For reasons I’ll never be able to comprehend, some visitors to New York City enjoy being chauffeured around in pedicabs, which combine the slow pace of a horse-drawn carriage with the discomfort of a rickshaw. But what these people don’t enjoy is when they find out they have been scammed out of money from pedicab drivers who use a smartphone credit card scanning app to tack on hidden fees. [More]
NEW YORK
Verizon’s Test Of Landline-Less Service Leaves Some Customers Out In Cold
By 7.10.13
Last fall, Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the New York and New Jersey coastline and damaged some copper wire landline networks so badly that Verizon figures it makes more sense to try out a new system that doesn’t rely on landlines rather than repair lines that many people don’t use anyway. But for some who depended on that older system, Verizon’s test isn’t making the grade. [More]
New York Attorney General Investigating Walmart, Home Depot, Others Over Prepaid Payroll Cards
By 7.3.13
Though it’s been a point of concern with employee-rights advocates for years, the use of prepaid debit cards as a substitute for traditional payroll checks is finally getting attention from the powers that be, with the New York state attorney general’s office investigating the practice at some of the nation’s largest employers. [More]
If An NYC Restaurant Isn’t Showing Its Health Inspection Grade, It Probably Failed
By 6.24.13
Three years ago, New York City began requiring that all of its 24,000+ restaurants post huge letter grades representing their most recent health inspection results, but more than 1,000 eateries that didn’t make the desired A grade are balking at going public with their report card. [More]
NYC Restaurant Tells Customers That Tipping Is Not Allowed
By 6.7.13
As we’ve discussed here many, many times, restaurant wait staff often rely on tips because their base pay is generally far below the minimum wage level. Since tipping is an anomaly overseas, waiters in most other countries are paid a living wage. Thus, one sushi restaurant in Manhattan, which claims it has always paid its employees well, has recently started telling customers that tips will not be accepted. [More]
New York Warns Of Medical-Alert Device Robocalling Scam Targeting Seniors
By 5.23.13
Most of you know to be suspicious when someone calls out of the blue to tell you you’ve been approved to get something for free. But not everyone is as savvy as y’all, which is what scammers depend on to make their money. [More]
Should You Have To Pay For Extra Ketchup At Fast Food Joints?
By 5.15.13
For years, some McDonald’s have been charging extra for additional McNugget dipping sauces or other non-ketchup condiments. But charging for extra ketchup is rare, except in Manhattan, where more than a dozen Golden Arches are tacking on a fee for the red stuff. [More]
New York AG To Sue Bank Of America, Wells Fargo Over Alleged Violations Of National Mortgage Settlement
By 5.6.13
If the big mortgage servicers thought they’d put a pile of legal troubles behind them when they reached the $25 billion dollar National Mortgage Settlement with almost every state in 2012, they were wrong. Today, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his intention to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for what he alleges is a ” persistent pattern of non-compliance” by the two banks. [More]
NY Shuts Down Sham Fundraising Company That Took In Millions Of Donations For Breast Cancer “Research”
By 5.3.13
Between 2005 and 2011, the Coalition Against Breast Cancer raised around $10 million in donations intended for research to combat the disease, but authorities say that no such research ever occurred, and all that money went to pay for a grand total of 40 mammograms in seven years. [More]
Neighbors Bill Hotel $21,000 For Sleepless Nights From Noisy Parties
By 4.23.13
First we brought you a story about hotel guests unable to sleep because of noises outside the building, now it’s a tale of woe from the opposite side of the looking glass, with residents on one Manhattan street sending a bill for its sleepless nights to a neighboring hotel full of party-goers. [More]
NYC Lawmakers Propose Raising Smoking Age To 21
By 4.22.13
The same morning that the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the tobacco industry’s fight against new warning labels, lawmakers and regulators in New York City have proposed making it illegal for anyone younger than 21 to buy cigarettes. [More]
Time Warner Cable To Pay $2.2 Million To Overcharged New York Customers
By 3.7.13
More than 18,000 New York state residents will be getting refunds from Time Warner Cable, now that the company has settled allegations that it overcharged subscribers in 10 towns and villages. [More]
Google Provides Free WiFi To Area Of Manhattan That Doesn’t Exactly Need It
By 1.8.13
Because it’s hard to pay $60/month for Internet access when you’re already shelling out $3,000/month for your one-bedroom apartment, the charitable folks at Google have decided to bring free WiFi to Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. [More]
Verizon Says Hurricane-Affected Customers Will Get Credit For “Vacation” Fees
By 11.29.12
Yesterday, we told you about Roy, a Verizon DSL customer who canceled his service after he discovered the company was charging him a “vacation” fee to suspend service to his hurricane-damaged house. This morning, a rep for the company reached out to Consumerist to offer an explanation. [More]
EmblemHealth Won’t Talk To Me About My Husband’s Coverage Because We’re Both Men
By 11.26.12
John and his husband, who live in New York where same sex marriage is legal, are both covered by John’s employer-sponsored insurance from EmblemHealth. But John says that every time he tries to contact Emblem about anything regarding his husband’s coverage — no matter how trivial — the company refuses to acknowledge the two men are married. [More]
NY Atty. Gen. Calls Out Wells Fargo For Halting Loan Mods In Wake Of Hurricane Sandy
By 11.19.12
As portions of New York and New Jersey begin to rebuild following the path of destruction cut by Hurricane Sandy, there are a number of area homeowners whose loan modifications have become collateral damage, with Wells Fargo suspending decisions on these requests until further notice. [More]
Expedia Books Me Into 4 Hotels I Can’t Stay In
By 11.2.12
Like many New Yorkers in low-lying areas, Consumerist reader Jacob’s home was evacuated. Without a place to stay, he used his phone to book a room at a Manhattan hotel. Little did he know that he wouldn’t be staying at that hotel, or the one after that, or the one after that. [More]
AT&T And T-Mobile Briefly Reuniting In New York, New Jersey To Help Storm Victims
By 10.31.12
It’s been almost a year since the FCC and Justice Dept. ripped AT&T and T-Mobile apart, ending the lovers’ foolish hopes of a life of marital bliss. But regulators can only keep true love down for so long, as the two telecoms have announced they will share their networks in storm-damaged areas of New York and New Jersey where customers have been left without bars on their phone. [More]
