Consumerist
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investigations
Hidden Cameras Catch LA Valets Breaking All Kinds Of Laws
An excellent piece of investigative journalism by NBC Los Angeles catches valets all over the city putting up fake no parking signs, jamming meters, and using customers' cars to shuttle valets around. More » -
payment protection racket
Discover Customer Snookered Into Payment Protection Plan
Aaron feels he was tricked by a Discover cold-caller into enrolling in a pricey payment protection plan. His cautionary tale is evidence that giving a credit card-affiliated phone salesman the go-ahead to send you an information packet can backfire. More » -
service slamming
Chrysler Won't Let Customers Out Of Credit Monitoring Service Without A Fight
Chris and his wife bought a Jeep were automatically enrolled in a free credit monitoring service. When they decided they no longer wanted the service, they got a hassle from a CSR and worry they'll have to go through the process again to cut the cord. More » -
overcharges
Ramada Overcharges Guy, Won't Give Full Refund
Every time you leave your credit card info at a hotel front desk, it's natural to worry you'll be overcharged. Tony's fear came true, since his card was charged even after his girlfriend paid for the room. And he's been tangling with Ramada over a hotel stay in which he was double-charged for a stay. More » -
power washers
Power Washer Company's Warranty Policy Sucks And Blows
Jim bought an industrial-strength Karcher power washer new on eBay a few months ago, didn't open it until recently and found that the pump didn't work. More » -
tickets
Ticketmaster Pays $50,000 Fine, Closes More Than 100 Deceptive Site
Ticketmaster will pay a $50,000 fine and shutter more than 100 deceptive brokerage sites as part of a wide-reaching agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan's office accused Ticketmaster's always shady subsidy, TicketsNow, of creating sites that masqueraded as local venues selling tickets at face value. The settlement also requires TicketsNow to wait until after Ticketmaster puts non-sporting events on sale before hawking tickets at outrageously inflated prices. More » -
amazon
Amazon Deletes Reviews That Mention Pay For Play Review Schemes
After buying an anti-snoring mouthpiece from a third-party seller on Amazon, reader Bob received an email from the company offering him a free mouthpiece in exchange for a five-star review. He noted this attempted bribe in his Amazon review, and Amazon deleted it. Twice.
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shady
Buy A Gift Certificate From Restaurant.com, Sign Up For A Recurring $14.95 Monthly 'Service"
Note: this post is about restaurant.com, not restaurants.com. The two websites are not related. Tracey emailed us today to let us know that she just found a mysterious $14.95 fee on her credit card. It turns out a company called Shopping Essentials is now billing her as a monthly subscriber, and all because she bought some gift certificates via restaurant.com in December. To make matters even more shady, Shopping Essentials never contacted Tracey to let her know she signed up for anything, or to send her information about their services, or to call attention in any way to the fact that she now pays them a monthly fee. More » -
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belkin
Belkin Caught Paying For Positive Reviews
Belkin Business Development Representative Michael Bayard has been caught offering to pay anyone willing to leave perfect reviews of Belkin products on Amazon, Buy.com, and Newegg. Even worse, the highly unethical strategy seems to have worked—almost fifteen pages worth of Belkin products on Amazon have perfect five-star ratings. More » -
shady
Buy.com: It's Not Our Problem That You Never Got Your Item
Eric ordered a hard drive from Buy.com. He never received it, but Buy.com says that it was delivered. Eric's wife was home at the time that the delivery supposedly happened, and she remains hard drive-less. Now, Buy.com is saying that it's their policy not to be responsible for items once they are shipped, and Eric wants to warn others about this policy.
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marketing
Fake Wired Magazine "Renewal Notice" Almost Tricks You Into Paying More
Here's a reminder that one must remain ever vigilant against shady direct mail offers that masquerade as bills that you are expecting. More » -
scams
Scammed By Curb-Side Check In At JFK
Reader Andy decided to check his bag curb-side at JFK, that wretched hive of scum and villainy, and the curb-side check-in attendant scammed him out of $15 by promising to sneak his "overweight" bag onto the flight for a "big tip." Naturally, after the deal was done, Andy realized that his bag probably wasn't overweight and he'd just been scammed. Now he's writing in to tell his story so that other consumers can avoid a similar fate. More » -
shady
Does That Chain Restaurant Or Fast Food Match The Nutritional Information? Apparently Not.
TV stations all over the country recently got together and tested a bunch of dishes from chain restaurants and fast food places to see if the nutritional information they were advertising actually matched the food. The report targeted menu options from chains such as Applebee's, Macaroni Grill, Taco Bell and Chili's that were marketed as healthy. So did the calories in the food match the calories on the menu? Nope. Of the items tested, all but one were way over on calories, or fat content... or both. More » -
Bank of America will pay a nearly $10 million settlement to 15,000 customers after feeding investors information that was biased towards its own funds, says the SEC. [CNNMoney]
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shady
Azureus: Other ISPs May Also Be Throttling BitTorrent
Azureus has released data that suggests that Comcast may not be the only ISP throttling BitTorrent, says TorrentFreak: More » -
shady
Continental Airlines Using "Fuel Emergencies" To Skip Ahead Of Other Airlines At Newark?
There's evidence that Continental Airlines might be engaged in some shady manipulation of air traffic controllers by creating "fuel emergencies" in order to skip ahead of other airlines and land quicker at Newark, says the Wall Street Journal. So-called "fuel emergencies" aren't as scary as they sound— planes that are getting close to the minimum amount of fuel required to remain in the air can call into the tower and get "expedited handling," and skip the line. There's no real danger to passengers. More » -
privacy
Dumpster Diver Finds Customer Financial Information In Bank Trash
James Hastings is a dumpster diver who has found a mother lode of consumer financial information that employees carelessly tossed in dumpsters outside of several People's United Bank branches. He says he was trying to expose the bank for not safeguarding customer's records. The bank says he was trying to extort them into giving him a job. More » -
shady
Justice Department Will Investigate Countrywide's Lending Practices
A judge has authorized an investigation into Countrywide's lending practices, says the NYT. More »
shady
New York, 12:34 AM
Thu Nov 12
19 posts in the last 24 hours
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