Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Scams, Lies and Dirty Tricks

Researching discounters has its ups and downs. This last week though I had more than the usual frustrations with so called “discount” retailers.

One store had huge banner ads on the outside of their building claiming 50% off retail on Closeout Furniture. Further investigation proved that it was a scam.

DLM Off Price Closing

The New Year can sometimes bring depressing news, especially in retail.

Along with some of the major big retailers downsizing or disappearing, I got the news that DLM Off Price is closing

Retail Pricing

Retail pricing! OY! What a headache that is for shoppers to figure out.  As we have all seen, Retailers will hide, manipulate and deceive you.  With Macys, Khols, JC Penny and Sears finally getting sued for misleading comparison pricing. Here’s what we all need to know.

Disappointed

Maybe I shouldn’t be so hopeful. Or maybe it’s this seriously wacko election… or maybe I just thought the current laws in place would protect consumers. But I recently learned, for a fact that many well known Sample Sales sites ask their vendors to over inflate the retail price so the discounts look steeper. What a disappointment!

Futile Anger

I hate getting ripped off. But I particularly hate it when I can’t vent my anger to someone who will do anything about it.

We got a recall notice for the passenger air bag for our 2008 Honda Civic. Since our daughter is the primary driver of this car, she took it into Roberston Honda in North Hollywood.

A Few Days Away

Summer speed by so quickly that we were almost left without any breathing room. A hasty getaway was arranged at the last minute and we went off on basically a road trip up to the Central Coast.

We didn’t have a real itinerary, but wanted to land in Paso Robles for at least for two days of wine tasting.

Annoying Calls

Our business, BargainsLA works out of our home office. We have only one land line for both the house and the business. Though we used to get lots of phone calls and at one time had two separate phone lines, we are down to one and are now considering cutting that line as well.

Getting the Pricing Wrong

As avid Thrift store and Estate Sale junkies we’ve seen everything from high-end home furnishings to serious junk heaps.

Before we headed out to a couple of Estate Sales on Saturday, we decided to stop into Habitat for Humanity Restore in Atwater/ Glendale area. We are on the look out for a faucet for our utility sink in our garage.

This trip proved that even a great philanthropic charity like Habitat Restores can get it wrong.

Un Boxed

There is so much deception in the marketplace. Few if any retailers are remotely truthful anymore. Promises are made, with the hope that you the consumer won’t check anything out.

I got rather annoyed with a new business that’s been saying it’s a good deal. You may have caught their ads all over cable and network TV. They guarantee the lowest pricing and have no membership fee. But all is not as it appears to be at Boxed.com.

Why Free Shipping is So Important

Now that we are paying sales tax on internet purchases, getting free shipping is super important.

If you reside in California, besides the 9.75% sales tax you will pay on the product, if there are additional, separate shipping charges, you will also pay sales tax on those charges as well.