Consumerist
personal finance
Posts Tagged “
Children
”
personal finance
subscriptions
KidsStuff.com Silently Charges $18 Subscription Fee To Grandparent Who Shopped There Two Years Ago
C writes in with another lesson on why you should check your statements frequently:Two years ago I purchased items for my grandchildren at KidsStuff.com. This month (March 2008) I found an $18.00 charge from them on my American Express card. I phoned the accounting department and asked what the charge was for. I was told that it was an "automatic" charge for "joining" the KidsStuff "club." Of course, I never placed an order to join any such club. The accounting department offered to reverse the charge to be effective in five days. I demanded a reversal show up by tomorrow and promised to advertise their automatic charges everywhere I could. Believe me, I am a big internet purchaser and this sort of rip-off shouldn't happen, especially after not having been on the site for over two years. The obvious lesson is to be sure you always go over every single charge on those credit cards. Those small $18 charges can add up to big money for unscrupulous companies.
More »
insurance
Insurance Company Won't Pay For Child's Leukemia Treatment
Primary Physician Care, a privately-owned insurance company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has now twice refused to pay for a 3-year-old's special leukemia treatment recommended by doctors at Duke University Hospital—even after the child's mother called the insurance company and spoke personally to the president. The child, Paxten Mitchell, suffers from a rare form of the cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.More »
badvertising
The once-popular—surely it isn't still?—teenaged sexpot clothing store Abercrombie & Fitch is shelling out $10 million to build a new emergency room and trauma center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Now a group is speaking out against the idea of prominently naming the kids' ER after the store, which the hospital has been hinting at in announcements. The reason the hospital is called "Nationwide Children's Hospital" is because Nationwide Insurance gave it $50 million. Up next: the Budweiser End Zone Birthing Center, and then the American Apparel Teenaged Pregnancy Wing.
More »
Would You Take Your (Really Hot) Kid To The Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department And Trauma Center?
The once-popular—surely it isn't still?—teenaged sexpot clothing store Abercrombie & Fitch is shelling out $10 million to build a new emergency room and trauma center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Now a group is speaking out against the idea of prominently naming the kids' ER after the store, which the hospital has been hinting at in announcements. The reason the hospital is called "Nationwide Children's Hospital" is because Nationwide Insurance gave it $50 million. Up next: the Budweiser End Zone Birthing Center, and then the American Apparel Teenaged Pregnancy Wing.
More »
recalls
24,000 Cribs Recalled For Faulty Railing
The CPSC has announced the recall of 24,000 cribs for a faulty railing that puts children at risk of falling out. More »
babies
Glass Baby Bottles Hit The Market To Answer Concerned Parents' Fears Of Plastic
Earlier this month, several consumer groups announced that heated plastic baby bottles leach bisphenol A "in amounts that were within the range shown to cause harm in animal studies." Now a reader writes in to tell us that companies are already starting to respond to the issue with announcements that they'll be releasing glass bottles in addition to plastic versions. More »
advertising
South Carolina will begin selling ad space inside their public school buses—11-inch strips above the windows are now for sale, and "Interested school districts get about $2,100 per month per bus."
More »
South Carolina Will Place Ads Inside School Buses
South Carolina will begin selling ad space inside their public school buses—11-inch strips above the windows are now for sale, and "Interested school districts get about $2,100 per month per bus."
More »
bad judgment
British Store Stops Selling "Lolita" Beds For Little Girls
Woolworths in London has pulled its Lolita bed from its online store after complaints from parents. A Woolworths spokesman said, "What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."More »
lead contamination
Members Of Congress Implore Mattel To "Do The Right Thing," Recall Lead-Tainted Toy Blood-Pressure Cuff
56 Members of Congress want to know why Mattel CEO Robert Eckert refuses to issue a nationwide recall for a toy blood-pressure cuff that is contaminated with lead. The affected blood-pressure cuff, sold as part of the Fisher-Price Medical Kit, was recalled exclusively in Illinois after Mattel received a complaint from State Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Legislators want Eckert to stand by a pledge made to reassure a jittery public before the holiday buying season that Mattel would 'earn back our trust with deeds, not just with words.' More »
chinese poison train
Thomas The Tank Engine Makers Settle Class Action With Free Toys
Thomas the Tank Engine makers have settled a class-action-lawsuit against for $30 million, stemming from their production of anthropomorphic toy trains brought to life with lead-tainted paint. Under the terms, RC2 will give cash refunds or replacement toys, plus a "bonus" toy. Hopefully this time RC2 will check to make sure the apology choo-choos aren't lead-tainted as well.
Maker of Thomas toys settles suit on lead paint [Chicago Tribune]
toys
Toy Makers Refuse To Recall Leaded Toys
Several toy makers are refusing to issue recalls for their toys, even though tests have proved they contain over 500 times the legal limit for lead. One says that it's leadly charm bracelets are not toys and therefore not subject to toy rules. Ty, which famously makes Beanie Babies, is refusing to pull "Jammin' Jenna," because while state law bans vinyl toys with more lead than 600 parts per million limit, the federal law doesn't - an argument that won't go over well with the attorney general's office, or parents.
Toymaker fights state recall [Chicago Tribune]
personal finance
How To Talk To Your Teen About Investing
In the list of most popular regrets, the "if only my parents had taught me that" one usually ranks pretty high, which is why we're glad to have found this post titled "How to talk to your teenager about personal finance." It offers ten steps to help you pass along the basics of investing and saving, so your kid's better prepared for the decades to come.More »
insurance
Insurance Company Denies Coverage For 3-Year-Old's Only Source Of Nutrition
Hannah Devane is 3 years old and is allergic to food. Not certain specific foods. Hannah has a rare disorder that makes her allergic to every kind of food except a certain formula that her insurance company says is a "nutritional supplement." Feeding Hannah costs $300 a week, but without the formula Hannah can't eat enough to survive without doing permanent damage to her esophagus. More »
lead contamination
Fisher-Price Pulls Another Lead-Tainted Product In Illinois Only
Consumer Reports says that Fisher-Price has finished testing another toy blood pressure cuff and have found that it exceeds the Illinois lead limit for toys. More »
christmas
Dirty Elf Shuts Down Canada's "Write to Santa" Program
You may want to write your own letter from Santa to the kids this year. Canada Post has temporarily shut down their popular "Write to Santa" program, which delivers over a million letters to kids in Canada and elsewhere, while they track down the volunteer who's been sending out obscene letters to kids. More »
cpsc
22 Children Died Toy-Related Deaths In 2006
Toy injuries were responsible for 22 deaths and 220,500 emergency room visits in 2006, according to a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The report looked at injuries affecting children under 15 and found that most deaths were caused by asphyxiation or collisions associated with riding toys, scooters, toy pegs, and rubber balls. More »
Kids who spin yo-yo waterballs around their heads can get them wrapped around their necks, leading to tales of temporary blindness, blackouts, and neck scars. Today New Jersey voted 71-to-7 to ban sales of the toy. [Newsday]
The CEO of Toys "R" Us tells the AP that all this testing of toys by advocacy groups is frustrating: "We've had many, many cases where we have taken the products and retested them and found them to be totally safe." Stupid advocacy groups! The toy store will protect us! [Associated Press]
