Some scammer out there has a sense of humor (and a shrink wrap machine), because when Greg opened his apparently “new” copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, he found a used copy of “Boys N Da Hood.”
Retail Services
Meet Crissy, The High Priestess Of Coupon Clippers
By 5.16.08
Crissy Thompson (pictured left) is among the coupon clipping elite. 11Alive News followed her around one day to learn some of her secrets. At a local Publix, Crissy managed to get two-thirds off her grocery bill and at CVS picked up $140 worth of goods for $5. Often, she spends only $10 a week on groceries and that’s with 3 kids and a husband. Check out some of her techniques and her favorite coupon web sites, inside…
Polite Letter Gets Bank Of America To Refund Overdraft Fees
By 5.15.08
Jenn’s checking account with Bank of America recently had a policy change designed to increase overdraft fees, and it worked: sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning she was hit with 6 NSF charges going back the previous 48 hours, because she was about 15 minutes late transferring funds into her account the day before. Technically she had broken the new policy, but Jenn hadn’t realized or remembered that there was a policy change and she was taken by surprise. She decided to try to reason with BoA’s corporate office about the fees, and explain why she thought they were unfair.
NFL Star Says Walmart Was Mean To Underprivileged Kids
By 5.15.08
Houston Texans Wide Receiver Andre Johnson said his foundation ordered 750 bikes from Walmart that were to be given to underprivileged kids, and in return the retailer offered to provide ice and water for the event. TMZ says something got messed up with the order and so Walmart said “No water for you.”
Citi Announces One Of Its 'Bold Steps': Stricter Rules On Student Loans
By 5.14.08
Two readers have forwarded us a second email sent out by Citibank today, but it’s not another vaguely worded PR blast from the CEO. Instead, this one announces that Citibank is adopting the zero-tolerance approach to late payments favored by the credit card industry—miss a payment due date and you’ll lose any interest rate discount(s) you currently enjoy.
Citi CEO Emails To Inform You Of Citi's "Bold Steps," Neglects To Tell You What The "Bold Steps" Are
By 5.14.08
Reader Ben writes:
Chase Refuses To Shut Down Broken ATM Until You Threaten To Report Them To The FDIC
By 5.14.08
Reader Keith tried to get $120 from a downtown NYC Chase ATM, but the money door never opened. When he went inside to report the malfunction, the teller told him to go outside and wait. Keith thought he was waiting for someone to come fix the ATM or take his personal information. It turns out that he was just being ignored.
This Virgin Mobile FAQ Is Honest, But Not Very Helpful
By 5.14.08
Reader Aiden was considering buying a Virgin Mobile phone, but he had some questions about their Studio V program. (It allows you to make wallpapers and ringtones and sell them for $0.10 in airtime credit to other Virgin Mobile users.) The FAQ he found was honest, but not very helpful.
Passenger Cited For Refusing To Get Off His Cellphone On Southwest Flight
By 5.13.08
A gentlemen who ignored flight attendants requests that he get off his cellphone was met by police when the flight landed at Dallas’ Love Field. Joe David Jones, 50, of Austin was ticketed for disorderly conduct, says the Associated Press.
Best Buy Trained MePossibly Trained Other Employees I Heard About To Commit Credit Card Fraud, And 4 More Bad Things
By 5.13.08
A commenter to our Worst Company in America nominations picked Best Buy, his employer of six years, to win it all. His reasons, including the credit card fraud, phony bundling scams, and other schemes they made him do to keep his job he heard rumors about happening at other Best Buys, inside. UPDATE: The original commenter has contacted us to say that these things did not actually happen to him and he was not trained to do them by Best Buy. Rather, he heard about them happening at other Best Buys or read about them in other Consumerist articles, and, in a pique of anger, wrote a long comment that remixed all this information together and framed it as if it happened to him. Consumerist regrets the error, and the commenter has been banned.
Send Them $10 And They'll Send You… Something
By 5.13.08
If you enjoy receiving mysterious packages with unknown contents, (control freaks with anxiety disorders, this store may not be for you,) meet the “Something Store.” The concept is simple. You give them $10. They give you something. Shipping is included, and the quality of the “somethings” varies wildly. (For example, one customer got a duct tape wallet, another one got a leather wallet from Fossil.) You can get an idea of what sort of something you may be in for by checking out the “something tracker.”
Round 37: BestBuy vs CompUSA
By 5.13.08
This is Round 37 in our Worst Company in America contest, Best Buy vs CompUSA!Inside, readers comments from previous rounds on why they hate each company…
12 Stores' Deals For Cashing Your Rebate Check
By 5.13.08
Dealnews has a roundup of twelve different retailers that give shoppers discounts for cashing and spending their tax stimulus checks in-store. There’s deals by Kroger, Safeway, ShopRite, SuperValu, Meijer, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Sears/Kmart, Staples.com, Wal-Mart, Rosenau Powersports, and Zonder.com. Dealnews breaks down what the specific deals are, as well as going into the fine print and limitations. Personally, we’re spending our stimulus check at the bank but if you’re already going to spend a big chunk at one of these stores, it might not be a bad idea to take advantage of some of the offers.
