Consumerist
Dealzmodo
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liberty dollars
How Uncle Sam Killed The Liberty Dollar
There's a new story in Triple Canopy about The Liberty Dollar, an alternative American currency started by Bernard von NotHaus that experienced a grassroots backing among some shoppers and merchants, until the Feds shut it down. Unlike the "real" dollar, Liberty Dollars are in fact... More » -
Scams
Your PS3s Are Stuck In The UK And You Have To Buy Four More
Mea culpa. It sounded like a good idea, but the "people-powered" comparison shopping site we wrote about, beatmyprice.com, got one of our readers scammed when she used it in a non-savvy fashion. Rebecca ordered a PS3 from the sketchy-as-hell looking "omexelectronics.biz" for $260. After she ordered it with her Discover Card, she got an email telling her to complete the transaction via Western Union instead. She did so. Big mistake. More » -
Wamu
Kiss Courtesy Overdraft Fees Goodbye With WaMu Debit-Only Card?
Whoever came up with the name "courtesy overdraft fee" is one smart cookie. They figured out a way to let you do something you don't want to do, charge you a fee, and make it sound like they're doing you a favor. WaMu is one of the few banks that let you... More » -
Roundups
Top Posts Of The Week
Alert: You Cannot Send A Drawing Of A Spider As Payment
Furniture Store Employee Wants You To Know There's Something Wrong With Your Salesperson
Woman Loses $400,000 To Nigerian Email Scam
World's Most Conscientious Customer Completes Botched Software Purchase Over A Year Later
This Is Not A Good Method For Transporting Shopping Carts -
Reach TracFone Executive Customer Service
TracFone is a pre-paid wireless cellphone company that people enjoy for its low cost and hate for its customer service. The problem comes from their globally outsourced and non-integrated call centers. Problems don't get solved. Emails go unreturned. Problems get stuck in infinitely recursive loops. Here's a typical story from reader Susan, "I asked them to escalate this to a supervisor. Three days later, I get a response saying that they have investigated the problem and I should call their support line. When I called the support line, they had no details of any prior communication and no way to resolve the problem. So I am back at step one. " Luckily for you, she found the numbers to escalate complaints up to the corporate level and got it solved: 1-800-876-5753 or 1-800-339-9345. -
Dealzmodo
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backlash
Saved By Zero Will Apparently Kill You
Some bored people who hate that Saved By Zero commercial as much as you do have mashed it into a trailer for The Ring. Hooray.
[via Buzzfeed]
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Bankruptcy
One Of Michael Vick's Expenses Is "Chump Change"
Michael Vick, the allegedly herpetic former NFL quarterback and dog lover, has filed paperwork detailing the decent into financial ruin that lead to his bankruptcy filing in July of this year. Vick blew through $17.7 million dollars in two years preceding his Chapter 11 petition. If that sounds like a lot of money in a short amount of time, consider the fact that Vick has been imprisoned since November 2007. For those of you looking for some insight into Vick's attitude towards money, the Smoking Gun points out that one of his check memos reads, "chump change." More » -
Pharma
Video: Go In For Migraine, End Up With Amputation
Imagine going to the doctor for a severe migraine and ending up with your right arm amputated. That's what happened to Diana Levine when her doctor injected her with Phenergan, it seeped out of the vein into an artery, and gave her gangrene. More » -
Accolades
Sam's Club Lets You Swap Out RedRinged Xbox Hassle-Free
Virg's Xbox360 got the dread Red Ring of Death. He bought it in Feb '07, and it started failing this Nov '08. He figured it would be months before he would get it back and expected to have to pay somewhere. Much to his surprise, Sam's Club let him swap it out for a new one for free. More » -
All Your Wallpapers Are Belong To Toyota
Toyota Backs Down From Desktop Copyright Request
FROM JALOPNIK.COM: Toyota has contacted Jalopnik and informed us their company's perplexing attempt to claim rights to desktop images uploaded by users and hosted at DesktopNexus was the result of an "internal miscommunication" and they they offered a sincere apology to those at the site involved in the fracas. More » -
Ask the Consumerists
Does A Store Have To Price Match Their Website?
Here's a question we get a lot. Are stores required to price match their own website? More » -
Deals
Buy One Dodge Ram, Get One Free
"Buy one new dodge ram, get a second dodge ram at no additional cost," reads the ad for Rob Lambdin's University Dodge. The auto industry is officially totally fucked. In response to the ad, a commenter on Bimmerclassics.net quipped, "Well at least one of the Big Three is admitting that if you buy one of their new cars you will need a second one as a parts car for the first." I can't read the asterisks but our tipster says the deal is you buy one Dodge Ram Quad Cab 1500 and you get a Dodge Ram Single Cab for free. Full ad inside...
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In Canada, the supreme court has ruled that obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada. [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Steven!)
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Flickr
Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds
Here are five wonderful photos that readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, chosen because they're both neat and could possibly be used in a Consumerist post. Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers go and upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.
Title: "Movin' on out"
Caption: "It's time to pack! Still a while before we move, but I'll be studying for my exam right before we plan on moving."
By: unleashedlive More » -
Call center scams
IKEA Employee Steals $400,000 In Less Than A Year
An IKEA employee who worked in a Baltimore-area call center has plead guilty to stealing almost $400,000 in less than a year. His motivation? "Pure greed," according to his confession. More » -
Circuit city death watch
Circuit City Turns To Unrelentingly Optimistic Junk Email As The End Nears
Reader James forwarded us an unsolicited email from Circuit City that we had to post because it's just so chipper about the fact that they've resorted to spamming him out of desperation. It cheerfully proclaims, "Now you'll be the first to hear the latest news," before informing him that he'd been "chosen" as one of their "best customers" to receive spam. More »
