Yesterday we told you about the sky-high fees associated with the combination photo ID/prepaid debit card being issued by the city of Oakland. Now comes a report that Chicago-area residents who choose to opt in to the prepaid debit option on their transit cards will also see their cash eroded by fees. [More]
Beware Of Expensive Venue-Specific Add-Ons When Buying Tickets Online
By March 11, 2013
Consumerist reader Ben recently went on Ticketmaster to buy six tickets to catch the Book of Mormon at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago. The tickets alone were pricey enough (around $90/each) and of course there were more than $10/ticket in fees. But when he looked at the receipt, he saw he’d been hit with another $245.10 above what he’d expected to pay. [More]
United, American Airlines Accused Of Using Sham Businesses To Avoid Millions In Taxes
By January 14, 2013
Somewhere in Sycamore, IL, about an hour west of Chicago, both United and American Airlines have offices for subsidiary businesses. But some say these offices are nothing more than tax-dodges that help the carriers avoid millions of dollars in taxes each year. [More]
Congratulations, Chicago: Your City Now Has The Most Expensive Parking Meters In The U.S.
By December 27, 2012
In a move that will earn it the dubious honor of being home to North America’s most expensive parking meters, Chicago’s downtown meters will start charging parkers $6.50 an hour starting on New Year’s Day, up from $5.75. It’s the highest rate for a downtown area and the fifth year the city’s parking meter rates have gone up. Umm, so, congratulations? [More]
Apple: The Midwestern United States Is Too Humid For The iMac
By December 18, 2012
Apple’s 27″ iMac is not a cheap computer. That model currently starts at $1,800. So customers who found a smoky gray residue inside their screens were disappointed when Apple turned around and told non-smoking customers that the issues are obviously their own fault. Reader Jason, for example, was told that his screen smudged itself because it’s too humid where he lives. Does he live in the tropics? Florida, maybe? No, he lived in Ohio when his iMac troubles started. And the problem recurred after he moved to Chicago, just down the street from the city’s flagship Apple Store. [More]
Chicago Woman Claims There’s No Way She Racked Up Record $105K In Parking Tickets
By November 27, 2012
If there’s a car in your name racking up parking tickets but you haven’t been driving it or parking it, should you have to pay? A Chicago woman who claims her ex-boyfriend registered a $600 clunker in her name insists she shouldn’t be on the hook for the whopping $105,761.80 the city says she owes for the car, which sat in an O’Hare Airport parking lot for three years. [More]
Some Residents Claim Pay-What-You-Can Panera Is Hurting Neighborhood
By October 3, 2012
Over the last couple years, the folks at Panera have slowly been expanding their pay-what-you-can Panera Cares eateries beyond the initial experiment in Missouri. But the latest Panera Cares, located in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, is drawing some jeers from local residents who say the restaurant is attracting an undesirable element. [More]
Maybe A Garbage Truck Garage Is Not The Best Place To Set Up A Wellness Clinic
By September 13, 2012
With more than 200 sq. miles in area, the city of Chicago should have plenty of space to set up a temporary clinic for city employees’ wellness screenings. And yet some city workers had their blood drawn at a clinic set up inside the same garage where garbage trucks rest between trash pickups. [More]
Bloomberg Comes Out Against Boston & Chicago Mayors’ Anti-Chick-Fil-A Messages
By July 27, 2012
While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a supporter of same-sex marriage, he says he disagrees with the way some of his fellow mayors have responded to the ongoing Chick fil-A controversy. [More]
Target Thinks You Want To Be Hassled By A “Beauty Concierge” While You Shop
By July 18, 2012
Taking a cue from department store beauty counters, where employees ply customers with samples and tell them they look fabulous, Target has begun testing the deployment of so-called “beauty concierges” at its stores in the Chicago area. [More]
Ripping Up A Parking Ticket In Front Of Police May Get You Tased, Even If You’re Pregnant
By June 7, 2012
If you’re upset with the parking ticket you’ve just received, it’s rarely a good idea to rip it up. It’s certainly a bad idea to rip that ticket up in front of the police officer who just wrote it. Ask the pregnant Chicago woman who says police used a stun gun on her after she tore up her citation. [More]
Dozens Or Hundreds Of Apple Devices Burgled From Chicago Best Buy
By May 9, 2012
How many Apple gadgets did thieves remove from a Chicago Best Buy this past weekend? Police gave the media a modest estimate of only $42,000 worth of iPads, MacBooks, and GPS devices. However, an unnamed source whispered to CBS Chicago that the figure could be closer to $200,000, with the haul including a few hundred iPads. [More]
Delta Passengers Quarantined Following Medical Scare (Which Turned Out To Be Bug Bites)
By April 26, 2012
Passengers on board a Delta flight from Detroit to Chicago were quarantined on the tarmac for several hours this afternoon over concerns about one traveler with what appeared to be a mysterious rash. [More]
Punching A Cop In The Face Is Not A Good Tactic For Selling Direct Energy Service
By April 9, 2012
It’s not uncommon to be visited by a door-to-door rep attempting to sell service for an electric or gas company, but it’s not every day that one of those sales calls ends in an off-duty police officer being punched in the face. [More]
Just Because That Letter Says Your Home Was Sold For Back Taxes Doesn't Mean It's True
By November 21, 2011
As the economy sank into the muck over the last few years, a lot of homeowners have missed or been late with property tax payments. And in some cases, the property will be sold in order to recoup those taxes. But there are unsavory types out there looking to take advantage of homeowners’ uncertainty about their tax situation. [More]
71 Drivers Cross A Defective Bridge In Chicago Every Second
By October 20, 2011
A new study says that 71 drivers in Chicago cross a structurally defective bridge every second. [More]
Signs In Chicago Board Of Trade Windows Say "We Are The 1%"
By October 6, 2011
To tweak the noses of protesters involved in the “Occupy Chicago” movement, someone has placed signs in the windows of the Chicago Board of Trade that say, “We are the 1%.” [More]
Brass Thieves Stripping Chicago Fire Hydrants
By September 26, 2011
Underneath the cap on many fire hydrants is a brass ring called the “port ring.” Firemen need it to connect fire hoses to the hydrants. But metal thieves in Chicago are popping open hydrants, prying off the ring, and selling it to scrap buyers for $15 a pop. If another cow kicks over a lantern there, having a city full of stripped fire hydrants could be deadly. [More]
