Consumerist
hoarding
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Summer Sales
Consumer Confidence Drops Even Lower — But Is The Recession Really To Blame?
Well, after a quick, hi-energy burst of enthusiasm in the spring, we're back in the doldrums. The consumer confidence index is down to 49.3, below its May level of 54.8. (A level of 90 would indicate a "solid" economy.) And June sales figures due out next week are expected to show a fairly dismal 6% decline since May. More » -
Tickets
Ticketmaster Pays $50,000 Fine, Closes More Than 100 Deceptive Site
Ticketmaster will pay a $50,000 fine and shutter more than 100 deceptive brokerage sites as part of a wide-reaching agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan's office accused Ticketmaster's always shady subsidy, TicketsNow, of creating sites that masqueraded as local venues selling tickets at face value. The settlement also requires TicketsNow to wait until after Ticketmaster puts non-sporting events on sale before hawking tickets at outrageously inflated prices. More » -
Job hunting
Tips To Make Your Job Hunt Less Demeaning, Torturous
Job hunting? CareerBuilder has a great list of companies actively hiring in July.
Though we've discussed CareerBuilder in the past, the site does have decent — or at least mildly diverting — tips on things such as what not to include on your résumé ("don't give 'beerfreak80@email.com' as your contact info"), how to ace your interview ("steal a page from the presidential candidates and talk if as if you already have the job. Say 'I will," not 'I would'.") and, when scheduling the follow-up interview, remember not to let slip "I'm currently incarcerated."
15 Companies Hiring in July [CareerBuilder]
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Children
Frontier's Computer System Lands Unaccompanied Minor In Security Room For An Hour
Ok, here's a crazy idea: if you're an airline, and you have a form with room to list two adults who are authorized to pick up an unaccompanied minor, wouldn't it make sense to have room for both names in your computer system? Because whoever is running Frontier Airline's system doesn't seem to think so! Kayla's mother spent a frantic hour, IDs in hand, trying to prove that she was authorized to meet her 13-year-old daughter at the gate. The form accompanying her daughter clearly had both her and Kayla's father listed, but the computer listed only the father's name. While Frontier sorted out the confusion, Kayla spent an hour waiting in Denver Airport's security room. More » -
Just one word: Plastics
Consumer Advocate/Plastics Industry Showdown In California
Ten years ago, Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports and owner of Consumerist) warned us all about the potential danger from bisphenol A (BPA) leeching from plastic containers into our food. It's only in recent years that municipalities got around to banning the chemical—at least in containers designed for use by infants and small children. More » -
Stop Leaving Kids In Hot Cars Six children have already died this year from being left in a hot car. Why is this so difficult for some people? [Consumer Reports Health]
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File Sharing
The Pirate Bay Bought For $7.7 Million, Plans To Evolve Into Legitimate P2P Service
The Swedish gaming company Global Gaming Factory X AB has purchased The Pirate Bay for $7.7 million, and plans to transform the embattled file sharing site into a legitimate peer-to-peer service. "We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site," the buyers said in an ambiguous statement. The Pirate Bay's current administrators did offer up one undeniable truth to comfort the site's fans... More » -
food poisoning
How, Exactly, Did E. coli Get In Nestle's Cookie Dough?
The recent discovery of E. coli O157 bacteria in Nestlé refrigerated cookie dough and subsequent recall of 30,000 tubs of said dough raises an urgent scientific question: Uh, how did that much cow poop end up in cookie dough? More » -
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food safety
Dunkin Donuts Pulls Hot Chocolate, Dunkaccinos Over Salmonella Scare
Dunkin Donuts is stopping sales of its hot chocolate and Dunkaccino products because one of its milk supplier, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, found salmonella on some of its equipment. DD says they haven't found any contamination in any of their products but wanted to be safe. We're glad to see a company being proactive about food safety and we're glad to see testing uncover contamination before any illnesses were reported, but still, pathogens in cookie dough and hot chocolate is just mean. More » -
Drugs
FDA: Hey America, Stop Overdosing On Painkillers!
Look, we know this recession is tough and all, but you've gotta lay off the NyQuil and Theraflu or the FDA will stuff them behind a counter, ok? Seriously, an advisory panel is meeting today, and already voted to reduce the maximum daily dose of Tylenol and other painkillers. They might even slap scary "black box" warnings on all over-the-counter painkillers to dissuade you acetaminophen addicts from overdosing. More » -
Real Estate
Quick! Snap Up A Multi-Million-Dollar Home Before The Housing Market Corrects Itself!
If you've been following Consumerist religiously and have implemented all our money-saving tips then you will no doubt have saved enough cash by now for a down payment on the 13-bedroom, 9-fireplace Upper East Side home listed recently for $45 million. You didn't? Well, Madonna beat you to it. And since this girlfriend doesn't pay retail price for anything, she managed to get it at the sweet, sweet price of $32.5 million. More » -
Dangerous workplaces
Watch Out For The Five Worst Teen Jobs Of 2009
Because we took a lot of seasonal jobs/were easily bored, we had quite a few jobs as a teenager. But although our workplaces exposed us to hazards like deli slicers and Christmas Eve mall shoppers, we're relieved to learn we never had one of the National Consumer League's Five Worst Teen Jobs. More » -
Consumer Protection
Here Comes The Consumer Financial Protection Agency!
Shhh, everyone, gather near and listen to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner deliver the most beautiful, wonderful mandate we could give to a new federal agency: "The agency will have only one mission—to protect consumers." And with that, the Treasury Department sent to Congress legislation that will create the brand new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. More » -
Globalization run amok
Clothing Sold In Africa Made in China... India... Somewhere
A few weeks ago, we brought to you a story of counterfeit antimalarials from China being labeled as "Made in India," then sold in Nigeria. Turns out it's not just drugs. More » -
Organic Food
When Is It Worthwhile To Buy Organic?
Want to avoid eating pesticides without breaking the bank on organics? The handy "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" makes it easy to keep track of which fruits and vegetables are likely to have bug spray all over them and which are not. Peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, and strawberries head up the "dirty dozen" with the highest pesticide load. At the bottom: onions, avocados, frozen sweet corn, pineapple, and mangoes, which have so little pesticide, you're better off buying conventionally grown varieties (unless you're rich). More » -
Ticket holders for the late Michael Jackson's planned 50-concert series in London will receive either full refunds or "souvenir tickets." We're not sure what the latter means. Maybe they're bronzed? Laminated? Holograms? [New York Times]
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Meals
Eat Out And Save
Eating out is one of the fastest ways to burn a hole through your wallet, but with a few tips from Five Cent Nickel, you can still enjoy a good meal without breaking the bank. More » -
