Andrew Cuomo has written a letter to AIG in which he explains that they will turn over the names of those employees from the Financial Products subsidiary (that’s the division that brought down the company) who are receiving bonuses by 4:00 pm today or they are coming at them with subpoenas. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s another awesome Andrew Cuomo letter after the jump.
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Homeowners Association Will Foreclose On Your House If You Don't Pay $267.58
By 3.16.09
Be careful what you sign when you buy that new home — because you might be agreeing to allow the home owners association foreclose on and auction off your house if you don’t pay your dues.
"That Idiot Jeffrey" Pushes USPS Employees Too Far
By 3.16.09
Seriously, man. No pets means no pets. You are stressing these people out. Look at their handwriting, for pete’s sake. 
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's Childhood Home Sold After Foreclosure
By 3.16.09
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is from a small town in South Carolina called Dillon — a town where the impact of the economic meltdown is being felt keenly.
This Is How All User Agreements Should Be Displayed
By 3.16.09
Aviary is a suite of web-based graphics programs, both free and subscription-based. What’s awesome about Aviary from the Consumerist perspective, though, is their Terms of Use, which offers a plain English summary in bullet points alongside the legalese. It’s brilliant, it’s simple, it doesn’t reduce the power of their legal agreement, and it helps users make informed decisions. Everyone should do this.
Winning The Coin Jar Game
By 3.16.09
Yesterday was coin-jar payout day for me. I got $120! Woohoo! And since I took my can to the Penny Arcade at TD Bank, formerly Commerce Bank, they counted my change for free, unlike the Coinstars in supermarkets. Perversely, the past few weeks as my coin jar got close to full , I started to really look forward to getting change, to the extent I started to develop some irrational behavior…
Why Apple's New iPod Shuffle Isn't Consumer Friendly
By 3.16.09
Update: It turns out the special chips used in the headphone controls of the third generation Shuffle don’t contain any DRM after all, so any attempts at reverse-engineering won’t bring on the wrath of the DMCA.
56% Of MBA Students Cheat Regularly
By 3.16.09
“A study of cheating among graduate students, published in 2006 in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, found that 56 percent of all M.B.A. students cheated regularly – more than in any other discipline. The authors attributed that to “perceived peer behavior” – in other words, students believed everyone else was doing it.”
Morning Deals
By 3.16.09
- Amazon: [Plates] 12 10-inch Clear Dinner Plates for $2.99
- Staples: [Paper] 11 Reams of Printing Paper (96 bright 24lb) for Free or better after coupons and rebates (in-store only)
- Woot: [Camcorder] Recertified Pure Digital Flip Ultra Series F260 Camcorder for $79.99
Highlights From Buxr
- Krispy Kreme: [Donut] Free Glazed Doughnut with sign-up
- Amazon: [Laptop] 2go Classmate E09XPH 9-Inch Laptop (Bone/Grey) for $205.12 w/ Free shipping
- Microsoft: [Software] Office Ultimate 2007: Deal for Students (Download) for $59.95
Highlights From Dealhack
- Amazon: [Headphones] Sony MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones $15
- Lenovo: [Tablet] ThinkPad X61 Core 2 Duo Tablet PC $649 Shipped
- Newegg: [GPS] Navigon 2100 GPS Navigation System $90 Shipped
Highlights From Dealnews
- Amazon.com: [Video Game] Geometry Wars: Galaxies for Wii for $10 + $5 s&h
- Newegg: [Speaker] Polk Audio VM10 Titanium Loudspeaker for $130 + free shipping
- Amazon.com: [Watch] Citizen Men’s Eco-Drive Black Leather Watch for $90 + free shipping
Obama Announces Plans To Make Food Safe For Human Consumption
By 3.15.09
President Obama this week declared war on the Chinese Poison Train, announcing that the FDA will receive $1 billion in new funds for modern testing labs and additional food safety inspectors. Inspecting less than 5% of our food processing plants is apparently a “hazard to public health, and “it is unacceptable.” So what’s really behind the new policy shift? No, it’s not those melamine murders or salmonella outbreaks. It’s seven-year-old first daughter Sasha Obama!
FTD Never Mentioned That They Failed To Deliver The Flowers You Ordered In December
By 3.15.09
Ryan sent his father flowers last December through FTD.com but they never arrived. Ryan apparently forgot to give his father’s apartment number to FTD, and when UPS tried calling FTD for delivery instructions, rather than ask Ryan to clarify the address, FTD instead told UPS to chuck the flowers. None of this was apparently worth mentioning to Ryan, who just recently learned that his gift was never delivered.
H&R Block Screwup Costs You $10,000
By 3.15.09
Last year H&R Block told the IRS that reader Tuyen made $33,000 in charitable donations. Tuyen, who earns $60,000 per year, collected a huge rebate, but when he returned to H&R Block this year, he learned that thanks to the screwup he now owes the IRS $10,000 in back taxes.
AIG To Use Bailout Cash To Pay $165 Million In Bonuses. Yes, Seriously
By 3.15.09
So, those guys at AIG who underwrote trillions of dollars worth of credit default swaps backed by securitized mortgages? The ones the Times says were “at the very heart of A.I.G.’s worldwide conflagration?” They’re taking $165 million of our bailout money for bonuses. Because if we don’t pay them, these people—described by AIG’s government-appointed Chairman Ed Liddy as the “best and brightest talent”—will apparently leave to go ruin some other country’s financial system, and we can’t have that. Liddy acknowledged that the bonuses were “distasteful and difficult” before saying that he had “grave concern about the long-term consequences” of not paying up.
Former CSR: Was Following Federal Law To Help Someone The Right Thing To Do?
By 3.14.09
Jason writes in with an ethics question that’s been bothering him for the past seven years: should he have helped a cancer-stricken patient who lost her family in the 9/11 attacks qualify for COBRA coverage? Sure, it sounds like a no-brainer, but it gives us a chance to see the sort of conflicts that gnaw at customer service representatives. Do they follow the rules and keep their jobs, or do the right thing and help the customer? Consider his conundrum, inside…
Greyhound Accidentally Charges $1,000 For A $70 Bus Ticket
By 3.14.09
Greyhound tickets from Raleigh to Asheville cost $67.50, unless you’re Meg Stivison. Then they cost over $1,000. Greyhound repeatedly charged Stivison’s debit card while insisting that she didn’t know the address on her bank statement. Meg ended up driving down to the bus terminal to buy a ticket, but that was just the start of her nightmarish journey…
Baby Products: Now With Formaldehyde!
By 3.14.09
More than half of the baby products recently tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain trace levels of formaldehyde and dioxane. Though the study didn’t accuse Johnson & Johnson of dumping barrels of the potential carcinogens directly into their baby products, the dangerous chemicals can form during the manufacturing process as other ingredients break down. The full list of 48 tested baby shampoos, lotions, soaps, and wipes—including some well-known products you probably have on your shelf—inside.
Sears Can't Get Its Story Straight Regarding Rust And Craftsman Tools
By 3.13.09
C’mon Sears, rust isn’t a magic brown fairy powder that you can sprinkle over any warranty issue to deny coverage. Brian was told he couldn’t have his worn-out sockets replaced because they were rusty. He pointed out that he needed them replaced because they were worn out, not because of some cosmetic damage due to oxidation. Now Sears has officially told him that any rust on a Craftsman tool automatically voids the warranty—which is not what Sears told us two years ago.
Consumerist Friday Flickr Pool Finds
By 3.13.09
Here are five wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Check ’em out, vote for your fave!
