Consumerist
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Freebies
This Bag Of Clancy’s Ripple Potato Chips Needs More Nokia Phones
A Nokia phone found its way into a bag of Clancy's Ripple Potato Chips, where it surprised Wisconsin nosher Emma Schweiger. The phone, which didn't work, was slathered with "greasy potato-chip film" and looked like it once lived on a belt clip. The chip's distributor, Aldi, pulled all other Clancy's chips with the same batch and expiration date and, by way of apology, offered Schweiger a free bag of chips. She isn't biting... More » -
Whoops
PayPal Charges $81,400,836,908 For $26 Tank Of Gas
Juan Zamora fed his 1994 Chevy Camaro $26 worth of gas, a transaction for which PayPal charged his debit card $81,400,836,908. Unsurprisingly, PayPal saw nothing wrong with the charge and demanded that Juan prove that he didn't actually buy $81.4 billion worth of gas. More » -
Recession
Sharing Restaurant Dishes Is Becoming Slightly More Acceptable
Good news thrifty diners, you're not the only ones asking to share dishes at restaurants these days. Thanks to the recession, it's becoming acceptable for everyone to split their dishes, and restaurants aren't complaining. "Now all bets are off," said David Pogrebin, manager of the snazzy French restaurant Brasserie. "People are not ashamed of being frugal." More » -
Flip Flops
Cox Agrees To Remove Undisclosed Charge, Then Changes Their Mind Without Saying Anything
Cox told reader Don that they would waive a $55 service fee they hadn't previously disclosed, but then changed their mind without telling him. Now Cox is telling Don that if he pays the $55, they'll return it to him as a credit next month. Yeah, sure they will. Should Don trust them? More » -
Helpful Reminders
No, You Should Not Launch An E.E.C.B. Against Your Own Employer
Do not launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb against your own company or it will explode in your face. Reader E discovered this the hard way when he tried to use an E.E.C.B. to convince the bank where he worked to reverse $300 worth of overdraft fees. More » -
Pricing
Outcry Prompts Amazon To Stop Overcharging For Digital Edition
Kevin couldn't understand why Amazon charged $29.95 for the digital version of Confessions of a Butcher when the paperback cost only $11.95. Amazon tried to gussy up the Kindle edition by offering what looked like a steep 45% discount, but the digital edition still cost $5 more than the print edition. Even the author's wife chimed in to Amazon's discussion forum to pan the discrepancy, adding, "what's really ridiculous is that we sell more ebooks at $20 than we do new paperbacks for $11.95." More » -
Time for KFC to start offering the chicken bailout bucket! Pilgrim's Pride has announced that they're taking a page from the auto industry and idling 3 chicken plants as consumers eat out less and look for lower cost alternatives to meat. [Reuters]
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Leaks
Comcast's Official Make A New Pot Of Coffee Policy
From the archives, Aug 29, 2007 : In today's go-go economy, savvy companies know it's important to draft official policies for a variety of circumstances and surprises that can crop up in the middle of a busy workday, and ensure they are clearly communicated and readily available.
Every businesses needs documents employees can refer to, pantra-laterally, to help steer their decisions through times of uncertainty and deal with rapidly fluxing global business enterprise environment, secure touch points that provide direction and solace, Rocks of Gibraltar in miniature, if you will.
Like when you need to make a new pot of coffee.
Inside, Comcast's official new pot of coffee making policy and instruction manual... More »
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Save Hundreds On Auto Maintenance By Shopping Around When budgets get tight, many people are tempted to cut back on their regular car maintenance. Don't do it! [CR]
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Roundups
Top Posts Of The Week
Identifying Yourself As A Lesbian Gets You Banned On XBOX Live
Cancel Cable Without Losing Your Favorite Shows
Hot Cartoon Makes Understanding Credit Crisis Simple And Fun
Citibank Sends Nigerian Scammer $27 Million
CNN Explains: "Living Within Your Means"(Photo:Milkham)
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from the comments
lowercase wrote: "You know, bad corporate doesn't excuse being rude to customers in the stores. After a friend relayed his story of being treated like a con man for bringing in a coupon in black & white (not a photocopy, just a black print), I haven't bothered. There are plenty of acceptable subs I can pay a few bucks for without any hassle." -
Ceo rants
Sears Chairman Unleashes 15-Page Manifesto About Um, Everything
Sears Holdings chairman Eddie Lampert has unleashed a 15-page manifesto about the current economic meltdown, short-selling rules, civil liberties, and even offers a suggested reading list that includes free-market Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek. More » -
American Express
American Express Cancels Your Card Right Before You Were Supposed To Get Your $500 Rebate
Andrea, an American Express member for over 20 years, is upset because AmEx canceled her cash-back card two weeks before her $500 rebate check was supposed to arrive, and declared the rebate forfeit. More » -
Consumerist was on The Today Show this morning, they interviewed Facebook's CEO and used the clip from NBC Nightly News in the segment. [Today Show]
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Telemarketers
Smart Television Alliance Asks "Feature Films For Families" To Stop Using Its Name
Feature Films For Families—the company that's been phone-spamming random people over the past few weeks—follows no man's law! The nonprofit Smart Television Alliance, which works to educate parents on how to improve the television experience for kids*, discovered that the company was using its name without permission. More » -
Quiznos
Why The Quiznos Free Sandwich Promo Burnt Some Customers
According to tipster Rich Piotrowski, a former Quiznos franchise owner who won a counter-suit against the company, the big reason why some Quiznos were being jerks about taking the free sandwich coupon is that at first corporate was making the franchises pay for all the sandwiches. (Quiznos mandates franchises buy all their ingredients from HQ, often at above-market rates...). Then it looks like they decided to reimburse up to 400 coupons, then bumped that up to 700 to meet the demand, and now they're going to reimburse all coupons. Don't give away free stuff in these times unless you're ready for an onslaught of interest, at the outset. Corporate seems to have realized this and contacted us to say that if you have any problems redeeming coupons you can email millionsubs@quiznos.com. Tipster's comment, and an internal Quiznos memo, inside... More »
New York, 2:05 PM
Wed Nov 11
22 posts in the last 24 hours
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