There’s more to the story about the person who died from drinking lamp oil. One 84-year-old NJ lady died after mistaking tiki torch oil for apple juice. 4 other NJ residents were hospitalized after doing the same. One of them was an 8-year old girl, now suffering permanent lung damage. Oddly, the victims were located in separate parts of the state. NJ Poison Information and Education System executive director Steve Marcus told Gothamist, “During my 40 years in medicine, you get an occasional kid who ingests kerosene, but I have never seen this kind of cluster.” (The Happening Part 2? Neurotoxins disable the part of people’s brains that makes them distinguish between household cleaners and refreshing beverages?) All of them drank the same product, oil in a clear plastic bottle labeled “Tiki Torch Fuel,” sold by Lamplight Farms, Inc. Amber in color, it’s visually indistinguishable from apple juice. Don’t forget to always keep chemicals under the sink and away from food, and always in original bottles. That some of these almost seem designed to look like tasty energy drinks doesn’t help matters.
followups
Tony Roma Corporate Responds To Shrinking Beer Complaint
Tony Roma corporate sent Alex the following response to his complaint over being sold a 16 oz beer and getting a 14 oz beer instead:
Decoy Pricing Explained With Sex
If you found our oddly popular post on decoy pricing too brainy, commenter SuffolkHouse offered an excellent concrete example that should drive the point home:
Aunt Millie's Searing Sword Of Schmutz Is Really Just "Food Grade Oil"
Christina sent us an update on her schmutzy bread loaf. According to Aunt Millie’s, the mystery gunk adorning the Seeded Italian Bread is “food grade oil.” Mmmmm!
Mystery Of Strange Things Found In Vitamin Water Solved: Harmless Mold
There are two seals in place when the product is manufactured. One seal is a tamper band connected to the cap that separates upon opening the bottle, the other is a vacuum seal that is created during pasteurization. In rare instances, this vacuum seal may be broken. This may typically occur when a bottle experiences high impact due to rough handling through distribution. Air may potentially get into the bottle and mold may then be able to develop. As with any natural product without preservatives, such as bread and fruit, contact with outside air can cause a common mold to form. This is not something that would cause any health issues.
UPDATE: Sears Changes Its Mind About The Definition Of "All"
If you read our story from this morning “Sears Kicks Off Holiday Weekend With False Advertising” you should remember Nazar who couldn’t get the advertised discount on his garage storage. He wrote to us with the following update:
UPDATE: E*Trade Returns Customer's $3195, And All It Took Was Eight EECBs
A month ago, we wrote about Brice’s struggles with E*Trade to recover the balance on an account they closed. After eight months of letters and phone calls, Brice got E*Trade to close the account, but it continued to accrue interest and Brice never received the balance. Finally, after launching eight Executive Email Carpet Bombs, Brice has his money.
UPS Can't Find Your Lost Computer, So They'll Honor Their Insurance Policy
Remember Nick? UPS smashed up his insured computer and then refused to provide any compensation, even after mysteriously shipping it to a stranger. UPS’ public relations folks reached out to us after we posted his story and recently sent us an update: “…after a search of all UPS’s facilities we were not able to recover his computer.” Bummer, but all is not lost.
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The guy who had a Five-seveN handgun fire out of battery and injure his hand, and then the handgun company stopped returning his calls reports that Five-seveN has now contacted him and promises that they’re sending a pre-paid packing slip and will be sending him a new handgun free of charge. [FivesevenForum]
UPDATE: Reader Receives Apology For Foul-Mouthed FedEx Employees
You may remember reader Matt from the story “No Proof Of Address? FedEx Curses You Out” in which he was treated very rudely by FedEx employees when he could not produce a utility bill needed to pick up his package. We were happy to hear that after our story ran, FedEx contacted Matt and had his package swiftly delivered to him at work. Additionally, he learned that the Maspeth location already had over 50 similar complaints filed, and that FedEx is now diligently trying to update their door tags and email with current information regarding “proof of address.” Matt’s comment, inside…
Sallie Mae's 100+ Point FICO Drop Error Getting Fixed
Sallie Mae has publicly apologized for a coding error, potentially affecting around 1 million customers, that caused some consumers credit scores to drop over 100 points, and some consumers report that their dinged scores are already back up. If your score is not back to normal and you are in the middle of a transaction where your good credit is at stake, Sallie Mae said it will provide a credit reference letter. You can also call Sallie Mae customer service at 1-888-2-sallie. Sallie has pledged that the fix is in, but consumers can still take matters into their own hands by pulling their free credit report from annualcreditreport.com and disputing the incorrect information with Experian. Note, it’s against Federal law for creditors to report false information to credit bureaus, and consumers can sue violators up to $1,000.
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Radiohead ticket holders who couldn’t get into the DC concert this weekend due to flooding should email their grievances to customerservice@nissanpavilion.com [via DCist]
Tmobile Call Center Bans Kleenex
Update on that outsourced Tmobile call center that banned paper and pens earlier this week: our insider reports that Kleenex is now verboten as well. He furthermore notes that, “paper and pens, if they are to be used, have to be signed out from a supervisor. When signed back in, the paper is shredded by the supervisor.” Any reps feeling the need to cry about their vaporizing dignity can use the back of their sleeve, after their request form is approved. A comment from our previous post explains why this might be a bad idea…
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TheCellShop.net told Network World that its email trying to bribe customers to submit perfect reviews was “improperly worded” and they “are now offering $5.00 for anybody who leaves a review whether it be good or bad.” [Network World]
ResellerRatings Cracks Down On TheCellShop.net's Review Bribing
The CEO of ResellerRatings, Scott Wainner, emailed us to say they’re busting TheCellShop for bribing customers to submit perfect reviews on his site. He wrote:
Netflix's Statement On "Are These Netflix DVDs Legit?"
After seeing our post where a reader raised concerns about whether Netflix DVDs he got with unofficial-looking labels and messed-up menus were counterfeit, Netflix’s VP of Corporate Communications, Steve Swasey, sent us the following lovenote to calm our fears:
