Beware the snow globe menace! The TSA has decreed that since they can’t determine how much liquid is in a snow globe, passengers are not allowed to bring them in their carry-on luggage on planes.
gifts
You Can't Use A Barnes & Noble Gift Card For Ebooks
By 11.13.09
Update: Barnes & Noble says they’re changing this policy. If you or someone you know is getting a nook, Barnes & Noble’s version of the Kindle, this year and you want to use a gift card to fill it with books, forget it. For mysterious reasons, the retailer won’t allow it. (By contrast, Amazon does.)
Here Are Your Shipping Deadlines For Christmas 2009
By 11.6.09
If you’re planning on spending the next 6-8 weeks pouring cash into Mammon’s gaping maw—and really, who isn’t? it’s how we love each other—then here are the shipping deadlines for over 100 online retailers, courtesy of CouponSherpa. In today’s UPS/FedEx world you can frequently wait right up until Christmas week, but you might want to double-check the list if there’s a retailer you absolutely have to shop from.
Game Consoles, Dolls And Wooden Dogs Are The Best Toys Ever
By 11.6.09
Did you play with a Slinky growing up? Well, that makes you a loser, because your toy didn’t make Good Housekeeping‘s Yahoo list of the greatest toys ever made.
Take More Notes, Save Money
By 11.2.09
Yesterday I grabbed a notebook app for my smartphone and spent a couple of hours organizing the various content folders—ideas for Consumerist, gift lists for Christmas, things to look up later on a computer—so that I could capture information more efficiently. Wait, why s ths n Cnsmrst? Because The Simple Dollar argues that by keeping a notebook and using it all the time (Lifehacker calls it “ubiquitous capture”), you can end up saving money.
How Can We Determine Who Gave Us This $250 Wedding Present?
By 10.17.09
UPDATE: The gift-giver’s identity has been discovered! Perhaps this is a better question for Miss Manners than Consumerist, but Chris needs help. See, a beautiful red KitchenAid mixer, an item on his Target wedding registry, arrived via FedEx with no clues as to who sent it. Adding to the confusion, the item doesn’t appear to have come off the registry. Which seems to us to be the entire point of registries.
By 7.29.09
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Forget about that $2600 urn that’s shaped like your face. Thanks to commenter microcars, here’s the original manufacturer’s website, where the same stuff sells for a lot less. Plus, here’s a creepy video of the end products! [That’s My Face]
Top Father's Day Gifts From Consumer Reports
By 6.18.09
Looking for stereotypical Father’s Day gifts? Consumer Reports Home & Garden has ratings on all of the gas grills, electric drills, weedwhackers, and leaf blowers a man could ever want. Or anyone who needs to flame-broil or drill holes into anything. [Consumer Reports Home & Garden]
HealthyBack Forces Free Pillows On Customer, Then Charges Him $120
By 5.18.09
Tony bought a Tempur-Pedic mattress from healthyback.com last December, and they sent him two pillows as a “free gift.” Tony didn’t want the pillows, but HealthyBack refused to take them back, and assured him they were part of a promotion.
By 5.6.09
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Here’s a list of cheap Mother’s Day gift ideas, like decorating flip-flops with rhinestones (it’s a deliberately cheap let-the-kids-help project), newsprint roses made by some girls club, and some sort of photo book through Facebook that’s free for the first 10,000 orders. [ABC News]
Target Ships Clock in Box Fit For Human Habitation
By 4.30.09 — Updated: 5.27.16
We love to report on comically overpackaged mail-order items and Target’s reality vortex here, but I didn’t think that the two would coincide. A wedding gift that John and his fiancée received proved me wrong. In the photo are the gift, the box it was shipped in, and the lovely bride. Who fits in the box along with the clock. (Paging Dr. Seuss?)
Is It Ok To Give Cash To Needy Friends?
By 3.29.09
Yes, it’s ok to lend cash to needy friends, but only if you have a clear understanding of your gift and its effects. Money undeniably alters relationships, and giving can greatly complicate, if not entirely undermine, a valued friendship. Yet, money is also one of the most direct ways to provide help. The Times provided several questions to consider before making a gift…
Three Tips To Keep The Recession From Depressing Your Relationship
By 3.7.09
Money can ruin relationships, but by talking honestly about finances with your significant other, you just might emerge from this depressing recession as a couple. Even if your finances are deteriorating, there are a few ways to keep your money problems from rotting your relationship.
DSW's Dirty Trick Backfires; Now Customer Has Free Shoes
By 2.11.09
DSW is playing dirty with Brook, who tried to legitimately order two pairs of shoes on January 30th. Due to an error on DSW’s side, the order was never fulfilled. He called and resolved the problem and they re-processed the order, but a few days later DSW decided to send the order a second time, and this time they jacked up the price by $20. They won’t let him cancel the order and say they’ll only refund the smaller of the two amounts if he returns it. Surprise, DSW! According to the FTC, you just sent Brook some free shoes.
VISA Won't Replace Dusty PS3 After All
By 1.8.09
Remember that guy with the PS3 Sony said was too dusty to repair? The saga continues.
Walmart: Your Generous Holiday Gesture Is Blocking Foot Traffic In Our Vestibule
By 12.23.08
Barry Goldberg decided that this was the season for giving — so he spent $1300 on $10 Walmart gift cards and stood in front of the store handing them out. Until Walmart stopped him.
By 11.24.08
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PC Magazine offers a slideshow of the top 10 Black Friday sites, for those of you who still have money to burn on doorbusters. [PC Magazine]
