The short-term home rental company Airbnb would really prefer to ignore hosts’ local regulations, leaving compliance up to individuals instead of the platform. However, the company has made a key concession to its hometown of San Francisco, pulling listings from hosts with multiple residences off the site, which violate current laws in San Francisco. [More]
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Macy’s Doesn’t Want You Stockpiling Lip Gloss, Cuts You Off At Six
By 5.8.13
“Your activity on our site indicates that you are trying to circumvent our restrictions by submitting multiple orders,” said the letter that Macy’s sent to reader Janet. What was she doing? Buying up loss leaders to resell? Taking advantage of a pricing error for her own profit? No…her crime was placing two separate orders for lip gloss from their website. [More]
Ulta Has Secret Limits On Clearance Items, Won’t Sell Me 27 Hair Straighteners
By 1.31.13
Courtney was on a mission. It’s her job to find things for people at low prices, and then buy them in large quantities. For example, one day she learned that beauty chain Ulta had Big Chi Digital Hair Irons, which usually cost $169.99, on clearance for $49.99. Score! One of her clients wanted these, and there were twenty-seven of them in stock. Now, “Clearance” should mean that the store is trying to clear out stock, and should be happy if someone comes along and scoops up everything on the shelf. Right? Not at Ulta. They’d rather not sell items at all than sell them to Courtney by the cartful. [More]
Verizon May Introduce Tiered Data Plans As Early As Next Week
By 7.21.10
One month ago, Verizon Wireless’s CFO hinted in an interview that the company might follow AT&T’s lead and replace unlimited data plans with tiered ones. Now Engadget is reporting that the switch might come on July 29th. Because this is just a rumor so far, there’s no word yet on whether Verizon will offer the same 200 MB / 2 GB split as AT&T or whether it will grandfather in existing unlimited customers. [More]
Unlimited Pizza Toppings – Limit: Five Toppings
By 10.11.09
While it’s true that the laws of physics limit how many toppings one really can put on a pizza, reader Andrew in Austin was still amused to read this ad for Gatti’s which features “unlimited” toppings with a limit of five toppings.
Credit Union Celebrates Labor Day By Limiting ATM Transactions To $40
By 9.5.09
How are you spending the long weekend? If you’re one of 2,000 Arizona Federal Credit Union customers affected in a Visa security breach, we hope you weren’t planning a trip out of state.
GEICO Mastercard Slashing Everyone's Credit Limit To $500?
By 3.20.09
Dan wrote in to let us know his $8,800 GEICO Mastercard now has a $500 line of credit. “It’s not you, it’s us,” is basically what GEICO told him in their letter on March 12th. They also say they’re doing this to every one of their Mastercard holders. Dan notes, “Interestingly enough, this new limit is less than the 6 month rate GEICO was charging me for my two cars, meaning that I couldn’t even use their preferred card to pay their premiums.” You can read their letter below.
By 9.2.08
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Cnet has rounded up a list of free bandwidth monitoring apps for Windows and Mac users who will be facing Comcast’s new 250 GB download limit next month. They aren’t perfect, but they “should tide you over until Verizon brings some Fios action to your hood.” [download.com]
By 5.16.08
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AT&T’s one-iPhone-per-customer rule lasted only one day before the company went back to its three-per-customer policy. Apparently they found some more iPhones in the back. [Information Week]
12 Ways To Save Money Without Scrimping
By 5.4.08
Some economists think we’re starting to pull out of our not-recession. For those of us who believe them and want to save without putting too firm a dent in our wallets, consider these twelve tips endorsed by the Wall Street Journal.
Walmart Won't Let You And Your Friend Each Buy A Wii Because You're "Together"
By 4.29.08
Reader Dave said he was shopping with his friend (male) at Walmart, searching for the coveted Nintendo Wii. He was happy to find that Walmart had 7 or 8 of the consoles in stock — enough for both he and his friend to purchase one. Walmart, however, had other ideas. Dave says that Walmart wouldn’t let he and his friend each purchase a Wii because they were “together.” First they’re rationing rice and now men are forced to share their video games? What’s going on in America, folks?
FCC Chairman To Relax Media Ownership Rules
By 10.20.07
Media conglomerates are preparing to feast on a banquet of local media outlets thanks to a resurrected proposal from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. The Chairman wants to relax decades-old rules that bar media companies from owning both a newspaper and TV or radio station in the same local market. A similar proposal was presciently struck down three years ago by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Currently, a company can own two television stations in the larger markets only if at least one is not among the four largest stations and if there are at least eight local stations. The rules also limit the number of radio stations that a company can own to no more than eight in each of the largest markets.
Credit Card Companies Slashing Credit Limits
By 9.22.07
The continuing subprime meltdown is leading jittery creditors to reduce cardholder credit limits at the first sign of trouble. According to a recent survey, up to 75% of banks are cutting credit limits to minimize their exposure to risk. The move can adversely affect credit scores, which are determined by considering the percentage of available credit used. From the Chicago Tribune:
A change can stem from late payments of any kind, a drop in your credit score or the addition of new lines of credit. Bryan found out limits on three cards were actually cut after he took out a home equity loan to pay off some debt.
Proposed FCC Rule Would Limit Comcast's Growth
By 3.15.07
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin circulated the proposed ownership cap to other commissioners Monday, said Rudy Brioche, a legal advisor to Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein.
