Any readers here who work for CVS? Maya wants to know what’s going on with the Extra Care coupons that are printed at the bottom of each receipt. Lately the clerks at her local CVS stores have been tearing something off the bottom of the receipt before giving it to her, and the coupons are no longer there. Coincidence?
mysteries
Club Monaco Will Not Let Anyone Discover The Truth Behind Its Eyeglasses
By 4.23.09
Beaverly saw some eyeglass frames she really liked on some Club Monaco in-store signage. No matter what she does, however, she can’t find out if they really exist and whether or not she can purchase the same frames for herself. They’ve gone so far as to make Russell, the sales guy who was trying to help her, “disappear.”
Why Is Nokia Charging Customers More Than The Invoice Amount?
By 3.31.09
Nokia has already had a few problems rolling out its new touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic phone, including earpieces that go bad in humid weather and firmmware that wouldn’t work on certain big-city 3G networks on the US model, but now they’re screwing around with something serious: customers’ money.
United's Lost And Found Sounds Like A Good Place To Score Free iPhones
By 3.19.09
Jason is one of those people who loses things all the time. He must be like Santa Claus to the people working for United at the San Francisco International Airport, because when he passes through their terminal, he leaves awesome presents behind. We can’t say for certain that a United employee stole his iPhone, but the last he heard of its whereabouts, it had been found by United crew members and was on its way to their Lost and Found—which won’t return his calls or emails.
Is Tentacle Grape Soda Real? Because Their Shipment Dates Aren't
By 3.13.09
Really, grape soda with a tentacle hentai theme (don’t Google it if you’re not sure what we’re talking about, especially if you’re at work) just makes sense. Sex-starved tentacled monsters getting it on with anime vixens just cries out to be packaged as a grape drink and sold. But one reader, Lincoln, says he bought his own 6-pack of the drink back at the start of the year and has yet to see it.
Woman Finds Tiny Mammal Vertebra In Peanut M&M
By 3.5.09
A woman in Atlanta bit into a blue peanut M&M and discovered a tiny, blackened bone, probably from a nut obsessed animal who crept into the M&M to eat the peanut, then died of remorse. A Mars rep told the customer it was probably just a peanut twig. Whatever; by our estimations, this animal is most likely smaller than a peanut M&M, but has a comically wide and very short neck. Hmm, maybe we should instead ask an expert to deduce where this bone came from, which is what the customer did.
Missing iPhone Back In Reader's Hands
By 2.14.09
Got the iPhone back now and went to the AT&T store and now activating it via iTunes. Phone seems to be working just the pictures in the camera roll were deleted along with recent calls.
Missing iPhone Mystery Solved By Consumerist Readers In 55 Minutes
By 2.13.09
Wow, that was impressive! In less than one hour after we posted about Dino’s dad’s lost iPhone, Consumerist readers were able to locate his Facebook and Hi5 accounts, track down his name and home address, and even get him to respond via email—something Dino and his dad weren’t able to do yesterday. Dino just wrote us and said “Michael Smith/Emerson” contacted him and promised to return the phone tomorrow.
Update: the phone has been returned!
UPDATED: "My iPhone Is Missing, And Some Guy Is Taking Pics Of Himself With It!"
By 2.13.09
UPDATE 2: the phone has been returned!
AT&T Sells You A Service They Don't Offer, Denies It, Bills You Anyway
By 2.9.09
This is like one of those ghost stories where the hero joins up with a fellow traveler, and then at the end of his journey discovers that his travel companion never existed. Oooooo! Only it’s about AT&T, so instead of being spooky it’s just annoying. Especially the part at the end where he receives a bill.
Worldwide Rebates Using Suspiciously Fragile Check System
By 2.2.09
Mail in rebates (MIRs) are the among the worst “deals” you can fall for, because any number of issues—most of them beyond your control—can render your supposed savings moot. Now a reader wonders whether Worldwide Rebates is deliberately employing what has to be the world’s least durable check mailing system to throw yet another obstacle in the difficult path to a successful rebate.
EECB Over Xbox 360 Keeps Getting Bounced Back As Spam
By 2.2.09
Those wily Xbox 360 gremlins are at it again, and this time they’re cracking Michael’s game discs in little spokes along the inner ring of each disc. His customer service call went nowhere, naturally, so someone on the Penny Arcade forum where he posted his story suggested an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. The only problem is, it keeps getting sent back as spam.
This iPhone Comes With A Blackberry User's Email Address, And A Mystery
By 1.27.09
No, we didn’t accidentally republish yesterday’s post. This is another story of a “new” iPhone with someone else’s email address, and this time there appears to be no simple explanation for it—the address on the phone belonged to a man who lived on the other side of the country and used a Blackberry.
Did Adele Services Charge Your Credit Card? The Company Does Not Exist
By 1.13.09
The Boston Globe says that credit card users are noticing a mysterious charge for about 25 cents from Adele Services in Melville, NY. The trouble is, “There is no business by that name listed in Melville, or registered to any business anywhere in New York, for that matter.” No one knows yet whether these small charges are tests for larger unauthorized debits, or if this is the entire scam. Either way, check your statement and be sure to file a dispute—and request a new card—if you come across it.
UPS Coughs Up $50 But Still Hasn't Delivered Your Daughter's Christmas Present
By 1.11.09
Reader Michael wants to know why it’s taking UPS almost a month to ship his daughter’s Christmas gift from Los Angeles to Seattle. Michael thinks his package might have been eaten by the snowstorm that broke Seattle a few weeks back, but UPS swears that they have the gift and that this is all a simple matter of “the driver forgot to put it on the truck.” Worried that it that it might have been faster for a messenger to walk between Los Angeles and Seattle with his daughter’s present, Michael decided to launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb at UPS executives.
Three TGIFridays Mysteriously Close, No One Knows Why
By 12.18.08
Three TGIFridays in California have mysteriously closed, says the SF Chronicle. Employees are stunned.
The Mystery Of the 8-Hour RCN Hold Time
By 9.29.08
Last Friday we posted that a customer in D.C. was on hold with RCN’s tech support for over 7 hours. (And no, she didn’t sit next to the phone that entire time—she periodically checked in to see whether she’d been disconnected, but always heard the same hold music and message.) We received several comments—one from the Senior Director of Operations at RCN—saying that her call had likely been dropped from the system. But Meredith says someone finally did answer her call. Here’s her story and the RCN Director’s version.
Sprint Keeps Sending Mysterious Security-Related Text Messages, But Doesn't Know Why
By 9.12.08
Chelsea wants to know why she keeps receiving these cryptic text messages from 9099. The messages alternate between telling her new phantom services have been added to her account, and sending her an account PIN and security answer. We thought it was someone trying to gain access to her account, but the PIN and security answer aren’t hers, and the services never show up on her bill.
