Like your high school guidance counselor, our door is always open. Drop your gripes, story tips, musings, rantings, or fabulous ideas in the box at tips@consumerist.com. Unlike your counselor, we will help you get into college. The college of good consumerism.

We read every tip, and as long it’s about something exploding, we post it. The other tips are subject to a severe review process, which for at least for the editor, consists of meeting some of the following:

Is it set in America?
Is it interesting?
Can others glean useful information from it?
Is it about a big company?
Is it about banking, cellphones, cable companies, insurance or HMO’s?
Is it funny?
Does it have a cool, big, picture?
Is it a source document?
Is it AOL related?
Does it expose a facet in a current site discussion?
Does it allow us to make potty jokes under the guise of consumer activism?

Inside, all the stories last week that met these stringent criteria, along with those that tickled Brownlee’s quixotic glands.

Bank of America Ruined My Credit
We Reprimand a WalMart Manager
Capps Rental Bilks Katrina Relief Volunteer
Joey’s Med Grill Lets Reader Off The Rack
Budgets Bills For Hypotheticals
Camp Stove Runs Completely On Innuendo
Dell Recalls 4.1M Exploding Laptop Batteries
The Truth About ‘5’
Alamo Passes On Charges for Imaginary Parking Tickets
The Ubiquity of Broken Electronics Pilfering by the TSA
Finally! This Site Covers A REAL Consumerist Issue

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.