After leaked e-mails seemed to indicate that at least some people at CVS have been pressuring pharmacists to refill customers’ prescriptions — without the patient’s consent — in order to meet sales quotas, federal and state regulators have begun investigating the drugstore chain. [More]
california
It’s Oakland Vs. Washington In Legal Battle Over Huge Medical Marijuana Dispensary
By 10.11.12
In what is believed to be the first instance of a municipality suing the federal government on behalf of a medical marijuana dispensary, the city of Oakland has gone to court to ask the feds to please stop trying to close down the largest such dispensary in the country. [More]
California Relaxes Smog Controls In Effort To Bring Down Gas Prices
By 10.8.12
The price of gas in California has increased more than $.50/gallon in the last week and now stands at an average close to $4.70, with some remote locales charging over a dollar more per gallon. Hoping to bring that price down — or at least rein it in, Governor Jerry Brown directed the California Air Resources Board to temporarily relax smog controls by allowing refineries to produce winter-blend gas weeks earlier than regulations currently permit. [More]
Gas Station Responds To Higher Gas Prices By Turning Off Pumps
By 10.5.12
A gas station owner in California says prices at the pump have gotten so high that people are no longer fueling up their vehicles at his location. So rather than try charging customers nearly $5 a gallon, he decided to lock up his pumps for the day. [More]
L.A. City Council Votes To Repeal Ban On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
By 10.3.12
Only a few months after enacting a ban on the hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, the L.A. City Council voted 11-2 last night in favor of repealing the ban. [More]
Comcast Moves 1,000 Call Center Jobs Out Of California, Totally Doesn’t Blame State Government
By 9.26.12
Comcast customers in northern California who call in for help won’t be talking to their neighbors anymore. Kabletown announced yesterday that they plan to shut down call centers in Livermore, Morgan Hill and Sacramento in November. The 1,000 employees affected will have the opportunity to receive severance packages, or to follow their jobs as they’re transferred to call centers in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. The interesting part, though, is what Comcast had to say about why they’re moving the jobs, then later retracted. [More]
This Is Why People Hate Health Insurance Companies
By 9.19.12
For many people, health insurance premiums take a sizable bite out of their paychecks. Which would be somewhat tolerable if insurance companies did anything to ease the process of actually receiving medical care. Heck, most of us would tolerate the pricey payments if insurers just did the bare minimum of what they are supposed to do and didn’t put up roadblocks to getting the proper care. And yet that simple concept appears to be too complicated for some insurance providers to grasp. [More]
Californians Rush To Buy Before Amazon Starts Collecting Sales Tax
By 9.5.12
Starting September 15, Amazon.com will start collecting sales tax on purchases made by residents of California. So with the clock counting down, a number of shoppers in the state are buying what they can in the next week and a half. [More]
Someone Out There Really Hates This PetSmart Store
By 9.4.12
Just like most major retailers, PetSmart has been the subject of more than a few complaints. But though some of you may have wanted to do so, no Consumerist readers have taken out their PetSmart-related anger with the assistance of their car — and a baseball bat. [More]
If You're Going To Leave Your House Vacant, Don't Be Surprised To Find Kids Partying There
By 9.4.12
Like bloodhounds on the scent — or maybe more like pigs sniffing for truffles — industrious teens will find places to get drunk and do other things they have seen in movies. And with a large number of houses sitting vacant while awaiting sale or foreclosure, it’s a partier’s market out there. [More]
Wells Fargo Pushes Pause On Foreclosure As Petition Nears 150,000 Signatures
By 8.28.12
Yesterday, we told you about the California woman who was trying to save the house she’d inherited when her mother passed away, but who claims she is facing foreclosure because the bank refuses to deal with anyone other than her late mom. Since then, more than 120,000 additional people have signed the daughter’s petition and the attention has moved Wells Fargo to put things on hold for a moment. [More]
Why Do California State Employees Need $423K Worth Of iPads?
By 8.27.12
In retail and food service, the iPad has become the pricey accessory of choice for point of sale systems. But various state agencies in California are now having to explain why they spent piles of cash on the popular tablet computers. [More]
Wells Fargo Won't Talk To Me Because I'm Not My Dead Mother
By 8.27.12
A woman in California says she she just wants to take over the mortgage for the family house she inherited when her mom passed away, but instead she’s facing eviction because the folks at Wells Fargo will only speak to her dead mother. [More]
California Asks Residents To Rat Out Neighbors With Out-Of-State Car Registrations
By 8.16.12
When you move to California from another state, the law only provides you a few weeks to register your car in California. But between the dread of dealing with bureaucrats and the state’s high registration fees, some drivers are perfectly content with just keeping those out-of-state tags on their vehicles. But authorities in California are asking residents — and have made it very easy — to rat on their neighbors for no updating their registrations. [More]
Squatters Push Goodwill's Good Will To Limit With Rooftop Camp
By 8.10.12
Goodwill stores are well regarded as a place to pick up clothes and other items on the cheap, but a group of squatters in California seemed to think Goodwill’s good will extended to free rooftop living. [More]
Mystery Denny's Diner Pays Tab For Everyone In Restaurant
By 8.8.12
Everyone loves a free lunch, especially when there are no strings attached. Just ask the 60 or so diners at a California Denny’s who were treated to gratis grub by a mystery woman who decided to pay for everyone’s meals. [More]
Nevada Continues To Reign Supreme In Latest Unemployment Numbers
By 7.30.12
Since the bottom dropped out of the housing market a few years ago, and even as most other locales have begun to claw their way out of the pits, Nevada and California have continued to churn out huge unemployment numbers. And the latest stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows no real reversal in that trend. [More]
L.A. Sues U.S. Bank For Letting Foreclosures Fall Into Disrepair
By 7.17.12
When a lender forecloses on a home, it becomes responsible for keeping the property safe and reasonably kept-up. But officials in Los Angeles has accused U.S. Bank of ignoring hundreds of foreclosures as they fall into disrepair and/or become taken over by squatters and street gangs. [More]
