When will companies learn that astroturfing is lame? Never!
sad
Whoops, Where'd My Mortgage Go?
By 8.15.07
NPR interviewed a would-be Brooklynite named Claudia who is trying to buy an apartment for herself and her teenaged sons. Everything seemed settled, when all of a sudden the lender that was going to be offering Claudio her HELOC loan decided they didn’t really want to anymore.
Lawsuits: Armless Woman Refused Service At McDonald's
By 7.11.07
A Rockford, IL woman with no arms is suing McDonald’s, claiming that employees refused to serve her food because she has no arms and was too “disgusting” to serve.
The Most Painful Way To Cancel Your AT&T DSL, Ever
By 5.16.07
If you also suffer from this travesty of service, here’s how to get out of your contract:
Gee Whiz, The New AOL Beta Looks Familiar
By 4.28.07
Where have we seen this website before? —MEGHANN MARCO
Hey! Let's Get Divorced!
By 4.4.07
Finding good, helpful information about divorce and your finances is difficult. The divorce business is big money for lawyers, and it’s sort of a sad topic, so there’s no real motivation for someone to make available a lot of free fun-to-read information about getting divorced.
Your New Time Warner DVR Comes With Porn!
By 4.2.07
While some of us might consider it “added value” to receive a Time Warner DVR that was already 20% full of the porn that we would eventually be collecting anyway, some people have children and/or don’t feel like watching “Hole Diggers 2.” Shocking, we know.
American Girl Place Mocks 6 Year-Old For Having A Doll From Target, Refuses To Style The Doll's Hair
By 3.23.07
This story is just heartbreaking. We feel really, really bad for this little girl. Etta saved all her money and purchased a pretty doll from Target named Gracie. When she was invited by her friend to bring her doll to American Girl Place for a “doll hairstyle” she was thrilled…until the stylist chided her for not having a “real” doll and refused her business.
Woman Buys $1,000 In Tainted Pet Food At Walmart
By 3.23.07
A woman said she was so worried about reports of tainted pet food she spent more than $1,000 buying all the product she could find at her local Wal-Mart. Margaret Trask said she filled a shopping cart full of canned pet food made by Canadian company Menu Foods at the Beaufort Wal-Mart after hearing about the recall Friday.
Starbucks Thinks You're Homeless, Tosses You And Your Coffee Out On The Street
By 3.21.07
The 70-year-old Lisle woman was kicked out of the Starbucks in downtown Glen Ellyn a few weeks ago. She claims it was because employees mistook her as a homeless person, part of a purge the store waged to mollify customers who complained that the coffee shop was overrun with the homeless.
How I Became A Music Pirate
By 3.20.07
Does DRM drive even honest well-meaning people to piracy? Yes, of course it does.
Netflix Keeps Your DVD If You Send It In By Mistake
By 3.16.07
I’m really sorry to hear that you have sent us in your game. I researched this issue and found out that our distribution centers aren’t set up to return customer discs of any kind so we’re not able to send your disc back. I understand this is frustrating for you and I am very sorry that we cannot mail your disc back to you.
UPDATE: Be Friends With Eddie's $8,677.29 Cingular Bill
By 3.7.07
Now my bill went from an average monthly bill of less than $100 to $8,677.29. It had something to do with my data transfer rate. Obviously, they did not give me my original plan. Instead they gave me some $8,677.29/month plan.
1/4 Of HDTV Owners Do Not Realize They Are Not Watching HDTV
By 3.1.07
Anyone who thinks consumers understand high-definition television should consider a recent survey by Leichtman Research Group.
Geek Squad Charges $415 Dollars To Replace A Hard Drive; Makes Customer Retrieve Data Files Himself
By 2.27.07
Estimated repair time seven to ten days.
Seven days later, they hadn’t even looked at the machine. After 8 days, they’d begun testing the laptop. On the 10th day the exhaustive tests were still being done, but things weren’t looking good for O.’s data files. On the 11th day, O. was given the sad news that his hard drive was fried and would need to be replaced for an extra charge of $118.00. On the 12th day, O. was given his laptop, and his non-working hard drive.
Verizon's Replacement Phone Doesn't Work
By 2.15.07
When he follows the instructions included with the phone his activation is unsuccessful. The really sad part is that when he tries to call for help, the phone still doesn’t work. Ahh, Catch 22. Not exactly a scandal, but we like his video. There’s something all too familiar and sad about it. Does anyone want to lend him a phone?—MEGHANN MARCO
Millions in Lottery Winnings Go Unclaimed
By 2.15.07
“Mr. Jackson, who lives in Hamden and could not be reached for an interview this week, told local newspapers back then that he had been distracted by caring for his sick father, who owned the floor-cleaning business where he worked. By the time Mr. Jackson realized he had the winning numbers, it was 11:45 p.m. on a Sunday night and he figured lottery headquarters would be closed. The next day was Columbus Day, a holiday, so he thought it was impossible to contact a state official.
Poor Mr. Jackson. If you people play the lottery, check your tickets! Its bad enough to throw away one dollar on a ticket, don’t throw away millions.—MEGHANN MARCO
"Dell Laptop Burned Down My House"
By 2.8.07
On Monday morning I was heading to work like any other day.. little did I know that my home was being consumed by a raging fire. I arrived my desk to find that the phone was ringing – I needed to come home immediately was the message.
