Consumerist: Danger Will Robinson

Plastic Surgery Comes With Buyer's Remorse

Meg Marco — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:24:15 EST

The Chicago Tribune says that plastic surgery comes with buyer's remorse so often that an entire industry has sprung up devoted to undoing the damage:

As plastic surgery has become increasingly common in America — some 16 million procedures were performed in 2007 — so has the consumer backlash.
Thousands of patients find themselves so displeased with the results of their surgeries that they are paying top dollar to undo what they had done. The demand for such procedures is so high that some doctors now promote themselves as "revision plastic surgeons" and devote up to 50 percent of their practices to such cases. The surgeries have earned their own nickname in the trendy nip-tuck world: undo-plasties.

"I'd say at this point that one out of about every two or three procedures I do is a revision surgery," said Dr. Andrew Jacono, chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.

Consumers should think long and hard before messing with nature, because (as we've mentioned before) plastic surgery doesn't come with an extended warranty or excellent return policy. Wouldn't you rather blame genetics for your ugly nose rather than yourself?

After plastic surgeries, more do an about-face [Chicago Tribune via WSJ Health Blog]
(Photo:Superchou)

Recall: Handles Detach From Starbucks Cups, Spilling Scalding Liquid

Meg Marco — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:42:07 EST

Stop using these cups! The handles will detach, spilling your lovely hot beverage all over your tender flesh— and causing jerks on the internet to compare you to that "McDonald's hot coffee woman."

9 people have already been burned. Don't be that guy! All 167,000 cups were sold at Starbucks for February 2007 through November 2007 for about $11. Return the cups to Starbucks for a full refund and a free beverage. Your un-scalded crotch will thank you.

Starbucks Recalls Coffee Mugs Due To Burn Hazard; Product Manufactured by lab921 [CPSC]

The World's Worst Credit Card

Meg Marco — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 11:59:01 EDT

Golb at Money, Matter, and More Musings has located the worst credit card in the world. It is designed to prey on subprime borrowers who, sadly, cannot get a better card...

Meet the Continental Finance MasterCard. After all the fees have been collected, it has a credit limit of $53. From MMMM:

Account setup fee: $99
Program participation fee: $89
Annual fee: $49
Account maintenance fee: $120 (charged @ $10/month)
Purchase APR: 19.92%
Authorized user fee: $30 (great! seems like $53 credit is a bit too much for a single person to handle)
Credit limit increase fee: $25 (and you don't even have to ask for it!)
Internet payment fee: $4 for each authorized internet payment.

Damn. This card is shockingly awful. And to make matters worse: Golb points out that if you use this card to repair your credit history you're stuck with it because canceling the account will shorten your credit history and drop your score. What a headache.

The Worst Credit Card I Have Ever Seen [Money, Matter, and More Musings]