While there’s no way one person can have the sole rights to using certain words, like “how,” for example, one author going to battle with Chobani contends that the way those words are put together for marketing purposes should be protected from ripoffs. [More]
fighting words
United Express Flight Turns Around After Passenger Allegedly Threatens Neighbor Over Cell Phone
By 6.4.14
While it might be okay to keep certain devices on in airplanes now, it could be a bit confusing to flyers which contraptions can be used, and at what times, which is understandable. But when one United Express traveler apparently didn’t like her neighbor telling her to turn her phone off, her alleged reaction prompted the flight to turn back to Nashville after takeoff. [More]
Missouri The Latest State To Add Legislation That Would Bar Direct Sales Of Tesla Cars
By 5.9.14
Tesla has its work cut out for it in Missouri, where yesterday legislators followed states like New Jersey and added a nugget into a previous bill going around that would bar the company (or any other carmakers) from selling vehicles directly to consumers in that state. Tesla, of course, isn’t happy about this. [More]
Despite Anonymous Realtor’s Angry Note, Couple Plans To Keep Parking On Their Lawn
By 5.7.14
The best way to ensure your complaints won’t be taken seriously? Leaving an angry, anonymous letter detailing why you’re ticked off. Just such an unsigned missive from someone claiming to be a realtor has one elderly New Jersey couple pledging to keep parking on their own darn lawn if they want to. [More]
Steve Jobs Called The Competition With Google’s Android System A “Holy War”
By 4.2.14
How devoted was the late Steve Jobs to the company he co-founded? Devoted enough for him to liken Apple’s competition with Google’s Android operating system to a “holy war,” according to emails unearthed by Samsung’s lawyers as part of the Korean company’s legal fight against Apple. [More]
Frank Ocean’s Reply To Chipotle’s Lawsuit Over Undelivered Ad Song: F@&# Off, Here’s A Check
By 3.11.14
Things are heating up between Chipotle and musician Frank Ocean, after the Mexican food chain accused the singer in a lawsuit of failing to deliver a song for a commercial. Chipotle claims it paid him $212,500 in advance but then he failed to record the ad campaign’s song. His reply? Here’s your money back and oh yeah, f–k off. [More]
Flight Attendant Suing Jay Leno For On-Air Jokes About Her Close Relationship With A Pet Rat
By 11.19.13
Remember the American Airlines flight attendant who sued her employers over allegations that people claimed she smuggled her pet rat onboard in her underthings? She’s now claiming in a new lawsuit that the host of the Tonight Show, Jay Leno, and NBC defamed her by falsely accusing her of “engaging in bestiality and sexual misconduct with a rat.” So there’s that. [More]
Customer Writes Negative Review After Never Receiving Order, Site Fines Her $3.5K
By 11.14.13
UPDATE 11/18: We’ve been in touch with Jen after numerous readers reached out to Consumerist saying they wanted to help with her case. She’s going to keep us in the loop about her situation, but wanted share a message with those who’ve been supporting her and her husband. “If you could just convey to everyone how much we deeply appreciate all the support the internet has generated, that would be wonderful,” Jen writes. Our readers are the best. [More]
If You’re The CEO Of A Start-Up Company You Should Avoid Telling Customer To “F&%$ Off”
By 9.16.13
The “Reply All” email option can be a useful tool. But it is also a dangerous foe, as the CEO of one start-up apparently figured out. The main lesson here is: Don’t tell a customer to “f&%$ off” even if you’re a million percent sure he or she won’t see it. Because that Reply All button is a sneaky son-of-a-you-know-what, and you will come off looking like a bad company. [Valleywag] [More]
Lawsuit Claims Home Depot Is Shaking Down Accused Shoplifters
By 9.11.13
A new lawsuit aimed at Home Depot claims the company engaged in shakedown tactics to pressure and intimidate thousands of customers, accused of shoplifting, into paying millions of dollars to have those accusations dropped. The class-action suit says Home Depot would threaten customers with a lawsuit if they didn’t pay up, even when they had no intention of actually suing anyone. [More]
Siri Is Apparently Working Through Her Issues With Google Glass
By 8.26.13
So there’s Siri, holding court in the cafeteria and straight up lovin’ it: Everyone’s asking her questions, and how to do stuff and being like, “But what do you think about this, Siri?” Suddenly everyone is buzzing about the new kid, this Google Glass guy who says he knows a thing or two about this and that. And Siri, apparently, is not taking to sharing the virtual assistant throne well. Or rather she’s taking it with just a grain of sass. Glass sass. [More]
George Zimmer Clearly Hates The Way Men’s Wearhouse Board Is Trying To Make Him Look
By 6.27.13 — Updated: 6.28.13
Ever since George “You Only Liked The Way You Looked When I Was At The Company, Right?” Zimmer was booted from his spot as executive chairman of Men’s Wearhouse, he has not been a happy camper. Earlier this week he resigned from the board altogether, prompting his former colleagues at the retailer to issue a statement basically calling him a power-hungry grumpyface. That didn’t sit so well, it seems, as Zimmer has now fired off a letter full of zingers back at the board. [More]
George Zimmer Resigns From Men’s Wearhouse Board; Company Says He Wanted All The Power
By 6.25.13
George Zimmer has emerged from what must have been a bit of a stewing session after getting fired from his position as executive chairman Men’s Wearhouse last week, the company he co-founded. He resigned from the company’s board of directors yesterday, effective immediately, saying he doesn’t like the way the company is going. [More]
Martha Stewart Testifies In JCPenney Vs. Macy’s Dispute: The More Deals The Merrier, Right?
By 3.6.13
As retailers JCPenney and Macy’s go back and forth in the bitter battle for the right to sell Martha Stewart branded products, the legend herself popped into court yesterday to defend her company’s decision to sign a deal with one when she’d already pledged her allegiance to another. [More]
Telemarketer Just Cannot Handle Being Hung Up On Again, Calls Back With Bomb Threat
By 9.4.12
We all likely know at least a few people who have endured being a telemarketer, and while it sounds like an awful, horrible no-good very bad gig, hey, it’s a job. But one telemarketer had simply had it up to here with people hanging up on him. And so he did something a bit extreme to express that frustration — he called back and told the homeowner there was a bomb in the house. [More]
Anti-Gay Group Tells JCPenney To Fire New Spokeswoman Ellen DeGeneres
By 2.2.12
Conservative group OneMillionMoms.com, an offshoot of the American Family Association, doesn’t like that JCPenney has hired Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokeswoman. Not because of her dance moves or jokes on her talk show, but because she’s gay. [More]
Woman Claims Wine Store Owner Called Her A Drug-Addicted Prostitute Online Because Of Bad Yelp Review
By 1.13.12
In another troubling example of businesses behaving badly and lashing out at customers over negative online reviews, a Chicago woman is suing a wine store owner for posting a fake blog in her name and calling her a drug addict and a prostitute — all because he didn’t like her review on Yelp. [More]
Buying A Kindle Fire Might Make You More Likely To Own An iPad Eventually
By 12.5.11
The attractive lower price tag of Amazon’s Kindle Fire might be luring in plenty of customers, but according to some analysts, owning the Fire is akin to a “soap box derby” car and eventually, customers will upgrade to an iPad. Burn! [More]
