Consumerist
explanations
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Credit Reports
Sorry, No Mortgage: Experian Says That You're Dead
Shortly after surviving the death of her husband and a life-threatening medical crisis, Ann Howe of Seattle decided to refinance her home mortgage. Everything went smoothly until the bank informed her that the refinance couldn't be completed because the credit bureau Experian was convinced that she was dead. More » -
Xbox
Lawsuit Alleges Xbox Bans Result Of Vast Redmond Conspiracy
Microsoft has declared that the owners of banned Xbox consoles have no recourse and no choice but to buy new consoles. Some users see this as unfair and a vast Redmond conspiracy, and law firm AbingtonIP is fighting back with a class-action lawsuit. God bless America. More » -
Digital Cameras
Kodak: Your Camera Has A Beach Mode, So Don't Take It To The Beach
Brandy's Kodak digital camera comes with several pre-set modes, one of which is "beach." However, when her camera stopped working after a trip to the beach, she reports that Kodak's mystifying response to her service request was that just because a digital camera has a setting for taking photos at the beach, that doesn't mean that you should actually take it to the beach. More » -
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No eggo to leggo
Eggo Shortage Story Sweeps Mainstream Media, Panic Spreads
After Consumerist first alerted the nation to the debilitating waffle shortage, the story has been making the rounds of nearly every media outlet in the country. Thanks to their hard work, we've learned some interesting new things about the shortage. More » -
Roundups
Top Posts Of The Week And Open Thread
Kellogg's Finally Explains Eggo Waffle Shortage
Warning Signs That Your Mechanic Is Scamming You
Disney Removes Closed Captioning From "Up" Rental Release
Walmart Won't Let Family Print Photos Of Dead Relative For Funeral
College Students Arrested For Refusing To Pay Tip More » -
Smoke gets in your imac
Smoking Near Apple Computers Creates Biohazard, Voids Warranty
Unless you've just arrived in 2009 on a time machine, you know that smoking isn't good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn't good for your computer, either? It's true, at least according to Apple. Two readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed their cases up to the office ofGodSteve Jobs himself. Both lost. More » -
Tastes chilled
Save The Earth And Your Yuppie Cred With Reusable Starbucks Cup
Do you enjoy Starbucks chilled beverages, but hate the waste that comes from so many disposable plastic cups? Do you also want to keep your friends and co-workers from knowing about your secret environmentalist tendencies? Maybe you should consider purchasing the reusable Starbucks cold cup, a sturdy plastic tumbler made to look just like its flimsier, single-use cousins. More » -
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Clingy
TiVo Can't Let Reader Go, Keeps Billing Thrice-Canceled Account
Over a year ago, Michael didn't want TiVo service anymore, and he called them to cancel. This would have been a perfectly reasonable request. The problem, he tells Consumerist, is that TiVo refuses to acknowledge his multiple cancellations, and now won't let him call and try canceling again until he pays the balance that has accrued since his credit card expired. More » -
Skype
eBay's $2.025 Billion Sale Of Skype Complete
eBay has successfully unloaded Skype. They remain a minority stakeholder, but 70% of Skype has been sold to a group that includes the original co-founders of the internet telephony company. More » -
Oh, god, why?
Turn Your Perfectly Normal Jeans Into Stirrup Pants
Maybe the Mayans were right about this whole apocalypse thing. Stirrup pants have returned to haunt shoppers, appearing everywhere to terrify shoppers. But then we at Consumerist received an e-mail about a product intended to turn regular, innocent, civilized, non-stirrup pants into stirrup pants. Why? WHY? More » -
redesigns
Coca-Cola Redesigns Fruit Juice Cartons To Emphasize Fruit
One year after Tropicana's disastrous redesign of their orange juice packaging, Coca-Cola is debuting a redesign of the cartons in their various lines of fruit juices. Coke's key advantage: the new design isn't hideously ugly. More » -
Fast Food
Beware The Popeyes Onion Ring Math Test
Um...I guess I'll have two orders of six onion rings. (Thanks, Alan!) -
Be a F%&ing Person
Walmart Won't Let Family Print Photos Of Dead Relative For Funeral
After the death of a relative, Mike put together a photo tribute for the funeral, in order to "remember the good times," he says. Only a Walmart cashier put a stop to his purchase. Here's what happened. Do you think Walmart was in the right? More » -
sick kids
Geek Squad Contributes To Society, Opens Outlet In Children's Hospital
The announcement that Best Buy plans to open a Geek Squad outlet inside the Children's Hospital in Minneapolis seems, at first, incongruous. "Geek Squad?" we said. "Haven't these families already suffered enough?" Except this Geek Squad isn't there to profit off sick kids—they're there to help. No, really. More » -
Mac Clones
Federal Judge Rules Against Scrappy Mac Clone Manufacturer Psystar
Sorry, Mac OS lovers who don't love the price tags on Apple hardware. Apple has emerged victorious in their copyright lawsuit against Mac clone manufacturer Psystar. U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled that Psystar is violating Apple's copyright as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by selling computers with a modified version of OS X pre-installed. More » -
New And Exciting Products
Lick An Envelope, Taste Some Bacon
The entrepreneur-humanitarians behind Bacon Salt, Bacon Pop, and Baconnaise have introduced two new products. J & D's has expanded their bacon flavoring empire to bacon-flavored microwave popcorn and another product that is neither food nor seasoning—snail-mail envelopes. More » -
Mad Men
If Yours Isn't Good Enough, He'll Get Some At The Office
Marketers had a message for the housewives of the 1950s: they weren't doing a good enough job at home. Their husbands had to resort to going elsewhere for it. Why, even the girls at the office could do it much better.
