SmartHippo
SmartHippo says the mortgage process is too complicated for consumers, with too much data hidden from plain view. Their service focuses on transparency in the home lending process. Imagine everyone in your company trading info on their salaries before the next employee review—HR wouldn't like it, but it would arm you with info you didn't previously have, to better negotiate for yourself. SmartHippo lets users build lending profiles and share information on their mortgage rates and lenders, so that you can compare notes before you settle on a rate of your own. Lenders also have a presence on the site and can share their rates directly.

The service claims to be truly transparent in collecting and sharing data among users—no bait and switch with interest rates. This month, they're rolling out a revamped rate search engine that pulls data from over 200 lenders. They claim that since lenders don't purchase position in their database, it's a great way to see what are frequently better rates from small banks and credit unions that you wouldn't otherwise see, since they don't have large advertising budgets to get the word out to consumers. If you try it out, let us know what you think.

Credit Karma
We’ve previously recommended Credit Karma, which offers a near-FICO estimate of your credit score for free. Their new tool is a Credit Simulator, where you can play out various scenarios—applying for a new credit card, taking out a personal loan, making six months of on-time payments, declaring bankruptcy—to see how they affect your score.

MoneyAisle
This is an online auction site where banks compete for your CD and high yield savings account business. The banks participate in a true reverse auction in real time, using bots to increase rates until a winner emerges. The founder emphasizes that this is not comparison shopping or sponsored bids—it's basically eBay in reverse, where participating banks compete for you.

The site is four months old and has around 100 participating banks and credit unions, so they admit that they don't always have the very best rate, but the number of institutions are increasing. On the other hand, they also don't allow low-rated rated banks to participate, so bids will only come from "healthy" institutions.

Yodlee
Yodlee's new offering is called PayToday through their BillPay partnership with Western Union. Through Yodlee you can pay immediately-due bills (as in, it's due today) with over 1,000 billers. It's not cheap at $15 per use, but it "solves the problem of last-minute payments."

One interesting note if you're into finding weird little ways to save money: Yodlee says if you're paying $5-10k a month on a mortgage payment, making last-minute payments can actually work out cheaper than regular payments, because it buys you a couple days more float time on your funds each month.

Mint
Mint's big news is that it officially left beta today, and that it now offers lots of investment tracking tools.

Thrive from Loudwater Labs
Thrive—which looks a little like a citrus-flavored version of Mint—attempts to combine the data reporting that every personal finance site offers with some level of advice and financial planning. We're not sure how Thrive makes money, though, and when we checked out the question on their FAQ, they didn't provide much info on that either, although they announced yesterday that they've partnered with Credit.com.

Fun features: a numerical "Financial Health" score calculated based on your data, and interesting factoids like "You can survive without a job for n days," "You can afford a home priced at n dollars," and "You can retire on n per month."

BillShrink
We've discussed BillShrink before—the site finds the most valuable credit card offers for you, and lets you adjust your criteria quickly (and anonymously) to search for specific types of offers.

They've launched a third service called My Account, which lets you register with the site so that it can keep tabs on your criteria and keep updating the best offers for you.

Boulevard R
This is a web version of meeting with a financial planner to develop an investing and saving strategy—they describe their offering as a "3-step process that puts the interests of consumers first and lays out a clear, actionable path to financial security." You start off by dragging-and-dropping your life goals onto a timeline of when you hope to accomplish them, then you prioritize some other goals, then input your monthly savings and liabilities. The site then comes up with an animated chart showing what you'll need to do in the coming years to meet those initial goals.

Once the fun interactive part is over, you have two choices: for free, you can receive a financial plan on one of your goals; for $80, you get a comprehensive plan, access to lots of professional advice, and assorted online tools. As you can imagine from the $80 fee, Boulevard is targeting people making approximately $100k a year with roughly $200k in savings. But hey, even if you're not in that customer demographic, you can still play with the initial goal planning widget.

Inner8
A social site that matches people to people, stocks to stocks, your perception of market conditions to stocks, and and people to stocks. (That's how they described it.) They also said it's like a Match.com for investment advice, and sure enough, they use 45 different criteria to develop a profile of you.

In one example, you enter a stock—say, Apple—and you can see stocks that move with Apple, or stocks that run against it. Inner8 says the value is that some of the stocks you'll see will be counterintuitive, but supported by the data and their fuzzy logic. They said "fuzzy logic" several times. Lots of fuzzy logic in this service, apparently.

Another feature lets you see how other people are doing with stock selections, so you can track their choices. Yet another feature shows stocks that are "appropriate" to your profile.

We'll need someone with better investing experience to check out what Inner8 offers and see whether it looks worthwhile as a suite of investment research tools.

Rate Surfer by My Best Interest
Poor Rate Surfer looked old-skool and kind of ugly compared to the other screenshots being shown this morning. Its also Java-based, so, yay for cross-platform compatibility, boo for being slow-assed Java. (My Mac product ownership is revealing itself here.)

The application runs on your desktop and doesn't connect with any company middle-man, so it theoretically offers better privacy than most everything else on display today. (We're not saying better security, just more privacy.) The app downloads your credit card data, then goes out to bank websites and pulls rate info on comparable products, and then collects all of it into one dashboard for you to compare services.

There's no third-party aggregating being involved—it's just scraping bank websites directly and displaying them for you, so if you really don't want to trust third-parties with your accounts, here's a way to do it from your desktop.

The app also lets you control all of your bank accounts from a single interface, and lets you set up a phone account so that you can execute bank transactions—things like balance transfers—from your phone via text message.

MyMoney on Facebook, by FiServ
Their goal: connecting generation Y with financial providers, because they earn a considerable amount of money, and stand to inherit a lot of ca$h from dying Boomer parents. Hey, that's what the guy said, basically. They're here today to talk about a FaceBook app called "MyMoney" that they introduced earlier this year.

If you're shopping for a place to store your money, MyMoney hooks you up with banks and credit unions, based on search criteria you enter—things like "auto loans" or your zip code. It also shares reviews and commentary from trusted friends (the Facebook version, at least) to help you evaluate offerings.

If you already have a bank or credit union account and it's cooperating with the MyMoney app, you can authorize that account through MyMoney and will be able to see balances and other account info directly on your Facebook page.

Some of you may remember that I am being laid off in four days, and may wonder why I, of all people, have been assigned to do this extra bout of work on behalf of Consumerist. I know, right? But Ben has asked me to watch the presentations and report their new features for you, the readers, so I have agreed. I have ulterior motives: I have also brought along a pile of business cards to pass out, and I figure I can pocket a bunch of these croissants and freeze them, then live off of them through Thanksgiving.

Here's the first group of customer-facing service being discussed this morning:

QuickenOnline
Intuit's fully free (as of yesterday) online money tracking service has been intentionally simplified—their presenter kept emphasizing that this is not supposed to be as dense or complicated as their desktop software. Features include a "What's Left" summary of your dwindling account balance, as well as a cool-looking and potentially very useful "Spending Money Outlook"—a fancy chart that graphs your budget over a timeline and pegs scheduled payments to your balance, so you can visually take in your budget in the weeks to come in a purely graphical representation. They'll also text you daily balance updates and let you know whether or not you're on track to making your payments.

WeSeed
If you're a bit afraid of the stock market—and we don't mean just this past month, because that doesn't count—then you might really appreciate WeSeed, which is basically a giant sandbox where you can play with investments using fake money with real data.

The site pulls you into investing as soon as you hit the site, by asking you what you like—pizza, dogs, survivalism—and then throwing specific companies at you that you might want to investigate. From there you can read about the company, check out its financial history, or see what other users are saying about it in the comments section. We're not sure what value the comments section will have in real life, but the social aspect will probably be a welcome safety net for beginners who want to talk about investing as they learn.

We're impressed with the concept. It will look too simple for knowledgeable investors, but if you've been putting off investing because you don't know what you're doing, it looks like a great immersion-based way to learn. (We have a feeling it will be good for teens and tweens, too.)

Wesabe
Personal finance site Wesabe now has Twitter functionality—you can tweet data into your wesabe account as you're running around buying those dreaded budget-killing lattes financial advisors are always warning you about.

Another new feature Wesabe is rolling out: graphs you can use to see how you spend in particular categories, then compare to how other Wesabe members (they want you to call them "Wesabeans") spend compared to you. Wesabe says over time the community data will build into a library of spending graphs that you can pull up and map your own data against.

Wesabe also lets you rate your relationship to merchants: fan, user, or captive, although I'm not sure yet how this helps your spending.

ZoneAlarm ForceField by Checkpoint Software
Cybercrime is coming after you! Arrrggh!!! "Hooking into your web browser" is a "new thing this year" that's threatening your way of life. Bleyarg, ZoneAlarm's presentation is kind of vague.

ZoneAlarm ForceField has heuristics, which I think are what causes allergic reactions in your nose, that they use to identify phishing sites as soon as they're created—sort of a SpamSieve for phishing sites. FF also watches out for things like keylogging software.

Basically, ForceField looks like an antivirus program specifically for your web browser, which means it will likely be just as intrusive ("We've just stopped 66 MB of data from being spied upon!") and annoying. Until we look more closely at it, we'd suggest your best defense against phishing and scams is to continue being as careful as we hope you're already being.

FiLife
FiLife says their goal is to help find the best products available to you. To do that, they've amassed a vast directory of "product types," and then huge amounts of supporting content to explain the product types and provide reviews and recommendations.

New navigation tool, a "product picker." Their launch product picker is for credit cards: you enter data on your credit card usage patterns and desires, and FiLife filters out the noise and

FiLife also uses proprietary algorithms to come up with a "Personal Value" of the selected product—for instance, credit card A has a personal value to you of $84. We don't fully get it how that translates into real money for you, but it definitely works as a sort of score you can use to quickly compare choices.

Another fun toy is the Stacker, a graphical representation of your personal data. In the example given, you can enter your salary and your age range, and the Stacker reveals a pyramid of little animated people and shows where you stand among your peers or the nation. It looks like a fun way to explore your own personal data and gain a different perspective on things.

And that's the first batch. Off to grab some more croissants, and then we'll hear from the next batch of presenters.

The tipster writes:

Every three months, I call Time Warner Cable in New York City and complain about the service, and they give me free HBO for six months, or something like that. My cousin, who worked in the IT department at Time Warner, told me that the "complaint" list resets every three months, so after that, they don't know that you complained. Four phone calls a year can give you all sorts of premium channels and the like.

Our Time Warner internet connection dies more frequently than Kenny, and free premium channels are our favorite way to mourn. Here's how we do it:

• The internet dies. Again.
• We call Time Warner.
• Time Warner checks for outages in our area. There are none. Ever.
• Time Warner expresses befuddlement over the problem.
• Time Warner tells us to power cycle the modem. This does nothing. Ever.
• Time Warner offers its only solution: dispatch a tech to replace the modem. Again.
• We explain this happens regularly, and ask for free premium channels.
• Time Warner laughs and explains that they don't offer free premium channels.
• We promise that they do, and ask them to consult our scroll-length list of outages before checking with a supervisor.
• We sit on hold for 15 minutes.
• Time Warner gives us the free premium channels.

(Photo: Meghann Marco)

Freeshipping.org [Official Site]

It just launched an hour ago, though, so you might want to bookmark it and check it out after the initial spike of traffic has died down.

You can also buy print versions through Lulu and Flat World Knowledge for anywhere from $11 to $60, but it's free to download in Word and PDF formats. (Note: unless you plan on downloading it, you may want to skip the link to avoid wasting the professor's bandwidth—here's a screencap of the otherwise unremarkable page for the curious.) The New York Time says that it's not a widely used text yet, but Harvard is among the colleges using it.

The article also takes a look at Connexions, an open source textbook project that allows users to mix and match existing content according to CC licenses and sees 850,000 unique users a month.

And then there's CourseSmart, an online service backed by five dead tree publishers that sells limited access to printed textbooks for a discount of up to 50% over the print version. We haven't tried CourseSmart ourselves, but the Times' description of it makes it sound like a deliberately constrained "service" dreamed up by companies that don't want to hurt their $200-a-copy golden goose, but want to take advantage of the market they created in the first place when they priced their books so high. Which, okay, sounds like good business, but we still think they suck.

"Don’t Buy That Textbook, Download It Free " [New York Times]

UltimateCoupons [Official Site]

The "What's Left" approach might be too vague for those of you who want details, details, details when it comes to your money. Instead of presenting you a dashboard of data, Rudder uses what our editor Ben called a "no-thought-required cash flow management" approach. Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially if you feel like you need to take control of your finances but don't know where to start.

Click here to see a sample Rudder email.

As Cnet puts it:

Rudder's name for this magic number is "what's left" and it figures out what you've got for discretionary spending based on when you're getting your next paycheck and what's in your various savings and checking accounts, compared to credit card payments and other bills that need paying off. The entire process is shown to users, something Roy hopes will educate as much as it does take the work out of doing the math yourself.

As far as security, Rudder asks for read-only access to your accounts through CashEdge; Rudder itself doesn't store any user names, passwords, or account numbers. It's free as in ad-supported—you can see an example of the sort of ads they serve in the sample email above.

Rudder.com
"Rudder steers personal finance to your in-box" [Cnet]

• Apple: Refurbished iPod touches on sale, 8GB for $180, 16GB for $240, 32GB for $320
• Amazon: Rewards points upgrade for existing Amazon.com Visa holders
• Apple: Free Select iTunes TV Shows in HD (requires iTunes 8

• Travelocity: United Airlines Sale: Round-trip flights from $108
• Amazon.com: Amazon.com Men's Watch Deals: Timex, Marc Ecko, more from $40 + free shipping
• Sears: Seven7 Women's Jeans for $18 + $6 s&h, more

• Budget Truck Rental: $50 Gift card when paying w/American Express
• Reverie: T-Shirt Sale: Buy 1 TEE get 1 free TEE
• BestBuy: Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD HDTV and portable DVD Player for $749.99 + shipping

• Drugstore.com: New Customers: Save $5 or $10 off First Order
• Vann's: Panasonic FZ28 10.2MP Digital Camera $340 Shipped
• Amazon: Get Savings of up to 75% off Bargain Books

Here's a welcome reprieve from all those "free" file hosting sites with countdown timers and restrictions and flashing ads. FileSavr is running a special deal promote their normally pay to use service: free file hosting for life (well, at least until 2038). 10gb limit per upload, with a 250gb per account max. Just sign up via this link and you're uploading in a snap. Jay from FileSavr told us...

We owe our success to the social bookmarking sites like Digg, Stumble, Reddit and Delicious. As a thank you to the social sites we are offering free accounts on FileSavr.com to all bloggers as well as members of all social sites. This is a lifetime membership for absolutely FREE. There is no catch, we simply hope this will create good buzz and people will also donate to us if they like our service.

It seems snag-free. Let us know in the comments if you discover some fell purpose lurking behind the smiles.

Free Accounts for Bloggers and Digg Users [FileSavr]

Just sign up, hand over your bank username and login (yes, this is potentially dangerous), and reply to a text message on your cellphone to get it running. After that you can text BAL to 636363 to get your balances and last 5 transactions, along with a few other commands. You can also set it up to send you a daily message with your account balances, alert you when your balance goes below a certain level, or alert you if a purchase over X amount gets charged to your account.

I gave it a shot and it was quick and worked perfectly. It's a very streamlined service but it's handy for checking on your balances on-the-go, for free. Some banks will charge you a fee just to check your balance from an ATM. It's also great if your bank is the kind that will let you withdraw from the ATM or use your debit for more than your balance and then charge you fees for it. Now you have no excuse for not knowing how much money you have on hand.

QuickenBeam [Official Site]

• Banana Republic: 30% off today only with coupon code HAPPY30 or printable coupon
• Sears: Free Masterlock with printable coupon
• MusiciansFriend: AKG Handheld Condenser Microphone for $100 + free shipping. Today only.

• Timbuk2: Save up to 60% off Messenger Bags, Backpacks, & More
• New York & Co.: Extra 20% off Store-Wide Women's Apparel
• Office Depot: Viewsonic N3235w 32-inch LCD HDTV $470 & Free Shipping
Highlights From Buxr
• Staples: Samsung CLP-300 Color Laser Printer for $69.98 w/ Free shipping
• Staples: Mio DigiWalker C230 Portable GPS for $99.99 w/ Free shipping
• Amazon: Bill Cosby Himself (Comedy Album) - MP3 Download for $1.99

• Newegg: 24-hour sale
• Woot: Refurbished Dyson DC18 All-Floor Vacuum for $259.99
• Buy.com: ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf Celeron M 900MHz 7" Widescreen Laptop for $294 + free shipping

• Staples: Peachtree Pro Acounting 2008 Free After Rebate
• Newegg: RCA RP5050 Digital Voice Recorder with Camera $35 Shipped
• MacMall: Wacom Graphire4 4x5 Graphics Tablet for PCs & Macs $40

• Meritline.com: 8 x 21 Rubber Armored Binocular for $7.69 w/ Free Shipping after coupon code M24804545POFF
• Frys.com: Crucial 4GB DDR2 PC5300 Laptop Memory Kit $34.99 after rebate
• HobbyLobby.com: 40% Off Hobby Lobby Printable Coupon (expires Sept 6)

• Amazon: 37 new coupon codes for September 2008
• Google: Get Chrome for free, Google's new super-minimal browser (still in beta, read review at Lifehacker)
• Apple: Seven refurbished Apple Aluminum iMac Core 2 Duo Desktops from $949 each + free shipping

• Newegg: Nikon Coolpix P60 8.1MP Camera $150 Shipped
• Amazon: Save Extra $20 off Kellogg's, Keebler & other Grocery Products
• 1-800 Contacts: Save $20 to $80 + Bonus $5 off Contact Lenses with Coupon

• Toys "R" Us: BOGO 50% off all video games up to $19.99
• Proctor & Gamble: Free Tide TotalCare sample
• BuyCostumes.com: Sale: Up to 60% off

• Amazon.com: Get three DVDs for $10 when you add all three to your Shopping Cart
• Golden Gadgets: 2 Pack of 9 LED Aluminum Pocket water resistant Flashlight for $3.99 + Shipping ($2.02)
• Newegg.com: A-DATA 16GB Flash Drive WHITE for $24.99 after $15 rebate!

• Vann's: Klipsch iGroove HG iPod Speakers $100 Shipped
• Mac Connection: Apple iMac $1099 + Free VMWare Fusion Software
• Chefs: Labor Day Sale: Save up to 80% off Cookware, Kitchen Tools, & More

• Southwest: Fares starting at $59 one-way
• Purina: Free bag of Purina Yesterday's News cat litter
• Arizona Jeans: 50% off select jeans and all shoes

Reader Brian is one such consumer. He clicked through to Freecreditreport.com from a credit bureau website and was later socked with a charge for a credit monitoring service he knew nothing about. Here's his letter:

A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to do my annual check of my credit report. All of the major credit reporting agencies seem to strong arm you towards www.freecreditreport.com.

I went through the sign-up and authentication procedure. As a part of the procedure you have to enter a valid credit card that appears on your report. It’s followed by the usual legalize eye-watering disclaimers.

Last week I checked my current MasterCard bill online. I was greeted by the following entry:

07/28/08 CIC*Triple Advantage 877-4816825 CA $14.95
Not immediately recognizing the company, I called the company and found out that it was an alias for FreeCreditReport.com. After navigating the menu tree I was eventually connected to a woman who seemed to be annoyed that she had to deal with a customer. I asked her about the charge and she started asking far more personal information than was contained in my credit report. When I refused to provide more than the basic information, she relented and insisted that I had signed up for the monthly monitor. She further stated that since I hadn’t cancelled it within the first month (I didn’t know about it until the bill came) I was obligated for a one year membership.

Not one to take this type of thing sitting down, I advised the woman in direct (not offensive) terms that
· I did not knowingly sign up for the service.
· I did not authorize this service
· I do not want this service
· I will not pay for this service
· I will be filing a formal complaint with the AG’s office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about their deceptive marketing practices

The woman put me on hold for about five minutes and finally came back and said that the account had been cancelled and that a refund would be forthcoming. As of this morning, approximately a week later, the credit has yet to show up on my credit card statement.

The moral to this story is that freecreditreport.com is a scam set up by the credit reporting agencies. It is not there to fulfill their legal obligation to provide you with your credit reports. It is, instead, a sleazy way of selling their “value-added” services. I think that most people would be afraid to stand up to a reporting agency.

If you're a regular reader of Consumerist, you may have known about this issue for a long time, (or are the type of person who always reads the fine print, which is very admirable) but most consumers are simply not aware that Freecreditreport.com isn't the "free credit report" that they're entitled to by law. What's more, they implicitly trust the heavily advertised guitar playing loser from the commercials, or the recommendation of a major credit bureau.

Warn your friends. Freecreditreport.com isn't free.

Free Annual Credit Reports [FTC]

Then respond...
This offer is just one option for customers. It’s a choice! Comcast is committed to offering customer the best programming and services. We want to provide our loyal customers the best packages available. The package offered requires that the customer maintain the minimum level of services for 24 months.

If customer asks...
Are the rates guaranteed for 12 months for all of my boxes and services?

Then respond...
The rate of the plan (plus applicable taxes and franchise fees) is guaranteed for the Comcast Digital Cable package for a period of 12 months from the date service is activated. The package is limited to service to one outlet and does not include equipment, or other charges not specifically included in the offer (including without limitation, PPV and other non recurring charges) Upgrades to service are allowed on an a la carte basis, however, those prices are not guaranteed.

If customer asks...
What will happen to the cost of the services when the first 12 months is completed?

Then respond...
After the 12 months of the offer, Comcast’s regular service and equipment fees will apply.

[CAE Note: Please remind the customer they will start to receive the multi-product discount on their bill after their 12 month promotional rates ends.]

If customer asks...
What happens to my offer when I move?

Then respond...
If you cancel service because you move your residence to a location within a Comcast serviceable area and you reconnect to a Comcast Digital Cable service comparable to the package, the reimbursement fee will not apply.

If you move to a Comcast area without transferring service, reimbursement fees will apply.

* If you downgrade between months 2 and 12, your fee will be 100% of the value of the Wii, or $250.
* If you downgrade between months 13 and 24, then your fee will be 50% of the value of the Wii, or $125.
* If you only downgrade a DVR or HD service or any other added services above the minimum level, you will not be charged the reimbursement fee.

If customer asks...
Can I add services?

Then respond...
Since you are only required to maintain a minimum level of service you can upgrade or add services during the 24 months.

If customer asks...
What happens if I downgrade my service within the next 2 years?

Then respond...
If you downgrade service below the minimum level within the 24-month period, the reimbursement fee applies.

* If you downgrade between months 2 and 12, your fee will be 100% of the value of the Wii, or $250.
* If you downgrade between months 13 and 24, then your fee will be 50% of the value of the Wii, or $125.
* If you downgrade a DVR or HD service or any other added services above the minimum level, you will not be charged the reimbursement fee.

If customer asks...
Can I transfer the agreement into someone else’s name?

Then respond...
The redemption form is non-transferable and cannot be transferred to someone else’s name. The agreement applies to the current account holder. However, we can accept name changes due to marriage, etc. That person will need to sign a new redemption form.

If customer asks...
What happens if I lost the redemption form or I never received it?

Then respond...
A second redemption form can be mailed to the customer upon request. Please see supervisor for details.
An extension on the 30 days is at the discretion of the system.

If customer asks...
How will I know that the Wii has shipped?

Then respond...
A notification letter will be mailed up to five business days prior to the Wii system arriving at customer’s shipping address.
The letter will include a shipping address, UPS tracking number and customer service phone number for shipping inquiries.

If customer asks...
What shipping address will be used?

Then respond...
The shipping address will be the customer’s service address.

If service address does not accept deliveries or if customer requests alternate address, the Wii system will ship to customer’s billing address. Please note that the Wii system will only ship to customer’s service address or billing address [as default].

If customer asks...
How can I track the shipment status?

Then respond...
Qualifying customers can track Wii shipment status by visiting the following site: http://www.checkmyrebate.com/ComcastWii

Please note that qualifying customers should access this site AFTER they return their redemption form and 30 days have passed since Triple Play installation.

If customer asks...
Will a signature be required upon UPS delivery of the Wii?

Then respond...
No, the customer is not required to provide a signature in most cases. The only time a signature will be required is if the Wii system is shipped to a multi-dwelling unit.
We will keep record of every shipped Wii system, the UPS tracking number and ‘shipped to’ address.

If customer asks...
What happens if I don’t receive my Wii?

Then respond...
We would escalate the situation.

If customer asks...
What if I am subscribed to the Premier Triple Play Bundle and want to downgrade to Preferred Plus Triple Play Bundle in markets where the minimum level of service required for this offer is Preferred Plus?

Then respond...
Yes, you would be able to downgrade if you live in markets where the minimum level of services for this offer is Preferred Plus.

If customer asks...
I’ve heard that there were incompatibility issues between Comcast routers and the Wii. Is this true?

Then respond...
* In early versions of the Wii (pre-System Menu 2.2), there was some incompatibility with routers provided by Comcast.
* Nintendo has patched the incompatibility issues and all Wii systems manufactured since April 2007 have this patch built-in (including those allocated to Comcast for the Nintendo Wii promotion).
* There should be no issues between Comcast routers and Wii systems for this current promotion.

If customer asks...
I already have a Comcast service(s). If I add another service to make my package [Preferred Plus or Premier] Triple Play, can I get the Nintendo Wii?

Then respond...
This promotion is for new customers only [going from 0 to 3 services for a qualifying Triple Play package]. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes. However, we do have other offers available for our customers adding products to their existing services.

Termination of Redemption form terms

A reimbursement fee will be applied to the account for cancellation or downgrades from the minimum level of service between month 2 and month 24 after installation. In the reimbursement form, a local number is included so that disconnected customers can contact their former Comcast office and request the Reimbursement fee be credited.

If the customer downgrades or disconnects between month 2 and month 12, the reimbursement fee is 100% of the value of the item. ($250.) If the customer downgrades or disconnects between month 13 and month 24, the reimbursement fee is 50% of the value of the item. ($125)

Moving outside of Comcast footprint

* CAE explains a termination fee will apply

Moving within the Comcast footprint

* CAE sets up a transfer within the market or uses MoveCo.
* If successful with transfer within a system or MoveCo no Reimbursement fee applies
* If not successful, then Reimbursement fee will apply and the customer can send a Comcast bill from the new location to have the fee credited to account
* If customer does not want to tell CAE where they are moving, CAE will advise that a reimbursement fee will apply, until we receive confirmation of Comcast service has been installed *
* OR Customer can request an exemption letter for the Reimbursement Fee. This letter is to be completed and returned with proof of their new Comcast service.

Non-pay

* Normal Collection Process will be followed
* Work order will reflect customer has a Value Add offer (rate codes)
* If money is not collected at any step during collection process, reimbursement fee will be applied to account.

Downgrades

* Customer stays with Comcast, but downgrades from minimum level of service required by the Value add campaign.
* CAE probes for reason for downgrade and explains reimbursement fee applies if customer removes services below the required minimum level of service.
* Customer can upgrade to a higher level of any of the three services.
* If customer understands and wants to continue with downgrade, CAE requests manager apply the reimbursement fee according to the time left in the 24 month period.
* If the CAE is successful retaining the customer in the current service level, no reimbursement apply
* If there are extenuating circumstances that require a downgrade, account needs to be referred to management to determine if reimbursement fee will apply. An example would be the computer breaks down and customer is not getting another right away.

Death

* If CAE is advised that the customer who accepted the Value Add offer has passed away, show empathy
* CAE will advise relative that a Reimbursement fee will be applied, but can be immediately credited with fax/mail copy of obituary or death certificate *
* CAE requests manager to apply credit of the reimbursement fee and document this on the account.

(Photo: largeprime)

Comcast Offers Wii™ Systems To New Triple Play Customers [Press Release]
(Photo: BohPhoto)

For whatever reason, Chrysler is currently advertising a "Full Tank of Fuel" as a "free feature". That's right. ONE SINGLE TANK OF GAS. I can't imagine buying a car and being told "Thanks for spending $20,000!" then getting into the car... and find out it's riding on empty.

Hey, at least they won't let you uncheck it. (We tried.)

100 Things to Do During a Money Free Weekend [The Simple Dollar] "One hundred fun ways to spend a money free weekend."

8 Home Improvements That Pay Off [Smart Money] "The home improvement projects that offer the biggest payoff."

10 most and least expensive cars to insure [Bankrate] "Stay away from small, fast cars."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

(Photo: me and the sysop)

Apparently, they do this every year.

Slurpee.com

• Au Bon Pain: Free iced coffee today from 2pm onwards.
• Woot: Refurbished Gateway AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core Media Center with 1TB Hard Drive and Blu-ray for $649.99
• Amazon: Morrissey Greatest Hits MP3 Album download for $4
• Chick-Fil-A: Cow Appreciation Day 7/11 Free Meal with Cow attire

• Old Navy: Up to 50% off: Summer Apparel on Sale Store-Wide
• MacMall: MacBooks from $1005 + Free Parallels 3, Printer, and Shipping
• Geeks.com: Sale: Save up to 90% off Computers & Electronics

• Banana Republic: Summer Sale: Up to 50% off
• Armani Exchange: Semi-Annual Sale: Up to 70% off + 15% off coupon
• Game Stop: Game Days Sale: Up to 50% off

• 1. Why pay anything? Many theaters offer free family film screenings on weekday mornings.
• 2. Keep an eye out for movie ticket coupons at grocery stores.

  Safeway's "Flicks for Free" promotion offers two free movie passes to shoppers who buy $40 worth of products from participating brands such as Coca-Cola and General Mills in one transaction.

  Perfect for that rowdy Soda & Cereal party you've been planning!

• 3. Seek out a drive-in. If you can find one, you'll be rewarded with $6 tickets.
• 4. Ditch the theater chains. Independents may take an extra few weeks to get the summer blockbusters, but the tickets can be 70% cheaper.
• 5. Sign up for reward programs. Unlike frequent flier miles, theaters aren't depreciating their rewards programs.

  AMC MovieWatcher Rewards offers coupons for a free small popcorn each week, plus two points per ticket purchased. After you've earned 30, you'll get a free ticket. The Regal Crown Club awards one point per $1 spent. Rack up 120 points and redeem them for a free ticket.

• 6. Buy in bulk with your friends. AMC sells blocks of 50 tickets at $6 apiece. The tickets don't expire, but they can't be redeemed until two weeks after a film debuts.
• 7. Don't go on Friday or Saturday night. Instantly halve the cost of tickets by checking out a matinee.
• 8. Skip online reservation sites. Save the $1.50 and spend a few minutes waiting on line.
• 9. Be careful with the concessions. Theaters make their profits on popcorn, so if you need to buy, buy big and share with your friends. Even better, buy your snacks at a convenience store for a fraction of the price.

• 9 Ways to Save on Movie Tickets [Smart Money]

  (Photo: Getty)

A blogger who is friends with a Starbucks manager says that it looks like the long-awaited free AT&T WiFi, even if you're not an AT&T customer, inside Starbucks will launch tomorrow. A few caveats:

1. You have to have a registered Starbucks card and use it at least once a month
2. You only get 2 free hours per day
3. You will still have to carve out your own piece of square footage, maneuvering among the limbs, inconveniently placed bags, adaptor cords, and deadly gazes other Starbucks laptop campers use to claim their territory.

[Zatznotfunny via Gizmodo]
(Photo: smcgee)

When asked by Curry's defense attorney how he recognized Curry from 11 months ago, Smith said it was her glasses and her voice.

Curry later testified that she doesn't wear glasses and produced a driver's license as evidence.

Upset because she felt targeted, Curry said she began to raise her voice as Smith raised his.

Curry said when the other employee placed the drink on the counter, she grasped it, then let go when Smith grabbed it and tried to pull it toward him. He spilled the drink on himself, she said, when she let go of the cup.

"I was very much upset," she said. "He accused me of going to a store in Jantzen Beach and in his words running a scam. I was offended. . . . I don't need to steal for or scam for a $4.20 drink."

Smith called 911 after the incident, claiming that "a customer [just] assaulted me with a hot drink." We'd like to think that Curry would be entitled to a freebie if her iced tea was served scalding hot.

Starbucks' corporate office essentially sided with Curry, saying: "Providing great customer service is part of (the company's) commitment and if a drink isn't perfect, we want customers to let us know and we'll make it right."

Dispute over spilled Starbucks mocha ends up in Portland court [The Oregonian]
(Photo: ka3vo)

Chris writes:

We had the triple play installed back on Jan 11th, 2008 and have yet to receive any paperwork. I have called and emailed every other week since originally accepting their Terms of Service online the night it was installed and received nothing. Here are some of the things I have been told:
—-—-—-—-—
1/18/08 via email:

RESPONSE: Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter. I have received your email dated Jan 17, 2008 regarding the LCD TV. My name is Albert, and I will be happy to assist you.

Two to three weeks after all your bundle components are installed and working you will receive a letter in the U.S. Mail. The letter will include a username and password for a website address to redeem the promotion. A toll-free number, (866)279-0438, is available if you are unable to access the url or do not receive the information. Please allow four to ten weeks to receive your gift award after the date you go through the reward claims process.

Although additional follow-up may be needed, it has been my goal today to address your concerns. I hope I have succeeded in meeting that goal. In the meantime, if you have any other questions, please let us know. We look forward to serving you.
—-—-—-—-—
2/21/08 via email:

To Verizon: It has been almost 6 weeks to date from the installation of our FIOS bundled package and we still have NOT received any paperwork concerning the LCD tv redemption. This is really getting frustrating as we feel we have been more than patient waiting for the paperwork through the mail. Can someone not get this resolved for us, and not with the canned response of "please allow another4 - 6 weeks"? The whole reason we decided to go with Verizon's bundled package and not someone else was because of the tv offer. Can a supervisor authorize for the information to be emailed to me concerning the promotion?

RESPONSE: Thank you for responding to my last email. You had additional questions about the TV promotion.

If you have not received the information, contact the office at (866) 279-0438 and they will check the status and make sure that the package has or will be sent.

Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Albert
Verizon eCenter

—-—-—-—-—
2/23/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called @ 4:45 spoke to Brian - told me to check back 1 week if no paperwork via snail mail.

—-—-—-—-—
2/29/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called @ 3:06 pm to follow up to Verizon installation 7 weeks ago - still have received nothing concerning tv promo/$200 best buy card. 3:27 pm Spoke to ??? and she is submitting request for rebate to her supervisor.

—-—-—-—-—

3/24/08 telephone call to Verizon -
Called 4:47 pm on hold until 5:05 - requested to be transfered to supervisor - Melinda... letter never went out from installation... Referred to billing - 5:15 Melinda transferred to billing - on hold until 5:36 spoke w/jessica and transferred to FIOS...on hold until we hung up at 6:31 pm!!!!!!!!!

already talked to rebate dept multiple times. Billing records are not indicating/flagging us as eligible for 19" LCDHDTV rebate- what is keeping it from the rebate dept... Installation date was 1/11/08 and we have never received any paperwork to begin the rebate process even though I have emailed and spoke with various people. Now 10 weeks and still no info or anything else...
—-—-—-—-—
3/25/08 telephone call to Verizon

called general billing 1-800-483-3000 9:06 automated voice mail 6 min wait for next avail assoc. Frank - 9:15 - shooting email to supervisor to ask her to over ride and cause letter to be generated - does not appear to him that we accepted TOS online - but I did within 48 hours of installation - actually that evening. Informed that we are considering canceling the WHOLE verizon acct over this.

RESPONSE via email: Dear Verizon FiOS Customer,

On MAR 25, 2008 you ordered Verizon FiOS Triple Freedom (24-month option) that provides discounts off the standard monthly rates for your Verizon Freedom Essentials, FiOS Internet and FiOS TV Premier services. We are delighted to have you as a Verizon FiOS Triple Freedom customer, but in order for you to receive the discounted rates, you must go to the following website at....
—-—-—-—-—
4/24/08 telephone call to Verizon

[ed— same story as 3/25]
—-—-—-—-—
5/12/08 email to Verizon

Still trying to get resolution on 19" LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate from January 2008. Installation date 1/11/2008. Am not able to follow up by phone today as my son is not feeling well. I have called MULTIPLE times trying to get this resolved with no results. I am now to the point of being very angry as this was to be my son's birthday present May 1st, 2008!!! I am about ready to contact the local television stations and let them publicly try and resolve this with Verizon as I have been MORE THAN PATIENT up to this point and time. Below are a few of the conversations I have documented and one of the original emails. Please have someone reply accordingly within the next 48 hours as to the status of our rabate. My wife, Christine [redacted], will be the cotact person via telephone calls at this time as I am at work and not able to personally resolve this over the phone.
—-—-—-—-—
5/14/08 email to Verizon
no response from Verizon. Never received " confirmation email with a tracking number shortly. " Emailing through their contacted site again with the following:

We will be contacting the Public Service Commission within the next 30 days concerning there being no resolution on 19" LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate from January 2008. Our Installation date 1/11/2008; on that same day we accepted the TOS online as directed but to this day have never received the appropriate paperwork to claim our rebate. We have made MULTIPLE attempts via telephone and email regarding this with no results. Please have someone review this immediately and respond to us as we have BEEN MORE THAN PATIENT. Please note that copies of all email communications and conversations will also be released to the local tv stations to alert future customers of the hassles that might befall them. Four months is not acceptable - Verizon would not wait 4 months plus for a dispute resolution with one of their accounts.

EMAIL RESPONSE: Dear verizon.com customer,

Thank you for contacting our customer support team at the Verizon
eCenter. An account associate is reviewing your inquiry and will
respond via email within one business day. Please keep the subject
line unchanged if you wish to reply to this email.
—-—-—-—-—
5/14/08 LIVE CHAT online w/Verizon

Welcome to Verizon Live Chat. You have selected to chat about:
TN: 7273799152
Subject: None of the categories apply to my question or comment (No subcategory)
Question: We have never received ANY paperwork since our package installation 1/11/08 on the 19' LCD HDTV/BestBuy gift card promotional rebate despite MULTIPLE CALLS to the billing and rewards depts. We are seriously considering contacting the Public Service Commission about this.
16:07:12 A Verizon eCenter Representative will be with you shortly. Thank you.
...
Angela: I apologize for the delay in receiving the letter for the 19 inch TV or $200 Best Buy promo offer.
Angela: I will be glad to send an inquiry over to fulfillment to check the status.
Angela: May I get your email address for follow up? You will receive an email response within 2 business days.
Chris: The tv was to have been a birthday present for our son...whose birthday was May 1st. Not angry at you - just at the system as we have been patient and keep getting the run around. [redacted]
Angela: I have sent the inquiry over to fulfillment for the status on the TV.
Chris: Thank you
Angela: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Chris: If I do not hear back within 2 days I will attempt further contact again.
Chris: No thank you...this is my only problem with Verizon at this time.
Angela: Thank you for using Verizon's chat service. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Online Support and information for all our Verizon products and services can also be found at: http://help.verizon.com
Verizon Live Chat

It was a pleasure to assist you. Your chat session has ended. Thank You.

—-—-—-—-—
5/20/2008 As of this time I have NOT received ANY sort of response from Verizon as promised.

We've been advising readers to file complaints with their state's attorney general, and that's just what Chris did. Here's his update:

I filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney after writing your email yesterday...funny thing...I got a call from Verizon about my "complaint" that afternoon, then another call from a rep who "investigated" my account a couple hours later. Too bad he didn't even have the right installation date. Obviously the response was not because of my emails, otherwise he would have had the correct installation date right in front of him. Supposedly things should be straightened out and rectified in 10-14 days per the 2nd rep who called yesterday afternoon! We shall see what happens!

Thanks!

Chris

Will Chris ever get his TV as Verizon has repeatedly promised? We hope so, but if this is happening to you, don't wait — report Verizon to your state's attorney general.

(Photo: Ben Popken )

If you're the type of Netflix user who enjoys maximizing the value of your membership, you might find the new website FeedFlix interesting. The service scrapes data from your personal Netflix rss feeds and generates interesting graphs about how long you keep rentals, how many you rent per week, and your cost-per-rental. Sure, you could do this all yourself with a spreadsheet, or maybe Yahoo! Pipes, but FeedFlix is free and works instantly.

From the FAQ:

» How does FeedFlix work?

When you enter your Netflix RSS Link, FeedFlix processes your Netflix RSS feeds to get the movies in your Queue, the reviews you have written, the movies Netflix recommends for you etc. We also are able to co-relate your data with that of other FeedFlix users to tell you who else is watching or currently waiting for the same movies as you while still maintaining your (and their) anonymity.

FeedFlix

Yesterday, McDonald’s was giving away free southern-style chicken sandwiches if you purchased a medium or large drink. I went down to the location in my office building, where there were three lines. It was busy, but nowhere near riot status.

As I stood in line, I repeatedly heard the employees telling customers that purchasing a “Sweet Tea” didn’t count for the free sandwich. Some left, some rolled their eyes and ordered a “drink” instead, but all of them were pretty peeved about it.

As it happens, someone in the line ahead of me worked for the ad agency that McDonald’s uses and said she WROTE THE AD COPY. She asked to talk to the manager, because she said that Sweet Tea was part of the promotion.

They made her wait. By the time I had ordered and was waiting for my food, two managers came out from the back looking decidedly hostile. When the ad exec tried to explain the ad to them, they immediately cut her off and shouted “No, No, No” and pretty much told her to get lost.

My curiosity was piqued, so I called McDonald’s customer service hotline to find out who was right. Guess what? The managers were completely wrong. The CSR told me “you could buy a milk chug and get a free sandwich. Any drink!” She offered me free coupons for more chicken sandwiches, but I declined because I didn’t want to give my name and address, especially since I wasn’t directly involved.

So, BOO to the local franchise managers, but way to go Customer Service Rep.

Sincerely,

Thunderpants

Nice investigative reporting, Thunderpants. It's good to know that ad agency people are forces for justice, trying to keep McDonald's honest, but it's too bad they didn't listen to her.

(Photo: Paxton Holley )

Carolyn writes:

I walked into the Dunkin' Donuts and there were three people ahead of me in line. The first two were two girls, who were together. One asked for a free iced coffee, and the guy behind the counter asked her for ID.

She asked why he needed it, and he responded that she had to be over 18 to receive the free coffee. She asked if he was serious, and said she didn't have any ID.

At that point, those of us behind her in l