A free dashboard dongle and a windshield scraper tossed in the back? That’s a pretty good score when buying a used car. Even bigger, and perhaps less ah, desirable? A free boa constrictor hanging out in the trunk. [More]
surprises
![Antique Piggy Bank From eBay Stuffed With $133 In Cash](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/thatlldopig.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Antique Piggy Bank From eBay Stuffed With $133 In Cash
Shawn bought this antique piggy bank on eBay for $13.50. Adorable, isn’t it? What was even more adorable was what he found when he pulled out the original cork: $133 in cash. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. [More]
![Sprint Customer Finds Naked Pictures On Her Repaired Cellphone](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/091310-005-omg-i-saw-balls.jpg?w=300&h=207&crop=1)
Sprint Customer Finds Naked Pictures On Her Repaired Cellphone
A woman in Colorado had her eyes burned out by images of “nude women and male genitals” on her cellphone’s new(ish) memory card, reports KRDO.com. She says the Sprint employees who worked on her phone must have known it was there, since they’re the ones who swapped in the new card. She’s pretty upset: “If [young family members] had seen those pictures, it could have ruined them for life.” [More]
![Phones Loaded With Porn Rarely Go To People Who Appreciate
Them](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/present1.jpg?w=158&h=103&crop=1)
Phones Loaded With Porn Rarely Go To People Who Appreciate Them
As if parents didn’t have enough of a reason to hesitate to give their 10-year-olds cell phones, now they have to worry that the devices will be loaded with images that are quite a bit more graphic than what kids will see in elementary school sex-ed videos. [More]
![Why Did Walmart Add A $3 Warranty To This DVD Purchase Without Asking?](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/picture-51.jpg?w=165&h=166&crop=1)
Why Did Walmart Add A $3 Warranty To This DVD Purchase Without Asking?
Would you buy an extended warranty for a DVD? We can’t imagine that most people would…and if they did, it would last longer than a year. John, however, sent in this receipt from a Texas Walmart store. He writes that the store tried to sneak a $3 “protection” plan along with his ex’s purchase of a $15 DVD. And not just any old warranty: it’s an extended warranty that, as far as we can determine, Walmart doesn’t even sell for DVDs. [More]
![Fidelity Sent Me Someone Else's $300,000 Retirement Savings](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/052410-003-401k-check.jpg?w=286&h=189&crop=1)
Fidelity Sent Me Someone Else's $300,000 Retirement Savings
Douglas received an unexpected delivery from UPS last week: a check from Fidelity Investments made out to Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Company for over $300,000, along with a bunch of 401(k) rollover paperwork that included the real account holder’s address, date of birth, SSN, and phone number. [More]
![Art Institute Of Pittsburgh Sees Our Post, Fixes Student's Billing Issue](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/041910-002-ai-of-pittsburgh.jpg?w=225&h=138&crop=1)
Art Institute Of Pittsburgh Sees Our Post, Fixes Student's Billing Issue
Last month, Daniel wrote in to complain that the Art Institute Online, which is part of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, had completely jacked up his final semester with them. When he wrote to us, he had no diploma, and he was being charged nearly $3,000 for undisclosed course requirements that the school had promised to comp. Fortunately, he’s written back with some good news. [More]
![Man's Water Bill Jumps From 4,000 To 23,000 Gallons Per Month](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/geysersplash.jpg?w=165&h=206&crop=1)
Man's Water Bill Jumps From 4,000 To 23,000 Gallons Per Month
Reader Jim just got a water bill that says his usage has jumped up to 19,000 23,000 gallons per month from his usual 4,000. This is a guy who lives in a one-bath, one-toilet, one-sink house. “Must be that swimming pool I filled in the middle of winter in Western PA,” he says. So far, the utility has dismissed all his requests for explanation, or logic, and demanded he pay up immediately. [More]
![Woman's Water Bill Jumps From $80 To $1,600](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/022210-006-wtf-surprise.jpg?w=300&h=207&crop=1)
Woman's Water Bill Jumps From $80 To $1,600
Erica Kocur in Minneapolis received her water bill from the city, and it’s for $1,600, about 20 times what she normally pays. The city says it’s accurate, but KSTP-TV says that she would have had to use almost 200,000 gallons of water in one month to generate that figure. [More]
![Did You Make Calls From Haiti On Verizon? Better Start Saving.](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/021910-003-verizon.jpg?w=300&h=200&crop=1)
Did You Make Calls From Haiti On Verizon? Better Start Saving.
Update: Verizon won’t charge the soldiers for the calls in question.
In the weeks immediately following the Haiti earthquake, Verizon and AT&T offered free calls to Haiti as a goodwill gesture to people in the U.S. with family and friends over there. The offers weren’t identical, though, and Verizon was only offering free calls made to Haiti, not the reverse. Spc. James Crawford kept calling his pregnant wife each day from his station in Port-au-Prince, and now they have a phone bill for $1,919.44.
![Mysterious JetBlue Creature Offers Free Tix To Passengers](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/020110-jetblue-quizmaster-2.jpg?w=300&h=197&crop=1)
Mysterious JetBlue Creature Offers Free Tix To Passengers
If you wish hard enough on your next JetBlue trip, maybe the airline’s People Officer will magically appear and hand out free tickets. That’s what happened on David’s flight home over the weekend. To be fair, the free ticket giveaway probably happened because JetBlue asked everyone to show up two hours early due to a computer glitch. It’s still a much nicer airline story than what passengers usually send us. Also, this People Officer hinted to the OP about the airline’s future Wi-Fi plans. [More]
![Man Pays $72 For Taco Bell Taco](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/121809-004-tacobell.jpg?w=240&h=183&crop=1)
Man Pays $72 For Taco Bell Taco
A man who either loves Taco Bell or hates his GI tract paid $72 for a taco at an Ohio Taco Bell on Monday. When the employee tried to give him his change, he refused and said that it was a Christmas gift, according to the local Fox news station: “He said, ‘I don’t need it so I want to pass it along.’ …the man then said ‘Merry Christmas’ and walked away.” Presumably to a toilet. <--That wasn't very Christmas-y and I retract it. [More]
![It's Hard To Do Your Christmas Shopping Online When The Items Arrive In Their Retail Boxes](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/121609-005-bluray-shipped.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
It's Hard To Do Your Christmas Shopping Online When The Items Arrive In Their Retail Boxes
Newegg wants everyone who lives near our reader Deaf Mute to know that he just bought a Sony Blu-ray player. It arrived from their warehouse last week in its bright blue retail packaging, with a shipping label slapped on it. “If I lived in a worse neighborhood and/or my father didn’t see it,” he writes, “Someone could have stolen it. Not only that, but the gift recipient may have had their gift spoiled.” [More]
![Southwest Flight Forced To Land After In-Flight Entertainment Turns Out To Be A Live Birth](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/120409-005-baby-on-a-plane.jpg?w=165&h=164&crop=1)
Southwest Flight Forced To Land After In-Flight Entertainment Turns Out To Be A Live Birth
A Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City was forced to land in Denver this morning, after a passenger on the flight surprised everyone by producing a baby in mid-air. [More]
![Help, There Are Bugs In My Kitty Litter!](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/072709-006-oh-hai.png?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
Help, There Are Bugs In My Kitty Litter!
Dawn is freaked out because when she got up this morning, she found bugs in her cat’s litter box. She called the company that makes the litter to ask them what to do, and they offered coupons but no real explanation. “Maybe some of your readers have had the same experience and could help me figure out what to do,” she writes. “Thanks!”