Late on Saturday night, a San Antonio apartment complex needed an urgent visit from Time Warner Cable. Was it a building-wide Internet outage? Disrupted movie-viewing? No… a tiny kitten was stuck in one of the plastic pipes that contain Time Warner’s lines below the building, and wouldn’t come out. [More]
There’s no doubt that the average college graduate earns more than the average worker with only a high school diploma, but a new report shows that it may not always make financial sense to invest in a degree. [More]
Last week we, and line cooks everywhere, were shocked, just shocked that a restaurant would advertise on Craigslist for a position by listing 44 insane requirements for the job. Things like “you always show up for work, even if sick as a dog. Let the chef see that you’re really sick and send you home” had the Internets in an uproar — but according to the restaurant’s manager, it was all just a silly joke. [More]
Back in March, we simultaneously spread and scorned the “suspended coffee” meme: a concept originating in the Italian city of Naples where customers can order an extra coffee or food item for a stranger in need that they can request at any time. We dismissed the entire concept as something that a global chain like Starbucks would never implement because it is too complicated to administer and prone to fraud. We were wrong. [More]
Earlier this year we told you about the many hi-tech ways in which retailers are tracking customers’ movements and purchases. Now high-end department store Nordstrom admits that it’s using a smartphone tracking system to keep an eye on shoppers’ behavior. [More]
The thing about food stamps is, they’re called “food” stamps. Not “smartphone” or “iPod” or “tablet” stamps. You can’t eat those things (please don’t try), as they aren’t what’s known as “food.” As such, the owner of four dollar stores in New Jersey is in hot water after allegedly allowing customers to ring up more than $5 million fraudulent food stamp transactions. [More]
Being the nation’s largest soft-drink company, Coca-Cola has found itself the target of criticism from some lawmakers, regulators, public health advocates, and parents about sugary drinks’ contribution to America’s expanding waistline. Today, the company announced several goals intended to shake that stigma, including a promise to stop marketing directly to children. [More]
These days, it’s not enough for the big Internet brands to just offer one service, like say, a search engine. As such, it’s not surprising to hear the rumor mill spinning over whether or not Yahoo! is looking to find a streaming service to call its own, and if so, that it’s got its eye on Hulu. [More]
I. calls the eBay scam that he encountered recently a “new” scam, but it’s actually an ancient and time-honored one. How it works is simple: an international seller claims to have sent your item, then stalls until after the period during which you can file a complaint against the seller has expired. THis leaves you with no ability to leave bad feedback and no recourse, and eBay knows it. [More]
Kaleb has the bad fortune (maybe) to live in a part of the Midwest where it snowed at the beginning of May this year. The storm was so bad that it led to a power outage, and the power outage led to some businesses closing. While the power was out. In the case of one Office Max, every business around them was bustling with activity while they remained closed.
It was the sign on the door of the fully lit store saying that the closure was due too [sic] the power outage that really got to Kaleb. [More]
Need help from Spirit Airlines? It’ll cost you now: the company that brought us carry-on bag fees is cutting corners yet again, by switching its customer help numbers from the toll-free 800 area code to the not-so-free 801 area code. Of course, that change will likely only affect customers calling from a landline, at about $0.05 to $0.18 per minute. In any case, we’re not surprised. [More]
There are no doubt millions of children in the United States right now who would greet a pager with a blank stare, having never witnessed one in action. And yet the country’s hospitals still rely on beepers and other outdated technology for communication between staff members. But being stuck in 1994 isn’t a cheap endeavor, according to a new report — it’s actually costing hospitals billions of dollars a year. So why do they still use them? [More]
Unless they’re flea market regulars, modern Americans are not great at haggling. It’s why we hate car shopping so much. Most of us want our prices posted on the wall or on a little sticker, and that’s all. But simple haggling can save a lot of money, and it can be relatively painless. You just have to say seven words. [More]
For those vegetarians or red meat abstainees out there, rest easy and only keep reading if you want to rub some bad news in your burger-loving friend’s face at the grill this summer: The price of wholesale beef is at an all-time high right now, which means costlier burgers, steaks and any other kind of cattle you’d throw on the fire. [More]
If you live in California and were envisioning a storefront marijuana shop on every corner, stop dreaming. The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that cities and counties will have the power to just say no to medical marijuana dispensaries, which makes it unlikely that storefront pot shops will become the next Starbucks. [More]
trend report trendsIs that sandwich you’re currently enjoying part of a larger sandwich trend? Who knows! Well, the folks behind the 2012 Consumer Sandwich Trend Report probably do. And if they don’t spend their days drooling over all the facts and figures related to layers of sandwichy goodness, then we’ll be absolutely shocked. Because that’s the kind of job we could really sink our teeth into (cue bad joke groans)! [via AdAge]
The man who invested $2600 in winning an Xbox Kinect at a New Hampshire carnival is not as stupid as you think he is, okay? In a recent interview, he elaborated on the news reports on him, explaining that the nefarious carny who took his money had assured him that he would receive all of his money back in exchange for attracting a huge crowd around the game. It was only after he returned to the booth and only got $600 back that he realized something was wrong. [More]
In the first criminal referral from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. is coming out swinging against a debt-settlement company in a new indictment. The firm has been charged with defrauding more than 1,200 people struggling with credit-card debt, with prosecutors saying the defendants “systematically exploited and defrauded” people around the U.S. [More]
