We found the Grinch who stole Christmas and he works for WSYX Channel 6 television in Columbus, Ohio.


My story?
Well, it was Wednesday, December 19, 2001, when I was contacted by Heather Schreiber at WSYX Channel 6 News here in Columbus, Ohio. Channel 6 had been doing live weather reports from various viewer's homes. These viewers were chosen due to their extensive Christmas decorations, inside and out. Heather asked if WSYX could broadcast their weather reports from my sister's BEAUTIFULLY decorated home on Christmas Eve. When I told her I was almost certain it would be okay, Heather seemed happy because they were having difficulty finding someone who would be home on Christmas Eve. I put Heather in touch with my sister, and plans were finalized. My sister informed Heather she had planned on working that day, but that she would take off early from work. Heather told her that the crew would arrive around 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Our usual family Christmas Eve plans involve visiting our grandmother and cousins who live in the area. Since we thought it would be fun to host the WSYX weather crew (and their weather dog) at my sister's home, we decided to rearrange all of our plans. We decided to hold our family get-together at my sister's home instead of traveling to the cousins. My sister decided to put some additional lights around her home to bring the total of lights up to 10,000. She also bought a gift for the WSYX weather dog and since the weather was cold, we made sure we had hot chocolate for the Channel 6 crew. With some help from my sister's neighbors and our cousins, we set up about 100 illuminaries on the street in front of my sister's home.

While we were putting the finishing touches on the illuminaries, Channel 6 telephoned my sister. It was just after 4:30 p.m. and we were waiting for the Channel 6 weather crew to arrive. The man who called my sister just said that he wasn't sure if they were scheduled to be at my sister's home or not, but regardless, they weren't coming. No reasons...no excuses...no apologies. That was all that was said.

Our family was just astonished at WSYX's rudeness and inconsiderate behavior. Our plans were changed just to accommodate these people. We had many things planned for Channel 6; a supply of reindeer antlers for everyone to wear, one of us was going to don a Santa Suit, and we had plenty of food and beverages. We were especially disappointed because our young cousin had told all of his school friends about his special Christmas eve plans. Now he is forced to return to school and explain to everyone what happened. Actually, we all told many people about Channel 6 coming to my sister's home.....and now we all have to explain what heels they turned out to be.

My sister goes to a great deal of trouble decorating for the holidays and we were all looking forward to her getting acknowledged for her hard work; not to mention the extra work she went to just for Channel 6's visit. In addition, she could have stayed at work that day if she had known ahead of time, but since they did not call until the last minute, she lost about $250 in overtime pay.

There is nothing we can do about the experience now. We were thinking about inviting WSYX Channel 6 back to my sister's home on New Year's Eve.....and then NONE OF US would show up! Regardless, I know we will never try and work with WSYX Channel 6 again and, personally, I will never watch their news broadcasts again.

They pulled a fast one on my sister and their actions were far from being in the spirit of the holidays!!!

BAH HUMBUG TO WSYX CHANNEL 6 NEWS COLUMBUS, OHIO.

Many of us have emailed WSYX Channel 6 to express our displeasure. If you'd like to email them for any reason, you can do so at webmaster@wsyx6.com. (P.S. Don't bother contacting their Troubleshooting hotline for any consumer issues either. I hear that if they can't resolve the issue in ONE day, they won't help you!!!!)

IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS FOR ME, YOU MAY EMAIL ME AT WSYXSUCKS@HOTMAIL.COM