After reader DFCL’s story about how TCF Bank wouldn’t close his checking account with $.05 left in it, preferring to charge $149 in fees instead, went up on Consumerist, something good happened. [More]
readers
Retiree Loses Everything After Bank Mistakes His House For Foreclosure
By 6.27.11
An eighty-two year old Tampa Bay man has lost everything he owns, including pictures of his dead wife, after a clean-out crew hired by Bank of America mistook his house for the foreclosure next door. [More]
How I Got A Company To Stop Giving Out Our Number As Tech Support
By 6.23.11
Due to a typo, Loy and Dan’s phone number got printed in this company’s internal phone directory as being the number for tech support. The couple would get two to three phone calls a day from people at that company looking for help with their computers. At first the company shrugged their shoulders and said there was nothing they could do about it as the number was already published in a big phonebook that had been distributed nationwide. Then Loy came up with a crafty proposition that got all of the phone calls to stop. [More]
Full Details On New Verizon Data Plans Leaked
By 6.23.11
Android Central got their mitts on the official internal training charts as well as a lengthy email to Verizon Wireless retailers explaining the nitty gritty on how the new tiered data plans work, and how much they’re going to cost you. [More]
DirecTV Sends Coupons Designed To Look Like Netflix Envelopes
By 6.22.11
How scared are the satellite and cable providers of Netflix? So much so that DirecTV recently sent out a coupon to customers designed to look exactly like a Netflix mailer, except in blue. You know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. [More]
Behold, The $100,000 Iridium Razor
By 6.22.11
What do you get for the man who has everything? How about the Zaffiro, a $100,000 razor made out of iridium? [More]
How To Lose A 5-Year Customer Over $3
By 6.22.11
Lynn has been using Terminix four times a year for five years, but after Lynn’s recent experience on the phone with them, no longer. At the center of the dispute is a $3 increase in the service. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s not really about the money. It’s how they treated Lynn when our reader asked about it. And that, my friends, is how you lose a customer who has been with you for half a decade. [More]
Chase Redeems Your Rewards Points Via 19 $50 Checks
By 6.21.11
Summer and her fiancee returned from an out of town trip this weekend to find that the Stupid Shipping Gang had paid them a visit while they were away. But instead of a tiny thing packed in a giant box, it’s several tiny things packed into an excessive number of envelopes. [More]
JetBlue Kills Off "All You Can Jet" Program
By 6.20.11
JetBlue will not be continuing its “All You Can Jet” (AYCJ) program for 2011, the company told members via email this morning. Last year AYCJ let passengers take an unlimited number of flights between early September and October for only $499-$699. For people who really flew enough to get the full value out of it, it was a great deal. They did give a promo code to participants for 15-30% off discounts, which tipster MissDeeJane described as “a concession prize.” [More]
Pay $400 To Play With Bulldozers In Las Vegas
By 6.20.11
If you’re looking for something different to do on vacation this summer, how about playing in a giant sandbox driving bulldozers and earth movers? That’s the idea behind “Dig This,” a “construction theme park” opening in Las Vegas this summer. [More]
Wells Fargo Is Next Bank To Dump Reverse-Mortgages
By 6.17.11
Wells Fargo is the next bank to announce that they are pulling out of the market of selling reverse-mortgages, a loan typically sold to to seniors that converts their home equity into a stream of monthly payments. The lender gets paid when the home is sold at the borrower’s death or when they move. Without reliably rising home values, it’s not a very profitable proposition for lenders. [More]
IRS Gives $110,000 To Wrong Guy, Now He's In Jail
By 6.17.11
A California father is in jail and faces charges after the IRS deposited $110,000 in his account that should have gone to another taxpayer, reports KCAL. [More]
TWC Ends Chat When You Ask Them To Honor To On-Time Guarantee
By 6.16.11
In New York City you are entitled to a free month of service if the cable guy doesn’t show up on time. It’s part of the franchise agreement the cable companies have with the city. But here’s a chat transcript showing what happens when a informed consumer tries to claim their credit from Time Warner Cable… [More]
Bananas Foster Inferno Possibly Started By Inappropriate Pouring
By 6.16.11
An update on that flaming banana desert that engulfed a customer in flame story from earlier in the week: according to witnesses the waiter poured the alcohol on using the whole bottle instead of using a ladle. The flames then shot back up into the bottle and caused the “explosion of fire.” The diner who was covered in fire remains sedated in the hospital. [More]
US Airways Pilot Arrests Passenger For Having Baggy Pants
By 6.16.11
An entire US Airways flight was evacuated and the pilot placed a passenger under citizen’s arrest after he refused to pull up his baggy pants, reports NBC Bay Area. [More]
This McDonald's Video Takes Recruitment Propaganda To Hollywood Heights
By 6.16.11
This recruitment video for McDonald’s is simply amazing. It is a full-on miniature drama tracing the arc of a young woman who starts at the bottom at McDonald’s, overcoming the snark and condescension of her friends and her mother, and rises to become a floor manager who trains other new employees, joining part of a community of other happy workers. All who doubted her are forced to eat their words. The production is slick, with emotive cinematography and lots of rising crane shots. It should get the Oscar for best internal corporate propaganda. [More]
Meth House Haunts New Homeowners
By 6.16.11
A pregnant mother of two in Colorado and her husband are stuck making $1,114 a month payments on a house they can’t live in. Shortly after they bought their dream home, they discovered needles in the window well. It turned out their dream house used to be owned by meth heads, and the house was contaminated with meth residue. [More]
Woman Calls 911 Because Her Chinese Food Order Was Wrong
By 6.15.11
Savannah police have released the recording of a call a woman made to report that she got the wrong food in her Chinese food delivery. They published the call as a reminder to the public that it’s a misdemeanor to call 911 unless there’s an actual emergency. Here is a transcript and the audio of the call: [More]
