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burger king
polls
The Mexican restaurant chain Chachos is now charging a 7.5% inflation surcharge on all meals with cheese. Skyrocketing commodity prices present restaurants with a menu of unappetizing choices: raise prices, levy surcharges, reduce portions? How would you like your inflation served? Vote in our poll, after the jump.
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How Would You Like Your Inflation Served?
The Mexican restaurant chain Chachos is now charging a 7.5% inflation surcharge on all meals with cheese. Skyrocketing commodity prices present restaurants with a menu of unappetizing choices: raise prices, levy surcharges, reduce portions? How would you like your inflation served? Vote in our poll, after the jump.
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banks
10 Banks That Could Be Next To Go Under
IndyMac bank going under probably has you wondering, is my bank next? Various analysts are predicting that hundreds of small and regional banks could collapse in the next year. Here's the top 10 list of the nation's most troubled banks... More »
computer repair
Texas Law Probably Does Not Require PI License To Fix Spyware-Infested Computers
Dries Janssens, a computer repair shop owner in Allen, Texas, is worried that a 2007 law passed by the state legislature requires computer repair technicians to have private investigator licenses to perform "simple computer repairs such as malware removal." We're not sure if the law was just badly written or written on purpose at the urging of the state's private investigator lobby (which Janssens suggests), but it certainly seems like a bad idea. Update: according to this article sent by our weekend editor Carey, it's just badly written ("It needs some tightening up," says one lawmaker) and should only apply to the private security industry. More »
best buy
Best Buy Apologizes For Charging You Too Much Tax On Your DTV Converter Box
The way coupons are taxed is different in every state— and believe us — it gets really complicated. The general rule, in most (but not all) states is that consumers are taxed on the full amount of the transaction — including any reimbursement that the store gets. More »
american airlines
AA Lies About Bad Weather To Deny Reader Compensation
Reader S knows his stuff when it comes to his rights as an airline passenger. He was flying on American Airlines (AA) and takeoff was delayed. AA said it was because of thunderstorms in Dallas. He called a friend in Dallas and they said "there isn't a cloud in the sky." AA later revealed the flight was actually delayed because they were waiting for a fax. It's understandable why AA lied. Since this was something they had control over, it meant they owed several things to the delayed passengers. By lying and saying it was due to the weather, they could escape their obligation. The flight finally took off but reader S missed his connection and had to stay overnight in a hotel, a hotel room that American should have paid for. Inside, the letter S executive email carpet bombed after two customer service reps refused to listen to his story on the phone and an online form sent back a robotic received reply with no real results. More »
google
The 10 Most Reputable Companies In The U.S.
The Research Institute has compiled a list of the most reputable companies in the U.S., "calculated by averaging perceptions of trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling obtained from a representative sample of 100 local respondents who were familiar with the company." (Then they do some statistical stuff to it.) Coming in at #1 is Google, which we think is remarkable considering how much data the company has managed to collect over the past several years, and continues to collect with new record-keeping initiatives like Google Health. More »
download cap
Time Warner Cable Begins Testing Metered Internet In Texas
Time Warner Cable is going ahead with a test of metered internet, starting Thursday, for new customers in Beaumont, Texas. The metered billing is TWC's proposed answer to the problem of bandwidth hogging super users. More »
bad consumer
Man Arrested For Trying To Pass A $360 Billion Check
Meet Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, TX. He was arrested on April 22 after allegedly trying to pass a check for $360 billion at a Forth Worth Chase bank. More »
Despite claiming to have no money left to build proper roads, the Texas Department of Transportation is spending $20 million to build a 5.2 acre park near downtown Dallas. The park will contain no roads. [Turf]
fraud
Verizon Doesn't Care That Someone Hijacked Your Account While You Were Serving Overseas
While Barbie was in Greece serving in the US Military, her cellphone account was hijacked by a strange scammer in Texas. (Barbie is not from Texas.) Because her Verizon account is supposed to be on hold, it took her awhile to figure out what was going on with her her supposedly dormant account. Now Verizon Wireless doesn't believe her case is really fraud, and she's sent this letter of complaint to the FCC. More »
rude
Walmart Calls You An Idiot, Tells You To Shut Up And Never Come Back
Reader David writes:Greetings from Austin, Consumerist. I thought y'all might like to hear tale of a visit to a local Walmart (store 1185, for those keeping track).More »
hidden fees
If You Buy A Car (Okay, Truck) In Texas, Make Sure You Don't Pay The Inventory Tax
Texas levies an inventory tax of .02% on the retail value of all products in a company's inventory each year, but lots of car dealerships try to sneak the fee over to the consumer. Even worse, they do it year-round. A reader writes in to explain how you can argue your way out of it at the dealership.More »
customer service
Texas Roadhouse Steak Stuffed With Pubic Hair
Kevin Hansen ordered a steak at a Texas Roadhouse in West Bend, Milwaukee and bit into it. After three bites, he noticed something odd. A foreign object. It wasn't a prize, or a coupon for a free drink. It was human facial hair, placed in his steak by cook Ryan Kropp. Hansen wasn't the only victim of Koop's follicle-spreading-spree. According to the criminal complaint, later that night Kropp placed hair in a second steak, turned to a co-worker, and announced, "These are my pubes." The cook was charged with a felony count of putting a foreign object in food, punishable by a max of 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Beware ye, consumer, of the wrath of the underpaid restaurant staff.
(Thanks to Jay!)
complaints
Woman Threatens To Sue Salon Over Horrible Haircut
The photo at left is an actual photo of the damage done to this lady's hair and head. Lane writes:
I'm sure you get hundreds of complaints about salons, but have any of the salon owners in question put a lien on the car of the injured party? Mine has.More »Nutshell: I went to have a perm done in a Tony Cao salon in Trophy Club, Texas. Three different people worked on me, including a boy who told me he had no idea what he was doing. He was the one in charge of rinsing out the solution on my head. I ended up with burns and bald spots (see attached picture), and severely damaged hair. Not only would the salon owner not give me a refund, he told me it was my own fault for having had damaged hair prior to visiting his salon. He also charged me for a full haircut, when I had not asked for one...
photos
The Burger Of Mandatory Binding Arbitration
If you step into this Whataburger in Kilgore, Texas, you automatically agree to the burger joint's mandatory arbitration clause. At least that's what the sign on the door says. According to Mother Jones:
Sorey says when he went in, he told a befuddled cashier that he didn't think that the arbitration notice was enforceable, that anyway he wasn't agreeing to it, and, "I need a taquito and a coffee." He says he sat down, watched some traffic, and ate his taquito. "I didn't choke, I didn't burn myself, and I didn't sue 'em," he reports.That's one burger that's hard to swallow. Might choke on your after you read this sign. That's one raw burger. Etc.
Eat Burger, Waive Right to Sue [Mother Jones]
(Photo: Dan Sorey)
case closed
A few days ago Jason's story about Best Buy's bait-and-switch shot to internet prominence (137,166 pageviews on Consumerist and 4668 diggs), and now he's happy, has a $200 gift card to Best Buy, and a free copy of Saw IV. Let's recap: Jason went to Best Buy and saw a tag in-store advertising 2 DVDs for $25. He chose to buy two copies of 3:10 to Yuma. At checkout, it rang up for $19.99 a piece. When contested, the clerk pulled out a different circular that said "Buy Saw IV with any of these 3 movies for $25." Jason and a series of store employees disagreed for a long time about whether the circular applied to the tag, and Jason left the store with a $19.99 copy of 3:10 to Yuma, and a story, which he sent to The Consumerist. Then the internets happened. How did he go from screwed to elated? Find out in the exciting conclusion to his customer service misadventure, inside...
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Happy Ending To Best Buy Refuses To Honor 2 for $25 DVD Sale Story
A few days ago Jason's story about Best Buy's bait-and-switch shot to internet prominence (137,166 pageviews on Consumerist and 4668 diggs), and now he's happy, has a $200 gift card to Best Buy, and a free copy of Saw IV. Let's recap: Jason went to Best Buy and saw a tag in-store advertising 2 DVDs for $25. He chose to buy two copies of 3:10 to Yuma. At checkout, it rang up for $19.99 a piece. When contested, the clerk pulled out a different circular that said "Buy Saw IV with any of these 3 movies for $25." Jason and a series of store employees disagreed for a long time about whether the circular applied to the tag, and Jason left the store with a $19.99 copy of 3:10 to Yuma, and a story, which he sent to The Consumerist. Then the internets happened. How did he go from screwed to elated? Find out in the exciting conclusion to his customer service misadventure, inside...
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promotions
Best Buy Refuses To Honor 2 for $25 DVD Sale
Silly Jason. He thought a Best Buy sign reading "2 for $25" meant he could buy two DVDs for $25. He obviously didn't read the part of the sign that requires customers to buy Saw IV.
Oh, that's not part of the sign? Then why did the manager of the Best Buy in Beaumont, TX refuse to honor the in-store advertisement? Read Jason's story, after the jump.
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