A U.S. postal inspector and 2012 Federal Employee of the Year award recipient probably won’t be getting a trophy for his latest noteworthy achievement, as he stands accused of stealing pills, jewelry, passports, Playboy magazines, knives, marijuana, and an autographed Joan Rivers collectible from the mail he was entrusted to protect. [More]
california
Whole Foods Busted For Overcharging Customers In California
By 6.24.14
Shopping at Whole Foods can be enough of a drain on your bank account (that’s why they call it Whole Paycheck, right? Right?), so it doesn’t help if the upscale supermarket chain is also involved in some questionable practices that had customers in California paying more than they should have. Today, the company agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a statewide investigation into allegations of overcharging. [More]
California Court Rules That Large Retailers Don’t Have To Provide In-Store Defibrillators
By 6.24.14
Sometimes having an automated external defibrillator (AED) on hand can make the difference between life and death, in the case of a cardiac emergency. But while one family sued Target for not having such a device around when a woman suffered a heart attack and died in a California store, the state’s highest court says large retailers are not required to carry defibrillators in case of a medical emergency. [More]
California Lawmakers Kill Bill That Would’ve Been First To Require Warnings On Sugary Drinks
By 6.18.14
While health advocates and other opponents of sugary drinks like soda had high hopes for a California bill that would’ve become the first law requiring warning labels on such beverages, lawmakers in the State Assembly effectively killed that measure yesterday. [More]
Mayor Resigns Under Cloud Of Poop-Throwing Scandal
By 6.18.14
Tens days after being caught on camera tossing a bag of dog poop onto the lawn of a man in his neighborhood, the mayor of an upscale Southern California town has tendered his resignation. [More]
Mayor Of California Town Caught Tossing Poop Onto Neighbor’s Yard
By 6.11.14
Tossing a bag of dog feces on someone’s property is the kind of thing you’d expect from an adolescent, or maybe some intoxicated adults acting like adolescents. It’s not the kind of behavior you’d ascribe to the mayor of an upscale town in Southern California. [More]
Amazingly, Diners Didn’t Want To Eat At Toilet-Themed Restaurant
By 5.30.14
A restaurant whose entire bathroom-related theme — complete with toilets as seats, dishes with hilariously fecal names, and miniature toilet-shaped bowls for your food — seems to have been cooked up by a potty-obsessed two-year-old has closed down after an eight-month run, suggesting that most people would rather put foods in their mouths without thinking about how that food will ultimately exit their bodies. [More]
Watch Out For Car-Flippers Who Pretend To Be Private Sellers
By 4.25.14
Imagine that you’re shopping for your first used car, and check out private-party listings on Craigslist. You check out an older but affordable Honda Accord, and the friendly family man selling the vehicle showed you a clean title. Seems legit, right? Who goes around selling ’97 Hondas on Craigslist for huge profits? It turns out that a lot of people do, and they’re called “curbstoners.” [More]
California Lawmakers Pull Plug On Smartphone “Kill Switch” Law
By 4.25.14
With nearly 3 million phones vanishing — often into the hands of sticky-finger thieves — each year, there has been a recent push to introduce legislation that would require wireless providers to include a “kill switch” functionality in all devices, allowing phone owners to remotely deactivate their devices until, and only if, they are located. But one such bill in California has been thwarted, and supporters are blaming the wireless industry. [More]
Dunkin’ Donuts Profits Hurt By Crappy Weather, Moves Up California Opening Spree
By 4.24.14
When the Northeast experienced exceedingly nasty winter weather earlier this year, do you know what people didn’t do? They didn’t venture out of their houses for hot coffee, apparently. Dunkin’ Donuts announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2014, and they blame the crappy weather for profits that are $800,000 lower than last quarter. [More]
Woman Suing Subway Because It’s Rude To Write “Big Mama” On Her Flatizza Box
By 4.14.14
A woman in California says she’s planning legal action against the Subway chain of sandwich shops because a Subway worker wrote the words “Big Mama” on her order and because was less-than-thrilled by the company’s response. [More]
Parents Of Autistic Kids Sue Disney Over New Waiting Line Policy
By 4.10.14
In an effort to discourage some ethically questionable visitors who had been hiring disabled “tour guides” (or who pretended to be disabled themselves) in order to skip long lines at Disney park attractions, the company instituted a policy change last October. Rather than moving directly to the front of the line, these guests are given tickets that tells them when to come back so they don’t have to endure a wait in line. But some parents of autistic children have sued Disney over the policy, saying it goes too far and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. [More]
Verizon Accused Of Deliberately Neglecting Landline Service To Push Customers To FiOS
By 3.24.14
It’s no secret that companies like AT&T and Verizon look at their aging copper landline networks as expensive dinosaurs of a pre-Internet age. But one advocacy group alleges that Verizon has allowed its copper lines to fall into disrepair in the hopes of pushing landline customers to Internet-based phone service. [More]
Victim Of Attempted Robbery Says Walmart Manager Asked Her To Not Call Cops
By 3.21.14
Just because a robbery is unsuccessful doesn’t mean the police shouldn’t be involved. But try telling that to the manager at a Walmart in California, where a customer says she was urged to not contact authorities after being assaulted in the store. [More]
CVS Being Investigated After 37,000 Pain Pills Go Missing
By 3.11.14
The shelves of pharmacies are full of pills, tablets, capsules, and liquids that are worth a lot of money, especially to addicts. So when more than 37,000 prescription pain pills vanish from handful of CVS stores, the authorities get involved. [More]
Cookie Monsters In California Steal Girl Scouts’ Tip Jar, Pay With Counterfeit Cash
By 3.4.14
We really, really hope that the national trend of crimes against Girl Scouts selling cookies is one of those things that we’re noticing only because we are looking for the stories. Otherwise, these crimes are especially appalling since they’re against children raising money for a fun and wholesome organization. Last week in California, we heard of two additional crimes against Scouts. [More]
Thanks To A Man’s $165 Ticket, California Drivers Can Now Use Phone Maps Behind The Wheel
By 2.28.14
In a ruling that reverses the case of man who was ticketed in January 2012 for looking at his iPhone 4 to check a map while stuck in traffic, a state appeals court in California says it’s okay for drivers to read maps on their phones while behind the wheel. He’d been challenging a $165 ticket. [More]
Couple Fought Wrongful Foreclosure In Court, Emerged Victorious
By 2.18.14
It’s nice to hear about a battle of consumer vs. bank that ends with a consumer victory. Better still when it means that the consumer gets to stay in their home, which they were in danger of losing to foreclosure. That’s the heartwarming story of one California couple who fought back in court. [More]
