The power of submitting complaints to investigative reporters. Sometimes the journalist will gadfly the offender into making a complete ass of himself on international television. — BEN POPKEN
clips
5 Ways To Hustle Free Drinks
By 2.14.07
If someone comes up to you in a bar and bets a round of drinks that they can do something seemingly impossible, they’re probably trying to pull a trick on you.
What ConEd Thinks Of IDT Energy Slamming Its Customers
By 2.13.07
ConEd spokesman Alfonso Quiroz let us know that they, “always encourage customers to shop around.” He pointed to poweryourway.com as a great place to find alternate energy service companies or ESCOs.
VIDEO: Counterfeit Glasses Dealer Attacks Reporter And Throws Snowballs
By 2.8.07
First Adam Plimer opens the door really quickly, hitting 75-year-old investigative reporter Peter Silverman in the head. Plimer screams, “Oh, I’m sorry, did I hit you?” Silverman puts his dukes up. Plimer dares Silverman to hit him in the face and shouts, “Go on, get the fuck out of here, I’m sick of you.” Seeing Plimer’s violence, Silverman tries to keep him in the store. Plimer breaks out and throws snowballs at the camera crew and a TCC inspector, yelling, “Get the fuck out of here.” The cops arrive. Plimer opens the door to shout the same obscenities at them. Then a sort of Canadian SWAT team arrives in riot gear. Eventually, they arrest Plimer.
Top 5 Super Bowl Ads (With Video)
By 2.5.07
The Consumerist’s picks for the top five best SuperBowl 2007 ads:
Market Workers Caught Urinating Near Produce
By 2.2.07
Nothing makes for fresh produce like sewage, open urination by workers, and storage next to rat-infested garbage and Port-A-Potties. That’s what a hidden camera investigation by Joel Grover found at a So-Cal produce processing area found at the Seventh Street Produce Market in downtown LA. The market services thousands of SoCal restaurants and stores.
Protect Yourself From Purse Thieves At The Gas Station
By 1.31.07
To protect yourself, Sheriff Ken Jenne of Broward County, Florida offers common sense advice like
The Xbox360 Fiasco
By 1.30.07
ata on his new Xbox360. Only problem is that it came without a controller. So he returned it to Walmart. The next Xbox he bought had the “ring of death” failure. Another return. He tested the next one in-store, and it was fine, only to return home and have it not work when he tried to play any games on it. So he returned everything to Walmart, including games, got all his money back, and bought everything a GameStop.
Fave 5 Consumerist YouTubes Of All Time
By 1.26.07
Damn, we’ve got 9 pages of YouTube videos. Here’s the five that make our heart go the squishiest when we gaze upon them.
Kitten-Filled YouTube Mocks T-Mobile’s $629 Foot-Dragging
By 1.25.07
So obviously Graham’s next logical step was to make a nearly incomprehensible youtube cartoon with kittens, a hiphop sock puppet, and a sad and misunderstood megacorp glob.
VIDEO: AT&T Tech Steals Customer’s Oranges
By 1.24.07
Brian spotted an AT&T tech “fixing” something in his back alley for the past three days. Turns out, the tech was fixing himself lunch, using his truck’s ladder to steal oranges from a customer’s tree.
Car Dealership Breaks Into Customer’s Home, Steals $70,000
By 1.23.07
In July, 60 year old mentally ill Richard Grey wheelchaired into the Huling Brothers dealership in Seattle, his pants encrusted with feces and urine, and bought a truck with $30,000 in cash in a plastic bag.
Full Vid Of Meghann On Good Morning America
By 1.22.07
The report was “Credit Card Wars” and discussed some of the pitfalls credit card users face. Meghann chimed in about how retailer’s zero-percent finance offers are often like credit cards and how consumers need to be wary.
McDonald’s And Food Network: Subliminal Advertising?
By 1.22.07
Reader Janeka sends in this video from You Tube. Someone was watching Iron Chef America when they noticed their screen flash red, and when they went back to see what it was, they found a McDonald’s ad on just one frame! Oooh, scary!
UPDATED: Meghann On Good Morning America
By 1.21.07
The actual soundbite clocks in at around 9 seconds, so don’t hiccup or you’ll miss it. We’ve already registered “Consumerist Website” as our new URL to take advantage of the traffic flow. — BEN POPKEN
Are You Being Sold?
By 1.17.07
Frank Furness’ humorous motivational talk for sales people (positing two Indian con-girls as the world’s greatest salespeople) advises six basic concepts for making a winning sale:
Walmart Commercial From 1981, Featuring “Cassette to Cassette” Copying
By 1.16.07
Copying music wasn’t always so taboo, here’s a Walmart commercial from 1981 that features a stereo system with the “special twin cassette feature.” Now you can record from cassette to cassette! Cool!
