She writes:

I purchased a Kodak camera model M863 which came with a beach mode built into the camera for taking pictures. After going on a beach and taking picture the next time I used my camera I found that sand had been blown into my camera. This caused the camera to only allow me to zoom in so far before shutting off for a while. Now the camera turns on and shuts back off immediately.

I called Kodak customer support on 2 separate occasions and received the same response from 2 different customer service representatives. "Just because we put a beach mode on your camera does not mean we expect you to take your camera on a beach exposing it to the elements." The first call was placed on 10/25/2009 and the second call placed 11/19/2009. Both representative also told me I would either have to pay $60 to send the camera in for repairs or would have to purchase a new camera with 25% off. I just purchased my current camera on 2/4/2008, I should have to purchase a new camera or pay half of the price I paid for the camera in repairs.

Unfortunately, just because a camera has a "beach" mode, that doesn't mean you shouldn't take extra-special care not to get sand in it while taking photographs at the beach. That's what the customer service reps should have said.

Brandy doesn't have much of a case to get Kodak to cover her repairs, but her story should serve as a cautionary tale to other would-be beach photographers.

(Photo: joxur223)

CBC reports:

A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer's insurance company cut them, she says, because of photos posted on Facebook...She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on the popular social networking site, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday - evidence that she is no longer depressed, Manulife said.

While Canada has a magical health care system where a unicorn wearing a blue pocketed shirt shows up at your door and your benefits stream out its mouth in a Care Bear rainbow, the fairy dust apparently does not extend to their private insurance market.

In any event, depression is an illness diagnosed by doctors, not by desk jerks conducting amateur "photographic analysis."

Back in April, Derek copied us on his e-mail to Jobs:

I took my mid 2007 apple macbook (black) into the Jordan Creek Apple Store in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, April 25th, because I had been experiencing some issues with it overheating, and figured the fan was bad. After some initial testing, they took the computer in for work under my Applecare plan, which has over a year remaining on it.

Today, April, 28, 2008, the Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to "health risks of second hand smoke".

Not only is this faulty science, attributing non smoking residue to second hand smoke, on Chad's part, no where in your applecare terms of service can I find anything mentioning being used in a smoking environment as voiding the warranty.

Jobs' office did not help Derek, but he resolved some of the problems himself by disassembling his Macbook and cleaning it out with a can of compressed air.

A few months later, reader Ruth wrote to us with an identical complaint after trying to have her son's iMac repaired at a local authorized repair center

I bought an iMac for my son (for school) along with the extended Applecare warranty. A month ago, it quit working. My son took it to the authorized Mac service center. The "tech" informed him it would be ready in 48-72 hours. Five days go by and he's heard nothing, so I called. They informed me that his computer can't be worked on because it's contaminated.

When I asked for an explanation, she said he's a smoker and it's contaminated with cigarette smoke which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my Applecare warranty and it says nothing about not honoring warranties if the owner is a smoker. The Applecare representative said they defer to the technician and my son's computer cannot be fixed at any Apple Service Center due to being listed a bio-hazard.

This computer cost approx. $3,000, with the extended warranty. I'm all for destroying cigarettes and putting big tobacco out of business (yes, I'm a reformed smoker), but to label a computer a biohazard because one is a smoker is going a bit too far in regulating who can have the warranty they purchased honored. Shouldn't there be some disclaimer stating that they won't honor warranties from smokers?

Ruth appealed her case to Steve Jobs's office, which also declined to repair the iMac. In another letter, she wrote:

Dena [from Jobs' office] did advise me that nicotine is on OSHA's list of hazardous substances and Apple would not require an employee to repair anything deemed hazardous to their health. However, OSHA also lists calcium carbonate (found in calcium tablets), isopropyl alcohol (used to clean wounds), chlorine (used in swimming pools), hydrogen peroxide (also used to clean wounds), sucrose (a sugar), talc (as in powder), etc... as hazardous substances.

...

Dena set up an appointment at the same Apple store. They told me that they would take pictures of the computer - both inside and out before determining whether to proceed and that if the only problem was the optical drive, they'd probably just replace it. Dena called me earlier this week to deliver the "bad news." She said that the computer is beyond economical repair due to tar from cigarette smoke! She said the hard drive is about to fail, the optical drive has failed and it isn't feasible to repair the computer under the warranty. This computer is less than 2 years old! Only one person in my household smokes - one 21 year old college student. She said that I can get it repaired elsewhere at my expense. I asked why my warranty didn't cover the repair and was told it's an OSHA violation.

Consumerist has tried repeatedly to obtain some kind of answer about these two cases from Apple's media relations department, and we have received nothing on the record after months of waiting. Mostly, we're curious what the threshold is for smoke damage to a computer, and why this is not mentioned in the Applecare contract.

(Photo: Sutanto Saputro 闖永明)

David writes:

A little bit of background before I dive into my recent best buy experience. I am 22 years old and have recently got a new job, so in celebration of my first pay check I went out this last weekend and bought a LCD tv from Best Buy. I did my research for weeks before and had my tv narrowed down and all that was left was to go and get it, which was this last Friday. After standing in front of the home theater department and confirming my selection I waited for a salesman. Eventually one came over and our conversation went as followed:

Him: Hows it going, can I help you?
Me: Yeah, I would like one of those right there. (Pointing at the TV)
Him: Don't we all.
Me: No seriously, I want one of those TV's (Again pointing at the TV).
Him: Alright, can I ask why?
Me: Well, (Not that it mattered why I wanted the TV - I had made up my mind and just wanted to bring it home. No warranty, just give it to me) I had it between these two and I finally picked this one because I think that the picture looks better.
Him: (Looking at the difference between the two TV's) Oh yeah, that picture is pretty horrible.

I went through the motions and asked him a couple of questions some friends had mentioned to ask. I asked him to put it on the default settings, to which he replied "All of the TV's are on default settings, we don't have enough time to change the settings around for all them on the wall. They go right out of the box and on the wall."

I asked him to put it on the cable instead of whatever looped DVD was playing, and he said "The live feed is a much lesser quality picture, they would look the same there." I asked him other things about the TV's like number of inputs and outputs, and every request or question I never got a strait answer or what I was looking to see.

There were even a few times that he mentioned he would go check his specs sheet and could tell me, but never did. However my mind was still made up and I stuck to my original choice.

He then spent the majority of our time together trying to sell me the service plan and a calibration of the TV (two services which combined was about half the price of the TV). I refused them both and he asked if there was anything else that I needed.

I knew that there was a deal going, buy the TV and a Blu-ray player is on sale. After I told him that I wanted to get the Blu-ray player he told me that he wasn't aware of the deal, so we walked back to the wall display where I showed him the bright yellow card that said the offer.

I went over and picked up the Blu-ray player and I asked if I needed any specific cables to go with it. He tried selling me on a Monster cable for $125 and told me that I would regret it if I did anything less. So once I made up my mind on a cable that was about half the price he continued to tell me how I made a bad choice.

I then mentioned how I wanted to make sure I had the right cables for my Wii, to which he said they were in the gaming department. With no assistance I went over and found what I needed and came back to the home theater department to see my TV at the register.

So, now that its check-out time he had one more shot to sell me on a service plan. The salesman that had no clue about the specs of this TV somehow knew that "40% of these TV's come back to the store for repairs", and that if I "dont get the service plan I might as well hook a car battery up to it." I was aware of my "risks" and politely said no again. He wheeled it to the front and that was the last time I saw him, no thanks - no have a nice day - nothing - he didn't even come outside, instead someone else put it into the trunk of my car.

Consumerist - I know its not the most horrifying Best Buy story out there, but is it worth my time to send a letter to Best Buy. I understand that I am only 22 years old and they probably get a lot of people wasting their time, but considering that I walked out of there with a receipt for close to $1,300 the customer service could have been a little bit better.

We're pretty sure that from Best Buy's perspective, the salesperson did everything right except get you to buy that service plan and calibration.

Still, we're sure they don't want you to be unhappy, and would probably not like to hear that the salesperson didn't know very much about the TV or was unfamiliar with the DVD player promotion. We suggest you do let them know that you were disappointed in your experience.

As far as the calibration service goes, here's some stuff our sister-publication, Consumer Reports, put together. It looks like you can pretty much do this yourself — either using a DVD or just by following these tips.

CR says:

For the ultimate fine-tuning, consider a professional calibration—but be prepared to pay hundreds of dollars for the expert touch. In most cases, we don't think it's worth it.

Good job sticking to your guns.

How to fine-tune your HDTV [Consumer Reports]
(Photo:Timothy J Silverman)

My father-in-law passed away last week after a long, drawn out few months of mental illness. Very traumatic time and a very difficult situation.

In an attempt to try and remember the happier times of this man's existence, I collected a hundred or so pictures from times throughout his life. Some were pics that I scanned, some were from my digital camera. The plan was to put them in the visitation area so that people could remember the good times.

So my grieving wife and I go to Walmart the morning of the funeral to print them out. Normally we wouldn't go to Walmart for this, but the funeral is in a small town and time is limited. Everything goes well with the printing, and I'm kind of amazed at the convenience and quality of the output. "Who says technology is cold and heartless?" I think to myself. It really came through in our time of need.

Then we get to the counter to check out, and the warmth of humanity kicks in.

"I'm sorry, I can't sell you some of these" the lady says. She then proceeds to go through the stack, pulling out every school picture and talking about copyright.

"Even the ones from 1956?!?" I asked.

"Yes, copyright is permanent" she replies. She also pulls out a several other pictures, because apparently if they even look professionally done, that's all the criteria they need to cite copyright. If it just looks copyrighted, this lady wasn't going to let us have them.

Meanwhile, my wife is sitting there looking on solemnly as pictures of her smiling, deceased father stack up to head to the shredder. I can see her tearing up and her lip quivering a bit. She quietly says "we're headed to a funeral".

"I know", replies the woman (not un-politely) "But I don't want to lose my job". I decided not to escalate an argument given the situation.

I did manage to claim one victory...his medical school graduation picture which I believe was done privately since I saw some other pictures along with it. After some insistence on my part, the lady let me sign a form and keep that one.

Fortunately I was able to use a digital LCD picture frame to include the complete set at the funeral. But the prints from Walmart were thoroughly parsed for any infringing material. I'm sure the photographers of the 50's and 80's can sleep safe knowing that their income was protected by the Walmart photo department.

First, a quibble: this employee is misinformed. As much as companies like Disney would like this not to be the case, copyright is not "forever." The copyright term that would apply to a professional photograph taken in 1955 would be 120 years. That's a long time, and may seem like "forever" compared to a human lifespan, but it's not.

If this couple had come in to reproduce photos a professional photographer had recently taken of their child, or to print out copyrighted pictures downloaded off the Internet, should Walmart put a stop to it? Yes.

But does the man's family have a reasonable chance of finding the original photographer of school pictures taken 50 years ago? Even if they could, is it likely that that photographer is both still alive and has retained all of his negatives?

What do you think?

(Photo: John Northrup)

(Thanks to MostlyHarmless for the first tag!)

(Thanks to Ashi!)

UPDATE: AT&T Says Their Rep Doesn't Want To Die

You may be familiar with Webloyalty as that annoying thing that pops up when you buy movie tickets that says you can get $10 off your next purchase just by entering your email address. By clicking yes, you actually give permission for the website you're on to pass your credit card information on to Webloyalty, and they start billing you $9 a month for a useless "discount buyers club," and the rebate is hardly ever paid.

The info below comes from a report Senator Rockefeller released in advance of the hearing he's convening today to investigate aggressive online sales tactics. Besides the most well-known offender Webloyalty, the hearing is also investigating Affinion and Vertue.

In a statement, he said, ""After six months, this Committee has found that the companies we are investigating have figured out very clever ways to manipulate consumers' buying habits so they can make a quick buck. American consumers have been complaining for years about these misleading practices and asking for answers – and rightly so," said Chairman Rockefeller. "Millions of Americans are getting hit with these mystery charges every month – we have to do all we can to protect the hard working families relying on us to look out for their wallets and well-being"

PARTNERS PAID OVER $10 MILLION

1-800-Flowers.com
Buy.com
Classmates.com
Columbia House
Confi-Check
Expedia/Hotels.com
Fandango
FTD
Hotwire
InQ
Intelius
MovieTickets.com
Orbitz
Priceline
Redcats USA
Shutterfly
Travelocity
US Airways
VistaPrint

PARTNERS PAID BETWEEN $1-10 MILLION

1-800 PetMeds
Adteractiv
Airtran Airways
Allegiant Air
Allposters.com
American Greetings
Auto Parts
Avon
Barnes & Noble
Bizrate.com
Bookspan
Boston Apparel Group
BuySeasons/Celebrate Express
Campusfood.com
Cendant Intercompany Agreements
Channel Advisor
Cheap Tickets
Choice Hotels
CollectionsEtc.com
Continental Airlines
Currents USA (123 Prints)
Custom Direct
Digital River
Dr. Leonard's
Drugstore
eHarmony
eTix
eToys
Fareportal
FragranceNet
From You Flowers
FTD Florists Online
Gamestop/EBgames
Gevalia
Haband
Half.com
Hanover Direct
Hertz
HiSpeed Media
Infinity Resources
J.C. Whitney
Joann.com
Lillian Vernon
Live Nation
Marketworks
Miles Kimball
Musicnotes
MyLife.com
MyPoints
Pizza Hut
Potpourri
Restaurants.com
Riverdeep
Shoebuy
Simplexity
Spirit Airlines
Suresource/Americart
Thompson Group
Tiger Direct
TimeLife
True.com
True Credit (True Link)
Upsellit.com
US Search
Victoria's Secret
Vitacost
WayPort
West
Yahoo

Even though there are disclaimers and disclosures displayed on the websites before you click yes, the average user thinks they are clicking for a free movie ticket or some such deal. Online shoppers are trained, for the most part, that if you're going to make a purchase online, you have to enter a credit card. Webloyalty knows what the average user does, and does the opposite, despite thousands of complaints about the practice, to great profit for it and its partners.

A persistent complaint about your business should be used to revise your practices or messaging. If Webloyalty wanted to clean up its act, it would require a credit card before signing people. Instead, they choose to profit from consumer confusion.

If you do find Webloyalty charging you on your credit card, it's pretty easy to call them up at 800-732-7031 or email consumeraffairs@webloyalty.com and ask them to refund all the charges. From what we hear, they don't give you any hassle, even if you ask for the entirety of the "dues" of your "membership" to be refunded.

One way to avoid getting ripped off like this when shopping online is to use a credit card that lets you use virtual or disposable account numbers, which are credit card numbers that are generated on-demand and can be used only once but they charge to your regular account.

[via Tech Crunch] (Thanks to Ivan!) (Photo: me and the sysop)

From the lawsuit:

AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon's "There's A Map For That" advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts.

For well over a year, the battle lines in wireless communications have been drawn around the "3G" (third generation) wireless data capabilities of each carrier, as measured by coverage, speed, and reliability. In recent years wireless carriers have upgraded their first and second-generation networks (capable of transmitting voice calls and limited data services) to 3G, enabling far higher transmission speed and therefore a far broader range of data products and services, such as faster music and video downloads, high-resolution games, and other software applications. Verizon Wireless has invested billions of dollars since 2004 upgrading nearly its entire network across the continental United States and Hawaii to 3G, and today covers five times more of the United States than AT&T's 3G network.

Despite the far smaller size of its 3G network, AT&T has spent tens of millions of dollars making its 3G network, which it dubs the "Nation's Fastest 3G Network," the centerpiece of its national advertising since at least the summer of 2008. AT&T now is attempting to silence Verizon's ads that include maps graphically depicting the geographic reach of AT&T's 3G network as compared to Verizon's own 3G network because AT&T does not like the truthful picture painted by that comparison.

Damn. What now AT&T?

Read the full response here. (PDF)

The Incompetence of American Airlines & The Fate of Mr. X [Dustin Curtis via TechDirt] (Thanks to Peter!)> (Photo: nffcnnr)

First of all, I'd like to say that the general consensus of this story is split between "you're a douchebag" and "you should sue them". Being a long-time reader, I've seen many "detained illegally" type stories, and I know my rights more or less.

Being the last day for the $200 Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card at Walmart and coincidentally also being console banned the same day, I was eager to try and score one. I called around and managed to find exactly one in Woodstock, GA on Highway 92 (about 30 minutes away), but they were unable to hold it for me. I make my way to the Walmart, and briskly walk towards the electronics department and am able to buy one there. I pay with cash and put the change and the receipt in my wallet (with a bunch of other change and receipts).

I leave the store, and as per usual, I don't bother to show them my receipt since it's not legally required, and there are about a dozen other people leaving at the same time. I go to my phone to set up GPS to find my way home, and I hear the greeter/bag checker yelling "RECEIPT! RECEIPT!" as I make my way towards my car. Apparently some Walmart patrons heard and decide to be good samaritans and come after me.

At this point running towards my car on the other side of the parking lot, one of them TACKLES ME, and I lose my right shoe a few yards away from where I land. The guy is pinning me down and easily weights twice as much as me, and I have the scrapes on the elbow, hand, and wrist to show for it. The greeter/bag checker catches up and grabs me by my arm, and I tell him to let go or I'll press charges for assault. I tell him about three times, and he ends up taking the Xbox back inside the store.

I find my receipt amongst the others in my wallet and show it to the onlookers and the tackler's cronies who all think I'm a thief. I take it inside and show it to the greeter/bag checker, he looks at it, still doesn't believe I actually purchased it, gives it back, then needs to look at it again because he forgot to check the date/time. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the guy who tackled me so I could press charges and also post him on PeopleOfWalmart.com.

I guess everyone's guilty until proven guilty at Walmart even if it's not legally required to show receipt and they are not allowed to physically restrain you. Call the police? Fine. I'm sure they'll love to hear that customer bought an Xbox 360.

Note: I deleted and re-published this post due to an error. Because of this, the first several comments were lost. My apologies.

(Photo: Vironevaeh)

The AP reports that the shopper facing trial alleges that the entire incident was racially charged. Police reports say that the woman refused to calm down and leave the property, and allegedly kicked one police officer in the shin and split another's lip while resisting arrest.

The woman claims that she never resisted arrest, but was jumped by angry cops who were "using racial slurs and telling her to go back to the ghetto."

From the AP:

Ellis' [The shopper's] written account to the NAACP describes she and her cousin getting into separate checkout lanes before Ellis switched into the faster-moving line. The woman behind them had placed items on the conveyor belt, and Ellis alleged the woman pushed her when she tried to put her own items down.

Witnesses instead told police that Ellis shoved the woman's merchandise back, according to court filings.

Ellis wrote that a security officer and manager were called over and that although Ellis said she wanted to pay, the manager yelled at her to leave the store. Police were called and arrived.

Officers eventually followed her to the parking lot, she said, using racial slurs and telling her to go back to the ghetto. As her aunt and uncle drove into the parking lot, Ellis said, the officers "jumped" on her even though she said she was not resisting.

She's apparently been offered plea deals but has refused them on principle, preferring instead to face trial and possible prison time.

Leaving alleged racism/police brutality/possible extended prison sentence out of it, what's the right way to handle line-cutters? Is it cool for someone to join their friend or relative in a faster moving line? If not, what should you do when it happens? If she was willing to pay, should she have been forced to leave the store?

Arrest at Walmart leads to charges of racism [AP]
(Photo:frankieleon)

22 Republicans and 20 Democrats picked up the talking points drafted by lobbyists working for Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug maker Roche.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) said: "One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that is is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India."

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) said: "One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that is is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India."

Rep. Yvette D Clarke (D-NY) said: "I see this bill as an exciting opportunity to create the kind of jobs we so desperately need in this country, while at the same time improving the lives of all Americans."

Rep. Donald M Payne (D-NJ) said: "I see this bill as an exciting opportunity to create the kind of jobs we so desperately need in this country, while at the same time improving the lives of ALL Americans."

Rep. K Michael Conway (R-TX) said: "I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options."

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) said: "I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options."

Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) said: "I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options."

Asked about the Congressional statements, a lobbyist close to Genentech said: "This happens all the time. There was nothing nefarious about it.

...Mr Brady's chief of staff...said: "We were approached by the lobbyist, who asked if we would be willing to enter a statement in the Congressional Record...I asked him for a draft. I tweaked a couple of words. There's not much reason to reinvent the wheel on a Congressional Record entry."

Is the health care debate really a fight between Democrats and Republicans, or a battle between lobbyists and the rest of us?

In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists' [NYT] (Photo: Wojtek Przywrzej)

One reader posted his story on Livejournal:

So I rented the movie Up off of Netflix. Came in the day it was released in stores. Stick the disc into my player...

No closed captions.

Flick through the subtitle menu on the DVD player...

No subtitles either.

Apparently, as I'm gathering from some Twitter searches, Disney (who handles the distribution of Pixar's movies) released a special bare-bones version of the DVD to major rental businesses- Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster are all confirmed- that not only lacks the bonus shorts from the retail DVD, but even lacks the closed-captioning. Which is, y'know, half the reason I rented the DVD in the first place rather than going to see it at the dollar theater.

FAIL, Disney. EPIC FAIL.

I'm going to be checking to see if my local indie rental store has a retail copy of the DVD; I've got confirmation that that version, at least, is captioned.

Seriously, Disney? What were you thinking?!

Apparently, a special rental market version of the DVD was produced, which lacks pretty much all of the special features.

Netflix, at least, doesn't promise English-language captions on their page for "Up." It lists the DVD's features as:

Other features:
Color; interactive menus; scene access.

Subtitles:
French, Spanish

However, readers claim that the rental version of the DVD lacks both the interactive menus and the foreign language subtitles.

We haven't confirmed this, but one Twitter user claims that a Disney customer service representative told him that the rental version lacks DVD bonus features for marketing reasons.

I called the Disney support phone # from their website (yay for WebCaptel!) When I told her why I was calling she said "Yes, we know." She went on to say that it was a marketing decision to remove all special features, apparently they saw SDH [subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing] as a special feature.

In other words, if you want the DVD extras, fancy menus, and captions, you'll have to buy the retail version of "Up." This makes sense from a marketing perspective, but isn't fair to those customers who use and need captions.

(Photo: [sic])

The scarcity was triggered by September's floods in the southeastern U.S., which temporarily closed an Atlanta waffle factory, as well as by equipment problems at the company's largest waffle plant, in Rossville, Tennessee, spokeswoman Kris Charles said today in an e-mail.

We're not at all bitter that Kellogg's answers Bloomberg News's emails, but not ours. Nope. Not one bit.

Since earlier this week, Kellogg's has also updated their web site to reflect this information. Here's the entry from the FAQ:

Eggo recently experienced supply constraints caused by flood damage at our bakery in Atlanta. In addition, we've been making significant equipment and technology enhancements at our other waffle bakeries. Unfortunately, these repairs and upgrades are taking longer than anticipated.

Eggo is working around the clock to bring everyone's favorite waffles back to store shelves as quickly as possible. We hope to regain full distribution of Eggo products by the middle of 2010. This is a top priority for Kellogg Company.

Interestingly, waffles from this same Atlanta plant were recalled due to listeria contamination a few months ago, before the flooding.

Kellogg Plant Flood Triggers Eggo Waffle Shortage [Bloomberg]
Eggo FAQ [Kellogg's]

PREVIOUSLY:
Hey, Where Did All The Eggo Waffles Go?
Poll: What Caused The Great Eggo Waffle Shortage Of '09?

(Thanks to reader Josh for the photo!)

Apparently, while still boarding their Allegiant Air flight, the woman's 2-year-old started to cry. While she was trying to calm the toddler down, her 4 year old got "restless" and wouldn't stay in his seat.

The airline removed the family from the plane and told them they could take another flight but neglected to mention at the time that this flight would cost $900 more. The airline says they will FedEx her luggage back from Montana (it was apparently behaving itself in the cargo hold,) and offered her a credit towards a future flight. She wants a refund.

Here's the news report from 3TV in Phoenix:

Airline boots family for crying baby, no refund given [AZFamily.com] (Thanks, Kym!)

A guy wrote in to Pogue's blog and said everyone at Verizon knows about these design flaws but no one will do anything about it, because it makes Verizon over $300 million a month. He said:

"The phone is designed in such a way that you can almost never avoid getting $1.99 charge on the bill. Around the OK button on a typical flip phone are the up, down, left, right arrows. If you open the flip and accidentally press the up arrow key, you see that the phone starts to connect to the web. So you hit END right away. Well, too late. You will be charged $1.99 for that 0.02 kilobytes of data. NOT COOL. I've had phones for years, and I sometimes do that mistake to this day, as I'm sure you have. Legal, yes; ethical, NO.

"Every month, the 87 million customers will accidentally hit that key a few times a month! That's over $300 million per month in data revenue off a simple mistake!

"Our marketing, billing, and technical departments are all aware of this. But they have failed to do anything about it-and why? Because if you get 87 million customers to pay $1.99, why stop this revenue? Customer Service might credit you if you call and complain, but this practice is just not right.

"Now, you can ask to have this feature blocked. But even then, if you one of those buttons by accident, your phone transmits data; you get a message that you cannot use the service because it's blocked–BUT you just used 0.06 kilobytes of data to get that message, so you are now charged $1.99 again!

"They have started training us reps that too many data blocks are being put on accounts now; they're actually making us take classes called Alternatives to Data Blocks. They do not want all the blocks, because 40% of Verizon's revenue now comes from data use. I just know there are millions of people out there that don't even notice this $1.99 on the bill."

Sleazy.

Verizon: How Much Do You Charge Now? [NYT] (Thanks to John!)

Things started getting crazy when the guard tried to block one of the women from entering the passenger's seat of the getaway vehicle. Reporter Heather Lynn Peters writes:

At that point, Cole "head butted" the security guard, who fell backward into the vehicle, Regan said.

"The bottom of the body fell into the passenger's seat and the front part in the back of the car," Regan said. "Then she sat on him. He grabbed his phone and called 911, but she fought for the phone and then urinated on him."

And then the women drove off with the security guard before police eventually caught them.

Once you're out in the parking lot, blocking someone from entering her car, maybe you deserve what you get. The local justice system apparently agrees, charging both women with robbery but not with kidnapping or aggravated assault.

The court that really matters, though, is that of public opinion. Is there any sympathy out there for the zealous security guard? Or did he have it coming?

Police: Security guard head-butted, sat on, driven away at Wal-Mart [Muskegon News]
(Photo: k.james)
(Thanks, Jason!)

The MPAA forced the town Coshocton, OH to shut down their entire free municipal WiFi network because of a single instance of a single user illegally downloading a copyrighted movie. Here are some of the many other things the town used to use the network for:

Mike LaVigne, IT director, said the number of people who access the Internet using the connection varies widely, from perhaps a dozen people a day to 100 during busy times such as First Fridays and the Coshocton Canal Festival.
It's used by Coshocton County Sheriff's deputies who can park in the 300 block and complete a traffic or incident report without leaving their vehicle. Out-of-town business people can park and use their laptops to make connections.

During festival times, vendors find it a convenience to check the status of credit cards being used to make purchases, LaVigne said.

Because it's a single address used by many people, it's difficult to tell who made the illegal download, although the county plans to investigate the matter.

Illegal movie download forces shutdown of free Wi-Fi [Coschton Tribune via BoingBoing] (Photo: ashestoages)

Here's the full press release from the Fed:

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced final rules that prohibit financial institutions from charging consumers fees for paying overdrafts on automated teller machine (ATM) and one-time debit card transactions, unless a consumer consents, or opts in, to the overdraft service for those types of transactions.

Before opting in, the consumer must be provided a notice that explains the financial institution's overdraft services, including the fees associated with the service, and the consumer's choices. The final rules, along with a model opt-in notice, are issued under Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

"The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection," said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. "Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service."

The Board's consumer testing shows that most consumers prefer not to be enrolled in overdraft services for ATM and one-time debit card transactions unless they affirmatively consent, or opt in. At the same time, testing shows that most consumers want overdraft services to cover important bills, such as checks they use to pay rent, utilities, and telephone bills.

To ensure that consumers have a meaningful choice, the final rules prohibit financial institutions from discriminating against consumers who do not opt in. The final rules require institutions to provide consumers who do not opt in with the same account terms, conditions, and features (including pricing) that they provide to consumers who do opt in. For consumers who do not opt in, the institution would be prohibited from charging overdraft fees for any overdrafts it pays on ATM and one-time debit card transactions.

"Overdraft fees can be costly," said Governor Elizabeth A. Duke, the chair of the Board's Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs. "Our rule will help consumers better understand the terms and conditions of overdraft services and will give them an opportunity to avoid fees when these services do not meet their needs."

The Fed says that most consumers want overdraft protection on checks and regular electronic bill payments, so those types of payments are excluded form the new opt-in rule.

Federal Reserve announces final rules prohibiting institutions from charging fees for overdrafts on ATM and one-time debit card transactions [Federal Reserve]
(Photo:Johnny Vulkan)

From Reddit, spotted by Wisebread:

"I've worked at a few different telemarketing centers over the past couple years, and I've gained quite a bit of knowledge about the industry, and more importantly, how to resist the industry.

First of all, if you have no knowledge of telemarketing, I'd say that 90% of telemarketing calls come from centers, not the business itself. I have no way to test that statistic, but seeing as the centers I worked for were part of corporations that took clients like Bank of America, Westinghouse, EA Games, Siemens, etc and had centers all over the world, only the small fry do it themselves.

These days telemarketing reps are mostly pawns. Most of them only know enough about the product or service they're selling to read you a script and rebuttal some simple questions you might have. They don't pick their number. Most centers run on an auto-dialer that recycles lists of numbers monthly.

Here's a couple quick tips:

10. Don't immediately hang up when you find out it's a telemarketer!
So many people do this, and you know what the reps do? They mark it as an early hang-up and since no pitch was made, you're put right back on the list to be called again.

9. Don't get pissed off at the rep.
I've seen many reps purposefully put customers that request not to be called back on the calling list for as soon as 10 minutes later if they're obnoxiously rude or ignorant.

8. If you don't want the product, don't just decline.
Most people that aren't interested in the product are put back on the lists until they request not to be called anymore. Politely declining the offer will just get you another call in the future. (I know that myself and other reps have put polite people on our do not call lists even if they didn't request it. We could get fired for this, but some people are too nice for me to want to bug again, and the chances of getting caught are slim.)

7. Don't try to trick the rep
Saying you aren't there even when you are, claiming not to speak english, and other "tricks" I've seen people recommend are really counter-productive, as most of the time you get put back on the list (and if you claim you speak spanish, you'll be put on a list to have a spanish speaking rep call you.)

6. Try not to get mad when a rep rebuttals a refusal
At many jobs I've head in the field, reps only get fired because of a couple reasons. Swearing on the phone, attendence issues, or not rebutting a customer. We are required to give one rebuttal every call. When we've received 2 no's, we can disconnect the call. If you're getting multiple rebuttals in a call, it's probably a less than respectable call center, rep, or product and it's best to ask for a supervisor to escalate your do not call request.

5. If you are on the National DNC list
You can still get telemarketing calls! If you have a business-client relationship (say a bank of america checking account) bank of america can call you about products and services. You can also still receive political and non-profit calls (my favorite to make. You simply poll people for information, no pressure to sell anything.)

So when you get a telemarketing call on behalf of a company and asked to be put on their do-no-call list (a method that only works for respectible call centers), you'll be put on that client's do-not-call list. This means that you won't get any calls on any offers from that client. However, since most call centers have anywhere from 5-20 different clients at once, you're most likely still in the system for at least one of those other lists.

A better way to deal with that is to speak to a supervisor, ask them what call center they're calling from, and request to be put on the call center's do not call list. This disables the call center from calling you.

Another trick to be put on call lists faster is to threaten legal action against the client company if the calls don't cease. Most centers will require the rep to fill out a form with information about the call. This information gets sent up the ladder, and most of the time gets dealt with within 2-3 business days (as opposed to 30). You don't have to be a dick about this though. You can simply state "I will be taking my business elsewhere" or "if these calls continue I'm going to have no choice but to contacting the FTC, please escalate my case."

4. TCPA
This is very important, and everyone who hates telemarketing calls should be aware of this. At my first couple telemarketing jobs, I had no idea about the TCPA (telephone consumer protection act.) My first job I did inbound tech support, so since people were calling us, I didn't have to deal with it.

My second job was a sketchy-as-fuck call center. They actually eventually got investigated for fraud by the FBI. Some of the things they had us do which I later learned were illegal:

ask for another member of the house that might be interested in the product
call cell phones
rebuttal until the customer hung up
capture credit information with a pen and paper (not illegal, but still not cool)
call times zones at inappropriate times

That call center sold infomercial products, and I learned a couple things there.

3. Don't buy from infomercials
sure some might be legit, but it's hard to judge. We used simple circle talking techniques to trick people into buying our product. In the infomercial it was $120. We had a list of people that called the number from the infomercial but didn't buy the product. We called them back and offered the same product for $45. Then if they refused we'd go down to $35 and eventually $25 as a last resort effort. They were willing to sell this product for $25, and people were buying it for over 4 times that much! (employees got the product for $5)

We also had "add-ons" that we were given cash each day for each one we sold. They were stupid things like redeemable gift cards and gas cards for $1. These sound too good to be true and they are. The trial period before you get charged 20-30 a month for the program ends after 14 days, and 90% of the time the information didn't reach the customer for almost a month.

This means a couple things. First of all, if the customer didn't write down the number we provided once in the call to cancel, or lost the number, they're gonna get charged for a full month of the service. Second of all, most the rebates and cards had so many hoops to jump through that the offers were expired by the time everything was done.

2. Your Legal Rights (and how to use them)

According to TCPA, telemarketers cannot:

call before 8am or after 9pm
call your cell phone
hide who they are or who they're calling on behalf of
call you if you're on the national do not call list
call with a pre-recorded message (unless it contains the information below)

in addition, within the first 4 seconds of a call, the rep must reveal who they are, where they're calling from, and who they're calling on behalf of.

If a telemarketer breaks any of these rules, you can sue them!

Just look around the internet, a bunch of people have gotten settlements out of court as well as filed their own small claims. The fine is $500, so it's more of a slap in the face to the telemarketing companies than it is a legitimate way to hurt their business.

1. No Rebuttal and Permission to Continue States
Some states have laws that require the rep ask your permission to continue and some states have laws to terminate the call after your first refusal. Does this work? Sometimes. Most of the time a rep is using a flex script, which cuts out some junk talk to make the sale easier. If the rep is being monitored by a client company, they'll read verbatim and follow each law to a tea. If you live in a no-rebuttal state or permission to continue state, know about it! It's another tool you can use to get them off your back.

list of states and their telemarketing laws

What to do with this information

weed out bad call centers from good ones. Some of them (like the bank of america call center) offer services that really are valuable to the customer and won't rip them off. For example, since the call is on behalf of bank of america, and they already have your personal data, the rep never has access to it. All the rep does is confirm you are who you say you are, and records your authorization to have your bank account billed for the service.

Also remember that if you're making trouble for reps, you may be getting someone fired. They get minimum wage, and are forced to try to sell to customers all day even if they don't want to. I've seen reps fired because they were on the phone too long with someone playing a prank on them. In some areas, the only available jobs in a 40 mile radius are call centers and fast food, keep that in mind before you heckle someone.

If anyone has any additional questions, I'll do my best to answer. I can answer some questions about the inbound (tech support) side of telemarketing, but it's not that interesting in my opinion.

edit

Seems a lot of people don't get the point of this list. I'll try to sum some things up that were repeated a lot in the comments.

• The people that get so many different marketing calls that it becomes a nuisance and want them all to stop.

• If you're getting called by a center that is abusing TCPA laws, sue them! this comment spells out how you're able to do that better than I did.

• Edit 2: this link will point you towards some sites that easily spell out how to sue a telemarketer breaking the TCPA. If you don't want to get the calls anymore, this is the most effective way of ensuring that center never calls you again (while netting $500 for you)"

  IAmA Telemarketer who wants to save you from me (advice inside) [Reddit via Wisebread]

Free then exclaimed, "Get out of my f***ing life!" And hung up on us. By now it was becoming clear to us that we weren't going to receive the product we paid for.

Tuan Nguyen at Tom's Hardware ordered a MacPadd to review it on October 23rd. He subsequently tried repeatedly to contact MacPadd or QMS to inquire about the order, but he was ignored.

After going through the confirmation process and payment (done through PayPal), we received an automated response. The website also indicates that the product should ship to the US within "3 to 7 business days."

During the next 7 days following the initial order date, we contacted the vendor several times with no success. The business number constantly goes to a voicemail. An attempt to call the vendor on the 30th of October did not yield any success either. Leaving a voicemail to have a rep respond went unheard.

We never received a shipment confirmation, tracking email notification, or any other type of email to indicate that the product would be delayed, was unavailable, or was on back order.

Suffice to say, we were getting a bit worried.

After looking through the PayPal transaction record, we were able to find another business contact number listed by PayPal for QMS Inc. We called that several times. No answer either.

The only way Nguyen managed to get the owner to acknowledge him was by opening a dispute with through PayPal. But even that didn't resolve things, with Free first breaking promises to send a tracking number, then sending one that turned out to be for another customer's order, then eventually threatening to sue Nguyen and/or Tom's Hardware.

It gets crazier from there, and includes accusations of mental illness, vague threats, and evidence that others have complained about being ripped off by MacPadd.com. Eventually PayPal resolved the dispute in favor of Tom's Hardware and that was that. Well, except for the follow-up article Nguyen wrote to warn others away from the MacPadd, which drew more rants from Free, who signed up as a commenter on the tomshardware.com site to leave personal attacks.

When you buy something from an untested, small-time online vendor, always do a search for complaints first, both on Google and with the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully the experience that Tom's Hardware had with MacPadd.com will stick around online for a long time to warn future shoppers.

"Company to Avoid: QMS Inc./MacPadd.com" [Tom's Hardware]

I was wondering if y'all knew what the hold up at the eggo plant is. I ran across the attached signs while at the grocery store the other night, then tried to follow up on the eggo website which linked me to an error page. What is the world without mass produced waffle goodness?

What, indeed?

Since Kimberly wrote in, Kellogg's has fixed their site's FAQ, and it now tells waffle seekers:

Several recent events have lead to supply issues for Eggo waffles. We want to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you, our loyal consumers. We are working hard to return to business as usual as quickly as possible. Please be assured that Kellogg is committed to continuing to deliver the high-quality products that our customers and consumers know and trust.

What are those "recent events?" Well, there was September's recall of a few thousand cases of Eggo waffles due to listeria contamination.

We checked with Kellogg's to see if they can give us any updates on waffle production, and will pass on any information we get.

Contact Us/FAQs [Kellogg's]

Consumer Reports has a detailed information page about companies that track and sell your personal information. The data comes in the form of consumer credit reports, insurance credit reports, your health history, your checking and banking account history, your criminal background, your history of retail returns, and your property rental history.

In most cases, you can pull free copies of these reports periodically, which is good because errors can pop up in these reports just like they can in a consumer credit history. But who has time to pull and monitor that many databases of personal information? The website PrivacyRights.org suggests you stick with yearly monitoring of your consumer credit report (the one you can get for free only at www.annualcreditreport.com), and pay attention to the other ones only under certain circumstances:

• New homeowner's or auto insurance: order your CLUE or A-PLUS reports
• Victim of check fraud or general checking or savings account problems: order your ChexSystems report
• Employer (current or potential) asks for permission to run background check: ask for name of the screening company and contact them as soon as they've issued the report
• Applying for a new job: order Employment Data Report from Work Number if any past employers used that company; also consider ordering a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure
• Renting an apartment or home: ask the landlord for the name of the screening company, as there are several
• Health, life, long-term care, or disability insurance: order your MIB report from Medical Information Bureau
• General overall check-up on what you look like as data: order a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure and a Lexus-Nexis Accurint Person Report

There is one time when you may want to go crazy and order everything, and that's if you've been a victim of identity theft.

(Thanks to commenter mac-phisto, whose advice in an earlier post on auto insurance triggered this one.)

"Big Brother is watching" [Consumer Reports]
"What You Should Know about 'Specialty' Reports" [Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]
(Photo: Erik Pitti)

Here's the blog's argument for why Bank of America isn't honoring its promise to customers and to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). On October 6th the bank released a letter in which it pledged to stop re-pricing existing credit card accounts—but introducing an annual fee where none existed before sure sounds like re-pricing, doesn't it? BoA explained it like this: they only promised to not raise interest rates.

However, that's not true. WalletBlog points out that the bank made no such distinction in their October 6th letter. Here's the relevant excerpt:

"In light of the concerns expressed to us by our customers, Bank of America will not implement any change in terms (risk or economic based) re-pricing of consumer credit card accounts between now and the effective date of the CARD Act."

That language doesn't draw any distinctions between types of re-pricing, so it's kind of weird to retroactively define the term as only relating to interest rates.

But this is a moot point because the letter only promises that they won't practice re-pricing between now and the implementation of the CARD Act. After that goes into effect in February 2010, the promise no longer applies. I don't know why BoA's representative bothered to misrepresent the language of the letter when he could just as easily have pointed out that it was nothing more than a temporary pledge—and mostly an empty once, since they had already re-priced many accounts in the month leading up to the letter.

As far as implementing fees after the CARD Act goes into effect, well, that's where WalletBlog says that BoA may end up in violation of the law. BoA argues that the CARD Act prohibits raising interest rates but says nothing about implementing annual fees, but WalletBlog points out that the language of the CARD Act is ambiguous, and thanks to a 1996 Supreme Court case involving Citibank, the FDIC considers the term "interest" to include:

...among other things, the following fees connected with credit extension or availability: numerical periodic rates, late fees, not sufficient funds (NSF) fees, overlimit fees, annual fees, cash advance fees, and membership fees.

It sounds like BoA may be testing the boundaries of the CARD Act and seeing if it can get away with annual fees by arguing that they're not specifically prohibited.

Be sure to check out WalletBlog's full post on the matter.

"Bank of America Tries but Fails to Defend New Annual Fees" [WalletBlog]
"Bank of America Readies Itself to Break the Law" [WalletBlog]
(Photo: mrkathika)

One reader called to complain about Citi raising credit card interest rates:Pretty neat. Give us a call and let your voice ring out!

(Photo: savagecat)

(I've edited the post for clarity and punctuation.)

So I will start off saying my husband and I have been shopping at Menards since they opened and because of our business we are there almost daily and sometime twice a day. This afternoon [November 7th, 2009] we came for the second time to get lumber and paint. I just bought my husband a surprise drywall gun last night from Menards so in exchange he thought it would be nice to look at a new drill for me.

I have had my eye on a light weight compact cordless so we started comparing them. He noticed a complete set of 2 drills, bat, chargers and so on but they were not on display, just in the box. Well I opened the box so I could see how light they are and they were perfect for me. I picked everything up that I removed from the box and stuffed it back in the box and set it in the cart. I tried to close the top of the box however because i removed everything it would not go back in place, So I left the box open.

We had several items in our cart and within a minute I found some drill bits to go with my new set so I tossed the small package in the cart. I turned my back to talk to my husband about more bits and some guy comes cruising around the corner grabs my cart and takes off walking very fast. "HEY you have my cart!" I yelled to the guy as he was already down the aisle. He let go of the cart said sorry and disappeared around the corner leaving my cart. I walked down, grabbed the cart, and came back to my husband. Very strange we both thought but we just continued shopping.

Over to building materials we went before checking out. We checked our items out (over $300.00) and the cashier never questioned the open box or looked inside.

We leave the store and a man walks up and asks for our receipt. My husband went to pull it out of his wallet and before he gets it out the guy reaches into the drill box and pulls out the small pack of drill bits. He looks at us and said you took these. We replied oh they must have been missed we will come back in and pay for them.

The guy who we now know as security asked us to come back inside. We went inside expecting to pay for the $5.99 drill bits and he tells us we have to fill out an incident paper.

They take our cart full of $300.00 worth of stuff and lead us into the security room. Inside the room we are sitting in silence while this guy is filling out paperwork and a lady that works as a CSM(?) is standing guard at the door like we are hard criminals ready to flee the country.

After several minutes of silence I ask if I am being charged for something. The security man said no I just need you to fill out this paperwork and give me your drivers license.

So I hand over my license and he said to me that he'd seen the drill bits on top of the open box then he'd seen us walk into the checkouts and not pay for them. I could not believe what I was hearing. I told him over and over this is a mistake I threw the bits in the cart and they must have landed on the box. The guard then said maybe they slipped further in the box when you moved your cart. He said well that sounds like you're just having bad luck. My husband asked if they'd seen me put the package in the box. He would not respond.

He then told me I have 2 choices. I can pay Menards $150.00 or they will call the police and charge me with theft and a $350.00 fine. We could not believe what was happening. CHARGE ME WITH THEFT! JUST BAD LUCK??? What is happening! Have they gone crazy!

I have thrown items in my cart many times and never thought twice about it. I understand if the bits were in my pocket or hidden under everything in the box but they were on top of a opened box that the cashier never even looked in the box. Honest mistake is what I call it not bad luck or theft.

So now I am in tears and faced with a choice I never thought I would make in my life. We run a professional business and I would never want to risk my reputation by being hauled out of Menards in front of everyone by the police. I was told to sign the paperwork and pay the $150.00 to avoid this from happening. So I signed and paid what they called a restitution. They refused to give me a copy of the paperwork I signed. Then they sent us on our way with tears in my eyes. I went quietly but I can't let this go.

"Just having bad luck???? (Beloit Menards)" [janesville.craigslist.org] (Thanks to M!)
(Photo: TheTruthAbout...)

In games like Mafia Wars, Farmville, YoVille and Vampires Live, you know, some of the major sources of all those garbage announcements cluttering up your Facebook, players compete to complete missions and level up. By leveling up, you can complete more difficult missions and fight off weaker opponents. You can wait for your various energies to regenerate naturally over time, or you can purchase with real money in-game boosts. Or, you can complete various lead generation offers, many of which are of the "answer page after page of questions and opt in and out of receiving various kinds of spam" variety. Some of them install malware and adware that is impossible to remove. And some of them secretly subscribe you to monthly recurring $9.99 credit card charges.

Couple this reckless profiteering with in-game incentives for recruiting more players into your network and a constant blast (if you let it) of promotional messages to your friends, and it's like Amway discovered Facebook and threw a gangster-themed house party.

Here's Mark's spiel:Here's the pertinent transcript of the talk the CEO gave to some other developers at a mixer:

I knew that i wanted to control my destiny, so I knew I needed revenues, right, fucking, now. Like I needed revenues now. So I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldn't get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business…So control your destiny. So that was a big lesson, controlling your business. So by the time we raised money we were profitable.

I'm sorry, but if you need to scam people to keep your company going, you have a flawed business plan.

After getting reamed in an excellent multi-part TechCrunch investigation by Michael Arrington, Mark Pincus pledged to more aggressively remove scammy offers.

That's great, but c'mon. Now that they're funded and raking in the cash, they can act all contrite and go "oh! you caught us! you're right, we're bad, we'll fix that. Lah dee dah." How convenient that now you can afford morals.

By the way, nice work, TechCrunch! Now, if only we could get Arrington to apply the same level of discipline to re-evaluating his gushing praise for Cash4Gold.

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: "I Did Every Horrible Thing In The Book Just To Get Revenues" [TechCrunch]
PREVIOUSLY: Social Network Games: Fake Mobsters, Real Racket

The safety concern arises over the side hinge that expands and contracts when the stroller is opened and closed. The company plans on sending safety covers to stroller owners.

There hasn't been an official one but the CPSC is expected to make one tomorrow.

It's important to make sure that children are a safe distance away from the stroller when you're opening and closing it. And to, you know, stop opening or closing it if you hear a high-pitch screaming.

Want a stroller that's cheaper and higher rated than a Maclaren, and hasn't been recalled for finger amputation? Check out Consumer Reports latest stroller reviews and ratings (subscription required).

Stroller maker Maclaren to recall 1 million strollers on concerns children can cut fingers off [New York Daily News via Consumer Reports Safety Blog]

• Insurance mandate - Uninsured Americans will pay a penalty; low-income people exempt. House bill charges a penalty of 2.5% of adjusted gross income: that's $500 on $20,000, for example.
• Employer coverage - All employers with a payroll above $500,000 must help pay for some kind of health insurance for their employees, or pay a tax. The Senate Finance Committee version of the bill does not have this requirement.
• Insurance exchange - Allows people who are not covered to buy health insurance in nation- or state-wide markets. Available to employees of small businesses, and others not eligible for coverage.
• Public plan - Would create a new federal government-run insurance plan with its own physician and hospital rates, separate from those negotiated by Medicare. Senate Finance Committee instead offers nonprofit insurance cooperatives in each state.
• Subsidies - Households earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for subsidies of health insurance premiums when they buy insurance through the exchange.
• Small business subsidies - Tax credits for small employers that provide health care coverage for employees.
• Coverage - House and Senate Health Committee versions require plans to pay for 70% of all health care spending that the plan covers; Senate Finance Committee version requires 65%. Insurers cannot deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and premiums may not vary according to age on the individual insurance market as widely as they do now. People receiving federal subsidies for insurance may not enroll in a plan that includes coverage of abortions.
• Medicaid - Households with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level would now be eligible for Medicaid. Senate Finance Committee would expand to 133% of the federal poverty level, starting in 2014.

Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House [NY Times]

RELATED:
How Would Health Care Reform Affect You?

(Photo: j.reed)

A few months ago, Adam was drawn in by a Facebook ad promising five North Face t-shirts for $5.

I signed up for a $5 introductory offer from Seattle Coffee Direct. I thought, "Why not?" Well the coffee arrives and I notice on my bank statement a charge for $28.10, not $5. Then I notice two charges three days apart for $38.95. When I finally call, things really get interesting. When I first get Mike from CS on the line, I don't even give him my name, acct number or anything, and he's already saying he can close the account and refund the money, two things I had yet to even ASK for. Obviously, they have to do a lot of this. What I come to find out is that by (stupidly) giving them my information, they had signed me up for twice-weekly coffee shipments, at a cost of $38.95 per week. Unbelievable.

Meanwhile, a few weeks ago, Ivan shared with us his sad story of a World Bean Cafe order turned into an epic saga in search of his refund.

Please warn your readers about this company or companies. It sells coffee beans and I was sucked in via a Facebook ad. Yes, I know, or at least I should have known better. Against my better judgment I went ahead and ordered from them back in May of this year. It has been a nightmare since.

I received my initial shipment. The week following this I received another order of coffee. I thought this was odd so I checked my credit card online system. There were 7 charges from World Bean Café at $38.95 a pop! I called them immediately and they cancelled any further orders. The representative gave me a lame excuse of not specifying a shipment frequency (there was no way to specify a frequency on the order form) and that it defaulted to two bags of coffee ordered every day. Huh?

According to my credit card company all the transactions were manually entered into a POS system so that excuse is pretty iffy. She then said I should send the coffee back and I should get the credit within 60 days. Ugh! That week the orders of coffee started to come in. I refused them. >

I waited for the credits which should have been done in the beginning of August. No credits. I called again and was told it would be at least another 30 days. No credits in the beginning of September. I called on 9/17 and was apologized to and they said it would be 5-7 business days before I received my credit. Now it is October 1 with no credits. I call again and speak to a representative named "Ralph" and he gives me the same 5-7 day spiel. Not happy with the answer, I ask to speak to a manager. I was connected to "Lucy" who says she is going to manually enter the credits into her system and gives me the 5-7 day speech. I wait. October 12 rolls around and still no credits. I checked this morning and no credits have posted to my account. All this time I have been paying interest on these transactions and am fed up. I have started the charge back procedures with my credit card company. Hopefully that will be the end of it.

Lesson learned and all I can say is, "Never Again!"

The coffee subscription scheme has been around for a long time—look at Gevalia—but the Facebook ads seem to be a new phenomenon. Let this serve as a lesson to Adam, Ivan, and all of our readers: always scroll down and make sure to read all of the fine print.

What the company actually promises (or maybe "threatens") is to ship two bags of coffee to subscribers every two weeks.

Semimonthly Program: Twice a month you will receive a package with 2 bags of coffee and will be billed $12.90 per bag of coffee, plus $6.95 per bag for shipping and handling.

So they're charging for shipping alone a bit less than you might pay for a pound of mediocre coffee on sale.

Speaking of pounds, though, there is no mention on the site of how big a bag is. Forget the grocery shrink ray that puts 12-ounce bags of coffee on store shelves—the packets pictured on the site look smaller than a pound.

(Photo: Matthew Oliphant)

(It's unclear whether the couple ever actually paid for the Bic lighters in question—the article only specifies that the footage shows they scanned the package of lighters but that the scanner didn't register it.)

The couple in question is gay and their sons are adopted, which may have introduced a whole new level of emotional reactions on both sides of the dispute. The men say their children told them that while they were being held in the security room, the security staff threatened the kids and "had made disparaging remarks about Paolucci and Hitchcock's lifestyle." It's not a stretch to imagine that such an attitude, if it existed, carried over into any face-to-face interactions. Meanwhile, the police who showed up and cuffed Paolucci, then forced the two men into the backs of different squad cars, claim that the men were causing a disturbance when they arrived at the scene.

Still, no amount of pro-gay or anti-gay outrage makes it okay for a retailer to place paying customers in such an abusive situation, especially when the retailer's own security footage—which was immediately available for review—shows that if there was any inventory issue it was due to a malfunction of the scanner. But Walmart can get away with it because it can afford to:

Asked if they intend to sue Wal-Mart, Paolucci said he and Hitchcock probably won't because other attorneys have advised them Wal-Mart historically "plays hardball" and isn't prone to settle cases out of court.

"We could spend a couple million dollars to sue them," Paolucci said.

But that doesn't mean there won't be court action. Paolucci and Hitchcock e-mailed The Tribune a copy of a letter from a law firm representing Wal-Mart seeking 10 times the retail price of the items the store still claims were shoplifted by Paolucci. The letter states the matter will be dropped if Paolucci submits the $158.40 payment.

Fortunately, the men seem to have enough money that they can afford to never shop at the discount retailer again, even if they weren't banned for life. If you're not part of a wealthy two-income family, though... well hopefully Walmart will look down favorably upon you when your post-checkout time comes, so long as you act contrite and respectful of their security team's authority.

(Oh yeah, now I remember why I don't want a Walmart anywhere near where I live.)

*Note: I originally reported the Walmart as being located in Niles, Illinois. However, the South Bend Tribune generally covers areas in Michigan and Indiana, and the couple lives in Buchanan, Michigan, which also has a Niles located nearby. I've updated the post to report the Walmart as being located in Niles, Michigan. -Chris

"Niles couple banned from Wal-Mart after dispute over BIC lighters" [South Bend Tribune] (Thanks to Shanon!)

RELATED
"Loomis Rent-A-Cops Have Shopper Cuffed, Hauled Away Over ATM Photo"
(Photo: Brave New Films)

The brothers told [6News reporter Rafael] Sanchez that they went to the gym Monday hoping to resolve the issue, but that their requests were rejected by the management at the facility.

[...]

"I'm wondering how more people are they going to do it to? After meeting two young gentlemen yesterday, they don't feel they've done anything wrong," said [brother] Pat Hannon. "They feel it's their right to get America fit."

So there you have it. Bally's wants the developmentally disabled to be physically fit. I don't see how that's a bad thing—we should all take care of our health—but it seems weird to target men and women who, you know, can't drive themselves to the gym they're joining. Maybe the two salesmen who showed up at the apartment—where "no soliciting" signs are posted—should agree to shuttle their new client back and forth whenever he feels like it.

Update: Bally's PR firm just contacted us with the following statement on behalf of the gym:

We regret that this incident occurred and have accordingly addressed the issue with the employees involved. It is common practice that we market our clubs with free trial passes to the local community but it is against our corporate policy to transport anyone to or from our facility. When our management found out about Mr. Hannon's disability, we immediately cancelled his membership and refunded all of his fees.

"Family: Gym Took Advantage Of Man With Disability" [WRTV Indianapolis] (Thanks to Becky!)
(Photo: geocam20000)

Apparently he also had insurance, and the hospital should have sent the bill to his insurer.

"I can't believe that in any country besides the U.S., any civilized country, that the parents of a murdered boy would receive this bill for $29,000 and such an insulting letter," Gerald Hawkins, the victim's father, told ABC 10 in Sacramento, CA.

The bill in question was for "five minutes in [the hospital's] emergency room," says ABC 10, who tried to assess why 5 minutes could cost $29,000.

Scott Seamons with the California Hospital Council said the critical response to Hawkins is what cost the most. He said UC Davis is a Level 1 Trauma Center, which means the best and most expensive doctors were waiting for Scott.

"Whether it was five minutes or 55 minutes doesn't really matter in the initial review and assessment of the patient," he said.

Trauma surgeons, nurses, technicians and more had to treat Scott before they realized they couldn't help, according to Seamons.

"They're all right there," he said. "And those are highly trained, highly specialized and highly paid clinical experts. Clearly in the aftermath, in hindsight, they looked at it and determined there was probably less need for that, but in the first five minutes all of those resources were right there at the side of this patient, and they cost a lot of money."

ABC 10 says that the letter included with the bill instructed the deceased to take his health care needs to a county clinic in the future. The hospital has apologized.

Why was Murdered Sac State Student's ER Bill So High? [News 10]
Slain Sac State Student's Parents Stunned by Hospital Bill, Letter [News 10]

If you're interested in statistics the Bureau has another one that you might like. The employment-to-population ratio calculates the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed. Currently, our employment-to-population ratio is at 58.5%. Wikipedia tells us that a "high" ratio would be around 70%.

There's also something called the "underemployment" rate, which tracks part-time workers and those who have simply given up. This rate is currently at 17.5%, says the NYT.

As far as industries go, if you're in construction and manufacturing, you're in trouble. Manufacturing in particular has lost 2.1 million jobs in just the last 2 years.

Heath care, however, is doing fine. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that since the recession began, heath care has added 597,000 jobs.

The news is most grim if you're a teenager: 27.6% of teenagers who are looking for work are unable to find it.

Here's a scary/depressing graph:

Employment Situation Summary [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years [NYT]
(Photo:Jay Adan)

54. If there is a prix fixe, let guests know about it. Do not force anyone to ask for the "special" menu.

58. Do not bring judgment with the ketchup. Or mustard. Or hot sauce. Or whatever condiment is requested.

62. Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip. You'll make people nervous.

62(a). Do not let a glass sit empty for too long.

64. Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.

67. Never stack the plates on the table. They make a racket. Shhhhhh.

70. Never deliver a hot plate without warning the guest. And never ask a guest to pass along that hot plate.

78. Do not ask, "Are you still working on that?" Dining is not work - until questions like this are asked.

82. If you drip or spill something, clean it up, replace it, offer to pay for whatever damage you may have caused. Refrain from touching the wet spots on the guest.

85. Never bring a check until someone asks for it. Then give it to the person who asked for it.

86. If a few people signal for the check, find a neutral place on the table to leave it.

90. If someone is getting agitated or effusive on a cellphone, politely suggest he keep it down or move away from other guests.

PREVIOUSLY: 50 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 2) [NYT]
100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1) [NYT]
(Photo:Mike Fleming)

Treehugger's Lyod Alter is selling his one-of-a-kind miniHome Solo prototype for $100,000. Whether your trailer park is urban or of the more traditional variety, you can live off the grid in environmentally-friendly style.

In a related story, people are also selling their houses so they can live off the grid in converted shipping containers, CR Home and Garden blog reports.

For Sale: Sustain Minihome Prototype [Lyod Alter via Curbly]

Stephanie says:

Mark (my brother) reviewed the sandwich at a Perkins in Madison Wisconsin. He was sorely disappointed when the sandwich looked completely different than the picture on the menu (they used regular grilled bread instead of the French baguette). He posted the negative review of the Perkins French Dip on his blog on November 1st. The next day, someone claiming to be a Perkins regional manager left a comment on the blog urging Mark to call him and let him fix the situation. He called the number and was quickly put in touch with Jon Sanborn, the Perkins regional manager. Jon investigated the bread situation, offered Mark a gift certificate, and invited him to come back and re-review the sandwich the next time he was in Madison. Equally impressive was that there was no mention of taking the review down or altering its contents.

I find it amazing that Perkins would seek out my brother and try to ascertain what went wrong with his dining experience, especially considering the blog currently has only 15 followers and I doubt a negative review would stop any of us from going to Perkins in the future.

Anyway, it turns out that the Perkins was out of the correct bread at the time and someone should have asked if regular bread was OK.

Here's how our French Dip expert describes Perkins' response:

Mr. Sanborn was apologetic for what had happened and wanted to make it up to me. So he told me that he would mail me a Perkins gift certificate! Please realize, Perkins found me out to make this situation right, I did not complain to them. If this indicative of how their franchise is run, all I can say is, "Thank you, Perkins, for putting the customer first." About how to use my compensation, fret not faithful readers, this gift certificate will only go back into purchasing more French dips for ingestion and judging, as I wish not to profit from the deeds I undertake selflessly reviewing everyone's favorite sandwiches of perfect harmony.

I informed Mr. Sanborn that in late January I would be in Madison again, and that I would love to review the same Perkins' French dip again. He told me that he doesn't really care what I do with my blog, just that he wants me to be happy.

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery at 5237 University Ave Madison, WI 53705 [The French Dip Review]
Update: The Perkins French Dip Review of November 1, 2009 and Jon Sanborn [The French Dip Review]

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

It could get you in trouble at work:

I have a company supplied T-Mobile blackberry. Very unfortunately, when my phone wasn't working, one of the women in our IT department went to my T-Mobile account page to correct the issue and found a very graphic and clear picture of a woman's breasts. It created a terrible situation. No one – and I mean NO ONE - would believe me when I told them that I did not take the photo, nor did I put it there. I finally had to just drop it because the more I insisted that it wasn't mine, the more guilty I sounded. The problem here is that I am the head of the Human Resources Department. I wish it had turned out to be a funny situation, but it didn't take that path. For many other people, this could be humorous. In my situation, it wasn't.

It could arouse spousal suspicion:

I stumbled across this article this morning, and the same thing happened to me!!!!!!! I was actually sitting at the computer with my wife, looking at my bill and trying to add ring-back tones, and all of a sudden, there was a picture of some girls butt with a caption reading "kiss this". WTF!!?!?? She FLIPPED! To this day, she STILL talks about it! I can understand how she would accuse me of this, but I KNOW for a FACT this picture was never, ever on my phone!!!!!!! How does this happen?!?!

Or you could see something a little more graphic than what our original reader saw:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you regarding the highly offensive pictures that have appeared on myTMobile home page. Please see the attached screenshots from last night. As of now, those photos still appear on my homepage whenever I access my account.

I have attempted to resolve this matter via the proper channels, ending in a conversation with TMobile tier-2 technical support. The answers I have received so far are unsatisfactory, and to be frank, somewhat condescending.

I was first told that I had somehow unknowingly uploaded these photos myself, or that I had left my phone unattended and a nefarious person of mystery had uploaded them via my handset without my knowledge. I use an unlocked handset that is not sold by TMobile, and thus do not have the software installed to access TMobile's proprietary MobileLife service. Additionally, I have never used the MobileLife service, nor have I accepted the EULA for the service. Therefore, it is impossible that I have uploaded these offensive pictures, or that someone did so using my handset without my knowledge.

Following that, I was told the photos must have been taken by the TMobile customer who first had this number, and were somehow leftover in the MobileLife folder attached to this number. Again, that is impossible- I have had my number since 2004. It was a Nextel number, then SunCom, then became TMobile when SunCom was purchased. It has never been a TMobile number before now.

Next, the technical support rep told me that this had never happened before, and that the user who took these pictures must have simply transposed digits of intended recipient's phone number. I pointed the rep to http://consumerist.com/5395978/reader-paid-my-t+mobile-bill-saw-some-boobs, indicating that this is not a rogue occurrence. She replied that, even after seeing this article, it still was not TMobile's fault and I should just delete the pictures and move on.

These are the offending pictures (the originals were sent to us as uncensored screencaps of the browser window, but we've cropped them and added cats to obscure the naughty bits).

Another reader wrote in:

just got a new iPhone. Unlocked it and then checked my account online. I thought it was just some weird fluke thing because they couldn't even put a picture up of my phone. Where did the pictures come from? I have no idea. I don't even what "MobileLife" is. My images were both wrong and Oh My God!

The reader who sent this one in said, "I've never uploaded photos to tmobile's website, this picture isn't
from my phone."

Additionally, after the Huffington Post picked up this story, they received a complaint and a different picture from one of their readers:

The question is, why is it only porn? Why aren't people seeing pictures of strangers birthday parties and goofy faces and so forth? And what is Tmobile going to do about fixing the problem? And how are they going to win their affected customers' trust back?

We've reached out to T-Mobile and passed these complaints and pictures on to them, and they've promised that they'll have a statement ready for us soon. UPDATE: T-Mobile's statement:

T-Mobile is aware of reports from a few customers who have seen inappropriate or unwanted pictures in their online "MyAlbum" section within their MyT-Mobile account. We are taking these reports seriously and actively investigating these issues.

Our initial analysis of the reports leads us to believe that pictures were likely sent to some customers' mobile number by a third party, whether the customers knew the sender or not. If a customer has not had picture messaging enabled on their handset, a picture sent to them may be delivered only to their online MyAlbum account. For this reason, some customers are surprised when they see the picture for the first time in their MyT-Mobile account.

We will continue to investigate the reports but if customers would like to avoid receiving picture messages in the future they can explore using T-Mobile's Message Blocking features which are accessed through their MyT-Mobile account online.

(Cat pictures: amboo who? and D.P. Rubino)

From the NY AG's office:

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," said Attorney General Cuomo. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices. These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace."

To obtain exclusive agreements, Intel paid hundreds of millions of dollars annually - and in some years billions of dollars - in so-called "rebates" to individual computer makers. These rebates were actually just payoffs with no legitimate business purpose that Intel invented to disguise their anticompetitive nature. Intel also attempted to erase the most obvious traces of its anticompetitive scheme by eliminating crucial but flagrantly objectionable provisions from written agreements or by camouflaging language about illegal guaranteed market shares with terms like "volume targets."

As for how this affects you, the consumer, the AG's office says that "Intel repeatedly pressured computer makers to guarantee it specified market shares of their sales, which prevented computer makers from responding to consumer demand."

The AG's office quotes some internal emails from Dell, HP and Intel in which alleged "anti-trust" activity is discussed. For example this is from an internal e-mail from HP executive in June 2004 after HP defied Intel and launched an AMD product: "Intel has told us that HP's announcement on Opteron [AMD's server chip] has cost them several $B [Billions] and they plan to ‘punish' HP for doing this."

And here's another one in which a HP executive discusses the possible repercussions for using another company's products:
"If you do and we get caught (and we will) the Intel moneys (each month is gone (they would terminate the deal). The risk is too high. Without the money we do not make it financially."

Here's the breakdown of how the AG's office says different computer makers were paid off by Intel to guarantee market share and keep businesses from using their competitor's products:

Dell

* In 2006, Intel paid Dell almost $2 billion in "rebates," and in two quarters of that year, rebate payments exceeded Dell's reported net income
* From 2001 to 2006, Intel granted Dell a privileged position vis-à-vis other computer makers in return for Dell's agreement not to market any products from Advanced Micro Devices ("AMD") (NYSE: AMD), Intel's major competitor
* Intel and Dell collaborated to market microprocessors and servers at prices below cost in order to deprive AMD of strategically important competitive successes

HP

* Intel threatened HP that it would derail development of a server technology on which HP's future business depended if HP promoted products from AMD
* Intel paid HP hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates in return for HP's agreement to cap HP's sales of AMD-based products at 5% of its business desktop PCs
* In 2006, Intel and HP entered into an broader, company-wide agreement to pay HP $925 million to increase Intel's shares of HP's sales at AMD's expense

IBM

* Intel paid IBM $130 million not to launch an AMD-based server product
* Intel threatened to pull funding for joint projects that benefited IBM if IBM marketed AMD-based server products
* Intel pressured IBM to launch another AMD-based server only on an "unbranded" basis

The NYT says that Cuomo's suit is the "first formal antitrust action against Intel by any government agency in the United States in more than a decade."

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO FILES ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST INTEL CORPORATION, THE WORLD'S LARGEST MAKER OF MICROPROCESSORS [NY AG]
Full Complaint (PDF) [NY AG]
(Photo:hanapbuhay)