A former Best Buy employee and Consumerist tipster in good standing shared some insider insights about why store employees are so zealous in checking your receipt, and so zealously underinformed as to how they have no legal right to make you show it.
explainers
Where Does IKEA Get Its Funny Names?
By 7.10.07
GRA TV unit with casters. It turns out IKEA actually has funky a system based on names of stuff from its native lands, says ahundredmonkeys.com.
How ESCos Are Supposed To Work
By 6.2.07
While we’re talking about IDT Energy and Con Ed and Midtown Promotions and DS-MAX, let’s learn about another acronym, ESCos, which stands for “energy service companies” (the kind of company IDT Energy is).
What Is "Tare," And How Does It Impact Everything In The Supermarket?
By 5.31.07
“Tare” or “tare weight” is the weight of an empty container. Tare is not included in a goods’ net weight. So, for instance, 32-oz jar of mayo on the supermarket shelf should actually weight more than two pounds.
Why Is Gas So Freakin' Expensive?
By 5.29.07
Did you know that gas price gouging almost never occurs as prices rise? Rather, it’s most often when dealers keep prices artificially high even as their costs fall.
How Companies Collude With Reporters To Control When Stories Get Published: Embargoed Press Releases
By 5.29.07
Have you ever noticed how a new product comes out and a well-developed article with multiple quotes and sources appears in all the major papers? Are reporters just so Olympian in their competitiveness, performing at levels differing only by a few milliseconds? If only. Often, this shows an “embargoed” story, a technique corporations use to control the media and public perception. Here’s how it works.
What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging And Why Is It Bunk?
By 5.22.07
Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a method of investing whereby you spend a fixed amount on a stock per month, regardless of price.
What Is A Chargeback?
By 4.9.07
A chargeback is when the credit card company withdraws the money for a transaction from a merchant’s account and deposited in a consumer’s following a dispute.
How TJMaxx Hackers Stole 45.7 Million Credit Cards
By 3.30.07
TJMaxx computer system intruders who stole 45.7 million credit cards siphoned off customer data using a program they implanted on the company’s servers, recent regulatory filings reveal.
