Reader John writes in with a story about “upselling” at Best Buy. He saw a TomTom GPS unit for $99.99 on sale at Best Buy, so he headed over to the store to pick one up. What follows is his account of how much trouble it was to actually buy the item. We think we counted 9 times that John had to tell various and sundry Best Buy employees that, yes, he was sure that he didn’t want to buy a slightly more expensive model of the same device.
Retail Services
Play Black Friday Bingo
By 11.24.08
Here’s your official Consumerist Black Friday Bingo Card, inspired by “28 Bad Things That Will Happen On Black Friday.” I added a few of my own as well. Full-size inside. I made it using the free bingo card maker at teach-nology.com.
28 Bad Things That Will Happen On Black Friday
By 11.24.08
A Fry’s electronic worker has posted his predictions for 28 bad things that happen inside stores this Black Friday. There’s things on there like registers being down, full-on face-punching between customers, and customers and employees getting away with shoplifting. It’s not just for Fry’s, I imagine these things will be happening in stores across America, assuming people have any money left to go Black Friday shopping this year. Maybe you can make the 28 things inside into a Bingo Card and play against your friends…
By 11.24.08
../../../..//2008/11/24/pc-magazine-offers-a-slideshow/
PC Magazine offers a slideshow of the top 10 Black Friday sites, for those of you who still have money to burn on doorbusters. [PC Magazine]
Gift Cards From Ailing Retailers Can Be Boobie Prizes
By 11.24.08
When Sharper Image went under (oh no, where will we find a new vibrating massage pinball machine for dad?), people lost about $60 million locked up in gift cards, reports NYT. If you’re holding a gift card, you’re technically an unsecured creditor. If they go bankrupt..
Morning Deals
By 11.24.08
- Dr. Pepper: Free 20oz of Dr. Pepper until 6pm Nov 24 2008 (if site is overloaded, call 1-888-DRPEPPER)
- Woot: Pentax Optio V20 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3” LCD for $109.99
- Slickdeals: “Deals I found this weekend”
Highlights From Buxr
- Best Buy: Samsung PN50A400 – 50″ Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV for $797.99 + Shipping
- Amazon: Samsung WEP-301 Bluetooth Headset Includes 6 Designer Skins (Silver) for $4.99 after $20 rebate + Shipping
- National Geographic: 20% Off Sitewide Coupon: 08A20
Highlights From Dealhack
- Vann’s: Toshiba 1080p HD Upconverting DVD Player $57 Shipped
- Lucky Brand Jeans: Buy Pair of Jeans & Get 50% off Next Item
- Expedia: Book a Flight Now & Get $200 for a Spring Vacation
Highlights From Dealnews
- Walmart: Nintendo DS Games: 2 for $20 + $4 s&h
- Circuit City: Toshiba 320GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive for $110 + free shipping
- Amazon.com: Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Folding Princess Castle for $58 + free shipping, more
Citibank Teaches Us How To Destroy A $244 Billion Banking Institution
By 11.24.08
Only two short years ago, Citibank was worth $244 billion. Now, after its stock lost half of its value in just the past week, the bank is estimated to be worth $20.5 billion. What happened? The New York Times attempted to answer that question Saturday, and it pointed the finger at the usual suspects — conflicts of interest between those who were supposed to manage risk — and those who stood to benefit from making risky bets.
Your PS3s Are Stuck In The UK And You Have To Buy Four More
By 11.21.08
Mea culpa. It sounded like a good idea, but the “people-powered” comparison shopping site we wrote about, beatmyprice.com, got one of our readers scammed when she used it in a non-savvy fashion. Rebecca ordered a PS3 from the sketchy-as-hell looking “omexelectronics.biz” for $260. After she ordered it with her Discover Card, she got an email telling her to complete the transaction via Western Union instead. She did so. Big mistake.
Kiss Courtesy Overdraft Fees Goodbye With WaMu Debit-Only Card?
By 11.21.08
Whoever came up with the name “courtesy overdraft fee” is one smart cookie. They figured out a way to let you do something you don’t want to do, charge you a fee, and make it sound like they’re doing you a favor. WaMu is one of the few banks that let you…
Reach TracFone Executive Customer Service
By 11.21.08
TracFone is a pre-paid wireless cellphone company that people enjoy for its low cost and hate for its customer service. The problem comes from their globally outsourced and non-integrated call centers. Problems don’t get solved. Emails go unreturned. Problems get stuck in infinitely recursive loops. Here’s a typical story from reader Susan, “I asked them to escalate this to a supervisor. Three days later, I get a response saying that they have investigated the problem and I should call their support line. When I called the support line, they had no details of any prior communication and no way to resolve the problem. So I am back at step one. ” Luckily for you, she found the numbers to escalate complaints up to the corporate level and got it solved: 1-800-876-5753 or 1-800-339-9345.
By 11.21.08
../../../..//2008/11/21/readdress-your-gripes-walmart-will/
Readdress your gripes! Walmart will have a new CEO, Mike Duke, starting Feb. 1. [CNNMoney]
Sam's Club Lets You Swap Out RedRinged Xbox Hassle-Free
By 11.21.08
Virg’s Xbox360 got the dread Red Ring of Death. He bought it in Feb ’07, and it started failing this Nov ’08. He figured it would be months before he would get it back and expected to have to pay somewhere. Much to his surprise, Sam’s Club let him swap it out for a new one for free.
Does A Store Have To Price Match Their Website?
By 11.21.08
Here’s a question we get a lot. Are stores required to price match their own website?
Morning Deals
By 11.21.08
- Woot: Star Wars Vault: 30 Years of Treasures From the Lucasfilm Archives for $24.99
- Bargain Outfitters: 2 Women’s Reebok Jackets $15.96 Shipped
- Megabus: $0 FREE Bus Tickets Across Northeast & Midwest
Highlights From Buxr
- Dirt Cheap Shirt: Black Friday T-Shirt for $9.99 + Shipping (says “Black Friday: Shop Till You Drop! (Or Get Trampled)
- Sears: Craftsman 53 pc. Mechanics Tool Set for $23.99 + $7.50 Shipping
- Boscov’s: Panasonic 42″ Class (41.6″ Diagonal) Widescreen VIERA Plasma 720p HDTV for $599.97 + $49.99 Shipping
Highlights From Dealhack
- Eastern Mountain Sports: Save 20% to 50% off EMS Men’s & Women’s Outerwear
- Target.com: LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robotics Kit $225 Shipped
- REI Outlet: Hydrapak Chute Hydration Backpack $20
Highlights From Dealnews
- BestBuy: Refurbished Gateway AMD Quad Core 2.2GHz Desktop PC for $550 + $2 s&h
- Dell Home: Creative ZEN X-Fi 8GB Portable MP3 / MP4 Player for $120 + free shipping
- DeepDiscount: The Matrix Collection on DVD for $8 + free shipping
By 11.20.08
../../../..//2008/11/20/need-gift-ideas-curbly-user/
Need gift ideas? Curbly user ModHomeEcTeacher has put together a list of 45 different holiday gift guides from around the web. [Curbly]
EECB Convinces Best Buy To Pay For Damage To Car
By 11.20.08
Here’s a good example of how to write an effective Executive Email Carpet Bomb, or EECB, to break through the “please hold” purgatory of the company’s phone system. Alicia’s car’s bumper was scratched by a Best Buy employee, and calling consumer relations as directed proved fruitless. Now she’s got a check in her hands from Best Buy to pay for the repairs.
By 11.20.08
../../../..//2008/11/20/if-you-have-an-account/
If you have an account with Mint, and you’ve enabled mobile alerts, you can now text “Bal” or “Balance” to 696-468 (MyMint) and receive a summary of all of your accounts. [Mint]
Target Loses all Evidence of Your Application, Thinks You Were Never Hired
By 11.20.08
Tipster William was ready to start his seasonal job at Target when he was told that there was no record of him ever being scheduled, taking a drug test, or ever being hired.
