Jack recently got a new phone for one of his AT&T cellphones. In the process, he of course had to extend his contract another two years. When he got his bill, he discovered a mysterious $18 “upgrade fee.” When he called AT&T, they told him it was the standard contract extension charge.
Retail Services
Morning Deals
By 10.24.07
Veringular: We're Dropping Your Calls On Purpose And There Isn't **** You Can Do About It
By 10.23.07
Study Shows Shoppers Will Pay More Than Necessary For Fair Trade Goods
By 10.23.07
A new Harvard study shows that shoppers—at least the crazy rich ones who frequent ABC Carpet and Home in New York City (if you’ve ever been inside ABC, you know the sort of people we’re talking about)—will not only gravitate toward products labeled “fair trade” over identical but unlabeled products, but will buy even more of them when the prices are raised.
We Must Shatter Cellphone Companies' Death Grip
By 10.23.07
Mossberg had a great column in the Journal yesterday delivering a shot straight to the skull of cellphone companies and how their oligopolistic ways.
A shortsighted and often just plain stupid federal government has allowed itself to be bullied and fooled by a handful of big wireless phone operators for decades now. And the result has been a mobile phone system that is the direct opposite of the PC model. It severely limits consumer choice, stifles innovation, crushes entrepreneurship, and has made the U.S. the laughingstock of the mobile-technology world, just as the cellphone is morphing into a powerful hand-held computer…That’s why I refer to the big cellphone carriers as the “Soviet ministries.”
It’s like a guy builds a road and tells you what kind of horse you can ride on it. Or, as Mossberg points out, it’s like the 70’s, when you had to rent phones from AT&T and you could only use their phone for fear of “damaging” the network. Only when the government stepped in to break it up was the hammer lock broken.
Man Files Defamation Lawsuit After Being Accused Of Shoplifting By Home Depot
By 10.23.07
A man who purchased a lawn tractor at the Edwardsville, IL Home Depot went back inside to buy some more stuff while employees loaded his tractor onto his truck.
Best Buy: We Charge More For An Open Item
By 10.23.07
At first when reader Brian sent this photo of an open item that cost more than a new one, we thought, “HA! Stupid!”
Morning Deals
By 10.23.07
By 10.23.07
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Ben Popken will be on Fox Business News this morning at 7am Eastern, discussing ways to get out of your cellphone contract without early termination fee.
Do Your Thrift Store Shopping Online At ShopGoodwill.com
By 10.22.07
Ebay isn’t the only shopping site revamping its look: Goodwill’s online shopping website, which has been around since 1999, is about to launch a redesigned site that’s cleaner and easier to navigate. Because the only sellers on the site are member organizations of Goodwill Industries International, the selection may not be as big as eBay, but the fraud is minimal as well—and the member pool is large enough to have “posted more than 17,000 items from inventory that includes antiques, collectibles, clothing, electronics, books and musical instruments, which are arranged according to category. “
Home Depot's Clearance Sale: Everything 0% Off!
By 10.22.07
Yellow stickers at Home Depot indicate a clearance sale. Except at the store in Somersworth, New Hampshire, where yellow stickers mean 0% off.
AT&T: Napster On Your Phone For $1.99 Per Track?
By 10.22.07
Here’s some news for those of you out there who have so much money you literally can not think of anything else to do with it: AT&T has announced a partnership with Napster in which you can download songs to your phone for “only” $1.99 a track or 5 for $7.49.
AT&T CEO Whines About 700Mhz Open Access Rules
By 10.22.07
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is whining about the “open access” rules the FCC put in place governing the coveted 700mhz spectrum that is to be auctioned off in the near future, hinting that AT&T might not take part because the rules make buying the spectrum unprofitable.
Walmart Recalls "Realistic Animals" Tainted With Lead
By 10.21.07
A plague of lead has stricken Walmart’s stock of “realistic animals”. Affected animals include farm animals, jungle animals, and even the feared dinosaur. The animals are currently trapped in chinsy cellophane bags clad shut by a brandless cardboard strip that proudly boasts: 88 Cents!
“Wal-Mart said independent testing revealed excessive levels of lead in the base material, not the surface coating.”
Organic Principles, Regulations Ignored By Nation's Largest Organic Dairy
By 10.21.07
Consumers in twenty-seven states are suing Aurora Dairy, the nation’s largest organic dairy for selling milk that failed to meet basic organic standards. The suit is bolstered by findings from USDA inspectors, who found that between December 2003 and April 2007, Aurora: “labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations.”
