Mary is freaking out because BCBS of Maryland just doubled the copay on her thyroid meds. Times are tight, and Mary doesn’t have a thyroid. The insurance companies have been telling her for years that Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs is a generic, now BCBS has classified it as not being generic. She’s pretty ticked, and considering getting married to her fiance early just to get on his insurance. Her letter, and how she might save $200.32 a year, inside.
Retail Services
Anti-Walmart Groups Start Playing Nice?
By 6.5.08
The New York Times says that the two most enthusiastic anti-Walmart groups, Wal-MartWatch and WakeUpWal-Mart are starting to take a more subtle approach when it comes to protesting the big blue box.
Home Depot Helps With Tornado Damaged House, Just Because
By 6.5.08
Reader Jim wanted to share with us a pleasant experience he had with a crew of helpful Home Depot employees in Winsdor, Colorado which was recently hit with a tornado. Fortunately, Jim was ok but his house was not. While surveying the damage to his house, a truck filled with a crew of helpful HD employees arrived who volunteered to board up the broken windows on Jim’s house since he had no lumber or power tools. Jim’s letter, inside…
Morning Deals
By 6.5.08
- McDonald’s: 49 cent Hamburger / 59 cent Cheeseburgers, limit 10.
- Woot: Razer Barracuda AC-1 Sound Card for $49.99
- Newegg: Ideazon MERC Stealth Illuminated Gaming USB Keyboard for $63
Highlights From Dealhack
- Amazon: Save up to $190 off Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air Notebooks
- Musician’s Friend: Washburn Acoustic Guitar $130 Shipped
- Barnes and Noble: Buy Two B&N Classics Book Titles & Third is Free
Highlights From Bargainist
- Home Depot: Free Deck or Fence Designer software download
- Barnes and Noble: Buy Two B&N Classics Book Titles & Third is Free
- Reebok Outlet: 40% off purchases coupon
Verizon Close To Buying Alltel For $27 Billion
By 6.4.08
CNBC is reporting that Verizon Wireless is deeply involved in talks to buy rural cellphone giant Alltel Wireless for an estimated $27 billion. Alltel was recently taken private TPG and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
My Night Stand Came Packed In Spray Foam Insulation
By 6.4.08
Here’s something to break the monotony of your day. Reader Jim sends these pictures of the night stand he ordered from Amazon.com. It came packed not in peanuts, but covered in spray foam insulation. He says it took him half an hour to hack through the sticky stuff to get to the furniture. Weird, yes, but the item did arrive intact… so maybe they’re on to something.
ATT Settles Class Action Over Fraudulent Ringtone Charges
By 6.4.08
Thanks to AT&T settling a recent class-action, the era of third-party scammers cramming consumers with fraudulent subscriptions to ringtone, hookup text and other stupid content services may soon be over. AT&T Customers can claim refunds for wrongful charges from up to 3 of their bills between 1/1/04 and 5/30/08. The lawyers will get $4.3 million. AT&T will now require subscriptions to 3rd party-services with recurring fees to be confirmed by responding to a text message. 3rd party services will also have to send a monthly reminder with unsubscribe info. The firm has filed similar suits against Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Claim forms and more info at thirdpartycontentrefund.com.
A Craigslist Scammer Wants Me To Cash This Fake Check, What Should I Do?
By 6.4.08
Reader Sean got a package with a (presumably fake) check for $4,500. Someone from Craigslist wants him to cash the check and for his trouble, he gets to keep 10%!
Morning Deals
By 6.4.08
- Microsoft: Technet Subscription Student Discount is Back – $99/yr
- Woot: Soundcast Audiocast Wireless Audio System for $59.99
- Sears: $75 gas card plus $10 Sears gift card when you spend $100 on Dockers in-store June 7-15 (press release)
- Southwest: $15 off business-select fares
Highlights From Dealhack
- Buy.com: Creative Xdock Wireless iPod Music System $50 Shipped
- Amazon: Samsung WEP 410 Bluetooth Wireless Headset $13 & Free Shipping
- Footlocker: Save 25% off Shoes & Other Gear Store-Wide
Consumer Reports Says It Doesn't Pay To Buy Cheap Paint
By 6.3.08
Our friends at Consumer Reports tell us that even though the price of exterior paints and stains has gone up a few dollars per gallon on average from last year (due to price hikes for many of the petrochemicals that go into paint), big box stores are keeping consumers isolated from manufacturers who would love to be passing on those added costs. It may be tempting to cut costs by buying a lower quality product, but CR warns against using crappy paint. Specifically, CR suggested Behr (sold at Home Depot), Valspar (Lowe’s), and Kilz (Wal-Mart) as competitively priced paints that “ranked among the top performers.”
If Wells Fargo Calls To Offer You An Equity Loan On Your Car… Say No.
By 6.3.08
Over on the Credit Slips blog, Elizabeth Warren posted an email from a bankruptcy lawyer who was stunned at the horrible deal one of her clients got from Wells Fargo on an equity loan on a car.
Amazon, Newegg Begin Collecting Sales Tax From Residents Of New York
By 6.3.08
Despite filing a lawsuit to challenge a new law requiring websites that use affiliates based in NY (like Amazon) to collect sales tax from their NY customers, Amazon has registered with the state and is now collecting sales tax. Electronics retailer Newegg also began collecting tax from NY customers.
AT&T Agrees To Refund Unauthorized Third-Party Charges On Cellphone Bills
By 6.3.08
AT&T Mobility has agreed to offer refunds to customers who were charged for third-party services like ringtones, although if you were frequently a victim of this you’ll quickly exhaust your refund quota: “Customers will able to claim refunds for spurious charges that appeared on up to three of their monthly bills between Jan. 1, 2004, and May 30, 2008.” AT&T should be sending out a notification to its customers “soon,” but you can already download a refund request.
Morning Deals
By 6.3.08
- REI-OUTLET.com: Hydration packs and backpacks 68% off
- Threadless: Summer tshirt sale, many shirts for just $10
- Woot: Nike Sport Kit Carrying Case for MP3 Players – 2 Pack for $0.99
Highlights From Dealhack
Updated: Reach T-mobile Executive Customer Service
By 6.2.08
Here is a new number to reach T-mobile Executive Customer Service:
Bank Of America Tries To Ruin Your Vacation For Your Own Protection
By 6.2.08
Reader Drew went out of his way to ensure that he’d be able to get money from ATMs (using his Bank of America card), while on vacation. Despite his best efforts, he learned that a) putting a note on your account saying that you’ll be in England and b) drawing less than the maximum daily amount from your account is still not enough to keep BoA from putting a hold on your account. He’s written in with some advice for other Bank of America customers who are planning on traveling soon…
Trapster: A Cellphone Social Network To Fight Speed Traps
By 6.2.08
Each year, Americans spend billions (yes, we said billions) of dollars on traffic tickets. Launched in April, a new service called Trapster aims to help keep some of that money in your pocket by alerting you to nearby speed traps through your cell phone or PDA. According to CNN, Trapster incorporates a live database with your mobile device’s GPS or WiFi capability to alert you to nearby police speed traps as well as radar and red-light cameras. Details and demonstration video, inside…..
