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Thousands Of Floridians Line Up To Remind Us That Not Everyone Has A 52" 3D TV
By Chris Morran on January 26, 2012 11:15 AM
119 Comments
It's been years since over-the-air broadcasts switched to a digital signal, requiring everyone with an old school TV and an antenna to go out and get a set-top converter box so they can drool over Mark Harmon on NCIS. But lest you think that means everyone has jumped on the digital bandwagon, there are still pockets of TV viewers living in an analog world. More »
Circle K Staffer Fired For Foiling Armed Robbery
By Chris Morran on December 30, 2011 2:15 PM
83 Comments
Imagine you're working at a Circle K (or any other store of its type) when a trio of wannabe robbers enter and begin waving a gun at you. What do you do? And more importantly, are you thinking about company policy or your own safety? More »
Tampa Woman Lines Up 9 Days Early For Best Buy's Black Friday Sale
By Chris Morran on November 17, 2011 5:00 PM
149 Comments
While thousands of people her age are busy camping out in various Occupy movements around the country, a Florida woman decided last night to occupy the sidewalk outside her local Best Buy in order to be the first person to be disappointed by the Black Friday offerings on Nov. 25. More »
Man Sues Bank Of America For Handing His Account Over To Someone With The Same Name
By Chris Morran on November 16, 2011 11:30 AM
47 Comments
A man in Greece has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America, alleging that the financial institution screwed up and gave his account — and his $59,000 — to another person with the same name. More »
Man Tries To Rob Burger King With A Sock
By Ben Popken on November 9, 2011 2:00 PM
31 Comments
You know the economy is bad when crooks can't even afford decent stick-up weapons. Police have arrested a man who tried to rob a Burger King, using a sock. More »
How A Sheriff Uses His 10,000 Facebook Fans To Solve Crimes
By Ben Popken on October 31, 2011 10:00 AM
20 Comments
Sheriff Al Lamberti, 54, is like The Consumerist with a badge and a gun. More »
Copper Traded For Crack
By Ben Popken on October 26, 2011 4:00 PM
51 Comments
Some enterprising drug dealers are helping copper thieves cut out the middleman. They're accepting copper pipe as legal tender in exchange for crack cocaine. More »
(Reddit)
Lime Mexican Grill Turns Arizona Immigration Controversy Into Marketing
By Chris Morran on September 28, 2011 12:15 PM
69 Comments
Among the many hot-button debates of the last few years has been the state of Arizona's controversial proposals to deal with the issue of illegal immigration. But while both sides of the debate take the topic very seriously, the folks at Southeastern restaurant chain Lime Mexican Grill have decided to have some fun with it. More »
Comcast Installer Arrested For Exposing & Playing With His Cable In Front Of Customer
By Chris Morran on September 20, 2011 3:30 PM
108 Comments
Whenever you open the door for a cable installer, plumber, contractor, etc, you are not only trusting that these people will do a decent job — or at least the job they are being paid to do — but that they won't violate your trust by, ya know, exposing their genitals and masturbating in your living room. More »
(Broward Sheriff's Office)
Man Arrested While Siphoning 250 Gallons From Gas Station
By Ben Popken on September 9, 2011 2:00 PM
82 Comments
Sometimes gas siphoning thieves are found when they accidentally get gas in their mouths when trying to initiate the transfer from a gas tank to their canisters. This one was caught after the gas station owner got suspicious about the minivan sitting on his lot. When police arrived, they opened the doors to find a generator-powered vacuum slurping up 250 gallons of diesel from the station's tanks into the plastic drums inside the retrofitted van. More »
Anti-Baggy Pants Bill Takes Effect In Florida Schools
By Ben Popken on September 6, 2011 12:00 PM
135 Comments
Senator Gary Siplin of Florida greeted returning high school students this week by personally handing out leather belts. It was a reminder that the law he got passed last spring, which requires that schools adopt dress codes that ban baggy, saggy, and underwear-showing pants, was now in full effect. More »
Orlando Shell Station Charges $5.59/Gallon, Shocking Drivers
By Ben Popken on August 31, 2011 3:00 PM
141 Comments
Gas prices are high, but $5.59 a gallon? That's what drivers pulling up to a Shell station at in Orlando, FL are paying. They say they don't find out what the price is until they get their receipt. Talk about Shell-shock. More »
Walmart Shopper Sacrifices Minivan To Stop Shoplifters From Fleeing
By Chris Morran on August 24, 2011 10:15 AM
107 Comments
A customer at a Florida Walmart was one of several people who spotted two women run out the store's front door with a cart full of allegedly stolen merchandise. And when he saw this pair try to escape in a car, he decided it was time to intervene. More »
Waitress Gets Revenge On Tough Customers By Skimming Their Credit Cards
By Chris Morran on August 16, 2011 1:15 PM
80 Comments
A waitress at a Port Richey, FL, restaurant was recently arrested for allegedly using a credit card skimmer to steal customers' information for the purposes of creating bogus cards. But, she tells the police, the customers she cheated were not nice to her anyway. More »
Bank Tries To Foreclose On Gas Station Owner For Being One Day Late With Mortgage Payment
By Ben Popken on August 4, 2011 11:00 AM
59 Comments
A gas station owner in Florida's monthly mortgage payment bounced on October 12th. The next day he put the money required into the bank account. In November and December he tried to make his mortgage payments as normal, but BB&T wouldn't take his money. 10 months later, they still won't take it. Instead, they want to foreclose on his gas station. All for being one day late. More »
Florida Restaurant Sues Wendy's Over "You Can't Fake Fresh" Slogan
By Chris Morran on July 15, 2011 1:15 PM
46 Comments
Many of the trademark infringement stories we cover involve mammoth corporations picking on smaller, unrelated businesses, but this one's a bit different. A small chain of seafood restaurants in Florida has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Wendy's over the use of the phrase "You can't fake fresh." More »
Recession Turns Homeowner Association Fights Brutal
By Ben Popken on July 13, 2011 10:00 AM
110 Comments
Florida is full of condo complexes run by homeowner's associations. After you've bought and paid for your condo, all you have to do is pay the monthly maintenance fees and you get trim lawns, a snappy billiards room, and a clean shuffleboard area. But as the economy stews in its own juices, the AP reports, some seniors living on a fixed income are having trouble making these monthly payments - and no wonder, with special assessments of $6,000 - and are getting foreclosed on by their own neighbors for as little as being 60 days past due on their fees. Some of them have also stopped making payments in protest over things like the rats, and the sewage raining on their head: More »
Retiree Loses Everything After Bank Mistakes His House For Foreclosure
By Ben Popken on June 27, 2011 10:00 AM
198 Comments
An eighty-two year old Tampa Bay man has lost everything he owns, including pictures of his dead wife, after a clean-out crew hired by Bank of America mistook his house for the foreclosure next door. More »
Homeowners Bring Sheriff's Deputies To Bank Of America Branch To Collect Unpaid Debt
By Chris Morran on June 3, 2011 1:30 PM
81 Comments
Earlier today, in a move not terribly dissimilar to the Philadelphia homeowner who attempted to "foreclose" on Wells Fargo, a Florida couple showed up at a Bank of America branch with two sheriff's deputies, ready to claim office assets to satisfy an unpaid debt. More »
(scp333)
Lightning Fan Outsmarts HOA's No Sign Rule
By Ben Popken on May 9, 2011 11:00 AM
110 Comments
A Tampa Bay Lightning fan showed his support over his team getting into the Eastern Conference finals by putting a sign on his lawn that said "Go Bolts!" which was unfortunately in violation of his Homeowner Association's "no signs" rule. They informed him of this violation via a letter with a picture of his house, a letter that also revealed a caveat. Security signs were allowed. So at the top of the sign he wrote in small letters, "Protected by:" and at the bottom he wrote "security." Nice deke! More »
