No one can escape the laws of physics, but businesses should at least try to follow the rule of “don’t sell people things that you have no intention of providing.” An Ohio woman claims that a local tanning salon sold her a monthly package for $70, then told her that she wouldn’t be allowed to use most of the beds because she’s too fat. [More]
Tanning Salon Tells Woman She’s Too Fat To Bronze, Won’t Give Refund
By April 22, 2013
Well, At Least Most People Aren’t Stingy Jerks When They Tip
By April 4, 2013
Tipping is a hot topic here on Consumerist, and…well, everywhere else online too. Common decency dictates that when you use a coupon or otherwise get discounted services or chow, you should still tip based on the original sticker price. Makes sense, right? And yet, a recent survey shows that 26% of adults who say that they leave tips claim that they tip based on the post-coupon total. For shame! [More]
Coffee Shop Owner: Quit Asking Me To Offer Suspended Coffees Already
By April 2, 2013
Last week, we explained why we think that the “suspended coffee” movement that allegedly began in Naples, spread all over Bulgaria, and exploded on Facebook isn’t such a hot idea. But don’t just take it from us: the owner of an independent London coffee shop weighed in on the movement. Her take: it’s insulting that people think independent coffee shops don’t already help people who look like they could use a warm cup of coffee, and you should support your local indie shop. Well, that second part was predictable. [More]
Is The USPS More Likely To Lose Boxes Emblazoned With The Word ‘Atheist’?
By March 27, 2013
Here’s something odd. Would you think that packages would get lost more or less often according to the brand on the box or the words on their packaging? That shouldn’t be the case. A German company that sells handmade, minimalist shoes, did a cool branding thing and uses tape with the company’s name printed on it to seal their shipping boxes. That company’s name? “Atheist.” They noticed that a lot of packages sent to the United States were significantly delayed, and wondered why that was. So they conducted an experiment. That experiment proved that if you want a package to get lost, brand it with the word “ATHEIST.” [More]
Nobody At Brother USA Knows How To Forward An E-Mail
By March 26, 2013
Fifty years ago, while her husband was in the military and stationed in Japan, Lance’s grandmother bought a lovely Brother sewing machine. She has now handed it down to Lance’s wife. The nice thing is that she still had the manual, but that manual is only in Japanese, since the machine was only sold on the Japanese market. The machine has all kinds of advanced features that Mrs. Lance can’t access, because she can’t read Japanese. Maybe, Lance thought, Brother has the manual available for purchase, or even in digital form. [More]
FTD Salvages Fiancée’s Birthday Present After Florist Tries To Kill Her With Lilies
By March 1, 2013
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter all that much when a florist substitutes in a different flower from the one you ordered, and sometimes it matters very much. In the case of Andy’s fiancée, it’s actually kind of important for her to not get a certain kind of flower, because she’s allergic to it. It’s no fun to get flowers for your birthday if you can’t be in the same room as them. [More]
This 1-800-Flowers ‘Deluxe Fruit And Gourmet Basket’ Is Some Bruised Fruit, Beef Jerky, And Cheese Nips
By February 27, 2013
It’s not that David expected earth-shattering things from a 1-800-Flowers gift basket. He didn’t expect it to look exactly like the photo at left, especially since he ordered a smaller size. He was expecting something that didn’t look like your what lazy bachelor(ette) friend who can’t cook dredged up in the back of their kitchen cabinets to bring to your Super Bowl Party. [More]
FTD Thinks ‘A Different Vase Is OK’ And ‘Change The Flowers Entirely’ Mean The Same Thing
By February 25, 2013
At high-volume times like Valentine’s Day, and at any other time, really, flower-delivery services like FTD reserve the right to substitute something similar if they don’t have the exact item in stock that you want. Mark was upset shortly after Valentine’s Day because he ordered an arrangement that had a purple container, purple flowers, and some white lilies in it. Purple is her favorite color, you see, and lilies are her favorite flower. Isn’t Mark thoughtful? Speaking for the ladies of America, he is. He’s also really mad. [More]
More Valentine’s Day Mishaps From Proflowers
By February 20, 2013
Mykel picked out a lovely bouquet for his fiancée from Proflowers, but the lovely and lush bouquet isn’t what showed up on her desk. What she got had a lot fewer flowers than it had looked like on the site. [More]
Florists Hate FTD And Teleflora Even More Than Disappointed Girlfriends Do
By February 15, 2013
As a customer, you see ads from the ancient florist wire services like FTD and Teleflora. Readers write in and complain to us about those specific brands, since that’s the website they visit and the brand name that’s familiar. When you order up some flowers, though, that’s not who brings them to your door. It’s locally-owned florists, small business owners, who actually arrange and deliver your gifts. They might receive orders from the wire services, but often earn no profit or even take a loss on putting it together. [More]
The 2013 Valentine’s Day Garden Of Discontent
By February 15, 2013
This year, the major national flower-distribution networks were just as busy as usual on Valentine’s Day. Busy being terrible at their jobs. Maybe the vast majority of flower arrangements ended up where they were supposed to and looked more or less correct, but it’s the outliers that make both senders and recipients feel like crap. When the vast floral-industrial complex markets to us with the message that the quality of the flowers we send or receive is a proxy for the quality of our love, then they should go out of their way not to screw that up for us. Right? [More]
FTD Kicks Off The Valentine’s Day Disappointment Season With Subpar Roses On February 11th
By February 12, 2013
Alex tried to beat the rush. He had a dozen roses delivered to his lady’s workplace on Monday, February 11th, paying $96 for the privilege. Whatever he expected, it was not what appears in the photo that he sent: even properly lit, there’s a lot more green and a lot less luscious red rose in that picture than there should be. [More]
Gym Staff Member Bullies Couple For Being Fat, So They Want Out Of Their Contract
By February 5, 2013
It’s hard enough some days to motivate oneself to get off the couch and head to the gym: what if you had to worry about being bullied and harassed by one of the staff personal trainers whenever you’re inside the facility? That’s what’s happening to Shayla and her husband. Now they want to be released from their contract, presumably so they can go to a different gym with fewer jerks on staff. [More]
Rockport Sends Me Same Size Shoes, Different Sized Insoles
By February 4, 2013
If Aaron had different-sized feet, he’d be all set. Well, also if his shoes were different sizes. Neither is true. He ordered some Rockport shoes more than a year ago, then set them aside. When he opened the box, he discovered that they had two different size insoles. How does that happen? He doesn’t know, but Rockport isn’t willing to send him a replacement insole. [More]
Customer Sues L.A. Fitness, Says Pervy Trainers Gave Her ‘Suggestive’ Exercises
By January 31, 2013
No one expects their workout with a personal trainer to be comfortable, but they also don’t expect to be sexually harassed, either. A Dallas woman is suing her local branch of L.A. Fitness, claiming that two different trainers at the gym made lewd comments to her and gave her what she considers “suggestive” exercises to do in front of them. Now she’s suing for Deceptive Trade Practices and Negligence, claiming that she kept up her end of the gym contract (paid her bills, didn’t break any rules) but that L.A. Fitness didn’t provide a safe workout environment. [More]
No One At Snapfish Knows How To Upload A Photo That Won’t Be Cropped
By January 10, 2013
Gil was under the impression that a company that lets you print photo books would actually let him add in his own collages without cropping the heck out of them. Not so fast, Gil! He wrote in to let us know that his issues with the Snapfish book-making interface were bad, but his problems with the company’s customer service were even worse. He worked on a book of his pictures from his sister’s wedding, laying out the pages in collages and taking a lot of care to do so. The Snapfish software cropped his photos very severely, and no one in customer service could help him. His book got delayed long past his holiday deadline. [More]
Abercrombie Kids Can’t Count To Three, Exists Outside Of Reality
By December 11, 2012
David has a problem with clothing vendor Abercrombie Kids. They don’t know how to count to three. This would be an issue for many kindergarteners, but is especially problematic for a retailer that offers three-day shipping. Well, maybe someone there knows how to count to three, or even past three. It’s pretty hard to run a business otherwise. The problem is that the shirt that he ordered eight days ago, paying for three-day shipping, still isn’t here. It’s been shipped, but still wasn’t on its way. The shipment had been picked up, but the shirt hadn’t been shipped. It’s interesting that Abercrombie can exist outside of all normal rules of reality like that, but David just wants his daughter’s blouse already. [More]
What Kohl’s Does When It Ships An Extra Item: Charges Me For It, Denies A Refund
By December 7, 2012
Consumerist reader Rebecca sounds like a reasonable person. Sure, she’s jealous of the people (this reader and then this reader, too)who get extra iPads sent to them by Best Buy, but she’s not expecting any kind of freebies from Kohl’s in the same situation with a different product. But instead of even a simple “Thanks for noticing we messed up!” she got punished for trying to do the right thing and return the extra item. [More]
