Clothing retailers are holding off on their crazy, desperate discounts a bit, and plan to discount less aggressively this summer. Why? Women’s Wear Daily reports that it’s not so much that the economy’s improving (it really isn’t) or unemployment has stopped rising (it hasn’t) but Americans need stuff. Retailers anticipate that they will need to mark down, but not at the desperate levels that have characterized the last six months or so.
discounts
Creative Labs Charges "Maintenance Fee" For Rebate
By 5.13.09
Creative Labs has found a great new way to minimize the risk that a customer will actually benefit from a rebate offer. In Rick’s case, they sent him the rebate in the form of a $10 debit card that was supposed to be good until July 2009, but when he went to a Best Buy to use it last month, it was denied. The reason? He’d been charged a $3 “maintenance fee” every month since January.
Free Restaurant Kids' Meal Database: Crayons Not Included
By 5.8.09
Have you ever asked yourself, “Where can I get a restaurant kids’ meal for free or cheap on a Tuesday within 10 miles of my house?” Even if you haven’t, if you have kids of your own or visiting and want to take them out to eat, use KidsMealsDeals.com to find restaurants with kidlet meal promotions on any given day of the week.
JetBlue Offers $1 Military Fare Through Today, Although It Comes With A Surprising Number Of Restrictions
By 5.7.09
JetBlue is offering an amazing deal to members of our armed forces in honor of National Military Appreciation Month, but once you get past that jaw-dropping $1 fee, it starts to look like they outsourced the fine print to Macy’s. Here are the restrictions:
8Coupons.com Lets You Send Local Coupons To Your Phone
By 5.5.09
Online coupons still haven’t caught on, really, but 8coupons.com may be worth checking out if you want to give it a try in your own city. Instead of implementing some high-concept location aware thing, they let you browse the site for coupons that interest you. When you find one, you send it to your phone via text message. Obviously, if you hold your phone number dear to your heart, don’t bother; if you’re the brave type who doesn’t mind risking the personal data exposure, you might want to give it a shot.
By 5.2.09
../../../..//2009/05/02/were-not-sure-if-this/
We’re not sure if this will work for brand new customers, but KodakGallery is offering free Mother’s Day photo cards through 5/16 with coupon code FREECARD. To ensure delivery by Mother’s Day, you have to order the card by midnight tonight. Note that you’ll still have to pay 99 cents shipping and handling. [KodakGallery]
Customer Wants To Know What Happened To CVS Extra Care Coupons
By 5.1.09
Any readers here who work for CVS? Maya wants to know what’s going on with the Extra Care coupons that are printed at the bottom of each receipt. Lately the clerks at her local CVS stores have been tearing something off the bottom of the receipt before giving it to her, and the coupons are no longer there. Coincidence?
This Discount Store Enjoys Messing With Its Customers' Minds
By 4.23.09
Shelley just sent us this photo of a store she saw in New Jersey this afternoon. We particularly like that the neon signs in the window are just as contradictory as the roof signs. It’s like a decorating theme.
Sling Media's $50 Discount Worthless, Might Even End Up Costing You More
By 4.9.09
When Sling Media finally released their iPhone app last week, they conveniently turned off access to older Slingbox devices in order to force customers to buy newer models. As a gesture—only a gesture, nothing more—of their gratitude toward existing customers who supported them by already buying Slingboxes, they offered a $50 credit toward the purchase of a newer model.
Why Do Some Stores Act Stupid About Coupons?
By 4.4.09
Some stores—like A&P Supermarkets and Bed Bath & Beyond, for example—seem to have a sort of antagonism against coupon users. (For that matter, some of our commenters do too, but they are wrong.) Steve Gosset notes on his “Reality Bites Back” blog that the shortsighted coupon policies at these two stores only ended up costing them more fees, or even a sale.
This JCPenney Coupon Doesn't Understand The Term "No Exclusions"
By 3.27.09
Hey, JCPenney, an asterisk isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. You can’t just say anything you want and then asterisk it away into meaninglessness. Here, we’ve fixed it for you.
Is Borders Shrinking Its CD And DVD Sections?
By 3.23.09
We received this tip from an alleged Borders employee today. According to this person, if you saw some yellow discount tags of 30% off DVDs and CDs in your local Borders store this weekend, it’s a sign that they’re closing out those sections except for top sellers. Expect to see much steeper discounts in the coming weeks. The full tip is copied below.
By 1.25.09
../../../..//2009/01/25/rumor-confirmed-att-has-indeed/
Rumor confirmed: AT&T has indeed dropped the price of its unlimited data and messaging plan by $5—the new cost is $30/mo, and $10/mo to add a second phone under their shared family plan. Unless you plan on texting more than 200 messages a month, however, it’s not worth it (you can get unlimited data + 200 messages for $20). [Engadget Mobile]
Impoverished Consumers Overwhelm British Site That Sells Expired Food
By 1.24.09
Impoverished and hungry Britons can’t get enough of Approved Food, a site that sells expired but still edible food for up to half off. Even after shutting down for two days to grapple with a ten-fold rise in traffic, the site warns that they still have to process 12 days worth of backorders. But can’t expired food give you salmonella or herpes, you ask? Nope! FDA regulations don’t require most foods to carry expiration dates, and selling expired food isn’t a violation of federal law.
By 1.20.09
../../../..//2009/01/20/best-buy-is-selling-far/
Best Buy is selling Far Cry 2 for Xbox 360 for only $29.99, for some reason. It’s selling elsewhere for $59.99. Backordered online, but you may still be able to find it available for in-store pickup. [Best Buy] (Thanks to Chris!)
Save Over $0 At Toys R Us
By 1.13.09
This sign is accurate. You do save more than nothing at all if you buy this reduced-price Batmobile.
Save Money On Your Next Refurb Project, Shop At A Habitat ReStore
By 1.9.09
Did you know Habitat for Humanity operates retail outlets where they sell used and surplus building materials? Habitat ReStores are located in 47 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces.
Get Your Tmobile Employer Discount
By 1.6.09
Wanna save on your Tmobile bill? Ask your company’s partnership rep if they have an employer discount available. Then you can call Tmobile Corporate Migrations at 877-453-8824 and claim your discount. In fact, if you Google that number, you can find the names of a number of companies and organizations that give their members Tmobile discounts. Perhaps you belong to one of them. (Thanks to Romeo!) (Photo: Ed Yourdon)
