Kelly noticed a display at Walmart with signs that said “Get back on track,” which she assumed meant health foods and workout equipment. What else could it be? (Well, maybe NASCAR merchandise.) Instead of protein supplements and Shake Weights, she found cake mixes and cans of Crisco. Pretty much the opposite of what she was expecting. [More]
walmart
Straight Talk’s Unlimited Data: Actually Sort Of Limited
By 1.30.13
A Straight Talk mobile plan with unlimited everything for $45 per month sounded pretty great to Thom, and he bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy to use with the carrier. All has been well since September, when he subscribed to the plan, but now something terrible has come up. Limits. TracFone (Straight Talk is a joint venture between TracFone and Walmart) tells him that he’s running up against the plan’s unspoken 2 GB limit, and they reserve the right to cut him off. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Will Take 10 Minutes To Download This Post Over A 56K Modem
By 1.25.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Among the readers and tipsters of Consumerist are a brave band of explorers on a sacred mission to advance human knowledge. Their quest: to find really, really old crap sitting on the clearance rack at Walmart, and take photos so we can laugh at it. They are the Raiders of the Lost Walmart. Here are their latest finds from the field. [More]
Walmart Warns Suppliers They Better Abide By Stricter Rules Or Get Dropped
By 1.22.13
After a fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied clothing to Walmart and other stores killed 112 workers in November, Walmart has announced that it is taking its suppliers around the globe to task when it comes to subcontracting their work. In other words, if Walmart doesn’t approve of the factories suppliers use, it’ll drop those companies lickety-split. [More]
Walmart Pledges To Spend $50 Billion More On U.S.-Made Goods Over Next Decade
By 1.15.13
Responding to critics who say it sells too many cheap products made by overseas manufacturers, Walmart announced today that, over the course of the next decade, it promises to spend an additional $50 billion on goods made in the U.S. [More]
Walmart Sells Fake Display Model iPad, Won’t Exchange It For Real One
By 1.14.13
A New Jersey woman took the two large Walmart gift cards that her husband had received as a holiday bonus and bought an iPad with them. Only the iPad that she she brought home from the store wasn’t the same one described on the box. The memory capacity and serial numbers didn’t match. She also couldn’t get the tablet to charge, or even to plug in to the cable. The item in her box, you see, was a plastic fake display-model iPad. [More]
Straight Talk Wireless Introduces iPhone 5 With $45 Unlimited Everything: What’s The Catch?
By 1.11.13
Starting today, you can go to your neighborhood Walmart store and pick up an iPhone 5 from Walmart’s own house-brand carrier, StraightTalk Wireless. With it you’ll get a $45 unlimited talk/text/data plan. Instead of a phone subsidy, you’ll be paying the unlocked-phone price for your handset: $649 for a 16GB iPhone 5. That’s the same price you’ll pay for an unlocked phone straight from Apple, but Walmart offers something extra: you can finance your purchase and pay $25 per month with no interest…for 26 months. [More]
Walmart Employee: Don’t Blame Cashiers For Requiring You To Show Your I.D.
By 1.9.13
In an era of identity theft and growing concerns about privacy, it’s not hard to understand why shoppers are hesitant to provide their photo IDs and phone numbers for something as simple as buying groceries. But one Walmart employee asks that consumers please refrain from taking out their frustration on him and his coworkers. [More]
If Your Resolution Is To Finally Figure Out That Whole Hygiene Thing, Walmart Has You Covered
By 1.8.13
It’s a new year, and you know what that means: We all make promises to ourselves that we probably won’t keep (although I swear I’m going to start my own organic dairy farm someday and have a bestselling cheese brand) or will at least give up on early in February. But hey, you, the one without a toothbrush who hasn’t figured out soap yet — Walmart is here for you. [More]
Staffers & Experts Explain Why Walmart Can’t (And Maybe Shouldn’t) Change The Oil In Your Fiat
By 1.4.13
Yesterday we told you about the Walmart customer who didn’t understand why his local Walmart refused to change the oil in his 2012 Fiat 500. He was simply told it was because the car wasn’t in “the book.” We asked if anyone could shine some light on this issue — and you responded. [More]
Competitors Accuse Walmart Of Providing Inaccurate Price Comparisons In Ads
By 1.4.13
For several months, Walmart has been running a series of ads touting its Low Price Guarantee and calling out specific competitors for their higher prices. But those retailers are now fighting back with complaints in several states. [More]
Walmart Won’t Change The Oil In My Fiat Because It’s Not “In The Book”
By 1.3.13
For a few years in the ’90s, I was one of maybe three people (or at least that’s how it felt) in the entire U.S. with a Daihatsu (stop giggling; yeah, I mean you). It was a pain in the rear to get certain parts, but I never once had a problem getting the oil changed. Apparently, times have changed. [More]
How To Get Good Service At A Chronically Understaffed Walmart
By 1.2.13
What should you know when you place an online order that you plan to pick up at your local Walmart store? An insider––an ordinary store employee in an ordinary Walmart––reached out to us to explain to customers what you should know before you click “Site-to-Store,” and other pitfalls. Walmart may employ millions of Americans, but it still tries to run stores with the smallest crew that it get by with.
Let’s hand the floor over to the employee, who we’ll call “Samantha”: [More]
Sam’s Club Recalls Smoked Salmon Sold In 42 States
By 12.28.12
With year-end parties still to come, there will probably be some of you munching on Smoked Salmon in the next few days. If that salmon was purchased at Sam’s Club, you might want to keep reading. [More]
Repair Company Can’t Fix TV Without Parts, Warranty Won’t Replace Repairable TV
By 12.28.12
How long could your household go without a television? It depends on how many people are there, what you watch, what time of year it is, how the weather is, and whether or not it’s Christmas break and your kids are home from school. That’s the case for Roman’s family, cord cutters who are cut off from television content. Last Black Friday, Roman got a Vizio 3D smart TV from Walmart. Just under a year later, the set doesn’t work. That’s okay, though: he bought the extended warranty. The repair service set up an appointment, then just didn’t show after Roman took a day off work and waited around for them. Why? They didn’t have the part he needed in stock. [More]
Walmart Sold Us A High Chair Covered With Food And Mold As New
By 12.28.12
Part of the delight of Christmas morning is opening up fresh, shiny, untouched gifts. Our new stuff gets wrapped in colorful paper outside of the boxes and layers of protective plastic by the Asian teenagers who made them for us. Jan’s great-grandson is still a baby, so he probably didn’t care one way or the other about the condition of his gifts, but the grown-up family members did. The high chair they bought him had been used. Used a lot. And it was covered with food and mold. It should be their baby who has the privilege of throwing spaghetti on his high chair, not someone else’s. [More]
Amazon Retains Its Crown Among Online Retailers In This Year’s Holiday Consumer Satisfaction Survey
By 12.27.12
Online retailers are sitting pretty these days due to the convenience they offer during busy times like the holidays, but according to this year’s survey of consumer satisfaction, some businesses made out better than others. Amazon is the reigning champ of customer satisfaction, and it held onto that title again this year, beating out upstarts like Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com. [More]
Walmart Knows I Bought Lube At The Store, Sends Me E-Mails About Other Lubes I Might Enjoy
By 12.17.12
Some folks are put off by online retailers tracking their browsing and buying habits in order to send them recommendations, but what about when your minor — and decidedly personal — purchases at bricks-and-mortar stores become the basis of marketing e-mails? [More]
