Although they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, patrons of one Pennsylvania Applebee’s would beg to differ, thanks to the generosity of a mystery couple that’s been paying the tab for strangers at least a few times a month. [More]
warm fuzzies
Pizza Hut Workers Use Kayaks To Deliver Food To Hurricane Harvey Victims
By 8.31.17
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, flood waters have wreaked havoc on much of southeastern Texas. So when a Pizza Hut manager heard there were families trapped in their homes without food, she decided that if she couldn’t get to them by land, she’d send pizza over the water — by kayak. [More]
Amazon Makes Boy’s Dream Come True With Visit To Phoenix Distribution Center
By 1.27.17
Though we may be used to the idea of summoning any product you want from anywhere around the world with the click of a button, the process that goes into making such a feat possible is a lot more complicated. And for an eight-year-old boy who spent a lot of time, while fighting cancer, thinking about how Amazon makes it all work, seeing that system up close and personal on a recent trip was a dream come true. [More]
Best Buy Workers Give Wii U To Teen Who Visited Nearly Every Day To Play Video Games
By 12.12.16
’Tis the season when we’re happy to hear stories of big-hearted folks out there among all the Grinches, people who take it upon themselves to make a stranger’s holiday merry and bright. Like the Best Buy employees in New York who bought a Wii U for a teenager who visited almost every day to play Smash Bros. at the store. [More]
Zappos Customer Service Rep Turns Wrong Order Into Welcome Surprise For S.C. Flood Victims
By 1.20.16
There’s nothing like a story with a happy ending to warm you up on a cold day… although, a fleece blanket might do the trick, too: a Zappos customer in South Carolina found a welcome, cozy surprise when a wrong order had to be returned, after she shared the troubles many in her community were facing amidst the recent flooding. [More]
Store Owner Giving Away Hundreds Of Pairs Of New Shoes To Any And All School Kids In Town
By 9.9.14
On the one hand, hundreds of pairs of brand new shoes could fetch a pretty penny for the seller. But on the other hand, as one New Jersey store owner figured, there are kids out there who could use some free footwear. [More]
Waitress Nets $1,000 Tip, Tickets To Hawaii, A New Car & Her Dream Job In Best Prank Ever
By 4.1.14
We know, we know — you’re feeling weary of all things April Fool’s Day/prankish. But bear with this one, because it’ll probably make your insides feel warm and glowy, whether through jealousy or because a deserving waitress just got a crapload of awesome tips during her shift as part of a delightful prank. [More]
Police Credit Target Worker’s Keen Eye For Odd Behavior For Cracking Kidnapping Case
By 1.8.14
A Target employee in California is really taking her loss prevention specialist title seriously: Police say she helped crack a recent kidnapping case wide open when she noticed a customer acting a bit off in her store. The worker took down the man’s license plate number and ultimately, helped return a little girl to her family. [More]
Coffee Shop Workers Start A Food Drive For Man Who Stole From Their Tip Jar
By 12.6.13
A pretty common reaction to someone stealing your tips that you’ve worked hard to earn might be, “Grr, that person stinks and I do not like him. Call the authorities!” But instead, workers at a coffee shop near Cleveland started a food drive after a man was caught on camera pilfering from their tip jar. [More]
Mugger Finds Victim On Facebook 35 Years After Stealing His Bus Pass, Apologizes
By 12.2.13
The world can feel so tiny sometimes, especially now that social media’s tentacles are thoroughly suctioned on to every aspect of life. That shrinking universe is what led a former mugger to his victim of 35 years ago, when he stole a guy’s bus pass as part of a gang initiation. Facebook reunited them recently in an altogether heartwarming way. [More]
City Turns Out To Decorate For Christmas Early So Boy With Cancer Can Enjoy The Holiday
By 10.29.13
Usually here at Consumerist HQ we’re totally anti-Christmas Creep — we rant and rave about Halloween and Thanksgiving getting ignored just so stores can break out the holly as early as possible. But when it’s an entire town turning out to decorate to make sure that a 13-year-old boy with cancer gets to celebrate the holiday, well, that’s an entirely different matter. [More]
Atlanta Couple Invites 200 Homeless People To Dinner After Daughter Calls Off Her Wedding
By 9.23.13 — Updated: 9.24.13
As the ancient Sumerian saying goes: Waste not, want not. And it was the waste of a four-course dinner for 200 guests that one couple decided against, after their daughter called off her wedding 40 days before the scheduled nuptials. Instead of simply canceling the event, the parents still held it — inviting 200 of Atlanta’s homeless to a dinner reception. [More]
Fundraising Campaign For Homeless Man Who Returned Backpack Full Of Money Hits $103K
By 9.19.13
There are surely plenty of Good Samaritans out there we never have the pleasure of hearing about, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting to know that one do-gooder is now the recipient of simple human kindness and generosity: After a homeless man made headlines this week by turning in a backpack he found with $41,900 worth of cash and travelers checks in it, the online community has rallied to his cause and raised a tidy chunk of money as his reward. [More]
Cleaners Track Down Former Homeowner To Return Long-Lost Jewelry Worth Thousands
By 9.16.13
What was lost can sometimes never be found again, as belongings have a habit of tumbling into the fiery chasm from whence they came. Or you know, they just go missing. One woman who thought her collection of jewelry worth thousands of dollars would never return three years after she’d lost it. But she didn’t realize there was a team of honest cleaners out there. [More]
Plane Turns Around To Pick Up 11-Year-Old Cancer Patient On Her Way To Camp
By 8.15.13
For all the times you’ve rushed over to make a connecting flight, only to see the plane pulling away from the gate with no chance of you magically being on it, there’s this story, which is enough to make even the most cynical traveler feel a bit better about our fellow humans: A flight heading from Tel Aviv to New York City actually turned back to its gate to pick up an 11-year-old cancer patient. [More]
My Late Mother’s Broken Kindle Leaves Me Brokenhearted, Amazon Goes Above & Beyond
By 5.21.13
Consumerist reader K. had one very important reminder of her late mother — her mom’s beloved Kindle. She says her mom treated it like a sensitive piece of electronic equipment, and really loved it. Every night when K. went to bed, she would read a book on the device and says it always made her smile and think of her mother. But when that Kindle broke, it seemed those sentimental moments would be over for good. [More]
