RSS
Consumerist
mpaa
Posts Tagged “
Legal
”
mpaa
food fight
Legal Sea Foods CEO Offers Sarcastic "Apology" To Offended Trolley Conductors
A few days ago we mentioned a controversy that was going on in Boston after some trolley conductors objected to an advertising campaign for Legal Sea Foods "fresh fish." The controversial ad reads, "This conductor has a face like a halibut." Now Legal Sea Food's CEO has decided to strike back against the offended conductors with a sarcastic "apology." More »
controversy
Trolley Conductors Do Not Appreciate Being Told They Have "A Face Like A Halibut"
The conductors of Boston's Green Line trolleys aren't exactly amused by a new ad campaign for Legal Sea Foods that accuses them of having faces like a halibut, says the Boston Globe. The campaign features "fresh fish," that toss out hilarious insults such as: "Hey lady, I've seen smaller noses on a swordfish," and, "This trolley gets around more than your sister." Har, har, har. Most of the ads are fairly innocuous, but one has the trolley conductors seeing red. It reads: "This conductor has a face like a halibut." More »
legal tender
Paying Your Verizon Bill With Cash? That'll Be $3.99 Extra
Employees at the Verizon store in Millington, Tennessee told reader Josh it would cost an extra $3.99 to pay his bill with cash. According to the employees, the charge was to offset the cost of "new money software." More »
A lawyer in Florida has launched a business where he'll send a complaint letter on your behalf for a flat $50 fee. He even sends prospective customers to our website to educate themselves on "fighting back." Florida only. [Equal-Footing]
big pharma
Johnson & Johnson is waiting to hear whether or not a judge in Ohio will allow any lawsuits over its Ortho birth control patch to move forward, and the New York Times says lawyers on both sides think there's a good chance he may find in the company's favor based on the doctrine of pre-emption. The argument goes that it's the FDA's responsibility to monitor the safety and labeling of drugs that go to market, and therefore if something goes wrong, it's the agency's fault and not the pharmaceutical company's.
More »
Pre-Emption Doctrine Would Make FDA Responsible For All Drug Problems, Shield Big Pharma From Lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson is waiting to hear whether or not a judge in Ohio will allow any lawsuits over its Ortho birth control patch to move forward, and the New York Times says lawyers on both sides think there's a good chance he may find in the company's favor based on the doctrine of pre-emption. The argument goes that it's the FDA's responsibility to monitor the safety and labeling of drugs that go to market, and therefore if something goes wrong, it's the agency's fault and not the pharmaceutical company's.
More »
legal tender
This Bath & Body Works Doesn't Accept Cash
A.A. sent us these photos, and writes,That's the sign I saw at the Bath & Body Works store in a Tanger Outlet Mall in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I didn't go inside to find out if my legal tender was no good there or what, but I'm a fan of the site and thought y'all would get a kick out of the pics.The U.S. Treasury says that's fine, stores don't have to accept cash. We're just worried the people in Pigeon Forge know something about the U.S. dollar that we don't. More »
settlements
Judge Wants To Know Why 31 Law Firms Are Seeking A Cut Of The "Credit Card Hidden Transaction Fee" Settlement
Last year's class-action settlement against Mastercard, Visa, and several banks over the fees they charged customers who traveled abroad came up to about $336 million, and of that, 31 law firms are claiming a total of about $86 million for fees. The federal judge responsible for determining how much they get paid wants to know why. More »
to do
Update Your Will After Major Life Events
When a new baby arrives, there's not much time to do anything extra, but if you have a will you should review it and update it as necessary. The Associated Press is reporting that "Heath Ledger's will leaves nothing to his former girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter because it was never updated after they became part of his life." More »
trademarks
Plastic Surgery Company Sues Consumer Site For Negative Customer Reviews
Lifestyle Lift claims it's a "minor one-hour procedure with major results," but a lot of customers who have paid for the procedure have been left unhappy, and they've consequently posted reviews about it on a plastic surgery review blog called RealSelf. Lifestyle Lift has sued RealSelf, claiming trademark infringement, and now RealSelf has countersued, claiming Lifestyle Lift padded RealSelf's site with shill reviews. More »
legal threats
"Tiny Details" Owner Sends Miniature Threats To Former Customer
Tiny Details is a work-at-home company that pays hobbyists to make little dollhousey things. You buy the materials from Tiny Details for $55, make the assigned object(s), and Tiny Details buys them back. Unfortunately, many customers have complained about problems getting payments or refunds from the company over the years—here's their less-than-stellar BBB entry. Yesterday Kristopher Buchan, the owner of Tiny Details, emailed one former customer/client to tell him his complaints amounted to libel. Buchan demanded the customer remove them from teh interweb, and threatened him repeatedly with a lawsuit. And now we're posting about it on The Consumerist! See how that works, Tiny Details? More »
renting
Answers To NYC Renters' Questions
How do you get your landlord to require the upstairs neighbors to put down carpets? A lawyer who "has practiced in the landlord-tenant arena for more than two decades" has been answering these sorts of questions on the New York Times' "City Room" blog. The advice he gives, while helpful and specific, is mostly based on what we imagine are NYC-specific problems and cites New York statutes, but it still might be helpful for renters elsewhere with similar problems. More »
legal
Should GameStop Charge Sales Tax On XBOX Live Memberships?
Reader Dave asks an interesting question. Should GameStop be charging sales tax on an XBOX live membership card? Generally speaking, only "tangible goods" are subject to sales tax, though every state is different. More »
misguided
Ford: Photos Of Your Car Are Copyright Infringement
Well, this seems misguided. A group of people who are members of the "Black Mustang Club" wanted to take some pictures of their cars and make a calendar using CafePress. Turns out, CafePress refuses to publish pictures of Ford cars due to claims of copyright infringement: More »
lawsuits
InfomercialScams.com Gets Sued Constantly
Over at the Consumer Law & Policy blog there is a post about the legal troubles of Justin Leonard, the owner of InfomercialScams.com, a site that posts unedited reviews of various infomercial products. More »
Pillsbury has told a New York food co-op to stop using the phrase "bake-off" because they own it. Pillsbury coined the phrase back in 1949 (according to this unverifiable web source), and then trademarked it in the early 1970s (according to another). Now you know. (Thanks to Sarah!)
personal finance
Should You Change The Title On Your House?
If you're married and the two of you own your house, is your legal title recorded as "joint tenants" or "community property"? If you bought it recently, odds are good it's "community property" (and it should also include "with right of survivorship"). However, if it's an older purchase and the title says "joint tenants," you could be in for a surprising tax burden after one of you dies.More »
legal
Is It Legal To Record My Customer Service Calls?
One important tool in dealing with companies is customer's ability to record customer service calls, but many wonder if it's legal or not. Well, until a company actually takes someone to court for doing it, we'll never know for certain. However, we can look to the state by state wiretapping laws for guidance. Let's begin.
More »