Kevin couldn’t understand why Amazon charged $29.95 for the digital version of Confessions of a Butcher when the paperback cost only $11.95. Amazon tried to gussy up the Kindle edition by offering what looked like a steep 45% discount, but the digital edition still cost $5 more than the print edition. Even the author’s wife chimed in to Amazon’s discussion forum to pan the discrepancy, adding, “what’s really ridiculous is that we sell more ebooks at $20 than we do new paperbacks for $11.95.”
backlash
Smart Television Alliance Asks "Feature Films For Families" To Stop Using Its Name
By 2.27.09
Feature Films For Families—the company that’s been phone-spamming random people over the past few weeks—follows no man’s law! The nonprofit Smart Television Alliance, which works to educate parents on how to improve the television experience for kids*, discovered that the company was using its name without permission.
Tropicana's Failed Packaging Design Was A Real Life Poochie
By 2.26.09
The Tropicana redesign disaster seemed strangely familiar to us, and we just now realized why: the Simpsons already did it.
"Loyal Customer" Backlash Forces Tropicana To Abandon New Packaging
By 2.23.09
The New York Times says that “loyal” Tropicana customers are up in arms about the new packaging, calling it “ugly,” “generic” and claiming that it looks like a store brand. Others say that the packaging makes it difficult to distinguish between the different varieties of orange juice.
Private Jet Manufacturers Annoyed At Backlash, Claim Jets Are Practical
By 2.11.09
Did you know that private jets are actually quite practical? We didn’t. The Wall Street Journal says that private jet manufacturers are angry at the backlash against private jets and are speaking out to “counter business aircraft misinformation.”
Angry Consumer Slices and Dices Credit Cards To Protest Rate Increase
By 1.29.09
Like many Americans, Christian and his wife got themselves into debt with a car loan and by using credit cards to pay for their wedding. Now they’ve been working on paying off their debt and had gotten it down from $35,000 to $15,000 — when their credit card companies decided to randomly raise their APR. Now they’ve cut up their cards forever in protest.
Chrysler Buys Ads Thanking You For Tax Money, You Get Pissed, Chrysler Censors You
By 1.22.09
Here’s a sad little saga. After convincing our government that it was responsible enough and commercially viable enough to deserve a multi-billion-dollar bailout, Chrysler spent some of the money taking out full page ads in The Wall Street Journal and USAToday, thanking America for its money. They also posted these ads proudly on their blog. The reaction from actual Americans was, um, harsh.
Auto CEOs Promise To Ditch The Private Jets And Drive To Washington
By 12.3.08
The big three auto CEOs Bob “Big Bob” Nardelli, Alan “Leavin’ On A Jet Plane” Mulally, and our personal favorite Rick “The Station” Wagoner are apparently going to drive to Washington to beg for your money. Previously, they all flew on private jets.
Saved By Zero Will Apparently Kill You
By 11.21.08
Some bored people who hate that Saved By Zero commercial as much as you do have mashed it into a trailer for The Ring. Hooray.
Nike Customers Angry After Woman With Fastest Time Doesn't "Win" Marathon
By 10.24.08
There’s a bit of a backlash brewing against Nike after the woman with the fastest time in the Nike Women’s Marathon wasn’t declared “the winner” because she wasn’t among the elite group of marathon runners who start separately from the rest of the pack.
Community Outraged At Buca di Beppo Restaurant Manager's Firing?
By 10.10.08
Reports that community of Chandler, AZ is outraged at the firing of Buca Di Beppo manager Joe Busone have been popping up in our inbox. The Arizona Republic says that when he was let go, seven servers also walked out — in the middle of dinner.
Amazon Pulls Negative Reviews Of 'Spore,' Then Reinstates Them
By 9.12.08
Earlier today, about 2200 reviews of the game Spore disappeared from the product page on Amazon.com, almost all of them negative. Did Amazon censor the reviews because of their anti-DRM nature? Amazon says no, that it was a technical glitch, and they restored the reviews by the end of today. An Amazon spokesperson told Ars Technica, “Amazon doesn’t censor or edit customer reviews based [on their content] and we’d only remove a review if it fell outside our guidelines.” Spore’s rating is back to a single star, and it’s #5 on Amazon’s video games chart.
Backlash: Anti-DRM Protesters Trash Spore's Amazon Rating
By 9.9.08
Spore, the long awaited new game from SimCity creator Will Wright, has been critically well-received, so what’s up with its Amazon.com score? As of this posting, the game, despite being #1 on Amazon, has 1,494 one star ratings from gamers who are upset about the game’s DRM. Here are some excerpts from the angry reviews:
Backlash: United Drops Plan To Ax Hot Meals On International Flights
By 9.2.08
United Airlines said it would listen to feedback from customers about its proposed plan to ax hot meals for coach passengers on international flights… and it did. The company has decided not to go ahead with the plan. Reader Jason forwarded us the following email from Graham Atkinson, United’s Chief Customer Officer.
Backlash: Etsy.com's "Sexy" Mass Murderers?
By 8.11.08
There’s some backlash brewing against Etsy.com for a fashion article about recreating “Bonnie Parker’s look” in which they describe Bonnie & Clyde as, “rather infamous characters in U.S. history, and for good reason: honestly, what’s sexier than a nefarious duo driving cross country on a crime spree of such massive and public proportion?” The author of the article is being taken to task in the comments and the Etsy Bitch blog has picked up the story as well.
Starbucks To Bring Back "Burnt" Coffee Due To Customer Demand
By 6.20.08
Only a few months after replacing their “bolder” (some would say “burnt”) varieties of brewed coffee with the more “mild” (some would say “dunkin donuts-esque”) Pike Place Roast, Starbucks has announced that due to popular demand, they’ll be brewing some of the old stuff too.
By 6.6.08
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Nathaniel’s restaurant in Owen Sound, Ontario laid off one of their employees because she donated her hair to raise money for cancer research and won’t wear a wig to cover her new haircut. The restaurant owner says he realizes that it’s not good PR for the restaurant, but claims to have heard from customers who would have been “appalled” to be served by a waitress with a buzz cut. We think she looks cute. [CTV](Thanks, Karan!!)
Macy's Loses $59 Million In 3 Months, Angry Marshall Field's Customers Get The Blame
By 5.14.08
Macy’s has managed to lose $59 million in the first quarter. CEO Terry J. Lundgren says that considering the crappy economy, losing $59 mil isn’t all that bad:
