why god hates me

A Walmart insider tells us that the price of cellphone chargers nearly doubled on orders from Walmart HQ in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Before the hurricane, chargers cost from $10-$15, but afterwards, they rose to a uniform $19.

The insider writes:

I work in a Walmart store in KY, and I’m writing in to let you know that my store has raised the prices on all of its cell phone chargers by almost 50%. These price changes were automatically put into effect in our system by Home Office. This, I feel, is in direct response to Hurricane Ike.

Here in KY, we didn’t get the rain, but we did get high winds on Sunday morning, which knocked out power to some 300,000 people here. The next day when we opened, people bought every car charge and battery we had because they were still without any power. Now today all of our car chargers go up nearly 50%. In fact, every charger, car or wall, in our store is a flat $19.00, when car chargers were $10.00 and wall chargers were $15.00 yesterday. This is hardly a coincidence, and it’s so blatently obvious to our customers. I can’t believe Walmart would do something so totally against their own mantra of Save Money, Live Better. This is more like “Raise Prices, Screw Suffering Customers!”

It could be a coincidence, maybe not. Either way, the timing is certainly suspicious.

(Photo: chasingfun)

Yes, it needs to be said because flight attendants are worried that some people don’t know not to watch porn while flying next to strangers. American Airlines flight attendants even want porn sites blocked on flights offering WiFi access.

The “vast majority” of travelers use good judgment in what they look at, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for Fort Worth, Texas-based American. ‘Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success.’

[...]

American’s attendants don’t want to become “moral policemen,” said Frank Bastien, a spokesman at the union’s headquarters. Attendants also don’t want to be exposed to laptop images of violence or pornography, he said.

“It’s a real concern to our members,” Bastien said. American “put on filters that will prevent people from making Wi-Fi phone calls, and they don’t seem to have any qualms about doing that. Where’s the protection for other things out there?”

Ars Technica correctly points out that passengers have always been able to smuggle aboard promotional materials for the Mile High Club, mostly without incident.

What’s worse: sitting next to a guy watching porn, or sitting next to a guy yabbering away on Skype?

American Air Attendants Urge Filters to Bar Web Porn [Bloomberg via Ars Technica]
(Photo: Getty)

Christina’s two dogs fell ill after eating Purina Beneful infested with maggots and fly larvae. After taking her dogs to the vet, Christina called Purina for an explanation, only to be told: “As soon as our food leaves our factory, it is no longer our responsibility.”

My husband and I found live maggots and larva in a bag of Purina Beneful last week. I bought it at a Petsmart in Kitchener last Sunday, and opened it on Wednesday. I had already fed our two labs two meals of the infested food before realizing there were numerous maggots and fly larva. When I called to speak with Purina about this the response I got as…”as soon as our food leaves our factory, it’s no longer our problem.” …disappointing.

I then brought this up with Petsmart’s main office, who claims it is not their responsibility either.

My husband and I are furious…our dogs have been sick for 4 days now…they have chronic diarrhea and are not themselves.

CTV picked up the story, but Purina didn’t seem interested in talking to them either:

(Photo: Getty)

Kick open the exit doors and release the inflatable slides, Spirit is outfitting their entire fleet with cabin-saturating ads. Billed as Spirit’s “latest innovation,” the ads will litter “seat backs, window shades, overhead bins, tray tables, drink carts, napkins, cups, menus (what menus?) boarding passes, trash bags, soap dispensers,” and probably even barf bags.

Spirit suckered the Bahamas, supposedly the epitome of relaxation, not annoyance, to serve as the airline’s first spam advertiser. More will follow.

Spirit’s press release asks: Where else can you find 100 percent saturation with a targeted captive audience that will be actively engaged by your ad for an average of three hours?

Spirit is right. Saturation does have an effect. A profoundly negative effect. After starting at the same taunting ad for three hours, we’d want to stab every ad exec and airline official with a Hurricane-sharpened palm tree. But we’re vindictive and have “anger issues.” Who would you stab?

Spirit Airlines Launches Mile High Media (Press Release) [Spirit via Jaunted]

Pizza Hut called Danielle a liar for trying to redeem a promotional coupon they emailed to her and displayed prominently on their website. In exchange for completing an offer from TrialPay, Danielle should have received two free medium pizzas, one with toppings, plus breadsticks. Instead, her favorite pizza place told her, “M’am, you’re lying about what the coupon promised.”

Danielle writes:

I am a loyal Pizza Hut follower, even thought I know I probably shouldn’t be… it’s just what I grew up with.

I spend a fair amount of money with the various stores in my city, and I expect to be treated nicely when dealing with the company. Not like royalty, but nicely.

I get the pizza hut emails because I order online.. I’ve opted out before, but it seems like every time I order online, I get opted back in.

About a month and a half ago (beginning of August), Pizza Hut emailed me a coupon which was linked to the website “TrialPay”. The coupon claimed that if I completed one trial pay offer, pizza hut would send me some free pizza (A medium natural, plus one other medium one topping, plus breadsticks)… it was an amazing deal, and immediately some “too good to be true” bells started going off in my head. So I went to Pizza Hut’s website, and sure enough, the coupon was there as well, linked at the very top of their “Deals” page, where all their coupons are displayed.

So happily, I clicked away, chose an offer (a free trial of a Rhapsody account, followed by a paid subscription), and had it complete (I then went back and cancled the membership with Rhapsody, because their selection was terrible, but I was within the rights of the TrialPay agreement to do this). I got an email from TrialPay, saying I had completed the offer fully, and it provided a link to the Pizza Hut website, where I could redeem my “prize”. I clicked the link and followed the instructions in the email, and when I went to check out I saw I was being charged ten dollars.

According to the coupon, everything was inclueded, tax and all.. the only extra charges would be for substitutions (none), extra toppings (I didn’t order any), or delivery (the order was for carryout).

Seeing that this was a mistake, I called TrialPay’s customer service and asked them to confirm that the bundle was indeed, free, and that I had completed the offer correctly. The nice lady I talked to said yes to all of these things, and even said that it was OK that I had cancled my Rhapsody memebership.. I still got credit for completing the offer.

She suggested that it was probably a problem on Pizza Hut’s end, so I decided to call their 1-800 number. I spoke to a nice young man who had -no- idea what coupon I was talking about, so he offered to transfer me to his supervisor. I agreed. I then started the customer service call from hell. Throughout the conversation, which ended up lasting just under an hour, I was put on hold several times, without warning, for five to ten minutes at a time. The woman was also rude, and beligerent.

The woman I talked to claimed that I was “making the coupon up” (her words), and that I was “complaining about a legitimate charge”. I then asked her “If it’s legitimate, what is the ten dollar charge for, then?”. Her offer was that it was for delivery fees and taxes. I told her “The order is for carry out, and it breaks down the sales tax seperately.. the sales tax is only a dollar or so of the charge.. what is the rest of it?” She couldn’t tell me. She claimed the coupon didn’t exist, and that it wasn’t sanctioned by Pizza Hut.

I asked how the coupon got emailed to me, in a Pizza Hut newsletter, and how it was linked on their website, and how their website recognized the coupon then…

She said “If you read the fine print, it says the two companies aren’t connected, and that we have no responsibility regarding the coupon”.

I said “That would be all fine and well, expect -your company- is who sent me the coupon. Hence, I want it honored, and honored properly.”

She then proceded to stonewall me some more, until I got her to agree to pull up the website, using my adress, and see the coupon on it.

She did this, and admitted that she saw the coupon, and said I still had to pay the ten dollars. I staunchly refused, and demanded what the coupon promised. I felt stupid arguing over free pizza, but at this point I was rather upset.

She called me a liar. Straight out. She said “M’am, you’re lying about what the coupon promised” with the coupon that lays it out right in front of her.

Eventually I got her to call my local store, and get the charges taken off, and I got my pizza. It was a major hassle, and the store manager at my local store was none-too-happy to remove the charge and hand me a free pizza, despite admitting that the customer service rep told him to do exaclty that.

Upset over this experience, I filled out the “Comments, compliments, and complaints” form on Pizza Hut’s webstite, detailing the experience, and typing into the comments box “I want to be contacted by a manager” as well as checking the box that indicated that I would like to be contacted.

A week passed, and no call had come for me. So I called back the 1-800 number, and told the rep that I hadn’t got my call back, and I would very much like to be contacted by a manager. He apologized and offered to put me back in the queue to be called. I agreed, and he told me I would be contacted within 3 bussiness days. This was a Friday night.

Next Wednesday night, no call had come. So I called the 800 number yet again, more upset this time. The woman I talked to said it was “all she could do to ‘escelate’ my problem, and put me back in line to be called.” I said that was fine, I supposed, since that was probably really all she could do. I then asked when I should expect my call by. She said “the end of the week, for sure”.

The end of the week came, no call. That was two weeks ago. I call the 800 number once every three days to let them know I still haven’t been called back. I’ve talked to the manager of the call center. He says he has no contact information for the manager of my distirict (the man who is supposed to be calling me). All they can do is put me back in line to be called.

I ended up ordering from Pizza Hut the other night, paying in full this time, and the pizza I had delivered was cold when it arrived, and rather sauceless. Upset, I decided that since I already had plans to call the number, I would just tell them about this then. I told them about the cold pizza, the man said he was “documenting the complaint” and that I would be contacted. I laughed at this, and asked if it would be ok to contact my local store myself if the issues wasn’t resolved (aka, I didn’t get my call back). He said I “shouldn’t do that”, and that the hotline was for complaints.

Three days later, still no call on either of my complaints, I was about at the end of my rope.

I called my local store to ask if they had the number for the corporate officed. The lady read off the same number I’ve been calling for weeks. I told her they weren’t helping me.

She asked what the issue was, and I told her one issue was with the customer serivce people and a coupon, and that there was nothing she could do about it, but that the other issue was with a pizza her resturant had delievered.

She told me she could help with that issue, so I told her what had happened. I ended up talking to her manager, and he told me he could give me some partial credit for the pizzas, for next time I orded, and apologized they had been sent out that way, but said that there was nothing more he could do because I’d waited so long to complain.
I told him I had actually complained that night, to the customer service line posted on Pizza Hut’s website, and that they had told me -not- to call the store.

He said I should -always- call the store if I have issues with the pizza, so that I can get a speedier and more helpful response.. the store has the capability to send out new pizzas, etc. He also said that as far as he knows, it’s policy to direct the customer back to the local store if they have an issue with the food.

So now I’m stuck.. no calls back from pizza hut, and I paid for a crappy cold pizza and now there’s’ nothing to be done about it because the customer service people continue to screw up.

I’m thinking about visting the Pizza Hut corporate offices tomorrow. Maybe being there in person will get me -some- sort of attention.

Pizza Hut clearly holds a dear place in Danielle’s heart. It’s a shame a local joint can’t swoop in and save Danielle with superior pizza and service.

(Photo: Getty)

Back to school supplies? Halloween decorations? Depressing! Instead, focus on the distant future with this grossly unseasonal timepiece, a perfect gift for oblivious retail merchandisers and the counting impaired. Thanks, Target! (and Heather!)

You know you’ve got a national infrastructure to be proud of when one of the country’s largest cities is pretty much out of gas. From the Tennessean:

East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee both primarily receive fuel supplies through spurs of the Colonial pipeline, which carries refined gasoline from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Northeast. [Hurricane] Ike damaged and knocked out power to many of those refineries, cutting the amount of gasoline fed into the pipeline.

The shortage should be remedied by next week, the paper reports:

The state is scheduled to receive 1.42 million barrels of gasoline over the next week, roughly matching its typical demand of 1.44 million barrels, Heidt said.

“Gas prices remain higher in Middle Tennessee” [The Tennessean] (Thanks to Jessica!)
(Photo: Pat Hawks)

Dale couldn’t redeem his “free 6 inch sub” coupon at his local Subway. Was it because of a particularly lazy employee, poor management, or dire financial straits? Maybe it was all three, considering the string of completely unrelated excuses Dale was given over just a few minutes.

I was reading your article about how some Subways were instituting a $0.75 refill policy when I remembered that I had a Scrabble peice that said I had won a free ‘Any Reg. 6″ Fresh Fit OR Reg. 6″ Sub.’

So, I decided to head down to the Subway in Kansas City, MO (it’s walking distance away from me) and tried to redeem my coupon.

Upon walking in, the Zombie-Employee told me that they were out of half of their ingredients. I found this odd, seeing as it was 6:30 at night on a Friday, but none of the items listed were what I was going to get on my sandwich anyways. I ordered a 6″ Meatball sub (considered a “Reg. Sub”, I’m assuming) and a Sweet Onion Terriaki 6″ (that way, I get a footlong for about half the price).

I went to check out and showed my coupon. She replied “Um, sorry, this only works for your next order.” This struck me as odd, seeing as the last time I ordered and got the coupon was over a week ago.

I informed the employee politely and she responded with “Well, we still can’t take it. It only works certain times of the day.” I pointed out to her that the coupon read “GOOD ON NEXT ORDER. NO SUBSTITUTES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS. EXPIRES 10/13/08″ and wanted her to point on where on that tiny piece of paper that it says it has to be certain times of the day.

The lady gave up, and confessed that she can’t redeem it because there has to be a manager there to redeem their own coupon.

I didn’t want to argue with her anymore so I walked off paying twice what I wanted to. I mean, I know it’s only like $4, but it still irks me that they aren’t able to redeem their coupons at anytime. I just wanted to put the word out that these things are pretty much useless since they aren’t honoring them. First the refill and now this? Things must be going rough for them, eh?

(Photo: Mags D)

What sort of ad do you run next to a full-page PSA that says, “My sister accidentally killed herself”? Probably not this one. [FAIL Blog] (Thanks to theblackdog!)

Please, do not ever buy this 2,300 calorie shake from Baskin Robbins, which contains approximately half a pound of sugar. As Consumerist reader Doug points out,

Last time I checked, an adult male should consume 2,500 calories a day, and this shake nearly meets that requirement! The saturated fat present in that shake is over 3 times the RDA of 20 grams, which will put you on the fast track for heart disease. Of course, that’s if the Type 2 diabetes caused by all 266 grams of that sugar doesn’t get you first.

While I believe that people should be held responsible for what they consume, I think corporations need to share just a little responsibility too, and not sell piles of liquid sugar and fat like this. I’d be surprised if even 1 in 100 of the folks that consume that shake know just how bad it is.

On the plus side, it does provide 120% of the RDA for calcium. Oh, and about 1600% of the RDA for Heath candy bars.

(Our tipster, Doug, came up with “death shake.”)