As most of us have learned over the last half-decade, while Twitter and other forms of social media do give users the ability to freely and instantly broadcast a message to the world, they also do nothing to stop users from firing off messages that would have been best left unsent. Case in point: A postcard company that is now having to do the apology shuffle after a Tweet effectively telling overweight people to cover up this summer. [More]
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Company Learns That Fat-Shaming People On Twitter Will Just Lead To Lots Of Apologizing On Twitter
By 7.8.13
Printing Error Turns Pixar Kiddie Pool Into Informational Image On Bad Touching
By 5.20.13
What should be a happy photo of a mom hanging out in the yard with her two boys in their cool new Pixar-themed pool is horribly, terribly, tragically transformed into something much darker, all thanks to an apparent error at the printing press that managed to slip through unnoticed. [More]
JCPenney Says Coupon Code Users Can Only Get One Of Those “Free” Towels They Ordered Online
By 5.14.13
We told you last week about savvy online shoppers who realized that a JCPenney coupon code for $10 off purchases of $10 or more could be used to snap up a washcloth/towel combination that cost exactly $10. It also looked like the code could be used repeatedly, so some folks just kept ordering these items until JCP ran out of every possible color. But now the retailer is saying “not so fast” to customers who placed multiple orders. [More]
JCPenney Coupon Code Results In Rush On “Free” Towels And Washcloths
By 5.10.13
In what is either a mistake that will probably result in angry customers and canceled orders or a deliberate effort to rid its warehouses of towels and washcloths, JCPenney issued a coupon code earlier today for $10 off purchases of $10 or more. [More]
Mr. Jobs, Can I Interest You In One Of These Fine Zunes?
March 18, 2013
If you’re trying to sell a product, it’s probably a good idea to make sure that the person you’re e-mailing isn’t the person who invented a competing product. Say, trying to pitch the Drupal content management system to the creator of competitor WordPress. Sometimes it helps just to Google someone’s name. (via PRDaily) [More]
IRS: H&R Block Causing Refund Delays After Bungling 600,000 Tax Returns
By 3.12.13
Many of us find the Internal Revenue Service’s income tax return pretty darn difficult to figure out, which is why companies like H&R Block exist — ostensibly, to help customers maneuver the complicated forms and get them a nice tax refund if possible. But it seems H&R finds those forms confusing, too. [More]
Banks Uncover Additional Wrongful Foreclosures On Military Members
By 3.4.13
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is intended, in part, to help protect active-duty members of the armed forces from having their homes taken away by foreclosure, but as we’ve seen, this hasn’t stopped banks from ignoring the law and taking those houses anyway. Now comes a report that banks have recently uncovered hundreds of additional wrongful foreclosures on the homes of servicemembers. [More]
Hospital Sends Lab Test Results For 10 Patients To Random Stranger
By 2.11.13
Even in this era of over-sharing and supposed transparency, most people don’t want their medical files shared with anyone who doesn’t absolutely need to see them. But all it takes is one person to not pay attention when stuffing envelopes for private medical documents to be shared with the world. [More]
Target Sells Most Awesome Router Ever For Only $29.99
By 1.8.13
Consumerist reader Cameron was recently looking for a router at his local Target when he was intrigued by the “Weekly WOW” sale on a Belkin model. But when he looked at the specs, he was just blown away. [More]
Rite-Aid Sells Your Favorite Celebrity Colons At Clearance Prices
By 12.27.12
Have you ever been ogling Usher, or Faith Hill, or Beyonce, Halle Berry, Celine Dion, or Britney Spears and thought, “I would just love to have some of this celebrity’s colon, but I simply can’t afford it”? Well, you might want to check out this offering from Rite-Aid. [More]
IKEA, Where 50% Off Is Really Just An Approximation
By 11.16.12
Consumerist reader Brad was looking at IKEA’s Black Friday mailer that went out this week and noticed that something just was just a bit off about the math on this deal on soft toys. [More]
El Al Error Allows Customers To Book Heavily Discounted Fares; Airline Decides To Honor Tickets
By 8.9.12
Earlier this week, a glitch in the El Al ticketing system allowed around 5,000 U.S. travelers to snap up heavily discounted airfares to Israel. And after a couple days of mulling over its options, the airline has just decided to honor those tickets. [More]
Southwest Bills Customers Multiple Times In Failed Facebook Promotion
By 8.4.12
To celebrate its 3 millionth Facebook like — perhaps the most useless metric in social media — Southwest Airlines announced a half-price fare sale. But when some people tried to take advantage of the deal, they ended up having their credit and debit cards dinged with multiple charges. [More]
Not Everyone Is Amused By ASUS' Ogling Of Booth Model's Butt
By 6.4.12
Taiwanese electronics company ASUS made a bit of an oopsie when it took to its Twitter account to post a photo and wink-wink-y joke about the derriere of a model showing off one of its computers. [More]
Woman Buys, Rehabs Wrong House; Can't Get Anyone To Care About It
By 5.15.12
A woman in Mississippi says she spent thousands buying and rehabbing a foreclosed-upon home, only to find out after the fact that oops, she actually bought the smaller, cruddier house next door. Making matters worse, no one seems to be willing to take the blame or help her out. [More]
Insurer Sells Couple The Wrong Policy. Is An Apology Enough?
By 3.8.12
More than two years ago, a Florida couple called up a supplemental insurance provider to take out a disability coverage plan in case the wife became pregnant. Her work doesn’t cover maternity leave, but the policy would help pay the bills while cared for the child. That is, if the insurer had sold them the correct policy. [More]
Chase Admits To Accidentally Deducting Payments Multiple Times
By 11.18.11
In the last few days, we’ve received a couple of e-mails from readers who were getting strange explanations from Chase about why automated payments had been deducted twice from their accounts. But before we could figure out what was going on, the bank has issued a “my bad” to affected customers, and thrown in $25 in “we’re sorry” cash. [More]
Apple Confirms iOS 5 Bug Is Screwing With Some iPhone 4S Batteries
By 11.2.11
It’s been almost a week since some iPhone 4S users began complaining about their batteries not charging or draining too quickly and all the while Apple had remained quiet on the topic. But today, the cool kids of Cupertino confirmed that some glitches in the latest iPhone operating system appear to be the cause of the problem. [More]
