Remember those Sunday versions of the Family Circus comic where Bil Keane would use a dotted line to trace the adventures of one of the little scamps who did everything but get the milk they were sent to the store to buy? Well, replace that wholesome scene with an angry, lost bus driver and a busload of worried passengers and you have an idea of what happened yesterday in New Jersey. [More]
Lost Bus Driver Adds 100 Minutes To Morning Commute, Gets Angry When Passengers Try To Help
By June 14, 2013
Jersey Shore Landlord Caught Renting Out Uninhabitable Properties And Homes He Doesn’t Own
By June 6, 2013
The New Jersey coastline can be a goldmine for owners of rental properties, as vacationers flock to the Atlantic Ocean every summer looking to rent for anything from a few days to the entire season. But one landlord is accused of bilking dozens of renters by taking their money for homes not fit for human habitation, some of which he doesn’t even own anymore. [More]
New Jersey Sues Gas Stations For Selling Aviation Fuel As Unleaded Gasoline
By May 29, 2013
When most people fuel up at a gas station, especially one belonging to a national chain, they do so under the assumption that they are filling their car up with whatever gasoline they have selected from the pump. But authorities in New Jersey say that several stations were deceiving customers — and putting their cars at risk — by selling them leaded aviation gas (or avgas) under the guise of unleaded gasoline. [More]
13 TGI Fridays Restaurants Among Those Busted In NJ For Selling Cheap Booze As Premium Pours
By May 23, 2013
You might not be surprised to find that a sketchy dive bar is refilling its empty bottles of liquor with cheaper booze, but many consumers probably don’t expect a chain restaurant to get involved in such underhanded hanky-panky. And yet, 15 of the 29 places caught in yesterday’s sting by New Jersey liquor regulators are outlets of national chain eateries — and almost all of those were TGI Fridays. [More]
Customer Sues CVS For Writing Her Name As “Ching Chong” On Receipt
By April 18, 2013
How many times do we have to tell the cashiers of America to STOP PUTTING STUPID AND OFFENSIVE NAMES ON CUSTOMERS’ RECEIPTS? Sorry we had to go all-caps on you there, but after all the stories of idiotic name-calling that have gotten employees fired and retailers sued, you’d think people would stop. And yet here we have the story of a CVS customer of Korean descent who is suing the drugstore chain after allegedly being labeled “Ching Chong Lee” on her receipt. [More]
State Goofs, Demands Man Pay Back $17,000 In Unemployment Benefits
By April 15, 2013
Back in 2007, when a newly unemployed New Jersey man decided to relocate to South Carolina, he checked with the state to let them know about the move and to make sure he was filing all his unemployment records properly. $17,000 and multiple assurances from state employees later, he was suddenly told he needed to repay all that money. [More]
Comfort Food Crime Wave: Thief Tows Away Entire 40-Foot Shipping Container Of Hamburgers
By April 11, 2013
The crime wave carrying off the world’s comfort food by the truckload is only continuing and escalating. From maple syrup in Québec and Maine to Nutella in Germany and soup in Florida, criminals are carrying off many of our tastiest and most comforting foods. Now, criminals in New Jersey have made off with an entire refrigerated shipping container of hamburger patties. Not the burgers! [More]
Hospital Sends Patient To Collections For Bill His Insurance Company Had Already Paid
By March 15, 2013
We understand that hospitals often get patients using the emergency room as a “free” clinic, and that it may be less of a headache to turn unpaid bills over to a collections agency than it is to chase down debtors on your own. But hospitals shouldn’t be tossing patients to the collections lions if the patients’ insurance provider has already paid the bill. [More]
Court Rules Airline Doesn’t Need To Accept Cash For In-Flight Purchases
By February 25, 2013
There’s a widely held belief that because dollar bills are legal tender that all cash must be accepted by any business for any purchase. This simply isn’t true, but try telling that to the man who sued Continental Airlines for refusing to let him buy $8 worth of stuff with cash during a flight. [More]
Man Smashes Wells Fargo Window, Arrested When He Tries To Pay For Damage
By February 20, 2013
It’s a fact: Some people do stupid things when they are drunk. Some of those same people also have the decency to try to atone for their mistakes when they realize they screwed up (and will probably get caught). [More]
Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit
By February 19, 2013
From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe. [More]
Former Spirit Airlines Mechanic: I Was Fired After Complaining To FAA About Service Issues
By February 19, 2013
A New Jersey man who had worked at Spirit Airlines for more than a decade claims he was fired last year after he and a group of his fellow aircraft mechanics filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration about allegedly sketchy service practices at the carrier. [More]
NJ Township Offers Property Tax Credits For Shopping Locally
By January 24, 2013
Last fall, Marlboro Township, NJ, announced what it believes is the first program in the country that encourages residents to shop at local businesses by offering deductions on annual property tax bills. [More]
Verizon Says Hurricane-Affected Customers Will Get Credit For “Vacation” Fees
By November 29, 2012
Yesterday, we told you about Roy, a Verizon DSL customer who canceled his service after he discovered the company was charging him a “vacation” fee to suspend service to his hurricane-damaged house. This morning, a rep for the company reached out to Consumerist to offer an explanation. [More]
Hurricane Forces Bride & Groom To Celebrate Wedding In A Gym While They Lose $10K On Reception Hall
By November 27, 2012
Among all the recent hurricane-related horror stories coming out of New Jersey, the tale of a young couple losing $10,000 and having to hold their reception in a school gymnasium is certainly not the absolute worst, but it didn’t have to happen that way. [More]
“Stop Eating” Is Not The Kind Of Tip You Should Leave Your Applebee’s Waitress
By November 21, 2012
Leaving a $0 tip on a $30 bill at Applebee’s is bad enough. But then taking the effort to write “Stop Eating B*tch!” as a “tip” is crossing the line from being a bad consumer into being a horrible human being. [More]
NJ Sues Businesses For Price-Gouging After Hurricane Sandy
By November 9, 2012
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, many businesses in New Jersey and New York raised their prices in response to higher demand or weakened supply. But when those prices are jacked up so high that it’s disproportionate to the additional cost to the business, that’s gouging. Today, the state of New Jersey filed suit against eight businesses accused of crossing that line. [More]
Comcast Knows Your Storm-Ravaged House Might Explode, Would Really Like Its Cable Box Back
By November 1, 2012
It seems like every time there is a major natural disaster, there are inevitably cable company customer service reps who place a higher level of importance on their employer’s equipment than on their customers’ homes and lives. [More]
