Consumerist
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crime
Yep, Trying To Trade Sex For World Series Tickets Is Illegal
We know you really want to go see the Phillies/Yankees World Series, but you'll have to find some way to pay for it that doesn't include sex acts. One Philly fan found out that hard way when an undercover cop answered her Craigslist ad. More » -
crisis averted
Philadelphia's Public Libraries Not Closing After All
Lovers of books, free Internet access, and community gathering spaces, rejoice. The Philadelphia Free Library will not be closing on October 2nd, as previously threatened. More » -
libraries
Philadelphia To Close All Public Libraries October 2nd
UPDATE: Philadelphia's Public Libraries Not Closing After All
What frugal person doesn't like libraries? They're like a video store, only better. Which is why we're horrified to learn that thanks to the economic meltdown and the state of Pennsylvania's inability to pass its budget, the Philadelphia Free Library is closing on October 2nd. They'll be ending all services and programs, and closing all of the buildings. They want all of the books back, too. More »
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stupid
US Airways Employee Helps Roommate Smuggle Gun Aboard To Avoid Checking It
The AP is reporting that the employee charged with smuggling a unloaded handgun and ammunition aboard a US Airways flight was trying to help his roommate avoid checking it. More » -
horror stories
Blind Traveler Asks Too Many Questions On Delayed U.S. Airways Flight, Is Dragged Off, Jailed, Told He's Faking His Blindness
As 61-year-old Belgian interpreter Nicola Cantisani, who is blind, sat for two hours waiting in the Brussels-bound U.S. Airways jet on the tarmac at Philadephia airport in early April, he wondered why no one was telling passengers about the reasons for the take-off delay. When he requested a glass of water he was shooed away by the crew. When he tried to ask the captain exactly why there was a delay, Cantisani was asked to disembark. More » -
crime
Newly Bought Clothes Mysteriously Escape Your Luggage And Return Themselves
Ah yes, the Philadelphia Airport. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. A baggage handler has been charged with two counts of theft after a woman noticed that $550 worth of clothes (with the price tags still on) had mysteriously wandered out of her luggage. More » -
Two Philadelphia newspapers, the Inquirer and the Daily News filed for bankruptcy Sunday. [NYT]
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burger king
This Burger King Sign Is Both Disappointing And Anti-Social
[January 13, 2008. Philadelphia, Pa. Image via Time Doctor]
This Burger King sign is right. Nobody ever orders the salad or chicken.
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hd wars
Comcast Says FiOS HD Is "Mundane," Verizon Says They Kick Comcast "In The Teeth"
The war between Verizon FiOS and Comcast is heating up as Verizon moves into Comcast's home territory of Philadelphia. The main point of contention? Verizon claims to have more HD than Comcast, but Comcast says Verizon's HD programming sucks and shouldn't count. Yes, really.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says that Comcast is upset that more than 250 of Verizon's HD "choices" are "mundane" and to count them is "misleading and irrelevant to consumers." More » -
most stressful cities
America's 10 Most Stressful Cities
Forbes magazine has put together a list of America's most stressful cities and as a product of Chicago, the winner of the dubious distinction of being America's most stressful city, I have this to say: "Yeah, so? Shut up and let me eat my hot dog in peace for once, goddamn it. No, I'm not yelling. Why are you always saying that I'm yelling? It's not like you never yell! Pass the sport peppers before this gets ugly." More » -
insurance
Comcast: Fire Destroyed Your Cable Box? Pay Up.
Here's one more thing to worry about when a fire destroys your home — Comcast. More » -
backlashes
Arbol Cafe Responds To Tipping Controversy
Two weeks ago, we made note of a word war going on in the comments section of the restaurant review section of Philadelphia's City Paper after a former employee complained that the Arbol Cafe was confiscating their tips. In response, Beth from Arbol Cafe wrote us:Arbol Cafe does give tips to the employees, and was giving tips at that time 'John Smith' was in training. John Smith was in training and she received $25 for each of her three, 3 hour shifts. We opened in January and she worked a few days in February. If people think that we do not tip employees, they are only feeding off of one of our first employees in training as well as repeat bloggers/posters who now seems out to slander us at every chance they have. While we can't continue forever defending ourselves without further criticizim from people who like to post negative comments, we do feel that it's important for our customers and future customers to know that our employees are, and have been, and will continue to be treated with respect and the tips have been, are currently, certainly will continue to be forwarded to them as they pass the training period and can competantly work the front desk.
But what she really should have done is pointed us to what she told the City Paper's Critical Mass blog, which is a bit more informative and a litte more reasonable-sounding.
PREVIOUSLY: Philadelphia Cafe Keeping Server's Tips For Themselves? -
tipping controversy
Philadelphia Cafe Keeping Server's Tips For Themselves?
There's a war of words going on in the comments of a restaurant review in Philadelphia's City Paper. Someone claiming to be a server has outed the Arbol Cafe for confiscating server's tips. In response, someone claiming to speak for the cafe defended the practice, claiming that they need the tips to pay for their renovation. More » -
Man (and Comcast employee) gets laptop and XBOX back after unleashing mobs of vigilante internetters on the thieves. [Philly Daily News] (Thanks, Markus!)
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free parking
The Vast Majority Of Philadelphia Parking Tickets May Be Invalid
A CBS investigation has revealed that parking tickets stemming from 85% of the parking meters in Philadelphia are invalid. Pennsylvania law requires inspectors to certify each parking meter for accuracy once every three years, but the single inspector working for Philly's Licenses and Inspections Department, the city agency in change of certification, has visited less than 15% of all parking meters—but he has found the time to certify some meters 8 times while others go completely unchecked. As a result, thousands of parking tickets are invalid under state law. More » -
anger
Comcast Dings Your Credit Report For Moving With Their Precious Cable Modem
Comcast told reader Marcus that he could just take his cable modem with him when he moved from the Philadelphia suburbs into the city. Then he checked his credit report and found out that he was a cable modem thief. More » -
complaints
Couple Paints "FU FAA" On Roof To Protest Jet Noise
Fed up with a change in flight patterns that made them sleep in bed at night with earplugs, one Philly couple decided to paint "FUCK YOU FAA. NO FLY ZONE" and a symbol for "no planes" on the top of their roof. Note: in real life, it says "fuck" but the newspaper photoshopped it to just say "FU." Homeowner Michael Hall said they had tried to lodge complaints with the FAA noise-complaint hotline over 20 times, but whenever they called, an answering machines would apologize for not being able to take their message as the mailbox was full.
"I wanted to have little things that were shooting the plane down, but my girlfriend thought I would get arrested, so I settled for the picture that's up there," Hall said. We applaud Mr. Hall's creative solution to getting his voice heard.
Fed up with jet noise, couple raise the roof [Philly.com] (Thanks to Rachel!)
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exciting new products
Police Blotter On Demand? Comcast Helps Catch Bank Robbers Thanks To Bored People
Comcast has issued a press release claiming that they're helping to solve crimes with something called "Police Blotter On Demand" a trial program launched in the Philadelphia area. More »
philadelphia
New York, 9:18 AM
Thu Nov 12
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