Last summer, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority sued the small Florida-based Jersey Boardwalk pizzeria chain over the restaurant’s logo, which looks remarkably similar to that of the Garden State Parkway. Earlier this week, a federal court in New Jersey dismissed the suit saying that the pizza chain didn’t have enough contact with the state to allow for the Turnpike Authority to file a lawsuit there. [More]
florida
Man Arrested After TSA Finds 200 Credit Cards Hidden In Duffel Bag
By 3.11.15
The Transportation Security Administration keeps a long list of items travelers aren’t permitted to fly with including guns, knives, daggers, and box cutters. While the agency doesn’t explicitly tell consumers they can’t bring along stolen merchandise, like say 200 credit cards, if agents find the pilfered items you’ll likely be arrested. Just ask a New York man who suffered that very fate earlier this week. [More]
Apartment Complex Claims Copyright On All Tenants’ Reviews & Photos Of Property
By 3.10.15
When you move into an apartment building you may face all sorts of rules about noise, public areas, trash collection, and paint colors, but one Florida management company tried to go the extra mile by including a “social media addendum” telling tenants that not only will they be hit with a $10,000 fine for griping about their living situation on any social media platform, but that the apartment owners automatically hold the copyright for anything tenants write about — and any photos they take of — the place. [More]
American Airlines Super Sorry About Leaving Passenger On Hold For 6 Hours
By 3.3.15
If you’ve tried to fly this winter, chances are you’ve hit some weather-related delays or cancelations and ended up in line or on the phone waiting to speak to someone who could help you out. But odds are that you didn’t wait as long as the one Florida woman who spent six hours trapped on hold with American Airlines. [More]
Tobacco Giants To Pay $100 Million To Settle Hundreds Of Lawsuits In Florida
By 2.25.15
After more than two decades of a legal roller-coaster that at one point had the tobacco industry hit with $145 billion in damages, hundreds of federal lawsuits in Florida are close to being settled after three tobacco giants reached a deal to pay a total of $100 million. [More]
Is Your Social Security Number A Public Record? Depends Where You Live
By 2.12.15
A pile of sensitive personal data from Florida residents is now on the loose online. But it wasn’t leaked from a hack or a breach. It was from a completely legitimate public records dump by the state’s former governor. [More]
Florida Lawmakers Want To Punish People Who Use Fake Service Dogs
By 12.16.14
While there are many Americans with legitimate needs for service animals, and who are legally allowed to take those animals into restaurants and stores where they would normally be banned, there are some people who exploit the service animal label without any bona fide medical or therapeutic need. Now some Florida legislators are looking to penalize these fakers with fines and possible jail time. [More]
Bank Of America’s Laughable Defense For 5 Years Of Unwanted Robocalls
By 12.11.14
Earlier today, we told you about a $1 million judgement against Bank of America for making five years of unwanted robocalls to a couple who sent the bank multiple cease and desist demands. Since then, BofA has reached out to Consumerist with an explanation that is too funny to just post as an update within that story. [More]
Bank Of America Must Pay Family $1 Million For 5 Years Of Unwanted Robocalls
By 12.11.14
If you’ve got a problem paying your mortgage, the bank is allowed to call you about collecting that debt. But after you’ve repeatedly told the bank — verbally and in writing — to stop robocalling your cellphone, it should do so. And if a recent ruling by a federal court in Florida holds up, Bank of America will have to fork over more than $1 million to a couple who say the bank spent five years ignoring their demands for the calls to cease. [More]
For-Profit College Hired Exotic Dancers As Admissions Reps
By 12.5.14
The operators of a now-defunct for-profit college in Florida allegedly told its admissions directors to do whatever it took to sell the school to potential students. Among the tactics used by the school is one straight out of a wacky, low-budget, late-night college movie you might see on Cinemax. [More]
Authorities Have No Idea How Family Bought LSD-Contaminated Beef At Walmart
By 11.17.14
How does a package of beef become contaminated with the hallucinogenic drug LSD? Authorities in Florida and in the federal government have been trying to figure that out for the last right months. Last week, local police in Tampa released their report and made the case inactive. They still have no idea how the drug got there. [More]
Man Buys Foreclosed House, Finds Decomposed Previous Occupant
By 11.6.14
Earlier this week, a man won a foreclosure auction in Cape Coral, Florida. He stopped by yesterday to check out his new purchase, a pink house with metal bars on every window. Neighbors hadn’t seen the previous occupant in a few years…because she had moved away. Or so they thought. The house’s new owner found a very decomposed body inside. [More]
“Molesting A Vending Machine” Is Not What It Sounds Like
By 10.3.14
Sure, everyone giggled when they saw the headline that a man in Florida was arrested for “molesting [a] vending machine.” While you may have pictured a humiliated man caught performing unspeakable acts with a coin return slot, the real world is out to ruin the strange places where our imaginations go. [More]
Uber Driver Says Female Passenger Was Asking To Be Groped By Wearing A Tank Top
By 9.26.14
I’ve heard any number of horror stories from female friends who have been harassed by overly flirtatious cab drivers — even dated a woman was kicked out of a cab when she told she driver she had a boyfriend — but the experience of one Uber passenger in Florida goes far beyond making salacious or sexist comments. [More]
Thief Steals Forklift, Tries To Break Into ATM With It
By 9.10.14
Some people would steal an industrial forklift from a construction site, and that would be the extent of their crimes. Forklifts are expensive, after all. Just sell the forklift and call it a (criminal) work day. Yet one criminal in Florida aspired to more. He or she apparently stole the forklift, then turned it to a greater purpose: stealing an ATM from a bank. [More]
World’s Worst Taco Bell Customer Grabs Employee’s Butt Through Drive-Thru Window
By 9.2.14
We understand that Taco Bell’s sole reason to exist is to sate customers’ gluttonous cravings. But while it’s okay to satisfy your lust for cheese and meat-like product with a burrito, it’s most definitely not okay to give into an idiotic desire to grab a Taco Bell employee’s rear-end. [More]
Hot Sauce-Filled Soda Is Weapon Of Choice For One Taco Bell Customer
By 8.8.14
We’re pretty sure that throwing any beverage at a Taco Bell employee will get you booted and banned from the store. But since you’re at Taco Bell, why not include some hot sauce in the beverage bomb you toss in the Bell staffer’s face? [More]
Why Do Criminals Love This Walmart So Much?
By 7.31.14
The Walmart on State Route 436 in Casselberry, Florida is very popular. Unfortunately, it’s popular with a demographic that retailers don’t want to attract: criminals. Specifically, shoplifters. Some very talented shoplifters, like the man who allegedly removed 18 televisions from the store while dressed as a woman. [More]
