We’ve all been there: You’re in a quiet classroom or office, innocently click a link to open a new tab of news on your laptop, and boom! The audio from a tangentially-related auto-playing video is suddenly blaring from your speakers. Sure, you lunge to turn it off as soon as you can, but the damage is done, and everyone is glaring at you. But there’s hope: Developers know how much auto-play stinks, and so two major browsers will start muting all that junk for you. [More]
make it stop
FCC Plan To Let Phone Companies Block More Annoying Robocalls Moves Forward
By 3.23.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Many of the FCC’s most visible consumer protection moves — net neutrality, privacy — prove contentious within the Commission. But today, in a rare show of unanimity, all three sitting commissioners agreed with consumers about one big fact: Robocalls really, really suck, and the FCC is in a position to do something about it. [More]
NY Man Continues To Get Parking Tickets Linked To Destroyed License Plates
By 9.22.16
A New York man who keeps receiving parking tickets is stumped. Not because he claims to be a perfect parker, but because the license plates linked to the tickets were destroyed. [More]
Charleston Uber Driver Accused Of Kidnapping, Rape
By 8.12.15
A Charleston, S.C. Uber driver has been charged with kidnapping and forcible rape, after a female passenger accused him of demanding sexual favors as payment for her trip. She told police he then sexually assaulted her and kicked her out of the vehicle. [More]
Girl Scout Troop Loses $4,500 And 6 Cases Of Cookies In Robbery Because People Are Awful
By 2.27.14
Any time you’ve got a business pulling in a lot of cash, there going to be dastardly, mustache-twirling villains lurking in the wings. And with 66% of Consumerist staff consisting of former Girl Scouts, I can say we are sorely disappointed this year to continue reporting on what will likely be a spate of crimes against Girl Scouts and their cookies. [More]
Deals Are Better On Thanksgiving Than On Black Friday, And I Hate Everything
By 9.23.13
Here at Consumerist, we’ve been vociferously against Black Friday creep, the slow slide of the first official day of holiday shopping frenzy back into Thanksgiving Day. Last year, we supported retail employees who were against opening on Thanksgiving, and humbly suggested that retailers just go ahead and move Black Friday back a week. No one is listening to us. [More]
Halloween Started Creeping Up On Us In July
By 8.13.13
“Halloween Creep,” observes reader Jay. “It almost sounds like a dance some ghouls might do after the Monster Mash.” That’s not what the Halloween Creep is, though. It would be so much better if it were. Instead, it’s what happens when Consumerist readers are out enjoying their summer and stop in their tracks when they see Halloween merch out on store shelves. [More]
Residents Of Chicago Neighborhood Sue To Stop Weekly Plague Of Coupon Circulars
By 5.21.13
In an uprising reminiscent of backlash against those oft-despised doorstops otherwise known as the Yellow Pages, residents of one Chicago neighborhood are fighting for the right to not be bombarded on a weekly basis with coupon circulars. Despite opting out, the residents claim in a lawsuit that the coupon packages keep showing up, like some sort of plague of paper zombies. [More]
It Ain’t Over Yet: Dutch Authorities Pull 50,000 Tons Of Beef Over Horsemeat Concerns
By 4.10.13
If it seemed like the horsemeat scandal was slowing down over yonder in Europe, that was probably a premature supposition. Dutch authorities in the Netherlands are pulling 50,000 tons of beef from the shelves of stores all across Europe over fears that it could possibly contain horsemeat. [More]
More Reports Of Meanies Messing With Girl Scout Cookies Make Us Question Humanity
By 3.4.13
This year we’ve seen a rash of various mean person-on-Girl-Scout-cookie crime, from thievery to destruction by landfill. And while on one hand we get it because they’re delicious so of course bad people want to steal them, on the other it’s like, don’t be so mean to the Girl Scouts. Maybe there’s something in the milk. Today’s entries in “Stop Being So Awful To The Girl Scouts” include wasteful vandals and a skateboarding thief. [More]
I Am Liberal And Employed, But Republicans And Job Sites Won't Stop Spamming Me
By 3.4.10
In a funny blog post, Nicole goes into a rant about how she can’t stop certain organizations from spamming her no matter what she tries, name dropping Monster.com and the Republican Party in particular. [More]
