Too bad. Rolling over like a puppy never achieves anything.

I will be more than happy to ply Keith's girlfriend with beer whenever she is thirsty.

you know what Bambino, it's not what I'd have done either, but it's Keith's Girlfriend's decision and whatever she's comfortable with. I'm sure Ben & C'ist have enough readers in Boston to get the point across.

Hmm. By not facing this issue head-on (I'm thinking about the contacting the manager option), Keith's girlfriend is becoming part of the problem, and allowing complete assholes like that clerk to get away with outrageous behavior just encourages him, and others like him, to continue.

Oh no! They said a particular beer doesn't exist and made you cry about it? Maybe your threshold for crying needs to be adjusted just a tad higher or we'll have to send flowers when your milk goes bad a day early.

Yeah, true. I just hate to see innocent people tormented without retribution. Guess I read the old testament one too many times.

i'm with bambino. our collective over-the-top fear of confrontation is regrettable. esp if she felt victimized/bullied, standing up for one's self is the right thing to do.

There might have been more appropriate "retribution" on the girlfriend's part if Ben & Co. didn't blow this up into such a huge thing. Read what she has to say - she doesn't want to have to defend stuff that had nothing to do with her experience at the store. Who can blame her?

So the store employee was a prick. He should be reprimanded. But fired? "Skull-fucked?" How old are you guys again?

At some point Consumerist.com will decide whether they're fun, obnoxious assholes who make random adolescent comments and amuse us with tales of various consumer slights, or if they'll actually become effective consumer advocates. As the latter, they'll pick their battles a little more wisely and not have to have their asses handed to them by rightly-perturbed store managers. As the former, they'll fade away along with Von Dutch trucker caps.

M-Cube, I've been trying to work out how to say that very thing since I read this post this morning.

Since you guys have been receiving so much attention (and getting results from big companies) I think you're really doing yourself a disservice by posting this kind of stuff.

If some old lady comes to look for help from a referral by the readers digest article and reads your prank calls you only lose credibility with the people and companies who youre trying to effect.

You've exhibited this juvenile behaviour before (the infamous threadless posts)you'd think you'd have leared the difference between empowerment and entitlement by now.

While no one likes to be treated like crap, this is one small liquor store. As many people have pointed out, this guy is just an asshole in a dead-end job, so no surprise he's a douche. The Geraldo-esque phone tactics just make this experience that much more depressing to hear about. I think Consumerist would be better spending their efforts working at stuff that affects more people.

Essentially what Magicube said, but this has been bugging me.

if i wanted consumer reports, i'd pick up a subscription.