read the fine print
A Connecticut limo driver with six kids was thrilled to discover he had won $10,000 in scholarship funds in a new
Coca Cola sweepstakes. He even got a message from Coke congratulating him on his win. Turns out
it wasn't The Real Thing after all: the message was an error, triggered by a promo test. He hadn't won a cent, because the "Twist and Text" contest didn't actually start for another three weeks.
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contests
Do you enjoy confessing embarrassing details? Mint, the
personal finance new kid on the Internet block,
is offering up to $5,000 (paid directly to your credit card bill) to two people with the most horrifying personal finance disasters. The winners get free financial counseling as well. You can submit text—"sob stories"—up to 1000 words, or a video—"trainwrecks"—up to four minutes or 20 MB, whichever comes first. If you were paid to do any writing over the past year, you're ineligible (we already checked).
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whoops
Verizon recently rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group, to make Verizon's network available for their opt-in
text message program.
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complaints
Reader Corey wants to break out of his
Cingular cellphone contract without fee, but is having trouble.
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Consumerist
billing
Watch your cellphone bill for sneaky "premium text message" charges, which sometimes get applied to your account when you sign up for services through your phone or respond to unknown text messages, but sometimes simply appear even if you've done nothing at all. A Verizon spokeswoman is on record as saying, "If you're getting unwanted (text messages), we want to hear from you and we'll credit you." [SeattlePI.com]
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