In the five years I’ve been writing for Consumerist, I’ve read plenty of hotel horror stories and complaints, but this is a new one. Using the “Favorites” option on his HolidayInn.com account, reader Andy booked a stay at a Holiday Inn Express that he had gone to before and enjoyed. When he arrived at the same location, it was now a “Mission Inn.” They told him the Holiday Inn had moved down the road. The new facility was sub-par compared to what it had been previously and he complained to Holiday Inn corporate, they basically said “tough noogies.” Which is how Holiday Inn just lost a life-long customer. [More]
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If I Rebook At A Holiday Inn I "Favorited," I Expect The Hotel To Be In The Same Location
By 7.14.11
Best Buy Holding Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop Hostage Since May
By 7.13.11
Jenni’s sister is disabled and bed-bound, and her laptop is her portal to the world. So when her HP laptop had to go in for repair, it was a big deal. It was an even bigger deal after the Geek Squad spent over a month dickering with the repair and while it was in their hands, the warranty ran out. Now Geek Squad won’t give it back unless the full out of warranty price is paid, and HP says it’s not their problem, it’s Geek Squad’s. Meanwhile it’s been almost three months and Jenni’s sister has no computer. [More]
Pier 1 Kicks Off Christmas Creep Season
By 7.13.11
It may not be a full-fledged instance because it’s not in a physical store, but a recent email promo by Pier 1 is at very least a warning shot that Christmas Creep season is upon us. They recently sent around an email featuring a large snowman. It said, “You can now scratch “get an early start on Christmas” off your to-do list. Preview holiday fun before it even gets to our stores.” [More]
Dillard's Fired Guy For Eating Two Hotdogs
By 7.11.11
A court has ruled that a Dillard’s department store that fired a dock worker after he ate two leftover hotdogs from a company picnic was unjustified in doing so and must pay him unemployment benefits, the Evansville Courier & Press reports. [More]
Free Shipping On Adult Novelty Fur Elephants At Sears
By 7.11.11
Tipster David notes Sears.com appears to have added some adult items to their online catalogue, resulting in some unusual search results. Is this “the softer side of Sears?” [More]
TV With 2011 "Country Strong" Promo Inserted Into 2009 HIMYM Rerun
By 7.8.11
Looks like the ad sales team over at CBS sold more than one digital insertion ad slot on “How I Met Your Mother reruns.” Now here’s one with CGI television running a promo for the 2011 Country Strong injected into the background of a replay of a 2009 episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” [More]
Ignoring Police Protests, Philly Tickets Good Samaritan
By 7.8.11
No good deed goes unpunished. [More]
These Kroger "Build Your Own Sixpack" Signs Are In Conflict
By 7.7.11
Karl was surprised when he saw this printed-out sign on the beer case at his local Kroger. It informed him that it was “unlawful” for the store to sell singles or six-packs where you get a six-pack box and fill it with a variety of beers of your choosing. He was surprised because just a few away were several shelves of beers underneath a giant sign that loudly advertised “Mix a Six, $8.99, Pick your style!” [More]
Chase Gets Man Thrown In Jail For Fraudulent Check. Except The Check Is Legit.
By 7.7.11
UPDATE: Chase and the customer tell Consumerist the situation has been resolved. [More]
Video Of 25,727 Passwords From The Sony Hack, One Per Frame
By 7.6.11
Stare agog as all the the passwords released in the Sony LulzSec breach race past your eyes in this video. [More]
Magazine With Ad For "Zookeeper" Digitally Inserted Into "How I Met Your Mother" Rerun
By 7.6.11
For the past few years, networks have been digitally inserting ads and product placements for new products into old reruns. Shannon just noticed one in a rerun of a 2007 episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” In the background on the shelf is a magazine with an ad on the back for the new “Zookeeper” starring Kevin James. Here’s the original shot, which shows no books on the back shelf. [More]
Turkey Hill Ice Cream Is Somehow Both "New Flavor" And "Original Recipe"
By 7.5.11
In a kind of weird labeling paradox, this Turkey Hill Homemade Vanilla ice cream is simultaneously “New Flavor” AND “Original Recipe.” Reader GR scratched his head over it and sent it in using The Consumerist Tipster App. It’s new, but it’s original, but it’s new, but it’s the original… The logic loop continues ad infinatum until all worlds collapse and the universe reaches a state of perfect entropy. I’m afraid for GR to open it; he might find Schrödinger’s cat inside. [More]
HP Gives Gal Warranty By Accident, Knows It, Lets Her Replace Laptop Anyway
By 7.1.11
Donni is totally stoked! She bought a refurb HP laptop that kicked the bucket after its 90-day warranty expired. She gave up hope but then HP randomly sent her an email asking her if she wanted to renew her warranty. Donni called them up and they scratched their heads and said, yeah, that shouldn’t have happened, but they went ahead and let her get the warranty and replace her laptop anyway. For this reason, Donni is very happy with HP. [More]
Extreme Couponer Arrested For Stealing Coupon Inserts
By 7.1.11
Some people really don’t even deserve the label “extreme couponer.” We should just call ’em “jerks.” The Denton Record-Chronicle reports that a woman in Texas was arrested for buying just one newspaper from the vending machine but then taking all the coupon inserts from all the newspapers inside. [More]
Reader Finally Receives Unblemished, Functional, Nintendo 3Ds
By 7.1.11
After reader Ray’s story about receiving and swapping out four messed up Nintendo 3DSes in a row, two of which were lemons, Nintendo reached out to get in touch with him. We played matchmaker and now Ray is happy to report that they gave him a brand spanking new 3Ds. They also let him pick out two new games to make up for the hassle. [More]
Cheerwine-Filled Krispy Kremes Are Back, Tennessee Can Bite In Too
By 6.30.11
The lovechild of a bottle of Cheerwine soda and a Krispy Kreme doughnut is back for seconds. It’s the Cheerwine-filled Krispy Kreme! The doughnut maker has brought back these two classic Carolina flavors that were such a hit last year for a one-monthly only run starting in July. And this year they’ve expanded the deploy zone to also include Tennessee. [More]
Walgreens Thinks $1.99 Mouthwash Is Worth $2.99
By 6.29.11
Reader Joy spotted an odd price discrepancy between the MSRP on the label of this bottle of mouthwash at Walgreens and the price on the shelf. So she whipped out her iPhone and sent in a picture of it to us using our new Consumerist Tipster App. She chose “2” as her “Anger Level,” indicating “a failure to communicate.” The real question is whether the rinse rings up as $1.99 or $2.99 at the register. Either way, annoying. [More]
Apt. Complex Using DNA To Find Who's Not Curbing Their Dog
By 6.28.11
Call it CSI: Timberwood Commons. WMUR reports the manager of the apartment complex there is making all the of the dog owners in the building submit DNA samples from their dogs. Then she will compare it with the DNA of the dog poop that’s been left around the grounds to find out who hasn’t been cleaning up after their dog. [More]
