Consumerist
explanations
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success stories
Honest E-mail To Priceline Gets Executive Customer Service Attention
Mohamed made a mistake, forgetting to use his Priceline bonus cash on a transaction. He contacted Priceline through their online help interface and was stunned at the quick and helpful response he received. His request was forwarded straight to the executive customer service team, and taken care of immediately. More » -
Oops
Trash Crew Helpfully Hauls Away Brand-New Dryer
It's rather nice to live in a city or town where municipal trash pickup will haul away your old, unwanted appliances. When they haul your brand-new appliances away, though, you've got a problem. That's what happened to a West Virginia couple, whose dryer disappeared from in front of their house before they had a chance to install it—at the same time the city hauled away their old washing machine. More » -
disclaimers
Ecosense Brand Insecticide Not Eco-Friendly, Makes No Sense
Reader Dan came across Ortho's Ecosense insecticide in the store, and noticed something strange. The name "Ecosense" implies some kind of crunchy environmental friendliness, does it not? Why, it's even written in green right on the package. So why does the package also have the disclaimer, "not intended to imply environmental safety either alone or compared to other products"? More » -
Pixar
Disney Claims "Up" DVD Missing Captions Were A Mistake
Many Consumerist readers wrote to Disney about the missing captions in rental editions of the Pixar movie "Up," either because they were personally affected or they found the omission offensive. In their response, Disney at least acknowledges the unique issue and promises to make up for the mistake of consumers submit proof that they rented "Up." More » -
This looks shopped
Fashion Photographer Offers $5,000 Reward For Demi Moore's Hip
Demi Moore and W cover photographer Anthony Citrano disagree about whether the infamous picture of Moore was modified to Photoshop out a chunk of her hip. They took their argument to the court of public opinion: Twitter. More » -
Don't Be Evil
Google Bans Scammy Advertisers From Network
At last, someone has taken a stand against the tooth whitener ad menace. It's no tiny or obscure ad network: it's Google. The company has decided to live up to its "don't be evil" motto and ban advertisers who place ads that lead to sites peddling products like scammy free trials, get-rich-quick schemes, and malware. Previously, they would ban individual ads, but not advertisers. This was akin to playing a massive game of whack-a-mole with thousands of identical "local moms" who had identified the secret to weight loss. Or tooth whitening. Or stretch marks. Or... More » -
Maple Syrup
Cracker Barrel Maple Syrup Struck By Shrink Ray And Sugar Ray
Reader Kimaroo noticed that something was amiss with the with the single-serve bottle of maple syrup she receives with her French toast at Cracker Barrel. Not only did it seem smaller, she could have sworn that the bottle used to contain 100% maple syrup instead of "100% Pure Natural Syrup." Fortunately, she had another bottle from a different Cracker Barrel visit stashed at home, and was able to compare the ingredients. Indeed, her maple syrup had been hit by the Grocery Sugar Ray: nearly half of its mapley goodness has been replaced with cane syrup. More » -
eBay
All-Day eBay Search Outage Frustrates Shoppers, Angers Sellers
eBay shoppers and particularly eBay buyers are annoyed after a back-end outage has kept shoppers from searching and from viewing sellers' stores for most of the day. While the site posted a workaround that makes it possible for users to search, it's unlikely that most casual shoppers will find and use the workaround. More » -
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Food
Ground Beef Gains Time-Travel Ability
Nick didn't notice the label on this package of ground beef until after he brought it home. Seeing how he bought it on November 20, 2009, and the label claims that it was packaged on August 8, 2004, he's a little confused. More » -
Prison
At Least The Prison Economy Is Flourishing
We might be dealing with low inflation and even a falling cost of living, but not everyone in the United States is dealing with the same economic woes. Americans who are in prison have their own economy—one with rampant inflation, alleged price-fixing, and a fish packet-based economy. More » -
Checks
Fewer Consumers Write Personal Checks, Fewer Retailers Accept Them
Reader broncobiker sent us the photo at left, wondering whether check acceptance policies might be getting a little out of hand. But checks have so much potential for fraud, and so few shoppers use them, that many merchants have just stopped accepting them entirely. More » -
Credit Reports
Sorry, No Mortgage: Experian Says That You're Dead
Shortly after surviving the death of her husband and a life-threatening medical crisis, Ann Howe of Seattle decided to refinance her home mortgage. Everything went smoothly until the bank informed her that the refinance couldn't be completed because the credit bureau Experian was convinced that she was dead. More » -
Banking
What Is A Money Market Account?
If you visit your local bank, you might advertisements for money market accounts. You might be familiar with CDs, checking and savings accounts, but money market probably sounds fancy and exotic. Fortunately, they're not. More » -
Xbox
Possible Class-Action Suit Alleges Xbox Bans Result Of Vast Redmond Conspiracy
Microsoft has declared that the owners of banned Xbox consoles have no recourse and no choice but to buy new consoles. Some users see this as unfair and a vast Redmond conspiracy, and law firm AbingtonIP is fighting back with a class-action lawsuit. God bless America. More » -
Digital Cameras
Kodak: Your Camera Has A Beach Mode, So Don't Take It To The Beach
Brandy's Kodak digital camera comes with several pre-set modes, one of which is "beach." However, when her camera stopped working after a trip to the beach, she reports that Kodak's mystifying response to her service request was that just because a digital camera has a setting for taking photos at the beach, that doesn't mean that you should actually take it to the beach. More » -
dubious
Police: Gang Was Killing People For Fat, Attempting To Sell It To Cosmetic Companies
Police in Peru say that they've caught a group that was allegedly killing people and harvesting their fat to sell to Europeans who wanted it for cosmetics. More » -
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Flickr
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
Here are six wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Check 'em out! More »
