Omie Ismail at LiveCheap warns online shoppers to look out for discounts that disappear before you finalize purchases. [More]
online shopping
Shoes.com Website Doesn't Want To Ship To Lora
By 12.21.09
Shoes.com doesn’t seem to like Lora. Not the people at Shoes.com, who were helpful enough, but the website itself. Each time Lora places an order, the system cancels it–and naturally, owing to its hatred of this woman, it won’t tell anyone why. Whatever Lora did to hurt Shoes.com’s feelings, it worked.
(Okay, it may have something to do with billing addresses, but nobody is sure.)
Insane Pics Inside Amazon UK's Distribution Center
By 12.9.09
So… many… toys. These pix showcase the perfectly organized chaos of Amazon UK’s distribution, or, “fulfillment” center, as they like to call it. [More]
Texas Attorney General Shuts Down Dishonest Price Comparison Sites
By 12.7.09
ConsumerAffairs.com says that the Texas Attorney General has gone after a couple of online price comparison companies. The sites all claim to offer unbiased comparisons of retailers, but in reality the companies have been accepting payments in exchange for preferential listings. The companies, Intercept LLC and Everyprice.com Inc, both operated multiple sites with names like Flyingprices, Diduprice, and Lowpricedigital. All the sites are currently offline. [More]
Busting Myths About Black Friday And Cyber Monday
By 11.27.09
Black Friday isn’t really the top holiday shopping day of the season–the last Saturday before Christmas is. Today, we have Cyber Monday, when turkey-bloated office workers purportedly return to work and spend the day looking for deals online. But is Cyber Monday really the biggest online shopping day of the year? Well, no. Focus put some numbers together to clear up misconceptions about Americans’ online holiday shopping patterns. [More]
Catch-22s At BestBuy.com
By 11.27.09
Kenneth tried to get a jump on Black Friday shopping by doing some shopping at BestBuy.com yesterday, but the site’s arcane rules and procedures ended up jumping him. I could try to summarize but I’m pretty sure I’d get something wrong so let’s just let Kenneth explain what happened: [More]
88 Big Sites Earning Millions From Webloyalty Scam
By 11.18.09
88 websites, a good number pretty big name sites, that earned millions, some in excess of $10 million, as partners in the infamous Webloyalty consumer ripoff. Pizza Hut? Say it ain’t so.
Reader Says Amazon's Gift Card Rules Are Stifling
By 11.16.09
Patrick says Amazon won’t let you use gift cards to buy items that come with discounts in the form of gift cards.
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.
Database Bug At Woot Leaves Reader Wary Of Ordering
By 10.31.09
Robear wanted to order from shirt.woot, but something strange happened when he went to register. After choosing a username and entering his e-mail address, he noticed that all of the forms were pre-populated with another customer’s information…including that user’s credit card information. He contacted Woot to try to find out what could have happened, but Woot either hasn’t figured it out yet, or just isn’t responding. (UPDATE: Response from Woot below.)
Google To Launch Music Search Service Next Week
By 10.23.09
You’ve probably seen Google Finance, where each company has its own page made up of content scraped from all over the web. Google is about to launch a similar service for musicians, says the Hollywood Reporter: “The music pages will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics and song previews, along with a way to buy songs.”
Lenovo Screws Up Every Part Of Computer Purchase
By 10.22.09
Dan and his roommate had a crazy plan. They would use Dan’s credit card to purchase a laptop computer from Lenovo. The roommate would write Dan a check for the total amount the computer cost. Lenovo would ship a working computer to the roommate, thus completing a straightforward exchange of currency and consumer goods. Unfortunately, life is not that simple in the Land of Lenovo.
Why Even Bad Online Reviews Can Increase Sales
By 9.30.09
We’re generally quite critical of companies that try to squelch negative online reviews, astroturf them, or just bribe customers for positive ones. Not only is this behavior bad for consumers, but the experience of one company shows that it’s bad for businesses, too.
Best Buy Doesn't Seem To Understand This Rewards Program Thing
By 7.28.09
I noticed something interesting recently when signing up for a RewardZone account at Best Buy. Either it was a glitch or this is an ongoing issue, but I couldn’t tie together my RewardZone number and my account to purchase things on the site.
Motherhood Maternity Misplaces Misdirected Merchandise
By 6.8.09
Three months ago, I ordered a batch of maternity clothes from the Gap and Motherhood Maternity. Unfortunately, when I returned the pieces that didn’t fit – I mixed up the returns! The Gap immediately returned the shipment meant for Motherhood, but Motherhood did not. In emails they have claimed to have 1. never received it (I sent the UPS delivering confirmation), then they claimed to have sent it back (I asked for tracking info what was never supplied), then they just quit answering emails. I reported them to the BBB saying – yes, this was my mistake but they still should have returned it – and they told the BBB that no proof was every supplied that the items were sent to them (I resent the email thread and the delivery confirmation).
Retail Multiple Personality Disorder Strikes at Walmart
By 1.29.09
Reader Jeff is confused. He wants to purchase a laptop from Walmart. Upon Perusing his website from home, he saw a nice Acer Netbook for under $300. Of course, upon walking into the store, he was confronted with a slightly higher price. Luckily, he talked to the nice customer service representative and quickly price matched the in store item to the online price and Jeff walked out a happy customer.
Amazon Loses Challenge On NY State Sales Tax
By 1.14.09
A New York state Supreme Court justice threw out Amazon’s sales tax lawsuit earlier today, opening the way for New York to begin collecting sales taxes on Amazon purchases.
New Amazon Coupon Codes For October
By 10.7.08
32 new Amazon coupon codes for October. Notable: 25% off K-cups, 20% off Silk Soymilk and 15% off Amy’s Organic Soups. Mmm, I loves me some Amy’s soups, especially that no-chicken noodle.
