Although they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, patrons of one Pennsylvania Applebee’s would beg to differ, thanks to the generosity of a mystery couple that’s been paying the tab for strangers at least a few times a month. [More]
good consumers
Ohio Restaurant Owner Shipped A Milkshake To Terminally Ill Woman In D.C.
By 8.4.17
There are some things we do for the people we love, and then there are the things we do out of love for people we might not even know. Like the fine folks at an Ohio restaurant who helped deliver a milkshake to a terminally ill woman in Washington, D.C., yearning for a taste of home. [More]
Stranger Buys McDonald’s Worker A New Bike So He Won’t Have To Walk 20 Miles To Work
By 4.6.17
A McDonald’s worker who had to walk 20 miles to and from work every day now has a new bike, after a customer learned he had no other means of transportation. [More]
Man’s Honesty Pays Off When He Gets To Keep $15K He Found In The Street A Year Ago
By 3.30.17 — Updated: 4.3.17
As the old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay. But in some cases, being honest — and patient — can certainly reap financial rewards, as one man now gets to keep $15,200 he turned in after finding it on the street. [More]
Walmart Employee Arrested For Attempts At Killing Coworkers, Setting Store On Fire
By 12.5.16
Authorities don’t know exactly what led a 24-year-old Walmart employee of an Arizona Walmart store to turn on her coworkers, but say that she had a series of potentially deadly plans for them that fell through. What began as a dispute inside the store could have turned tragic when she returned with a rifle, ammunition, a knife, and a torch. [More]
Texas Man Hands Out $100 Bills To McDonald’s Employees
By 11.14.16
’Tis the season for random acts of kindness (not that you can’t do nice things for people all year): from the so-called layaway angels that will no doubt pop-up at retail stores to the coffee drinkers who will pay it forward. A man in Texas recently got the ball rolling on the 2016 season by handing out money at a McDonald’s. [More]
Woman Returns $380 Bank ATM Spat Out Of Deposit Slot Instead Of Pocketing It
By 10.6.16 — Updated: 3.30.17
When there’s free money involved, there’s always going to be the temptation to take it, even if you know it’s not right. But yet another good consumer has done an honorable deed, this time by returning almost $400 that unexpectedly shot out of a drive-thru bank ATM. [More]
Man Hops On A Plane To Turn Himself In On Charge Of Stealing A TV 27 Years Ago
By 4.12.16
There are responsible citizens, and then there’s a guy from Florida who flew to Connecticut to voluntarily turn himself in after he received a warrant for his arrest on charges that he stole a TV in 1989. [More]
Applebee’s Server Returns $32,000 In Cash Family Accidentally Left On The Table
By 12.18.15
If you work in a restaurant, finding a large amount of cash on the table might be one of those moments where you think you’ve just lucked out and scored a huge tip from some abnormally generous person, and you figure the money is yours to keep. Or, if you’re like one Applebee’s server who recently discovered $32,000 left behind, you turn it in and save the day. [More]
Nice Person In Maine Taping Coats To Light Poles In Campaign To Help Keep Needy People Warm
By 12.1.15
Quite often at Consumerist, we hear stories that involve negative situations or feature consumers doing bad things. So when we read about people out there doing nice things for each other, we like to take note. To wit: a woman in Maine has started a campaign to help make sure all residents are dressed warmly against the cold this winter, by taping coats to light poles around town. [More]
Domino’s Gives Customer Who Returned $1,300 He Found In Wings Box Free Pizza For A Year
By 9.21.15
Stumbling upon a pile of cash might be an easy way to get rich quick for some, but being the kind of person who turns in lost money has its own rewards, too. There’s the satisfied feeling one might get from being a good human… and also there could be the gift of food, like the guy who scored free Domino’s pizza for a year after returning a wad of cash he found stashed in his box of wings. [More]
Dunkin’ Donuts Customers Pay It Forward Every Single Friday At Pennsylvania Drive-Thru
By 8.10.15
We’ve heard a good share of “pay it forward” stories at coffee shops and elsewhere, where customers ask to pay for the next person’s order, sometimes leading to a chain of people willing to brighten up a stranger’s day. But one Pennsylvania Dunkin’ Donuts has probably seen more of these pay it forward acts than others: the manager says it happens every Friday, no matter what, like clockwork. [More]
Guy Who Chucked Winning Lottery Tickets Saved From Eternal Regret By Convenience Store Worker
By 8.5.15
We’ve all had that moment: something you need is suddenly missing — a receipt, a paycheck, your kid’s birth certificate — and a horrible thought strikes you — “Did I throw it out?!?” A Georgia man had the weight of certain lifelong regret sitting on his shoulders when he realized he’d chucked two lottery tickets worth $10,000, thinking they weren’t winners. [More]
Scuba Divers Return Guy’s Lost iPhone Months After It Fell To The Ocean Floor
By 7.30.15
It’s one thing to lose your phone on the street, in the back of a cab or anywhere on dry land where a good Samaritan might come by and decide to help find its owner. But after one guy watched his phone sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean back in March, he figured that thing was gone for good. Enter: scuba divers going for a swim who just happened to find his device in the waterproof bag it had sunk in. [More]
Strangers Pitch In To Keep Woman’s Car From Being Towed While She’s In The ER With Infant Son
By 7.23.15
You know the feeling — you’ve only got a little time left on the parking meter but you’re stuck somewhere, forcing you to face either a parking ticket, or even worse, having your car towed. One woman who was unable to feed the meter after spending hours in the ER with her infant son reached out to her fellow mothers, and was rewarded with an outpouring of generosity from total strangers. [More]
Bojangles’ Customer Who Returned $4,000 He Found In Bag Says His Good Deed Was Greeted With Disrespect
By 7.21.15
When you do a good deed, you probably don’t do it just because you’re anticipating a good reward. But at the very least, a pleasant “thank you” is surely something you could expect. But one Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits customer says not only was he not thanked for returning between $4,000 to $4,500 in cash he found in a bag that was supposed to contain his food, but was treated with downright disrespect by restaurant staff. [More]
Having Your Laptop Picked Up By Someone Else At The Airport Is No Fun — Unless That Person Is An NFL Player
By 3.9.15
There are many bad or just plain annoying things that can happen when your belongings are mixed up with someone else’s in the airport security line — someone else could be going through your private information, or trying to sell your electronic equipment. But when is it kind of cool that a total stranger has your stuff? When that stranger happens to be a professional football player. [More]
Pizza Shop Customer Sends Owner Letter Apologizing For Writing Bad Check In 2002, Encloses Money Order
By 2.5.15
While there are many bad consumers in the world, there are also those out there who recognize they haven’t done the right thing, and seek to make amends, even if it’s years later. That’s how it went down for a pizza shop owner who was surprised to find a letter in the mail from a customer who’d written a bad check in 2002 — and enclosed a money order to make up for it. [More]
