One would think that the in-airport exploits of TSA agents do enough to tarnish the agency’s image. However, one agent in Connecticut thought he could bring that same level of traveler satisfaction to those driving the streets of the Nutmeg State. [More]
connecticut
McDonald's Employees Stand Outside New Sonic To Remind People McDonald's Exists
By 6.10.11
Up until the other day, there was only one Sonic restaurant in the entire state of Connecticut. And now that a second one has opened, the locals are showing up to see if they like it. But the staff at a nearby McDonald’s decided to turn a problem into an opportunity by standing outside the new Sonic with signs directing hungry diners to the Golden Arches. [More]
Capital One Gives Platinum Card To 5-Year-Old
By 4.29.11
A mom in Connecticut was concerned about the credit card applications her 5-year-old son kept receiving from Capital One, so she contacted the credit bureaus to make sure someone wasn’t stealing her kid’s personal info. She says she was told that a good way to get those applications to stop would be to actually fill one out. The boy would be rejected, obviously, and the mailings would end. But that isn’t exactly how things panned out. [More]
This Cigarette Ice Cream Truck Is Doing It Wrong
By 4.4.11
Pro tip: when you buy an old ice cream truck and turn it into a mobile cigarette dispensary, you should probably cover up all the old ads for Bombpops and Choco Tacos. Reader discounteggroll’s co-worker snapped this picture at a gas station on the NY-CT border in Greenwich, CT. (Perhaps the truck is parked on the CT side of the parking lot, to take advantage of CT’s lower cigarette tax?) If it doesn’t violate any regulations, like the Tobacco Control Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale, distribution, marketing and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children under the age of 18, it’s in poor taste, even with the sign asking for ID. “One Big Vanilla ice cream sandwich, please.” “Sorry kid, we got Pall Malls.” [More]
Connecticut Governor Wants Coupon Users To Pay Tax On Full Price Of Purchase
By 2.28.11
Got a coupon for 30% a Blu-Ray player? If the Connecticut governor gets his way, you’d still be paying sales tax on that player’s full price. [More]
Best Buy Finally Settles Suit Over Deceptive In-Store Kiosks
By 12.16.10
It’s been almost four years since Consumerist first brought you the story of Best Buy’s in-store kiosks that sometimes displayed completely different information than the company’s actual internet site. And after a long and drawn-out battle with the attorney general of Connecticut, a settlement has finally been reached. [More]
Wendy's Cook: I Pulled Knife On Co-Worker For Serving Bad Bacon
By 8.30.10
An employee at a Wendy’s in Connecticut has been charged with second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, threatening and breach of peace after allegedly pulling a knife and threatening to stab a co-worker. But he claims it was all for a good reason: He was upset at the other employee for serving bacon that had dropped on the floor. [More]
Connecticut AG Investigating Apple & Amazon Over E-Book Price Fixing
By 8.3.10
Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is the online retailer’s top-selling single item, and the company recently announced that its sales of e-books has outpaced sales of hardcover titles. Meanwhile, Apple has jumped into the e-book market with both feet, selling titles for reading on its iPad tablet computers. But now the Attorney General in Connecticut has launched an investigation into the pricing plans that both companies have hammered out with book publishers. [More]
Reporter Caught Shoplifting Says She Was On The Job
By 6.25.10
A TV traffic reporter in Connecticut was snagged walking out of a Sears carrying several items she allegedly didn’t pay for. But, says the journalist, everything should be cool, because it was all part of a story she was working on. [More]
Man Spoils Price Chopper Opening By Stripping & Threatening To Kill People
By 6.17.10
Grand openings are occasionally not so grand, but that’s usually because of bad weather or poor turnout. It’s not usually due to a drunk shedding his clothes and hurling threats at employees. That is, unless you’re talking about the grand opening of the Price Chopper in Cromwell, CT, this week. [More]
Woman Allegedly Fired For Carrying Breast Cancer Gene
By 5.4.10
A Connecticut woman is suing her ex-employer for firing her because she was genetically at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, according to her lawsuit. [More]
Is Your Parking Garage Ripping You Off?
By 4.12.10
Next time you get your ticket from the parking garage dispenser, better grab a clock. [More]
Efficient (But Dumb) Bank Robbers Call Ahead To Place Order For Pick-Up
By 3.25.10
There’s nothing worse than getting stuck in line at the bank, right? That’s why a pair of impatient would-be robbers did the most sensible thing when they attempted to hold up a Connecticut bank yesterday — they called ahead. [More]
Woman Crashes Toyota Into Church, Blames Stuck Accelerator
By 3.11.10
Another day, another report of a Toyota crash being blamed on a stuck gas pedal. This time, it’s a 76-year-old woman in Connecticut claiming her recalled Toyota Camry went nuts on her and — in spite of her best efforts to stop it — crashed into a church. [More]
Comcast Employee Found With Throat Slashed — Just A Workplace Accident
By 2.11.10
Police in Branford, CT say they are no longer investigating an incident where a Comcast employee was found unconscious with his throat slashed inside the fenced-off parking lot of a service center. Apparently, the knife-wound was simply a workplace accident. [More]
Connecticut Bathroom Access Law Now In Effect
By 10.2.09
Connecticut shoppers with bowel disorders, rejoice! Now, there’s a sentence we never expected to write. In order to prevent humiliating and undignified restroom access debacles for people with verified medical conditions, Connecticut has passed a law guaranteeing their access to otherwise off-limits restrooms in public places. The law went into effect on October 1st.
Consumer Columnist Sues Paper, Says Advertiser Criticism Squelched
By 9.29.09
Consumer watchdog George Gombossy this morning filed a 1st Amendment lawsuit against his former employer, Tribune-owned Hartford Courant. There’s some gangbusters stuff in the filing, like the part where he says the new owners told him to “be nice” to one of their key advertisers:
Was Consumer Columnist's Demise Due To Editorial Cutbacks Or Advertising Interference?
By 8.20.09
The story of consumer columnist George Gombossy‘s departure from the Hartford Courant has become a “he said”/”company said” argument that seems like something out of a consumer affairs column. Was Gombossy let go for reporting on an advertiser, as he alleges, or was the elimination of his position simply part of the cutbacks taking place all over the Tribune Company?
