Earlier this month, some Best Buy shoppers in the L.A. area began noticing a peculiar new offering on their shelves: A Useless Plastic Box, or rather the “Useless Plasticbox 1.2,” all for the low, low price of $99.99. [More]
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Wear A Surgical Mask Into A Wells Fargo Branch, You Might Be Mistaken For A Bank Robber
By 7.1.13
Whether it’s Patrick Swayze in a Ronald Reagan mask or a woman holding up a McDonald’s with a girdle stretched over her face, robbers will wear just about anything to hide their identity from those being robbed. But sometimes a person walks into a bank wearing a mask not because he’s a criminal, but because he just underwent chemotherapy. [More]
Some Jiffy Lubes Still Charging Customers For Unnecessary And Undone Repairs
By 5.14.13
For years, Jiffy Lube employees around the country have repeatedly been accused — and sometimes caught — charging for repairs that weren’t necessary or weren’t even performed. The company has promised change, but that memo didn’t seem to reach everyone. [More]
Restaurant Uses Twitter To Shame People Who Blew Off Reservations
By 3.26.13
Allowing diners to reserve tables can be a risky proposition for restaurant-owners, as the business may have to turn away walk-in customers based solely on the reservation-holders’ say-so that they are going to show up. When the diners fail to materialize, it can mean lost business to the eatery, which is why one L.A. restaurant recently decided to start naming names of no-shows on Twitter. [More]
Two Guests Who Drank Corpse Water Now Suing L.A. Hotel
By 2.27.13
Last week, we shared the story of a Canadian tourist who disappeared and died under mysterious circumstances, then turned up dead in the water tank of the Los Angeles hotel where she was staying. The investigation into the 21-year-old’s disappearance and tragic death continues, but some former guests are being proactive and have already filed a lawsuit against the hotel. [More]
Why Were 13,000 Boxes Of Girl Scout Cookies Sent To A Landfill?
By 2.19.13
It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill. [More]
Southern California To Finally Get Dunkin’ Donuts… In 2015
By 1.16.13
For those of us in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, Dunkin’ Donuts has been a part of the fast food landscape for decades. Meanwhile, to many folks in sunny Southern California, Dunkin’ was something you occasionally had while on a business trip to New Jersey. But that is going to change in the not-terribly-distant future. [More]
Safeco Waits 57 Days To Inspect House Under Fungus Attack, Only Pays 5% Of Repair Costs
By 11.1.12
When your house is being devoured by a rare fungus, the last thing you want is for the insurance company to drag its feet in checking the problem out. Actually, that’s second-to-last. The last thing you want is for the insurance company to pay you pennies on the dollar for the repairs. [More]
L.A. Pet Shops Won’t Be Able To Sell Pets From Puppy Mills
By 10.25.12
Following similar bans by smaller municipalities in the U.S. and Canada, the Los Angeles City Council has tentatively adopted a ban on pet stores’ sales of many animals obtained from commercial breeders. [More]
L.A. City Council Votes To Repeal Ban On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
By 10.3.12
Only a few months after enacting a ban on the hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, the L.A. City Council voted 11-2 last night in favor of repealing the ban. [More]
L.A. Sues U.S. Bank For Letting Foreclosures Fall Into Disrepair
By 7.17.12
When a lender forecloses on a home, it becomes responsible for keeping the property safe and reasonably kept-up. But officials in Los Angeles has accused U.S. Bank of ignoring hundreds of foreclosures as they fall into disrepair and/or become taken over by squatters and street gangs. [More]
Landlord In Trouble For Somehow Dividing 3 Apartments Into 44 Units
By 6.26.12
In an earlier lifetime, I briefly lived with 10 other people in a 6-bedroom apartment in Manhattan that had illegally been converted from a 3-bedroom. It was hellish and not long after I departed, the remaining roommates all sued each other. But that’s nothing compared to the mess created by one L.A. landlord who is alleged to have carved up a 3-apartment triplex into 44 separate units. [More]
Waitress Says She Was Fired For Balking At Skimpy New Outfits
By 6.26.12
After several years of working at an L.A.-area bar, a woman says she was fired when she refused to wear the skimpy outfits that the new manager said were now required for female employees. [More]
L.A. Bans Plastic Supermarket Shopping Bags
By 5.23.12
The movement against plastic shopping bags gained a lot of momentum today after the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to phase out the use of plastic shopping bags at supermarkets. [More]
Only In LA: A Bottled Water Menu
By 8.31.11
In a land where image is everything, of course there’s a fancy restaurant with a bottled water menu. Yes, I’m looking at you Los Angeles, combination chimera, sphinx, harlot, and now, purveyor of “Vichy Catalán sparkling (1000ml), Spain, $12. Ancient water with an astonishing 3,052 milligrams per litre of Total Dissolved…” More like TDBS! [More]
Chihuahua Emasculates Armed Robbers
By 7.19.11
When you’re evaluating which pooch is worth the most bounce per ounce, consider the mighty chihuahua. Often itself the brunt of humiliation by being tied up in pink ribbons and carried around in tiny backpacks by humans who consider it fashionable, the chihuahua is actually a fierce and loyal companion capable of fending off attackers many times its size. Witness the ferocity and devotion of the chihuahua in this video showing one running off two masked thieves robbing a smoke shop. They may have a shotgun but he’s got moxie! [More]
JetBlue Sells Out $4 Flights From One Side Of L.A. Area To The Other
By 7.14.11
With construction set to shut down I-405 in L.A. this weekend, area residents are crying “Carmageddon,” with some saying what should be a 20 minute trip will take them hou,rs while the highway is closed. So, in an effort to give at least a few folks an option of skipping over this entire mess, JetBlue offered $4 roundtrip flights between Long Beach and Burbank, less than 40 miles away. [More]
No More Chocolate Milk, Corn Dogs Or Chicken Nuggets For L.A. School Students
By 6.15.11
Almost a year ago, as school boards across the country began to ponder whether or not to keep chocolate milk on students’ lunch menus, we asked readers for their opinions, and 75% of you said that the milky, chocolatey childhood fave should continue to be offered, at least part of the time. The folks at the Los Angeles Unified School District disagree, voting yesterday to take away chocolate milk and other goodies from students at the second largest school district in the nation. [More]
