Before an annual fundraiser he holds in his large backyard, a Minnesota man headed to the local garden center to pick up some weed killer in order to pretty things up. He spent $175 on five bottles of product from the company Ferti-lome. But the product he chose has a cousin in a similar bottle that doesn’t just kill weeds: it kills every plant in sight, then stays in the soil and prevents any plant growth for about six months. Guess which formula the garden center sold him? [More]
Invoking eBay Buyer Protection? Don't Use Multiple Accounts
By May 10, 2012
Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea for De to purchase a diamond ring over eBay. But the site does have protections for buyers, and is notorious for siding with buyers in the case of a dispute. Just not in his case. Even though he got to deal with one of the rarest of beasts: an actual eBay employee over the phone, asking questions about the item using one eBay account and then using another to make the purchase was too much for eBay to understand. [More]
What Broke Sports Stars Can Teach You About Personal Finances
By October 17, 2011
Athletic skill and financial acumen don’t always come in the same package, which is why many successful pro athletes run out of money once their fat paychecks stop rolling in. [More]
The $7,865.84 Verizon Bill
By April 21, 2010
Yowza! David’s eyes popped out his head when he saw his $7,865.84 bill from Verizon. [More]
Make Only Minimum Credit Card Payments, And Your Heirs Will Still Be Paying During The Robot Wars Of 3510
By February 20, 2010
Cracked shares a cautionary tale of what will theoretically happen to a person who makes only the minimum payment on a credit card balance of about $10,000. Like all solid financial advice, it begins with an Amazon.com addiction and ends with the Earth being destroyed two thousand years in the future by a power-mad Bank of America. [More]
Premiere Bathrooms Swindles Parkinson's Afflicted Elderly For $15,000 Bathtub
By October 3, 2007
“My grandmother informs them once they are done that she will not be paying them any more money, and that this has gone to the states attorney’s office. On hearing this, one of the installers gets on his cell phone and calls his boss. They talk, he hangs up and walks into the bathroom and proceeds to take off the tub door. He walks out of the bathroom with this door and my grandmother says what are you doing and grabs the door…”
And This Is Your $4190.76 iPhone Bill
By August 18, 2007
Like others, Pierre had found out the hard way just how extremely expensive international data transfer rates are…
If Your Contractor Doesn't Pay The Sub-Contractors, You Can Find Them Coming After You
By May 11, 2007
If your contractor doesn’t pay his sub-contractrors, you can find yourself in a position where the sub-contractor is coming after your property and making you pay up, this cautionary tale from reader G warns…
