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(Don Hankins)

Seven Scams And Swindles
By Ben Popken on September 20, 2011 3:00 PM   54 Comments
Hear about some of my "favorite," and the most recent, scams and swindles in this interview I did with Gerri Detweiler over on Talk Credit Radio. From the Black Money Scam to the wooden iPad, ripoffs are all around us. You rage at the conman, but also have to laugh at how audacious his gambits are, and marvel that they get pulled off again and gain. Plus, listen to the two things that, if we all did them, we could stop about 90% of scams from ever happening in the first place. More »

Animated Version Of Hunter S. Thompson Leaving Profane AV Installer Complaint
By Ben Popken on August 11, 2011 4:00 PM   10 Comments
Here is an animated cartoon rendering a real call the late Hunter S. Thompson left on the voicemail of a home theater installer who he felt had ruined his AV system. We posted the audio-version of this previously, but now artist Sascha Ciezata has brought it to life through the power of marker and paper moving at multiple frames per second. More »

Dial-Up Modem Noise 700% Slower Becomes Ambient Opus
By Ben Popken on June 30, 2011 2:00 PM   74 Comments
Remember that Bieber track that turned into a symphonic masterpiece once it was slowed down 800%? Yes? No? Well you might as well kill yourself, Brian Eno, because here's an old-school dial-up modem slowed down 700% , becoming an epic soundscape of terrifying drones and robotic wails, punctuated by tsunamis of static. Ah, it really captures the essence of what connecting to AOL in 1995 felt like. More »

Woman Calls 911 Because Her Chinese Food Order Was Wrong
By Ben Popken on June 15, 2011 3:00 PM   110 Comments
Savannah police have released the recording of a call a woman made to report that she got the wrong food in her Chinese food delivery. They published the call as a reminder to the public that it's a misdemeanor to call 911 unless there's an actual emergency. Here is a transcript and the audio of the call: More »

(largeheartedboy)

Cop Records Himself Detained At Walmart Receipt Check
By Ben Popken on December 23, 2010 4:00 PM   266 Comments
A tipster has sent in an audio recording of himself being stopped at the Walmart doors for refusing to show them his receipt. He says that it's in his pocket and he just doesn't feel like getting it out. According to the reader, two of the men who stop him are sheriff's deputies. When he asks one of them their name, the man responds, "John Doe." Our reader, who says he is a cop of 20 years himself, says it took nearly half an hour of asking them whether they are placing him under arrest or if he can be on his way before they let him go. More »

Audio: Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo Complaint Rant At Home Theater Installers
By Phil Villarreal on February 15, 2010 9:38 AM   28 Comments
If Hells Angels couldn't intimidate Hunter S. Thompson from sticking to his guns, a home theater company CSR didn't stand a chance. Check out the legendary late author/journalist's expletive-laced rant in this YouTube video, spotted on Geekologie. More »

Man Out For Repoman's Blood (Listen To Their Calls)
By Ben Popken on February 10, 2010 1:09 PM   71 Comments
Some "pal" of Mark's put him down as a reference on a motorcycle loan with Freedom Road Financial and fell behind on his payments. So now the company is making harassing phone calls to Mark and his elderly mom, almost giving her a heart attack, telling them that Mark is in "serious trouble," that he's "a party" to the "stolen motorcycle." They wouldn't stop even though he told them to, and now an "investigator" identifying himself as "Marshal Davis" is also making calls, threatening to send "people" to his home and office. Mark recorded a conversation with Michelle Peacan at Freedom Road Financial (FRF) and we liked it so much that we added some funny photos, and uploaded it to YouTube. Then we reached FRF for comment. More »

"Move Your Money" Profiled On NPR
By Chris Walters on February 2, 2010 10:38 AM   81 Comments
Last month, the Huffington Post launched a campaign called Move Your Money that urged people to support community banks. The idea is that by moving your money to a community bank, you can help put the "too big to fail" banks on a diet so that they get smaller, while at the same time help a local bank remain competitive. The NPR program All Things Considered took a look at the campaign over the weekend, and talked to some experts about whether it's worth making the switch. More »

Reader Angered By QVC $150 Markup Wii
By Ben Popken on December 14, 2009 10:10 AM   106 Comments
A reader saw the $150 marked-up Wii on QVC and became so incensed that he immediately left an impassioned voicemail on our voicemail tipline (347-422-6695). I love this thing: More »

Photo: iCanHasPix

McDonald's Manager To Transgender Woman: We Don't Hire [Gay Slur]
By Alex Chasick on December 11, 2009 2:21 PM   221 Comments
A Florida McDonald's has been sued for refusing to hire a transgender woman. The applicant, 17-year-old Zikerria Bellamy, says that after she didn't check a gender box on the application, then reluctantly selected male, she was refused an interview by two managers, one of whom then left her an bigoted voicemail. More »

Citibank: Transfer $5000 In Debt Onto This Card Or We'll Double Your APR
By Ben Popken on November 12, 2009 2:03 PM   89 Comments

—>"It's the increased cost of doing business," was Citicard's constant refrain when Kent's husband called to complain about their latest pre-CARD act adverse action insanity: transfer $5000 in balances from other credit cards to this credit card or we'll double your interest rate. Listen to Kent's message left on the new Consumerist hotline and/or read the transcript:  More »

Google To Launch Music Search Service Next Week
By Chris Walters on October 23, 2009 1:51 AM   8 Comments

—>You've probably seen Google Finance, where each company has its own page made up of content scraped from all over the web. Google is about to launch a similar service for musicians, says the Hollywood Reporter: "The music pages will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics and song previews, along with a way to buy songs."  More »

Debt Collector On Tape: "I'm Gonna F**** You Up"
By Ben Popken on October 13, 2009 7:20 PM   125 Comments

—>"When I see you, I'm gonna f*** you up," says debt collector "Mickey," pictured at left, on the answering machine of a guy who bounced a check. WTSP obtained the messages, some of the worst debt collector recordings I've ever heard, and you can listen to them here.  More »

Toyota: 911 Call Of Family's Fatal Lexus Crash Due To Gas Pedal Stuck On Floormats
By Ben Popken on October 7, 2009 10:28 PM   382 Comments

—>Warning: This audio is graphic and shocking. Before Toyota could be bothered to recall 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus cars that they had known for two years had a problem, an off-duty state trooper and three members of his family had to die in fatal car crash when the gas pedal got stuck on the floormat. This is the recording of their 911 call moments before they crashed into the end of the freeway at 120 mph.  More »

Here are 5 personal finance podcasts to subscribe to, download, and argue with during your commute or workout. [Automatic Finances] (Photo: uhuru1701)  More »

Amazon Begins Selling Kindle Books With Text To Speech Disabled
By Chris Walters on May 13, 2009 10:51 PM   73 Comments

—>As promised, Amazon has begun to implement the text to speech (TTS) flag that lets authors and their publishers turn off the "read it to me" feature of books on the Kindle. MobileRead members note that Toni Morrison's A Mercy and Stephen King's The Stand both have TTS disabled, and it seems to be on an author-by-author basis instead of by publisher or imprint.  More »

Best Buy is streamlining its high end Magnolia Audio Video stores by closing down Magnolia HQ, disbanding all current Magnolia management positions, and closing 7 of the 13 stores. [TWICE] (Thanks to Klay and Eric!)  More »

MonsterCable Offers Wilted Olive Branch To MonsterMiniGolf
By Ben Popken on December 15, 2008 3:55 PM   205 Comments

—>With the launch of monsterminigolftruth.com MonsterCable has offered a wilted olive branch to Monster Mini Golf. In summary:  More »

Tell Monster Cable To Stop Suing A Monster-Themed MiniGolf Park
By Ben Popken on December 10, 2008 9:40 PM   145 Comments

—>If you would like to tell Monster Cable that they're jerks for trying to shut down the family owned and operated Monster MiniGolf...  More »

Monster Cable Sues Monster MiniGolf For Trademark Infringement
By Ben Popken on December 3, 2008 6:57 PM   198 Comments

—>Monster Cable has decided to sue Monster MiniGolf for trademark infringement. Monster MiniGolf is a family startup by Patrick & Christina Vitagliano glow-in-the-dark monster-themed minigolf franchise with 23 locations. Monster Cable, which has an illustrious history of suing anything and everything with Monster in its name, makes the expensive cables that Best Buy is always trying to upsell you on that are no better than coat hangers.   More »

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