In 2006, Jennifer—the co-founder of popular parenting/consumer advocacy site Z Recommends—took her two-and-a-half-year-old to the bathroom at the local Toys R Us store. What she didn’t know was that this particular store featured the awesome striking power of the Action Toilet Stall with Collapsible Mom Trap! As she closed the door, the entire partition fell over on top of her and her daughter. Jennifer managed to protect her daughter from harm, but in the two years since the event, she’s developed chronic pain from the accident—and the response from Toys R Us has been “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
retailers
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.
Kmart Assistant Manager Hates Your Coupons, Will Not Process Your Transaction
By 2.24.09
If you’re one of those really smart coupon hoarders, you know to save up for double-coupon offers, because then you can get things for next-to-nothing. Nicole has used this strategy at Kmart in the past without problems, but this time she ran into an assistant manager who refused to honor the promotion, saying, “It’s not our policy. It’s not written down, but that’s the policy.”
Ritz Camera Files For Bankruptcy
By 2.23.09
Ritz Camera, an occasional and colorful character on our blog (scam confessions! feedback bribery!) has just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
By 2.13.09
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Best Buy is streamlining its high end Magnolia Audio Video stores by closing down Magnolia HQ, disbanding all current Magnolia management positions, and closing 7 of the 13 stores. [TWICE] (Thanks to Klay and Eric!)
US1Photo Pulls The 'Buy Accessories Or We'll Cancel Your Order' Scam
By 2.13.09
Nate has stumbled across yet another scammy online camera retailer, US1Photo, also known as US1Camera. Longtime Consumerist readers and photography enthusiasts who visit camera forums are familiar with the routine: offer a great deal on a camera, contact the customer later and try to hard-sell expensive accessories, and if the customer refuses simply cancel the order and blame it on inventory issues. Nate is actually thinking about placing the order a second time. Nate, do not order from US1Photo.com. Their bargain-basement prices lure you in, but companies like this are only out to cheat you.
Fortunoff Files For Bankruptcy (Again)
By 2.5.09
Regional jeweler Fortunoff has thrown in the towel and filed for bankruptcy today. The retailer cited terrible holiday sales, a “severe liquidity crisis” in January, and the cost of expanding its jewelry line into Lord & Taylor stores as reasons. Fortunoff was brought out of an earlier bankruptcy about a year ago by a private equity firm, but it didn’t take.
Is JC Penney Going To Close Some Of Its Stores?
By 1.29.09
This is rumor only, folks, but a tipster tells us that JC Penney plans on closing 11 stores this year, and that they’re freezing salaries on all employees. The retailer isn’t doing as badly as some of its competitors—it has no debt maturing in 2009, for example, and plans to have $2 billion in cash on hand at the end of this month—but considering CEO Mike Ullman has said he’s planning business conservatively for 2009, it wouldn’t be that surprising if it turns out to be true.
This iPhone Comes With A Blackberry User's Email Address, And A Mystery
By 1.27.09
No, we didn’t accidentally republish yesterday’s post. This is another story of a “new” iPhone with someone else’s email address, and this time there appears to be no simple explanation for it—the address on the phone belonged to a man who lived on the other side of the country and used a Blackberry.
This 'New' iPhone Comes With Russian Email Address
By 1.26.09
It’s bad enough that Victor and his friends were scammed by this AT&T store in Brooklyn, but AT&T has basically told him that they can’t help fix the problem, even though he’s now in another town. Update: Eugene Pikulin says this could have happened innocently when the phone was activated in-store.
Circuit City Puts The Source Up For Sale
By 1.22.09
With the demise of Circuit City, several of you wondered what’s going to happen to The Source (that’s how you say Circuit City in Canadian). The answer is that they’re on the auction block. [Canoe.Money] (Thanks to Mario Pants!)
"Why Circuit City Failed"
By 1.19.09
Now that Circuit City has finally sputtered out, it’s fun to talk about what did them in—see their firing-your-best-employees stunt a few years back, for example. But what do former Circuit City employees think? This guy worked with them from 1997 to 2002, and he says for one thing, they should have never stopped carrying appliances.
Save Money On Your Next Refurb Project, Shop At A Habitat ReStore
By 1.9.09
Did you know Habitat for Humanity operates retail outlets where they sell used and surplus building materials? Habitat ReStores are located in 47 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces.
TechGearNow Calls You "Very Rude" For Declining Overpriced HDMI Cables
By 1.3.09
After ordering a TV from TechGearNow, Reid noticed two notes on his account asking him to call to confirm his order. It turns out they wanted to sell him an HDMI cable and warranty for $60, which he declined. The next time he checked his account, he saw the above note.
By 12.27.08
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The Chicago Tribune is reporting that yesterday’s post-Christmas sales were lackluster for retailers. We don’t know about the rest of you, but we were way too full of eggnog and cookies to actually get up and go shopping.
Retailers Beg Government To Create Tax-Free Shopping Holidays To Save Them
By 12.24.08
The National Retail Federation has asked President-elect Obama to declare three tax-free shopping holidays next year.
Man Finally Gets His $130 Back From Circuit City
By 11.4.08
In an update and conclusion, reader Sean let us know he finally got satisfaction regarding his story that we posted, “Circuit City Credits Wrong Card For $130 Return, Sends You Away With Nothing.”
