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• Commented on Migraine? Try A Big Old Dose Of Aspirin
  Wait a minute... a placebo tricked 32 percent of people into feeling "mild or better?" That's pretty impressive. 100 mg of Imitrex barely tricks me into feeling only "moderately suicidal."...
• Posted So Long, Farewell.... to The Consumerist

  I've already written the heartfelt and emotional goodbye once before, and I said everything then that I wanted to say. I could go on and tell you how Ben and Meghann, and the entire Consumerist team, are wonderful people to call colleagues; or, that Consumers Union couldn't be a more fitting and supportive home; or, that some of the site's best work is still ahead (seriously, there's great stuff in the pipe;) I could do all that—and it would all be true—but I'll instead link back to my old post and thank you once again for reading. Goodbye!

• Commented on A Farewell To Careys
  Aw, thanks everyone! I'm sad to leave. It's hard to believe that taking eerily awesome pictures with Ben and Meghann in SoHo alleyways is no longer part of my job....
• Commented on HSBC Cancels Traveler's Credit Card, Pays For Their Mistake
  @supercereal: I told the bank exactly how to reach me, and they had my phone number and email address. I wasn't in one place for the whole time so a forwarding address wasn't viable. Mind reading would have been a...
• Posted AppleCare Is An Extended Warranty Worth Buying to The Consumerist

  I asked Apple this morning to replace my broken laptop now that they've reintroduced the anti-glare option on their 15" MacBook Pros. Apple agreed, and soon a new laptop will leave China destined for my apartment. This isn't the first laptop Apple sent me this month. It's the second. Here's why...

• Posted HSBC Cancels Traveler's Credit Card, Pays For Their Mistake to The Consumerist

  Bank of America isn't the only bank that enjoys canceling their traveling customer's credit cards. HSBC canceled my card while I was living in New Zealand, and as part of their "continuing efforts to fight fraud," sent an active replacement card to my address 9,000 miles away.

• Posted "ThinkBread" Is A Clever Attempt To Re-Brand Matzoh For The Off-Season to The Consumerist

  This here is a box of Streit's "ThinkBread," a "big cracker" that is "ideal for people who prefer an active and healthy life style." We're no Talmudic scholars, but we swear this is one big cracker we've seen before. Let's see.... It's made by Streit's, a matzoh company. It comes in a matzoh box. It looks like matzoh. It tastes likes matzoh. So, ma nishtanah; what is it?

• Posted Do You Talk To Friends About Your Finances? to The Consumerist

  A recent Huffington Post article wondered if talking about personal finance was "the final taboo." Talking about money can feel as revealing as a strip-tease with none of the fun, but for something as complex and individual as your financial future, a one-way conversation with the internet or personal finance columnists isn't enough.

• Posted Couchsurfing Can Help You Save Money And Make Friends While Traveling to The Consumerist

  CouchSurfing is an online community of friendly hosts who are ready and eager to throw their convertible couches open to travelers from across the world. The service offers more than a free place to crash; it connects travelers with like-minded people who are excited to share their enthusiasm for their hometown. But aren't you going to be immediately robbed and stabbed by the opportunistic lechers lurking on the internet, you ask?

• Posted Morning Deals to The Consumerist

• Posted 36 Risk Factors Creditors Use To Deny You Credit to The Consumerist

  Lenders can use the data from your credit report to deny you credit for any one of several reasons. If you are denied, you receive a letter identifying the credit reporting agency that provided the report, along with a risk factor reason code. Bargaineering published a list of the common risk factor codes that lenders use to deem you unworthy of credit. For all three reporting agencies, the cardinal sins are owing too much and failing to pay your bills. The list of codes, inside.

• Posted E.E.C.B. Forces Best Buy To Finally Replace Defective TV to The Consumerist

  It took an Executive Email Carpet Bomb to convince Best Buy to replace Bryan's Panasonic LiFi LCD Projection TV after it ate through four lamps. Bryan had purchased Best Buy's extended warranty, which contains a no lemon clause that promises a replacement after three failed repairs. Best Buy conveniently insisted that replacing the broken lamp did not count as a "qualified repair." Bryan first escalated his complaint through normal channels; when he had no other choice, he launched the mighty EECB.

• Posted Avoid Being Scammed By Shady Contractors to The Consumerist

  Never, never open your door to a contractor who randomly appears offering to fix some unseen problem. You would think it's common sense, but a California senior ended up paying a shady contractor $20,000 to perform $300 worth of work, and it took a sting operation to stop a Long Island contractor who was going door-to-door offering to plug nonexistent carbon monoxide leaks. So how can you protect yourself? Here are a few warning signs to beware....

• Posted CVS Will Automatically Refill Your Prescription, Consent Be Damned to The Consumerist

  CVS pharmacies apparently don't need consent to enroll customers in ReadyFill, a program that signs customers up for the maximum allowable number of prescription refills and then robocalls them when their drugs are ready. According to a veteran pharmacist, the automatic enrollments began after CVS' corporate office set specific performance targets that would affect bonuses for managers and pharmacists. Inside, the pharmacist tells us what ReadyFill is, how it works, and how to escape those annoying robocalls...

• Posted USAA: Deposit Your Checks With An iPhone! to The Consumerist

  The friendliest bank in the world, USAA, will soon let customers instantaneously deposit checks through its iPhone application. Here's how it works: you snap a picture of the front and back of your check, and send the picture to USAA. That's it.

• Posted What Does Health Care Reform Mean For You? to The Consumerist

  The debate over health care reform has devolved into scaremongering with death panels and rationed care. What's really going on, and what does it really mean for you and your family? Inside, the New York Times breaks down the competing bills...

• Posted Morning Deals to The Consumerist

• Posted ThinkGeek Embraces Accidental Giveaway, Lets People Keep Freebies to The Consumerist

  What do you do when your server suddenly contracts swine flu and starts giving away free merchandise? If you're ThinkGeek, nothing! The geek toy store celebrated a server glitch by announcing that anyone who picked up free schwag would get to keep it, no questions asked. Why? Read on for the awesome explanation...

• Posted Either Have The Temerity To Hold Stocks Or Get Out Of The Market to The Consumerist

  One of the first studies of the recent market splat found that the investors most likely to be crushed thought they were investing for the long haul, only to be forced into cashing out at the worst possible time. According to the study, cleverly titled "When Everyone Runs for the Exit," there are only two good ways to react to a liquidity crisis: hold onto your portfolio and trust that it will recover, or fold immediately to limit your losses.

• Posted Mouse Builds Expensive Nest Inside ATM to The Consumerist

  A mouse snuck into an ATM at a gas station in eastern Oregon and made what had to have been an adorable little home out of sixteen $20 bills. Nobody knows how Scrooge McMouse got into the ATM, but after giving the station attendant a good scare, he was fished out of his money pit and set free.

• Posted Credit Unions Dive Into The Student Loan Market to The Consumerist

  Private loans are the worst type of student debt, but the best place to get them may be your local credit union. Like most credit union products, their loans are usually a better deal with more favorable terms than similar loans from bigger banks.

• Posted Make Your Own Sports Drink to The Consumerist

  Why waste money on Gatorade when you can brew an equally effective sports drink from sugar, lemon juice, salt and orange juice? Hit the jump for the simple, inexpensive recipe.

• Posted Adobe Takes Four Months And Counting To Process Refund to The Consumerist

  Jeff bought a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4 back in May during a sale promising a $200 discount. The final checkout price didn't reflect the discount, but he double-checked the terms and conditions and confirmed that he was eligible. Adobe agreed, and has repeatedly promised to issue a refund. Jeff has been waiting for the check for almost four months, and he's not alone. Another customer has been waiting on a similar refund for almost a year!

• Posted Five Ways To Save Time And Money On Your Lawn to The Consumerist

  We remember from our formative days in suburbia that managing a lawn was a lot like fighting a war. And like modern wars, outsourcing was the cleanest and easiest option, even if it cost a bit more. Well, with five tips from noted cheapskate Jeff Yeager, managing your own lawn could become just a little more manageable.

• Posted Apple Has The Best Tech Support, Dell, HP, Acer Have The Worst to The Consumerist

  After calling every major computer maker with two basic questions, Laptop Magazine determined that Apple has the best overall tech support, while Dell, HP, and Acer have the worst. Though the results aren't surprising, the depth of the PC makers' incompetence is truly disappointing...

• Posted Comcast Says Lightning Caused Emergency Alert System To Show QVC to The Consumerist

  Remember Jim? His Comcast cable box randomly responded to the emergency alert system (EAS) by tuning in to QVC. According to a source inside Comcast, rogue lightning strikes set off the EAS, even though there wasn't an emergency. Two things happen when the EAS activates: the cable box switches to a local channel, and Comcast replaces the local programming with an alert. In Jim's case, the box switched to the emergency channel—which happened to be QVC—but since there wasn't an emergency, there was no special broadcast. So what can you do next time your cable box independently declares an emergency?

• Posted AmEx, Discover Ditch Overlimit Fees to The Consumerist

  American Express and Discover will no longer bill customers who exceed their credit limits, according to company spokespeople. The creditors aren't eliminating the fees because they care about their customers. No, they're providing what American Banker calls "the first concrete examples of how a new law will restrict issuers' abilities to turn a profit." The new CARD Act that Congress passed in May requires consumers to opt-in before they can exceed their credit limits. Since overlimit fees, which can reach $39, aren't very profitable for creditors, they decided to ditch the fees altogether.

• Posted Hiring Consultant Warns: "No Connection Between Credit History And Job Performance" to The Consumerist

  Almost half of all employers use credit reports to judge job applicants, even though credit histories have no relation to job performance. Personal finance goofs are only relevant for jobs that deal directly with money—cashiers, account managers, and the like. For everyone else, negative credit reports keep otherwise capable people from securing a job to help avoid further financial problems. So why do so many companies still ask for credit reports?

• Posted 1.3 Mile Long Wedding Dress Shows China Is Ready For Gross Consumerism, Too! to The Consumerist

  A Chinese bride recently walked down the aisle wearing a 7,083-foot-long wedding dress that took 200 guests over three hours to unfurl. The $5,800 dress could be a sign of China's potential to threaten America's reigning status as the capital of gross consumerism, if only the bridegroom hadn't personally designed the dress with his family's help. Explaining the lavish garment, he said: "I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet."

• Posted Help Friends Conserve Cell Minutes By Changing Your Voicemail Greeting to The Consumerist

  David Pogue's continuing crusade against useless voicemail instructions knocked loose an excellent suggestion for anyone willing to re-record their voicemail greeting. Too often the standard voicemail greeting is: "Hi, you've reached so-and-so. Leave a message, and I'll get back to you." Why not make it more useful, something like: "Hi, you've reached so-and-so. Please press star (or whichever command applies to your carrier) to leave a message."

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