Adam asked UPS to hold a package at his local facility because he knew he would be out of town. UPS sent Adam a confirmation message saying they would hold it for five days. Instead, they twice tried to deliver it to Adam a few hours later. Then they marked the package as refused by receiver and sent it back to the shipper.
dumb
Dallas School District Caught Using Random SSNs For Foreign Workers
By 11.14.08
The Dallas Independent School District has been making up fake Social Security Numbers for foreign hires for years, even after being told in 2004 by the state’s education board to stop because it’s illegal. The numbers were meant to “expedite” the hiring process and get the employees on payroll, but they found their way onto Department of Homeland Security and IRS forms (which are kept in-district but shared with feds upon request), were used for criminal background checks, and in at least 26 cases were numbers in use by real people.
FreeCreditReport Hires Ed McMahon To Rap In "Viral" Videos
By 9.25.08
We’re warning you now, so that you won’t bother to fall for the “you-gotta-see-this!” absurdity of an 85-year-old former talk show announcer and sweepstakes pitchman reduced to self-mockery in order to make some money. We don’t begrudge McMahon his career, but as you know we deeply begrudge “free”creditreport.com for its misleading name, commercials, promises—well, pretty much everything.
Life Still Empty? Buy Videotaped Autographs From The Stars
By 8.18.08
We can’t really mock the self-mocking William Shatner for his miraculous ability to keep earning money as a celebrity, sometimes even by acting, so instead we’ll roll our eyes at the dorks who are paying $150 and up for videotaped footage of Shatner reciting a personalized greeting into a video camera as he autographs a photo. And we’ll be secretly jealous of the entrepreneur who came up with the idea.
Fred Meyer Says Cheese Is Not A Dairy Product
By 8.12.08
Go shopping for cheese at the Ballard Fred Myer in Seattle, and you’ll learn an interesting new fact about your food:
CenterPoint Energy Thinks Your Fish Tank Is A Meth Lab, So Police Kick In Your Door
By 4.30.08
You’d think between the reactionary CenterPoint…
Kmart Will Trade You A Bottle Of Coke Or Free Candy For A Sears Credit Card App
By 4.8.08
Dan sent us this pic he snapped in a local Kmart and writes, “I remember a previous post on a Wal-Mart card that offered a 2-liter bottle, but I guess inflation caught up with big K as they are only offering 20-oz.”
Ridiculous Tech Support Calls
By 3.7.08
In his Circuits column this week, David Pogue shares some of the most absurd calls he listened to when he toured a tech support center.
I learned that when they say, “Your call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes,” that’s only partly true. They also record your calls so they can pass around recordings of the funniest ones.
Gas Station Attendant Busted For Re-Using Customers' Credit Card Numbers
By 2.16.08
A 23-year-old gas station attendant in Massachusetts has been charged with identity theft after a customer noticed that her card was used to make additional purchases a few hours after she’d been at the station.
Mann Free Movie Tickets Settlement Requires Your Credit Card Number
By 1.22.08
Between December 2006 and January 2007, Mann Theatres in Southern California printed the expiration dates of credit cards on receipts. If you were one of the lucky suckers who saw a movie there during this period and paid via credit card, Mann’s lawyers want to make things right by giving you two free movie tickets and some free popcorn. However, to qualify for the free tickets, you have to provide your credit card number. This is like the end of “The Lion King” where the new cub is held aloft—the circle of life continues.
What's Inside This Big Box From IBM?
By 1.21.08
Ooo, what could be inside this box that IBM shipped to a reader—retail-packaged software? Peripherals? Maybe a hard drive with air padding? A logo-emblazoned hoodie? Monogrammed pencils? A kitten?
Worst Business Reply Postcard Ever
By 1.16.08
Can you spot what’s wrong with this Business Reply postcard? That’s right, The Huntsville Times wants you to write down your full contact information and credit card number on a postcard and send it through the mail where anyone can see it. Hellooooo, identity theft.
Wal-Mart Joins The Stupid Shipping Gang
By 12.26.07
A reader writes, “As part of our Christmas shopping; we ordered several DVD’s, video games, and a phone card from Wal-Mart’s website.” The items trickled in over several days, then “this showed up. A 10X11X5 inch box, an air-filled air bubble, and one thin phone card taped to the bottom of the box.”
Companies, this has got to stop! It’s wasteful and annoying. It’s stupid. It can’t cost that much to hire someone to put together a shipping program that uses different package sizes for different types of products.
Amazon Is Unable To Ship A Hard Drive In Proper Packaging
By 12.19.07
Amazon should take a closer look at how they’re shipping hard drives, because the current plan just isn’t working.
Early Sesame Street DVDs Have "Adults Only" Warnings
By 11.19.07
The producers of Sesame Street have slapped volumes 1 & 2 of the eternally running children’s show with the following warning: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” Why? Cookie Monster carries a pipe in one recurring parody—and then eats it. Oscar the Grouch is too grouchy and mean. And in the first episode, a grown man—Gordon—asks a little girl to come home with him for milk and cookies… and she does!
LoJack Foils Customer's Car Theft Scam
By 11.2.07
If you’re going to report your vehicle has been stolen and then hide it in a friend’s backyard with license plates you grabbed from your boyfriend’s house, then make sure it doesn’t have a LoJack system installed first. A woman in San Diego did just that in an attempt to prevent it from being repossessed, but as soon as she filed the report with the police, they activated the system and traced the vehicle.
Bed Bath & Beyond Forbids Cell Phone Cameras
By 10.17.07
Bed Bath & Beyond tries to prevent shoppers from doing any online comparisons or research, because it has a “no photos” policy in its store. I discovered this yesterday when I used my cellphone to take a no-flash, silent photo of a coffee grinder.
