101 Dumbest Moments in Business

[CrONoS]

Some are funny!

101 Dumbest Moments in Business
The year's biggest boors, buffoons, and blunderers

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0701/gallery.101dumbest_2007/index.html

[CrONoS]

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0701/gallery.101dumbest_2007/10.html

[CrONoS]

56. AOL
Cancellation Department? We thought you asked for the Harassment Department...
In June, AOL customer Vincent Ferrari calls to cancel his membership.

The call lasts 21 minutes, highlighted by a conversation with a "retention consultant" named John who doggedly tries to retain Ferrari's business even though he specifically asks to cancel 18 times. "You're going to let me speak," John says. "If not, we can just argue all day. I really don't care."

http://consumerist.com/consumer/aol/the-best-thing-we-have-ever-posted-reader-tries-to-cancel-aol-180392.php

[CrONoS]

77. Bank of America
In related news, the Department of Corrections has announced that death-row inmates will now be required to pedal stationary bikes to power Old Sparky...
After Bank of America announces plans to outsource 100 tech support jobs from the San Francisco Bay Area to India, the American workers are told that they must train their own replacements in order to receive their severance payments.

[CrONoS]

89. Hoboken, N.J.
Asimov's Fourth Law of Robotics: Don't screw with the sys-admin...
The city of Hoboken, N.J., signs a deal to have Robotic Parking operate its Garden Street Garage, tripling the number of available spaces by shuffling cars in and out through automated lifts.

When Robotic hikes its monthly fees by 20 percent, however, Hoboken officials give the company the boot.

One small problem: Robotic's employees are the only ones who know how to operate the system, and the company disables its software, trapping dozens of customers' cars in the garage for days. After a court order restores its control of the garage, Hoboken pays $1.9 million to another firm to install a new system.

[DaShi]

20. Fiji Water
Crisp. Refreshing. And only ever-so-slightly poisonous...
Los Angeles-based Fiji Water runs magazine ads for its bottled water with the headline "The Label Says Fiji Because It's Not Bottled in Cleveland."

Cleveland officials retaliate by running tests revealing that Fiji bottled water contains 6.3 micrograms of arsenic per liter, while the city's tap water has none.

Fiji counters by saying its own tests found less than 2 micrograms per liter.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'm not all the way through the list, but I can't believe anything will top...

2. Northwest Airlines
And don't forget, you only need one kidney...
In July, bankrupt Northwest Airlines begins laying off thousands of ground workers, but not before issuing some of them a handy guide, "101 Ways to Save Money."

The advice includes dumpster diving ("Don't be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash"), making your own baby food, shredding old newspapers for use as cat litter, and taking walks in the woods as a low-cost dating alternative.

[Harry Tuttle]

Sorry Markos.

39. Greece
That's one gross domestic product...
In September, Greece announces that its gross domestic product since 2000 has been revised upward by an unheard-of 25 percent. The secret to its newfound wealth?

A change in bookkeeping that adds in the nation's robust black-market industries such as prostitution and money laundering. But becoming "richer" turns out not to be as good as it sounds: The revised GDP figures cost the Greek government as much as $600 million annually in European Union funds earmarked to help poorer nations.

[Sprayber]

25. BBC
Who's on first, what's on second, and some random Guy's on third...
In May the BBC invites IT expert Guy Kewney to its studios for an interview about Apple's iTunes Music Store. But when the cameras start rolling, BBC correspondent Karen Bowerman finds herself talking to the wrong Guy - namely, Guy Goma, a computer technician who was waiting in the lobby for a job interview.

Goma gamely tries his best, telling viewers that "if you can go everywhere, you're gonna see a lot of people downloading to the Internet and the website and everything they want."

The job interview, alas, does not go as well: Goma fails to land the gig.

[Sprayber]

26. Greyhound
Leave the driving rain of human filth to us...
Robert and Angela Stokes sue Greyhound Bus Lines for $300,000 after an incident in which a passing bus dumps the contents of its toilet on their Ford Explorer, drenching the Ohio couple and their three children through the SUV's open sunroof.



From a couple years ago

CBS 2) CHICAGO Rock star Dave Matthews and his tour bus driver are facing a filthy lawsuit.

The Illinois Attorney General's office says they're responsible for dumping up to 800-gallons of raw human waste from a tour bus onto the Kinzie Street Bridge earlier this month.

The nasty mess rained down on passengers aboard a sightseeing boat two weeks ago.


Does this **** happen often? 300,000 is letting greyhound off light. I would be so ****ing pissed

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Sprayber
25. BBC
Who's on first, what's on second, and some random Guy's on third...
In May the BBC invites IT expert Guy Kewney to its studios for an interview about Apple's iTunes Music Store. But when the cameras start rolling, BBC correspondent Karen Bowerman finds herself talking to the wrong Guy - namely, Guy Goma, a computer technician who was waiting in the lobby for a job interview.

Goma gamely tries his best, telling viewers that "if you can go everywhere, you're gonna see a lot of people downloading to the Internet and the website and everything they want."

The job interview, alas, does not go as well: Goma fails to land the gig.

[Sprayber]

99. Tesco
"Mom, Kelsey's hogging the stripper pole again!"
"Unleash the sex kitten inside ... soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars."

- From a product listing by $75 billion British retailer Tesco, plugging the $100 Peekaboo Pole Dancing Kit - which includes an 8.5-foot chrome pole, a "sexy dance garter," and play money for stuffing into said garter - in the Toys & Games section of its website.

After complaints from parent groups, Tesco decides to keep selling the item as a "fitness accessory" but agrees to remove the listing from the toy section.

And to think I missed an opportunity to get my daughter this for her birthday last week.

[axi]

32. TradingMarkets
Stocks and bonds, part 2: Proving the value of expensive professional stock-market expertise...
TradingMarkets - a Web site that provides its subscribers with professional stock-market expertise for as much as $100 a month - in January invites 10 Playboy models to participate in an investing contest.

When results are tallied toward the end of the year, 40 percent of the bunnies deliver better returns than the S&P 500, compared with just 29 percent of actively managed mutual funds.

Self-ownage!

They should try launching a combined service: A playmate to escort you and manage your money at the same time. two in the price of one!

[pchang]

Originally posted by axi


Self-ownage!

They should try launching a combined service: A playmate to escort you and manage your money at the same time. two in the price of one!

I'm sure the management fees would more than wipe out any investment gains.

[Richelieu]

I like this one.

But then again, no one is surprised when they do that kind of thing.