A Consumerist reader has pretty much reached the limit of poor AT&T customer and technical service over his shoddy Elite DSL account, which for two years now drops to speeds of around 10k every four months. Check out this letter and included chat log for some stunning examples of all the ways AT&T fails at providing a service it charges lots of money for.
stupid
Ten Stupid Infomercials Will Shake Your Faith In Capitalism
By 6.26.09
The best thing about YouTube is that it lets us see wacky commercials and insipid infomercials without the inconvenience of watching TV. Where would the Comfort Wipe be without it?
170 Bogus Tickets: Chicago Tests Ticketing Equipment With Your License Plate
By 6.15.09
When I read the headline for this story (it didn’t mention Chicago), I bet myself a million dollars that the man had an Illinois license plate. I am now a millionaire. Or I will be as soon as I pay myself.
KIller Flashlight Requires Goggles And Protective Clothing
By 6.10.09
Reading the title of this post, you may think, “well, evidently this is some kind of special industrial flashlight. Or maybe an experimental nuclear flashlight. No one would be stupid enough to put a warning like that on a regular consumer flashlight.” You should know better.
US Airways Employee Helps Roommate Smuggle Gun Aboard To Avoid Checking It
By 6.8.09
The AP is reporting that the employee charged with smuggling a unloaded handgun and ammunition aboard a US Airways flight was trying to help his roommate avoid checking it.
Sorry Miss Butt, Your Name Is Illegal
By 6.4.09
Reader Janet Butt was trying to sign up for an airline miles program when she ran into a prudish form processor that deemed her last name “illegal.”
Another Angry McDonald's Customer Calls 911; Angry Employee Also Calls 911
By 5.29.09
A 20-year-old in Aloha, Oregon, called 911 on Memorial Day to complain that he wasn’t given the orange juice he ordered. While he was on the phone describing this emergency, a McDonald’s employee also called 911 to complain that the 20-year-old was blocking the drive-thru. And somewhere in the city, a kitten died in a tree fire because the emergency lines were all tied up. UPDATE: We’ve located the audio of both calls.
Visa Black Card Comes With A Sense Of Self Importance, $495 Annual Fee
By 5.28.09
Two different readers recently received an application for the Visa Black Card from Barclays. With its “patent pending carbon” material and “exclusive rewards program,” it’s not for everyone. With its $495 annual fee (plus another $195 per each authorized user), it’s not for anyone, not even the supposed 1% of the population Barclays says they’re marketing it to. We take that back—if Gob Bluth could get his own credit card, this would be the one he’d sign up for. C’mon!
Man Who Poisoned Children In Campbell's Soup Fraud Sentenced To 100 Years
By 5.22.09
In January 2006, William Cunningham laced soup with lighter fluid, peppers, and eventually Prozac and Amitriptyline, then fed it to his 18-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son. He then claimed the soup had been tampered with and threatened to sue Campbell Soup if they didn’t pay up. Yesterday he was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
Comcast Threatens To Cut You Off Unless You Pay $0.00
By 5.22.09
This should be an easy one to resolve. Readers Rich and Alisa doesn’t owe Comcast any money, and Comcast doesn’t want them to pay any money. Still, despite this agreement about what is owed, the cable giant still felt the need to threaten to cut off their cable.
REI Says ATM Photographer Is Welcome In Their Store Any Time
By 5.15.09
REI’s Director of Corporate Communications contacted us with an official statement about the recent showdown between two Loomis security guards and a customer with an iPhone at one of their Seattle stores. She says despite the document Shane says he was forced to sign at the police station, he is not banned from their stores. Below is REI’s official statement.
CVS Beverage Prices: Only Off By $997 Or So
By 5.14.09
A few weeks apart, in different stores, readers Spencer and Sean spotted the same error on CVS shelf tags. Printing error? Zoned-out employees? Maybe our assumptions are all wrong, and it’s an innovative new pricing strategy.
Loomis Rent-A-Cops Have Shopper Cuffed, Hauled Away Over ATM Photo
By 5.11.09
While Shane was standing in the customer service line at a Seattle REI, he watched two Loomis employees open and change out the cash in an ATM machine. Shane took a photo of them with his iPhone. This apparently freaked out the Loomis guards, the REI security staff, and then the Seattle police, who put handcuffs on Shane, drove him to the police station, and then made him sign a statement that he wouldn’t return to a REI store for a year. You might have noticed in that summary that they didn’t actually bring any charges against him, which should make it clear to anyone who wants to side with the faux Po-Po that what Shane did wasn’t illegal, that the rent-a-cops should be fired, and that REI and Loomis owe Shane a big apology.
By 5.4.09
../../../..//2009/05/04/maybe-you-shouldnt-buy-that/
Maybe You Shouldn’t Buy That “A collection of the most expensive and most worthless items in the world.” That’s a pretty nice gold toilet, but we’ll pass. No pun intended. [via BuzzFeed]
Man Downloads Movie While In Mexico, Receives $62,000 Wireless Bill
By 4.28.09
If you’re going out of the country for more than 15 seconds, don’t forget to turn off, remove, leave at home, freeze in a block of ice, disable, or otherwise render unusable your wireless card. Above all, do not download Wall-E for your nephew to watch on your computer. Unfortunately, we do not have any more details about what was going on here, because Clark Howard apparently has to get back to his NASCAR pit.
Target Is Losing Its Mind
By 4.23.09
Taken with yesterday’s sign denying its own existence, we are worried that Target, or at least its labelmakers, might be having some kind of existential crisis. You’re freaking us out, Target. Thanks, Caitlin!
Teenager Tries To Bankrupt Family By Sending $4,756.25 In Text Messages
By 4.9.09
Here’s an idea, don’t use your phone to send 300 texts a day at school. Not only will your parents not get a bill for $4,756.25, you won’t go from As and Bs to Fs and you also won’t get your phone smashed with a hammer.
Meet Jumpsnap, The Ropeless Jump Rope, The Dumbest Infomercial Product Ever
By 4.7.09
This is the Jump Snap. It’s a ropeless jumprope. Because having to jump over an actual rope is too hard. Sometimes a rope might hit stuff. Plus they require coordination. This requires no coordination, or even the ability to jump, as the infomercial tells us. You can just bend your knees. Plus it counts your calories and makes a realistic rope-whipping noise when you swing it! Wooee! Retails for $40 on Amazon, the most expensive jump rope you would ever buy, and it doesn’t even have rope.
