Tipping waiters at a restaurant is relatively easy — so long as you know how to calculate the standard 15-20% — but tipping for delivery is always a topic of much debate, as there are factors involved like the cost of the meal, the weather, how long you had to wait, and how much was being carried. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Pizza Deliverer: If You Live In A $650K House And Don’t Tip, There’s Something Wrong With You
By 12.4.12
FDA Replies To Lawsuit Over Food Regulation Deadlines: Slow Your Roll, We’re Working On It
By 12.3.12
Back in January 2011, the government signed a law that said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have to undertake an overhaul in food safety regulations, the first of its kind in about 70 years. Well, time’s been a-ticking and now a new lawsuit leveled at the agency claims the FDA has missed a bunch of deadlines required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. But the FDA says that’s not the case, it’s just that it’s a big job that it’ll take time. [More]
Processing Plant Behind Great Peanut Butter Recall Of 2012 Won’t Reopen Just Yet
By 12.3.12
The Great Peanut Butter Recall of 2012 began with a few voluntary recall notices on the shelves of Trader Joe’s, and has now escalated to the Food and Drug Administration making an unprecedented move to shut down the plant where the offending nut products were processed. [More]
Target Really, Really Wants You To Know They Didn’t Shrink Ray Their Cheese
By 12.3.12
“Dear Target: Whaddaya want, a medal?” tipster David typed when he sent this photo in using the Consumerist Tipster App. No medals, but it’s kind of sad that a company has to point out that they didn’t use a redesign to decrease the amount of product in a package. [More]
Mom Not Happy About Finding Nose Ring In Daughter’s McDonald’s Breakfast Burrito
By 11.30.12
While kids love to get free shiny playthings with their fast food meals, someone else’s nose ring doesn’t usually fall into that category. But that’s exactly what a mom in Georgia says she discovered in her kid’s McDonald’s breakfast burrito. [More]
Fake Starbucks Taste Test Shows The Very Real Power Of Suggestion
By 11.28.12
Starbucks is rolling out its new Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee that costs $7 a cup (or $40/lb). So what better way to find out if people can tell the difference than by having a taste test? [More]
Starbucks Store Gives Away Two Months Of Tips To Charity
By 11.27.12
A Starbucks store in Greencastle, IN, recently handed over a check to the local chapter of the Humane Society, representing the full amount of tips taken in by the coffee shop in September and October. [More]
Target Says It Will No Longer Pressure Pharmacists To Push Auto-Refill Program
By 11.27.12
Last month, we wrote about how a number of pharmacists at chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Target were being pressured by management to put customers into auto-refill programs, which led to some customers being enrolled in the program without their approval. Now Target says that it no longer measures pharmacists’ success by how many people they place into auto-refills. [More]
L.A. Seafood Task Force’s Catch Of The Day Features Lots Of Mislabeled Fish
By 11.21.12
What you see is apparently not always what you’re getting in L.A., says a county Seafood Task Force that took on the problem of mislabeled fish in the food industry. The group found that a whole slew of issues that were widespread across supermarkets and restaurants alike that could pose health problems for consumers. [More]
Hey, How Hard Is It To Remake A Starbucks Drink?
By 11.20.12
Reddit user Larebearspear had a rotten experience at Starbucks, and shared it with the /r/talesfromretail subreddit. Now, normally the community is for retail workers to share stories from the other side of the counter. But some experiences are so terrible that you just can’t be sympathetic, no matter how many terrible customers you’ve dealt with in your day. That was this trip to Starbucks. [More]
CPSC Issues Safety Alert On Detergent Pods
By 11.20.12
A month after the Centers for Disease Control issued a report showing that nearly 500 kids had been exposed to the lovely cleansing chemicals by playing with or chewing on colorful, shiny detergent pods, the folks at the Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a safety alert declaring them harmful to children. [More]
CVS Marks Up Item $5 For ‘Sale’, Offers $5 In Extrabucks
By 11.16.12
Dave sent us this irresistible deal from pharmacy chain CVS. You can get $5 in Extrabucks rewards currency by buying these Futuro anti-embolism stockings. Not a bad deal if you’re in the market for them, and will remember to come back and use the Extrabucks. This plan has a flaw, though: you only come out 30 cents ahead, because the sale price is $4.70 above regular retail. [More]
If Gooey Blobs Of Mold Count As Vitamins We’ll Have To Pass On That VitaminWater
By 11.15.12
Yeah yeah, we know: Penicillin is mold*. But healthy or no, nobody wants to take a slug of a liquid beverage and find a globular bunch of moldy stuff trying to get down your throat. Grody to the max, right? Reports of contaminated vitaminwater are hitting the news, as one enterprising consumer even sent his blobular grossness off to a lab to be tested. The result? Mold. Not a vitamin. Nope. [More]
Starbucks To Buy Teavana For $620 Million, Declines $800 Million Tea Tin Upsell
By 11.15.12
If you’re not familiar with Teavana, they’re a chain of about 300 mall shops that sell exotic (and expensive) loose-leaf teas, along with pricey tea-holding tins and tea-making accessories. Starbucks, which already owns a tea brand (Tazo) sees something special in Teavana, and has purchased the company for $620 million in cash. [More]
Pizza Franchisees Say Chain Owners Took Groupon Money But Didn’t Share
By 11.15.12
Back in August, the owners of New England’s Upper Crust chain of pizzerias ran two offers on Groupon, selling more than 6,000 $12 vouchers that could be redeemed for $25 in food. But some franchisees who run independently own Upper Crust stores say they were not told in advance about the Groupons and that they never saw a lick of that cash. [More]
Burger King Japan Brings Back All-You-Can-Eat Burgers For One Week Only
By 11.15.12
Fast food fans in Japan evidently couldn’t get enough Whoppers. At this time last year, we reported that they were offering an all-you-can-eat burger buffet to customers willing to accept the challenge. The deal is back on. From November 17 to November 21, diners who purchase a black burger meal will be able to gobble as many burgers and fries or onion rings as they can in the next half-hour. [More]
5-Hour Energy Cited In Reports Of 13 Deaths
By 11.15.12
Only a few weeks after it was revealed that FDA incident reports linked Monster Energy drink to five deaths in recent years, it’s come out that the heavily advertised 5-Hour Energy “shots” have been cited in 13 deaths and dozens of hospitalizations since 2009. [More]
Guy Finds Mummified Bat In His Cereal, Count Chocula Reported Missing
By 11.13.12
First of all — I’m totally kidding about Count Chocula. I’m sure he’s just fine, safe in his Transylvanian marshmallow castle or wherever he keeps his coffin. But there is a man claiming he found a mummified bat in his breakfast cereal and he’s suffering from the kind of shock that experience surely brings. [More]
