A Utah man had a bold plan, which we told you about last year. His house was going into foreclosure unless he could come up with $21,638.02 to pay HSBC. So he announced to the world that he would burn his car and post the video online in exchange for donations. He raised about $15,000 and even sold $1,200 worth of advertising on the side of the car. He tried to work with local fire departments to get them to let him burn the car, to no avail. So he did it on public land and now he’s in court and getting fined, reports KSL. [More]
desperation
Man Offers To Set Car On Fire To Save Home From HSBC Foreclosure
By 7.26.10
John admits on his blog that he’s responsible for falling six months behind on his mortgage. But once he got over his divorce and losing his adopted son and started trying to make things right, he ended up in loan modification limbo at HSBC. The bank never moved forward on any modification, and now he has to pay $21,638.02 today if he wants to keep his house. Logically, he’s offering to burn his car and post the video online in return for donations. [More]
Paper Company Plans Campaign To Encourage Kids To Print Things Out
By 5.12.10
If John Williams, the CEO of Domtar Corp., has his way, kids all across North America will be asking for printers this holiday season. Somehow I doubt he’ll have his way, but here’s his plan: his company is about to launch a “Put It On Paper” campaign via print, Facebook and YouTube that will encourage people to print out things like emails and web pages. [More]
At Walgreens, Every Holiday Is Hanukkah!
By 4.7.10
Michael says his local Walgreens in Illinois can’t seem to unload its inventory of last year’s Hanukkah candy–so it just brings it back out with every other holiday. [More]
GM Cleans Out Closet, Will Sell New Cars On eBay
By 8.10.09
GM just realized that the downstairs hall closet is a freakin’ mess. Mom went down there and saw all these, like, Pontiacs and stuff in there and now everyone is in trouble for letting it get this bad. The solution? An eBay store!
On The Rise: People Blowing Up Their Own Cars
By 6.8.09
Nothing salves buyer’s remorse like a match in a fuel tank. Citing National Insurance Crime Bureau figures, a Los Angeles Times story says car owners are resorting to nefarious means to put an end to burdensome car loans. In the first quarter of the year, suspicious fires or arson were up 27 percent for the first quarter of the year and cases of intentionally destroyed cars shot up 24 percent.
On The Border Asks: Do You Love Me?
By 5.31.09
Um, we’re a little sketched out by a survey question from the Mexican restaurant On The Border asking customers to agree or disagree with the statement: “I love On The Border.” Sure, sometimes we LOVE Mexican food, but we don’t really love any restaurant. It’s just too large a step to take with an eatery, you know? Reader Max is equally confused…
Comcast Wants You Back, Leaves Comcastic Love Notes
By 5.19.09
Kevin abandoned Comcast and switched to FiOS. Since then, his jilted cable/Internet company has made it quite clear how badly they want him back. They can’t believe it when they hear that he won’t see them. Denial is tough to watch.
No, You Should Not Sell Your Five-Month-Old To Raise Money For A New Apartment
By 4.25.09
19-year-old West Virginian Rebecca Sue Taylor is facing felony charges after trying to sell her five-month-old son for $10,000 to raise money for a new apartment. Taylor was in talks to act as a surrogate mother for Leigh Burr, but then realized she could skip a few steps and still turn a buck. When it looked like negotiations weren’t going well, Taylor, who claimed she had been “unable to bond with the infant,” dropped the price of her son to $5,000.
Vonage's $3.99 Retention Plan
By 6.30.07
Vonage offers a $3.99 per month retention plan to customers who might jump ship to providers with more certain futures. The plan is meant to shore-up Vonage’s customer churn rate, especially as the internet telephony company struggles to stay alive amidst a patent dispute with Verizon. Vonage’s churn rate last quarter was 2.4%, high enough to spook investors or anyone considering a potential acquisition. A comment left by a self-avowed Vonage flack tries to put a positive spin on the offering:
Vonage: Consumerist! Save Us From Verizon!
By 4.26.07
One of Vonage’s friendly PR guys IM’d us the other day to let us know that Vonage was starting a website with the intention of saving themselves from the tyranny of evil known as Verizon. (Dare we speak its name!) We’ve been following this story for what seems like 12 years at this point, so we figured we’d go ahead and link their site.
