16.09
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Macy’s now admits that it was an in-house software glitch that caused them to charge in-store debit card users twice on the Saturday before Christmas. [StorefrontBacktalk] (Thanks to Evan!)
Why We Lust For Products
By 1.16.09
Why do we get hot and heavy to acquire certain physical objects? Very Evolved has an explanation of product lust, in two parts: dopamine, and reinforcement.
By 1.16.09
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The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, whose excellent Best Buy and Target coverage we really appreciate, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [Reuters]
