extortion
Royal Caribbean told Mary Hoefs at check-in that her family wouldn't be allowed to board unless they paid $800 on the spot, even though Mary had paid for the cruise in full four months earlier.
Royal Caribbean later refunded $400, but why did they choose to kick off Mary's cruise with extortion? The answer, inside...
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yelp
The review website Yelp is being accused again of extorting small business owners — but this time the business owners say that Yelp used the guarantee of positive
reviews to get free products for their events. The
Chicago Tribune has a quote from the owner of a cupcake shop who says that Yelp "guaranteed us good reviews on the site if we catered one of their parties for free."
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reviews
Some San Francisco companies have accused the review website Yelp of manipulating reviews, either in exchange for buying advertising or as punishment for refusing. Yelp flat out denies the charges. They say that the posting and removal of reviews are
determined solely by an algorithm and that their sales staff has no access to the reviews. But in this
detailed article published this week in the East Bay Express, several restaurants cite phone calls and emails that they say indicates otherwise.
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extortion
Kevin noted on his Budget rental forms that his truck was covered with graffiti and other nicks and scratches before driving off the lot. As soon as he returned the truck, the lot agent pointed out a slew of damage and invited him inside. He said that Kevin had two options: pay $670 in cash immediately, or pay several thousand dollars to corporate later. Kevin paid the extortion fee, but now Budget's corporate office wants $2,080 to repair, among other things, graffiti damage.
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worst company in america
According to
Recording Industry vs The People, a new RIAA case in Tampa, Florida has some interesting counterclaims by the consumer, including
extortion, conspiracy, and deceptive trade practices.
In the case of UMG v. Del Cid, the defendant has filed the following five (5) counterclaims against the RIAA, under Florida, federal, and California law:
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Consumerist
