The ships of South Korean company Hanjin Shipping carried billions of dollars’ worth of cargo, crew members who miss their families, and one unexpected traveler: a British filmmaker and performance artist on a 23-day residency on board a ship. Rebecca Moss is finally back on land along with the crew of the Hanjin Geneva, even though she disembarked in Tokyo over the weekend when her trip was supposed to end in Shanghai last Thursday. [More]
happy endings
United Passenger Leaves iPad On Plane, Has Joyful Reunion With Airline’s Help
By 1.11.16
Denise made a very understandable and common mistake: she stashed her iPad in the seat-back pouch in front of her during a United flight, and didn’t realize it until later. She ran the always handy “Find my iPad” app, and found that the iPad was in the hands of United staff at George Bush airport in Houston. The problem: she lives in Ohio, and no one at United was interested in helping her. [More]
Applebee’s Will Pay Cook With Autism For All 480 Hours That Family Claims
By 10.26.15
Last week, the family of a Rhode Island man with autism who worked part-time for a local Applebee’s for a year without being paid went public about his predicament. Within only a few days, Applebee’s promised to pay the man first for the 166 hours recorded in their system, then for all 480 hours that his family claimed he had worked. [More]
eBay Seller Who Sued Customers For Bad Feedback Ordered To Pay $19,250 In Legal Fees
By 9.3.15
You may remember that back in 2013, an eBay seller filed a lawsuit against a customer who left him accurate negative feedback, claiming that he hadn’t actually read his own suit when the company’s actions led to Internet backlash. Now the case has finally been resolved, with a judge ordering the seller to pay $19,000 in attorneys’ fees to the local lawyers who took the customer’s case pro bono. [More]
UPDATE: A Happy Ending For Man Who Almost Had To Sell His House Due To Comcast’s Incompetence
By 7.13.15
Remember Seth, the Washington state homeowner who was putting his recently purchased house up for sale because no one — not Comcast, not CenturyLink, not his county — was willing or able to provide the broadband connection he needed for his home office? We’re happy to tell you that Seth is still in the house and he can now go online. [More]
Ticketmaster Sells Me Useless Parking Pass, Won’t Give Me A Refund
By 6.23.15
Adam recently attended a performance by comedian Kevin Hart in Boston, a city where parking is scarce and expensive. Ticketmaster offered him the opportunity to pay for his parking in advance along with his tickets, and he did. Doing so didn’t simplify his night out, though, since there was no one at the automated garage to accept his parking pass. He paid with a credit card and sought a refund from Ticketmaster later. They wouldn’t give him one, until Consumerist intervened… and also learned how the parking garage really worked. [More]
Cat Lost For 2 Weeks In JFK Airport Found Alive
By 4.16.15
While it only took a few hours for a wolverine roaming Newark airport to be caught and contained, an even more wily creature roamed a different airport in the New York metropolitan area for two weeks. Felix the cat, who was moving from the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. along with his owners, escaped from his carrier when the top was crushed. Fortunately, searchers found him safe and in good health. [More]
Ryanair Flight Attendant Lists Passenger’s Camera On eBay, Gets Caught
By 4.16.15
When we leave something behind on a plane, we like to believe that it is not going home with the cabin crew to be immediately listed on eBay. Yet that’s exactly what one attendant for Irish discount carrier Ryanair is accused of doing. He was caught at his second job when the owner of a camera up for sale was browsing eBay looking for a replacement. [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]
Man Arrested For Stealing $300 Cash From Girl Scout Cookie Booth
By 2.23.15
It’s that time of year again, when groups of youngsters camp out in front of retailers and the occasional medical marijuana dispensary to sell Girl Scout cookies. Most of us look at their displays and see delicious but pricey temptation. Some terrible people see a box full of money guarded by a few little girls. [More]
SiriusXM Charges Customer $2,085 For $25 Subscription, Shrugs
By 1.13.15
If you’ve bought a vehicle with SiriusXM satellite radio in recent years, you know how this deal was supposed to work: a customer who bought a new van had three months of the service for free to try it out, then the company offered her a 5-month trial subscription at $5 per month. Only something went terribly wrong, and SiriusXM charged her the seemingly random amount of $417. Five times. [More]
Home Depot Employees Replace Stolen Xmas Gifts For Family Of Regular Customer
By 1.12.15
When employees at a South Carolina Home Depot heard that a regular customer of theirs had been the victim of a theft that left his family without Christmas gifts, they pitched in to do something they didn’t have to, replacing those stolen gifts and giving this family a belated but happy holiday. [More]
Dogs Taken By FedEx Driver Returned To Owners; Driver Suspended
By 1.9.15
On Thursday we told you about the Houston family who claimed that home security footage shows a FedEx delivery driver stealing their two dogs. While the matter is still being investigated, there is good news to report — the puppies are back home where they belong. [More]
Sears Offers 30% Discount On Replacement For Defective Dishwasher, Then Forgets
By 12.29.14
A man in New Jersey had the wacky idea that buying a dishwasher meant that he would end up with a working dishwasher. Instead, he ended up with one that he says broke in the same way four times in four years. Sears offered him a 30% refund on a replacement appliance, if he purchased from Sears. Naturally, Sears forgot about this offer once he actually brought the dishwasher. [More]
Ousted But Popular CEO Buys Back Company, Ending Six-Week Supermarket Standoff
By 8.28.14
Shoppers in New England can once again get groceries and workers can return to their jobs, as the supermarket saga that has been unfolding in three states for over a month has now come to a happy end. Inelegantly ousted but apparently beloved CEO Arthur T. Demoulas has reached an agreement with the board of the company to buy it back for $1.5 billion and regain control. [More]
Alaska Airlines Employee Volunteers To Return Lost Cat To Owner 2,300 Miles Away
By 8.15.14
Imagine losing your cat on the very day that you are planning to move thousands of miles away. And then, miraculously, someone finds your feline friend a few weeks later. But by that point, you’re so far away that you can’t afford to fly or drive back to bring him back. [More]
Donations Pour In, Replace Wigs Taken By Lowdown Thief
By 8.11.14
Police in Houston are currently dealing with a series of thefts that may or may not be related. Ten stores that sell hair in the Houston area in the last week have been robbed. It began with the theft of eleven wigs destined for a fancy spa event for women who have lost their own hair due to cancer treatment. Good news: donors have replaced those wigs. [More]
Woman Spots Wedding Dress Given Up For Lost During Hurricane Sandy In Dry Cleaner’s Window
By 7.29.14
When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in the fall of 2012, a Staten Island woman who had her wedding dress at a local dry cleaners figured her gown was gone — the store was destroyed and has been closed for almost two years. But it turns out the only thing in the store that survived the storm was her dress — which she spotted in the window of the store when it finally reopened — in a new location. [More]
