Why would someone need to dispose of a huge amount of cash — tens of thousands of euros — very quickly? That’s what authorities in Geneva, Switzerland, want to know, after finding wads of foreign cash clogging toilets at a bank and at restaurants around the city. [More]
mysteries
Target Pulls Hampton Creek Products From Stores Over Food Safety Concerns
By 6.23.17
Target, a chain that’s popular because “upscale discount store” is apparently not an oxymoron, is a big seller of Hampton Creek’s vegan food products, including its not-mayonnaise Just Mayo. But now Target has reportedly pulled Hampton Creek products from its stores and even disabled cashiers’ ability to scan these items at checkout. [More]
Members Of Congress Literally Chasing Each Other Around Capitol Hill Trying To Find Text Of Obamacare Repeal Bill
By 3.2.17 — Updated: 3.3.17
Since Nov. 8, 2016, Congressional Republicans and the White House have said they would immediately move to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but apart from some leaked details, no concrete legislation has surfaced. A draft bill reportedly exists, but it’s not just being kept from public view; lawmakers from both parties are desperately scrambling to get a peek at the text. [More]
Baby Book From Lost Luggage Mysteriously Reappears On Family’s Doorstep 3 Months Later
By 4.19.16
When a family from near Los Angeles traveled with their toddler to visit family on the other side of the country, they gate-checked a carry-on suitcase that contained family treasures, including their wedding album and their daughter’s baby book. Somewhere during the flight, the bag went missing or was stolen. They assumed that the albums were gone permanently, but then a mysterious car dropped the book on their doorstep and drove away. [More]
FBI Still Doesn’t Know Who’s Cutting California’s Fiber-Optic Cables, Or Why
By 8.13.15
There’s a bad problem hitting the internet out west: someone’s been deliberately slicing through the cables that carry data between providers. And after looking into it for months, the FBI still has basically no idea who’s doing the damage or why. While everyone worries about high-tech hack attacks taking down networks, the attacks highlight that all it really takes is one determined person with a couple of cheap tools. [More]
Target Is Refrigerating Their Doritos For Some Reason
By 5.5.14
Steve was shopping at Target when he noticed something that stopped him cold. The Doritos were refrigerated, in a case alongside cheese and fresh ground meat.
Is this yet another strange new variety of Doritos, or a strange new habit of Target’s? [More]
Jos. A. Bank Attempts To Fend Off Men’s Wearhouse Get Weirder
By 2.5.14
Everyone was getting bored with the constant drama in the Men’s Wearhouse/Jos. A. Bank saga, and we ran out of “gonna like the way you look” jokes weeks ago. That’s why Joey B. decided to mix things up last week and make what seems like a completely random offer to acquire Eddie Bauer. [More]
Why Do Hotels Give You Free Tiny Soaps, But No Tiny Toothpastes?
By 7.9.13
Airline security regulations mean that traveling with a big tube of toothpaste in your carry-on is a distant memory. Yet, in their selection of mini toiletries, hotels give us bottles of lotion and bubble bath, but not one thing that just about everyone uses: toothpaste. Why is that? No one expects them to give us toothpaste because they don’t…because no one expects them to. [More]
This Reese’s Peanut Butter Christmas Tree Looks Like The World’s Tastiest Poop
By 12.31.12
This Reese’s peanut butter Christmas tree resembles many things. Tipster Chris, who found it, says that it resembles “a combination turd/dildo.” It kind of looks like a sword made out of those long, thin balloons used for balloon animals. If you held it upside down, it would look a little like a palm tree. What it doesn’t resemble in any way is a Christmas tree. [More]
Amazon Trade-In Trades My Camera For Invisible Camera
By 11.6.12
Nate saw that he could get a few bucks for his old Canon Digital Rebel camera using Amazon Trade-In. It was a few bucks more than he could get using eBay, so he packed it up and waited for his $97. They didn’t agree about its condition, so he asked to have it sent back. He received back the manual and cables in a smaller Amazon box…but where was the camera? [More]
Orbitz Insists The Flight I Took Was Actually Canceled, Withholds $133
By 11.2.12
You know those paranoid sci-fi stories where everything the protagonist thought he knew about reality starts to come apart at the seams and he has to question whether he really is married to Sharon Stone or maybe he’s really trapped on an island with that Hobbit guy? Well, that’s what Orbitz is doing to Devin (well, maybe not the Sharon Stone part). [More]
Illness In Dogs Traced To Chinese Chicken Jerky
By 12.1.11
The first thing that I do when looking at a bag of pet treats is turn it over and look for the country of origin. I’m not alone–and not paranoid, as it turns out. A few weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration reminded American pet owners about unexplained and sometimes fatal illnesses related to chicken jerky treats imported from China. The FDA and its counterparts around the world have been warning consumers to be alert about jerky-related illnesses since 2007. [More]
"Sick" Pilots Cause Continental To Cancel Additional Flights
By 7.29.11
Whatever illness has stricken Continental pilots, it sure isn’t Flyin’ Fever, because sick pilots forced the airline to cancel six flights Thursday after shutting down 24 Wednesday. Coincidentally, United Continental Holdings is engaged in tense negotiations with pilots working for its subsidiaries. [More]
Anonymous El Paso Woman Passes Out $100 Bills To Discount Store Customers
By 3.18.11
Some shoppers who happened to be hanging around an El Paso Big Lots Wednesday morning received some unexpected gifts — $100 bills handed out by a mysterious woman who sought to “bless them” with a Benjamin. [More]
Report: Hundreds Of Thousands Told They Owe Defunct Hollywood Video
By 2.4.11
It turns out the reader who received a mysterious notice saying he owed a bunch of money to deceased Hollywood Video is far from alone. [More]
Is A Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Attacking My Time Warner DVR?
By 11.19.10
Micah has an unusual problem with Time Warner Cable. He tells Consumerist that his DVR simply refuses to record two daily programs that he likes to watch. Those programs? Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show. A Time Warner technician could find no problems with the DVR itself. [More]
Watch For Mysterious Data Usage On Your iPhone
By 9.1.10
If you’re on one of AT&T’s limited data plans, you’d better start carefully monitoring the data usage, because some customers are noticing unexplainable daily hits on their accounts. The support forums at Apple are filled with pages of theories and complaints from frustrated customers, but our tipster David got the following admission directly from an AT&T rep: “She told me that most, if not all, 3g-capable iPhones were being charged erroneously like I had been experiencing. She told me AT&T was unaware of why the data was being charged, and where it was coming from.” [More]
Woman Says Southwest Refused To Serve Her Alcohol, Wouldn't Say Why
By 8.17.10
Angel says she hadn’t had any alcohol before getting on her Southwest Airlines flight last week, but for some reason the flight attendant decided–after first taking her order–that she felt “uncomfortable” serving Angel her vodka and Coke. [More]
