Consumerist

video

Video: Ben Popken Investigates for CNBC's On The Money

By Ben Popken 11.8.08

Here’s the clip from my piece and appearance on CNBC’s On The Money on Friday night. I attended a Robert Allen Institute get rich in real estate seminar, interviewed some attendees, and gave tips on what to watch out for in “money-making opportunity” scams. Here are some red flags to beware:

Promises of fast and easy money
The person who brings you in gets a cut of your profits, and then you get a cut off new people you bring into the system
Requires large upfront fees before you really understand what’s going on

As one interviewee told me, anyone who’s got a killer investing strategy is out there doing it, they’re not giving free seminars about it. Watch the video, inside…

rick sanchez

By cwalters 10.1.08

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In one brain-melting two-minute clip, watch all the media frenzy, punditry, and cable-news excitement of the financial meltdown, courtesy of CNN’s own Rick “The Twitter Board Is Blowing Up!” Sanchez. [YouTube]

jetblue

The Video That Got A Grandmother Escorted Off JetBlue In Handcuffs

By Meg Marco 10.1.08

JetBlue really doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone! Remember Marilyn Parver, the grandmother who was arrested for videotaping a fight between two other passengers, and then refusing to delete it? Well, it seems that after the whole thing had blown over — JetBlue had to go and send the woman a nasty email in which they accused her of being “argumentative, condescending and belligerent” and refusing to obey the instructions of crewmembers. Dumb! Now Parver has released the tape in question and we can’t see anything wrong with what she did. The fight is one of those basic “I’ve been on a plane for a really long time with your out-of-control child and I’m having a nervous breakdown” altercations. Nothing cookies and hugs wouldn’t fix!

airlines

JetBlue Has Grandmother Arrested For Refusing To Delete An Unflattering Video Recording

By Meg Marco 8.14.08

Marilyn Parver is taking her story to the media after JetBlue had her arrested and walked off the plane in handcuffs for refusing to delete a video recording she made of an altercation between passengers. She told Christopher Elliott that JetBlue accused her of interfering with a flight crew (a federal crime) and threatened to blacklist her by adding her name to the dreaded “no-fly list.”

apple

By cwalters 8.12.08

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Here’s an unverified walkthrough of the “I Am Rich” iPhone app. [TUAW]

footage

This Steak & Shake Is A Pigsty

By cwalters 7.21.08

We’ve never been to a Steak & Shake, and Cal’s behind-the-scenes footage of one of their restaurants in Indiana makes us think we’ll be saying that for a long time. In his intro to the footage, he claims they were so understaffed that he was able to walk into the back of the restaurant and take photos, and then return later with a video camera. We wonder if he knew someone who worked there, but that’s not really the point. The point is the shake-making area looks like babies vomited all over it. We can only imagine the horror that begins at night when all the people are gone and the roaches have their nightly dairy & syrup feast.

joss whedon

By cwalters 7.16.08

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If you’re a fan of Joss Whedon (or Nathan Fillion or Neil Patrick Harris or Felicia Day), you can watch Whedon’s new online-only supervillain musical for free until July 20th. [BusinessWeek]

credit cards

Policy: Blockbuster Debits $1 To Test Your Card, Then Charges You For Your Rental

By Meg Marco 5.21.08

For every debit or credit card transaction at Blockbuster, the company will now debit $1 to “test” your card. If the transaction goes through, they’ll then debit the full amount of your purchase. Blockbuster tells us your dollar will be returned in 3-10 business days. Reader Jason says he rented a game on Thursday and hasn’t gotten the dollar Blockbuster borrowed back yet. Will he get it before the 10 days is up?

clips

Waste Your Saturday With 50 Funny Commercial Parodies

By cwalters 5.10.08

Nerve.com has assembled a list of 50 fake commercials for everything from Tylenol BM (you’ll sleep right through your bodily functions!) to the Woomba (it cleans your noony!). There’s even some that don’t involve body parts, like Lily Tomlin’s increasingly agitated housewife hawking “G-r-r-r Detergent” in 1975. Our favorite recent commercial parody that didn’t make the list is probably the Jamie Lee Curtis commercial for Activia, because you can never get enough of women eating yogurt.

flickr

Video Backlash: The Flickr Users Are Revolting

By Meg Marco 4.11.08

Flickr has added the ability to upload 90 second video clips! Cool, right? Apparently not. A group called “We Say NO to Videos On Flickr” has more than 25,000 members and appears to be going strong. These disgruntled users fear that video will cause the site to slow down and attract the dreaded “YouTube crowd.”

ADS

Discover The Fairsley Difference!

By cwalters 2.29.08

This fake ad-battle from “Mr. Show”—a big city supermarket chain squares off against a naïve local grocer—perfectly captures a certain type of aggressive, scorched-earth advertising style usually reserved for political campaigns.

netflix

Netflix Goes Blu-Ray Exclusive

By Meg Marco 2.11.08

Another nail in the coffin of the format war: top DVD rental service Netflix has announced that they will be going Blu-Ray exclusive.

stories

Tell The Best Personal Finance Horror Story To Mint, Have Your Credit Card Balance Paid Off

By cwalters 2.5.08

Do you enjoy confessing embarrassing details? Mint, the personal finance new kid on the Internet block, is offering up to $5,000 (paid directly to your credit card bill) to two people with the most horrifying personal finance disasters. The winners get free financial counseling as well. You can submit text—”sob stories”—up to 1000 words, or a video—”trainwrecks”—up to four minutes or 20 MB, whichever comes first. If you were paid to do any writing over the past year, you’re ineligible (we already checked).

cable

New Service Delivers Video On Demand When You Order The DVD

By cwalters 2.4.08

Cablevision and Popcorn Home Entertainment have announced a new service that lets you watch movies immediately through Cablevision’s set-top box whenever you buy the DVD through their menu system. The DVD is mailed to you, but in the meantime you have the on-demand version for “instant gratification,” reports Reuters.

badvertising

Disturbing Cheese Ads With Luis Guzmán And His Fellow "Cheddar Hunks"

By cwalters 1.15.08

Okay, we’re just going to say it: calling men of a certain age “cheddar hunks” just sounds like they all smell like stinky feet. That’s a table I want to stay far, far away from. Nevertheless, Cabot Cheese of Vermont has launched a new television campaign featuring Guzmán and his Stinky-Feet-Friends sitting around drinking beer and eating cheese. It’s weird. And though we have always liked Cabot Cheese, now it’s going to be hard not to think of middle-aged toes (and werewolves) whenever we go cheddar shopping. Urg.

cost saving

American Airlines Ex-CEO Bob Crandall Shares His Crazy Cost-Saving Strategy

By consumeristcarey 1.12.08

Former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall fired a guard dog at a Caribbean outpost to keep costs down. Just look at the self-satisfied gleam in Crandall’s eye. This is no mere cocktail party story, but a defining act of corporate leadership for his grandkids to cherish.

possible scams

Hollywood Video Signing Customers Up For Magazine Subscriptions Without Permission?

By Meg Marco 12.19.07

We’ve received two letters claiming that Hollywood video is signing their customers up for magazine subscriptions without their consent. The scam sounds similar to the ones that Best Buy is accused of in their on-going racketeering lawsuit.

punishing the ones who don't steal

MLB Rips Off Everyone Who Bought Games Under Their "Old" DRM

By Meg Marco 11.7.07

Major League Baseball, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to deactivate its system for “authenticating” downloads, and they apparently expect people to repurchase the games in a new format. What?

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