It’s the first half of September, which means that it’s time to celebrate our favorite holiday. No, not Halloween or Thanksgiving: The best holiday of all is Christmas/Halloween Mashup, as the classic animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas taught us all. The demands of seasonal displays mean that Nightmares Before Christmas also appear in the real world. Sometimes it’s even done well. [More]
Search results for: hallmark
4 Things To Know About Idaho’s Non-Compete Law & The State’s Growing Tech Industry
By 7.17.17
Each year, millions of employees leave their jobs for a better one. But if you live in Idaho, this hallmark of the workforce might not be attainable, as the state now has one of the most strict non-compete laws preventing employees from leaving their current employer for a competitor. [More]
Instagram Continues To Mimic Snapchat, Adds Disappearing Messages To Direct Inbox
By 4.11.17
In yet another apparent attempt to render Snapchat irrelevant, Instagram has incorporated its rival social media’s hallmark feature — disappearing messages — into its own platform. [More]
The IRS Is Now Using Private Debt Collectors; Here’s What You Need To Know
By 4.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
After years of warning taxpayers that the IRS will never cold call you to collect a tax debt, things are about to change as the IRS begins handing over some of its debt-collection work to private firms who probably will call you. [More]
Why Are Greeting Cards So Expensive, Anyway?
By 2.14.17
You may have bought or received a few greeting cards this Valentine’s Day, and they all had one thing in common: They were probably really expensive. Why is that? Some industry experts argue that the reason why greeting cards are so pricey is that people are buying so few of them. [More]
JCPenney Adding Nike Stores Inside 600 Locations
By 1.17.17
In their attempts to draw in customers and become more of a one-stop-shop, struggling department stores across the country have entered into partnerships to host store-within-a-store concepts: from Macy’s LensCrafters shops to Best Buy’s Verizon and AT&T “experience stores.” Now, JCPenney is jumping into the fray, launching Nike stores in 600 of its locations around the country. [More]
Why GM Is Okay Losing Money On The Electric Chevy Bolt
By 11.30.16
When it comes to electric vehicles, consumers have to be willing to spend a pretty penny in order to reduce their emissions. But it’s not just car owners that are shelling out for more environmentally friendly rides, carmakers are too: on top of the cost to create, test, and manufacture the vehicles, companies, like General Motors, are regularly taking a hit when it comes to putting keys in customers’ hands. But why? [More]
Hackers Breached San Francisco Transit System, Held It Hostage All Weekend
By 11.28.16
San Francisco residents bustling around this weekend to visit friends and knock out some holiday shopping were treated to an unexpected surprise: all rides on MUNI rail were free. It wasn’t due to a gesture of goodwill from the transit operator, though; it was because hackers had managed to lock out the fare system and were holding it hostage. [More]
Christmas Creep Season Kicks Off Nationwide
By 9.21.16
Every holiday has two seasons: its actual season, and its creep season. The latter is that time of year during which people complain that it’s too soon to be selling decorations, cards, costumes, or other items for that holiday. Even things that aren’t really holidays can creep up, like back-to-school season. Here are some Christmas Creep sightings from across the country, so you’ll know where to pick up an artificial evergreen in mid-September for future reference. [More]
Dish Offering More Flexible Pick-And-Choose Channel Packages. Is It Worth It?
By 8.4.16
Only a few months after Verizon FiOS effectively gave up on its “skinny bundle” attempt to provide pay-TV customers with more flexible channel options, Dish Network is giving it a go with a new pricing model that starts at $40/month… but goes up quickly when you add on the channels you might want. [More]
Forget The Internet — H&M Wants To Double Its Number Of Retail Stores
By 4.6.16
With traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers continuing to lose ground to online sales, and longtime mall mainstays like Sears and JCPenney either closing locations or selling off floor space, the trend is definitely toward smaller retail footprints and focusing on the web. But the CEO of one of the world’s largest clothing retailers plans to buck that trend in a big way. [More]
You Will Soon Be Able To Rent Out Office Space Inside A Staples Store
By 4.4.16
With a growing number of shoppers going online, retailers no longer need the vast acreage of floor space inside their stores — like Hallmark shops inside of JCPenney, or Sears Hometown mini-stores inside of Ace Hardware. And with more people working remotely, it was only time before some retailer got the notion of carving out some rental office space for customers. [More]
Servicemembers Twice As Likely To Submit Complaints About Unsavory Debt Collection Practices
By 3.22.16
While millions of Americans are no strangers to questionable debt-collection practices, a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that the men and women in the armed forces are twice as likely than their civilian counterparts to file a complaint when a collector crosses the line.
[More]
The Consumerist Guide To Understanding Your DirecTV Bill
By 2.23.16
When you sign up for telecommunications services — some combination of TV, broadband, and/or phone — you’re told you’ll pay something like $49 or $99 a month… and yet the price you actually pay can be as much as 40% or more on top of that, thanks to a heap of sometimes confusing charges and fees. Which ones do you blame the government for, and which are made up by your cable company? One business at a time, we’re going to use real customers’ bills to break it down. We’ve already looked at Comcast and TWC. This time we’re switching it up a bit to have a look at satellite, and will be dissecting a bill from DirecTV. [More]
In Midst Of Disney Lawsuit, Verizon Creates FiOS “Custom TV” Package That Includes ESPN
By 2.19.16
ESPN is easily the most expensive single channel in any basic cable lineup, accounting for around $5 of the average cable bill just on its own. Cable companies are also contractually barred from putting the all-sports network on any sort of premium tier, which is why it was big news last year when Verizon FiOS announced a new “Custom TV” pricing model that made ESPN completely optional for everyone. That’s also why ESPN’s parent company Disney sued Verizon, alleging breach of contract. Now, Verizon has revised Custom TV to include ESPN and other sports channels for customers who want them. [More]
Protect Your Heart (And Wallet) From These Valentine’s Day Scams
By 2.11.16 — Updated: 2.13.17
This is the year. It’s the year you’ll wake up on Feb. 15 without the stinging sensation of intense regret that inevitably follows after mourning Valentine’s Day at the bottom of a booze bottle, covered in bits of melted chocolate stuck to you in your sleep, because your beloved turned out to be a scammer. Because this year, you’re going to be prepared for any romance scams that may come your way. [More]
Authorities Shut Down 5 Shady Debt Collectors, Secure $6.5M In Relief
By 11.4.15
The Federal Trade Commission teamed up with two states to put an end to five unscrupulous debt collection operations that illegally deceived millions of Americans. The actions, made under the “Operation Collection Protection” initiative between federal, state and local law enforcement authorities, represent $6.5 million in relief for millions of consumers. [More]
Comcast Insists Its Twitter Account Isn’t A Robot; Just Assumes Everyone’s An Angry Customer
By 10.23.15
Like a number of corporate customer service Twitter account, the public replies from the @ComcastCares account are of the “Sorry to hear that” variety, often with a request for a private direct message containing more specific account information. But are these similar-sounding responses produced by a computer script or by a human being who just assumes that everyone hates the company they work for? [More]
