If you’re one of the many people who buy bundles of discounted Gold and Silver tickets to see movies at AMC theaters, you might think that you’re done paying for your passes when you hand over your cash at the store. In many cases, you’d be right, but regular AMC theatergoers in Southern California would be wise to bring some extra money to the cinema, as the nation’s second-largest theater chain is about to slap discount pass users with “location surcharges.” [More]
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Taco Bell Now Investigating Taco-Licking Photo
By 6.3.13
Hours after many Consumerist readers woke up to the photo of a Taco Bell employee rubbing his tongue across a stack of taco shells, the fast food chain has released a statement regarding the caught-on-camera incident. [More]
Painting Your Own Crosswalk Is Probably Not A Good Idea
By 6.3.13
If you feel the intersection by your house is dangerous for pedestrians, you may want to take your case to the authorities, or get the story out there to the local media. What you don’t want to do is take matters into your own hands and paint a crosswalk by yourself… because you’ll probably get in trouble. [More]
El Pollo Loco Customer Drops $2,200 In Parking Lot; Second Man Pockets Cash, Eats While Watching Frantic Search
By 5.30.13 — Updated: 6.7.13
Fannie Mae Staffer Accused Of Taking Kickbacks Says He’s Not The Only One
By 5.28.13
Since 2009, bailed-out mortgage-backer Fannie Mae has sold nearly three quarters of a million repossessed properties. And considering that there are plenty of investors and speculators looking to snap up bottom-dollar homes with the hopes of eventually reselling at a profit, someone with inside information could be tempted to put a premium on that data, even if doing so is against the law. [More]
Burger King Employee One-Ups Stick-Up Artists By Taking Their Getaway Car
By 5.28.13
We’ve had stories of fast food workers foiling robbery attempts by brute force, but this is the first time we can remember hearing of an employee ruining a stick-up by hiding the suspects’ getaway car. [More]
Court Says Stores Can Be Sued Over Questionable “Discounts”
By 5.22.13
We’ve written before — most recently about JCPenney — about retailers who mark up the original price of an item in order to make the “sale” price look better than it is. Some may say this is harmless marketing, as the retailer is going to charge that price regardless. Others say it’s a deliberately deceptive act intended to lure consumers into thinking they are getting a deal. [More]
Court Says California Cities & Counties Can Ban Pot Shops
By 5.7.13
If you live in California and were envisioning a storefront marijuana shop on every corner, stop dreaming. The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that cities and counties will have the power to just say no to medical marijuana dispensaries, which makes it unlikely that storefront pot shops will become the next Starbucks. [More]
Travel Insurer Knows Which Question To Ask Doctor In Order To Deny Claim
By 4.23.13
When you’re buying a non-refundable plane ticket, it can be very tempting to fork over the few extra dollars to pay for travel insurance so that you’ll be able to get your money back in the case of an emergency like a medical crisis. But as easy as it is to click on that box and sign up for the plan, the insurance companies don’t always make it easy when it comes time to file a claim. [More]
Woman Hit With Traffic Ticket For Car She’d Sold To CarMax Months Earlier
By 4.19.13
When you sell your car to a used-car operation like CarMax, you’d assume that anything that occurs with that vehicle after that point is not your problem. But a California woman says she was charged with running through a tollbooth in car she’d handed off to CarMax months earlier. [More]
City Says Woman Used 214,000 Gallons Of Water, All While Being Out Of Town For A Month
By 3.21.13
A California woman who had never paid more than $60 for her monthly water service was recently hit with a staggering $2,659 water bill, but the utility provider insists nothing is wrong with her meter. [More]
Would You Risk A $200 Ticket To Save $2 In Bridge Tolls?
By 3.14.13
When authorities in the San Francisco area enacted congestion-based pricing on the Bay Bridge, charging higher rates before 10 a.m., they didn’t imagine that so many people would risk up to $200 in fines just to save two dollars at the toll plaza. [More]
Better Business Bureau Gives Boot To Southern California Chapter Over Pay-To-Play System
By 3.12.13
You may remember how the Better Business Bureau took a lot of heat in 2010 when it inexplicably gave an “A-” rating to a bogus business named “Hamas,” as in the terrorist group, because it paid a $425 membership fee. Now, nearly three years on, the chapter responsible for that cock-up and others is no longer part of the BBB. [More]
Get My Daughter A Full-Time Job And I’ll Give You 500 Bucks
By 3.5.13
Sorry, that’s not a direct offer from Consumerist: we don’t have daughters, or $500. A 36-year-old Southern California woman who has spent the last decade and a half as her mother’s caregiver after a car crash is looking for a job now that her mother is well enough to live alone. Her mother has put up a $500 reward to anyone who is able to get her a job. [More]
Bank Of America Explains Why It Never Assumed Title To Squatter-Filled Foreclosure
By 2.26.13
Yesterday, we told you about the California man who said he lost his house to foreclosure but who is being held responsible for the squatters who have moved into his former house because Bank of America has yet to assume the title to the property. Today, we bring you the bank’s side of the story. [More]
Foreclosed-Upon Homeowner On The Hook For Squatters Because BofA Won’t Assume Title To House
By 2.25.13 — Updated: 2.26.13
Why Were 13,000 Boxes Of Girl Scout Cookies Sent To A Landfill?
By 2.19.13
It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill. [More]
Hospital Sends Lab Test Results For 10 Patients To Random Stranger
By 2.11.13
Even in this era of over-sharing and supposed transparency, most people don’t want their medical files shared with anyone who doesn’t absolutely need to see them. But all it takes is one person to not pay attention when stuffing envelopes for private medical documents to be shared with the world. [More]
