Toys R Us: Free Layaway Program for Christmas

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From now until Oct. 31, Toys 'R' says it will be waiving the upfront fees that usually come with putting products on layaway, reports CNN. After October customers can still put items on layaway but will be charged the $5 service fee.

There are a wide variety of merchandise available for the free layaway, including  common gift items like toys, video games and swing sets. Don't try to get any clothing, drinks, diapers, batteries or, oddly enough, "holiday-related items" on layaway, however. Those products aren't eligible for the program.

As long as shoppers put down a 20% down payment and pay off 50% of the total price within 45 days, and pay for the whole thing by Dec. 16, they'll be good to go.

Sources: CNN.com and Consumerist.com

Walmart: New Holiday Layaway Rules

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Walmart has announced the details for their 2012 Holiday Layaway Program.  This year’s layaway will be from Sept 16-Dec 14th.  Individual items must be $15 or higher and total layaway at least $50.

New layaway features at Walmart include:

  • An expanded list of eligible categories, including small home appliances and select sporting goods such as basketball goals, trampolines and large exercise equipment. Customers can also use layaway for a broad selection of electronics, toys and jewelry.
  • Early layaway access for shoppers who like their local Walmart store on Facebook. Customers simply need to sign up on their local Walmart Facebook page beginning August 28 to be able to start their layaway two days early on Sept. 14.  
  • A full refund of the layaway open fee ($15) given on a Walmart gift card for customers who make their final payment.

 

Dollar Tree Accepting Coupons

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Dollar Tree stores are now accepting coupons.

Here is the coupon policy:

  • Only 2 like coupons allowed per transaction.
  • B1G1 FREE coupons are NOT allowed.
  • Only 2 internet printable coupons allowed per order.
  • Coupons that require the cashier to write in the price are NOT allowed.
  • Coupons that give you a FREE item when purchasing a select item are NOT allowed.
  • Retailer specific coupons are NOT allowed.
  • Coupons must be presented at time of purchase.
  • Coupons cannot be redeemed for more than the value of the product.

Recall: GE Dishwashers

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GE Appliances, of Louisville, Ky. announced a voluntary recall of GE, GE Adora, GE Eterna, GE Profile and Hotpoint Dishwashers because an electrical failure in the dishwasher's heating element can pose a fire hazard. The affected dishwashers were sold in black, white, bisque, stainless steel and CleanSteel exterior colors and finishes. All affected model and series numbers are listed here and can be found on a metallic plate located on the left tub wall visible when the door is opened. The recalled dishwashers were sold at appliance dealers, authorized builder distributors and other stores nationwide from March 2006 through August 2009 for between $350 and $850.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled dishwashers, disconnect the electric supply by shutting off the fuse or circuit breaker controlling it, and inform all users of the dishwasher about the risk of fire. For all dishwashers, contact GE for a free in-home repair or to receive a GE rebate of $75 towards the purchase of a new GE front-control plastic tub dishwasher, or a rebate of $100 towards the purchase of a new GE front-control stainless tub dishwasher or GE Profile top control dishwasher. Consumers should not return the recalled dishwashers to the retailer where they purchased as retailers are not prepared to take the units back. For additional information, contact GE toll-free at (866) 918-8760 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website.

Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

 

Best and Worst Buys for August

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From Kiplinger's article-

Best buys

Laptop bundles. Some retailers may offer two-for-the-price-of-one deals on laptops and consoles or laptops and printers. Be aware that to get these back-to-school deals, you might have to have a .edu e-mail address. However, deals from Newegg.com, OfficeMax and the Sony Store don't require any credentials.

Grills. Look for retailers such as Ace Hardware, hhgregg, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears and Walmart to slash prices on grills. As fall approaches and the temperatures drop, this could be the perfect time to buy a grill.

Summer apparel. Retailers will dramatically mark down summer apparel as they try to make room for fall clothes. Last year, the best deals came from Converse, Dickies, Eddie Bauer, French Connection, Kenneth Cole, Nautica, Old Navy and Patagonia.

Swimwear. Retailers will clear out their inventory this month, so expect retailers such as...

Keep reading

Capital One Customer Refund

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If you are a Capital One customer, keep reading! (Source: Consumerist.com)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the barbarians and/or vikings at Capital One went too far in pressuring and misleading the bank's credit card customers into paying for add-on products like payment protection and credit monitoring. Thus, around two million Cap One customers will be sharing in a refund of $140 million.

This is the first big-time enforcement action from the CFPB, which says that when some Capital One customers called up to activate their new cards, company reps would do everything they could to upsell them on unnecessary and unwanted services.

Among the CFPB's allegations:

* Capital One misled customers about the benefits of the products:
Company reps would sometimes tell customers that these add-on services would improve their credit scores and help them increase the credit limit on their Capital One credit card.

*Deceived customers about the nature of the products:
Capital One staffers sometimes forgot to mention that these services were optional. In other cases, says the CFPB, "consumers were wrongly told they were required to purchase the product in order to receive full information about it, but that they could cancel the product if they were not satisfied. Many of these consumers later had difficulty canceling when they called to do so."

Misled consumers about eligibility: Many of these so-called protection services are only intended to protect customers who lose their jobs or go on disability. Thus, customers who were already unemployed or on disability should not have been eligible. Yet, Capital One continued to enroll ineligible customers in these programs.

Misinformed customers about cost of the products: Some Cap One staffers led customers to believe the services were free.

Enrolled customers without their consent: Not only were some customers being enrolled without giving full consent, they also later had difficulty cancelling the services.

“Today’s action puts $140 million back in the pockets of two million Capital One customers who were pressured or misled into buying credit card products they didn’t understand, didn’t want, or in some cases, couldn’t even use,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray, taking time off from his duties as an NBC Studios page. “We are putting companies on notice that these deceptive practices are against the law and will not be tolerated.”

In addition to the $140 million refund, Capital One will pay a $25 million penalty for its transgressions.

The $140 million will go to all of the estimated two million consumers who either initially enrolled in one of these products on or after August 1, 2010, or who tried to cancel a product on or after August 1, 2010, but were persuaded to keep the product after speaking with a call center representative.

Affected customers will also receive a refund of the associated finance charges, any over-the-limit fees resulting from the charge for the product, and interest.

Current Capital One customers will see the refunds as a credit to their account. Those who have moved on from Cap One will get a check in the mail.

The CFPB says that affected customers don't need to take any further action to receive the refunds, but here is a page with more information.

 

Best Buys for July

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It pays to wait to score great deals! Here are some of the items you will find cheaper during July--

 

Black Friday in July

Beginning in July, we start to see Black Friday-labeled sales. While this trend appeared to have lessened in 2011  compared with 2010, there were still a few offenders. Target once again offered its "Back in Black Friday" sale in the middle of July, with other retailers following suit later in the summer. While enticing, be leery of the labeling; few of these Black Friday sales actually feature the rock-bottom pricing consumers come to expect from the "darkest" of shopping days.

 

A few choice sales bursting with savings on the Fourth

During Independence Day weekend last year, some vendors like Saks Fifth Avenue and Bebe offered their best sales of the year so far, while most stores (like Macy's) mainly peddled middle-of-the-road discounts. A discount is still money saved, but don't be tricked into thinking these are fleeting offers; many will reappear or could potentially get better if you carefully keep an eye out for a coupon. (Post continues below.)

First chance for sizable sandal sales midseason

As per usual with seasonal apparel items, the longer you wait this summer to buy sandals, the better the price you're likely to get. However, mid to late July is when we start to see some notable discounts on footwear. Look for flip-flops for under $5 and sales on popular brands like Steve Madden, Polo Ralph Lauren, Crocs and Teva.

 

Mixed messages on sunglasses

Many people crave a new pair of sunglasses in the middle of summer, but according to our deals last year, the best storewide sales (from retailers like Sunglass Hut and 6pm) popped up in September, November and December. That said, as far as individual shades styles go, we see Editors' Choice deals fairly consistently from Oakley and Ray-Ban throughout the year. So, if you're not picky about the style and you just want a great price on one of these top two sunglasses brands, set up an email alert and wait for an Editors' Choice deal to roll in at any time.

 

Grill deals slowly sizzle

Post-Independence Day sales at department and hardware stores tend to discount summer-friendly purchases like grills. However, if you can wait until August, you will likely see a greater selection of appealingly priced options; there were 30% more deals in August of last year than there were for July. That said, June this year already saw a greater number of grill deals compared with last year, and hopefully that trend will continue throughout July and into August.

 

Wait until September or October for patio sets

We saw a large spike in patio and garden items in September, but October brought the best markdowns. Several patio sets and gardening items from Sears, Amazon and other merchants hit their lowest prices in October, when they were available for significantly less than we had seen over the summer. If you can wait to replace your existing patio set, cooler months will offer better deals on outdoor goods than July.

 

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