The National Funeral Home in Falls Church, Virginia stores unrefrigerated corpses, including some bound for Arlington National Cemetery, in hallways and garages for months on end, according to embalmer-turned-whistleblower Steven Napper. The Funeral Home’s owner, Texas-based Service Corporation International, told Napper that they were unwilling to pay for refrigeration, which would prevent corpses from leaking and growing mold.
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Corporate Lawyer To Corporations: Stop Suing Websites!
By 4.4.09
A well-respected lawyer has a simple message for corporations: stop suing disgruntled customers who start websites to air their grievances. Though William Pecau of Steptoe & Johnson thinks that online gripers are “self-righteous narcissists with time on their hands,” he also realizes that “shutting down a gripe site generally is not easy, often cannot be done, and often is counterproductive.” Pecau goes on to explain exactly why most online gripers are safe from over-hyped takedown notices…
No Deals: Notorious Cabal To Oversee Ritz Camera Liquidations
By 4.4.09
Sorry deal hunters, the liquidation sales starting today at over 300 Ritz Camera locations will be managed by the same cabal of corporate scavengers that oversaw Circuit City’s abysmal liquidation sales.
Allerca, Where's My $4,000 Hypoallergenic Cat?
By 4.4.09
Would you pay $4,000 for a hypoallergenic cat? One reader did and he’s still waiting for his cat, or a refund, from the Allerca corporation. Allerca founder Simon Brodie garnered lots of press a few years ago after he claimed to be able to sell genetically engineered cats that wouldn’t trigger any allergies, a designer pussy called “Ashera.” Our reader isn’t alone, you can find a slew of complaints online from people who say they’ve that they’ve forked over thousands of dollars to Allerca, and never gotten a hypoallergenic cat, or a refund.
Worst Company In America: eBay VS GE
By 4.3.09
An internet auction giant, payment processor and ticket broker? Or the parent company of CNBC, retail store card giant, maker of light bulbs and appliances… No, we don’t mean the Sheinhardt Wig Company…
Worst Company In America: Chase VS Sears
By 4.3.09
A megabank that now includes Washington Mutual? Or a hedge-fundy retail mash-up of Sears & Kmart? Which ruins your day?
Sears Guy Doesn't Fix Your TV, Drives On Your Lawn, Runs Into Things
By 4.3.09
Reader Joel isn’t too happy with the service he got from Sears. He was looking to get an older TV fixed and, rather than make sure that they could fix it, Sears sent a guy to drive on Joel’s lawn.
Consumerist Friday Flickr Pool Finds
By 4.3.09
Here are five wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Got a macro/closeup theme going this week. Check ’em out, vote for your fave!
This Is A Picture Of Comcast's Headquarters In Philadelphia
By 4.3.09
The above picture of the huge video screen in the lobby of Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Comcast as a company.
Newly Bought Clothes Mysteriously Escape Your Luggage And Return Themselves
By 4.3.09
Ah yes, the Philadelphia Airport. You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. A baggage handler has been charged with two counts of theft after a woman noticed that $550 worth of clothes (with the price tags still on) had mysteriously wandered out of her luggage.
The Verizon Website Is Surprisingly Honest About "Upselling" You
By 4.3.09
Reader Beth is impressed with the honesty Verizon displays in the title of the webpage where they try to sell you bundled telecom packages.
3 Last-Minute Tax Tips
By 4.3.09
We’re less than two weeks away from April 15, and while many are basking in the glow of a nice tax refund (though we shouldn’t be letting the government use our money for free, but that’s a different post), others are just starting their tax return preparation for this year. As such, it seemed appropriate to give them some last-minute advice courtesy of three pieces from Yahoo:
Rodent Infestation Forces Target To Close
By 4.3.09
A Target in Pikesville, Maryland “has been closed until further notice because of a rodent problem,” reports WBAL Baltimore. Target officials wouldn’t tell customers why they were closed—our tipster aishel says they told him it was for maintenance, and a person interviewed by WBAL says she was told it was a “water main problem.” Target’s corporate office, however, confirmed there’s a big mouse problem. Update: The store has reopened.
These Martha Stewart/Kmart Lounge Chairs Keep Cutting Off Fingertips
By 4.2.09
Holy $#!@, this lounge chair will eat your fingers! Fox5 New York has a video report on dangerously unsafe lounge chairs sold at Kmart under the Martha Stewart brand. Naturally (we’re not making this up), the chairs are designed to complement the Martha Stewart Spontaneously Shattering Glass Patio Tables also sold at Kmart.
Worst Company In America: United Airlines VS GM
By 4.2.09
A fee riddled airline with expensive snacks? Or a quickly unraveling, government-supported car company? You make the call.
Customer Sues Sears Over Bogus Black Friday Deal… And Wins
By 4.2.09
Once upon a time, way back in November, a St. Louis MBA student named Cheri was the one of the first inside her local Sears store on Black Friday morning. She rushed to get the best deal they were offering — a washer and dryer for $599. To her dismay, she found out that the heavily advertised deal was not available — customers were being asked to pay now and get the washer and dryer in 30 days. Even with this disappointment, the deal was too good to pass up, so she agreed. Months later there was no sign of her washer and dryer, so she took Sears to court. And won.
