Last Friday, we published a post about Cubic Telecom, an Irish start-up that sells a SIM card that’s supposed to enable international calling for “50-90%” less than standard carrier rates. The post was in reference to columnist David Pogue’s review of the product, and he was quoting rates that were provided to him directly by Cubic’s CEO. Turns out the CEO was “misleading” him—he provided numbers that were substantially lower than the actual rates, and has been stringing Pogue along with assurances that they’d “update the site” ever since. As of Thursday, October 4th, they still hadn’t.
rates
Verizon To Stop Extending Contracts Due To Rate Plan Changes
By 10.1.07
Verizon announced today that they are ending the often complained about practice of extending contracts when customers request rate plan changes.
New $40 SIM Lets You Call From Anywhere For Cheap
By 9.28.07
[UPDATE: The numbers quoted in this post are B.S. Skip it and go directly to the follow-up a week later, where we find out that the company’s CEO grossly misrepresented the savings on this card.]
In Wake Of Fed Cuts, Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly
By 9.20.07
Bankrate has a really interesting article about the effect that the Fed’s rate cuts are having on the mortgage industry. As constant readers of the site are already well aware, the subprime meltdown has lead to a crisis in the secondary mortgage market—investors are no longer interested in purchasing non-conforming loans.
How The Fed Rate Cut Affects You
By 9.20.07
The Fed cut interest rates Monday, but what does this mean for your wallet?
New Farecast Service Tells You Whether That Hotel Rate Is Really A Deal
By 9.13.07
Farecast.com is testing a great new feature that evaluates a hotel’s given rate, then tells you how much of a deal it really is when compared to past quotes and fares at similar hotels, says the New York Times:
The $179 rate for a room at the Hyatt Regency was listed as “average” because it was 28 percent more expensive than rates at that hotel on the same date in past months, according to Farecast. It was also 13 percent more than recent Friday-to-Monday stays at the same hotel.
FCC Talks "A La Carte" Cable
By 9.13.07
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin thinks your cable bill is too high.
Air Travel Just Got More Expensive, Again
By 3.27.07
A $5 (each way) fare hike survived through the weekend with all five major carriers adopting it, according to USAToday:
Bankrupt Delta Air Lines was the first to raise fares last week on flights within the continental United States. The move was quickly matched by rivals.
No Sopranos For You: Comcast Says Switch To Digital Or Lose HBO
By 3.22.07
“I guess the thing that bothers me is, the service is bad and rates keep increasing,” said Alan Letofsky, one of many customers who recently received a notice from Comcast saying they would need a digital-cable box to keep HBO, which telecasts The Sopranos. “We just don’t want to give any more money to Comcast.”
Cancel T-Mobile With No ETF Thanks To Txt Msg Increase
By 3.22.07
T-mobile has confirmed that starting in June, there will be a increase in text messaging rates for users who do not subscribe to a text messaging plan. As Consumerist readers well know, this means that if you don’t have a text messaging plan the rate hike constitutes a materially adverse change and you have the legal right to terminate your contract with no ETF per T-Mobile’s Terms and Conditions.
Parking Garage Rates Are Out Of Control
By 3.13.07
Getting in and out of a downtown garage in 20 minutes is possible — but just barely. A Globe reporter managed a 20-minute turnaround at 75 State St. only by racing from the garage to gulp down a drink at a nearby coffee shop and then racing back.
USPS Rate Hike: The Forever Stamp
By 2.26.07
A new “forever” stamp — good for mailing a letter no matter how much rates go up — was recommended Monday by the independent Postal Regulatory Commission. A forever stamp would not carry a denomination, but would sell for whatever the first-class rate was at the time.
Borrowed Time for Student Loans?
By 2.6.07
Ever since the Democrats took control of Congress last fall, investors have worried that the government might start trimming the largesse it gives educational lenders such as Sallie Mae. On Jan. 17, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would trim rates on need-based subsidized federal student loans by 50% over five years. The Senate has yet to move on the measure, but President Bush weighed in Feb. 5 with a proposed 2008 budget that aims to bolster grant funds, partly with a huge cut for federal loan subsidies. Stunned Wall Street players quickly unloaded shares of lenders such as Sallie Mae.
BusinessWeek suggests the cuts might be so deep that private lenders would stop issuing student loans altogether. An analyst at Morningstar says:
Convert Interest Rates To Actual Interest
By 10.16.06
It ain’t alchemy but it can turn lead into gold.
