Free Republic

LOS ANGELES - Many Southern California customers are frustrated and confused to learn that they might not be receiving their expensive appliance orders, purchased through the luxury appliance store Pirch, when all locations suddenly closed this week. "Are we getting our merchandise? Are we getting a refund?" asked one customer, Maribell Rodriguez. Rodriguez told FOX 11 that she has yet to receive any answers from Pirch regarding her order since the company's abrupt closure Wednesday. She is in the middle of a home renovation and just took out a $20,000 loan to pay for the appliances. "I really feel that...

Luxury designer Hermès has been hit with a class action lawsuit, with plaintiffs claiming they were forced to spend thousands on other goods like scarves and homewares before they could buy a coveted Birkin. Two plaintiffs from California filed suit against the retailer Tuesday after being urged to 'support the business' by buying ancillary products including shoes, scarves, belts, jewelry and home goods. The pursuit of a Birkin is an arduous one. Due to high demand and the painstaking effort needed to craft the leather handbags, they are difficult to produce and expensive to buy.

It has happened more times than I can count. The doors slide open on a train car full of half-occupied pairs of seats. As the newcomer enters, we all set our features to maximum stoniness, flick the dimmer switch behind our eyes. New Guy picks his way awkwardly down the aisle. He is praying for an empty row to suddenly materialize, a resentment-free zone rich in the traveler’s most treasured resource: space. No luck. He comes closer, closer. Here he is. Here is his stupid bag being stowed against my feet. Here is his stupid arm on the armrest. Here...

UPS missed a priority window to make ferry reservations for its trucks to get to Nantucket this summer — leaving businesses scrambling to accommodate affluent locals and moneyed visitors. The shipping courier failed to request reservations for its trucks during an early priority window before ferries for the tony island’s busiest season from May to October were booked close to capacity, the Boston Globe reported. “It’s going to put us in a world of hurt,” Shantaw Bloise, business manager at the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, told the newspaper. “I can’t imagine how we’ll be able to function just relying on...

Among the many ways the rich are different from you and me: Only they can afford grand cru Burgundy. That wasn’t always the case. In the 1990s, middle-class wine lovers could still afford to experience that rite of passage — drinking a truly great wine, not simply to enjoy it, but to understand what qualities made it exceptional in the eyes of history. It might have been a splurge, perhaps requiring a few sacrifices. But it was feasible, just as it was possible to buy first-growth Bordeaux, or the top wines of Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino or Napa Valley cabernet...

There are almost too many to choose from, but here are eleven of the most politically correct moments on college campuses in 2014: 1. Princeton University students launched a microaggression-reporting service. In December, Princeton students relaunched “Tiger Microaggressions,” a service that takes other students’ reports of microaggressions and publishes them on its Facebook page. According to the operators, absolutely anything can qualify as a microaggression since “there are no objective definitions to words and phrases.” 2. College students invented a roofie-detecting nail polish — only to be told that that’s actually also rape culture. In August, college students invented...

""Manspread" - the habit some male NY subway riders have of spreading their legs beyond the confine of their hips to take up two, or even three, seats - is a source of increasing irritation for polite riders concerned about the comfort of others."

Can you make it through this post without muttering “aaarrrggghhh” softly under your breath?