Large companies routinely rely on private audits to prove that their food is safe even though private auditors are dangerously incompetent, according to a New York Times investigation. The private auditor who inspected the Peanut Corporation of America plant responsible for unleashing the massive salmonella contamination was trained to audit bakeries and repeatedly gave the plant a “SUPERIOR” rating, partly because he “never thought that [salmonella] would survive in the peanut butter type environment.”
whoops
PayPal Charges $81,400,836,908 For $26 Tank Of Gas
By 2.28.09
Juan Zamora fed his 1994 Chevy Camaro $26 worth of gas, a transaction for which PayPal charged his debit card $81,400,836,908. Unsurprisingly, PayPal saw nothing wrong with the charge and demanded that Juan prove that he didn’t actually buy $81.4 billion worth of gas.
No, You Should Not Launch An E.E.C.B. Against Your Own Employer
By 2.28.09
Do not launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb against your own company or it will explode in your face. Reader E discovered this the hard way when he tried to use an E.E.C.B. to convince the bank where he worked to reverse $300 worth of overdraft fees.
Citibank Sends Nigerian Scammer $27 Million
By 2.22.09
37-year-old Nigerian scammer Paul Gabriel Amos convinced Citibank officials to wire him $27 million belonging to Ethiopia. Rather than go with the usual Nigerian nom de plumes like prince or will executor, Famous Amos pretended to be an official with the National Bank of Ethiopia. Amos forged “official-looking” documents that confirmed his status with the central bank and instructed Citibank to await faxes telling them where to send the country’s cash.
By 12.3.08
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Harvard University’s endowment, the largest of any university, has lost 22% of its value in the past year — or approximately $8 billion. Ouch. [MarketWatch]
US Airways Loses Your 83-Year-Old Mother
By 11.19.08
It’s bad enough when they lose your luggage, but what do you do when the airline loses your 83-year-old mother? File a claim? Poor Vera Kuemmel had to answer this very question as she waited in vain at the baggage claim of the Tampa airport.
JetBlue Addresses Your Email To "Dear Mr. Soandso"
By 11.6.08
JetBlue can be so cute sometimes. Apparently, they recently sent out and email addressed to Mr. Soandso explaining how much they missed all the Mr. Soandsos who had not flown with them in a year.
Tales Of Consumer Reports Employees Injuring Themselves With Products
By 11.5.08
Nobody is perfect, it seems, not even the folks at safety-conscious Consumer Reports. They’ve put together a group of stories from employees who managed to injure themselves with various products.
Best Buy: We're Sorry We Accidentally Said You Were An "Elite" Customer
By 9.4.08
Not that it’s any big surprise, but Best Buy has now gotten around to taking back that “elite” status that they accidentally gave all of their Rewards Zone members yesterday. We knew that 45 day return policy was too good to be true… Best Buy’s “whoops” email inside:
Disney Decides To Stop Selling "Dive In" Panties For Young Girls
By 8.18.08
Gee, someone wasn’t thinking too clearly when they were designing High School Musical 2 themed panties for Disney. Sold in the UK, one pair of panties in a package of 5 read “Dive In” — a reference to a scene from the popular musical.
Kum' N Go Accidentally Gives You Diesel, Makes Your Gasoline Car Sad
By 7.24.08
Reader James said that a trucker dumped diesel fuel in the wrong tank at a distribution center, and this caused a bit of a problem because (as you might imagine) gasoline cars won’t run on diesel. The gas station in question, Kum ‘N Go, is compensating James for his mechanic’s bills, but he wanted to let other drivers know what to do if this happens to them.
By 6.16.08
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Helpful safety tip from New Zealand: Don’t use an empty mulled wine container to store caustic dishwashing liquid, because the bar tender might serve it to a customer, then drink it herself. [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Morgan!)
How Do The Detroit Lions Feel About Season Ticket Holders? "F— 'Em"
By 5.19.08
Kevin Furlong is a season ticket holder with the Detroit Lions. As masochistic as that sounds, it seems that Kevin didn’t appreciate an email that the Lions inadvertently sent him concerning a problem with his tickets. The email read: “Lance…he is not talking about you here. Mark was asked to speak to these people and he said no. F… ’em until next year.”
IRS Sends 15,000 Stimulus Checks To The Wrong Bank Accounts
By 5.17.08
That economic stimulus check you were expecting may have accidentally stimulated your neighbor’s bank account. Newsday is reporting that 15,000 checks tumbled astray thanks to an IRS “computer programming glitch.”
Disney Upset About Risque Hannah Montana Pics, Underaged Girls On Their Billboards In China
By 5.1.08
So Disney is all upset over some slightly saucy photographs of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, but it seems in their haste to toss out accusations (Disney spokeswoman Patti McTeague told the New York Times that “a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines”), the company neglected to consider the appropriateness of using obviously under-aged girls on their underwear billboards in China.
Aer Lingus Accidentally Sells Transatlantic Flights For 5 Euros Each
By 4.18.08
Aer Lingus is apologizing to some 100 customers to whom it accidentally sold transatlantic tickets for a measly 5 Euros.
Man Ejected From Flight Because He Wouldn't Sit Down And Stop Praying
By 4.18.08
Praying is nice but you should try not to disrupt the entire flight with your holiness. WNBC says an Orthodox Jewish man got up from his seat while passengers were still boarding, and walked to the back of the United Airlines flight where he began praying. His friend said the prayers lasted approximately 2 minutes. When flight attendants asked the man to return to his seat so the plane could take off, he ignored them.
30 Years Of Confidential Walmart Videos For Sale
By 4.10.08
The Wall Street Journal says that a video production company that earned 90% of its revenue from taping Walmart’s internal meetings over the past 30 years has lost the Walmart account–but retained the rights to the video library.
