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Posts Tagged “

Michigan

sex

Spirit Airlines' Customer Service Number Leads To Phone Sex Line

When you fly an ultra low budget airliner, you expect ultra low service, but even under that business model, it seems reasonable to assume that calling customer service won't take you to a phone sex line. Reader Barbara would agree. She writes: More »

whoops

How Do The Detroit Lions Feel About Season Ticket Holders? "F--- 'Em"

Kevin Furlong is a season ticket holder with the Detroit Lions. As masochistic as that sounds, it seems that Kevin didn't appreciate an email that the Lions inadvertently sent him concerning a problem with his tickets. The email read: "Lance...he is not talking about you here. Mark was asked to speak to these people and he said no. F... 'em until next year." More »

scams

Traveling Gas Sellers Rip Off Homeowners In Michigan

Universal Gas & Electric, a Canadian company, sends out door-to-door salesmen who lie to homeowners about the imaginary "savings" they'll enjoy if they switch gas suppliers, when in reality Universal is currently about 50% higher than the default supplier. One former Universal employee says, "I'd have people ask, 'What am I paying now?' and they'd look at the bill and it's right there in front of them and they don't know where to look and I would avoid telling them that." More »

trans fats

Coffee Shop Accidentally Forwards Embarassing Internal Emails To Customer

Reader X sends us an internal email chain that was accidentally forwarded by some executives at Beaner's Coffee.

The customer was writing in to inquire as to when trans fats would be eliminated from Beaner's products. In addition to a cheerful reply, said customer was also treated to the internal email chain instructing the Vice President of Operations on how to "sidestep the question."

More »

bad consumer

When Shoplifting $300 Worth Of Hunting Knives, Try Not To Impale Yourself On Them

A Michigan man was caught shoplifting $300 worth of hunting knives from Meijer after he scuffled with security guards and fell forward, impaling himself. He'd hidden the knives in the waistband of his pants. More »

trademarks

Starbucks To Sue Small Michigan Coffee Shop For Trademark Infringement

Better not use a green circle for your coffee shop logo because Starbucks has lawyers and they'll sue ya. Conga Coffee & Tea, a small two-store operation in Michigan, is being threatened with a lawsuit because their logo bears "striking resemblance" to Starbucks' famous mermaid logo. At least that's what Starbucks says. More »

subprime meltdown

45 of 50 States See Increase In Foreclosures

The third quarter foreclosure numbers are in and 45 of 50 states saw increases in foreclosure activity, though some, like Ohio, Michigan, California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, were much worse than others. More »

mergers and acquisitions

Bank of America To Layoff 4,000 In LaSalle Bank Merger

LaSalle Bank customers won't just see a name change at their local bank branches, Bank of America has announced plans to layoff 2,500 workers in Illinois and 1,500 in Michigan as part of the merger, according to Portfolio.
Buying LaSalle will make BofA (NYSE:BAC) a dominant player in Chicago for the first time. At present, BofA has less than 2 percent of that market's deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
More »

fair wages

Starbucks Busted For Union Busting

Another week, another round of Bad Employer news about Wal—oh wait, we mean Starbucks this time, which actually has a lower rate of insured employees than the discount chain (42% versus 47%). Last Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board accused Starbucks of "unlawful anti-union activity" at a store in Michigan, similar to the charges it's currently on trial for in New York. More »

photos

Walmart Rolls Back Prices Negative Sixteen Cents

Reader Jonathan's son snapped this photo of a Walmart price "rollback" in Tawas City, Michigan, this Labor Day Monday. The current price is $1.98, the previous, $1.82. "I do see the irony of being in a Wal-Mart on Labor Day," writes Jonathan, "and I still feel unclean for it." More »

no change for you

AMC Theaters "Doesn't Carry Nickels?"

Reader Anthony says he paid for his movie ticket with "$8 and some change." The transaction resulted in AMC owing Anthony a nickel. More »

lawsuits

Woman Sues Spirit Airlines In Small Claims Court And Wins

If you sue a company in small claims court and they don't bother to show up to defend themselves... you win. That's what happened to one Michigan woman who sued Spirit Airlines after they stranded her at the Detroit Metro airport and then refused to rebook her canceled flights. From USAToday:
Jane Waun sued Spirit Airlines in the small claims division of 54B District Court in East Lansing, Mich., as a last resort this spring after trying unsuccessfully to resolve her beef with the airline directly.
More »

michigan

Get Permission To Use That WiFi Hotspot, Or You Are Committing A Felony

Michigan charged Sam Peterson II with a felony for accessing a coffee-shop's WiFi network from his car over several weeks. The police visited Sam's car after a barber next to the coffee-shop mistook Sam for a stalker. More »

spying

Walmart Worker Fired For Posting Joke On MySpace

Watch out, kids. Don't try to be funny on the internet or you'll be fired by Walmart. More »

circuit city

Circuit City Manager Won't Exchange Item, Even After Circuit City's Help Desk States It's Eligible

The Auburn Hills, MI Circuit City refuses to exchange Eric's broken TV, even though, according to Circuit City's help desk, he is eligible for an exchange under his service plan. Eric purchased an open-box 17" Magnavox LCD with built-in DVD player; it stopped ejecting disks, trapping his daughter's sign-language DVD inside. Circuit City sent the unit for repair, but the TV was totaled. Eric was told to go back for an exchange unit.
Upon returning to the store, I was not happy to hear that the store would not exchange my TV because (1) it was an open box item, and (2) the only similar unit to mine cost $200 more than what I paid. I asked for and was given a copy of the service plan guidelines, which clearly state that items covered under a service plan are treated like new, sealed box items and qualify for the usual Circuit City exchange and return policy. I then called the phone number on the service plan and was told that the exchange should happen even if the replacement was a greater cost than the original. However, Greg (the store director) said there was no way he was exchanging the TV in his store. Left with no other option, and per the service agreement, I then asked for a gift card in the amount of purchase so I could pick out another TV. Greg also refused this, saying that gift cards are not issued for these issues, and that I would have to find another open-box item as a replacement.
Great service, Greg. Eric's email and our suggestion, inside... More »

riaa

RIAA Sues Stroke Victim Who Didn't Even Live In the Correct State

The RIAA is suing John Paladuk, a stroke victim on disability who lived in Florida during the time period he was supposed to have been in Michigan infringing copyright. From Recording Industry vs The People:
Although the defendant John Paladuk, an employee of C&N Railroad for 36 years, was living in Florida at the time of the alleged copyright infringement, and had notified the RIAA that he had not engaged in any copyright infringement, and despite that the fact that Mr. Paladuk suffered a stroke last year which resulted in complete paralysis of his entire left side and severely impaired speech, rendering him disabled, and despite the fact that his disability check is his sole source of income, the RIAA commenced suit against him on February 27, 2007.

—MEGHANN MARCO

RIAA Sues Stroke Victim in Michigan
[Recording Industry vs The People via BoingBoing]

applebee's

Applebee's Apple Walnut Chicken Salad, Now With Free Insect Leg

Here at the Consumerist we're wary of stories where people "find something in their food." That being said, we believe Stacie found an enormous insect leg in her Applebee's salad...after biting into it. More »