The Minnesota city of St. Paul sits, like its twin Minneapolis, squarely in Comcast territory, with nary a competitor in sight. But the franchise agreements that create local monopolies can also be used to residents’ benefit: as part of the contract that lets them be the exclusive cable company in town, Comcast offers low-income and elderly St. Paul residents a discount off their cable bills. Great, right? Well, it would be… if anyone in town could actually sign up for it. [More]
minnesota
Comcast Refused To Cancel Cable For Customer Whose House Went Up In Flames
By 4.9.15
When your house burns down, the last thing you should be concerned about is having to make repeated calls to your cable provider to get them to cancel or suspend your service. And yet Comcast refused to cancel service for one Minnesota customer after his house was turned to ashes — all because he couldn’t provide his full account number. [More]
Bank Of America To Pay $155K To Settle Claim It Discriminated Against Hearing-Impaired Customer
By 3.3.15
Financial institutions have a somewhat checkered past when it comes to accommodating consumers with hearing disabilities. There was Citibank’s demand that a hearing-impaired customer call them to clear up a suspicious transaction only to be hung up on repeatedly or there was the Chase rep that didn’t think deaf people could have credit cards. Now this week, Bank of America agreed to settle allegations it denied a loan modification after ignoring a customer’s request that the bank email her rather than force her to talk on the phone. [More]
McDonald’s Manager Also Fired For Ex-Employee’s Kitchen Rampage
By 2.11.15
On Monday morning we brought you the story of the McDonald’s worker in Minnesota who decided to trash the restaurant after being fired. While no one expects that young man to get his job back — or to get hired by anyone else in the near future — you might be surprised to learn that his boss has also been let go for failing to rein in the rampage. [More]
Start Your Week With This Video Of Fired McDonald’s Employee Trashing Kitchen
By 2.9.15
Are you unhappy to be back at work after the weekend? Do you dream of running amok in your office and maybe going hog-wild on the printer? We don’t advise that you actually do that, but you can maybe get some vicarious release by watching a fired McDonald’s employee wreak havoc on the eatery that dismissed him. [More]
Minnesota Stops Taking Returns Filed With TurboTax, Citing Possible Fraudulent Activity
By 2.6.15
UPDATE: Intuit announced this afternoon that it’s halting all state e-filed tax returns while investigating reports of fraudulent activity. [More]
26-Year Delta Air Lines Vet Says He Was Fired After Criticizing Baggage Handler Pay
By 12.5.14
There is a game of he said/airline said going on between a baggage handler who was recently fired after more than two decades on the job. He claims he was fired for speaking out publicly on his co-workers’ wages while Delta maintains that the man’s statements were untrue and in violation of company policy. [More]
USPS Apologizes For Declaring Living, Breathing Man “Deceased”
By 10.21.14
Every parent dreads the possibility of outliving their children. So imagine the shock when one mom found out via the U.S. Postal Service that her son had died. Now think about how the not-at-all-deceased felt when he learned that he’d been declared dead by the post office. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges Chipotle Required Workers To Perform Duties Without Pay
By 10.16.14
The door may be locked and the lights may have dimmed, but there’s still plenty of work to be done after closing for many restaurant employees. While working after hours isn’t uncommon, those who perform those duties probably expect to continue being paid. But a former employee claims that wasn’t happening at Chipotle, and now he’s suing the fast-casual restaurant. [More]
Minnesotans Only Have A Week Of “Tax-Free” Shopping Left On Amazon
By 9.23.14
You can now add Minnesota to the growing list of states where Amazon will be collecting sales tax from customers after a surprise announcement on Monday that, starting Oct. 1, shoppers in the state will start seeing the tax added to their purchases. [More]
Restaurant Realizes Maybe It Shouldn’t Force Servers To Pay Credit Card Fees Out Of Tips
By 8.21.14
Earlier this month we told you about the Minnesota restaurant owners who decided the best way to offset increases to the state’s minimum wage was to deduct credit card transaction fees from servers’ tips. While it’s legal for businesses to do this, a poll of Consumerist readers found that 91% of you think it’s not a wise idea. Looks like the restaurant owners have finally gotten that message. [More]
Restaurants Can Deduct Credit Card Fees From Servers’ Tips, But Should They?
By 8.7.14
A few days ago, the minimum wage in Minnesota increased for the first time in years to $8/hour, putting it slightly above the federal minimum of $7.25. Some businesses are responding to the pay hike by tacking on “minimum wage” fees to customers or by taking credit card service charges out of servers’ tips. [More]
Minnesota Bans Widely Used (But Pretty Much Useless) Antibacterial Soap Ingredient
By 5.20.14
In spite of the fact that the FDA has said that soap containing the antibacterial chemical triclosan is really no better at preventing the spread of germs than simply washing your hands with regular hot soap and water, it’s still widely used in soaps, cosmetics, deodorants and some toothpastes. And so the Minnesota state legislature recently voted to ban the use of triclosan. [More]
Farmer Makes His Own ‘Field Of Dreams’, Plops $20K Ice Skating Rink In The Middle Of His Land
By 2.13.14
If there’s a disgraced hockey team from days of yore that were lost and wandering in a cornfield for eternity, or maybe a pair of figure skaters who threw their performance and are doomed to regret it in the afterlife, they’ll be happy to know there’s a place for them to go, a la Field of Dreams: A farmer in Minnesota (because of course) has built his own ice skating rink in the middle of his land. [More]
Couple Charged With Stealing 1,970 Trees From Forest
By 11.15.13
A man and woman in Minnesota face up to a year in jail and thousands of dollars in fines after they were caught sap-handed in their attempt to steal a huge quantity of spruce trees and tree tops from county-managed forest land, all with the goal of selling to unsuspecting Christmas-tree buyers. [More]
Dairy Queen Manager Kicks Cash-Stealing Meanie Out Of Store, Redeems Humanity
By 9.19.13
Let’s say that you’re in line at Dairy Queen behind a blind man, who drops his cash and cards on the floor. While he scrambles to pick everything up, you pick up a $20 bill from the floor. Not to be helpful, though: to steal. Then the Dairy Queen cashier kicks you out of the store, and…gets fired for it? No! [More]
Fictional Character Betty Crocker Provides Real Cakes For Minnesota’s First Gay Weddings
By 7.31.13
People worldwide continue to disagree vehemently on the subject of civil marriage for same-sex couples, but everyone can agree that free cake is a nice thing. The first legally binding gay marriages in Minnesota will happen after midnight on August 1st, and three lucky couples will have free wedding cakes courtesy of Minnesota-based General Mills. [More]
Minnesota Hopes New Background Checks Will Deter Scammy Coin Dealers
By 7.29.13
As the prices of precious metals began to take off in recent years, so did the number of less-than-legitimate buyers and sellers of coins. These scammy individuals, often ex-cons, tarnished the industry by misleading people into selling their valuable coins for a fraction of what they were worth, along with instances of theft and fraud. This week, Minnesota begins implementing a new law that hopes to discourage these people from getting into the business by requiring criminal background checks. [More]
