Even though Consumerist covers the lawmakers and regulators in Washington, D.C., it’s been several years since we’ve actually had anyone based in our nation’s capital. Hopefully that will soon change, as we’re hoping to find a contributor who can cover the federal beat. [More]
washington d.c.
In D.C., This Pepsi Machine Dispensed Malt Liquor
By 2.28.13
Imagine a wonderful, magical world where you could walk up to a soda machine and buy a bottle of malt liquor. That paradise on earth (for the underage) briefly existed in the Trinidad neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Since the booze cost $3, more than at nearby retail outlets, its customer base were all either underage or had exceptionally poor math skills. [More]
Comcast Decides Maybe It Shouldn’t Have Put Those Ugly Metal Boxes In Historic Neighborhood
By 12.6.12
About a month ago, we told you about the uproar over the gray-green, refrigerator-size boxes Comcast apparently time-warped straight from 1953 to the sidewalks of D.C.’s historic Georgetown section. But things are calming down now that Comcast has decided to move that hardware underground. [More]
DC Driver's "NO TAGS" Vanity Plate Leads To $20,000 In Tickets
By 2.17.12
Usually when someone regrets getting a vanity plate it’s because they picked a stupid pun or dated pop culture reference. But one driver’s attempt at license plate levity has him regretting his decision to the tune of $20,000 in parking tickets that aren’t even his. [More]
DC Bus Driver Caught On Video Tossing Passenger Onto Street
By 9.7.11
A bus driver for Washington, D.C.’s Metro service could be in some hot water with his superiors after he was caught on video forcibly removing a passenger from his bus over the weekend. [More]
Restaurant Requires You To Sign Contract Forbidding Use Of Phones & Cameras
By 8.15.11
The biggest hassle of dining at a buzzed-about restaurant is usually just trying to score a reservation. But one eatery in Washington, D.C., is going the extra step and requiring diners to fill out and sign a two-page contract that covers everything from its cancellation policy to cell phone use. [More]
Watch This Malfunctioning Escalator Fling Its Passengers
By 3.1.11
For me, malfunctioning escalators are the stuff of nightmares. I still secretly fear that up escalators are going to eat me. So this people-flinging Metro station escalator from the day of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” last year has given me a whole new category of escalator malfunctions to fear. [More]
Priceline Restores Insanity, Moves Hotel Reservation To Different City
By 11.4.10
Priceline has a very different understanding of what a “hotel reservation” is than Shane does. He and his wife and children planned to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington, D.C. to attend this past weekend’s Rally To Restore Sanity And/or Fear put on by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They reserved a hotel room in a close suburb, near a Metro station, correctly assuming that traffic would make driving into the city a bad idea. [More]
Woman And Her 30,000 Lbs Of Stuff Get Evicted
By 9.24.10
30,000 pounds of belongings stretched up and down the DC sidewalk. They all belonged to one woman who was evicted after she couldn’t make rent. [More]
Scram! DC Shops Install Device That Emits Annoying Sound Only Kids Can Hear
By 9.1.10
A DC shop on one of the busiest retail strips has installed a “Mosquito” device in order to drive away teenagers who often loiter and fight there. The unit emits an annoying beeep beeep beeep at 17.5 kilohertz, which is at the upper range of audibility for 13-25 year olds. The business owners like it, but one passerby remarked, “It’s classism and ageism. And it’s sad.” [More]
DC Airports Get Super Cute Pet Bathrooms
By 7.13.10
DC’s Dulles and Reagan airports have just opened new “pet relief areas” for your pooch’s pooping pleasure prior to plane-boarding. [More]
Like Pizza? Maybe You Should Work For The TSA
By 7.13.10
One would think that in these tough economic times, placing a help-wanted ad in the paper or online would be sufficient for netting employers a pile of resumes. But the Transportation Safety Administration has decided to target a very specific demographic in the Washington, D.C., area — pizza eaters. [More]
Ben Popken On WJLA Warning About Robocall Scammers
By 6.10.10
UPDATE: Here’s the video. If you live in the DC area, tune into ABC 7 tonight at 5:45 pm to see a Consumer Alert I shot with local reporter Kris Van Cleave. Apparently, this morning like six of their reporters all got scam robocalls on their cellphones with a recording saying their ATM card had been deactivated and they needed to call the bank back. Hello, scam! [More]
Hire A Hipster Housecleaner On Craigslist
By 3.5.10
Phil is a hipster and will totally clean your house and make it sweet. ” You can rest easy with the fact that a sweet dude in skinny jeans is totally taking out the garbage and cleaning your toilet,” says his rad Craigslist ad. [More]
Utility Claims 99-Year-Old Used 139,876 Gallons Of Water In 1 Month
By 6.20.09
Meet 99-year-old Jeanette Cohen, a Washington resident who either lives in her shower or is the recipient of the more bizarre bills spat out by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. Cohen normally pays $30 to use about 3,000 gallons per month, but the utility insists that she used 139,876 gallons of water last month and now owes almost $1,200.
Hampton Inn Bans Customer For Parking In Their Garage
By 1.11.09
Hampton Inn general manager Jennifer Stahler banned reader Jack from staying at her Inn again because he dared to park his car in the Inn’s garage. Jack wasn’t sure he could park there in the first place, even though there weren’t any signs warning “private” or “employees only,” so after parking, he checked in with Jennifer who told him he was fine and even wrote him a parking slip. The next morning she changed her mind and demanded $38 in valet charges. When Jack reminded her that she never mentioned any fees and had given him a parking slip, she agreed to remove the charges but then explained that he was “no longer welcome to stay.”
Better To Be Alone Than Shell Out For Shady Singles Club
By 1.6.09
Reader Brandon heard the “Events and Adventures” club for singles ad on the radio and decided to check ’em out. What did he find? They wouldn’t tell him their fee upfront and online, he found stories that might hint at why, tales of exorbitant upfront fees, worthless service, and instead of letting you cancel, they send you to collections…
So What's Replacing Boarded-Up Payday Lenders? Credit Unions!
By 7.27.08
Consumers in Washington D.C. have apparently flocked to credit unions since the district outlawed payday lending last year. Payday lenders whined that lending without 300% APRs was utterly unaffordable, but credit unions are proving that it’s possible to make long-term, low-dollar loans with interest rates as low as 16%.
