You better frickin’ like your full-price iPhone because if you don’t, AT&T plans on charging you the full $175 early termination fee, even though the phone’s cost isn’t at all subsidized under a long-term-agreement.
BLOGS
Reader Shares Personal Financial Security Protocols
By 6.21.07
Reader and security researcher Nweaver has blogged the precautions he takes when managing his personal finances, from credit cards to debit to his brokerage account.
UPDATE: Sears.com Repeatedly Delivers Wrong Dryer, Doesn't Correct Website
By 6.21.07
We posted about how Ian started blogging his quest to get Sears to make up for delivering the wrong dryer, repeatedly. Now, the executive customer service types are ignoring his requests for a refund, despite their promises to do so in full. Ian has vowed to take Sears to small claims court-the last recourse for aggrieved customers.
Mad Pizza's Hold Music: "Yeah, I'm a gangsta, but still I got flavor"
By 6.19.07
Forget muzak, Seattle-based Mad Pizza decided to spice up their hold music by playing N.W.A’s “Fuck Tha Police.” Clint Brownlee over at Seattlest made the discovery on Sunday night while trying to order a pizza.
When the Mad Pizza dude picked up the line again we were conflicted–should we ask if he knew (or cared) what people on hold were hearing? Should we pretend to be offended and hang up? We stammered and, lacking the adventurous nature of our 15-year old self, just ordered a pizza.
We would gladly listen to N.W.A rather than the bland mix of soft jazz or lite rock most companies use to avoid offending anyone’s delicate sensibilities. Do you care what you listen to while on hold? Tell us in the comments. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Vonage Changes Your E911 Information To A Different Address, City
By 6.19.07
Each time Andru updates his address for his Vonage E911 profile, Vonage responds with a confirmation email listing the wrong address in the wrong city. Andru updated his address for the fifth time just days before needing an ambulance for his 3-year old. Thankfully, the 911 operator had the correct address, but Andru had an email waiting for him when he returned from the hospital.
Yup, confirmation from Vonage that they accepted our E-911 address settings, again, set to the wrong address. Basically, this means that if we had to dial 911 one day later, paramedics would have had to have been rerouted from the address they were provided when we called in, which is over 10 minutes away, to our home – all thanks to Vonage and their incompetence in designing a fool-proof E-911 system.
VOIP still has a long way to go before it can be relied on for 911 service. In an emergency, the best way to get ahold of 911 is through an old fashioned landline. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Contact Info And Routing Numbers For Major Online Banks
By 6.18.07
FiveCentNickel has a good little roundup useful for when you’re moving money to or from an online banking account and you find yourself digging around for customer service phone numbers, routing numbers, or addresses.
Don't Want To Lose Money In The Stock Market? Buy And Hold For 20 Years
By 6.18.07
The longer you hold stocks, the better your inflation adjusted returns are, AllFinancialMatters demonstrates. For instance, compare the S&P 500 Annual Real Returns from 1926-2006 with a 1-year holding period vs a 20-year in the picture above.
6 Things To Do When You Lose Your Wallet
By 6.18.07
Losing your wallet is a major drag but if you act quickly you can mitigate the fallout, writes The Mint Blog:
Consumerist In Times London Business Blog Top 10
By 6.13.07
The Times of London says The Consumerist is slot 10 in their 50 “Best Business Blogs”:
10. Consumerist
Man Escapes Working For DS-MAX-esque Charity Scam, Lives To Blogs His Tale
By 6.12.07
A reader who used to work for Quantum Marketing, one of the “Aftermax” companies, (the term for companies that old DS-MAX (now known as Innovage) spawned), wrote several posts describing how his company scammed people who thought they were donating money to D.A.R.E.
Personal Finance Roundup
By 6.11.07
Trade in that old house [CNN Money] “In a bid to boost home sales, builders are looking to the auto lot for tips on how to move merchandise in a sagging market: they’re taking trade-ins.”
Who Gives Money to the Homeless?
By 6.8.07
Blunt Money has opened up an interesting thread about giving (or not giving) to beggars. Some of the comments bring back memories:
Gridskipper Travel Blog Goes Google Map Crazy
By 6.6.07
Gawker brother blog Gridskipper has done a major relaunch and now the travel guide is addicted to maps!
American Airlines Decreases Frequent Flyer Lifespan To 18 Months
By 6.5.07
Effective December 15, 2007, American Airlines frequent flyer miles will now expire after 18 months of inactivity, down from three years. Your account will get reset, at that point, If you haven’t nudged your account since Jun 15, 2006. Apparently, whatever one airline does, either up or down, others follow suit. United and US Airway also recently introduced 18 month frequent flyer lifespans. — BEN POPKEN
