We hear wonderful things about Amazon Prime…except from readers who live in parts of the country served by smaller shipping carriers like Ontrac and Ensenda. Reader Z. recently reported a package missing, and Amazon sent a replacement. Ontrac brought both the original package and the replacement on the same day…a week after that original shipment was supposed to arrive. [More]
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Ontrac Takes My Amazon Package On Weeklong Vacation, Delivers It Alongside Replacement
By 9.12.13 — Updated: 5.7.14
Corn Poop Soap Just Might Be The Gift You Need
By 9.4.13 — Updated: 9.5.13
“Can vary slightly in size, shape and color – just like real ones!” says the promotional copy for Corn Poop Soap, a product that is exactly what it sounds like. It’s soap shaped like a turd full of corn kernels, a picture of which we will not put on the front page of this site, because ew. [More]
Amazon To Give Discounts On Kindle Versions Of Books You Already Own
By 9.3.13
Are there books sitting on your bookshelf that you purchased a while back but haven’t gotten around to reading because it’s so much more convenient to fire up your Kindle, iPad or other device and read an e-book? Then Amazon is set to launch a new program you might be interested in. [More]
What To Binge-Watch If You’re Staying In This Holiday Weekend
August 30, 2013
Sad that the summer holiday season is ending? Or maybe you’re burned out and cash-poor from going out too frequently? If you’re stuck inside this weekend, you might as well close the curtains, crack open some snacks and binge-watch entire seasons of shows like Orange Is the New Black, The Fall, and Vikings. The folks at AVclub.com have curated a list of 26 shows you could cram into a weekend (not at once, unless you are able to watch several TVs simultaneously without losing your grip on reality), along with info on where to stream each show. [AVclub.com]
Amazon Offering $10 Game Trade-Ins For Customers Who Want To Upgrade Their Xbox
By 8.20.13
One of the big knocks against the upcoming Xbox One gaming console is that it not backwards-compatible with titles for the Xbox 360, meaning you’d need to keep your old console hooked up to your TV if you want to play all those games you’ve acquired over the years. To ease that pain for some customers, Amazon is offering a $10 trade-in program on a handful of Xbox 360 games that will also soon be released on the Xbox One. [More]
Maybe The Most Depressing Amazon Listing Ever (Unless You’re In The Market For A Crack Pipe)
By 8.19.13
People employ all manner of odd devices in the smoking of illegal drugs like crack and crystal meth, but there’s something particularly heartbreaking about realizing that people are using these novelty “love roses” as an affordable way to ruin their lives. [More]
Time To Speculate Over Whether Or Not Amazon Is Expanding Its Grocery Service
By 8.15.13
That incessant buzzing you hear emanating from the East Coast is a hive of gossipy grocery customers wondering if AmazonFresh will be coming to New York City. It would be a boon to citizens of the land where stocking up on food supplies is a thrice-weekly (at least) lesson in pain endurance due nine plastic bags cutting off your arm circulation/will to live. There’s mysterious hiring going on at a super secret Amazon New Jersey warehouse, so a whole bunch of tongues are wagging. [via All Things D] [More]
Does The World Really Need An Adult-Sized Big Wheel?
By 8.14.13
The adult-sized tricycle, that makes sense to us. Not everyone who wants to pedal around using their own power has a good sense of balance. What doesn’t make sense to us is this adult-sized Big Wheel, intended for people who want to recapture their childhoods and weigh up to 275 pounds. [More]
Amazon Dominates Sears’ Prices In The Bondage Accessories Market
By 8.9.13 — Updated: 8.16.13
Full disclosure: I know nothing about the bondage accessories market — what’s good, what’s bad, what’s very, very bad — but I do know how to spot a low price. And while it’s admirable that Sears is branching out to third-party vendors outside of the tools and home goods sections, if you’re gonna sell a customer a harness, at least try to compete with Amazon’s prices. [More]
Publishers: Proposal To Punish Apple Hurts Us Instead
By 8.8.13
Last week, the Justice Dept. offered its first proposal of how Apple should be punished now that it’s been found to have colluded with publishers to fix e-book prices. Among those suggestions is that Apple cancel its existing pricing arrangement with the publishers in question and that it not enter into similar arrangements for another five years. But publishers claim that this ultimately hurts the content providers and not the retailer. [More]
Buying Something On Amazon’s Site Doesn’t Mean You’re Buying It From Amazon
By 8.8.13
Brian bought a set of Klipsch headphones on Amazon a few months ago, and they broke even though he claims he didn’t damage them in any way. This isn’t an issue of the difference between defects and accidental damage, though. When he tried to make a warranty claim, he learned that there’s a difference between buying something on Amazon and buying something from Amazon. [More]
DOJ Proposal: Apple Must Let Amazon, Barnes & Noble Sell E-Books Through iOS Apps
By 8.2.13
Though there are Kindle and Nook apps for iPhone and iPad, restrictions put in place by Apple prevent users from actually making e-book purchases via those apps without those companies having to pay a hefty commission to Apple. You can’t even see the prices Amazon and Barnes & Noble charge for e-books, thus making it difficult to comparison shop. But as part of the proposed remedies following Apple’s loss in the recent e-book price-fixing case, the Justice Dept. says consumers should have the option of buying e-books on iOS devices from Apple’s competition. [More]
Amazon Wriggles Its Way Around Apple’s Restrictions With Update To Kindle iOS App
By 7.31.13
It’s kind of like that song lyric, “Do a little dance, make a little love/get down tonight.” Except in this case the little dance is Amazon’s tricky runaround of Apple’s app restrictions, the love-making is a free sample of an e-book and getting down tonight is well, reading, I suppose. Amazon has pulled off a neat trick with its latest update to the Kindle iOS app in order to skirt Apple’s rules about in-app purchases.
Amazon And Overstock.com Face Off In Book-Discounting Battle. You Can Probably Guess Who’s Winning
By 7.29.13
Though no blood has been shed — yet — things could get ugly as two of the Internet’s deepest discounters try to undercut each other, with Overstock.com (or O.co, if you’re a marketing moron) announcing it would beat Amazon’s pricing on books, only to have Amazon strike back with price drops of its own. [More]
Google Has Already Ended Netflix/Chromecast Promotion
By 7.26.13
One of the major selling points for Google’s new Chromecast streaming video dongle was that it initially came with three months of free Netflix service, which saves the customer $21 in monthly fees. But only a day after beginning to take orders, Google has already put an end to that promotion. [More]
Amazon UK Users Will Be Able To Track Packages In Real-Time All The Way To Door
By 7.19.13
Most of us know the anxiety of tracking a highly anticipated package (especially a pricey, highly anticipated package). You follow it online from warehouse to distribution center to shipping hub to receiving center and then it goes on “on truck for delivery,” meaning that you’ll probably get it at some vague, undetermined point before the end of the day. But rather than hope you are around to receive the item — lest the delivery driver just hurls it over your fence — wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly when it’s coming? [More]
Ontrac Either Never Came To My House Or Can’t Read
By 7.12.13
We’ve never been in charge of hiring drivers for a delivery service, but we’re pretty sure that one of the requirements is that candidates be able to read. If not, maybe it should be. Recently, Drew was supposed to get a package from Amazon, delivered by OnTrac, but he missed the delivery. Here’s the thing, though: if the driver really stopped by, and can read, the door buzzer would have dialed Drew’s cell phone. He got no calls. [More]
Our Long National Nightmare Is Over: Apple, Amazon Halt War Over “App Store” Name
By 7.10.13
More than two years ago, Apple launched a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the online retailer was violating Apple’s trademark by selling smartphone and tablet apps under via its Appstore, which sounds an awful lot like Apple’s App Store. Now, after years of bloodshed and families torn asunder by this nasty dispute, both sides have agreed to lay down their arms and agree to peace terms. [More]
