You’ve probably had this experience before: A store’s own inventory system or its website says that the item you’re looking for is supposed to be, and no one seems to know where it went. That’s why stores are increasingly turning to RFID technology to quickly locate and track in-store inventory. [More]
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Walmart, Home Depot Relying More On Physical Stores To Complete Online Orders
By 8.23.16
Walmart’s recent $3 billion acquisition of e-commerce company Jet.com may have been the retailer’s way of spurring its online business, but the largest retailer in the world has already been mingling its physical stores with its online presence. Much like fellow big box store, Home Depot, Walmart has increasingly used its vast network of stores to fulfill online purchases. [More]
As More Shoppers Go Online, Retailers Cut Back On In-Store Inventory
By 6.28.16
When you envision a Home Depot store, you probably picture rows of huge shelves packed to the rafters with boxes and pallets of products waiting to be unpacked. But with more shoppers buying things online, these shelves could start looking a lot different as the Depot and others rethink how much stuff they need to keep on hand.
[More]
15 Things We Learned About The Downfall Of Target Canada
By 1.22.16
Why did Target’s expansion into Canada fail so quickly? The company is based in Minnesota, which is dangerously close to being Canada. Yet Target Canada failed spectacularly. Why? Sure, they expanded too quickly, and had supply chain problems: we all know the answer. Yet what did that look like on the ground? [More]
Walmart Offering Fewer Products, Widening Aisles
By 10.26.15
Walk into any Walmart and you’ll see shelves upon shelves stocked with a wide variety of products in every shape and size. But that will soon change, as the retail giant begins a transformation of sorts by decluttering its aisles of excess items. [More]
Inventory Error Means I Can’t Make Toys ‘R’ Us Price-Match Itself
By 1.14.13
Sam wanted to take Toys ‘R’ Us up on its price matching policy. He wanted to perform the daring–and generally not allowed–maneuver of asking a store to match its own online-only price. Here’s the catch, though: the item that he wanted should have been available for in-store pickup, so he could order it online and pick it up in the store. The same exact item was sitting in the store inventory. [More]
At IKEA, 'In Stock' Doesn't Mean 'We'll Actually Get It Down For You'
By 1.9.12
Michael wanted to drop $600 on a pair of wardrobes from IKEA, and even called ahead before driving out to the store to make sure the items were there. When he arrived, though, he learned that “in stock” doesn’t actually mean “you can purchase it today,” because someone would have to get a new pallet of wardrobes down from an upper level of the warehouse. That wasn’t going to happen: a warehouse manager told Michael that they’d rather lose Michael’s business rather than risk the safety of employees. While this emphasis on worker safety is refreshing, Michael thinks it’s unfair. [More]
Did Target Adopt This Sorbet?
By 6.7.10
In the Super Target at St. Charles, IL, there is a forgotten container of sorbet that is damaged, missing a seal, and over a year past its expiration date. Keith says it’s been sitting there by itself in the freezer case for at least four months now. He and his wife say hi to it whenever they shop there. [More]
Lamps Plus Takes Deposit, Leaves Customer In The Dark
By 4.6.10
Erica and her fiance are tired of waiting for a lamp to arrive from Lamps Plus, especially now that it’s been three months and the company hasn’t kept any of its promises so far. She wants to know what to do next. [More]
Fry's Says It Will Give HDTVs To Stiffed Black Friday Customers
By 12.2.09
Jeff, who tried to buy a Samsung HDTV from Fry’s on Black Friday but was turned away after already paying for it, has written back to us with an update: [More]
Black Friday Doorbusters Are A Sleazy Way To Lure Customers
By 11.20.09
Pay no attention to those ridiculously cheap TV sets and game systems—also called doorbusters—that retailers use to lure in hordes of holiday shoppers, notes CNN. They’re the equivalent of that little dangly thing anglerfish use to catch food.
Never Follow A Security Guard Into The Back Of The Store
By 11.9.09
Here’s some advice for you, the regular customer who doesn’t shoplift: never go into the back of a store with a security guard, store manager, rent-a-cop, etc. Never. Someone posted the following story in the Janesville, Wisconsin CraigsList over the weekend. Because the poster cooperated in good faith with the security personnel at her local Menards home store, she had to pay $150 to avoid having the police called on her.
Vonage Sends 14 New Modems To Replace Customer's Broken One
By 10.21.09
My Linh’s Vonage modem stopped working, so she called to request a replacement under the terms of her service agreement. Vonage was happy to oblige. So happy, in fact, that they sent her 14 modems instead of one via UPS—but then couldn’t figure out how to get UPS to come pick them up again. Hey, they do VOIP, not logistics.
Steve Madden Backorders Wrong Shoes, Throws Them In A Bag
By 6.11.09
Cora just wanted to order eight pair of identical shoes from Steve Madden for her wedding. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of ordering those shoes directly from the company. Half of the shoes were on backorder. Upon receiving the shoes and discovering that they wouldn’t fit the respective bridesmaids they were ordered for, Cora learned that Steve Madden would charge a $7 restocking fee per pair.
Office Depot To Employees: "Don't Lie About Inventory"
By 3.13.09
An anonymous Office Depot employee sent us this internal reminder from HQ that addresses this week’s allegations that associates and managers lie about inventory depending on the customer. Now the next time you’re told by an Office Depot associate that the laptop you want is out of stock, you can say, “Are you absolutely sure? Because I know you had a Sales Practices Reminder on March 12th about lying to customers.” And if a manager tries to get all up in, uhm, your grill area, you can say, “Don’t you have some tasks to go check off in your Task Manager?”
By 5.16.08
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AT&T’s one-iPhone-per-customer rule lasted only one day before the company went back to its three-per-customer policy. Apparently they found some more iPhones in the back. [Information Week]
Follow-Up: Citibank Steps In, Forces Sears To Remove The $1070 Charge
By 4.15.08
Tom just sent us a follow-up to yesterday’s post, and it’s good news:Score another one for The Consumerist! This morning I contacted Sears’ Executive Customer Service Department. They attempted to contact the store manager on my behalf. I stress “attempted” because they were hung up on too.
