You would think we might be enemies with a site called “The Customer Is Not Always Right” but we are not. Especially when we find among their collection of reader-submitted anecdotes from the frontlines of retail a little gem like the rude customer who insists on bad math and losing money. [More]
retail
Insider Debunks The 9 Extended Warranty Sales Pitches
By 2.24.11
Here are 9 of the most common lines salespeople try to feed you in order to get you to buy an extended warranty, debunked by an insider. His job is training and development in this 3rd-party service plan industry, a job he’s leaving soon because he’s sick of the “half-truths and deceptions” it foists on consumers… which he will now reveal to you. [More]
Why It Sucks To Be Sears Right Now
By 12.23.10
Five years after their merger, how are Sears and Kmart faring? Not so well. The company faces deteriorating stores in near-abandoned malls, fierce competition in nearly every category, locations that were prime retail space in about 1974, and snarky consumer bloggers that mock the company at every turn. Oh. [More]
Walmart Offers Free Shipping
By 11.11.10
Starting today, Walmart.com is offering free shipping on gift items, including toys and gadgets. [More]
Buy Your Jeans Now Before Cotton Prices Go Up
By 11.4.10
It’s been a bad year for cotton-producing regions in India, China and Pakistan and the price of cotton has skyrocketed since the summer. So before retailers begin tacking this cost of materials increase onto the consumer, the forward-thinking people at SmartMoney.com have put together a list of what items you should stock up on. [More]
What You Hate About Retailers
By 11.1.10
Over at DailyFinance.com, they asked readers to give nominate the most annoying ways in which retail stores try to squeeze you for extra cash or tempt you into spending more. [More]
Nordstrom's Old Employee Handbook Had Only 75 Words
By 10.28.10
For many years, Nordstrom’s employee handbook consisted of a single 5″×8″ card that had only 75 words on it: [More]
Retail Workers Really Hate You For Messing Up That Tee-Shirt Pile
By 10.22.10
Ever wonder why you get the stink-eye from that girl at The Gap? Or why that dude at American Eagle groans when he sees you approaching a table of clothes? There’s a good chance it has something to do with your lack of table manners. [More]
To Sell You A Used Game, This GameStop Requires Your Phone Number
By 10.20.10
Did you know that GameStop is a membership-only establishment, like a warehouse club? You’re only allowed to shop there if you have their rewards card. I didn’t know that, and neither did Jeff. He tells Consumerist that he foolishly tried to purchase a game, but refused to join the rewards program or give the cashier his phone number. The cashier, in turn, refused to sell anything to him. [More]
Dumbest Customer Quotes From Working Electronics Retail
By 10.18.10
Redditor glisignoli has worked for three years in gadget retail and the only way he’s been able to cling to the last remaining shreds of sanity is to write down every crazy quote from the boneheaded customers he has to deal with. Most of them involve a customer screaming something they have no idea what they’re talking about, like the guy who walked in his first week and threw a USB cable on the counter, yelling, “THIS CABLE ISN’T WIRELESS!” [More]
Walmart Is Coming For New York
By 9.21.10
Thought impervious to Walmart colonization, urban centers like New York and San Francisco are the big box retailer’s next expansion targets. [More]
Norton SystemWorks 2006 On Sale At Walmart For Only $59.72
By 9.16.10
James spotted a copy of Norton SystemWorks 2006 on sale at his local Walmart for the must-have price of $59.72. Maybe it’s a collectible. [More]
Couple Marries Inside Walmart
By 9.2.10
Frugal matrimony? Shelf-stocker falls for assistant manager? They met as their hands simultaneously clasped over the last of the same everyday-low-priced item? Possibilities, endless. I wonder if their marriage license got checked at the door. [More]
Your Local Mall's New Anchor Store…. Costco?
By 8.26.10
There are a lot of empty anchor stores in American malls these days, especially since major department store chains have continued devouring each other. What to do with these massive empty retail spaces? Well, one possible tenant that doesn’t normally occupy enclosed malls is interested….Costco. [More]
GameStop Selling Download Codes At Retail
By 8.20.10
Sick of being left out of the party as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo sell downloads to gamers directly through their consoles, GameStop has started hocking downloadable content codes at all of its 4,400 stores, Game Informer reports. [More]
Shoplifter Blames Devil
By 8.10.10
A woman caught shoplifting from a Walmart in Cinnaminson, NJ, assaulted the store’s loss-prevention officer and drove off, but accidentally left her pocketbook–which contained her driver’s license–in the parking lot. She called back later to ask whether they’d found it, and when the police got on the phone she admitted to the shoplifting and assault, but blamed it on the devil. [More]
Barnes & Noble Wants To Sell Itself, But Who's Gonna Buy It?
By 8.4.10
Barnes & Noble shares are soaring after it announced that it was up for sale and may even go private, or merge with Borders. [More]
Shrink Ray Hits JCPenney Clothing Now, Too?
By 7.19.10
Kyle just wrote to us that the 36″ sleeve on a Large Tall sweatshirt from JCPenney has been reduced to 35″. It’s not just a manufacturing accident, because the new length is printed in the retailer’s sizing charts. But Kyle says for years he’s had no problem with JCPenney shirts, and that this all started happening within the past year or so. [More]
