Man Accused Of Impersonating Cop For Free McDonald’s Can Afford His Own Burgers, Okay?

A Pennsylvania security guard is insulted, frankly, that local police are accusing him of acting like a police officer just to score some free burgers at McDonald's. Cops cited him on a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a public servant after they say he demanded food from staff at the restaurant, but he says that's just an inside joke he's got going with employees.

Police say he for months, would act like an officer in need of a burger pick-me-up while on duty, and that employees said they felt threatened, reports WPXI Channel 11 News. At that location, free food is a courtesy extended to on-duty officers.

"He wanted them to believe he was a police officer and on duty so that he could get free food. Kind of ridiculous," said one officer.

But hold up, says the man, who works as a private investigator and security guard— he claims he was just teasing workers and never claimed to be a cop. And besides, he's perfectly capable of purchasing his own grub.

"Do I look like I can't afford to buy my own hamburger?" the man asked the station's reporter when she showed up at his house. He added that he didn't flash his security guard badge and always paid for his food.

It could just be a case of mistaken identity. But if someone offers to buy me a drink because they think I'm Queen Elizabeth II, I would not accept it. See? Totally wrong, and besides, she and have different taste when it comes to perfectly-curled helmet hair.

Security guard cited for impersonating officer, demanding free food at McDonald's [WPXI]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

At Applebee’s, 2 For $20 Equals $21

Two meals and an appetizer for $20 at Applebee's is a nice, simple price point. Not a bad deal, either. Jeff ordered it for carside takeout, but was baffled to receive his order and see that the price listed on the receipt was $21, not $20. The waitress explained that the extra $1 was sales tax, but Jeff didn't buy that (and we don't either.) The restaurant calculated and charged him accurate sales tax on the entire order.

I ordered some "Carside to go" from my local Applebees last night and encountered some interesting math on the receipt. Their advertised offer of "1 Appetizer + 2 Entrees for $20" was rung up on the receipt as $21. I did not order any substitutions or extras that should have modified the package price. I asked the waitress why a $20 offer was suddenly $21, and she told me it was "$20 plus tax, they should really start saying that in the ad". She was immediately on the defensive, even though I was being very polite with her, and offered to bring the manager out to explain it. I wish I would have taken her up on that offer, but our food was getting cold and the family was hungry so I let it go.

After leaving I noticed that tax was added to the entire check down at the bottom, so her explanation was obviously a lie. I hope she enjoyed my $1 overpayment, because that was the only tip she was going to get from me. Fortunately for us, at least the food was good. Yes, I followed the advice on the receipt and completed their Guest Experience Survey.

Maybe the fuzzy math is ironic.

At the risk of setting off another round of comments section tipping wars, that's not fair to the waitress. She didn't pocket the extra dollar herself. Presumably.

A more direct method than taking the survey would be to call the restaurant and ask to speak to the manager, maybe during a between-meals time when the manager will be less busy.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Google Apparently Wants To Get Sued Again, Now Including Gmail Content In Search Results

Because Google didn't learn anything from the Google Buzz privacy debacle, the company has now decided to begin testing the integration of users' Gmail content into general search results.

So a search for Amazon on Google.com would also bring up a sidebar with e-mails from or related to your Amazon purchases.

Well, that's all well and good. Until someone's spouse, significant other, or co-worker unwittingly uses that person's computer to search for something like "restaurants in Chicago" and up come e-mails about a secret rendezvous at the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's.

“This is a baby step in a really complicated area,” says the company's director of product management for universal search about the e-mail results, which Google describes as being in the "limited field trial" stage.

Google hopes to expand the feature to all e-mail providers. It also hopes to similarly integrate all other Google products like Docs, Calendar, Drive.

While we have no problem with making one's entire Google account searchable from one screen, we think it should be within something like Gmail, where the user already has the expectation of privacy, as opposed to just a Google search that one can do straight from their browser's nav bar.

For those that have absolutely no problem with their Gmail content possibly showing up in search results, they can opt in at g.co/searchtrial, though we recommend staying far, far away.

Google Adds Personal Gmail Results Into Search

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Party City Takes Marketing Lessons From Macy’s

Consumers are so literal-minded. We see a sign that says "all items $1," and we foolishly believe that all items cost $1. Marketers take advantage of these tendencies with signage trickery and cruel, cruel asterisks. That's what Andrey found at a Party City store. "It's neither [all] on sale, nor does it make any sense," he typed on his phone.

"Excludes seasonal items. Select items only," says the fine print. The more one thinks about that, the stranger it becomes. Shouldn't seasonal items, like graduation party napkins and 4th of July centerpieces, be what's on clearance at a party store this time of year?

RELATED:

Macy’s Makes Fun Of Coupons With Its Latest Coupon

Lane Bryant Sale Flyer Redefines ‘Entire Store,’ ‘Everything’

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Wawa Pays $12,500 To Kicked-Out Customer With Service Dog

Many people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey speak highly of the Wawa chain of convenience stores. Which is why it was a bit of surprise to folks in the area when a man was kicked out of a store earlier this summer because he brought his service dog into the building. Now the chain has not only agreed to fork over a bit of cash to the customer, but to also make sure its employees don't repeat the mistake.

The incident occurred on June 13, when the man attempted to buy a sandwich at a Wawa in Cumberland County, NJ, only to be told by the store manager that he would not be served unless he took the dog outside.

The man, whose service dog is trained to assist him in case of a seizure, says he attempted to show the manager the animal's documentation and let her know that the store is required to allow service animals, but the manager refused to listen.

So now he's getting $12,500 as a settlement from the store. But more importantly, Wawa has agreed to post signs in all its stores -- at least the ones in New Jersey -- reminding them that service dogs are allowed by law.

While Wawa did not comment on the settlement, it had previously stated that "Because we are a food establishment, we have to comply with strict Board of Health regulations which do not permit pets in our stores, but of course qualified service animals are permitted and welcome."

N.J. man kicked out of Wawa for bringing in service dog to get $12,500 [NJ.com]

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Notice About Errors With Password Reset Emails

Our hosting provider is having significant difficulty delivering password reset emails to our users. Today, they made a change that resulted in a large amount of backlogged emails being sent out to users who had requested a password reset in the past two weeks. If you received such an email and are concerned or would like assistance, please email support@consumerist.com and our internal team will assist you.

by CSec via The Consumerist

Use The Clock And Google Voice To Actually Reach The IRS

Sure, it's not peak IRS season right now, but there is quite a variety of reasons that you might have to deal with the ever-present government agency anyway. Tax Cat is out of the office, vacationing at his offshore kitty condo in the Cayman Islands, so it's up to reader Christopher, a tax preparer, to serve us up with handy tax advice. See, sometimes you have to call the IRS. You can't avoid it. But so does everyone else in the country. What Christopher figured out is that the IRS call center doesn't have fixed hours like most. Its open hours depend on what time zone you live in. His solution? Use a Google Voice number to fudge what time zone he's in, and call late in the evening when the business day is done for most of the continental U.S.

This tip may come in handy for anyone who has to call the IRS to work out a tax problem, but can't call during the workday.

I prepare tax returns and provide accounting services for a living. So I spend a lot of time on the phone with the IRS fixing client issues throughout the year. Unfortunately, I sometimes don't have enough time in the day to get to everything within the the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time that their 800 number serves the public. If you call after 7 p.m., you're routed to the automated system and informed that person to person assistance isn't available until the next day. The computer uses your area code to decide if you get an operator or a computer.

An easy way around this? Today I set up a Google Voice account with a San Diego area code. It gave me 2 extra hours to work out tax issues for clients. I suppose if I wanted to, I could have used a Honolulu area code and extended the service time even more.

Of course, I still spent most of my extra time on hold, but I'm concentrating on the positive.

Handy!

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist