It appears that when the FTC filed a contempt charge against scamtastic consumer electronics purveyor Bluehippo, the company's bank took notice and froze their accounts. Now Bluehippo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming that they can't repay their creditors, what with the frozen bank accounts and all. This will not end well.
If you're not familiar with Bluehippo, they're essentially a computer layaway service. Or what rent-to-own would be like if, after paying high weekly fees for a lengthy period, there were a chance that you might eventually receive an obsolete computer to use. Thousands of customers allegedly never received their computers.
According to the Baltimore Sun:
"First Region's Bank explained in an e-mail that it was freezing BlueHippo's accounts solely as a result of a recent press release issued by the FTC - a press release that is replete with factual inaccuracies," BlueHippo said in a statement. The company said it believes the bank's actions were unlawful and left BlueHippo unable to pay its creditors. BlueHippo added that it has demanded that its funds be immediately restored.Shoe's on the other foot now, eh? Incidentally, Bluehippo no longer does business at all in the state of Maryland.
BlueHippo files for bankruptcy [Baltimore Sun] (Thanks, Joe!)
dis many noms, please.
i prefur 2 use mah paw in udder wayz.
Picture by: dunno source Caption by: deltabob via Our LOL Builder
i’m impressed, fred you really got some air on that Yorkie
Picture by: Piseag Caption by: rowdieangel via Our LOL Builder
Check out the gutulence on this kid!
Still tryptophanning Martyn S.?
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Kittens
A story about a great customer service experience at Best Buy? On Black Friday? It doesn't seem possible. And yet, it happened to Brian and Briana when they shopped the early sale for Silver Reward Zone members.
Brian tells us:What a great story. We hope that Best Buy finds--and keeps--more managers like this one.It started when Best Buy announced "early" access to Black Friday prices for all Silver Reward Zone members. Since my wife and I just purchased new appliances for our house, we were recently upgraded to Silver status and decided we'd take advantage of a budget netbook sale price without having to face the crowds. We go into our store, ad in hand, which does clearly state that we must call a phone number to receive the special price. We only went in to view the product and make sure it was something we could live with as a secondary computer. While they didn't have the actual computer on display, they had a similar model that we tested and liked. We ask politely if they can just sell us one of their Black Friday inventory at the price advertised to silver members so we don't have to through the hassle of calling and waiting for our order to be shipped. The manager says that he can't do that, so we go ahead and call in the store while shopping. We get through and are informed that they no longer have any available for this special advertised sale and we are instead offered a higher priced laptop. It felt a little suspect (bait and switch?), but I asked if a Best Buy store was allowed to sell me the same laptop in-store at the advertised pre-sale price. The associate said it was the general manager's discretion, but that there were no specific rules against it.
I spoke with the general manager and as professional as could be, you could tell he really did sympathize with our situation and did not brush it off with a simple no. He wanted to help and was trying to think of ways to make it right, and although I didn't really feel we were wronged in any way, he truly cared about our satisfaction since we took the time to come into his store. He said he couldn't simply override the price that day because the laptop rung up as $999.99 and any sales prior to Black Friday would not go through. I told him that we simply could not come in Friday morning with the crowds and he understood. He said he valued our business as silver members and didn't want this pre-sale gone wrong to leave a bad taste in our mouths about Best Buy, offering to hold one of the units WITHOUT any type of payment received, and to simply show up on Black Friday in the afternoon after things calmed down to pay and pick it up. He said he'd be there all day and just to see him if we had any trouble and he'd make sure we were taken care of.
Sure enough, we showed up [on Friday] at 2:30pm. The crowds were still around of course, but there he was and without hesitation, he remembered and greeted us, told us to look around for 5-10 minutes while he went to the back and got our laptop. He met us at customer service, helped process the sale, and even jokingly laughed at the insane service plan price of $60 on a $170 item. Upon ringing it up, we realized this was actually the more expensive model with WIndows 7 and that he held the wrong one for us, but he still honored the lower price, so we ended up getting an even better deal than we expected without any hassle.
Was this a small gesture for an inexpensive sale that likely didn't earn them any profit? Yes. But it was something he didn't need to do and the whole experience left me feeling a lot better about shopping at Best Buy (at least this particular store) because clearly the manager cares about his customers.
(Photo: Vincent J. Brown)
- 14:02 Oh godz, braving the thronging hordes of Santa Anita Westfield on Black Friday is a scary experience at best. But nice to not be rushed... #
- 18:59 It would seem the Yellow House is going to be decorated for the holidays this yr in a "Metal" theme... going to be Brutal. Really. ÖM/ #
This is my first post, so be gentle! As soon as I saw this little gem, I KNEW I had to post it here! And, it made it home with me! Check out more below the cut ...
( So high, I could hear the angels sing... )
Martin's 5-year-old stepdaughter has had a very eventful holiday week. So has her family. Flying as an unaccompanied minor, she had to miss her original flight on AirTran and her family booked another at the last minute. The first reasonably priced flight available was on NWA/Delta, but her parents tell us that communication between different departments seems to have shut down--resulting in fees, hours of delays, and the child ultimately missing her flight because the airline didn't mark down that the unaccompanied minor fee had already been paid.
Due to an unfortunate series of events [two major accidents on the way to the airport], my five-year-old step-daughter missed her AirTran flight to Michigan last night and ended up sleeping on a good family friend's couch.We're waiting to hear what Martin and family hear back from Delta. No one envies airline personnel during major holidays, and many of them deserve some sort of medals. But this complete breakdown of communication at Delta was unnecessary and inexcusable, especially with a small child away from home in the middle of it.My wife and I scrambled all night to find a halfway reasonable deal and ended up booking at 1:20AM a 6AM flight for our child. We first tried to book through NWA.com, but the website would not let us book a child alone and customer service wanted an extra $20 to book the flight. They told us, however, to book the same flight through delta.com and call back to pay the $100 unaccompanied minor fee and provide guardian information.
So we booked our flight via delta.com and called customer service back. Since I'm e-mailing you right now, you know that there has got to be a twist. Upon calling back I was told that the person dropping off our child would have to pay the fee at the airport. Mind you, my friend had spent the entire day heroically taking care of our child through the worst possible set of airline/airport screw-ups ever, and was gracious enough to feed her and entertain her for an entire unbelievably hectic day, and we did not want him to have to spend the additional money when he dropped off our daughter.
I explained that to the rep, and she said with a straight face, "well, you can pay the fee over the phone, but there is a fee to pay the fee."
With barely suppressed disgust I asked her to repeat herself slowly. "There will be a fee to pay the fee." (Ok, I thought to myself, they're going to screw me out of a few bucks any way they can)
I asked how much it was and she calmly replied that there would be a $100 fee to pay the $100 fee. $200 total. When I asked what the fee was for, she said it was a "transfer fee" to another department that could take the payment. At that point I broke the Cardinal Rule of Dealing with Customer Service Reps and I asked her if we were going to have phone sex for the $100. My wife sensed the hopes of any solution plummet to the floor and she angrily ripped the phone out of my hand and began to apologize for my comment and asking to speak with the supervisor. The agent insisted that there was nothing a supervisor could do, and she was right. However, we did find out after some prolonged discussion that we could go to the Delta ticket counter at our local airport and pay the fee -- something the rep should have suggested first before having us pay a $100 "transfer fee."
My wife and I went to the destination airport to pay the unaccompanied minor fee in person, we got a receipt, and we had a notation added to the reservation. Our weary friend got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and he was told that he had to pay $100 to get a boarding pass. Immediately we told him that the payment was made and noted on the reservation. The ticket agents could not seem to find it. I frantically called our local airport but I was not allowed to speak with any Delta ticket agents. I called the toll-free number and I was quickly told that the notation is indeed in there.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, they seemed to finally find the information they needed, and they had my friend fill out a form. Midway through the form, they stopped him and told him that it was too late to board the plane and they couldn't do anything. I spoke with a manager who claimed that the reason my child couldn't board the plane was because my friend had to call me to complete a part of the form; a call, mind you, that took less than a minute. I retorted that the reason he had no time to fill out a form was because the ticket agent refused to check him in for 45 minutes while he attempted to collect $100 and/or locate a receipt. There was nothing we could do except rebook the flight for 6 hours later. In the meantime, my 5-year-old had nowhere to go and nothing to do while her entire family assembled at our house for the holiday.
I called the 800 number and explained (as I had to the manager) that my 5-year old had spent the last two days at airports dealing with issues and incompetence; I asked for a voucher or a discount for what was clearly the Delta's fault. One agent told me that re-booking the flight was the most compensation they could give us. I said that I was glad my step-daughter could still get here, but having to wait 6 hours through a ticket agent's fault was a long time and a huge disappointment to a girl who had a rough previous day dealing with another airline, and should come with an apology or restitution.
A supervisor told me that because the ticket agent or manager did not document anything, the supervisor would not be able to make a decision on this. He recommended that I instead get in touch with the ticket counter and have them document everything; I told him that I doubt they would write a self-incriminating report.
The entire time, every Delta employee that my friend, my wife, or I spoke with told us that this wasn't their problem and we should just deal with it.
I told the supervisor that I did not wish to call the ticket counter people and raise hell because I was aware that they could boot my child off the plane. He told me that I should instead contact corporate customer relations through their website.
I've never had a problem with Delta. In fact, I have always praised them. I still think they are fairly good compared to the others, but I am disappointed in the way certain people mishandled their jobs. I guess I will write Corporate Customer Relations and hope someone there will have a heart.
Interestingly, I asked the supervisor at the (800) number to tell me what time the reservation was first accessed by the airport personnel and he replied that it was 3 minutes prior to the scheduled flight time. What gives? Does the system not log everything? Was this some sort of game?
Dear readers, when someone messes up, bad things happen; this 5-year old has spent the last two days at airports dealing with issues and incompetence. She should be in her mother's arms right now. Or at least have an apology.
Incidentally, Martin notes that dealing with AirTran after the original missed flight was wonderful. He wrote:
Kudos to AirTran Customer Relations agent Charity for staying on the phone with me for over an hour providing advice, understanding, patience, and kindness, as well as involving everyone from the ticket agent to the supervisor, then the AirTran operations manager, then the airport director in an attempt to fix the problem. It was, by far, the best airline customer service I've ever received.
RELATED:
Continental Puts 10-Year-Old Child On The Wrong Plane
Delta Wants $300 In Fees On A $306 Ticket
Chase Charges You Fees For The Privilege Of Being Charged Fees
(Photo: Pylon757)
My husband bought 45 yards of this fabric. When I asked why he said "I got it all for 6.00!" It was *his* great thrift store find.
What the hell he expected me to do with it, even he doesn't know. That added to 20 yards of crushed black velvet he wanted in our bedroom (and I vetoed), he's deserving a little disturbance in *his life*.
So I bought these two pictures and stuffed them in the bathroom so creepy little girls can stare at him while he pees. He's definitely disturbed.
And lucky I'm not making him clothes out of all that fabric.
I may have short-sheeted your bed, Meg.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Blankies, Boxhab, Kittens
Graham Cove told ZDNet UK on Friday he believes the case to be the first of its kind in the UK. However, he would not identify the pub concerned, because its owner -- a pubco that is a client of The Cloud's -- had not yet given their permission for the case to be publicised...Pub 'fined £8k' for Wi-Fi copyright infringement (Thanks, Zoran)According to internet law professor Lilian Edwards, of Sheffield Law School, where a business operates an open Wi-Fi spot to give customers or visitors internet access, they would be "not be responsible in theory" for users' unlawful downloads, under "existing substantive copyright law".
First I briefly review the history and existing academic debates around DRM to consider why they have so overlooked the user-innovation impacts. The next sections examine the law and technology of digital rights management, particularly the interaction of statutory law, technological measures, and the contractual conditions generally attached to them. I focus particularly on the "robustness rules" in licenses at at this inter- section. I then introduce the rich literature on disruptive technology and user innovation, to argue that these copyright-driven constraints significantly harm cultural and technological development and user autonomy. I conclude that the mode-of-development tax is too high a price to pay for imperfect copyright protection.The Imperfect is the Enemy of the Good: Anticircumvention Versus Open Innovation (via JoHo)
- Boing Boing: French DRM law gets ugly - protest May 7/2PM Place de ...
- BBC wants to put DRM on the TV Brits are forced to pay for - Boing ...
- BBC wants to put DRM on the TV Brits are forced to pay for - Boing ...
- Hollywood wants to infect all next-gen video with DRM - Boing Boing
- EFF asks the FTC to protect the public from Digital Rights ...
- Asimov's magazine on DRM, copyright and Creative Commons - Boing Boing
- Boing Boing: US Justice Dept to Europe: Apple's DRM is off-limits
- Boing Boing: Responding to Nikon DRM flap, photogs create OpenRAW ...
A few weeks ago, Macy's ran this somewhat mystifying promotion. Simple enough: Buy a mattress, get a free video camera via mail-in rebate.
It's interesting to see a department store modern enough to openly market to aspiring amateur porn stars.
You know it's an authentic Macy's promotion because the fine print is much longer than the ad itself.
Get a bonus Sony Webbie HD camera! [Macy's] (Thanks, Walter!)
(Photo: Duchamp)
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ruckawriter, radargrrl and musta_kani? I hope you all have a good one tomorrow, and many more just as good or better in the years to come!Take care, okay?
If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay: How to Know if Your Child's Injury or Illness Is Really an Emergency (Lara Zibners):
Apart from a terrific title, the book has plenty going for it. Basically, Even if Your Kid Eats This Book is a detailed guide to everything you don't have to worry about. It has an orifice-by-orifice guide to detecting and removing Lego! A list of things under the sink that won't poison your kid! Sensible advice about how to get rid of dry skin! (Hot bath, then anything greasy from Crisco to Vaseline, then time).
Full review | Purchase
Reset: How This
Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America In 96 pages,
Kurt Andersen describes the United States' previous boom and bust
cycles and explains why the bust cycles are essential for innovation
and improvement of living standards for everyone. Times of crisis, he
says, open new opportunities for making positive changes.
Full
review | Purchase
The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (David Kessler):
Kessler delves into the psychology and neuroscience of our junk-food cravings, seeking an explanation to the conundrum of the person whose "will-power" is strong on many fronts, but who finds it hard to resist unhealthy foods (I class myself among those people). He concludes that we're extremely susceptible to reward-conditioning when the reward consists of foods that combine fat, sugar and salt, and that the food industry has evolved to deliver extremely efficient, super-sized portions of fat-sugar-salt bombs in a variety of satisfying textures and presentations.
Full review | Purchase
Today I'm driving down to LAX to drop off a few books for Fred Patten while he's at LosCon. I will not be staying for the con (no $ to buy a membership, and I have inking I need to do) but I will keep an eye out for people I know while I am there.
- Mood:
hungry
"Above and Beyond" stories can come from the most mundane sources. Such as this e-mail that reader MJ sent in praise of the customer service for Duck Tape brand duct tape.
Indeed, we will award them a silver star. Silver because it is made out of Duck Tape.
I recently had an issue with a roll of Duck Tape that ended up being bad. I bought a 2 pack of the better grade and it just wouldn't stick like I think it should. I looked up the number and called their customer service line, they agreed that it must be bad, took some info and shipped me out 2 new rolls for free. Once I received this, I noticed that the shipping alone was more then I paid for the tape. Alas, they had sent me a double roll back, but of the wrong grade, and about half the yardage.I called them up to let them know that they were different, and the representative pulled up my previous info, apologized several times, and had another double roll on its way. Again, another package arrived, higher shipping then my product, and 2 more rolls. Was about 20 yards shy of what I had gotten, but I am willing to accept this as more then equal trade. I am really surprised as well, as they spent almost 3 times the cost for shipping alone to make me, the customer, make sure I got my money's worth.
To see an American made product to hold itself in such high standards and to go out of the way to make sure the customer is happy, really impressed me. As a consumer, I feel that Duck Tape and the Sure Tech brands truly need a gold star for this action.
(Photo: striatic)
Astronaut Don Pettit--inventor of the Zero-G Coffee Cup--plays with free-floating, head-sized water bubbles on the International Space Station. Make sure you stick around for the third experiment, where Pettit sticks an antacid tablet into one of the bubbles.
Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user delicate genius, via CC.
Mairee Krissmis Happee Nu Yeer Kiss meh butt.
c’mon. git in teh holiday spirit.
Picture by: dunno source Caption by: desmoncj via Advanced Lol Builder
(Thanks, Bill!)
- Vancouver Olympics will own words like "winter," "2010" and ...
- Vancouver Olympics to feature US-style "free speech zones" - Boing ...
- Free speech lawsuit against Vancouver Olympic rules - Boing Boing
- Olympic Commitee claims that photographing exterior of venues ...
- Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots include a Sasquatch - Boing Boing
- Vancouver cops affirm your right to take pictures - Boing Boing
- 16:14:14: Just had to help a woman who reeked of unwashed ass. So disgusting! And, I can tell she won't buy what she spent 10 minutes asking for.
Tweets copied by twittinesis.com
Invented in 1967, the Dübreq Stylophone is a small synthesizer played by touching a built-in stylus to the metal keyboard. It was famously used on David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Kraftwerk's "Pocket Calculator." I just spotted it in Restoration Hardware's catalog for $29. I was slightly surprised to see it there, but not too much as Restoration usually has terrific gadgets and toys for sale along with their classic (and costly) American home furnishings. For more Stylophone fun, check out the below video of Brett Domino performing a "1980s Hits Medley" on the device. (UPDATE: They're only $20 at ThinkGeek!)
Here's some more stuff from the smaller store. Follow the trashy looking DivaStar.
( Such a tiny little shop... )
Hopefully I've vaguely amused you for five to ten minutes. <3
- Location:United States, New York, Staten Island
- Mood: amused
- Music:Carlin at Carnegie. I'm up to meatcake! ^__^
- Music:Genesis 'Cul-De-Sac'
- 23:20 I favorited a YouTube video -- John Staedler & Joshua Walters - "Summertime" @ The Cool Show bit.ly/5g8MrW #
Since u iz already up, cud u gets me a drink of waterz? Thank u…
Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Len314159 via Advanced Lol Builder
The employees at the Macy's in Washington, DC, sure were helpful earlier today! They showed customers where they could park for up to two hours while they shopped. Unfortunately, it turns out Macy's employees are not well-versed on parking rules in DC, and the manager there doesn't really think it's Macy's problem.
Here's what happened to Paul:
We went to the Macy's at 12th & G in Washington, DC, this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a short, dark-haired woman out front with a Macy's nametag instructing people pulling up the curb to park there. "Oh, yeah, no problem." So we parked and went shopping.
An hour later, we come out the G Street doors. Now, there is a tall, dark-haired man out front with a Macy's nametag telling people there is "Two hour parking" along 12th Street.
We get to our car and there is a ticket on the windshield for over $100 for parking during the rush hour. In fact, the whole row of cars (parked exactly where the Macy's employees were telling people to park) along 12th Street has been ticketed!
I complained to the manager "Samuel" over the phone, he tells me it's not Macy's responsibility and they will not pay the ticket. He says that those employees were "not authorized" to be directing traffic, but if I can identify "by name" the employees who were directing people to park there, he will "do something" for me in the way of "a purchase", whatever that means.
And you just know that the money for whatever that "deal" is is coming out of the pocket of the employee I identify and not Macy's themselves.
All kinds of other problems, as well, concerning the useless coupons they printed in the paper the last couple of days and minutes of my life I will never get back spent with semi-English speaking clerks explaining to me why the items I bought just happen to be the exact ones that are specifically banned from being purchased with one of these coupons. Definitely the last time I ever shop at Macy's!
Yeah, that coupon thing is pretty normal for a Macy's shopping experience. A Macy's coupon isn't actually a coupon, but a coupon-shaped practical joke that the retailer plays on customers with some regularity.
But the "just park already and shop!" stunt is a new one. I imagine if you let some higher-ups at Macy's know what happened, they might be willing to address the problem.
Here's some contact info, courtesy of reader DjDynasty on another Macy's post last year:
Executive Customer Service: 800-264-0069
Flagship Store
151 W. 34th Street
New York, NY, 10001
212/695-4400
Has corporate offices in the building; this is the HQ for Macy's east
7 W. 7th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-579-7000
Fax: 513-579-7555
Toll Free: 800-261-5385
- Mood: sleepy
Little did everyone know, Fluffy was the original Beatles drummer.
Picture by: Umbungo Caption by: TheInvisibleSandwich via Advanced Lol Builder
Years ago, I got turned on to the psychedelic New Orleans "voodoo" vibe of Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack, Jr.). His 1968 debut Gris-Gris is a fantastically weird amalgam of R&B, dark psych rock, and NOLA culture. I'd never seen footage of the Night Tripper, as Dr. John is also known, until today. Quite a spectacle. From music critic Richie Unterberger's liner notes for a reissue of Gris-Gris:
"Gris-Gris" by Dr. John, The Night Tripper (Amazon)Gris-Gris was the first record credited to Dr. John, and to most listeners he seemed to have dropped out of nowhere with his mystical R&B psychedelia and Mardi Gras Indian costumes. The album, however, was actually the culmination of about 15 years of professional experience, during which Dr. John -- born Mac Rebennack in New Orleans -- had absorbed the wealth of musical influences for which the Crescent City is famed. Gris-Gris's roots reach back well beyond the dawn of the twentieth century, even as the album took in cutting-edge influences such as 1960s progressive jazz, and pushed into territory that no popular musician had ever explored in quite the same fashion.
"Gris-Gris" itself is a New Orleans term for voodoo, and the name Dr. John taken from a New Orleans root doctor of the 1840s and 1850s. Also known as John Montaigne and Bayou John, he was busted in the 1840s for practicing voodoo with Pauline Rebennack, who may or may not have been a distant relative of our man Mac. One of Mac's grandfathers sang in a minstrel show, and the latter-day Dr. John adapted one of grandpa's favorite tunes, "Jump Sturdy," into the track on Gris-Gris of the same name. His onstage costumes and feathered headdresses, the source of shock and delight to audiences since the late 1960s, are similarly adapted from those worn by Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans, famed for the infectious tribal percussive rhythms and chants they perform in local parades.
The Fry's store in Renton, Washington, just played a mean trick on at least half a dozen customers. This morning, Jeff successfully navigated through the crowd outside, the crowds inside, and no less than five different lines in order to purchase a 52" TV. Everything went remarkably smoothly. Well, until the very end.
This was the first ever Black Friday shopping I have ever attempted (at age 24). I felt a little silly, knowing that I should have arrived earlier if I wanted to have the slightest chance of beating the crowds. Knowing that Fry's is a huge store, I humored myself and stayed in line to at least see if how quickly it would move once doors opened. To my surprise, from doors opening to me getting inside only took 10 minutes.</b>I was in, and I was excited.
On the top of my list of purchases, I was hoping to score a very good deal on a Samsung 52" LCD TV that had been part of the Black Friday Ads.
As I am a frequent buyer from Fry's, I headed straight back to the TV section, and found the TV. It was perfect. I looked around for a sales associate to help me, not realizing another line had formed inside the store for the same purpose. By the time I figured out what was going on, the line was easily 150 people long. Knowing my chances were slim, I decided to wait in line anyways. With how crowded the store was, it seemed as though Fry's had done the impossible; kept a fairly good operation to keeping things orderly and organized. The line was moving fast, and I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.
I finally made it to the front, and asked the sales associate if they still had the 52". He responded with a smile, and a "Yes", and he handed me a ticket! I felt like I had won the lotto! After I got my ticket, I waited in another line to be checked out, so I could head to the cashier to pay for my new TV. I was so excited! Upon arriving to the front of that line, I asked the sales associate if I could pick up my TV later in the day. Again, he too responded with a smile and a "yes!". Everything was going my way!
After I checked out with him, I headed to the front of the store, with invoice in hand, to pay for the TV. I arrived at the cashier's, and told him I would like to pick up the TV later. He told me he would have to ask his supervisor if that was okay. The supervisor said that I had to pick it up right now, as they wouldn't be able to hold it for me for the day. Still somewhat on a high, I said "Not a problem", and called a friend. After a little persuasion (As this was 5:30 am, and he was still sleeping), my friend responded he'd be there within the hour. I told the cashier what I had found out, and told him I would be looking around in the store for some other sales while I waited.
After 20 minutes of looking at more things I could buy, he called me back and said he was in the parking lot. I was surprised at how quickly he had got there, so I headed back for the cashier's to pay and pick up the TV. The line had gotten to about 400 people long by now, and I was surprised at how long it took to get through. Twenty-five minutes later, I purchased the TV and headed to pick it up. I went up to the pickup Sales guy, handing him my receipt. He looked at the product I had bought and responded "Oh no, not another one".
To my surprise, about 10 people in front of me were all waiting for the same thing. The store manager came up and said that they oversold the TV. and that we could get refunds at the refund desk. One of us asked if they were going to give us rain checks as all of us had already paid for the TV, and he told us with a smirk on his face, "No". He then walked off, not making himself accessible to anyone for questions. We all paid for a TV we were not going to get.
I have never felt so betrayed by a store. I walked around with a false sense of security, as giddy as a kid in a candy store, only to be told that I wasn't going to get what I paid for. I understand mistakes happen, but it would have seemed wise to me to solve the initial problem (call back to the TV department to make sure they weren't handing out more tickets), and then make right with the few of us that waited in multiple lines, over several hours, who PAID for their TVs.
Here are nine wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Also, be sure to check out our new Photo Gallery to see the latest additions all week long!
by frankieleon
by davidcaloren
by sssteve.o
by jk+too
by jpmarth
by frankieleon
Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers go and upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.
Note that if you want them to have a shot at ending up on the Consumerist Friday post, you'll need to open up your sharing settings on your Flickr account so we can grab the HTML from the "Share This" tab. Sorry, but that's the only way to get Flickr and Consumerist to play with each other.
Add your shots to The Consumerist Flickr Pool, and perhaps they'll get featured in a future story, or even highlighted in a Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds post. See previous winners of the Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool finds here.
The Los Angeles Times says that a Walmart in Upland, California had to kick everyone out and shut down for 3 hours this morning, because shoppers lost their damned minds.
The store called police for help at around 2:44 a.m.:
Employees said customers began tearing into merchandise that had been shrink-wrapped and were supposed to be opened at 5 a.m.
[...]
Several officers were sent and stood by as shoppers were kicked out and the store closed down. The bargain hunters were told to line up in the parking lot.
Meanwhile, the carts were emptied and all the items returned to the shelves, employees said. But they said that outside, people began “yelling and screaming,” pounding on the glass doors and trying to sneak into the store through the lawn and garden section.
"Black Friday: Wal-Mart in Upland temporarily closes after 'fighting inside'" [Los Angeles Times] (Thanks to Crazytree!)
Hello! And welcome to Liveblogging The Previews. My name is Christopher Butcher, and I’m a comics retailer, managing The Beguiling in Toronto, Canada. At The Beguiling we do a significant portion of our ordering of new comics and graphic novels through Diamond Comics Distributors’ monthly PREVIEWS catalogue, a 400+ page beast. That order is due this Tuesday, December 1st, by 11:59pm, and as of today I haven’t really so much as opened the thing up. What follows are my time-stamped reactions to the catalogue, as they occur. Keep refreshing this page to see the insanity that is sure to follow.
3:37pm: Cover. This month our cover options are “Sexy Blue Chick” from the comic book adaptation of the video game “Mass Effect”, or heavily shadowed and poorly drawn Superman characters in, and I’m not fucking with you here, “a new era of excitement!” from Dan DiDio and Philip Tan. Poor month for PREVIEWS covers when sexy blue lesbian alien based on a video game is the less embarrassing comic book cover, artistically.
3:42pm: Dark Horse: Congratulations to the fine folks at DH for putting back into print BLACKSAD, the only furry comic most “normal” comic fans aren’t embarrassed to have on their bookshelves. Sexy jungle-cat Blacksad P.I. is tracking down murders and kidnappers and the like, getting into trouble, and having sex with sexy cat ladies. It’s 1930s and 40s pulp noir streaming through the hand of an extraordinarily talented Disney animator. It’s beautiful, it’s sexy, it is hard-boiled kitty cats. DH’s edition collects all three Blacksad stories released to date in one hardcover. Previously the first two stories were available from iBooks and those out-of-print volumes were fetching 60 and 70 bucks a pop on the aftermarket, so this will probably do quite well upon release.
3:49pm: The new BPRD series starts up with KING OF FEAR #1 and the return of Guy Davis. Meanwhile, the most recent Hellboy Arc gets a collection in HELLBOY VOLUME 9: THE WILD HUNT . Artist Duncan Fegredo is an amazing match for this series, the pages are just gorgeous and it’s selling more-or-less as well as anything Mignola drew.
3:55pm: On page 41 we’ve got Rafael Grampa’s MESMO DELIVERY, in a brand new edition from Dark Horse, and at a reduced price of just $10. Here’s the problem: We sold a BUTLOAD of the AdHouse edition of this. So I’m not quite sure how many to order of this new edition… I mean it’s gorgeous, has a terrifying little story, and I do think moving from Adhouse to DH will raise its profile. Do I just order a lot, or another BUTLOAD? It’s so tough doing the Previews some months.
3:58pm: Pages 42 and 43 bring us two interesting new books. SHINJUKU is an original project by Yoshitaka Amano and someone named “Mink” join forces to release an original prose project in the vein of Amano and Gaiaman’s SANDMAN: DREAM HUNTERS, with a story and over 100 original paintings to go along with it. It’ll be interesting to see Amano tackle more contemporary images, as his primary art style seems ideally suited to historical works. Speaking of, Dark Horse releases OKIMONO KIMONO, an art book collecting the intricate kimono designs and art of CLAMP member Mokona. It’s coming in a little small for an artbook at the Tokyopop trim size, but that also means we get it for just $12.99.
4:16pm: DC Comics: We get a skip-month for Blackest Night as the creative team catches up, but hey, we get the oversized anniversary issue GREEN LANTERN #50 (page 57). But the biggest and weirdest news of the month are the Blackest Night “Rebirth” books, featuring additional issues of cancelled (dead) series like Catwoman, Phantom Stranger, and James Robinson’s Starman. That’s actually one of the most clever tie-ins I’ve ever heard of, good on you DC.
4:30pm: Grant Morrison’s BATMAN AND ROBIN returns after a skip-month with #7, and Morrison’s SEAGUY collaborator Cameron Stewart in tow. I think more-or-less everyone is happy to see anyone other than Phillip Tan on the book (we seriously had returns), and the promo art I’ve seen from Stewart looks really sharp. Here’s hoping for a return to form!
4:50pm: Gary Frank draws a kind of a terrifying Superman, even without the Christopher Reeve Death Mask:
I wouldn’t want to be locked in a room with his Adam Strange either.
5:02pm: Man, whole lotta nothing in the mainstream DCU section. Nice cover on Wonder Woman #40, murder of crows, that whole thing. But… yeah. Anyway. Quick dinner break and then I’ll be back.
5:16pm: The collected editions section is looking pretty good this month, with the too-long-awaited All Star Superman Volume 2 finally getting a softcover. A new printing of the second HITMAN book, and a trade paperback collecting all of the ‘origins’ backups from 52 and COUNTDOWN, the best part of either of those series (though 52 has its fans).
Actually, let me expand on the first part of this: I’m kind of sick of DC’s and Marvel’s hardcover programs. While I appreciate the short-term $$$ that comes from charging an extra $10 for a hardcover on a book, I think they’re really hurting long-term sales. I know that the whole superhero section of the industry seems to be predicated on short-term thinking, but I think that if it was about giving consumers choice simultaneous releases would be the way to go. This is a bit of a bigger problem than I have time to give it right now, but DC and Marvel mandating hardcover exclusives for 4-6 months means that their biggest, newest, ‘hottest’ storylines remain considerably more inaccessible until well after the heat has entirely dissipated on the series. The Justice Society relaunch is the hardest-hit series I can think of, but Green Lantern and Spider-Man and Runaways from Marvel are also suffering, from my POV, for having long gaps between HC and SC collections. Maybe if I’ve got time I’ll follow it up with a longer post.
5:31pm: Speaking of, the 4th and final PLANETARY collection is solicited this issue. HC only. For MARCH. Talk about striking while the iron is cooled, the cord is wrapped up, and the whole thing’s been put back in the closet. Soooo unfortunate.
5:34pm: What If Alan Moore WAS Swamp Thing? Check out Astro City: The Dark Age Book 4 #1.
Meanwhile, over on page 105 we have the next book in DC’s little hardcover crime line, THE BRONX HILL by Peter Milligan and old-timey Vertigo artist (can we say that? are they old enough?) James Romberger, whose last work I can remember is the excellent Seven Miles a Second. Actually, heh, DC has this thing where when they’re mentioning artist credits they include other DC credits in allcaps, and work for other publishers as italics. So author Peter Milligan is Peter Milligan (GREEK STREET, HUMAN TARGET), and James Romberger is James Romberger (Seven miles a Second). Funny thing is, DC Vertigo were the publishers of Seven Miles a Second, at least initially. It’s the graphic biography of gay artist David Wojnarowicz, and Vertigo pub’d it in 1996. I know a new edition was planned but so far as I can tell it never came out. So there’s a history lesson for whomever writes the Previews solicitations at DC: Look, it’s a book you published!
Edit: Mystery solved! See the 8:15pm entry.
5:55pm: There we go, it’s a new creator-owned series from Grant Morrison. JOE THE BARBARIAN #1 sees Morrison team with relative newcomer Sean Murphy to do a pretty-looking mini-series about a boy who falls into his childhood fantasy world. The preview looks good, and the price is hard to beat: It’s just a dollar! I think we’re going to give the first issue away for free, too… really build up a readership for this one, and give people a reason to come to the comic shop every month. It’s somewhat tough, particularly when Morrison’s fans have largely converted to collected editions, to get them in regularly to see all the great new stuff that’s come out. I think we can make a pretty-good go of it with a new #1. Fingers crossed!
6:14pm: Speaking of Vertigo, Daytripper by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon continues to have lovely understated painted covers, it kind of makes everything else on the solicit pages look obscene by comparison. But that’s art for you.
6:21pm: We’ve got a very rare thing from DC, a bind-up. That’s a publishing industry term for taking 2 or more books and putting them under one cover… Most comic book trade paperbacks are essentially bind-ups, but with THE LOSERS VOL 1 & 2 TP ($19.99, January 27) we’ve got the first two collections in one book. Usually when this happens, one retail outlet has agreed to order a lot of copies of a book if they can get it in a more shelf-friendly format. With THE LOSERS film dropping in April, this inexpensive new collection will hopefully lead new people to the series.
Quite honestly, I kind of wish most of DC’s backlist would get bind-ups like this, and that they’d stop re-releasing things like HITMAN or whatever by story-arc… One trade on the shelf, one book to keep in stock instead of two. Make my job a lot easier.
6:30pm: Just gonna pretend DC Direct doesn’t exist. Moving on…
6:36pm: Image Comics! And on page 132 we’ve got ORC STAIN #1, the new ongoing series from WONTON SOUP (Oni) creator James Stokoe. It’s a full-colour Orc-straveganza, a fantasy epic for the console video game generation with a one-eyed orc character who’s kinda like Karnak from The Inhumans. Really nice art on this one, and apparently it’s an ongoing series! I am very-much inclined to support this one with strong orders, and with Brandon Graham’s KING CITY also appearing monthly it should be an easy book to cross-promote. Check out an article and promo art from the series at http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=a
6:44pm: Okay, 3 things:
1. I’m actually pretty cool about comics that have their heroes covered in cum. You know, live and let live. Granted, those comics tend to come from CLASS COMICS and not Image, but different strokes and all that. It’s just that they don’t usually get a full-page in previews. Surely one of those retailers in the bible belt that’s bemoaning the state of comics, surely one of them has been wounded by this? Has anyone called the CBLDF yet?
2. Look at those legs. Ugggh. At least the character’s left leg has the excuse of ‘foreshortening”. But the right leg? The section from the knee to the foor is 2/3s the length of his massive thighs… He’d look ridiculous standing up. I thought they had a talented artist doing the layouts for McFarlane?Actually while I’m at it that right hand seems to have three or four joints on the thumb. Though I’ve only read the first issue, so perhaps that is one of Haunt’s powers.
3. HELP. Seriously, if you saw a dude in this outfit and covered in cum in this alley, would you help him? I don’t think I would, and I’m the open-minded sort. I’d definitely call the cops though.
7:39pm: Just had to take a short work-break there, sorry. In the interim, I realize that I needed to give props to Image Comics for having the single-best section in the catalogue. Clean design, nice colours, a layout of info that makes sense (for a change). Important projects in front, graphic novels (alphabetical!) in the middle, single-issue comics in the back (alphabetical!). Easy as hell to find stuff month-to-month. Bravo, Image Comics! Your Previews section is magnificent.
8:15pm: And Calvin Reid, former editor of the Reed Publishing graphic novel line, popped up on Twitter to say that yes, it was his imprint that was going to put David Wojnarowicz’s Seven Miles a Second back into print:
@calreid: I think I Can answer. Reid & Reed planned a new revised edition of Seven Miles A Second, which was completed but has never been published. Reed pulled the plug on the imprint before we could pub. The new edition has about 20 new pages. I hope someone publishes it.
I think Seven Miles a Second is one of the great comics memoirs and an important record of David W. & of a seminal time in NY.
I hope so too, Calvin. The magic of instant communication!
8:20pm: Marvel. Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic’s “Marvel Women Variant” is a nice piece of art. Or at least, it makes an impression.
Whoa, looks like the folks at PETA got their hands on Siege Embedded #1:
Look, I’m all for the ethical treatment of animals, but I think throwing fake blood at our nation’s heroes is a step too far.
8:36pm: Let I Get This Straight: Captain America Reborn is now six issues, AND it’s finishing AFTER the books in which Cap actually returns to the Marvel Universe? Man, it’s a good thing no one who works for Marvel is ever accountable for their actions. Cuz, haha, I mean, this makes the Civil War problems look quaint in comparison. I kinda wanna work for Marvel now. Seems like a pretty good gig.
8:42pm: I notice the solicit text for Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6 contains the following: “Join rockstars Brian Michael Bendis and David Lafuente as we swing into the final chapter of this thrilling arc!” I just wanna say that if I started calling Bendis “rockstar” to his face, he’d take a swing at me before the end of the first day. In fact I invite everyone who knows him to only address him as “rockstar” from now on.
8:46pm: No, wait, this solicit text is better: Spider-Man The Clone Saga #5: “MAXIMUM CLONAGE! It’s Hoo-Ha Time as MJ goes into labor…” Well holy shit. Whoda thunk it would ever be vagina-time in a Marvel comic? Just goes to show.
8:50pm: Huh, apparently Marvel’s launching a movie-continuity Iron man comic. 2 issues only. Weird. I kind of assume this is just to fill out a trade paperback somewhere?
8:54pm: Including the back-up story in Incredible Hercules this month, there are going to be THREE Agents Of Atlas books on the stands in November. Agents of Atlas vs. Avengers, Marvel Boy: The Uranian, and the back-up story. Not bad for a book that was more-or-less cancelled a few months back. Oh shit, AND they’re in Thunderbolts #140. 4 Atlas books.
9:02pm: Nothing really jumped out at me from Marvel’s collected editions. So let’s stop this here for now, and we’ll pick up with the back-half of the catalog some time this weekend… Monday at the latest.
- Chris
Page Summary
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