Consumerist
-
false advertising
Hilton Complimentary Internet Access In Lobby Costs $10 A Day
At Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel, everything is complimentary! That's because to them "complimentary" actually means "for a price." Last week, a linguistics professor tried to take advantage of their "Complimentary High-speed Internet access on the lobby level," which is how they describe the service on their website. He quickly discovered that he'd have to agree to a $9.99 charge in order to get the free service. More » -
the check is in the ... oh, never mind
Florida AG Sues TigerDirect For 'Continually Blaming Customers' For Rebate Delays
Waiting for a rebate from TigerDirect? Good luck with that. In a suit filed last Friday, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is charging the company with, among other things, promising customers that rebates would arrive in about 8-10 weeks of submission, when in fact "a vast number of customers experienced delays ranging from one to more than eight months, before receiving their promised rebates, if at all." The suit also charges TigerDirect with engaging in "deceptive and unfair trade practices." More » -
rite aid
$500,000 In Consumer Refunds From Rite Aid After False Cold Remedy Advertising Suit
Remember the class-action lawsuit against the makers of cold-and-flu-preventing magic potion Airborne? Airborne claimed that it could prevent or shorten colds and flus, without any actual scientific evidence to back those claims up. More » -
follow-ups
Ignored Gamer Puts The Smackdown On Mixed-Up Game Publisher
When we last spoke to Jess, the gamer with the questionable taste for dolphin pet-simulating video games, she was adrift in a sea of despair, having bought a game based on promotional copy on the game's site and box, only to find the game she bought was different than that which was promised. Publisher 505 Games seemed to be blowing her off. More » -
false advertising
Game Publisher Square Enix Slapped With Class Action Suit For False Advertising, 'Product Enrichment'
One day, gamers will get together to sue Square Enix for always lying to them about how infinitely sequelized "Final" Fantasy games are never really final. But until then we'll just have to sit back and see how this false advertising federal class action lawsuit against the game publisher plays out. More » -
false advertising
Florida Albertsons Coughs Up Green For False Advertising
One effective way to draw customers into your grocery store then piss them off is to put out an ad with good deals, then refuse to honor them. More » -
false advertising
Gamer Tricked Into Buying Lame DS Dolphin Title By Erroneous Ad, Publisher Dragging Its Fins
All Jess wanted was a Nintendogs-style DS game that would let her frolic with an imaginary pet dolphin, teach it a few tricks and perform routines in front of an adoring virtual crowd. Discovery Kids: Dolphin Discovery seemed to fit the bill because its site, as well as the box it comes in, says the game lets you do just that. More » -
clearwire
Customers Sue Clearwire For Rotten Service, Early Termination Fees
Customers from Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota and North Carolina have teamed up to file a lawsuit against Clearwire for misrepresenting the quality of its hit-or-miss wireless network, and then charging ETFs for account cancellations even when there's no service as promised. If they win, Clearwire will be banned "from enforcing the Early Termination Fees and from further false advertising."
"Clearwire Facing Lawsuit over Advertising and Early Termination Fees" [Cellular-News via mocoNews]
-
-
vitaminwater
Coke Sued Over VitaminWater Claims
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has announced a class-action lawsuit against Coca-Cola over its VitaminWater line, on the grounds that it makes deceptive claims about the nutritional benefits of its drinks. More » -
class action lawsuits
Classmates.com Sued Because Classmates Weren't Really Looking For Him
You know how Classmates.com has all those ads and spams telling you how your old school chums are looking for you? Well someone is suing them because after seeing those promotions, he paid to sign up, only to discover no one was actually looking for him. Shocking, I know, but when you think about it, what's more shocking is that it's taken 13 years for someone to do it. It's a pretty clear-cut case of false advertising.Sayeth the lawsuit:
Upon logging into his Gold Membership profile in order to view the classmate contacts … Plaintiff discovered that in fact, no former classmate of his had tried to contact him or view his profile," the complaint reads. "Of those www.classmates.com users who were characterized ... as members who viewed Plaintiff's profile, none were former classmates of Plaintiff or persons familiar with or known to Plaintiff for that matter.
If approved, the suit seeks class action status.
Classmates.com User Sues; Schoolmates Weren't Really Looking for Him [WIRED]
-
best buy
Best Buy Cancels Your Order As You Stand There Shouting "Stop!"
Best Buy didn't want to honor the sale price of the 2GB flash drive Matt ordered through their website, so when Matt arrived to pick-up his purchase, the store's assistant manager called customer service and, pretending to be Matt, asked to cancel the order. Let's read Matt's story and see how it violates Massachusetts law, inside...
More »
-
lowes
Dear Lowes: A Gallon Has 128 Fluid Ounces, Not 116
A reader wants to know why Lowes advertises and sells gallons of house paint that aren't full gallons. Their website says the cans are "1-Gallon." Their receipts describe them as 1 gallon cans of paint. Even the stickers they print out and place on the lids say "One Gallon." But Brian notes that when he brought the paint home and really looked at the cans, "One of the labels read '116 Fluid Ounces; 3.43 liters', the second label read '126 Fluid Ounces; 3.725 Liters.'" More » -
deceptive
Häagen-Dazs Drink Special Costs Twice As Much With "No Ice" Thanks To Handwritten Mouseprint
Reader Joanne is wondering if the tiny handwritten mouseprint on the Haagen-Dazs drink special sign is purposefully misleading. She saw the special and ordered the drink, but when she asked for "no ice" she was told that it would cost twice as much, and that this information was on the sign. Her boyfriend examined the sign (after she got her ice-packed drink) and sure enough, in tiny handwriting at the bottom of the sign was a note that said the drink cost twice as much with "no ice." More » -
charter cable
You Won A 65-inch TV From Charter Cable! Here Is Your 19-inch TV!
The News Courier reports Charter Cable ran an online contest asking kids to submit stories about why their dad was the "World's Greatest Dad," and the winner was supposed to get a 65-inch TV...instead, a 19-inch one showed up on his doorstep. Is this any way to treat The World's Greatest Dad?
UPDATE: Charter has responded to this post and says they're working with the family to get them a better prize.
UPDATE: Charter Gives Family 2 TVs After Contest Snafu More »
-
great moments in commercial history
PedEgg Ads Scam, Suit Alleges
Who would have ever thought that a low-budget infomercial touting an egg-shaped device home pedicure device with "100 precision microfiles" might be deceptive in some way? Not, apparently, its actors, two of whom are suing the makers of "PedEgg." The thespians say they PedEgg told them the commercial would be internets-only. Instead, it's on the national airways. We don't care about that part. Rather, we chuckle over the suit's revelation that PedEgg hired a horror-makeup guy to apply "artificial bumps and discoloration" to their feet to increase the contrast between the "before" and "after" shots. Quelle horreru! Besides their dishonest advertising tactics, someone should also sue PedEgg for the gross-out shot when they dump all the foot shavings in the trash. See the full commercial inside. More » -
compusa
CompUSA: This Video Card Is $114. Whoops! Just Kidding!
Joe was browsing through his CompUSA catalog and noticed a good deal on a video card, but when he tried to order it he was told that it was a misprint and that CompUSA wouldn't be honoring the advertised price. More » -
lifelock
Class Action Filed Against Lifelock For Deceptive Advertising
A class action has been filed against LifeLock, the identity protection company whose CEO is so confident in the credit report fraud alerts it places that CEO Richard "Todd" Davis puts his Social Security Number in the company advertisements) The suit says that Lifelock misrepresents the level of security that the company provides, and its "$1 million guarantee" in case of identity theft is a bunch of hooey. In addition, it says the CEO's personal information is currently being misused by at least 20 different identity thieves. Not surprising coming from a company that was founded based on an idea one of the co-founders had while sitting in a jail cell for an unpaid $16,000 gambling debt.
false advertising
New York, 2:19 AM
Wed Nov 11
22 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@consumerist.com
tipline: 347-42C-ON95
Co-Managing Editor:
Ben Popken
Email | AIM | Twitter
Co-Managing Editor:
Meghann Marco
Email | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Chris Walters
Email | Twitter
Weekend Editor:
Laura Northrup
Email | AIM | Twitter
Associate Editor:
Alex Chasick | Email
Associate Editor:
Phil Villarreal
Email
