There are delivery drivers who throw packages over gates or chuck from the window into someone’s yard. But there are also apparently drivers who place a package in just the right spot… to trap you in your apartment. [More]
trapped
Man Trapped Behind Bank ATM Passes Notes To Customers Pleading For Help
By 7.13.17
What would you do if you were withdrawing cash from the ATM outside your bank, and received a note pleading for help along with the receipt? That scenario played out in Texas this week as a man sent to change a lock behind a Bank of America ATM instead locked himself inside without his phone, and had to plead for help from what we’re guessing were some very confused bank customers. [More]
Family Spends Evening Trapped Inside Car Dealership, Escapes Using Electric Saw
By 7.20.15
A family in Massachusetts recently had what was arguably one of their most exciting Friday nights out as a family, when they managed to get themselves locked inside the Chevy dealership where they were car-shopping. The employees had locked up for the night, apparently not noticing the family there. They called for help and none arrived, so they borrowed a saw and cut through the lock. [More]
SeaWorld Ride Takes Passengers Prisoner Hundreds Of Feet In The Air For Three Hours
By 6.30.14
As if SeaWorld didn’t have enough issues, a fun day at the park turned into an anxiety filled nightmare for nearly 50 people who were stuck more than 200 feet in the air for hours when the ride they were on Sunday lost power. [More]
Got An Old Cedar Chest? Make Sure No One Can Get Locked Inside
By 3.6.14
Cedar chests are a common heirloom furniture item – maybe you inherited one from a relative, received one as a gift, or picked up one at a thrift store or estate sale. They might be the perfect place to store your winter clothes during the off-season, but chests from Lane or Virginia Maid before 1987 have a flaw: they latch automatically when the lid is closed. [More]
Everyone Sees Themselves In This Rage-Filled Customer Service Meltdown Video
By 9.12.13
Sometimes a picture, story, or video posted online seems so over-the-top that we think that it can’t possibly be real. It has to be a viral marketing ploy, a prank, or somehow involve Jimmy Kimmel. Listening to this recording that purports to be a real customer service call to a home security company, we desperately wanted it to be a hoax…but the court of Internet public opinion has ruled that it probably isn’t. [More]
Report: Banks Make It Really Difficult To Take Your Business Elsewhere
By 5.30.12
Outrage over fees assessed by banks on checking accounts and other unfair practices has led to consumers attempting to leave their institutions in droves. But as a new report by Consumers Union points out, banks throw up a myriad of obstacles that can confuse consumers who are trying to switch banks. [More]
American Airlines, Jet Blue, Delta Seek To Delay Tarmac Imprisonment Rule
By 3.17.10
You know that new rule that says airlines have to let passengers off the plane if it’s stuck on the tarmac for more than 3 hours? It’s supposed to go into effect in April, but at least three airlines are hoping to delay it because they say runway repairs at JFK Airport will interfere with schedules. [More]
Ban On Long Tarmac Delays Close To Being Passed
By 9.23.09
If Senator Barbara Boxer has her way, the Senate’s Federal Aviation Administration Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act will soon require airlines to “deplane passengers after three hours and would require [the airlines] to provide basic services such as food and water while they are waiting on planes.” The requirement is in the current version of the bill, and Boxer and another Democrat, Senator Amy Klobuchar, have threatened to filibuster it if the language is removed.
Bank Piles On Overdraft Fees Due To Merchant Error, Doesn't Seem Too Keen On Refunding Them
By 9.10.09
Here’s a story from a reader about a bad bank practice that we hear about too frequently—a bank cascades hundreds of dollars worth of overdraft fees on an error that’s beyond the customer’s control, but then is unresponsive or uncooperative on refunding those fees.
U-Haul Traps Another Customer, This Time In Stairwell
By 9.3.09
Remember the U-Haul customer who was locked in at a self-storage unit in Wisconsin? Something similar, but possibly more dangerous, happened over the weekend at an indoor U-Haul facility in Philadelphia.
U-Haul’s New "U-Prison" Proves Unpopular With Customers
By 8.17.09 — Updated: 12.1.14
U-Haul apparently knows about Ryder’s initiative to outdo it on suckage, so they’ve introduced a whole new class of customer abuse: false imprisonment. Best of all, the employee who was sent to let Jessica and her friend out of U-Haul Prison told them that if they hadn’t wanted to get locked in after 5pm, they should have paid for 24 hour access. (They were taking advantage of a complimentary offer from the company.)
Ride For Free On Jet Blue (If You Can Get Yourself "Trapped" In The Cargo Hold)
By 4.2.09
A Jet Blue employee hitched a free flight from JFK Airport in NYC to Logan Airport in Boston this past weekend, after getting trapped in the cargo hold before takeoff. Police aren’t charging him with a crime, but they told the Boston Globe that, “Even after talking to him, we were a little uncertain as to how it happened.” He apparently called the company from the cargo hold once the plane was in the air—which is exactly what we would do to deflect suspicion in a scheme like this. Tokyo, here we come via new part-time job as a baggage handler!
Help! Family Buying Appliances Were Locked Inside Sears
By 11.26.08
A family shopping for appliances were locked inside a Sears store in Maplewood, MN, says the local Fox affiliate. Anthony (who was scheduled to have hip surgery the next day), his wife Kathy and her sister Crystal were just about to buy a stove, a fridge and a dishwasher when they heard an announcement that the store was about to close. They asked an employee if they should just come back another day. He said no.
Trapped Miners Remain Sane By Listening To iPods
By 5.5.06
Claustrophobically interred miles deep within the chthonic bowels of the earth? Surrounded by nothing but the palpable darkness, the corpse of a buddy and an omnivorous silence threatening to swallow you forever that is only held at bay by the sound of your own hysterical breathing? Well, you may have been unlucky enough to be caught in a mine cave-in, and the rescuers may very well be powerless to reach you in time. But at least they’ve sent some iPods down the shaft so you can while away your last few hours listening to the Cardigans.
