Try these gift ideas for the football fans on your list.

• NFL Reebok replica jerseys at Amazon.com
• Madden NFL 10 by Electronic Arts from Amazon.com
• Life-sized NFL wall graphics from fathead.com
• The NFL Gameday Cookbook by Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe from Amazon.com
• E-mail gift certificate from NFLShop.com

Or visit an official NFL team pro shop online:

That’s where College Gift Finder 2009 comes in. I’ve updated and directly linked to the online shops of more than 1,300 U.S. four-year colleges. The index compiles 1,644 links, organized alphabetically by college and by state. New this year are links to Fathead’s line of collegiate wall graphics and the Victoria’s Secret PINK Collegiate Collection.

So if you need a gift for someone who is college-bound or a proud alum, be sure to visit the updated College Gift Finder.

• eDivvy.com
  An organizer chooses a gift from partners like Amazon, Apple, Macy’s and REI. Then eDivvy sends the organizer’s e-mail, inviting people to give by a deadline. Once the group meets its gift amount goal, the merchant ships the gift to the recipient.

• FrumUs
  Set up a virtual collection envelope via PayPal. E-mail your group to gain contributions then shop at FrumUs partners like Amazon.com, Buy.com, Cooking.com and more.

Note: FromGroup.com is no longer online.

Browse these web sites for hotel comfort gifts for home. High-end linens make a fine second anniversary gift. (Cotton is the traditional anniversary gift.)

• Hilton to Home
• Hyatt at Home
• Shop Marriott
• Omni Hotels at Home
• The Ritz-Carlton Shops
• W Hotels: The Store
• Distinctly Waldorf (The Waldorf=Astoria)
• Westin at Home (also Nordstrom, pictured above)
• Wyndham at Home

Why do companies indelibly tattoo these tags on their products? Several left sticky glue residue on the underside of the bowls. eHow offers six suggestions for removing this sticker gunk. Plus, eHow offers advice for removing labels that involves Q-tips, rubbing alcohol and razor blades. So I need to become MacGyver or a field surgeon to rid these stickers.

That’s just the tags. Some manufacturers humanproof their stuff in hard-plastic clamshell cases, requiring heavy-duty scissors or the Zibra Open It Universal Package Opener to cleave them open. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 6,000 Americans seek medical attention each year trying to pry open these clamshells. Toy manufacturers also contribute to wrap rage with the two dozen plastic twisty ties in their packaging. The reason for imprisoning the gifts you buy: theft prevention.

Thankfully, Amazon.com began a “frustration-free” package initiative in 2008, spanning several years. Amazon’s first easy-to-open product, which I gave my nephew for his birthday, is the Fisher-Price Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship. Find more frustration-free packaged gifts here. Best of all, Amazon has yet to adhere any stickers to the stuff I’ve ordered.

#10. Southwest Airlines
“Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines attributes its customer-service success to personality… and free peanuts.” Consider a Southwest gift card.

#9. Costco
“The company’s prices have also won Costco fans. Costco stocks its stores with bulk items that consumers can buy at discounts. It keeps its margins low in order to keep prices down and makes up the difference in sales volume.” Shop at Costco.com.

#8. Apple
“If they can’t fix it, and it’s new enough, they’ll often hand you a replacement device free, on the spot.” Visit the Apple Store.

#7. Whole Foods Market
“[Whole Foods] has created a loyal following by committing to sell high-quality food that’s free of many additives and antibiotics that concern health-conscious customers.” Order a Whole Foods gift card.

#6. Publix Super Market
“[Spokeswoman Maria] Brous also attributes Publix’s success to discount programs intended to help struggling families afford the basics.” Purchase a Publix gift card.

#5. Nordstrom Department Store
“The company gives many of its salespeople the latitude to deal with customer complaints without running them up the management chain.” Shop at Nordstrom.com.

#4. Amazon.com
“Amazon considers its free shipping a form of advertising. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon said it had saved customers more than $800 million in shipping costs in 2008.” Shop at Amazon.com.

#3. NetFlix
“Netflix has 58 distribution centers across the country, enabling 97% of members to receive new DVDs the day after Netflix gets their returns, says Steve Swasey, the company’s director of corporate communications. The company ships more than 2.2 million DVDs each day to a network of 10.3 million subscribers, he says.” Give a NetFlix gift subscription.

#2. Trader Joe’s
“Trader Joe’s owes its customer ratings to its cheese, chocolate cake… and the rest of its product selection, says satisfied shopper Lisa Hsu.” See TraderJoes.com for the closest grocery store location. TJ’s does not sell its products (not even their gift cards) online.

#1. USAA
“USAA certainly isn’t your average insurance company or financial institution. Its 7 million members are all in the military, former servicemen or family members of military personnel. Members are stakeholders. They pay premiums and are paid back a portion of the insurer’s profits each year.” If you qualify for USAA services, visit USAA.com to learn more about buying a U.S. savings bond as a kid’s gift. Albeit practical, savings bonds help children understand the power of growing interest.

MSN Money based its top ten on a survey of 3,015 respondents, rating the customer service of 145 companies in 15 industries. Zogby International conducted the survey and also asked which aspect of service was most important. The results (rounded up) are as follows:

• Knowledgeable staff – 44%
• Friendly staff – 18%
• Readily available staff – 15%
• Flexible policies for return/exchange of merchandise – 9%
• Service after the sale – 9%
• None — product is all that matters – 1%
• Not sure – 1%
• Other – %1

That’s a great customer follow-up use of social media. Gazelle’s prompt response made me think about other sites I frequent. How many of my favorite retailers are using Twitter? And when did they start posting tweets? I compiled the table below using Twitter’s “Find People” search and MyTweet16, which lists a Twitter user’s first 16 tweets.

Retailers Using Twitter

Of the 40 retailers above, grocery chain Trader Joe’s use of Twitter impressed me the most. Nearly all of Trader Joe’s posts are simply retweets of customer talking about TJ’s food and beverages on Twitter. (Jargon alert: Retweets repeat someone else’s message on Twitter — crediting the author — to help spread the message to others. Often abbreviated as RT, it’s word of mouth, Twitter-style.)

Finally, as I’m writing this post, Gazelle sent me another Twitter reply. This time, Gazelle thanked me for my tweet and offered me a 5% bump in value on my next Gazelle gadget trade-in.

I worked with JoAnn to create a custom illustration of our home. First, I sent her a few photos just after the house was freshly painted. I even gave her the Benjamin Moore paint sample strips. JoAnn sent back a beautiful color illustration in pen ink, watercolor and colored pencil. Then I had Michaels, the arts-and-crafts store, frame the portrait. My wife was delighted when I gave her our home portrait as a Christmas gift. We hung the portrait in our living room, and JoAnn’s work still draws praise from our guests. (Disclosure: The image above is from JoAnn’s home portrait collection and not my own home.)

Prices range from $130 to $475 for a custom illustration. Choose black-and-white or color. After contacting JoAnn to tailor your portrait request, you mail a check or money order for half of the illustration’s cost to start work. A home portrait is ideal for a birthday, anniversary, housewarming or Christmas present.

• Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
• Indiana University
• Michigan State University
• New York University
• Oklahoma State University
• Oregon State University
• Purdue University
• Rutgers University
• Syracuse University
• Stanford University
• State University of New York Binghamton University
• United States Naval Academy
• University of Central Florida
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Connecticut
• University of Iowa
• University of Louisville
• University of Missouri – Columbia (Mizzou)
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of South Florida
• University of Virginia
• Virginia Tech
• Washington State University
• West Virginia University

 

The sleepwear/lingerie retailer chose the two dozen new schools through online voting, bringing the collection to 58 colleges. I added all of the Victoria’s Secret schools to Gift Giving Guy’s College Gift Finder.

Update: Victoria’s Secret discontinued some colleges and dropped some from online purchase, so I removed links for 14 colleges above.