• Promotional offer valid for a limited time only and subject to change. Promotional offer is valid from November 23, 2009 12:00 AM PST through November 30, 2009 11:59 PM PST. You must redeem the code by November 30, 2009 11:59 PM PST.• If you've previously entered a promotional code, clicking the "Enter Your Code" button above will show your remaining balance.
• After your purchase, you can confirm the dollar amount of the code was applied by checking your order confirmation, which will be sent to you by e-mail.
I checked it out myself and can verify that it works.
]]>WHOOPS! The email we sent you Monday had the wrong TV offer in it! We are not offering a Panasonic 54" class 1080p 600Hz plasma HDTV for $399.99. We apologize for this mistake and assure you that we are taking every step to make sure it doesn't happen again.
The offer that we currently have is a Panasonic 54" class 1080p 600Hz plasma HDTV for $1099.99.
Hopefully everyone who was amazed by the first Sears email checks their account again for the follow-up before camping outside Sears tonight.
]]>Shop Gladiator Style - You are going into sale war. You are a shopper on a mission - think of this day as the Olympics of shopping. Leave uninterested spouses and children at home and bring teenagers who can run fast. (Gladiator shoes not recommended.)
Do the Black Friday Google -- Don't have the time to go through the papers? Can't remember who has what from the ads you saw on TV? Do the Black Friday Google. There are hundreds of websites with Black Friday sale information, like www.black-friday.net where you can peruse the latest sale ads and updates at all the stores. You can also go to your favorite store's website for the sale skinny like www.target.com/blackfridayMake Friends with an Associate -- It's the best way to get the inside scoop on everything. A day or two before Black Friday, check in with them. Often times, they have been briefed on the exact location of all the hottest items their store will be selling, and how many they have. They usually know the quickest way to get from one to department to another. Tell them what you're after. Listen to their advice. Plan your strategy.
If you have any other hints or helpful Black Friday war stories, share them in the comments.
20 Black Friday Tips For Wacky Wednesday [Budgets Are Sexy]
]]>The site's Sean Fallon writes:
In other words, many of these "deals" really aren't deals at all. Often, Black Friday sale products are priced differently between stores, or they are priced at or above deals you can find elsewhere any day of the week. You might see a particularly juicy deal in a flyer on a big ticket item like an HDTV, only to discover that the store only had a few units to sell. The bottom line is that you need to do your homework, and this is a good place to start.
Fallon tears apart the Best Buy Ad, finding much better deals on Motorola Droids, HDTVs and home theater receivers elsewhere.
Black Friday deals can be like people who can be described as "Monets" -- they look good from afar, but up close are far from good.
Black Friday Anti-Deals: What Not To Buy [Gizmodo]
There's also an app for that--the interactive Turkey Timer iPhone application is on sale for $1.99 today (regular price $2.99). It reminds you when to baste, tells you how long until the turkey is cooked, and even estimates the internal temperature of your bird. (Warning: do not insert iPhone inside turkey.)
The most famous Thanksgiving hotline is the one set up by Butterball, but courtesy of Consumer Reports, here are some others you may not be aware of:
American Association of Poison Control Centers 800-222-1222U.S. Department of Agriculture
888-674-6854 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST Thanksgiving Day)AskKaren.gov
(a virtual representative that answers food-safety questions)Butterball Turkey hotline
800-288-8372
Finally, I leave you with one of the greatest scenes from "The West Wing." Where the sitting President of the United States calls the Butterball hotline.
Hot turkey help lines [Consumer Reports Safety]
(Photo: Photos o' Randomness)
USA Today reports that Walmart will be opening most of its stores at 6:00am or earlier today, 700 Old Navy branches will be open and offering discounts, and Radio Shack will have 700 outlets open.
"They're trying to eke every penny out of every day of the selling season," says Wendy Liebmann, president of the consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail. "The more days they're open, the more chance they have of pulling money out of our pockets."
And if you need a drink after braving the stores, USA Today reports that TGI Fridays will also be open today.
More stores will be open on Thanksgiving this year [USATODAY.com]
Hooray!I emailed Mr. Berns as per his offer this morning and have subsequently been in contact with a couple of representatives. It seems that they have not yet been able to determine what happened to my emails or to the item after it was delivered to their broker. However, they have refunded me for my order and the signature delivery charge as well as offered a $50 gift certificate.
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Some cars will also receive a software upgrade in order to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
On the Avalon, Camry, and Lexus models, Toyota will also modify the engine software to include a brake override system that will cut the throttle if the brakes and throttle are applied simultaneously. The brake override system will be standard on all Toyota products for the 2011 model year, but spokesman Brian Lyons says it will take several months to develop and calibrate the system for all the models.
Toyota has also recalled 100,000 Tundra pickup trucks that may have excessive corrosion if they're driven in a region where road salt is used in the winter.
Toyota recalls 3.8 million cars to modify gas pedals, carpets, and software [Consumer Reports Cars]
Recall: 2000-2003 Toyota Tundra pickups [Consumer Reports Cars]
RELATED:
Toyota Recalls 3.8 Mil Cars For Stuck Gas Pedal Danger
Memo Reveals Tragic Details Of Stuck Pedal Lexus Crash (Pics)
(Photo: danielctw)
]]>I dropped my car off at a Pep Boys auto shop the other day for service. It was supposed to be a simple repair that wouldn't take very long. Each day I would call in to check on the progress, but each time I got a vague answer and the promise of a call back. Three days later I find out that they lost the key to my car (luckily I didn't leave any of my other keys with them).So basically it turns out the car was never moved or worked on, and they were lying about the progress the whole time. I had to speak to a bunch of different employees before one of them let slip the news that they had lost the key and had never done any work on it.
Years ago, another reader had success using an EECB to get Pep Boys to honor his tire warranty. We're not sure how many of the e-mail addresses that he used are still current, but the list does show us that the company's e-mail format is Firstname_Lastname@pepboys.com. Good luck.
RELATED:
Pep Boys Bilks Customer Over Tire Warranty Replacement
Pep Boys Apologizes For Bilking Customer Over Tire Warranty Replacement
(Photo: zemistor)
]]>Some of our favorite quotes from the ad include, "smoke a camel right after the soup," "By all means enjoy a second helping, but before you do -- smoke another Camel," and "My own personal experience is that smoking Camels with my meals and afterwards builds up a sense of digestive well-being."
Happy Thanksgiving!
She writes:
This happened to me today as well. I am just furious. I only went into radioshack to buy a crummy battery and told the clerk I did NOT want to give to the Livestrong Campaign. When I looked at my receipt when returned home, I see he did charge me. When I called, he told me I would have to drive back to that store to refund. I am not driving and wasting the gas and an hour for their scam. I was then sent to various district and regional managers who also told me to drive back. I have left a voice mail for the CEO of the company and e-mails to Media and Investor Relations.
Keep an eye on those Radio Shack receipts before you leave the counter, folks. At least this is the rare case in which an unauthorized charge also counts as a tax deduction.
]]>His tale:
Wanted to give you a heads up regarding FedEx and POSSIBLE schilling of package weight. We have a discounted corporate account (small business), shipping mixed between US and World. The account is set-up for automatic billing to our Platinum Amex. We don't regularly check the FedEx details, tonight we did. In almost every instance there was multiple and I mean multiple of gross weight.Our packages are NEVER weigh more than 10lbs. In one instance a package we shipped was 9lbs, FedEx shows as 95lbs! That's not a typo. We've already informed Amex to investigate and dispute every charge on our account from FedEx YTD. We are not conspiracy theorists but this looks very odd because of the consistency. Do you know of other people and businesses that have had these issues with FedEx? Any suggestions? Bottom line is that we are so pissed about what seems like blatant theft that we are ready to got to the media.
If anyone knows how Ross can most effectively dispute the charge with FedEx, please leave your advice in the comments.
]]>I found this ad in a Continental in-flight magazine, and I had to share it. I've added some shading and some figures to illustrate the absurdity of their math. Apparently, $20.04 is a larger part of a $100 pie than $79.96-- who knew?By the way, I measured the angles on the chart. For the "left over" portion of the graph to be accurate (given the figures for the expenses shown), the total value would have to be somewhere in the area of $175 to $180.
The ad designer may as well have taken the concept all the way over the top and made the $20 savings take up 95 percent of the pie. As they say in Vegas, go big or go home.
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