Going shopping this long weekend? Working in the retail frenzy? We want to hear your tales of commerce, mayhem, bargains, chaos, fun, and greed. You know, Black Friday. Don’t forget to put the Consumerist Tipster App for iOS or Android on your smartphone so you can beam your experiences right to Consumerist HQ. If you don’t have a smartphone, we like regular old e-mail just as much. [More]
holiday shopping
Amazon, Best Buy, United Airlines Make Consumer Reports’ Naughty List
By 11.26.13
While the bearded guy at the North Pole is making his list and checking it twice before he heads out to deliver toys and/or coal on Dec. 24/25, our pals at Consumer Reports have already decided who they think deserves a shiny black hunk of anthracite in their stockings. [More]
Walmart Workers Don’t Understand Store’s Return Policy, But Think They Do
By 11.26.13
In the retail shopping realm, there are few things worse than running up against an employee who is not only mistaken about his or her store’s policies, but insists that you are the one who does not understand the finer points of that retailer’s rules. [More]
4 Reasons Why Today Should Have Been Black Friday (And Why That Could Have Saved Thanksgiving)
By 11.22.13
There is a lot of talk these days about the growing number stores opening on Thanksgiving day this year, effectively turning Black Friday into Black Thursday. There are employees threatening strikes and people starting petitions while stores are opening as early as 6 a.m. on the morning of Turkey Day. But maybe it all could have been avoided if they had just moved the big shopping day up a week. [More]
You’ve Got A 1-In-10 Chance Of Receiving A Mangled Package This Holiday Season
By 11.22.13
In the next few weeks, a lot of us will be ordering items online — whether for ourselves or for others — and having them shipped somewhere, hoping beyond hope that these parcels don’t get lost, stolen, drop-kicked, or run through a Blendtec just to see what happens. A recent study of packages received from e-commerce sites finds that you shouldn’t be terribly shocked if the box shows up looking worse for wear. [More]
Walmart Hasn’t Paid $7,000 Fine For 2008 Black Friday Trampling Death
By 11.21.13
We mentioned the other day that it’s been five years since the tragic Black Friday trampling death of a Walmart employee. In the years since, Walmart has spent millions of dollars trying to avoid the meager $7,000 fine from OSHA, and still has yet to pay it. [More]
5 Years After Deadly Walmart Black Friday Stampede, OSHA Reminds Stores To Keep Order
By 11.18.13
In the early morning hours of Nov. 28, 2008, a Walmart employee in Long Island was trampled to death by over-eager shoppers rushing to grab doorbuster deals. In the years since, many stores have taken measures to prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again, but it doesn’t hurt to remind retailers what can be done to minimize any mob mania. [More]
Costco, BJ’s Would Rather Have Their Employees Spend Thanksgiving At Home
By 11.14.13
This year, everyone from Kmart to Macy’s to Staples will be celebrating the time-honored tradition of ruining Thanksgiving by throwing open their doors early to shoppers eager to flee the company of their families in favor of door-buster deals on junk the stores are desperate to get rid of. But some retailers simply refuse to get into the spirit of Black Thursday and won’t open until — get this — the day after Thanksgiving. [More]
Best Buy Knows You Want To Waste Thanksgiving Camping Out For Stuff You Could Probably Buy Online For Less
By 11.8.13
It’s a little-known fact that at the first Thanksgiving feast, some of the pilgrims were sitting around the table while wishing in their heart of hearts that they were camped outside the local loom-and-musket shop in hopes of snatching up bargains. Hundreds of years later, Best Buy is finally honoring that wish by opening up at 6 p.m. on Turkey Day. [More]
Nearly Half Of Black Friday Shoppers Shopping For Themselves
By 11.7.13
While Black Friday is always seen as the in-earnest kickoff of the holiday shopping season, a lot of those people camped out outside of Targets, Walmarts, Best Buys, Toys R Us stores, etc., have no intention of buying a Christmas/Hanukkah gift for anyone but themselves. [More]
“No One Cares If You Write ‘Fragile'” And Other Tips From A Former UPS Worker
By 11.4.13
With millions of people prepping to ship off gifts to loved ones and familial obligations around the globe, the holidays are prime time for UPS and FedEx. With that glut of parcels, many containing precious items, there comes the heightened chance that your package will be crushed, dropped, kicked, dropkicked, and otherwise run through the wringer. But a former UPS employee says there are ways to minimize the likelihood of damage. [More]
Walmart Decides To Get This Black Friday Deal Thing Out Of The Way Now
By 11.1.13
Could it be? Is Walmart as entirely sick and tired of the whole Black Friday and its inevitable creep backward as we are? Well, it’s not clear if it’s ditching Black Friday deals altogether, but it is offering a bunch of them a month ahead of time, starting tonight at midnight. [More]
Macy’s Confirms It Will Open At 8 P.M. On Thanksgiving, Stay Open For 24 Hours
By 10.15.13
Two weeks ago we were the first to tell you about the possibility of Macy’s joining the ranks of premature Black Friday openings, alerting employees it might throw open its doors as early as 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Now the department store chain has not only confirmed that most of its stores will open early, but that these storee will remain open for 24 hours. [More]
Kmart Forgets It’s Still Summer, Begins Airing Holiday Ad
By 9.10.13
Perhaps Kmart panicked after having a nightmare that it was November and had forgotten to put together a holiday ad campaign, or maybe some prankster at Sears changed a Kmart marketing exec’s desk calendar. Why else would the beleaguered retailer start airing a holiday shopping ad while it’s still summer? [More]
Now February and April Also Have Black Fridays
By 7.12.13
Traditionally, “Black Friday” refers to the day after Thanksgiving and the semi-official kickoff of the winter holiday shopping season in the United States. In modern times, however, traditions are meaningless and retailers have decided to just throw Black Friday sales whenever they want. Like July 12. Or even February. [More]
Best Buy’s Holiday Sales Flatten Out, Which Is Not All That Horrible
By 1.11.13
Following a year in which the nation’s largest electronics retailer saw both its CEO resign under the cloud of scandal, its founder step down in order to attempt to buy the company back, and three quarters of declining sales, news of merely flat holiday sales is good news for Best Buy. [More]
How Was Your Price-Matching Experience This Holiday Season?
By 12.24.12
With only a few hours left before most stores close for the Christmas holiday and the only last-minute gift options you have left will be found on the shelves of convenience stores and 24-hour drugstores, it’s now time to reflect on the shopping season that was. [More]
Remember That The Gift You Packed Might Not Make It Through Airport Security With The Wrapping Intact
By 12.18.12
With Christmas a week away, we figured it was time to remind everyone who plans on traveling with gifts in their bags that the TSA might have to undo your handiwork at the airport. [More]
