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leaks
leaks
(teksmith)
How Booze Keeps Getting Served In Sippy Cups To Kids At Restaurants
By Ben Popken on May 23, 2011 2:45 PM
74 Comments
We've had a few stories about toddlers accidentally getting served alcohol inside sippy cups by the waiters at big-name chain restaurants and wondered, how in the heck did that happen? According to what some restaurant insiders say, there's a very simple and sad explanation. More »
Insider Debunks The 9 Extended Warranty Sales Pitches
By Ben Popken on February 24, 2011 1:00 PM
105 Comments
Here are 9 of the most common lines salespeople try to feed you in order to get you to buy an extended warranty, debunked by an insider. His job is training and development in this 3rd-party service plan industry, a job he's leaving soon because he's sick of the "half-truths and deceptions" it foists on consumers... which he will now reveal to you. More »
Updated: Buy Gas From Shell Last Weekend? Check Your Card For Double Billing
on Saturday, January 29 2011, (update: readers report double-billing throughout the whole weekend and Shell says they're looking to expand the affected time period) and paid with plastic, you should check your card statement to see if you got double-billed. StorefrontBacktalk got hold of a confidential memo which said that a telco outage resulted in 401,120 double-billed transactions having to be reversed for a total of $12,135,608.19 in refunds. While the reversals should be automatic, some people with low balances did get charged overdraft and other fees because of the mistake, fees they should not have to pay More »
By Ben Popken on February 3, 2011 5:00 PM
26 Comments
If you filled up with gas from Shell 
AT&T To Change Text Message Packages And Chuck Some Upgrade Discounts
By Ben Popken on January 20, 2011 4:00 PM
61 Comments
Is it cellphone plan adverse tweak season? Now AT&T is changing up its text message plans and doubling the per message rate for going over them, and getting rid of some upgrade discounts, reports Engadget, going off a leaked internal document. More »
Verizon Confirms "New Every Two" Is Ending
By Ben Popken on January 19, 2011 3:00 PM
54 Comments
Verizon has confirmed the information in the leaked slide we reported on two weeks ago. They're ending their "New Every Two" policy. New customers after Jan 16 won't get the credit, and current customers won't get the credit after their next contract renewal. More »
Verizon Switching "New Every Two" Plan To 20 Months?
By Ben Popken on January 6, 2011 10:00 AM
50 Comments
Verizon Wireless could be changing it's "new every two" upgrade policy, making customers wait until their contract is almost up before they upgrade phones, according to what appears to be a leaked internal slide posted at Android Central. More »
(pbump)
Sanitation Whistleblowers Say Department Intentionally Delayed NYC Snow Removal
By Ben Popken on December 30, 2010 12:00 PM
157 Comments
Was the slow snow removal in New York City the result of a planned Sanitation Department protest to make the Mayor pay for reducing their staff? That's what several whistleblowers are reportedly saying, according to the New York Post. More »
How Does The Gawker Privacy Leak Concern Consumerist Users?
December 13, 2010 10:45 AM
120 Comments
If you've got an account on Gawker.com or any of its sister sites (Kotaku, Gizmodo, Deadspin and Jezebel among others), you'll probably want to change your passwords because anonymous hackers have swiped usernames, email addresses and passwords and made them available via a torrent file. And by change your password, we potentially mean all of them. Now. More »
FBI Warns Video Camera Barbie Could Be Used For Kiddie Porn
By Ben Popken on December 8, 2010 10:00 AM
51 Comments
The FBI is downplaying a leaked internal memo that reminded field agents that "Barbie Video Girl", which has a video camera embedded in her necklace, could be used by pervs to produce child pornography. More »
Branch Manager Quits Rather Than Trick Bank Customers Into Signing Up For Overdrafts
By Ben Popken on August 13, 2010 11:00 AM
91 Comments
The bank branch manager who felt uncomfortable that his bank was making him choose between misleading customers into signing up for overdraft protection and keeping his job has decided to quit. More »
(EG Focus)
Get Customers To Sign Up For Overdraft Fees Or Get Fired
bank teller branch manager and he feels queasy. His bank is making him trick customers into signing back up for overdraft fees, and if he doesn't, he'll get fired. More »
By Ben Popken on August 3, 2010 10:00 AM
122 Comments
One of our readers is a 
Chase Banker: I Hate That We're Required To Pull People Out Of Line To Offer Upsells
By Carey Alexander on July 31, 2010 3:00 PM
106 Comments
Chase now requires bankers to drag customers waiting for a teller out of line so they can upsell other bank products. One longtime banker wrote in to apologize for the practice, which "blatantly exploits a customer's trust," and to encourage customers to call Chase and tell them that they hate it, too. Read the banker's full heartfelt note, after the jump. More »
Subway Bastard Makes Sandwiches Bad On Purpose
By Ben Popken on July 6, 2010 11:00 AM
174 Comments
There are those who hate their jobs and those who love to hate their jobs. Chris says he is a Subway sandwich maker who falls into the latter category, putting in extra work to make your sandwich suboptimal. He eats your pain with relish. Here's what he does to your sandwich: More »
"This Is Not A Test" - Subway Says It Definitely Will Start Tessellating Cheese July 1
By Ben Popken on June 1, 2010 5:14 PM
102 Comments
Subway has officially confirmed what we reported last week based on leaked internal documents: they're gonna start tesselating their cheese on all their sandwiches starting July 1st. Hot damn, summer in the city. More »
Subway To Start Tessellating Cheese July 1?
By Ben Popken on May 28, 2010 2:24 PM
119 Comments
Three years after the protests began, it seems Subway has finally listened to its customers and will start tessellating cheese on its sandwiches, according to what appears to be an internal weekly newsletter. More »
(eschipul)
Harper's Magazine: Insider Reveals How You Get Jacked When Selling Jewelry
By Ben Popken on May 19, 2010 9:56 AM
51 Comments
Struggling to make next month's rent, you might be tempted to dig out some necklaces and rings you don't wear and try to sell it to your friendly neighborhood jeweler. But you might actually be buying a ticket to a sick magic show. The jeweler performs a blistering series of slight of hand tricks, whipping out calculators, spouting off fees, keeping your eye on the supposedly worthless diamonds under a tenth of a carat while double-deducting for the base metal. By the end, you slink out in a dizzied blur, accepting 1/5th of what the piece is actually worth. In this exclusive excerpt from the latest issue of Harper's, ex-jeweler Clancy Martin takes you on a journey to the dark underbelly of the jewelry game. More »
(~Twon~)
BoA Debt Collector Tells You How Not To Be A Deadbeat
By Ben Popken on May 3, 2010 1:24 PM
57 Comments
A shadowy figure emerges from even darker shadows to reveal the umber-colored world that is the Bank of America Collection department. It is a place so fell that it cannot be even spoken of directly and is instead referred to as "Customer Assistance." A cruel joke? Perhaps. "I never expected to be working for such an evil company. but they were the only ones hiring," says our tipster who has some tough-love advice for all you deadbeats out there so he doesn't have to call you up and demand your money. Because he will find you, and he will get you. More »
Laser In On Your "Region President" To Get Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Service
By Ben Popken on April 15, 2010 12:00 PM
8 Comments
A Verizon Wireless insider tells us that the best way to get white glove customer service treatment is to target the president for your Verizon region. Here's how: More »
Beat The "Four Square" Dealership Ripoff
By Ben Popken on March 12, 2010 7:11 AM
166 Comments
Former used car salesman Alan Slone grew a little Jimminy Cricket in his ear and decided to spill his guts on a classic dealership technique used to addle your mind and empty your wallet. It's called "The Four Square" and the object of the game is to make you lose. Here's how it works, and how to beat it. More »
Leaks: How Much It Sucks To Be A Comcast Customer Service Rep
By Ben Popken on March 12, 2010 6:41 AM
60 Comments
Come, come hither. Step into the flesh of a Comcast customer service rep. Doesn't it feel nice? Yes, yes. This is what it's like to work for Awesome Cable Inc. Now you know what they go through, and tricks and tactics for dealing with them. Come my pretty, and let the Comcast mole teach you the ways... More »
