We’ve written any number of stories over the years about customers and store employees getting into arguments, even a bit of fisticuffs, over the whole receipt-checking thing, but this may be the first time that we’ve heard of a customer using pepper spray when asked to show his receipt. [More]
houston
Aereo Announces Launch Dates For Service In Miami, Houston, Dallas
By 8.8.13
Even while it’s being sued by all the major broadcast networks, video-streaming service Aereo continues to expand into new markets with the announcement today of launch dates for customers in the Miami, Houston, and Dallas/Ft. Worth areas. [More]
Another Restaurant Hops On Kid-Banning Bandwagon
By 8.6.13
We’ve told you before about restaurants that established bans on screaming youngsters, kids under 6 years of age, and anyone younger than 18. Now a Houston restaurant has decided that after 7 p.m., diners need to be at least eight years old to get in. [More]
Cheese Grater+Bar Soap+Rubber Band = DIY Soap Dispenser
April 5, 2013
A Houston restaurant asked engineering students at Rice University to come up with a soap dispenser for its bathrooms that incorporate some sort of kitchen utensil. This is the result, and we kinda want one for Consumerist HQ. [Via Chron.com] [More]
Waiter Who Wouldn’t Serve Family That Insulted Boy With Down Syndrome Didn’t Care If He Got Fired
By 2.8.13
You may remember the story from mid-January of the waiter at a Houston restaurant who refused to serve a family because they had insulted a boy with Down Syndrome in the next booth. Not everyone would have made such a stand, especially when it could mean losing one’s job. [More]
Waiter Praised For Refusing To Serve Family Who Insults Child With Down Syndrome
By 1.18.13 — Updated: 4.3.13
When a story about a waiter refusing to serve customers starts picking up steam online, it usually involves people rushing to insult the server and his employer. But this story is getting quite the opposite response from the public. [More]
CenterPoint Energy May Have Overcharged 370,000 Customers, But They Won’t Get Any Money Back
By 1.17.13
The Houston City Council believes that 370,000 CenterPoint Energy customers may have been overcharged for their natural gas service to the tune of $15.7 million/year. And even though it’s launched a case to rein in those rates, affected consumers won’t be getting refunds. [More]
Bank Of America Fires Investment Banker Over 1998 Dine & Dash At Denny’s
By 10.30.12 — Updated: 11.1.12
More than a few people are upset at large financial institutions for their apparent lack of accountability following the 2008 economic collapse, so the banks and their regulators have paid lip service to the idea of having tougher standards. As a result, one investment banker says he was fired from Bank of America for a minor breakfast-related misunderstanding from 1998. [More]
Check To Make Sure Your iPad Box Isn’t Full Of Notebooks Before You Leave The Store
By 10.11.12
Once again, a consumer plunks down hard-earned cash for a pricey electronic device, only to find out later that the box is full of something completely useless. And since she had the gall to wait until she got home, the folks at her local Walmart all but accused her of trying to pull a scam. [More]
Judge Requires Strip Club Patrons To Tuck In Shirts, Dancers To Cover Rear-Ends
By 9.11.12
A Houston-area strip club is set to face trial in December on allegations that all sorts of illicit activities — prostitution, drugs, illegal weapons — were being trafficked within its walls. Yesterday, the judge in the case ruled that the club can remain open, but on some rather strict conditions. [More]
Houston Passes $5/Person Strip Club Fee
By 6.27.12
Life is about to get slightly more expensive for strip club patrons in Houston. The city council in the Texas town have voted 14-1 to pass a $5-per-customer fee on strip clubs. [More]
Breastfeeding Moms Stage Nurse-Ins At Targets Across Country
By 12.28.11
Earlier this morning, groups of nursing moms gathered in Target stores around the country to stage “nurse-ins” to protest what they believe is the retail chain’s anti-in-store-breastfeeding stance. [More]
Walmart Managers Turn Away Wannabe Secret Santa
By 12.20.11
The biggest trend this holiday season appears to be people who have some money doing something nice for those who might need it by anonymously paying for layaway purchases. But when a woman in Houston attempted to do this at two of her local Walmarts, managers at both stores turned her away, citing a nonexistent company policy. [More]
McDonald's In Legal Battle With Houston Mac & Cheese Restaurant Over The Word "Mac"
By 9.22.11
A Houston-area gourmet macaroni and cheese eatery is involved in a trademark battle with fast food behemoth Big Mac because it dared to use the word “mac” in the restaurant’s name. [More]
Eagle-Eyed TSA Screeners Don't Notice Loaded Handgun In Man's Carry-On
By 12.17.10
If you thought the TSA’s inability to notice a 6-inch hunting knife was a sign that airport screeners might as well be watching Spongebob instead of X-raying you and your stuff, here’s further proof. [More]
Gas Station Chain Slapped With $30 Million Verdict For Shortchanging Drivers
By 11.10.10
A jury handed down a $30 million verdict agains gas station chain Sun Mart for leaving their customers a little light at the pump. The Texas Department of Agriculture found in an investigation that the chain was routinely shortchanging customers with improperly calibrated pumps. [More]
Continental Airlines Testing Self-Boarding In Houston
By 7.27.10
While it’s been used overseas for years, Continental Airlines has become the first airline to try out self-boarding — i.e., scanning your own boarding pass as you board a plane — at a U.S. airport. [More]
Continental Takes Three Days And Counting To Fly Passenger From Texas to New Hampshire
By 6.20.10
Poor Ashley, all she wanted was to fly from Houston to Manchester to visit her friend for the weekend. She planned to leave on Thursday, but Continental apparently overbooked a whole mess of flights and could only get her to Detroit the next day. From there Continental planned to send her onto Manchester with Delta, but that didn’t work out either. After spending a night stuck in Detroit, Ashley made it to Atlanta, where Delta figured she would manage to catch one of their many flights to New England. Nope! Instead, things got much, much worse. [More]
