When you hear the word “Vermont,” perhaps images of snowy peaks, crackling, cozy fires and maple syrup spring to mind. It’s a winter wonderland! Everything from there smells of snow and touch of roasting marshmallows! But just because you want people to associate your product with the wintry northern state doesn’t mean you can just slap a “Made In Vermont” Label on it and call it a day. [More]
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Don’t Pay $100 Or More For A Certified Copy Of Your Deed: That’s Not A Thing
By 5.21.13
Are you a property owner? If someone sends you a solicitation or a bill asking for money in exchange for a copy of your deed, throw it away. That isn’t a thing. [More]
Vermont Store Does Away With Pennies
By 9.14.12
Earlier this year, our upstairs neighbors in Canada decided to stop minting one cent pieces. Now that anti-penny sentiment has seeped across the border to the town of Morrisville, VT, where one sporting goods store has decided to just say no to copper coins. [More]
How Far Would You Drive To Return A Redbox DVD?
By 7.10.12
Joe lives in a pretty rural part of Vermont. Rural living has many advantages, but one disadvantage that you may not have thought of: low density of Redbox kiosks. Which is fine. You only need one, after all. Unless you’re Joe, and that one kiosk in your town has broken down. Your movie is due, and the nearest working box is fifteen miles away and in a different state entirely. We’ve discussed the customer’s responsibility when it comes to broken-down Redboxes before, but how far does that responsibility extend? Driving an extra thirty miles to avoid a $1.50 daily charge on a DVD might seem like a false economy, but maybe that depends on your schedule or on your gas mileage. [More]
Deli Imposes $3 ‘Yapping On Phone While Ordering’ Surcharge
By 6.28.12 — Updated: 5.15.13
We don’t have a “Consumerist Hero Citation,” but if we did, it would go to the person at this Vermont deli who had the idea to impose a $3 fine for yapping on one’s cell phone while trying to order at the counter. “$3 will be added to your total if you fail to GET OFF YOUR PHONE while at the counter. IT’S RUDE,” the sign reads. [More]
Man Sentenced To Two Years Of Probation For Selling Fake Vermont Maple Syrup
By 6.13.12
As we’ve written before, the people of Vermont take their maple syrup very seriously. Just ask the Rhode Island man who has been sentenced to two years of probation for selling plain old cane sugar syrup as authentic stuff from the Green Mountain State. [More]
Vermont Lawmakers Vote For Constitutional Amendment To Declare That Corporations Are Not People
By 4.19.12
In January 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee that it was unconstitutional to limit political campaign spending by corporations, thus helping to usher in the current era of the “super PAC.” Today, Vermont’s state legislature became the latest to call for an amendment to the Constitution that would overturn the controversial court ruling and declare that “money is not speech and corporations are not persons under the U.S. Constitution.” [More]
Metal Theft Follows In Irene's Wake
By 10.4.11
As Tropical Storm Irene has receded, thieves have followed in its wake, and they’re hungry for metal. Several Vermont towns have been hit by metal thieves seeking to take advantage of the disarray as people try to clean up and get their lives back together. [More]
Vermonters To Get Actual Maple Syrup On Their McDonald's Oatmeal
By 1.24.11
A couple weeks back we wrote about the state of Vermont’s allegations that McDonald’s Fruit and Maple Oatmeal violates state law for lacking actual maple syrup. Now the fast food chain and the Green Mountain State have reached an accord that will give the folks of Vermont the option of getting the real-deal syrup if they so desire. [More]
Vermont Has Problem With Lack Of Maple In McDonald's Maple Oatmeal
By 1.12.11
Many of us are fully aware that a lot of food products that say “maple” rarely contain even a drop of real maple syrup. Such is the case with McDonald’s new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal. But the people of Vermont take their maple seriously and they’re demanding that McDonald’s make changes to the product or its labeling. [More]
Man Settles With Burger King Over Used Condom In Whopper
By 10.15.10
Old school Consumerist readers may remember the 2007 story of the Vermont man who sued Burger King after claiming he found a used condom in his Whopper. Three years later, a lawyer for the man has announced that the matter has been settled out of court. [More]
By 6.11.09
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Vermont Gets Tough On Doctor/Pharma Relationships The new law “bans drug companies-and manufacturers of medical devices and biological products, such as vaccines-from paying for gifts, including meals and travel, to physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacists, and health plan administrators. Any allowable payments drug companies make to doctors, such as those for legitimate educational purposes, will be posted in a database on a public website maintained by the Vermont Attorney General.” [Consumer Reports Health]
Big Pharma Goes Before Supreme Court To Get State Lawsuits Banned
By 10.7.08
“Pre-emption” is a legal doctrine that says the federal government can claim all regulatory power over an area or subject, barring states from acting on their own. The drug maker Wyeth has brought a case before the Supreme Court arguing that a woman in Vermont, who lost her arm due to a drug complication that Wyeth knew about but did not publicize, cannot sue them in state court because of pre-emption. Wyeth says that only the FDA has the power to regulate it—and since the FDA approved Wyeth’s drug label, it’s the FDA’s responsibility. We think Wyeth is pretending to care about federal-versus-state power in an attempt to weasel out of any responsibility.
EECB Gets Credit Union To Pay Up $125
By 9.17.08
Rick has been trying for months to get his his credit union, Opportunities Credit Union of Vermont, to pay up for a $125 home inspection, and now, a week after sending his EECB, he prevailed. As we wrote last week, his credit union was supposed to pay for a home inspection but said they didn’t have to because the bill was never sent. However, the home inspector uses an electronic billing system and it showed that the credit union rep had in fact read the sent bill. Emails and phone calls between Rick and his credit union rep led to a stalemate. Then Jim sent off an executive email carpet bomb and got the following back from the credit union president:
Attention Shoppers: Please Report For Jury Duty
By 1.13.08
A Vermont judge sent his sheriff to the mall to round up a jury that could fairly try a child molester.
They stopped passers-by and asked if they were residents of Caledonia County; a “yes” answer won a summons to appear at the courthouse for jury duty immediately, right now, this minute. They rounded up 45 people that way in all, to join the 34 already at the courthouse.
Man Finds Used Condom In Southwestern Whopper, Sues Burger King
By 12.9.07
Van Miguel Hartless is suing the owner of a Rutland Burger King after biting into a Southwestern Whopper that contained a used condom. When Hartless complained to the manager, he “laughed off the incident.”
Indoor Playground Takes Wrong Tack When Child Steps On Pushpin
By 12.28.06
Brady’s 14-month-old son stepped on a push pin at an indoor playground store at a local mall.
