Consumerist
recession watch
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missed it by that much
Pilots Who Missed Minnesota Were Too Engrossed In Laptops To Land The Plane
There is a reason that I am not a pilot and the reason is this: I am afraid I would get bored, start messing around with my laptop and miss Minnesota. Unfortunately for Northwest Airlines, they don't hire people who utilize my rigorous program of self-doubt. More » -
making them comfortable
Gee, There Was A 6 Hour Tarmac Delay At New York's JFK Airport
So, we've recently noticed that the new cool thing for airlines to say when they mess up is some variation of, "We tried to make them comfortable," as if they were escorting you to meet your maker instead of transporting you to Minnesota to see your grandmother and eat "bars." We think this is creepy. We think they should stop saying this. More » -
good news
National Arbitration Forum Exits Credit Card Dispute Business
Score one for the consumer over unfair arbitration. Just last week, Minnesota's Attorney General sued the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) for fraud, false advertising, and deceptive trade practices—and now the company has agreed to pull out of the credit card business entirely. According to the settlement reached on July 17th, "The only business NAF can now be involved with is in arbitrating Internet domain disputes, a business it has long been in." More » -
lawsuits
Minnesota Attorney General Punches National Arbitration Forum In The Face
Minnesota has filed a lawsuit against the National Arbitration Forum, alleging fraud, false advertising, and deceptive trade practices. More » -
bpa
Minnesota Becomes First State To Ban BPA
Minnesota has enacted the "Toxic Free Kids Act," which will ban bisphenol-A (BPA) in sippy cups and baby bottles. Minnesota joins Suffolk County, New York, which banned BPA earlier this year. Other states and counties, as well as the federal government, are considering bans on the potentially dangerous chemical, which has been linked to all sorts of adverse health effects. The Minnesota ban goes into effect in 2011. (Photo: tiffanywashko) -
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darned
US Bancorp Blasts TARP As Giant Bait And Switch On America
U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis took shotgun blasts to the TARP program for being a fat big lie. "We were told to take it so that we could help Darwin synthesize the weaker banks and acquire those and put them under different leadership," Davis said. OMG - truth alert! More » -
shopping
As The Recession Deepens, The Mall Of America Says It's Doing Fine
The New York Times says there are about 1,500 malls in the US and many of them are in trouble. They're being converted to office buildings or closing their doors for good. And yet, Minnesota's Mall of America is allegedly doing fine. More » -
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The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, whose excellent Best Buy and Target coverage we really appreciate, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [Reuters]
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pharmacy
Target's Pharmacy Will Not Answer Questions One Minute After Closing?
If you're picking up your prescriptions close to closing time at Target's pharmacy, you might want to make sure you don't have any questions after closing time. Reader Kathy says she realized that she had a question about her son's prescription immediately after picking up the prescription, but when she turned around to ask it — she was too late. More » -
mission impossible
Giving The Phone Book Spammers What For
How can you tell the number of vacant houses on a block? Easy. Just look for the houses with phone books piling up on the porch. The phone book spammers count those property-value killers into their circulation numbers, which is how they sucker businesses into buying listings in the yellow pages. Minnesota blogger Ed Kohler is even angrier about phone book spam than I am, and is on a bit of a mission to never have a phone book on his property again. So he got a little pissed when Verizon, a company he has no business relationship with, tossed one on his steps. More » -
sears
Help! Family Buying Appliances Were Locked Inside Sears
A family shopping for appliances were locked inside a Sears store in Maplewood, MN, says the local Fox affiliate. Anthony (who was scheduled to have hip surgery the next day), his wife Kathy and her sister Crystal were just about to buy a stove, a fridge and a dishwasher when they heard an announcement that the store was about to close. They asked an employee if they should just come back another day. He said no. More » -
marketing
Best Buy Testing New Logo At Mall Of America, Do You Care?
Best Buy is tired of their logo, so they're testing a new one on those local guinea pigs at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. (Best Buy is headquartered in Minnesota, land of lutefisk, Garrison Keillor and Target.) More » -
Mykl Roventine has an amazing set of photos of last year's Minnesota State Fair over at Flickr. It's a confetti-colored slice of Americana, and a great collection of both fair food and the signage that advertises it. Cheer yourself up. [MN State Fair at Flickr]
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PotBelly Sandwich Works
Honey, Was That PotBelly's Sandwich $4.23 Or $858,432?
Sorry PotBelly Sandwich Works customers, you can't order the Chicken Salad Sandwich unless you qualify for a mortgage. Ashley's husband thought his usual lunchtime meal cost $4.23, but, as his wife discovered when trying to pay their credit card bill, the sandwich actually costs $858,432.06. More » -
monster cable
Attorneys Convince Monster That Consumers Can Tell The Difference Between A Deer Lick And An Audio Cable
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, attorneys filed a dismissal motion on behalf of Denco, an ethanol producer in Morris, Minn. that had been selling a product called "Monster Deer Block" since 2005. What were they trying to dismiss? A trademark lawsuit from Monster Cable, of course. More » -
This morning, very early in the morning, we were on KTLK in Minnesota talking about, yep, you guessed it, the Grocery Shrink Ray. Clip is here. And earlier this week we were featured in an article in the UK's Observer.
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wal-mart
Judge Orders Wal-Mart To Pay $6.5 Million For Violating Labor Laws
The AP reports that in a class-action lawsuit, a Minnesota judge ordered that Wal-Mart pay $6.5 million in compensatory damages for violating state labor laws 2-million times. Violations were incurred when the company reduced break time for employees and "willfully" allowed them to work off the clock. Other infractions include the failure to keep time records and denying employees time for meal breaks. Details, inside... More »
