While finishing any marathon is a feat worthy of a high-five, it’s not a good idea to sound like you’re making light of a terrorist attack that left three dead and hundreds injured. [More]
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Another Year That Shouldn’t Have Been: 64 Times Companies & Employees Embarrassed Themselves In 2016
By 12.30.16
Just like last year (and, honestly, every year), 2016 was rife with stories about companies and their employees treating customers badly, going too far with bad jokes on social media, and then issuing semi-apologies while making claims about “taking it seriously,” or sometimes “very seriously.” [More]
Another Year That Shouldn’t Have Been: The 50 Most Embarrassing Stories From 2015
By 12.31.15
The end of the year is a time to reflect on the good times, bad times, and those that just made you scratch your head in disbelief. While there were plenty of really great – and not so great – things that happened in 2015, we’re here to remind you of some of the most baffling, embarrassing, and gaffe-worthy business and consumer stories that graced the pages of Consumerist in the last 12 months. [More]
The Year That Shouldn’t Have Been: The 50 Most Embarrassing Stories From 2014
By 12.31.14
In the days leading up to a new year, most people take time out to reflect on the good and the bad of the previous 12 months. While there were some really great things – and not so great thing (Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger, anyone?) that happened in 2014, there was also a seemingly endless supply of stories that left us wondering just who has control of companies’ social media platforms and why CEO’s just can’t keep their mouths shut. So without further adieu, here is Consumerist’s list of stories that make us go “What, The What?” [More]
JPMorgan Cancels Twitter Q&A Because Everyone Was Asking Really Mean Questions
By 11.14.13
Bring out the Twitter Fail Whale — better yet, the London Fail Whale — for JPMorgan Chase. Somehow not realizing that there would be a lot of people grumpy at the big bank for the London Whale brouhaha last year, bogus credit card protection problems, billions in allegedly toxic mortgage securities and a slew of government investigations JPMorgan asked Twitter users yesterday to submit questions for a Q&A with Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee today. And boy, did people have questions — just not the ones JPMorgan wants to answer. [More]
Virgin America's Brand New Sabre Reservation System Hits Turbulence
By 11.2.11
Virgin America has hit some extreme turbulence ever since they switched to a new Sabre Airline Solutions reservation system on Saturday. Travelers are lighting up the inter-boards with complaints that they can’t make or change their reservations, and call centers are swamped, with customers having to wait over four hours on hold. [More]
Guy Tries To Give Up Cable, Wimps Out In Under A Month
By 12.29.10
A Cnet editor and his wife tried to “cut the cord” and ditch his pricey FiOs cable bundle, and either get their content free or through online downloads. Less than a month later, he’s back on the sauce. What a milksop! [More]
This Kohl's T-Shirt Is A Great Bargain, If You Want To Introduce A New Stereotype
By 6.29.10
This “I’m Irish” tee from Kohl’s originally retailed for $20, but now you can get it for only two dollars. I’m definitly buying one. (Thanks to Dale!) [More]
It's iPhone 4 Day, So Naturally AT&T Is Exposing Account Info To Strangers
By 6.15.10
AT&T knows it needs to step up if it wants to be taken seriously these days as a wireless provider, so it’s been beefing up 3G coverage, rejiggering data plans, and of course ramping up the speed at which it leaks your private data to strangers. In fact, according to multiple reports from AT&T customers, the company has managed to pull off the neat trick of logging customers in to strangers’ accounts today during the iPhone 4 pre-order fiesta. See? You no longer have to wait until you’ve got the device in hand to worry about privacy issues. [More]
Google Closes Nexus One Online Store After 4 Months
By 5.15.10
Poor Google, it hasn’t been a very good week for you, has it? First we talked about how you accidentally tapped into WiFi info with your Street View cars, and now you’ve been forced to close your online Nexus One phone store after only four months. Does somebody need a hug? [More]
Amazon Offers $25 Gift Card To Disappointed Comics Fans After Epic Price Glitch
By 3.10.10
On Sunday, I heard rumblings of a wondrous event from my comics-loving friends. Amazon had marked lots of great graphic novels and other goodness from Marvel and independent publishers down to impossibly low prices. Lower than wholesale prices. Think $15 for a book that normally costs $125. Was it a clearance? A fire sale? A database error? Who cares? Time to go shopping. [More]
FDIC: This "Troubled Bank" List Is Getting Ridiculous
By 2.23.10
The Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation announced today that it had added 450 more banks to its troubled bank list. The list is secret, because announcing that a bank is in trouble is a good way to kill it for good. [More]
I Wonder Why This Ornament Didn't Sell
By 12.29.09
Josh sent us this photo of an ornament he found on the post-Christmas discount racks a few days ago. He notes, “Just goes to show you that typographic layout matters.”
Guess What's In This Package?
By 12.25.09
No, really. Guess.
Are you entitled to a refund if your wrapping paper doesn’t sufficiently conceal a package’s contents? Megan thinks so. Last week when she wrapped her fiance’s Christmas present, he got an unexpected surprise. He could tell exactly what the gift was through the opaque wrapping paper.
Tales Of Epic Re-Gifting Fail
By 12.23.09
Mainstreet.com asked their readers to recount the worst re-gifting experiences they’ve had. People really, really seem to like re-gifting unwanted wedding gifts without removing the original cards first. But the real winner in the categories of both cheapness and stupidity has to be the person who checked a book out from the library, then gave it to a friend as a gift. [More]
State Job Website Has Great Opportunities For Self-Starting Identity Thieves
By 10.26.09
CBS 5 exposed a “gaping hole” in the code of California’s state-run employment website that allows anyone who views the site to access and modify other users’ resumes and personal info simply by changing some numbers in the URL.
100 Bank Failures And Counting!
By 10.23.09
“More banks have failed in 2009 than the rest of the decade combined,” writes Ariel Nelson at CNBC. Today, Partners Bank in Naples, Florida closed its doors, making it the 100th bank to fail this year. Click the link to see a map of where bank failures have happened the most over the past 10 months.
Honegar And 29 Other Dumb Inventions From The Mid-1900s
By 9.28.09
LIFE magazine has published a list of 30 dumb inventions from the middle of the 20th century. There are some profoundly stupid ideas on display here (baby cage, anyone?).
