“Sears Cares”
retail
Sears Loses Lawnmower, Shrugs
By 4.27.09
Tracy needed a new lawn mower, and ordered one online from Sears. Later that day, an email arrived announcing that the lawnmower was ready for pickup. For whatever reason, Tracy wasn’t able to make the 17-mile trip out to the store until more than a week later. The mower was….well, nobody quite knows what happened to the mower.
Report: Best Buy Demoting 8,000 Senior Sales Associates
By 4.17.09
A report from New York investment firm Sanford Bernstein says that Best Buy will be eliminating 1,000 assistant manager positions and demoting 8,000 senior sales associates to regular sales positions that would pay 25 percent to 50 percent less than their current salary — causing some to compare them to Circuit City.
Pop Quiz: How Much Is This Walgreens Mouthwash?
By 4.16.09
Reader Travis is wondering if anyone can tell him how much this mouthwash costs? It is a mystery.
Banana Republic Lowers Credit Card Limit From $1000 To $100
By 4.13.09
It’s no surprise that a popular purveyor of work-suitable vestments suck lowered a reader’s friend’s store credit-card limit, but to go from $1000 to $100, that’s cold, Banana Republic. Danielle writes:
Best Buy Gives Reader $30 Gift Card For Selling Her "New" DVD Player Preloaded With XXX Movie
By 4.7.09
After Lisa’s story of how she bought an ostensibly new DVD player from Best Buy only to find an adult DVD already in it went up on Consumerist, the retailer contacted her and sent her a $30 gift card. The original DVD player cost $29.99. That was nice of them, as Lisa was more amused than bothered at the situation in the first place. She wrote, “It was pretty funny! At first my husband was thinking, “Sweet!!! Score…” when we opened it up. We got a good laugh, but then I started thinking, “Wait a second, we bought it as a regular item, not open boxed. Why is there a DVD in there then?”
5 Big Retail Mark-Ups To Watch Out For
By 4.7.09
The Lansing State Journal has put together a list of 5 marked-up retail categories to be aware of when you’re making purchasing decisions, most of which you hopefully already know. If you can’t find wholesale sources or DIY replacements, then at least make sure you do a lot of comparison shopping to get the best deal.
Bad Idea: Confessing To Your $100,000 A Year Shoplifting Habit On National TV
By 4.2.09
All the clever shoplifting tricks in the world won’t save you from yourself if you decide to reveal your secrets on Dr. Phil. Last week a fraud task force raided the home of Laura and Matthew Eaton, who appeared on an episode in November to show the audience how they did it and to say they were going straight.
Leave Off The Last "S" For Bankruptcy
By 3.26.09
Dial-a-Mattress, known for its “leave off the last ‘s’ for ‘savings'” jingles, has filed for bankruptcy and intends to sell itself to Sleepy’s, says the NYT.
Home Depot Begs You Not To Leave The Store Because Of Their Crappy Service
By 3.20.09
Reader Shawn submits this photo that he took at Home Depot. The sign begs you not to leave the store if you’ve experienced bad customer service…
By 3.11.09
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The worst unemployment rate in more than 25 years has started to affect Staples. Lower demand for computers and furniture has lead to a 14% drop in profit. [CNNMoney]
Best Buy Goes Above And Beyond To Make Up For Selling Busted Camera As New
By 3.11.09
Michael is happy to report that he got a really great resolution from Best Buy, who had sold his grandma a broken camera as new and then accused them of breaking it themselves. The shots of Best Buy employees Michael found on the camera, and the repugnant attitude he encountered when they tried to return it and disinterest when he complained to corporate multiple times, only made the story that much juicier. After Micheal’s story went up on Consumerist and hit Digg, Best Buy contacted him. Here’s what they did to make nice:
Target Employee Incompetence Freezes Nearly $800 Of Customer's Money
By 3.10.09
Erica, who writes Philadelphia Weekly’s Style blog, went to Target this past Saturday to purchase some new tank tops. She and her boyfriend filled their cart with a lot of other stuff too—”Ready to stimulate the economy?” she joked to him on their way to the register—and they agreed to split the cost equally. Now when I worked retail, that was an infrequent but not impossible task. When you ask a Target cashier to do that, get ready to have your debit card debited twice for the full amount of the bill, and then told two days later that the voided transactions will take 72 hours to clear.
By 3.9.09
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18 million is the number of square feet of retail space vacated by Circuit City. Yikes. [Consumer Reports]
By 3.5.09
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Walmart continues to see its same store sales grow as people trade down from more expensive stores. Meanwhile, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom are all hurting. [CNNMoney]
Illinois Couple Swindles Best Buy Out Of $31 Million
By 2.27.09
The Chicago Tribune says that Russell Cole calls his $2.75 million Deerfield, IL home “the house that Best Buy built,” but now investigators are claiming that the Best Buy money was obtained through fraud.
Time's Portrait Of The American Shopper
By 2.27.09
Time interviewed Paco Underhill, a retail consultant and the author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, to find out how the average American consumer shops and thinks these days. Turns out, according to Underhill, there are three types of “average consumer” out there now, and—you may have noticed this already—the era of the big box retailer is in decline.
3 Steps To Protect Yourself When Making Major Electronics Purchases
By 2.24.09
Stores like Best Buy like to take advantage of your natural fear that a piece of electronic equipment that you just spent a bunch of money on is going to break. And, let’s face it, it might — but that’s no reason to rely on an expensive extended warranty from the retailer.
