If you had a great photo that didn't get picked, it doesn't mean the photo was bad. It means you're not a patriot and should move to Canada, you commie.

top photo by pbm

by digitizedchaos

by Mica_R

by The Ninja Monkey

by Corey Templeton

by Plant Design Online

by theblackdoc2071

by Mica_R

by nixter

by Kitty LaRoux

And finally, PEACE OUT BILLY MAYS

by Don Solo

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers go and upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.

Add your shots to The Consumerist Flickr pool, and perhaps they'll get featured in a future story, or even highlighted in a Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds post.

See previous winners of the Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool finds here.

Hariette's story is long, but you'll alternately laugh and cringe as she shares what happened to her after her checkbook was stolen this past December. Hariette worked with her bank to quickly patch up any security holes from the theft, and soon she was set up with a new account.

Changing her billing info with Verizon was not so easy, however. Apparently Verizon's "e-center" has never been seen by any humans working at Verizon, but it's where you have to go to get anything done. Here's probably the most telling exchange Hariette has with any Verizon employee in the whole story:

As the 20th minute approached, the rep fearfully told me, "Ms. Surovell, I am only allowed to spend 20 minutes helping each customer. From this point on, you will have to hold for the e-center yourself."

"So, what was the point of your being involved at all, if you can't do anything for me?" I asked.

"Ma'am, I'd like to help you, I would, but I'll get in trouble if I don't get off the line now."

He was becoming frantic.

I stayed on the line, holding for the e-center until I got the announcement. It was 6 p.m., and the e-center was officially closed. I was welcome to phone back the next day between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

There you have it: a Verizon employee admitting that he has to not help solve your problem or his job will be at stake.

Our favorite person at Verizon now is officialy "T," the relocated Texan who is some sort of security agent for Verizon, and who used to work in Tampa, and who won't stop calling Harriette a "ticket" whenever she amuses him. Oh, also he keeps calling her from his Verizon cell phone, which goes in and out of range, and he suffers from road rage.

"Well, I gotta be honest here, Ma'am, and tell you that it's not looking good. Now, let me warn you, we're going into a zone, and my cell may go out, so..."

"I didn't hear the last thing you said. You're fading out."

"What? What did you say?"

"I said I can't hear you! I'm hanging up."

"What was that, Ma'am?"

A few minutes later, he called back.

"'T', I can't stay on the phone with you like this every day. These calls are taking a lot of time, and I need to use my time to be writing my articles. "

"Ma'am, you are a ticket! Hey, can you hold on there a minute, some people should not be allowed on the road (screaming out the window...) 'Lady, you fucking idiot, you goddamned moron, who the fuck taught you how to drive?!' (Without skipping a beat...) Pardon my language there, Ma'am, I hope I didn't offend you, but some people driving out there can really rile you up."

"I'm a New Yorker, it takes more than the f-word to shock me." I lied. "T's" segues from extreme formality (I was being "Ma'am'ed" more than Judge Judy) into gross obscenity unnerved me.

"Well you are a ticket, I tell you, that's what you are!"

Sure, that part of the story sounds like it's ready to be optioned for a movie, but there's no happy ending when Verizon is involved. In fact, if customer service is a priority for you, remember this response from Verizon when Hariette asked them to at least apologize for wasting her time for six months on what was supposed to be a simple account edit: "No, we will not."

Verizon Customer Diss-Service" [Matahariette]

According to Forbes, the collected trade groups represent 5,000 Internet and advertising companies, "including Yahoo, Microsoft and Google."

So what do the new guidelines address? Transparency mostly, says Forbes:

They call for third-party and service providers to include a notice on their Web sites that describes the types of data being collected, and how it is used, as well as a way for consumers to block the collection and use of data for behavioral advertising purposes, or selling that data to a third party.

We think there's already an excellent example of this sort of full disclosure on a mainstream website—All Things Digital by the Wall Street Journal. On your first visit to the site, this is what you see:

It's simple and clear. It's visually appealing so it won't be ignored or treated as dreaded legalese (we like the subtle touch of making it float behind Mossberg's head, so that it feels like an organic part of the site). And it appears above any content to grab your attention immediately. Start with that, ad trade groups, and you'll have taken a good first step.

"Ad Groups Aim To Inform Consumers About How Their Data Is Used" [Forbes]
(Photo: blakespot)

My suitcase had been opened, my jewelry bag unzipped, and my fine jewelry (gold, diamonds, sapphires) had been hand picked out of the jewelry bag and the inexpensive jewelry (plastic, glass, metal) left strewn across my belongings inside my suitcase.

Delta doesn't take responsibility for the theft, because as they note in their rejection letter to her claim,

The tariff rules and the ticket contract covering your travel exclude responsibility for jewelry, cash, camera equipment, electronic equipment, or computer equipment contained in checked or unchecked baggage.

In other words, you're on your own when it comes to securing your valuables during air travel.

Our theft victim didn't specify in her letter, but we hope she also filed a police report as soon as she noticed the missing jewelry. In fact, here's some advice for traveling with jewelry.

• Don't.
• Always carry it with you in a carry-on bag or on your person. Never pack it in checked luggage. Even the most high-security airport can't prevent a determined thief from rifling through luggage.
• If you have a lot of expensive pieces, consider making sure your homeowner's insurance covers them while traveling. Or just get standalone jewelry insurance.
• Make sure you have appraisals or insurance evaluations.
• Photocopy the jewelry you're bringing with you, and leave a copy at home and pack a copy on your carry-on bag. This will help you quickly spot missing pieces.

The above list was compiled from tips from:
"Safety Tips When Traveling With Jewelry" [Gem Find]
"Four Tips for Traveling with Jewelry" [The Black Dress Traveler]
"Traveling with Jewelry" [Home Jewelry Business Success Tips]
(Photo: evixir)

Governor [Strickland] wants to cut the budget for public libraries by 50%. About 70% of public libraries in Ohio are funded solely by this fund, so cutting the already shrinking budget means library closures, layoffs and cutbacks in hours and materials.

If you live in Ohio, you can visit the website Save Ohio Libraries for information on how to contact your representatives to protest the cuts.

"Ohio - Save Your Libraries" [The Shifted Librarian]
Save Ohio Libraries
(Photo: noellium)

"Group Sues AT&T Over Ringtones Heard In Public" [MocoNews]
(Photo: Ewan-M)

• Banana Republic: [Apparel] New Banana Republic Coupon Code Extra 15% Off Sale + Free Shipping $100+
• Nabisco World: [Grocery] $55 in Kraft Coupons and Free Calendar with sign-up

Highlights From Buxr
• Home Depot: [Fan] Lasko 20" Box Fan for $14.99 w/ Free shipping
• National Parks Service: [Park] Two Free Admission Weekends to 100 National Parks
• New Egg: [Game] 150 PC Games for $10 or Less + Free Shipping

Highlights From Dealhack
• Reebok: [Sports] Save Extra 15% off Footwear, Apparel, & Accessories Store-Wide
• Meritline: [Optics] 8x21 Compact Sport Binoculars $7 Shipped
• Newegg: [LCD] Asus 23-inch 1080p LCD Monitor $160 + Free Shipping

Highlights From Dealnews
• WilsonsLeather: [Clothing & Accessories] 20% off + free shipping at Wilson's Leather: Wallets from $5, more
• Puma: [Clothing & Accessories] Puma Semi-Annual Sale: 20% to 40% off + extra 25% off
• The Children's Place: [Children's Apparel] The Children's Place Monster Sale: Up to 80% off + extra 10% off

Highlights From Techbargains
• Dell Small Business: [LCD Monitor] Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP 24 inch Widescreen LCD Monitor $395.10 Free Shipping
• Dell Small Business: [Pico Projector] Dell M109S DLP Mini Projector (G101H) LED .8lbs 34 Watts $299 Free Shipping
• Lucky Brand Jeans: [Apparel] Lucky Brand Jeans Coupon Code Free Shipping +50-75% Off Select Items

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.

My mom would like his advice.

Here are her tips on how to "be your own regulator":

• Take advantage of existing government advice from sites like www.ftc.gov/credit, the FDIC's consumer alerts page, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors calculators and tools.
   
  
• "Read everything, the junkier it looks, the better." We've all trained ourselves to skim or throw out anything that looks like junk mail. During the next few years especially, as less forthright banks and lenders try to sneak fee increases or changes to their terms past customers, you should constantly watch for anything that might be a notice in disguise.
   
  
• "Keep cushions everywhere." At first we thought she meant decorate your home like this guy we knew when we first moved up here to NYC—he had so many pillows around his apartment it looked like the inside of Jeannie's bottle on "I Dream of Jeannie". It turns out, that's not what she means at all:
  

  Even with money tight, try to keep a little extra in all of your accounts; it keeps the bankers from pouncing. Keep an extra $100 in your checking account and forget about it; you're less likely to bang into punitive overdraft fees when you use your debit card. Use less than the full borrowing power of your credit card; you'll avoid over-limit fees. Pay your bills a day or two early, to avoid late fee traps. Consider all of this a form of self-insurance.

• Apply for new credit cards using snail mail and letters, not online or over the phone. Stipulate exactly the terms under which you want the card, so that you cover any details that they might be leaving out that will bite you in the ass later.
   
  
• Complain. (Hey, have you heard of something called an EECB?)
   
  
• "Learn to like vanilla." Her point here is that old-fashioned products have "fewer nooks and crannies... where fees and other traps can hide."

"Personal Finance: Don't wait for Congress, be your own regulator" [Reuters]

RELATED
www.ftc.gov/credit
Consumer Alerts [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]
Consumer Info [Federal Reserve Board of Governors]
(Photo: Consumerist)

Some of the results:

• 63 percent of respondents report they have purposefully changed their grocery shopping behavior in the past two years because they wanted better value for their money.
• 7 percent of consumers want more information about the content of the food products they purchase.
• 76 percent would like more information about its origin.
• Almost half have changed shopping behavior to access fresher foods (45 percent) or better quality foods (43 percent).
• 55 percent of respondents trust food manufacturers when handling a recall in the event that a food product is contaminated, indicating a decrease in their level of trust over the past two years.
• 57 percent of consumers report they've stopped purchasing certain foods, even for a short time, within the past two years due to safety considerations.

Why is IBM behind the study? It's part of their "Smarter Planet" campaign (www.asmarterplanet.com), which is a for-profit push to improve aspects of modern society through information technology. CNN notes that the company has spent about $50 billion dollars over the past 5 years doing research and development and buying up companies to help them bring more transparency and efficiency to things like our food supply and transportation networks.

Here's a short cartoon they've created pointing out the stupidity of the current food supply system:

"Less Than 20% of Consumers Trust Food They Buy Is Safe and Healthy, IBM Survey Reveals" [PR Newswire]

RELATED
"Smarter Food" [IBM]
www.asmarterplanet.com
"IBM's grand plan to save the planet" [CNN]

The couple behind the blog are also authors of "The Urban Homestead," which gives beginner advice on how to do things like keep bees while living in an apartment and make hair conditioner from old dogs' droppings. (Okay, we made up that last one.) If you've been wanting to try out aspects of an off-the-grid lifestyle while still living smack dab in the middle of the grid, these are probably your people.

homegrownevolution.com
"Urban self-sufficiency: Homegrown Evolution" [Cool Tools]

by D.P. Rubino

by frankieleon

by pbm.

by D.P. Rubino

by Weffie

by troubled12e8c

by JoelZimmer

by onlymefairmay

by jenni0206

by Weffie

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers go and upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.

Add your shots to The Consumerist Flickr pool, and perhaps they'll get featured in a future story, or even highlighted in a Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds post. See previous winners of the Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool finds here.

I run a small computer repair and troubleshooting shop in Alexandria, VA and have been doing all kinds of computer/ networking jobs for more than 12 years.

Yesterday, I received a call from a very nice (elderly) couple who were having connectivity issues with their new Comcast 3 in 1 package installation (Phone, Cable, Internet). Basically, they were not able to connect to any internet sites after the installation, though; they had no issues prior to upgrading their service with Comcast. The service technician that came out and upgraded their service installed the new hardware and "helped" connect their computer, but was unable to do so. The couple said that the technician attempted to establish a connection for more than 2 hours but at the end failed to do so. All the while telling the couple that he was actually a contractor for Comcast and actually does computer repair/ troubleshooting as his primary job with his own little company.

Anyway, the Comcast technician finally told them that the issue was with their computer and that the operating system (Vista Home Edition) needed to be reinstalled. Here is the catch, the technician told the couple that he could do this for them but that it would not be part of the Comcast service contract. He offered to help provided they called him after he got off work for the low price of $199.99 (hmm... I've heard that before). The couple told him that they appreciated his effort and would consider doing so but wanted to try and get help as part of the Comcast service contract. They are on a fixed budget since they were retired.

The couple then contact every customer support number they had for their equipment to include the computer manufacturer, Router manufacturer, and Comcast once again to resolve the issue. Alas, none were able to assist since none could connect to their system and Comcast emphatically denied that it was an issue with their modem.

As a last resort they called me as I was recommended by a neighbor and asked if I could take a look at their computer. I agreed and made my way over that afternoon. Once I arrived I talked to the husband for a few minutes to get an idea of the issue and started my preliminary testing. This is how it went down:

1) I verified that the devices worked properly. Blinky lights — OK

2) I connected my own laptop to the modem. Everything was OK there too. I got an IP with no issues (68.86.X.X — I am making this number up since I do not recall the exact IP)

3) I connect to the Router (Linksys). Everything was OK there too. I got another internal IP (192.168.1.101) with no issues.

4) I verified that the Router was getting an IP from the Modem. OK there too and I was able to cruise the internet. So it must be the computer.

5) I checked the computer's security settings (Firewall & Anti-Virus) — Everything looked OK there too.

6) I check the IP that was given to the computer from the Router via the command console by typing "ipconfig". 10.1.10.1/ 24 — Screeech— What the heck? This isn't right! It should have been 192.168.1.X something. Let's see here—the network connection was assigned a static IP. Hmmm. I asked the husband if he had changed the connection to a static IP. He didn't know what I was talking about so I went back into the Router to check that the router didn't reset itself. It hadn't, all the original configuration settings that it originally had were still the same (Wireless name was the same and didn't default to "linksys", DHCP was enabled and the IP address scope was 192.168.1.100 - 200).

7) So I reset the Connection to receive an IP from the router dynamically and low and behold, everything worked.

Now here is what makes me sick to my stomach. I had the same exact issue with another customer a few weeks prior no more than 2 blocks away from the current residence. They were also not able to connect to the internet after an upgrade and were also offered to have the problem fixed for a price. I wasn't aware then that the technician was selling his reported services by piggy backing off of Comcast service calls at that time so I wasn't able to connect the two events immediately since I believed that the price was an actual Comcast service quote.

I am definitely not a conspiracy theorist, but, the similarities between the two events were just uncanny.

1) The same issues after an upgrade

2) The same price to fix the problem

3) Within walking distance of each other

4) The same misconfiguration of IPs on both systems

5) The real Comcast service call prices were nowhere near the price that was quoted by the technician

6) Both customers that I helped were elderly and limited in their computing knowledge (not trying to sound arrogant)

It is my belief that there is one rogue individual who is contracted by Comcast that is exploiting Comcast customers by intentionally misconfiguring computers to put a couple extra dollars into his pocket. This is entirely unethical behavior and probably illegal. It makes me ill to think that some sleazy technician is exploiting elderly in such a way.

In any case, I wanted to make you and your readers aware of what has recently transpired in the hopes of warning any future customers from getting suckered that live in the Burke area of Virginia.

Thanks, Rick! We hope you shared this information with the couple and urged them to contact Comcast to complain. But if not, posting it here should get the message out.

(Photo: Justin Marty)

More than 100 million Americans have plans that allow them to see doctors who are not part of their insurance network. For more than a decade, insurers submitted data to Ingenix to determine the typical cost for care received outside their networks.

But congressional investigators say companies would deliberately skew data to underestimate the costs of medical services, leaving patients to pay more in out-of-pocket expenses.

[...]

In one case, Aetna allegedly eliminated the highest 20 percent of medical charges before sending the data to Ingenix, according to expert court testimony cited by congressional investigators. Once the data was handed over to Ingenix, officials there "scrubbed" the numbers again to further curb charges, according to the testimony.

Ingenix is owned by UnitedHealth Group, which the Associated Press says has admitted no wrongdoing but has agreed to close the database and fund a new one.

"Senator: Use of faulty insurance data 'pervasive'" [Associated Press]
(Photo: Subconsci Productions)

• Amazon: [Music] Free Patriotic Music Sampler
• Jamba Juice: [Restaurant] Buy One Get One Smoothie Free w/ Printable Coupon
• Sears: [Bed & Bath] Sears Mattress Sale: 50% off + extra 10% off select mattresses

Highlights From Buxr
• Buy.com: [Flash Memory] SanDisk 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo for $17.77 w/ Free shipping
• Newegg Mall: [USB Drive] Wintec 4GB USB Flash Drive for $4.99 + $2.95 Shipping
• New Egg: [Headset] Nokia Bluetooth Headset for $0.99 after $15 rebate w/ Free shipping

Highlights From Dealhack
• Dell Business: [Displays] Save Extra 10% off Most Dell LCD Flat Panel Monitors
• Eastern Mountain Sports: [Gear] Save 20% off One Item + 15% off the Rest of Your Order
• BuyDig: [HDTV] Toshiba 32AV502R 32-inch LCD HDTV $444 Shipped

Highlights From Dealnews
• Graveyard Mall: [Store Events] GraveyardMall.com Clearance Sale: 90% off hundreds of items
• Target: [Men's Apparel] Target Clearance Sale: Up to 75% off men's jackets, deals from $6 + $5 s&h
• Expedia.com: [Vacations] Last minute travel deals from Expedia: Hotels from $18, cruises from $179, more

Highlights From Techbargains
• Newegg: [Digital Cameras] Newegg Coupon Code 10% off Digital Cameras
• SmartBargains: [Home Goods] New SmartBargains Coupon Code Extra 20% Off w/ PayPal Payment
• Dell Small Business: [GPS] TomTom ONE 140S Portable GPS (3.5in Touchscreen, Text to Speech) $119.99 Free Shipping

(Photo: law_keven)

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.

I recently signed up on Match.com and last night got an embarrassingly long and oddly worded email from someone there. At first I was weirded out by the detail in the letter—I mean, let's face it, most people on dating sites send very tentative short flirtations in case they get rebuffed.

I noticed some of the details were off—like this dude's profile says he's in Michigan and he states in his letter he is from Empire State, NY. Even if he's indeed from NY, who says that? Also, you can see a lot of the grammar is off. I looked at his actual profile and it seemed even weirder—his personal description read very strange about how he lost his father when he was 5 to a very oddly specific description of an illness.

In the profession section he literally says this: "Sgt Mark Edwards, Stationed in Iraq, As you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday..." So of course I Googled the name and found that that Sgt Mark Edwards is a name used in conjunction with a version of the Nigerian 411 scam. In fact that phrase appears in some versions of the emails sent out.

[Note: a real Staff Sgt. Mark O. Edwards died in Iraq in 2005 from a "non-combat related cause"; it appears certain scammers have randomly picked up his name and started using it. -Ed.]

The guy didn't actually ask me for any money because I didn't engage him in conversation at all—but I did report him to Match and they seem to have already removed the profile.

The reason I wanted you tell you is that it freaked me out that these guys are preying on lonely women and I guess men as well in this way. Being single sometimes can suck and it just makes it all a little worse to encounter people like this. Thought your readers should know.

Fortunately, there's still enough of a cultural and language gap between most of these scammers and the average American that they're easy enough to spot—but yeah, these people suck.

Below is the message our reader received:

How are you doing. It is a Pleasure sending you an Email My Name is Mark Edwards by name I am from Empire state NY ... i am 46 years old,with 1 kid that live with me. I have been single for few years now and Ever since then I have not dated anyone. I am Searching for someone to be with me for the rest of my life,It is better to find a woman that will live with you forever than a woman who will Just be with you for a while..I am Really looking for a soul mate.Well I believe in every person on Earth there is a Perfect soulmate.i love watching movies,dancing,camping,fishing and making new friends... I am a romantic and very content with my life, I just think it would be a lot more fun if there was someone to share it with. I'm a strong, independent man with a great sense of humor and have managed to remain a kid at heart.I like candles and flowers... music and reading bible... (whether it be a lake,stream or the ocean)...sunshine and rainy days...falling leaves (Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year), holding hands...cuddling...walking in the evening and kissing under a street light. I am honest and expect the same in return. I don't play games or care much for people who do so give me a way to get in touch.... I am looking for a true companion,the missing link in my life. and i am looking for this kind of lady Please, be happy and have a positive attitude. I'm sorry if you've had a bad divorced or childhood, but hopefully you will have put that behind you. I hope you will be honest, sensitive and affectionate (being a romantic would be great!).Be prepared though, I may want to take you away for a surprise romantic If you have a strong shoulder for me to lean on and allow me to cry on You ,well,that would be a real bonus! But you should know that I will be there for you a partner (in every sense of the world) who will be there to share the laughter and the tears. If you hold my heart,there is nothing I won't do for you. I read a profile once that says it all perfectly someone I am excited to spend my the rest of my life with and even more eager to spend my days and nights with"...i am a gentle Man and a kind soul i am looking for a Lady that will be my best friend and my love some one to be with forever plus more if it goes that way, someone who has a positive out look on life,caring,loving, not boring likes to go out and do things even if its just a walk..Am interested in you that's why i sent you this Message...to tell you that the age does not matters when there's love...And if u are interested you can add me to your yahoo messenger {markedwards492002} so we could chat more and more or you should send me an email Directly to my personal mail .....here is my yahoo I'm online right now... [match.com address redacted] so bye for now and take good care of your self hope to hear from u soon.

Mark.

Here are some other examples of fake Mark Edwards emails from 2006, 2007, and 2009.

(Photo: )

Why? Because we don't know the full circumstances of the OP in any post. Here are some things that may be missing from your big picture overview:

• their financial education up to this point
• their employment history, including any lengthy periods of underemployment or unemployment
• familial obligations such as caring for relatives, emergencies among extended family members, or helping others out of financial disasters
• socioeconomic level (poverty tends to have its own gravitational force; it can be an enormous challenge to break free from it)
• medical history and current medical situation
• where they are at this point in their lives as far as paying off debts or becoming more fiscally responsible

When we post about financial situations, it's so all of us can look at and learn from the particulars of that story. It's not so we can make fun of them for suffering, or for attempting to solve their problems.

You can certainly share your own financial savviness with our community by posting comments that implore people—in a civil manner—to practice fiscal responsibility. Better still, provide examples of how you do it, or tips on how to transition from negative to positive net worth. Give advice. Offer examples and success stories from your own life. But this idea that people who are carrying debt deserve contempt or are somehow directly responsible for your own financial difficulties is pretty lame. If you truly are that awesome when it comes to money, the most helpful thing you can do is share that knowledge with the rest of our readership.

The more educated we all are about the topic, the better off we'll all be.

Also, just for kicks, why not refresh your knowledge of the Consumerist Comments Code?

(Photo: Tela Chhe)

Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc. ("CCN"), and its Phoenix-based owner Graham Gibson have agreed to pay nearly $1.4 million total, but a million of that goes to the state. $350,000 has been set aside to distribute among customers nationwide who were victims of CCN's misleading upsells and deliberately bad customer service:

According to the complaints, consumers who purchased the low-cost "risk-free trial offers" of CCN's health supplements were also charged for costly products and services that they did not request. These included pre-selected "up-sell" products that the consumer had to actively de-select in the online order form to avoid being charged. When consumers tried to contact CCN regarding the unauthorized charges, they often faced hold times over an hour and their e-mails never received a response.

The Better Business Bureau, which says they receive over 2200 complaints about the company in the past 12 months, says consumers can file a complaint whether they live in Arizona or not.

Victims of CCN [can] file a complaint via phone at 602.542.5763 or 800.352.8431(toll free) or via email at consumerinfo@azag.gov by August 17.

Those same consumers can save even more money by not buying any more miracle drinks via infomercials or websites.

CCN Settlement Press Release (PDF) [Arizona Attorney General]

RELATED
"Careful, Those Free Acai Products Might Come Attached To A Delicious Scam"
(Photo: Ian Muttoo)

Chase Bank sent me a notice they are hiking minimum payment fees from present level of 2% to 5%!! This means on my account, where I took their balance transfer offer for over $25K several years ago at a fixed 5.9% rate, that my monthly payment is now going to go up $558 to $930 !!!

This is insane. More people will claim inability to pay or declare bankruptcy with this "strategy." My wife and I are trying to make ends meet with both our salaries reduced by our companies, costs for everything increasing as usual. This news from Chase causes us immediate financial stress, as it will others.

Isn't this behavior the exact kind Congress is trying to prevent???

Greg doesn't specify, but some customers who are subject to this hike aren't given the option to close their accounts at the previous terms. They're just stuck with the new supersized payment.

If you're a Chase customer carrying a large balance who has been hit with this minimum payment increase and you simply can't afford it, consider starting some sort of debt management program. The credit counseling website Vision Credit says that Chase in particular has become very responsive to requests for payment reductions for customers who are in debt management programs—in fact, Chase now gives some credit counselors the ability to lower monthly payments automatically.

Entering a debt management or credit counseling program may seem like a serious change in your financial situation, but it sounds like Chase has already put you there. It's also a lot less nuclear than declaring bankruptcy, and a lot less damaging than letting a balance that large go into default.

Take action now, though—don't struggle to meet the new payment requirements for the next month or so if it's just putting off the inevitable.

"Chase Improves Credit Counseling Benefits" [Vision Credit]
(Photo: Logan Antill)

Jook, who took this photo quickly as his wife hurried away to more seasonally appropriate merchandise, asked, "Why don't stores have any concept of seasons?"

We can almost give Tuesday Morning a pass because they're a closeout retailer—note the Thanksgiving stuff mixed in there behind Santa—although it still seems a little too early (or too late?) to load up the shelves with Christmas merchandise. But what's Hallmark's excuse?

A., who sent us the link to the above page, writes, "I saw the sign on my local Hallmark store, but didn't have my camera to take a picture."

Update: Here's Hallmark's excuse!

I understand your complaint, I hear you, we've gotten the Christmas in July question before. And since you asked what Hallmark's excuse is I thought I'd share it with you, because we actually do have one.

We've been holding Ornament Premiere in July for 15+ years so I can tell you that we're not putting things out earlier each year (even if sometimes it seems like it), the date of this event has been in place for awhile. The premiere event is mainly for ornament collectors, and yes, there are a lot of them, that shop year round.

They would be really happy if put out the next year's ornaments on December 26, but we wait until July. We know the majority of people aren't ornament shopping in July, but for those that are—again there are quite a lot of them—well that's our excuse.

Deidre
Public Relations
Hallmark

We have also shared with all of our pharmacy departments that this is an unacceptable practice and should not be repeated. At Sam's Club we always have the health and welfare of our customers and members in mind with everything we do and we deeply regret that this incident occurred.

You can read the full response over at Salisbury News.

(Note: Joe says Sam's Club gave him permission to publish the email, so you can ignore the "privileged and confidential" warning at the bottom of it.)

(Photo: Joe Albero/Salisbury News)

• Glidden: [Paint] Free quart of paint in color of your choice.
• Dell: [Cell Phone] Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Unlocked Smartphone for $219.99 w/ coupon ?LF$X89SNT9T4X after $50 rebate w/ Free shipping
• Boscovs: [Luggage] Trifecta 8-Piece Luggage Set for $30 + $19 $40 s&h

Highlights From Buxr
• Buy.com:[Vacuum] Irobot Roomba with Virtual 4210 Walls Included (Remanufactured) for $115.99 w/ Free shipping
• Blue Bunny: [Ice Cream] $1.00 off Any Quart of Blue Bunny Ice Cream Printable Coupon
• Newegg: [TV] Honeywell Altura ML 42" 16:9 1080p LCD HDTV for $649.99 w/ Free shipping

Highlights From Dealhack
• Newegg: [Flash Memory] Transcend 4GB Fast SDHC Card + USB 2.0 Adapter $13 Shipped at Newegg
• Creative Labs: [MP3] Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 Player with OLED Screen $20
• Old Navy: [Apparel] Summer Sale: Save Up to 50% off Clothing & More

Highlights From Dealnews
• macys: [Lingerie] Macy's: 40% off women's lingerie, deals from $5 + $6 s&h
• ThinkGeek: [Bed & Bath] Horror Movie Shower Curtain and Bath Mat for $28 + $7 s&h
• Toys R Us: [Toys & Hobbies] Free shipping + free ammo with Toys "R" Us Nerf purchase: Deals from $11

Highlights From Techbargains
• Dell Small Business: [LCD Monitors] Dell G2210 22in LED-Backlit LCD Monitor $150.57, 24in LED-Backlit $188.37
• Newegg: [Video Cards] Newegg Coupon Code 10% off Desktop Video Cards
• Toys R US: [Camcorder] Pure Digital Flip Video Mino 60M 2GB Flash Drive Portable Camcorder $74.98 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.

We found that credit unions are less likely to charge the fees and penalties that the new act hopes to eliminate - and when they do, they charge less than other issuers.

While virtually all banks and other for-profit issuers increase the interest rate if the borrower fails to make a minimum payment on time, most credit unions do not. Similarly, credit union fees for exceeding the credit limit are on average just half those of other issuers. But contrary to industry assertions, more responsible card users don't pay the price. Credit union cards actually offer lower annual fees and longer grace periods than regular cards.

The question is, can credit unions and banks use the same model? "Absolutely," they write:

Banks and credit unions compete for customers in the same market. The primary distinguishing characteristic of credit unions is that they answer to a different group of owners: profits that are not reinvested are paid to the union's shareholder-customers as a dividend, much as investor-owned banks reinvest or pay dividends to their shareholder-investors.

There's one area that will be affected, however: reward programs. But as the authors point out, reward programs are subsidized by lower-tier customers who are poor and/or carry high debt loads, so getting rid of that sort of model may be part of the cost of creating a fairer system overall.

"A Fairer Credit Card? Priceless" [New York Times]
(Photo: frankieleon)

OK, here's the story. The wife and I decided to get new phones. We went to Nokiausa.com and read about their trade up program. The program works like this: You estimate the condition of your phone. You print out a shipping label and send your phone to the company, which is operated by Dealtree. Phone 1 and Phone 2 were assigned a value of $134 each. Fast forward to June 19, 2009. I get an e-mail stating the following for each phone:

Thank you for using the Dealtree trade-in process. We have processed a payment to your paypal id xx@xx.com. Details of the transaction: Dealtree Trade-in: 1595xx Payment amount: $134.00 Paypal Userid Paid: xx@xx.com Paypal Transaction ID: 3001154 Dealtree Customer Support NokiaTradeup@eztradein.com

I was curious, I never gave them my PayPal account e-mail address. I was expecting a "paper check". I logged into my PayPal account, no money. Where is my $268? I added the e-mail address listed in the e-mail to my account, no money. I call PayPal, they state that no such transaction ID exists. It is not looking good.

Paul contacted DealTree to ask what's going on, but he's still waiting for a response.

(Photo: faeryboots)

I'm an avid reader (checking multiple times per day) and thought you guys would appreciate the attached ad I was presented with after I finished taking a friends' "How well do you know me?" quiz.

"Hey Dan!" The ad said. "Hot singles are waiting for you!"

And on the left hand side was a picture of my wife!

Apparently, this particular ad grabbed a picture of one of my friends to display with the ad and unfortunately, just happened to grab my wife's picture.

I promise this is not doctored.

Thought you'd enjoy it.

If someone comes to tell you in person that your home security system no longer works, be sure to call the company yourself to find out the truth.

What's funny is the official website for Pinnacle Security (www.pinnaclesecurity.com) is currently down.

"Consumer Warning About Door-to-Door Alarm Sales" [KWCH]

• Only certain low-mpg cars qualify.
  To get the credit, the car you trade in must be less than 25 years old, and must get 18 MPG or less. It can be a foreign or domestic model. You can find your car's fuel economy rating here.
   
  
• Certain trucks and vans will have different requirements.
  Check out the chart on this Consumer Reports story on the CARS program for details on trucks and vans.
   
  
• The amount of the credit is based on the fuel efficiency difference between your trade in and the new vehicle.
  To get the $3,500 credit, you must improve the fuel efficiency by at lest 4 MPG. To qualify for the $4,500 credit, the improvement has to be at least 10 MPG.
   
  
• The vehicle has to have been continuously insured and registered for a full year prior to trade in.
   
  
• The new vehicle price cannot exceed $45,000. And it has to be new, not used.
   
  
• By participating in the program, you will not receive the full normal trade-in value of your vehicle.
  You will only get the scrap metal trade in value, because the program requires that all trade ins be destroyed. You should find out the trade in value of your vehicle before participating to make sure it's worth it. Click here for a chart from Edmunds.com that shows which vehicles have trade in values that are lower than the credits (PDF).
   
  
• The program runs through November 1, 2009.
   
  
• The credit will be applied at the time of purchase.
  There are no vouchers or forms—the dealer applies it when you buy or lease the new vehicle. The dealer then gets reimbursed by the government.
   
  
• There is no registration requirement or process.
  As CNN points out, any place that tries to collect your private information in order to see whether you qualify is scamming you. Eligibility is based solely on the car requirements listed above.
   
  
• You can find a list of eligible dealers at the official government site, www.cars.gov.
  That's the only official site. They'll list participating dealers there once the program kicks in. You can give them an email address and they'll send you an update when they have more information available.
  

www.cars.gov

RELATED
"Edmunds.com Provides List of Vehicles Eligible for "Cash for Clunkers" Rebate" [Edmunds.com]
"Beware 'Cash for Clunkers' scams" [CNN]

You may know Consolidated Resorts better by the commercial with Alan Thicke trying to sell you on Tahiti Village timeshares.

They gave us a few minutes to collect our personal belongings and asked us to leave with no severance packages for those of us who held professional positions with the company for several years.

The explanation given to us this morning was that GMAC had decided not to work with us. GMAC provided most of the funding to customers wanting to finance a timeshare.

While I was one of the ones laid off, I'm not really sour about that; I expected it and am frankly surprised the company lasted as long as it did being as shady as it was.

I considered submitting the foul practices to Consumerist before, but I didn't want to lose my job over it. They did a lot of stuff that was wrong, but it doesn't really matter now if they are made public because they are filing for bankruptcy.

Of the bad things, at least the ones I knew of, I can say the ones that bothered me the most were:

• Misleading customers to think they had properly invoked their right to rescind by simply calling in within their 5 day period (when really they had to send a certified letter). The customer would think they were relieved of the horrible investment then 30 days later, they're stuck with a big fat bill.
• Using celebrities like Alan Thicke, George Wallace, and others in a game show for timeshare purchasers to win free getaways or a million dollars. The game show was called 2nd Honeymoon. The real purpose behind it was to manipulate buyers from invoking their right to rescind. It worked too.

Here's a clip from a taping of "Second Honeymoon." You can watch it and dream of the Tahiti Village timeshare you'll never own now—or just marvel at this example of the awkward scenarios people will put each other into in an attempt to sell them something.

• Glidden: [Paint] Starting tomorrow, free quart of paint in color of your choice.

Highlights From Buxr
• Yankee Candle: [Candle] $10 Off $25 Purchase - Online w/ coupon 7AMNH5 and in store
• NewEgg: [Laptop] Toshiba 15.4" Notebook 2.16Ghz w/ 2GB Memory + 160GB Drive for $379.99 w/ Free shipping
• N1 Wireless: [PDA] Palm Treo PDA Unlocked for $169.99 + $15 Shipping

Highlights From Dealhack
• Staples: [Portable Power] Lenmar PowerPort Mini Anywhere Battery Charger $16
• Land's End: [Clothing] Up to 40% off Summer Apparel, Shoes, & More
• OfficeMax: [Camera] Kodak EasyShare 10.3MP Digital Camera $100 Shipped

Highlights From Dealnews
• WilsonsLeather: [Clothing & Accessories] Wilsons Leather Clearance Sale: Up to 75% off + extra 25% off one item
• jcrew: [Clothing & Accessories] J. Crew Final Sale: Up to 70% off select items
• Dell Home: [23-Inch LCD] Dell S2309W 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Display for $149 + free shipping

Highlights From Techbargains
• GoDaddy: [Domain Name Registration] GoDaddy Coupon Code $1.99 Domain Name Registration (+ 20 Cent ICANN Fee)
• LeapFrog: [Learning Toys] LeapFrog Coupon Code 25% off Storewide
• Various Vendors: [Stereo Bluetooth] Stereo Bluetooth Headphones and Headset Roundup (from $23.49)

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.

We don't want to ruin the suspense by giving away how things unfolded, so read his story for yourself on his livejournal page. We can say, however, that the phone tracking service seems to work pretty well—especially if you can manage to have live access to the web and Google Maps while you're trying to track it down in a strange city.

"Find My iPhone works, and it is awesome." [happywaffle.livejournal.com]

But back to his collection agency side business. According to the Associated Press,

During one call recorded by a debtor, a man who vaguely identified himself as an investigator from "the warrant division" said one victim was about to be "picked up."

"Make sure you have somewhere for your kids to go. Lock up your house. Get some clean clothes, because you're not coming home anytime soon," the caller said.

In reality, authorities said, the business was run not by lawmen, but convicted felons. Its owner was former drug dealer who goes by the nickname "Bags of Money" and served 13 years for attempted robbery.

According to the Buffalo newspaper Business First, Boyland's debt collection agencies included:

Central Resource Management, Final Claims Asset Locators, Final Control Asset Locators, Interchange Payment Solutions, Next Step Services, Portfolio Asset Assurance, Silverbay Services, and Teleport.

"NY shuts down debt collection company run by felon" [Associated Press]
"AG shuts door on collection operation" [Business First of Buffalo]

RELATED
WhoCallsMe thread on Boyland [whocallsme.com]

"All The Ways Your Laziness Is Costing You" [Forbes] (Photo: RobotSkirts)

Dr. Kessler isn't convinced that food makers fully understand the neuroscience of the forces they have unleashed, but food companies certainly understand human behavior, taste preferences and desire. In fact, he offers descriptions of how restaurants and food makers manipulate ingredients to reach the aptly named "bliss point." Foods that contain too little or too much sugar, fat or salt are either bland or overwhelming. But food scientists work hard to reach the precise point at which we derive the greatest pleasure from fat, sugar and salt.

The result is that chain restaurants like Chili's cook up "hyper-palatable food that requires little chewing and goes down easily," he notes. And Dr. Kessler reports that the Snickers bar, for instance, is "extraordinarily well engineered." As we chew it, the sugar dissolves, the fat melts and the caramel traps the peanuts so the entire combination of flavors is blissfully experienced in the mouth at the same time.

The book is Kessler's attempt to understand how the brain responds to such perfectly designed food, and how people develop an uncontrolled eating pattern he calls "conditioned hypereating."

*Shrug* We don't know if it's worth a read or not. We just think it sounds like an interesting look at the modern food environment, where nearly everything consumable is packaged and marketed to you in the most attractive way possible. If you're a frequent dieter or overeater (Kessler admits to having been both), or just interested in the concept of food marketing, you might find it worth looking into.

"How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains" [New York Times]
(Photo: Got Jenna)

"Mr. Madoff is currently 71 years old and has an approximate life expectancy of 13 years," wrote Sorkin, whose letter was released on Tuesday. "A prison term of 12 years - just short of an effective life sentence - will sufficiently address the goals of deterrence, protecting the public and promoting respect for the law."

"Madoff requests 12-year sentence" [CNN]

To sum up his conversations with Amazon:

• You can download a book an unlimited number of times.
• In most cases, you can download the book to 6 devices. If you need to download it to more devices than that, you can request that Amazon release additional licenses for the book. According to Dan's recap of the conversation, Amazon promises nothing. But you can ask and they'll probably oblige.
• Then there are the "other" cases, where a publisher sets the number of simultaneous devices to a lower limit. The following is from an email Dan received from Amazon's customer support: "Publishers choose whether they apply DRM to their content and thus determine how many copies of each title can be downloaded to different Kindle devices at the same time."
• There's no way to find out this limit prior to buying the book.
• Releasing new licenses requires that all of your current device licenses be removed, so you'll have to start over and re-download them to all devices again. (We don't know how that affects things like bookmarks or notes.)
• Dan adds, "According to the customer rep, there is a project to try to get that information available to the customer but it's not yet available."

So why doesn't Amazon have a publicly stated policy on this already, a year and a half after the first Kindle hit the market? Why, because they're a mom-and-pop shop with mostly friends and family manning the phones, we imagine. Oh wait, that's not right.

Dan wanted to know the same thing:

I pushed a little bit harder, perhaps a little too hard, and said, "I spoke with three customer service representatives before you, and every one of them gave me the wrong information. That's not a training glitch, that's people at Amazon not having any clue about the DRM policy and that's a problem."

He responded, "We face new situations every day and quite frankly we've never run into this problem before, but now that you've raised the issue please know that it will be addressed directly."

Jeez, Amazon! The Kindle is your most-hyped business venture in the past 18 months—you've had Bezos on Oprah and The Daily Show to hawk it as a game changer. Every publisher is worrying about the consequences of your device if it really takes off among readers. Apple paved the way for you half a decade ago with DRM on the iTMS. And yet you still don't have a formal policy for how to manage DRM issues?

See, this is the problem with Amazon's Kindle—even they can't tell their customers exactly how the DRM works. They blame the publishers, but we're not sure that publishers have ever been given adequate information either. (We know the press hasn't.) From what we understand, publishers are contractually forbidden to share any information about their licensing agreements with Amazon, which creates a convenient way for Amazon to redirect all inquiries into a black hole of "it's the publisher's fault."

The solution is pretty simple: establish a set number of devices as a minimum and share that with customers. We should know the extent of any device limitations before we buy ebooks. Implement a full-disclosure policy for rights issues—for example, a box on every Amazon ebook listing that's similar to a nutrition label. Here's an example for a hypothetical book.

If you're going to restrict customers' rights with DRM and licensing agreements, at least be completely open about it so they can make educated purchases.

"KindleGate: Confusion Abounds Regarding Kindle Download Policy" [Gear Diary]
(Photo: EricaJoy)

• Woot!: Woot off now in progress.
• Amazon: [DVD Player] Toshiba HD 1080p Upscaling DVD Player $63 Shipped
• Newegg: [Blu-Ray Drive] LITE-ON Internal 4X Blu-ray DVD Drive for $69.99 w/ Free shipping

Highlights From Buxr
• Drugstore.com:[Pharmacy] $20 off a $65 Purchase with Paypal
• Skullcandy: [Headphones] Skullcandy Headphones 50% off w/ coupon SEAMONKEY
• Timeoutny.com: [Magazine] Free 2 Year Subscription to Time Out New York

Highlights From Dealhack
• Shoebuy: [Footwear] Pay via PayPal & Save Extra $20 off + Free Shipping
• Best Buy: [Entertainment] $5 DVD Movie & Double Feature Sale
• Lenovo: [Notebooks] Tuesday: Save Extra 15% off Core 2 Duo ThinkPad & IdeaPad Notebooks

Highlights From Dealnews
• Gap: [Clothing & Accessories] Gap Sale: Up to 50% off + extra 20% off
• Urban Outfitters: [Clothing & Accessories] Urban Outfitters Sale: Up to 80% off + extra 15% off
• NetVideo.com: [HD DVD Movies] HD DVDs from $1 + $3 s&h: Transformers, Nacho Libre, more

Highlights From Techbargains
• Moosejaw: [Tent & Backpack] New Moosejaw Coupon Code FREE Mountain Hardwear Enterprise Backpack w/ Tent Purchase
• Invisible Shield: [Cell Phone Case] Zagg Invisible Shield Coupon Code 30% off iPhone 3G/3GS & Palm Pre Skins

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.