Pepsi “Throwback,” a version made with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, will has been upgraded from “limited time” to “permanent,” the sodamaker announced on its Facebook wall. No more driving down to Mexico or waiting for Passover to snatch some up. You can now enjoy the all-natural sugary pick-me-up beverage as an occasional treat and compliment to your favorite nutritious meals and snacks all year-round. [More]
readers
Man Wins $5,000 Suing Debt Collectors, Thanks To Google Voice
By 3.17.11
Reader PJ sued a bunch of harassing debt collectors and won $5,000, and Google Voice made doing it really easy. Someone had put down his work cellphone number on their credit applications and ran up a bunch of debts and collectors started calling him multiple times per day. He told them he wasn’t the guy and asked them nicely to stop, but that only made it worse. [More]
Just Use "Block Caller" In Google Voice To Beat Fraudulent Debt Collectors
By 3.17.11
Using the “Block Caller” function in Google Voice is a far easier way to beat fraudulent callers than the one we described 2 weeks ago, says reader John. [More]
Homeowner Turns SUV Into Anti-BofA Collage
By 3.16.11
A homeowner has affixed their SUV with a creative anti-Bank of America collage and slogans on posterboard and parked it outside a BofA branch in Austin, Texas. Reader Jeff is at the SXSW festival and sent in this picture he snapped of the scene. The driver of the car apparently has a loan with Bank of America and is accusing them of “fraud” though I can’t decipher from the medley of images what kind they had in mind. Nice pirate flag, though. [More]
The Nastiest Hotel Of All Time
By 3.14.11
When you’re touring with an indie band, you don’t have the cash to stay in the Four Seasons every night. But if you think you’ve stayed in some nasty places, try the one Lecee Abee stayed in, with a pool where they store box mattresses and broken tvs, a room covered in stains and grime, and blood spattered bedsheets. [More]
Millionaire Dentist Steals Navy Vet's Credit Card And Buys 2 Large Pizzas
By 3.11.11
A millionaire dentist has been charged with credit-card theft and forgery after stealing a credit card from a Navy veteran and buying two large pizzas with it, reports WTSP. [More]
FAA Orders O2 Masks Removed From Airplane Bathrooms
By 3.11.11
Airlines are removing the emergency oxygen generators from airplane bathrooms by order of FAA directive, reports KPRC. The concern is that someone could go in there, rip the supply out, and rig it into an explosive device. [More]
Busted Swingline Stapler Gets Replaced Without Hassle
By 3.10.11
The other day I was talking to a cab driver who has an air-conditioner that’s still going strong after 18 years. Now when he buys new ones that are from the same brand, they only last four years. He blames it on the company switching manufacturing from Germany to China. Indeed, in this day and age of racing to the bottom of cheap, wherever you look on the shelves, it seems it’s a never-ending seas of “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” But even still, reader Jospeh never expected his metal Swingline stapler to fracture outright. And he was likewise surprised, this time, pleasantly, when they replaced it for him swiftly and painlessly. [More]
Giant UPS Ink Crash Turns Highway Technicolor
By 3.10.11
A stretch of Massachusetts highway has been drenched in the colors of the rainbow after a UPS truck carrying industrial printer cartridges rolled and spewed out its beautiful cargo. No one was hurt, but Skittles really needs to reign in these guerrilla marketing campaigns. [More]
The $2,300 Tank Of Gas
By 3.10.11
A man’s eyes popped out his head and went “Awoooga!” when they saw his receipt for pumping 13 gallons of gas: $2297.84! Since he paid with his debit card, that meant real money was immediately drained from his bank account, causing a $1,300 overdraft. At first the gas station manager just shrugged his shoulders and blamed the bank, but he changed his tune after news reporters walked in asking questions about the receipts. [More]
Dish Network Doesn't Want Equipment Back, Would Prefer To Bill You For Service
By 3.9.11
Susie switched from Dish Network to DirecTV recently, but still must face Dish in order to get her service disconnected. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t seem to want their equipment back, and is making her pay for the month during which she still had their equipment, but wasn’t using the service. [More]
Continental Flight Delayed 3 Hours By Broken Toilet In First Class
By 3.7.11
A malfunction in the toilet in first-class caused a Continental flight to leave three hours behind schedule this morning. It was initially reported by that the toilet was backed up and no plunger could be found, but an airline spokeswoman later refuted that. Plungers aren’t used to repair toilets, she said. “It’s not a toilet like you have at your home. It’s a mechanical process to repair the lavatory.” The earlier report had said that no plunger could be found at the airport and someone had to be sent off grounds. [More]
Trick Fraudulent Debt Collectors With Google Voice
By 3.7.11
Steve, name changed for his protection, found himself bedeviled by fraudulent debt collectors. They bought his personal information from an online payday loan site where he had applied for a loan but never actually took it out. They called him constantly, threatening to send him to jail and take him to court. In this situation, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act didn’t matter. They were overseas scammers who didn’t care about American law, bulling people into paying debts they never incurred. The only way to stop them was by changing all his phone numbers. That’s where using Google Voice came in. [More]
Landlord Wouldn't Fix Leak For 5 Months. This Letter Got Him To Do It in 5 Days.
By 3.7.11
Raymond and his wife had a leak in their master bedroom ceiling that they begged their landlord to fix for five months, with no result. With a baby due in a month, they really needed full use of their bedroom. Then Raymond wrote a very good complaint letter specifically citing his state’s landlord-tenant law and proposing a retroactive rent reduction for all the months the leak wasn’t fixed. That got their attention. [More]
Couple Spends 7 Months Trying To Buy A Short Sale House, Only To Watch Wells Fargo Foreclose At The Last Moment
By 3.4.11
Nestor and his wife have been working for months to buy a house listed as being a short sale. They even bought new furniture and kitchen appliances for it in expectation, stowing the items in their garage. They had finally gotten approved and were making moving plans. Then at the last moment, Wells Fargo decided they’d rather not take Nestor’s money and would prefer to foreclose instead. [More]
Behind The Scenes Of The New Old Spice Commercial
By 3.4.11
Here’s a behind the scenes look at how they made the new Old Spice commercial where the guy goes from Tahiti to the Alps to his home pleasure pad. I thought they did it all with fancy computer mouse clicks, but actually it’s all shot in one take with a lot of wires and props and set pieces that slide in and out. It’s pretty fantastic, but I would have liked to see the interviewer ask the talent, Isiah “Mr. Old Spice” Mustafa, what thinks about the fact that he is going to go through the rest of his life with people asking if they can smell him. [More]
Man Gets Pick Of Hyundais After Threatening To Write "LEMON" On His Rear Window
By 3.4.11
Michael leased a 2010 Hyundai Genesis and found that none of the buttons on the steering wheel worked. No horn, no cruise control, no radio volume. It’s been in and out of the shop several times for steering wheel issues. When he called up the regional office to complain they seemed to take his issue a little more seriously after he said he was planning to get a windshield marker and write that he got a $40,000 lemon from Hyundai. Now he’s getting to pick a new Hyundai of his choice. Here’s the timeline: [More]
Certified And Notarized Letter Gets Heat Turned Back On After 5 Days
By 3.3.11
Davya says that after showing her landlords she meant business with a notarized and certified letter, she finally got the heat in her apartment turned back after 5 days of no heat. [More]
