An annoyed customer brought a Lowe’s appliance ad to the attention of the National Ad Division, a self-regulation program for advertisers run by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Their complaint? An ad promoting “20% off appliances $396 or more at Lowe’s” was largely untrue, except for the parts that said “appliances” and “Lowe’s.” [More]
clarifications
Netflix: Actually, We Mailed Reader Three Different DVDs, And They All Broke
By 3.5.13
Last week, we published the story of Michael, who ordered a documentary from Netflix and wasn’t able to get a non-broken copy. The two relevant parties, Netflix and the band that was the subject of the documentary, saw our post and reached out to Michael through Consumerist. [More]
HP: No, Downgrading To Windows 7 Doesn’t Really Void Your Warranty
By 2.14.13
Yesterday, we shared the story of Nick, a university information technology professional who bought a computer for a new employee that already had Windows 8 on it, tried to downgrade to Windows 7, and was told that doing so would void his warranty. While the person at Enterprise support he spoke to may have said this, it is not, strictly speaking, true. That’s great to hear. The bad news, of course, is that someone told Nick this in the first place. An ordinary customer who doesn’t work in IT would be completely confused at this point. [More]
Best Buy Clarifies Its Policy On Imaginary Sync Service For 3D Glasses
By 3.23.10
Last week, HD Guru pointed out that Best Buy was advertising 3D glasses syncing as part of a $150 installation service for people buying 3D TVs. The problem with the offer is it’s not necessary (or even possible) to manually “sync” your 3D glasses with a 3D TV. Now Best Buy has responded to the post, partly by explaining that some customers might not know that the glasses sync up automatically and that they can depend on Geek Squad to educate them. [More]
Snuggie Addresses Fake "Rebate" Check Story
By 7.29.09
Allstar Products, the company that makes Snuggies, sent out a clarification today regarding that weird $8.25 check that some customers were receiving in the mail. As far as they’re concerned, it was a small promo and they were upfront about everything—the check “is not a rebate, nor was it ever represented as a rebate.”
Sears Clarifies Craftsman Tools Warranty
By 3.25.09
Earlier this month, we noted how a reader was having trouble getting Sears to properly honor the lifetime warranty on his Craftsman tools. Now David Figler, a vice president of the company, has responded and said, “We stand behind the warranty—complete satisfaction—period.” Below is his email, and a portion of the memo he sent to Sears stores on the matter.
Don't Worry, Reselling Children's Clothing Isn't About To Become Illegal. Probably.
By 1.17.09
Reselling your kid’s used clothing could soon violate federal law. Come February 10, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will prevent retailers from selling children’s products that haven’t been certified as lead free. Old hand-me-downs, of course, haven’t been certified for anything more than running around the yard. Parents are worried, petitions are being drawn up, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission isn’t doing much to clarify the law.
