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Attention Floridian Consumerists! Provided everything goes according to schedule, I will be on Fox Tampa Thursday during the 10pm newscast, talking about the mysterious Grocery Shrink Ray sweeping across America.
The editors of PC World have named Consumerist as one of the 100 best products of 2008. We’re not sure exactly what we did, but the press announcement says, “Each year, PC World chooses the 100 top technology products available to consumers. Some of the products are brand new, some have been on the market for years. What they have in common is attractive and efficient design, outstanding features and performance, solid usability and smart innovation.” Whoo, go us.
Ron Lieber kicks off his inaugural Your Money column by presenting five excellent principles to help guide your financial decisions.
Apparently BJ Novak from The Office mentioned The Consumerist on Conan O’ Brien last night because last year we wrote about how he went on Conan to expose how Cadbury Eggs keep shrinking, and it soon blew up into a big deal with a bunch of other places picking up the story. I can’t wait for The Office to do an episode where Michael outlaws the use of paper and pens. Here’s the clip.
My Reader’s Digest article on getting consumer satisfaction is up online. It’s chock-full of tips for being a savvy consumer, illustrated with real world success stories you first read on this site, stories like Mona “Hammer Granny” Shaw, Lona “I have a situation that you are going to fix for me today” Nicholle, Anne “Give me a reason to stick around” Braswell, and the little old lady WaMu hit with 20 overdraft fees. I break down techniques like Town Crier, Executive Email Carpet Bomb, Threaten to cancel, Dictate the Options, and Calling the Executive Suite as escalated customer service problem solving options when traditional methods fail. Check it out!
A reporter for a major national newspaper is looking for people to talk to for a story about new government guidelines that were supposed to make it easier for people to get or refinance jumbo loans (mortgage loans traditionally greater than $417,000). Under the new guidelines, some loans that are greater than $417,000 have been re-classified as “conforming” loans. This was supposed to make it easier for borrowers to qualify, but the reality, mortgage brokers say, is that very few people are. The reporter is looking to speak with consumers who have looked into the new guidelines, had hoped they would help, but discovered they are not helping after all. Email ben@consumerist.com with “jumbo” in the subject line and I’ll put you in touch.
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The GOOD magazine article on online consumer justice I was interviewed for is now online. [GOOD]
I have a ~2,300 word article in the May issue of Reader’s Digest called, “Consumer Relief: How To Get What You Pay For.” It’s all about kicking butt as a consumer and getting what you deserve from customer service. You may recognize several of the anecdotes as many of them came directly from reader stories originally posted on The Consumerist. I haven’t seen it myself yet and it doesn’t seem to be online yet but people tell me it came out nicely. And if you just can’t get enough Consumerist.com appearing-in-print action, there’s also an interview with me in GOOD magazine out this month as well.
The aisles of Best Buy, Home Depot, and other retail stores are beginning to look more like a Turkish bazaar. Haggling is back, baby, at least based on some initial reports we’ve heard. People are talking about being able to say to walk into a retail store and say to sales people, “Hmm, I like, but it’s a little more than I was hoping to pay. Can’t you do any better on the price?” It seems the salesmen have some wiggle room on the price, especially if you opt for the extended warranty package. I’m helping out a reporter at a large publication, so if this has happened to you and you’re willing to share your story on the record, drop me a line at ben@consumerist.com or leave a comment along with your contact info.
If you live in the New York Metro area, tune into NBC channel 4 like right now to see a followup on the widespread HSBC fraud story we broke. They interview Corey, the fiance of Emily, a Consumerist reader and HSBC fraud victim. WNBC tells us that the FBI said they they were generally aware of fraud in the area, but not this specific HSBC matter, and will be looking into the case. It’s par for the course that the bank would be more interested in avoiding bad publicity quiet than going after the scammers stealing your money. UPDATE: Just watched it, HSBC is saying that a credit card payment processor lost the customer data and so other banks could be affected too. However, when WNBC contacted other banks, Chase and Citi said they had not heard of missing money, Mastercard said they have not issued a system-wide alert, and VISA said they’re looking into it.
Here’s the clip of yours truly, Ben Popken, on Fox Business News discussing some of the changes in store for FICO ’08, the credit-scoring system lenders use to determine how punitive a rate they get to charge you. You may notice that I have a strange look on my face at the beginning.
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Consumerist Editor Ben Popken will be on Fox Business News Monday at 12 noon to discuss the changes in store for FICO 08. UPDATE: It looks like our video slave is home today, so if anyone wants to DVR Ben’s appearance and email the video file to tips@consumerist.com, we’ll like, make you a cake or something.
In a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) thanked The Consumerist for supporting H.R. 3541, The Do Not Call Improvement Act.
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Carey will be on the FOX Business Network, discussing our reader’s fabled dusty PS3, this Friday morning at 7:45 AM.
Brandweek featured us in a a nice piece about “customers striking back.” Mentioned are our Macbook smasher, the failed Dell takedown of our 22 Confessions Of A Former Dell Manager, and how Tmobile said it had fixed the $$1,766 in fraudulent charges on a reader’s account when they really hadn’t. The takeaway: be honest and make your customers happy and you will be rewarded.
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FOX Business Network picks up our Sony PS3 “excessive dust voids your warranty” story [FOX Business Network]
Kiplinger personal finance magazine named Consumerist.com as “Best Consumer Blog” in their 2007 roundup of the 25 best web sites.
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