Free then exclaimed, "Get out of my f***ing life!" And hung up on us. By now it was becoming clear to us that we weren't going to receive the product we paid for.

Tuan Nguyen at Tom's Hardware ordered a MacPadd to review it on October 23rd. He subsequently tried repeatedly to contact MacPadd or QMS to inquire about the order, but he was ignored.

After going through the confirmation process and payment (done through PayPal), we received an automated response. The website also indicates that the product should ship to the US within "3 to 7 business days."

During the next 7 days following the initial order date, we contacted the vendor several times with no success. The business number constantly goes to a voicemail. An attempt to call the vendor on the 30th of October did not yield any success either. Leaving a voicemail to have a rep respond went unheard.

We never received a shipment confirmation, tracking email notification, or any other type of email to indicate that the product would be delayed, was unavailable, or was on back order.

Suffice to say, we were getting a bit worried.

After looking through the PayPal transaction record, we were able to find another business contact number listed by PayPal for QMS Inc. We called that several times. No answer either.

The only way Nguyen managed to get the owner to acknowledge him was by opening a dispute with through PayPal. But even that didn't resolve things, with Free first breaking promises to send a tracking number, then sending one that turned out to be for another customer's order, then eventually threatening to sue Nguyen and/or Tom's Hardware.

It gets crazier from there, and includes accusations of mental illness, vague threats, and evidence that others have complained about being ripped off by MacPadd.com. Eventually PayPal resolved the dispute in favor of Tom's Hardware and that was that. Well, except for the follow-up article Nguyen wrote to warn others away from the MacPadd, which drew more rants from Free, who signed up as a commenter on the tomshardware.com site to leave personal attacks.

When you buy something from an untested, small-time online vendor, always do a search for complaints first, both on Google and with the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully the experience that Tom's Hardware had with MacPadd.com will stick around online for a long time to warn future shoppers.

"Company to Avoid: QMS Inc./MacPadd.com" [Tom's Hardware]

From Health.com:

Researchers compared the rates of sexual dysfunction in two groups of workers in China — 230 men who worked at factories that produce BPA or epoxy resin (which contains the chemical), and some 400 men, including workers in other industries, who were not exposed to abnormally high levels of BPA. Epoxy resin is used in the lining of canned foods and is another potential source of BPA in addition to hard, clear plastic.

The men who worked in the BPA and epoxy-resin factories were exposed to levels about 50 times higher than average.

The greater a worker's exposure to BPA — which was measured using spot air and urine samples — the more likely he was to have sexual dysfunction. Yet the dysfunction was apparent even in workers who had worked in a BPA factory for one year or less.

Well, that's troubling.

Study links BPA in plastics to erectile dysfunction [CNN]
(Photo:frankieleon)

On October 20th, I purchased a tie from the Aldo store on Amazon.com, and paid full price for it ($15). It was promptly shipped to me, but when I received it there was a Sale tag attached to it, and the price was marked down to $9.98 but Aldo still charged me full price for it.

I tried to contact their customer support (via e-mail first) and they told me they would pricematch this item to the lower price if I sent the original invoice, plus a hand-written statement describing the problem, plus proof of purchase and proof of lowered price; to CANADA. I responded back, informing them I can walk literally .2 miles from my house to the nearest Aldo store, and that it made no sense to mail all those things to Canada. They agreed, and said I could go to the store to process this refund.

I thought, great, so I went into the store, and they told me physical stores can't process any Aldo orders made from Amazon. I called customer support, and after being on hold for way too long, I was informed the only way they could help me was if I mailed those things to their center in Canada.

I don't know what to do about this. On one hand, it's only a $5.02 difference, and I DID get free shipping on the order. On the other hand, I was sent a sale item when I paid full price for it. Had I known before ordering it would be a sale item at full price, I would probably still have bought it anyway, but the fact still remains, the item was misrepresented. Also, I'm certainly not going to spend $1 on international first-class postage (plus even more if I get it certified etc) just to get a $5 credit.

All of my friends told me to file a merchant complaint with Amazon, but I feel somewhat hesitant to do that because Aldo DID offer an avenue for this conflict resolution, it's just that I feel the option they gave me is unreasonable.

What would you do?

(Photo: The Consumerist)

I was wondering if y'all knew what the hold up at the eggo plant is. I ran across the attached signs while at the grocery store the other night, then tried to follow up on the eggo website which linked me to an error page. What is the world without mass produced waffle goodness?

What, indeed?

Since Kimberly wrote in, Kellogg's has fixed their site's FAQ, and it now tells waffle seekers:

Several recent events have lead to supply issues for Eggo waffles. We want to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, our loyal consumers. We are working hard to return to business as usual as quickly as possible. Please be assured that Kellogg is committed to continuing to deliver the high-quality products that our customers and consumers know and trust.

What are those "recent events?" Well, there was September's recall of a few thousand cases of Eggo waffles due to listeria contamination.

We checked with Kellogg's to see if they can give us any updates on waffle production, and will pass on any information we get.

Contact Us/FAQs [Kellogg's]

A few years ago, I signed up for Bank of America's "Keep the Change" program. With Keep the Change, every charge to your debit card is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is automatically deposited in your savings account. The idea is that you save a small amount with each purchase without even thinking about it, which gradually adds up over time.

So far, so good. However, somewhere along the line, Bank of America started charging a $5 monthly maintenance fee on the account. I was never formally notified of this additional fee, and so I didn't even realize it until I noticed one month that my savings account balance had gone DOWN instead of up. It turns out that I wasn't even accruing $5 worth of change per month, so I was losing more money due to the maintenance fee than I was saving via Keep the Change!

I called Bank of America and they explained that I could avoid the maintenance fee either by making a minimum deposit of $25 into the account each month, or by maintaining a minimum balance of $300 (I had $250). Of course, these terms aren't detailed anywhere on their website (at least not that I could find); Keep the Change is described as a "free service," and the only stipulation is that your savings account has an initial $25 balance.

In summary, if you prop up your savings account by depositing more money into it than you'll ever realistically save with Keep the Change, you'll avoid the fees - but then you might as well not even bother with the program in the first place. And if you don't, you'll never even reach the $300 balance on a new account as the maintenance fee could well end up costing you more than what you're saving!

The easy solution: find out what you need to do to avoid maintenance fees on your savings account, and if you agree to the requirements, follow them every month.

In this case, scheduling a $25 transfer from checking to savings every month would suffice, but James never intended to use the service in that manner. Not every bank product is designed to eat up your money, but if you're not careful you can get hit with unnecessary fees, so always take the time to look for ways the bank can charge you and then make sure you're willing to do the opposite—or walk away from the offer.

Update: I failed to address James' real issue, which is that he says BofA never told him about the fee. If your bank institutes a new monthly fee and doesn't tell you about it, contact them and request a refund. If they refuse, tell them you plan on reporting them to the appropriate agencies, and then follow up on that threat. (You might also want to move your business elsewhere just on principal.) Banks do make mistakes whether they like to admit it or not, especially when they're "too big to fail" and running themselves ragged trying to find new ways to generate revenue.

(Photo: Nieve44/La Luz)

Call Control for Blackberry [EveryCall]

Yeah, can't help you with that too much, Michael. The problem is we're in the early stages of ebook sales going mainstream, and that means every publisher and every retailer is trying something different. The good news is sometimes it will work out in your favor as a consumer, like Amazon forcing competitors into selling new releases for $10 no matter how high publishers want to price them; the bad news is that sometimes you'll get screwed, like every format being locked down by DRM so that you can't read it on a competing device.

One thing you can do is buy from the independent ebook retailer shortcovers.com, which I've found frequently sells ebooks at prices lower than Sony, and competitive with Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (They're currently selling Cheerful Money for $10.49.) Shortcovers sells ebooks in the ePub format, locked down with Adobe Digital Editions DRM, and they say you can read their books on Sony Readers as well as several other ereader devices currently on the market.

The site doesn't offer as large a library as the other retailers, and as I noted the books come with the same DRM plaguing every ebook retailer. But it's a good alternative for owners of Sony Reader devices until Sony discovers competitive pricing.

Update: You can also try ebookprice.info to comparison shop—just make sure that whatever format you buy will work with your ereader. (Thanks to BinaryTB!)

(Photo: kevindooley)

What's even better about this story, though, is how it ends.

The other day my laptop quit working. I noticed the LED display that shows that it is plugged in was not glowing. First I tried plugging my cell phone adapter into the outlet just to see if the outlet was working and of course, there was nothing wrong with the outlet (hooray for paying my electric bill), next I tried plugging the laptop into a different plug and still no luck. Through this basic troubleshooting I realized that either my AC adapter was bad or the problem was inside my laptop! Off to Best Buy and their Weak Squad, I mean Geek Squad.

When I got to Best Buy I told the Geek Squad / Mormon impersonator about my problem. I even suggested that all I needed for them to do was plug my laptop in with a different cord and/or check my adapter with a multimeter. The Geek told me that they did not have an adapter for my computer (an obvious lie, I have had my laptop worked on twice by the Geek Squad and both times they used their own adapter); however he did agree to check it with the multimeter. He then looked around for about 5 seconds and could not find the multimeter, so he did the next logical thing, he picked up my laptop, stared into the AC adapter receiver and then told me "It is definitely going to be a problem with the computer, we are going to need to send it in for three weeks."

Obviously I was shocked. I told him before I sent off my computer for 3 weeks I would like to make sure it is not a problem with the AC adapter, could he please check it out first. "It is going to take at least 10 minutes for me to get the multimeter or another adapter, it's going to be a problem inside the computer, lets just send it in."

I thought for a second... 3 weeks vs 10 minutes... 3 vs 10... well, 3 is less than 10 (Shel Silverstein showed me that in his economy-based poem "Smart")... Despite Shel's frugal advice I decided I would wait out those ten minutes and see what happens.

Turns out, when plugged into a different adapter my computer turns right on! Now, I know all I need to do is buy an adapter, but to be honest I was pretty angry at the Geek Squad's lack of effort in troubleshooting my computer, so I did not purchase the adapter from them.

Instead I went across the street to "The Shack" and started to explain my troubles to the employee there. Before I was done with my story he had already pulled out a multimeter and another adapter. He first plugged in the other adapter and it worked, so then he took the multimeter to my adapter and checked it in two places, before the transformer (from the wall to the plug was 110v) and then post transformer to plug (3.5v, when it as supposed to be putting out 19v). Not only did he confirm (by using science!) that the adapter was bad, he then told me "I'll be honest with you, the universal adapter we sell here is more expensive than the one across the street at Best Buy." To me, his willingness to do the right thing (and not send my laptop away for 3 weeks) was worth the extra 10 dollars.

RELATED
"Radio Shack Sales Staff Unfazed By 2,400% Markup"
Approximately every third Geek Squad post on Consumerist
(Photo: shlala)

Over a week ago Bank of America canceled my debit card, saying it had been compromised. I am a woman traveling in India by myself and have absolutely no access to cash. This exact thing happened to me while traveling abroad 8 months ago so I made sure to notify the bank of my travel plans and was told it would not be a problem. I have been told that there is a computer system that is alerted to strange behavior (apparently withdrawing cash from a foreign country is strange) and the computer closes the card. I have also been told that there is no human, not even the president of the Bank of America himself, who can re-activate the card.

I have spent the last week on the phone with the Bank of America fraud department, customer service, Bank of America emergency dept and Visa 911. I have spent about $100 being hung up on and given incorrect information and hours of my vacation time trying to either get a new card rushed or cash sent via Western Union. I was told this morning that the bank will not send me the cash and when going through the security questionnaire for the 20th time I was hung up on. I was told by the fraud dept that the card would take 5-7 business days to reach me and now was told this morning (before being hung up on) that it will not arrive for 12 business days.

I am insanely frustrated by Bank of America's labrynthine bureaucracy and incompetence. I would love to re-enact a scene from fight club but instead I am here hoping that together we can rise up and demand accountability from our banks.

Bristol's terrible misadventures serve as a reminder to all travelers to never leave home without a backup source of funding, be it a credit card, other bank account, or traveler's checks.

RELATED:
BoA Strands Customer In Siberia With No Money
Update: BoA ATM Card Dispatched To Stranded Traveler After Return To U.S.
HSBC Cancels Traveler's Credit Card, Pays For Their Mistake
American Express Leaves Customer Stranded In Mumbai With No Money
WaMu Doesn't Care You Could Be Stranded In Himalayas With No Money

(Photo: mrkathika)

I know this isn't an earth-shattering issue, but it annoys me. Stupid Toys R Us sent me this email about a special sale on Zhu Zhu pets.

*In-store Sun., 11/8/09 only. Limit one Zhu Zhu Pet per household. Quantities limited; no rain checks. Selection may vary by store.

Seeing how my daughter is all about the Zhu Zhu pets this year, I thought this was a great thing.

So, I get up early (which was a chore, my wife has been in the hospital and just came home yesterday, so we are all exhausted from running back and forth.) I drove 20 miles to get there extra early so I can be one of the 1st 50 people there only to discover not only was my Toys R Us not opening early, they didn't even have them in stock. Talk about a waste of time. Why bother sending something out if it isn't true?

On the drive home I thought to myself, "maybe it was only at certain stores." So I came home and read the email again to make sure. On the bottom it said what stores wouldn't have them. I don't live in NJ, and this was a full size Toys R Us, not an Express or Babies R Us. In fact, I even clicked on the store locator on the email, and my store in Riverhead, NY popped up. Talk about a waste of time.

Was there some kind of miscommunication, or was this an e-mail blast gone horribly wrong? Did Arnold misunderstand? The entire message and relevant part of the disclaimer are reproduced above. It seems pretty straightforward.

Forget about disappointed little children—we hope that no more frazzled parents get their hopes up only to discover that the toys they seek aren't available as promised.

Did you try to obtain Zhu Zhu Pets on Sunday morning like Arnold? How did you fare?

PREVIOUSLY:
Experts Predict Widespread Robotic Hamster Shortages

Google has launched a new service that combines flu shot availability information with Google Maps, google.com/flushot. Everything that you love about Google Maps, plus flu shots! Google notes on their blog that, "this project is just beginning and we have not yet received information about flu shot clinics for many locations. In addition, many locations that are shown are currently out of stock. We launched this service now in order to help disseminate information about locations where vaccines are available, and also to make more vaccine providers aware of the project so that they can contribute."

Always make sure to call the location ahead of time to verify vaccine availability and your eligibility.

Finding flu vaccine information in one easy place [Googleblog] (Thanks to Dirk!)

I also love their raison d'être:

Loudon came up with the idea for the VJ Movement while covering conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. While talking with colleagues after long days of reporting in these war zones, Loudon realized two things: that many journalists could not do stories they wanted to do because editorial directors in far-off newsrooms believed other events were more important, and that when multiple journalists covered the same topic, they all ended up with entirely different stories. This is the basis of our concept, "There is more than one truth."

VJ Movement is in its early stages and who knows how successful it will be but it's a great idea. However, in order to register so that you can pitch, it costs $50 for a year's membership. That seems a pretty steep price for the right to send a reporter tips and leads. So if you want to give it a whirl, we've got a free 3-month trial login you can use, username and pass are consumerist.

VJ Movement

Consumer Reports has a detailed information page about companies that track and sell your personal information. The data comes in the form of consumer credit reports, insurance credit reports, your health history, your checking and banking account history, your criminal background, your history of retail returns, and your property rental history.

In most cases, you can pull free copies of these reports periodically, which is good because errors can pop up in these reports just like they can in a consumer credit history. But who has time to pull and monitor that many databases of personal information? The website PrivacyRights.org suggests you stick with yearly monitoring of your consumer credit report (the one you can get for free only at www.annualcreditreport.com), and pay attention to the other ones only under certain circumstances:

• New homeowner's or auto insurance: order your CLUE or A-PLUS reports
• Victim of check fraud or general checking or savings account problems: order your ChexSystems report
• Employer (current or potential) asks for permission to run background check: ask for name of the screening company and contact them as soon as they've issued the report
• Applying for a new job: order Employment Data Report from Work Number if any past employers used that company; also consider ordering a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure
• Renting an apartment or home: ask the landlord for the name of the screening company, as there are several
• Health, life, long-term care, or disability insurance: order your MIB report from Medical Information Bureau
• General overall check-up on what you look like as data: order a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure and a Lexus-Nexis Accurint Person Report

There is one time when you may want to go crazy and order everything, and that's if you've been a victim of identity theft.

(Thanks to commenter mac-phisto, whose advice in an earlier post on auto insurance triggered this one.)

"Big Brother is watching" [Consumer Reports]
"What You Should Know about 'Specialty' Reports" [Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]
(Photo: Erik Pitti)

What's frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.

If the deal goes through it will no doubt hurt both parties. Trashing the value of its service, Netflix will lose subscribers, and the studios won't see the sales bump they're hoping for since a chunk of otherwise honest would-be renters will either opt for piracy or just sit out the 30 days to rent the movies.

Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you're not allowed to rent it until a month after it's released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?

Netflix Wants 50 Percent Discount Under Release Delay Scenario [PaidContent via TechCrunch]
(Photo: Great Beyond)

Turns out Verizon moved back her renewal date to 2011 anyway. Chris called to negotiate with Verizon, which reset the contracts and let the couple get a pair of new Droids. He writes:

On Thursday night, I went online to check her equipment renewal date, and was shocked to see that it was in January of 2011 which meant that her the Voyager Titanium had in fact change her upgrade date despite the previous CSR's assurances to the contrary. I called Verizon, and the first CSR I spoke to told me that there was nothing she could do, as receiving a new phone as a replacement virtually guarantees that your upgrade date will be extended. I asked to speak to her manager, and she put me through to a guy named Roman.

I gave Roman a recap of my wife's previous struggles with her Voyagers and made sure to reiterate that the CSR we spoke to assured us that her upgrade date wouldn't change. He stated, rather matter-of-factly, that receiving a new phone as a replacement changes your upgrade date, and there wasn't anything on the new phone replacement order that would indicate they should handle things any differently.

At this point, I'm getting upset. I'm telling him that we were lied to by one of their CSRs, and he's telling me that there's no reason he should believe anything I'm saying. After a bit of this kind of back and forth, I go on a tirade — I don't remember what I said exactly, but there my observation that the situation was total bullshit, that I was a good customer that paid my bills in full and on time, and that I deserved better treatment.

He asks for a minute and places me on hold. At this point, I'm trying to become resigned to the fact that we've been screwed. We were hoping to get on the same contract renewal schedule and, if it all worked out, get the same phone. After a while, Roman comes back and told me that he would be changing my wife's upgrade date back to the original date, which would make her eligible to sign a new contract.

I was a bit shocked. He had completely reversed his position and noted that I was a good customer and that he accepting my version of events as the truth. I thanked him for doing the right thing, and mentioned that we were looking forward to going out the next morning and checking out the DROID. At that point, he perked up and asked if we'd both be getting DROIDs. I told him we were hoping that would be the case, and he responded by telling me that he was changing my wife's upgrade date to Friday (the next day - about four months earlier than the date he had just agreed to). I was shocked. This would mean that both my wife and I would get discounts on our phones and that we would finally be on the same contract schedule. I thanked Roman profusely, and told him that we'd tell people about how good we'd been treated by Verizon.

I've told my family, friends, coworkers, and just about anyone that would listen. And now, I'm telling you, Consumerist. Verizon kept their word without me having to do an EECB, and went beyond that to extend my wife and I a courtesy. I like to think they did just to treat a good customer nicely, but I'm not ignorant to the fact that they'll be making an extra $60 per month from us in the form of data plans for our fancy new phones.

At this point, I don't even care. Our new phones rule and we got everything we wanted. Hooray!

As Chris hints, this is just as much a happy ending for Verizon as it is for him. If you're a Verizon Wireless customer who recently upgraded but are suffering from Droid envy, it wouldn't hurt to give the company a ring to see if you could get Chris's deal.

Yet he's guilty until proven innocent, and Microsoft isn't willing to hear him out. He writes:

My console and my fiance's console were caught up in the Mass Banning going on by Microsoft in their latest Pirate Witch Hunt. My fiance is a chef, and plays games like Viva Pinata, Arcade Games, and can't figure out how to remove the battery pack, much less tear apart her system to "mod" anything.

I have purchased (2) Xbox 360 consoles (one for each of us), 68 games, several hundred dollars worth of Live content and DLC, another several hundred on disks that were scratched by faulty first gen consoles, a faulty 20 gig drive that Microsoft refused to warranty, and extra controllers / etc. All together I have dropped over $5200 supporting Microsoft, which I don't have a problem with ... what I DO take issue with is that yesterday we downloaded some content for the game Left 4 Dead and played it a bit, this morning I turned on my console and when I tried to log in, it stated my console was banned. What? The only "mod" I have ever done to my Xbox 360 was replace the crapped out 20 gig drive with an official 120 gig drive I purchased at Best Buy (I know, don't hate on me for buying at Best Buy...) and that was almost 5 months ago. Of course I had a RRoD, but that was over a year ago (whic was another horror story all together).

Of course I tried to figure out what happened, but the outsourced "support" team refused to give me ANY information other than their investigations were very though. At one point a man who called himself "Charles" told me that it was my problem and I should learn to follow the rules, then hung up on me. I checked the Xbox Live Forums and while I am sure that some of the people posting in the Account Suspension and Player Feedback forum have probably done something to their consoles, I find if hard to believe that ALL of the people posting in there have modded their systems or whatever it is Microsoft has been flagging for.

One forum post shows exactly the type of sub-par support I experienced: A supposed Microsoft Support Rep named "StormShadow425" belittles a concerned customer and at one point tells him "But this is what you get back for tampering the console."

Here is the thread if you are interested in seeing what type of support you can expect from Microsoft now.

As it will take several weeks for Microsoft to check my system / account / whatever black magic they do to determine if they made a mistake, I have pretty much written off any more Xbox Live and online gaming on my Xbox for a month at least, if ever. My fiance never actually played on Live, we would either System Link via Wireless to play Left 4 Dead with each other, of if a friend came over and we wanted to play 4-way split screen, or she would just play her little games, so not a big deal there. Our accounts were going to revert to Silver in February I think so not a big deal anyway. I think I am more angry with the spectacular terrible support Microsoft has, and the way they treat their customers... especially right before the Holiday season when people are looking to spend on gifts? I was considering picking up an Arcade bundle for my nephew, but I think I have pretty much crossed that off the list, ha ha! He will have to settle for a Nintendo DSi or possibly a PS3 now that they are cheaper.

Has anyone been banned by Xbox Live for accused modding and managed to get the ban lifted? Other than buying new consoles and starting new Xbox Live accounts, there must be some way for Jeff to get out of this mess.

(Photo: jim699)

The good news for Wii players hoping to feel the burn with assistance from their console is the system comes with a free game that researchers found more effective than the $100 Wii Fit:

Researchers found that in all cases, performing an actual exercise activity rather than Wii Fit's virtual approximation resulted in "significantly higher" caloric expenditure. The Rhythm Boxing activity, in particular, burned one-third of the calories expended per minute of traditional boxing.

"While we found that playing the Wii Fit burns twice as many calories as a sedentary video game," said ACE's chief science officer Cedric X. Bryant, "the outcome of the study suggests that Wii Sports, the Wii's suite of exergames that includes tennis, boxing, golf and bowling, is a better option and more capable of helping consumers meet minimum intensity guidelines for exercise."

I've found Wii Fit's most effective weight-loss tool to be its fattening/thinning of your Mii avatar depending on your body mass index. The game also passive-aggressively scolds you when you gain weight, making you provide a reason for your piggishness. You think twice about eating those fries when you remember you've got to answer to Wii Fit in the morning. But yeah, it sucks as exercise.

American Council on Exercise Charts 'Underwhelming' Wii Fit Health Benefits [Gamasutra, via Kotaku]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: kevindean)

Veterans Day Specials (Thanks to John!)
• KrispyKreme: [Donut] Free donut! Today only, at participating locations
• Applebees: [Restaurant] Free meal for Veterans on Veterans Day. See available menu on Applebees promo site.
• Brides Across America: [Wedding Gowns] Free gowns from participating shops on first come, first serve basis, for brides-to-be with deployed fiancés


• Golden Corral: [Restaurant]Free meal for veterans from 5 to 9pm on Monday, November 16th
• MilitaryAvenue.com: [Discounts] List of discounts or freebies offered to veterans

Clothing
• New York & Co.: [Women's Fashions] Save 30% off All Women's Apparel
• Nike: [Men's Apparel] Nike Men's Graphic Sport T-Shirts for $10 + free shipping
• Lands' End: [Men's Apparel] Lands' End Men's Dress Shirts: Deals from $10 + free shipping

Computers and Electronics
• Buy.com: [MP3 Player] V-Clip 4GB Compact Portable MP3 Player $20 Shipped
• CompUSA: [Blu-ray Player] Samsung BD-P1590 Blu-Ray Player (Refurb, Netflix/Pandora Streaming & BD-Live) $100.00 Free Shipping
• Kodak Store: [HD Camcorder] Kodak Zi8 1080p High Definition Pocket Video Camera $152.96 Free Shipping


• Walmart: [Media Player] WD TV Mini Media Player (Smaller Size, 1080i Upconversion) $59.99 Free Shipping
• Nero: [TV Tuner Cards] LiquidTV TiVo PC w/ USB tuner, 1-year TiVo subscription for $35 + free shipping
• Adorama: [HDTV] Netflix-ready LG 50-inch 1080p 600Hz Plasma HDTV $900 + free shipping


• Amazon: [Printer] Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless All-In-One Photo Printer $110 + free shipping
• MacMall: [Mac Portable] Save $99: Apple 13.3-in 2.26GHz MacBook Pro $1100

Entertainment
• Walmart: [Blu-ray Movie] The Hangover Movie (Blu-ray) Preorder $16.86 Free Shipping
• Buy.com : [Console Accessory] DS Lite 10-Piece Accessory Pack for $5.99 w/ Free shipping
• Buy.com : [Movie] Batman Begins DVD - Widescreen for $4.99 w/ Free shipping


• Shortcovers: [Ebooks] $2 off ebook purchase through November 13th with coupon code Nov2dollar

Health and Beauty
• Amazon: [Trail Running] Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Wrist-mounted Trainer with Heart Rate Monitor $149 Shipped
• 1-800 CONTACTS: [Health] New 1-800 CONTACTS Coupon Code $8 Off $85 + Free Shipping
• Sensis: [Condom] Free sample condom by mail (our tipster John writes, "great for any occasion, including Veterans Day")

Misc
• BJ's Wholesale Club: [Memberships] Free 60-Day Trial Membership (regular 12-month membership is $45)
• Petco : [Pets] $5 Off $25 and $10 Off $50 w/ Coupons - Printable

Toys
• StarWarsShop: [Toys & Hobbies] StarWarsShop.com Sale: 25% off sitewide
• Buy.com : [Toys] Lionel Railroad Crossing Coin Bank for $19.99 w/ Free shipping
• Amazon: [Puzzle] Earth 540-piece puzzle ball $28 + free shipping

Morning Deals are purely an informational service for the readers. Consumerist receives nothing in exchange for their posting.
If you have a tip for Morning Deals, send it to tips@consumerist.com, and be sure to put "morning deals" in the subject line.

From NJ.com:

State officials said the company will no longer sell non-prescription drugs or infant formula beyond their expiration dates, nor will it sell merchandise for more money than the displayed price. Target also created a new position to monitor the company's compliance with the settlement for the next two years.

The state's Division of Consumer Affairs sued Target, Walmart, and Drug Fair in September 2008, after finding that despite earlier agreements with the state, they were still selling expired products and charging wrong prices. Lawsuits against the other two retailers are still pending.

"Target reaches $375K settlement with N.J. for selling expired baby formula, charging different prices" [NJ.com]
(Photo: j.reed)

Alexandra writes,

I recently grew tired of the daily Staples email I received. Somehow, hot discounted office supplies just weren't doing it for me anymore. I diligently followed the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email, and was led to a page that immediately let me unsubscribe. Nice. Once unsubscribed I had the option of selecting why I no longer wanted to be pestered with daily deals on manila folders.

Hilariously, one of these options is "Staples emails are too relevant (feel watched)."

Guess which one I picked? I also wonder if they are gathering any usable statistics from this form. I'd think that it would all be skewed by what I assume (perhaps incorrectly) to be a joke.

(Photo: bdjsb7)

"Free WiFi for the Holidays" [Google via IntoMobile]
(Photo: quinn.anya)

Other tips include reducing your mileage and having a theft-deterrent device installed. You might also want to compare risk classifications for cars if you're shopping for a new one—your insurer should be able to provide you with a comparison chart.

"10 Things That You Can Do To Lower your Auto Insurance Premium" [Mint]
(Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³)

After they turn 19, guys go on a shopping spree, apparently to make up for lost time and replace those charming undies selected by mom.

"Our research shows that you can tell when a man is looking for a partner by the number of new underpants they buy for themselves," said Debenhams Head of Men's Accessories Buying, Rob Faucherand. "If he buys more than 31 pairs every year then he's either still trying desperately to impress the woman in his life — or else she's not The One."

After they turn 23, men basically stop buying underwear altogether, presumably because they're leaving it to girlfriends or wives — or have gone back to mom (if there's another reason, we don't want to know). Midlife crises fuel a brief bulge in sales for guys in their late 30s, who slink back to their spouses after a couple of years, and stop picking out their own underwear for the rest of their lives.

If he lets you buy his underpants, you're The One [Reuters]

(Photo: midorisyu)

The new service, Blockbuster Express Digital, will be tested in a few markets. The initial offering will have about 1,000 movies, which is about 15,000 fewer than Netflix offers on its streaming service, which works with TVs, computers and PS3s, and other devices.

Blockbuster isn't the first company to try to to rent DRM-protected movies that play on proprietary devices. Apple's been doing it for years through iTunes. Of course, to rent movies on iTunes, you don't have to go hunt down a kiosk. You can download them to your computer, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV and watch them instantly. How's Apple doing with that? CEO Steve Jobs calls Apple TV his "hobby," and when the company released an upgraded version of the box last month, it didn't exactly take the world by storm.

So, yeah, good luck with that Blockbuster. It's nice to have a hobby.

NCR, MOD Systems begin digital kiosk download revolution in Entertainment with first technical trial in retail [Press Release]

The menu is meant to stop a slowdown in breakfast menu item sales. With fewer people going to work — they are understandably buying fewer breakfasts on the way to their non-existent jobs.

From the WSJ:

The fast-food chain's national advertising fund has "overwhelmingly approved" backing the dollar breakfast menu with a nationwide campaign during the first six months of 2010, according to the document. The matter will be put to a vote of regional advertising groups, but it comes with the blessing of the national council and a sense of urgency "to ensure that breakfast continues to be a strong contributor to our overall sales, guest count and profit growth," the document said.

Danya Proud, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said the chain wouldn't comment on information obtained from unauthorized sources. "Matters concerning the future of our business and internal discussions are confidential and proprietary to the McDonald's system," she said.

The items we know have been featured on breakfast dollar menus include wo hot cakes, a fruit 'n yogurt parfait, a sausage biscuit, a sausage McMuffin, two hash browns or medium coffee.

The document also approved the January nationwide roll out of the Big Mac burrito, also known as the "Mac Snack Wrap," for $1.49.

McDonald's Cooking Up Dollar Menu for Breakfast [WSJ]
(Photo:donbuciak)

"List of animals with fraudulent diplomas" [Wikipedia via Boingboing] (Thanks to Trai_Dep!)
(Photo: ourdogholly)

Jeremy says:

My organization has a wonderful, articulate but disabled lady who has agreed to speak to a certain state's legislature about patient's rights, a very timely and powerful message in the times where scrutinizing healthcare is front and center in our national debate.

I made the reservations for her to fly down and back on my American Express — something we do all the time — through American Airlines because we are a corporate rewards BusinessExtrAA member. All things being equal, we usually pick American because of the rewards my organization get through flying with them. I clicked through the reservation online, trying to be considerate of her every option — wheelchairs and aisle seats all around, because of her disability. Because of her being generous with her time, we wanted to take care of everything for her. I thought it odd that there wasn't a way to prepay for luggage, but made the reservation anyway and figured I had missed it and could add it later.

As an avid Consumerist reader and a chart nerd, I regularly click through to read what the baggage fees are on certain airlines and get incensed, feeling glad I mostly fly Southwest. I often saw discounts for other airlines for pre-paying for luggage on a reservation, I wondered why I hadn't been given the option to do so with my American Airlines reservation. I logged back into the reservation online and looked for the option to prepay for luggage. Where is it? I searched their website for clues, and, figuring that it was one of the options they don't allow you to change with your reservation online, called the reservations line.

The first woman, Lisa, couldn't answer my question and didn't know how to pre-pay for luggage, and having been a former call center representative myself, I very politely suggested that I hold for a few minutes while she ask the information from a supervisor. She came back a few minutes later and told me — it would be $20, and a $100 pre-payment fee. $120 total. Each way. I blanched, not expecting that answer at all. I very politely suggested that she may have gotten the information wrong and asked where I could find that information online to verify this, but she couldn't answer my question. I then asked to speak to her supervisor directly, because I needed this information documented for possible tax reasons or because of corporate reimbursement policy. I think she was glad to get rid of me.

Pat answered and as a savvy supervisor as a call center can, she listened to my story and answered my questions with politeness and clarity. She repeated the information she had given me about the pre-paid baggage fee - $120 - and I said I could wait on hold for a few minutes while she checked with the people who work at the website helpdesk to see where this fee was published online. A few more minutes on hold and she came back to me, telling me that there is no information published on the aa.com website that mentions this fee. There isn't anywhere this information is published.

I asked why, and by this point Pat and I had developed a polite rapport. She admitted that they must not publish it because of its exorbitance — although I suspect she regretted saying that, because you're trained as a call center supervisor to never directly express your contrary opinion to corporate policy. She didn't have the power to waive the fee, and there were no other options for me. To her credit, she actually said this out loud instead of transferring me to someone else. I decided not to fight it any more.

$120 pre-paid baggage fee! This is not an option for my organization going forward when we have to curry favor for someone to speak for us. I think that my organization's policy on "all things being equal" for choosing American Airlines just got a little more unequal, BusinessExtrAA member or not. As for our disabled passenger - she will get to the event, thanks to pre-paid AmEx cards (wait, can you even use those to pay for luggage??) — but thank god there's no "wheelchair fee" - YET!

Has this happened to anyone else?

(Photo:Oliver 62)

It is a good idea to get in a nice workout prior to the meal as well. This is a great way to get your metabolism running at full speed and burn off some calories that you'll surely be adding right back up. I recommend a large amount of cardio exercise preferably running, biking or swimming....

It is acceptable to go around slow diners as long as there is room on the other side and you will not be needing to reach back towards the skipped individual. A powerful technique here can be the "accidental" elbow bump in order to encourage them to move on. It is also important to steel yourself from others use of this maneuver....

I try to allot a large portion of my meal to high cost items, while sampling things that look tasty and also making sure that I get to those items that I know and love....

You'll want to be sure that you have to further commitments for at least 3 hours and preferably the remainder of the day....

Are you an all you can eat aficionado? What tactics and etiquettes do you follow to get the most out of your smorgasboard?

The All-Inclusive All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Guide [Eating The Road] (Photo: Bryan Maleszyk)

Here are the menu boards:

Here's the blog's argument for why Bank of America isn't honoring its promise to customers and to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). On October 6th the bank released a letter in which it pledged to stop re-pricing existing credit card accounts—but introducing an annual fee where none existed before sure sounds like re-pricing, doesn't it? BoA explained it like this: they only promised to not raise interest rates.

However, that's not true. WalletBlog points out that the bank made no such distinction in their October 6th letter. Here's the relevant excerpt:

"In light of the concerns expressed to us by our customers, Bank of America will not implement any change in terms (risk or economic based) re-pricing of consumer credit card accounts between now and the effective date of the CARD Act."

That language doesn't draw any distinctions between types of re-pricing, so it's kind of weird to retroactively define the term as only relating to interest rates.

But this is a moot point because the letter only promises that they won't practice re-pricing between now and the implementation of the CARD Act. After that goes into effect in February 2010, the promise no longer applies. I don't know why BoA's representative bothered to misrepresent the language of the letter when he could just as easily have pointed out that it was nothing more than a temporary pledge—and mostly an empty once, since they had already re-priced many accounts in the month leading up to the letter.

As far as implementing fees after the CARD Act goes into effect, well, that's where WalletBlog says that BoA may end up in violation of the law. BoA argues that the CARD Act prohibits raising interest rates but says nothing about implementing annual fees, but WalletBlog points out that the language of the CARD Act is ambiguous, and thanks to a 1996 Supreme Court case involving Citibank, the FDIC considers the term "interest" to include:

...among other things, the following fees connected with credit extension or availability: numerical periodic rates, late fees, not sufficient funds (NSF) fees, overlimit fees, annual fees, cash advance fees, and membership fees.

It sounds like BoA may be testing the boundaries of the CARD Act and seeing if it can get away with annual fees by arguing that they're not specifically prohibited.

Be sure to check out WalletBlog's full post on the matter.

"Bank of America Tries but Fails to Defend New Annual Fees" [WalletBlog]
"Bank of America Readies Itself to Break the Law" [WalletBlog]
(Photo: mrkathika)

So goes the jingle for the Subway $5 footlong campaign whose success has the sandwich chain within striking distance of McDonald's, and is all the more surprising considering that the idea started not at headquarters or in an ad-agency, but was the brainchild of a guy who only owned two Subways trying to boost sagging weekend sales.

It's a cool story that shows how entrepreneurs can break through even in a tough economy by creatively offering customers a little more value.

The Accidental Hero [Business Week] (Photo: NickNguyen)

She writes:

I've had DirecTV for over 5 years but have been underemployed since April with bill money just trickling in. I've worked with all my utilities to keep service and keep making regular payments that are satisfactory to everyone involved. DirecTV has been the only company unresponsive to my requests and soon after I missed my payment date, my service was disconnected which is unfortunate but understandable. I figured I'd pay off the late bill and eventually reinstate service when my situation improved. I received an email from DirecTV saying that they will be sending me an empty box for returning my DVR's and that returning them within 7 days would avoid any fees and that they will send me a final bill.

On Friday I received the "DirecYV Equipment Recovery" box with an enclosed letter again stating that I will avoid any equipment fees by sending in my DVR's within 7 days. I called Directv to make sure I knew exactly what they expected in the box and was again told my account had a past due balance but would not incur any additional charges if I returned the equipment and reinstated service within 9 months. At this point I was content with my contact with DirecTV. I packed the box and it was on my "to-do" list to drop off today (first business day after receiving the box). But before I left my house this morning I found an unathorized $680 charge to my bank account from Directv. After calling customer service, using the DirecTV twitter account, and sending out EECB's, I was contacted by "David" from corporate (he would not give his last name) who I thought would explain the charges and reverse them since I still had 5 days to return the equipment. Instead he just repeated over and over, "How do I know I'll get my equipment back?."

I explained to him over and over again that the box was packed and going out today and they had no right to withdrawal hundreds of dollars without my notice but he refused to budge. At best he says he will return a portion of the charge when the equipment is returned and processed (minimum 6 day window.) I now have a giant financial mess on my hands because of my overdrawn account and my bank is investigating the charge.

I cannot believe it is legal for DirecTV to send me an email, a letter, and to verbally agree that I will not incur charges and then charge me 2 days later. I am not disputing whether I owe them for the past due balance, I am disputing their right to withdraw it from my card on file with no notice (since I am not on Auto-pay), I am disputing the equipment charges when I clearly have more time to return it, and I am disputing their idea that because they sense a risk of equipment loss (despite my constant contact with them), that they have the right to charge me before I have ample time to return their equipment.

I have tried everything to be the best, although temporarily unemployed, consumer possible but I really just want to know what recourse I have at this point.

Surely some of you have dealt with DirecTV's creepy underbelly before and have some words of advice for Mary. No fair to say "make your payments on time," because that's not the issue here.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

Look at the EA Store's actual page with games that cost less than $20 and you'll mostly find PC-only expansion packs, save for the lovely Mass Effect.

I logged onto Fark several times but the ad didn't come up for me. Unless Seth is a photoshop prankster, this seems shady.

The condoms were made in a factory in Hunan province and are believed to have been sold nationwide under a variety of names, including those of well-known makers such as Jissbon and Durex, the China Youth Daily said.

Police have detained suspect manufacturer Li Anping, who allegedly bought condoms wholesale, added an unknown lubricant and crudely packaged them without sterilizing the product, the report said.

So happy hunting, everyone! The condoms are just like Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets, only there's 2 million of them and they spread STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

Hunt on for two million unsafe condoms [ABC News]
(Photo: bnilsen)
(Thanks, LadySiren!)

I don't think they're going to sell a lot of those 10 piece sets.

I dunno. Maybe there's something we don't know about that 10-piece set. I'll have to stare at Home Depot's handy price comparison page for a while to come to a verdict.

Product Comparison [Home Depot]

One reader called to complain about Citi raising credit card interest rates:Pretty neat. Give us a call and let your voice ring out!

(Photo: savagecat)

Intended as a safety net, the hefty cya later pay packages can however seduce ex-employees into thinking that they can continue to spend like everything is hunky-dory—until the reckoning comes.

Commenter Coles_Law put it best:

"Mr. Joegriner, 44 years old, has had several offers. He's turned each down in hopes of landing a position comparable to what he held before."

+

".By Mr. Joegriner's own calculations, the family will be out of money in six months if he doesn't find work."

= *head explodes*

Life on Severance: Comfort, Then Crisis [WSJ] (Photo: JoshuaDavisPhotography.COM)