While New York may be trying to raise revenue by cracking down on city beekeepers, this looks like one sting operation that got its stinger broken off in the wound: inspectors fined a Queens man $2,000 for “not watering his beehive.” [More]
SouperSalad Store Shuts Down After Blade Found In Salad
By July 20, 2011
Waiter, there’s a blade in my salad. Albuquerque health inspectors slapped a red dot of shame on a SouperSalad restaurant after they followed up complaints from a diner who said he found blades in his greens. [More]
Completely Fake Apple Stores Found In China
By July 20, 2011
An American blogger living in the middle of China was amazed to stumble across a fake Apple store in her town. It was a complete counterfeit of a real Apple store, designed to look like the real thing. It had signage, and employees walking around in the iconic blue shirts with those lanyard nametags. It had the big long wooden tables with Apple products on them and the typical Apple store winding staircase. But certain details were off. [More]
Supermarkets Manipulating Multiples To Get You To Buy More
By July 19, 2011
Supermarkets are rolling out the apparent discounts more than ever. Ten for $10! Five for $5! And shoppers, thinking they’re getting a deal, are gobbling it up. Never mind that you can get the same price if you just bought one of the items. [More]
Expedia Denies Refund Even Though Hotel Was Closed
By July 15, 2011
This summer, Abe went on a trip through Europe this summer with his wife and kids. One night, he made a hotel reservation using the Expedia iPhone app. But when he arrived at the place, it was already past check-in time and no one was around. When he called Expedia for a refund, they said no, because the check-in time was disclosed on their website, even though that information was not available through the iPhone app at all. [More]
After Colbert Mocks, Gas Driller Stops Making "Friendly Fracosaurus" Coloring Book
By July 15, 2011
After the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlighted a coloring book made by natural gas driller Talisman Energy for pushing propaganda on kids, and Colbert ripped it a new one, the gas company announced it will stop making “Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure.” [More]
Purdy's Chocolate Finds Stuffed Rabbit, Saves Childhood
By July 15, 2011
Geordie’s five-year old daughter had fallen in love with a stuffed bunny she got from Purdy’s Chocolates during Easter. Then it recently went missing during a trip to the beach. Her daughter missed the bunny terribly, even keeping the bunny’s empty bed next to hers at night. Revisiting the store, they were told there were no more bunnies left. Then, emboldened by reading success stories from other Consumerist readers, Geordie emailed Purdy’s to see if anything could be done. And indeed something could be… [More]
The Slum Lord Garbage Tree
By July 15, 2011
Greg was pretty ticked off. After two weeks of complaining to management, the tall tree outside his apartment complex still had garbage hanging from its branches. It looked like some sort of foul Christmas Tree for hobos. He couldn’t use the parking spot he pays $94 a month for because the building staff had removed all the “Tenant Only” parking signs and not put up the new ones. People who didn’t live in the building were parking in his spot. Only after sending a string of admonishing emails to the building manager, his bosses, and the board of directors did Greg finally get The Tree Of Garbage cleaned up. Here’s the chain of emails: [More]
How Price Guarantees, Aren't
By July 14, 2011
Reader Ziemowit has a good point. Some big box stores loudly proclaim their “PRICE GUARANTEE” signs but then actually do some stuff that make them irrelevant. The guarantee is supposed to be that they will match any competitor’s price. But when you have a number of manufacturers making products with packaging and SKUs just for that one retailer, then you can’t do a price guarantee because no one else carries that specific model. If you can’t find the same product at another store, you can’t match the price. Zing! [More]
How To Check Your Stats If Your Comcast Bandwidth Meter Is Broken
By July 14, 2011
After reading the story about the guy whose internet was shut off for a year by Comcast as punishment for breaching their data cap, reader Brian tried to check out his Comcast bandwidth meter. He did not want to have the same fate befall him. However, when he got to the screen, all the data and graphs that had been there months before were gone. Comcast told him that the bandwidth meter isn’t working for some customers but gave him a number to call if he needed to check on his data consumption. [More]
50% Off Amazon Prime Renewals For Students
By July 14, 2011
Students who signed up last year for a free year of Amazon Prime are getting close to their expiration date. So, Amazon is offering them a renewal for $39, 50% off the regular price of $79. [More]
Guy Arrested For Saggy Pants Plans To Sue US Airways
By July 14, 2011
Yesterday, all charges were dropped against a University of New Mexico football player who was thrown off a plane and arrested by a US Airways pilot last month for wearing pj’s that sagged off his posterior. Today his attorney says that Deshon plans on suing US Airways over how he was treated. [More]
If I Rebook At A Holiday Inn I "Favorited," I Expect The Hotel To Be In The Same Location
By July 14, 2011
In the five years I’ve been writing for Consumerist, I’ve read plenty of hotel horror stories and complaints, but this is a new one. Using the “Favorites” option on his HolidayInn.com account, reader Andy booked a stay at a Holiday Inn Express that he had gone to before and enjoyed. When he arrived at the same location, it was now a “Mission Inn.” They told him the Holiday Inn had moved down the road. The new facility was sub-par compared to what it had been previously and he complained to Holiday Inn corporate, they basically said “tough noogies.” Which is how Holiday Inn just lost a life-long customer. [More]
Best Buy Holding Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop Hostage Since May
By July 13, 2011
Jenni’s sister is disabled and bed-bound, and her laptop is her portal to the world. So when her HP laptop had to go in for repair, it was a big deal. It was an even bigger deal after the Geek Squad spent over a month dickering with the repair and while it was in their hands, the warranty ran out. Now Geek Squad won’t give it back unless the full out of warranty price is paid, and HP says it’s not their problem, it’s Geek Squad’s. Meanwhile it’s been almost three months and Jenni’s sister has no computer. [More]
Pier 1 Kicks Off Christmas Creep Season
By July 13, 2011
It may not be a full-fledged instance because it’s not in a physical store, but a recent email promo by Pier 1 is at very least a warning shot that Christmas Creep season is upon us. They recently sent around an email featuring a large snowman. It said, “You can now scratch “get an early start on Christmas” off your to-do list. Preview holiday fun before it even gets to our stores.” [More]
Dillard's Fired Guy For Eating Two Hotdogs
By July 11, 2011
A court has ruled that a Dillard’s department store that fired a dock worker after he ate two leftover hotdogs from a company picnic was unjustified in doing so and must pay him unemployment benefits, the Evansville Courier & Press reports. [More]
Free Shipping On Adult Novelty Fur Elephants At Sears
By July 11, 2011
Tipster David notes Sears.com appears to have added some adult items to their online catalogue, resulting in some unusual search results. Is this “the softer side of Sears?” [More]
TV With 2011 "Country Strong" Promo Inserted Into 2009 HIMYM Rerun
By July 8, 2011
Looks like the ad sales team over at CBS sold more than one digital insertion ad slot on “How I Met Your Mother reruns.” Now here’s one with CGI television running a promo for the 2011 Country Strong injected into the background of a replay of a 2009 episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” [More]
