26 Kids Who Decided Santa Claus Is Not To Be Tolerated, Proceed To Freak The Heck Out

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One more time, our very own Miranda Cox, daughter of Consumerist’s Kate Cox.

We asked, and oh boy, did we receive: For our third annual installment of holiday-induced panic on a wee scale, you, our dear readers, submitted 26 photos of your children freaking the heck out upon meeting the man in red, one Santa Cornelius Claus. Does Santa have a middle name for real? We might never know, but what we do know is that before children come to love the guy, they often want nothing better than to be as far from that jolly fellow as possible.

The headline is also a bit of a Christmas lie — we received 26 photos, to be sure, but some of them have more than one terrified child in them. And we also threw in a bonus 27th photo of one member of our Consumerist team who also had occasion to meet St. Nick, though we must say she was very well behaved.

Get comfortable by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and your own memories of encountering the jolly stranger, as we walk down the streets of the North Pole united in Christmas solidarity.

“The joys of Christmas!” Sarah writes of her daughters Grace and Lauren in Florida.

“We waited for three hours at the Americana mall in Glendale, CA so Ruby was pretty cranky when we got to the big guy!” Lindsey writes of her daughter, almost two (who happens to be making her second annual appearance, poor gal). “She was excited to see Santa while we were waiting, yelling ‘Santa!’ And telling us she wants a baby doll. But she did not enjoy being deposited on a strange man’s lap.”

Twins Rowan and Clara age 1, Gavin age 7: “I’m pretty sure the photo speaks for itself,” says dad Jared.

“These are my sons, Owen, 17 months old, and Ian, 3 1/2 years old,” writes mom Heidi. “They were so excited while standing in line for the hour wait while they checked out the Christmas decor, but the moment Owen saw Santa he flipped! When I put him in Santa’s lap, it was game over! Notice big brother, Ian’s forced smile to complete this festive photo which will be cherished for years!”

“This is Kieran, age 18 months. He was in Santa’s lap all of 10 seconds and this happened,” explains D.G.

“Here is a photo with Connor 8 months and Parker 2 years old,” writes dad Tim. “Parker is a little unsure of Santa but at least he held his composure and got a candy cane out of it.”

“My son, Thomas, got to meet Santa for the first time today (he is 5 months old) at the annual family Christmas party,” says dad Mike. “I think he was overwhelmed with all the singing and excitement of Santa’s arrival!”

“Katerina loved Santa on her first birthday, but at Disneyland on her second birthday, she wanted nothing to do with him,” Bakudai explains. “This was the closest to a good picture we got this year. She was much happier to meet Elsa.”

“Oliver is 14 months old and this was his first visit with Santa,” says dad Ed. “Based upon Santa’s expression, it is difficult to tell who wanted out of the picture worse, Oliver or Santa.”

Christian, age 1.

“Usually don’t send my kids’ photos out into the interwebs, but this one is just too good not to share,” admits Heidi. “This is my oldest, Lucy, in Dec 2009, when she was 16 months old. She is our oldest child, and our only one at the time. We had timed everything perfectly. We went during the week, so there would be a short line. She was fully rested. She was fed. And we told her all our warmest Santa stories during our walk over to Santa. And yet, this happened. I still love it.”

“Here are my niece Evelyn and my nephew Ethan,” writes Uncle Greg. “They are twin two-year-olds visiting Santa. They weren’t very happy.”

And a bonus pic of the same kids last year, similarly displeased. “They were not impressed,” their doting uncle adds.

Top pic left to right: Ben and Jack (1); Bottom pic, Ben (3), Claire (9 mos), Jack (3)

“When you compare our kids’ reactions to their first time with Santa, you quickly realize they come from the same stock,” says dad Jon.

“This is my 14-month-old daughter Brooklyn and she was very happy until she had to on his lap,” writs Baylu. “That is when the freak out began. We were at the North Park shopping mall in Dallas. She and Santa are both crying.”

Taylor, 17 months: “There was about a 90-minute wait in which our daughter, Taylor, was remarkably well behaved considering the wait,” writes Matt. “It was a Frozen theme based on the movie but she hasn’t seen any movies yet. When we got to the front, I figured we would be able to see Santa for a bit and anticipate the sit down. Unfortunately we could never visually see Santa, and so when it came to Taylor’s turn, we bring her right over, say hi, and sit her down on Santa’s lap. As pictured, it went exactly as we had expected.”

“The tears. The wails. The FISTS. The look on Santa’s face that he has been beaten down by 8+ hours of this. We love it. Its hilarious and will probably be our Christmas card photo for the next 10 years,” writes dad Patrick of his daughter Ruby in 2013.

“Kyler (age 10 months) is not a fan of Santa this year,” explains G.F.

“While my daughter Natalia (2 months) didn’t scream her head off at the sight of Santa, we did happen to catch her clear displeasure of him,” says dad Pablo. “Nothing says ‘I hate you, Santa’ than spitting up on him.”

Jack, 2: Even after a week of practicing for the Santa visit, Jack freaked out as soon as he was with the Big Guy! After an hour of walking around, we came back and Jack was able to give Santa a High-5 and quietly tell him that he wanted a truck… but this was from about two feet away! Didn’t want to get any closer!” writes mom Jenni

“Meet Oliver,” writes mom Stephanie. “At just 14 months old, this smarty pants knows, you just don’t take candy from strangers! This was his first time meeting Santa. His older brother stood on the sidelines and wouldn’t even get within 5 feet of Santa.”

“After many failed attempts to get our son to meet Santa my wife began to freak and was really sweating the fact he may never meet the fat fella before his big delivery day,” writes Mike of his boy Reed. “A few days before Christmas, my wife is elated to find a Santa will be at our downtown Marriott. We plan our morning around this adventure and as we approach the building we can see Santa through the window. My wife actually turns to me and whispers ‘You’ve got to be f##king sh##ting me,’ and almost starts to cry. I tell her we need to stay committed and stick to the plan. Meanwhile, I am dying with laughter inside and cannot wait to get a closer look. The line was short (no surprise) and we step up to hand off our child to a complete, poorly dressed stranger…the instant my son hits his lap he freaks. Not just “oh this sucks” freaks, a full out, this-is-the-stuff-nightmares-are-made-of freak out. I snap a couple quick pics and realized the instant it was all over I had memory gold. Please note the short, cutoff pants and leg tattoos. Priceless.”

“My two year old, Kira, got taken to Santaland at Macy’s this year by her auntie, a trip I was… looking forward to the results of,” says Ana. And sure enough, shortly after she finally got through the workshop exhibit and got to see Santa, I got the attached photo. I particularly like her ‘SAVE ME’ look, and the clinging. Although last night, in the grocery store, we walked past a cookie endcap display with a waving santa on it and she waved and went ‘Hi Santa!’ so I guess it must not have been that traumatic.”

“Here’s Santa about to slap my daughter to shut up. What do I win?” writes Marcus (joy, Marcus, you win joy. “She was two at the time (last year), and he wasn’t really about to slap her – he was waving. But the combination of him raising his arm, his open mouth ‘yelling’, and her looking at the camera trying to get the hell outta there made a great memory. As a side note, the Santa was a really patient, nice, guy. It’s just a perfectly timed photo.”

“Kylen (who is 24 months) was in great spirits and enjoyed watching all the nearby kids run around and play while we waited in line for two and a half hours to see Santa,” says mom Sarah. “When we reached the end of the line, Kylen was quite surprised to find his mommy plopping him in some strangers lap, walking away, and a lady directing him to smile. I could only imagine the conclusion his little mind formed from all the stimuli, overly happy guy in costume, and his mommy abnormally leaving his side. “

“Attempt #1 and 2… Fail,” writes mom Alyssa of her daughter Catalina.

Consumerist dog Zoe meeting Santa, courtesy of our very own Laura Northrup. You’ve got the right attitude, Zo!

by consumerist.com via Consumerist

Tree-Tipping Is A Crime, Not Related To Cow-Tipping

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(Corey Templeton)

When you buy a wreath made from fresh greenery, you probably don’t give much thought to where those evergreen boughs came from. A tree somewhere: what else is there to know? It turns out that it’s possible to poach tree branches, and tree-tipping, as it’s called, is a thriving illicit industry in the forests of Maine.

The New York Times followed around some legal bough-cutters to learn about the business, as well as the forest rangers who scan forests for tire tracks and signs that pine-rustlers have stopped by. The crime itself is simple and lucrative: snap off branches measuring between a foot and a foot and a half. Sell them to an independent wreath-maker who doesn’t ask questions and who is probably also just trying to get by in a remote and impoverished area of Maine.

If you find the right buyer, evergreen branches can sell for fifty cents a pound. That might not seem like a lot, but imagine how much money that would be for a whole pickup truck bed full of boughs. Legit tippers exist, and they usually pay landowners for the right to harvest boughs.

Tree Tipping Generates Cash and Seasonal Woes in Maine [New York Times]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Sony Releasing “The Interview” Online Today For $6

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The saga of the The Interview may finally be coming to an end, with Sony deciding to release the film for rental and purchase through multiple online outlets a day earlier than it had originally planned to put it in theaters.

The company confirmed to CNN.com that the movie will be available starting around 1 p.m. ET today via YouTube’s rental service, Google Play, the Xbox Marketplace and through a dedicate site, SeeTheInterview.com.

It will rent for $5.99 and sell for $14.99.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Consumerist End-Of-The-Week Flickr Finds

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We’re closing for the rest of this week due to the holiday, but didn’t want to leave you without our weekly picks of cool stuff from the Consumerist Flickr Pool. Here are seven of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool so far this week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

(Xavier J. Peg ☠)

(Corey Templeton)

(Freaktography)

(Chris Goldberg)

(Larry Smith)

(Josh Marcotte)

(Chris Randall)

Want to see your most festive snapshots here on the site? Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Should Airlines Be Required To Find Stranded Travelers Flights On Competitors’ Planes?

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(frankieleon)

So far this year, more than 162,000 flights have been canceled for one reason or another, including the polar vortex and a torched air traffic control center in Chicago. While the airlines may call these cancellations a small inconvenience, passengers know that’s not true, especially since it has become increasingly difficult to rebook their travel. Now, passenger rights groups are seeking changes to make traveling an easier experience for consumers.

The Los Angeles Times reports that passenger rights groups have proposed changes that would require airlines to abide by rules employed before airline deregulation in the 1970s.

Those rules, which ended in 1978, would require airlines to transfer passengers to the next available flight, even it that happens to be a different carrier.

“If your flight is canceled, you can use your ticket on another airline,” said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org, tells LA Times.

FlyersRights.org has proposed the idea to an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Transportation, calling the change a “win-win situation.”

Under the previous requirement, known as Rule 240, airlines were required to offer seats on a competitor’s next flight if that would get the traveler to his or her destination sooner. There was an exception for cancellations caused by an “act of God,” which each airline could define for itself.

Most airlines stopped enforcing those requirements after airline deregulation, with the exception of United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Despite some airlines’ willingness to continue using the outdated rules, most adamantly oppose creating such mandates today.

A spokesman for the trade group Airlines for America says the opposition stems from the fact that a mandate means the government would have to set the rate one airline pays another for a seat.

Still, advocates and industry experts tell the Times that something needs to be done to address the inconvenience passengers have encountered in 2014.

Most of those inconveniences were due to a combination of airlines proactively canceling flights because of impending inclement weather and higher passenger loads than ever before.

Starting in January and February, airlines began to cancel flights when bad weather threatened as a cost-saving measure to avoid having crews and planes wiring idle in storm-locked airports.

But by doing so, they often left passengers stranded with few options for other flights.

Hudson, the president for FlyersRights.org, says the effect of cancellations on passengers is only compounded by the fact that airlines now pack planes to record levels.

According to federal data, nearly 84% of flights have been flying full in the first nine months of 2014 – a record.

“If flights are nearly 90% full and yours is canceled, you have to wait three or four planes before you get rebooked,” Hudson said.

While airlines agree that cancellations and passenger capacity is up, they say that computer technology actually makes it easier to rebook passengers on later flights.

“When a customer’s flight is canceled, they are automatically rebooked on the next available flight,” Jean Medina, a spokesperson for industry group Airlines For America, said.

Airline employees tells the Times that despite advances in technology, some passengers are stranded for hours or days before they can get rebooked.

“We like the high load factor, but we need to be able to accommodate the passengers when flights are canceled or delayed,” Charles Cerf, president of the Transportation Workers Union, which represents 10,000 airline employees, tells the Times. “We are concerned that this is not going to change right away.”

Although high load factors and increased cancellations have wreaked havoc on passengers’ travel plans, airlines aren’t exactly hurting.

In fact, an industry trade group projects that U.S. airlines are on pace to record the highest profit margins in decades. Carriers in North America will likely report 6% margins in 2014, exceeding the peak rates for the 1990s.

That means that while, passengers may face more inconvenience in getting from one place to another, they likely won’t be paying any more for air fare.

Full flights make cancellations harder to rebook; new rules sought [The Los Angeles Times]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

United Passenger Sues Airline, Says She Was Arrested For Changing Seats

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Just about anyone who has had the luxury of flying on a plane with several empty seats has probably moved to another seat to gain a few inches of personal space. But a passenger on a United flight says she was removed from the flight for wanting to relocate within the cabin and jailed for then trying to remain on board.

The suit, initially filed in a New York state court but subsequently removed to a U.S. District Court, states that the passenger was flying from NYC to Anchorage, AK, with a couple of stops along the way.

After one such stop in Seattle, during which the flight crew was switched and passengers were allowed to temporarily deplane, the plaintiff says she first sat down in her assigned seat. But then after noticing that there were numerous empty seats on this final leg of the trip, she took it upon herself to move.

However, a flight attendant then told her that if she wanted to sit in this seat, she’d have to pay a premium of $109.

“So I went forward and then another stewardess came along and said ‘Give me your credit card,’” she tells CBS 2 in NYC. “At that point I decided no, I’m not paying $109 and I’ll go back to my seat.”

The complaint states that once the passenger became aware of the upcharge she ““without further discussion, immediately and peacefully returned to her assigned seat.”

According to the complaint, there were no further discussions between the passenger and flight attendant.

But then things went sour when the captain announced over the loudspeaker that “there was a passenger on the plane who did not want to fly to Alaska.”

The plaintiff says she had no idea the announcement was referring to her until she was eventually told that she was being removed from the plane.

She admits to having resisted police efforts to remove her from the plane, as she’d paid a significant amount of money for her trip and did not believe she’d done anything wrong.

“I said ‘no, I paid for this seat and I’m going to stay here,’” she recalls.

The complaint states that so much force was used in taking her off the plane that her clothes were torn in the process. In the video above, she shows the CBS reporter a pair of jeans she claims were ripped during her arrest.

“They did handcuff me, there were three policemen that dragged me out of the plane,” she tells CBS 2.

She ended up spending three days in jail some 3,000 miles from home. She also had no way of getting home, as United had canceled her ticket, meaning she had to go out of pocket for a return fare on another airline. The plaintiff also say she lost money from hotel and other expenses that she’s paid for in advance but couldn’t use or get refunded.

The complaint alleges, among other things, breach of contract, age and gender discrimination, and negligent hiring, training and supervision of United employees. In total, the passenger is seeking $5 million in damages from the airline.

For its part, United isn’t commenting specifically on the case, though lawyers for the airline did file a motion to dismiss [PDF] most of the claims, stating that the plaintiff doesn’t have a viable complaint under the United contract of carriage; that there is insufficient evidence to make a discrimination claim; and that federal law preempts her state-level claims of negligent hiring and training.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Google, Microsoft Face Down Hilton, Marriott In Fight Over Blocking Hotel Hotspots

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(afagen)

Hotel wifi really sucks sometimes: it can be expensive, insecure, and slow all at once. When there’s a convention in town, the network’s so overloaded you can’t connect at all. So travelers bring their own mobile hotspots. It’s a win for the consumer, but not for the hotel that suddenly loses the ability to charge you more fees. And that’s the core issue behind a regulatory fight that has hotels and tech firms arguing over what consumers are allowed to do.

A Marriott hotel and convention center “solved” this problem by jamming the signals coming from mobile hotspots on the show floor. That left exhibitors and attendants with no real option except to use the Marriott network, which cost between $250 and $1000 per access point. That was great for the hotel (and bad for their customers) while it lasted, but as it turns out, doing that is incredibly illegal. Marriott got slapped with a $600,000 fine over it, which they grudgingly paid.

From Marriott’s perspective, of course, that particular piece of law sucks. But rather than outright flout it again and find themselves handing over more wads of cash in civil penalties, they’re taking a different tactic: demanding to have the rule changed.

Marriott, along with two other hotel companies, formally petitioned to have the relevant FCC rule — or at least the interpretation of it that applies to them — modified so that in the future, they can go back to jamming guests’ personal hotspots with impunity. The issue is now an open FCC proceeding (RM-11737).

Other hotel chains, which also enjoy making money by nickel-and-diming customers for every possible amenity, have signed on in support. In a comment (PDF) to the FCC, the company that owns Hilton hotels called the practice of jamming personal hotspots “reasonable network management” that prevents their own proffered networks from becoming unusable. Network management is perfectly permissible and encouraged under the law so, therefore (the thought goes), the hotels should be a-ok to block everyone else’s signals on-site.

Tech companies, however, are racing to disagree. Google and Microsoft have filed comments in opposition, as have the NCTA (the trade and lobbying group for the cable and telecom industry) and the CTIA (the trade and lobbying group for the wireless industry).

Microsoft (PDF) and Google (PDF) both make the same essential arguments: one, that the unlicensed spectrum wifi uses belongs (or doesn’t belong) equally to pretty much everyone, including both hotels and consumers. Two, that blocking personal devices constitutes jamming, and signal jamming is illegal. And three, that allowing hotels to screw around with other uses of wifi is against the public interest. Since protecting the public interest is the FCC’s mandate, therefore, it follows that they shouldn’t allow hotels to block personal wifi signals.

Both tech giants agree that the hotels have a legitimate and reasonable interest in protecting their own networks, but that preventing other networks from existing in the same space isn’t the same thing. As Microsoft puts it, “Willfully excluding these other authorized devices from using that unlicensed spectrum, under the guise of mitigating so-called threats to the reliability (performance) of an operator’s own network, violates Section 333,” the rule that all of this is happening under.

The FCC — which has a few other things to worry about at the moment — has not yet made a decision on the petition, but likely will in early 2015.

[via Ars Technica]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Snoqualmie Recalls All Ice Cream Made This Year Due To Possible Listeria Contamination

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Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream distributes its ice cream, gelato, custard, and sorbet in some states in the western half of this country. That sounds delicious, but the company has issued a surprisingly extensive recall: it is recalling all of the tasty frozen desserts that it has produced this year. Yes, from the beginning of 2014 until December 15.

Most of those ice creams have probably been eaten by now. The same thing triggered this recall that triggers many food recalls: Listeria monocytogenes showed up in samples taken by state regulators. The company doesn’t know what caused the contamination or how many containers (if any) might be out there with the pathogen, so they have recalled all of their 2014 output.

Most healthy adults might have experienced passing digestive distress if they ate any contaminated ice cream: they also may have had a fever, muscle pain and stiffness, or a severe headache. Listeriosis poses a particular threat to young children, frail senior citizens, and pregnant women.

The company reports that it’s working with federal and state regulators to find where the bacteria came from, and perhaps also to narrow down the scope of the recall a little bit. They know that affected lots were sold in Arizona, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington state; they may have also been distributed in Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Look for date codes on the package that end in 4. If you have any questions about the products or this recall, contact the company at 213-316-8323 from 9 AM to 4 PM Pacific time.

Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream, Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Ice Cream, Gelato, Custard and Sorbet Because of Possible Health Risk [FDA]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Sony’s PlayStation Now Coming To Samsung Smart TVs

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Nearly a year ago at CES 2014, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai announced PlayStation Now, a cloud-based gaming service that would lets users access PlayStation 3 games without requiring a PS3. The service has thus far been available only on Sony devices, but the company confirmed today that it will bring PS Now to Samsung Smart TVs at some point in 2015.

Like other services available on Samsung’s web-connected sets, PS Now will be accessed via an app downloaded through the TV’s Smart Hub.

The only piece of Sony equipment you’d need would be a DualShock4 controller. Sony says that users of the PS Now TV app will enjoy the full functionality of the service — including online multiplayer, and cloud-saved games — which currently offers rental access to a library of around 200 PS3 games.

“[O]ur vision has been to open the world of PlayStation to the masses by offering the service on the devices they use every day,” said Masayasu Ito, Executive Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. in a statement. “Partnering with Samsung is a key step toward realizing this vision, as we can reach a broader audience of consumers who may not own a PlayStation console to show them why gaming with PlayStation is such a unique and amazing experience.”

No specific timeframe has been given for when the Samsung app will launch, or whether it will be available on current-generation Smart TVs or only newer sets from Samsung.

Some of those details will hopefully be made clearer in a couple weeks when we get our hands on the Samsung app at CES 2015.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist