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consumerist.com rss archive / September-13-2007
Embarrass Them For Free: You don't have to spend $30 at Petco to ...
You don't have to spend $30 at Petco to gussy up your small dog in embarrassing winter wear, says the MAKE blog. Just find an old argyle sock and follow their simple, six-cut pattern. Warning: it makes a hat, too! [makezine.com](Photo: Getty)
You See It, You Buy It?: 9 Ways To Break Your Shopping Addiction
If you compulsively shop, shop to cheer yourself up, experience regret after spending money you don't have, run up high credit card bills, and generally behave like a freshman college student at your first beer blast, then... well, we don't want to go all Dr. Phil on you, but you might have a little bit of a problem. Sharon Epperson, author of "The Big Payoff," offers 9 tips on how to curb your addiction.Know what you haveCarry a shopping list (note: we accidentally typed "bag" instead of "list"—seriously—which we think raises some alarms about our own tendencies)Put items that you want to buy on "hold"Don't be a sucker for salesBring cash, leave the plastic at homeTrack what you spendCut up your credit cardsPay off credit card debtSeek financial advicePersonally, we think the latter half of the list falls into the "tired financial advice" category. But we like suggestions that trick the more immature parts of your brain, like putting things you like on...
Daydreaming: What Should You Do With A Windfall?
Mighty Bargain Hunter offers some advice on what to do with your next windfall—it doesn't have to be a lot of money, just a little more than you planned for in your budget, leaving you happily able to pick and choose how to spend or invest it. Their first three choices: pay down debt, add to your emergency fund, or use it to replace an appliance or other big-ticket item that's outlived its usefulness. Another interesting option is to "invest in yourself" with books, software, or a class in something you'd like to learn, like a new language. Or karate.The common sense solution, of course, is to pay off debt, especially high-interest credit card accounts. But CNN Money suggests a slightly different route: invest at least part if not all of it in your retirement savings. Their argument goes like this: it's much easier to spend than to save, and if you use your windfall to pay down your credit cards, there's no guarantee you won't spend them back up again. We can see...
Bad News For Big Pharma: A U.S. federal appeals court today invalidated ...
A U.S. federal appeals court today invalidated the patent on Altace, a widely prescribed drug to treat high blood pressure. This clears the way for low-cost generic versions of the drug to hit the market immediately. King Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes Altace, is asking for a rehearing, but in the meantime it may lose its window of opportunity to "upgrade" Altace patients to a reformulated (and newly patented) version it was it planning on introducing in 2008. [Reuters
Regrets: AT&T Causing iPhone Buyer's Remorse
Reader Stefan wants your advice:I did it. I succumbed to the lure of an iPhone. I love Apple products, but I now get the distinct impression that they are forcing us to get into bed with the devil, also known as AT&T. After purchasing an iPhone (the 4GB leper version for $299) at an Apple Store, I took it home and attempted to get it working. When the time came to dump Verizon (who I've been with for many years and have found to be a fairly good company) and sign up with AT&T, I followed the instructions and I entered my credit card information. Their website informed me that they could not accept my credit card information at this time (even though I have an excellent credit history) and I would have to go to an AT&T store to sign up. BUT, until then I could set up a pre-paid account. Since I needed my phone for work in the morning and they had already ported my phone number from Verizon, I purchased a pre-paid plan right then and there. Now every time I...
Badvertising: This Road Side Sign For Roses Is Not At All Misleading
According to LAist, this small roadside sandwich board type sign is visible "as you drive down Sunset Blvd. eastbound toward Vermont." As you can see, it's extremely honest.The Most Deceptive Sign in LA [Laist via BoingBoing](Photo:Sonny I. LaVista for LAist)
News From The Swamp: FAA Administrator Resigns, Becomes Airline Industry Lobby Group CEO
Marion Blakey, FAA administrator, resigned from her position today to become the CEO of an airline industry lobby group. She spoke to NPR. Here's some of her interview:NPR: I know the stats say that about 1/3 of all flights are late. Why hasn't the FAA been able to do anything about this?Blakey: The FAA does not control all of that. The question of delays go to several different categories and I think we have to give a healthy dollop of responsibility in each category. One: Mother Nature. This summer we have had the worst thunderstorm season we have had in recent memory. In addition to that, passenger traffic is back. Everyone wants to fly. That means the airlines are scheduling a lot of flights, and they're all full. So, when one is delayed you don't have the back up that you can put people on because the next one is full.NPR: I understand that, but why not place a limit on the number of take-offs and landings at airports during peak hours? Blakey: You know as a country, a...
Airlines: The cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, ...
The cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. [Rick Seany]
Polls: Former Spendthrift? Naturally Frugal? Who Are You?
We've noticed that there are two types of people who really like us. Reformed credit card junkies and frugal tightwads. They aren't the only people who read Consumerist, but we were sort of wondering what the ratio was. Hence, this poll. So tell us: Are there more reformed spendthrifts out there? Or are more of you naturally frugal people who really do use credit cards to save money? If neither of these sound like you, feel free to let us know.Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.(Photo:cmorran123)
Fight Back: Verizon Sold 1,000,000 Old Accounts To AFNI, Who Then Fraudulently Tried To Collect Debts
A reader whose wife received a debt-collection notice from AFNI regarding a seven-year old Verizon account was actually just one of over a million consumers getting a similar letter, WSYR reports.Apparently, Verizon sold over 1,000,000 accounts to Anderson Financial Network, Inc, who promptly began churning out debt collection notices to the customers. In many cases, there supposed debt was never incurred in the first place or had long since been paidIf you got one of these letters, try the tactics used by one poster on the RipOffReport board. Jean sent a letter by certified mail with a return receipt disputing the debt and asking for verification. Shortly afterwards AFNI responded that they had closed the account and would not try to collect further.PREVIOUSLY: Debt Collector Trying To Collect 7 Year Old DebtRELATED: Make Debt Collectors Prove They Own What They Say You Owe
Billing: Beware Of DirecTV's Auto-Renewing Sports Packages
Reader Ted writes to us about DirecTV's auto-renewing sports packages, specially NFL Sunday Ticket. He says his subscription was automatically renewed even though he canceled. Because he is billed through Qwest, he didn't get a notice and is now stuck with the package. He managed to make a compromise with DirecTV, but wanted to share his story as a warning about the perils of Sunday Ticket:Today I noticed my DirectTV bill was higher than normal, I decided to look a little closer. Come to find out, DirectTV had auto-resubscribed me to NFL Sunday Ticket, although I canceled it after the season last year. Now, it was canceled with no issues or warnings. End of story, right?Wrong...I called DirectTV billing and was told "Once you sign up for Sunday Ticket, you will always be auto-renewed, and you should have received a notice in your monthly statement that this was about to renew." I replied "But I don't get a paper bill from you, I get an e-bill from Qwest, since this was a bundle...
Recalls: Back to Basics IT400 Iced Tea Makers (fire), ...
Back to Basics IT400 Iced Tea Makers (fire), Harry and David Hearthside Soups, Southwestern Chicken Chili Mix (undeclared milk).
Pr: How Bank Of America Spun Raising ATM Fees To $3
Bank of America defended raising ATM fees to $3 for non-customers to withdraw from its ATMs by spokesperson Betty Riess spilling this lovely bucket of hogwash: "We really want to make our ATM network convenient for our customers. In order to maintain that, it is appropriate to charge people who aren't our customers for accessing our convenience."Betty, will they also dispense packets of Vaseline?Avoid using BoA ATMs if you're not one of their customers, and hope other banks don't follow suit.Bank of America raises ATM fees to $3 [CNN Money] (Thanks to dmolavi!)PREVIOUSLY: Bank of America To Raise ATM Surcharge to $3(Photo: Bob Reck)
The Mobile Mafia: The Rip-Off Industry Of Customized Ringtones
In today's Circuits column, tech columnist David Pogue asks an important question about the $5 billion ringtone industry for mobile phones: why does it exist at all? Apple's latest moneymaker for itself and the labels is the ability for you to re-purchase certain songs you've already purchased, so that you can load them onto your phone as ringtones. But before you marvel at Apple's chutzpah, they're actually charging less per ringtone than major carriers like T-Mobile, Sprint, or Verizon.Even worse, you don't "own" the ringtones you buy from carriers—they disappear after a period of time, and you have to pay another $2-3 for new ones.As Pogue points out, there are several ways to sneak around Apple's iPhone security and put any damned ringtone you like on your phone. We can also happily confirm that the last two Nokia models we bought had no restrictions on setting mp3 and certain other audio formats as ringtones (On our latest model, we can assign a different mp3...
Videos: Watch Dave Ramsey's 90-Minute Dumping Debt Presentation For Free
Get Rich Slowly found Personal Finance maven Dave Ramsey's full 90 minute presentation on "dumping debt" available on YouTube.Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9We're going to sit down and watch each part so you don't have to.Part 1Debt is stupidDebt is an aggressively marketed productLiving without debt requires a paradigm shiftWe used to think debt was a sin1910 Sears catalog called buying on credit "folly"Today, Sears has made more money on credit cards than on merchandisePart 2Credit card issuers sent out 4.2 billion offers last yearCredit cards are a productBanks are in the business of selling debtDebt has become enmeshed with the fabric of everyday lifeDon't get him wrong, Dave only blames himself for when he got into debtWe have become a culture of borrowers, aka, sharecroppers"The rich rules over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender" Proverbs 22:7 (NKJV)Dave uses a chain to demonstrate how he got into debt, wrapping...
Videos: Dave Ramsey's Complete Dumping Debt Presentation Free
Get Rich Slowly found Personal Finance maven Dave Ramsey's full 90 minute presentation on "dumping debt" available on YouTube.Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9We're going to sit down and watch each part so you don't have to.Part 1Debt is stupidDebt is an aggressively marketed productLiving without debt requires a paradigm shiftWe used to think debt was a sin1910 Sears catalog called buying on credit "folly"Today, Sears has made more money on credit cards than on merchandise
Omniscience: What Walmart Can Tell Us About Ourselves
Walmart knows more about us than we do, according to ABC News. They know that people in the Northeast eat bagels for breakfast and prefer brown eggs to white. They know that people in Austin, TX eat a lot of doughnuts.They know what Americans buy. John Fleming, Wal-Mart's executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, said it should be no surprise that Wal-Mart reflects who we are as a nation. "The Wal-Mart shopper is really everybody in America. We have 138 million customers who shop in our store every week," Fleming said. Wal-Mart says frozen pizza sales have increased 12 times in the past 10 years. But frozen food no longer has to mean bad for you. America is a nation that's increasingly health conscious, and that's reflected in the products lining the frozen food aisles in Wal-Mart stores across the nation. Sales of steamable vegetables and readymade, low-fat meals are on the rise. When it comes to fruit and vegetables, we prefer ours fresh. The No. 1 selling...
Piracy: Appeals Court Says Hacking Your DirecTV Not The Same As Commercial Piracy
While piracy funds kills babies, we support the idea of people being free to modify devices they have purchased with they money they earned through blood, sweat and toil, so we were glad to hear that an appeals court said that hacking your DirecTV card shouldn't be penalized under a more punitive clause of the Federal Communications Act.Reading section 605 as a whole makes clear that Congress intended to treat differently individuals who played different roles in the pirating system... In contrast to subsection (a) targeting of individuals who use piracy devices to intercept satellite signals, subsection (e)(4) aims at bigger fish--the assemblers, manufacturers, and distributors of piracy devices.Ah, we yearn for the quaint days when stealing cable just meant slipping the cable guy a Jackson.Appeals Court: Hacking your DirecTV not the same as commercial piracy [Ars Technica]
Readers: Hot Consumerist Forums Threads
Dell printer cartridges promise about 9000 pages. Reader only gets 450. The fine print explains that the guarantee only applies if you're only printing 5% of a page.Readers take turns imitating the sucking noises coming from Kirby Vacuums.Where to park $10k in extra cash? Readers discuss high-interest online savings accounts.[Consumerist Forums]
Travel: New Farecast Service Tells You Whether That Hotel Rate Is Really A Deal
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. It's no secret we like Farecast, and we're excited by this new transparency into hotel pricing. But the Times points out that the service won't tell you the cheapest rate in a city, because it doesn't compare rates between hotels in a given area. It does, however, tell you where the rate falls in the history of the hotel in question, and since hotel rates are often tied to occupancy rates, it's possible you can use the rankings to make guesses about crowding:"A city showing a cluster of hotels as "not...
Fashion Police: Southwest Tells A Second Woman To Cover Up
Since when did Southwest Airlines become the fashion police? CNN is reporting that a second woman has come forward to say that Southwest Airlines told her to cover up because her dress was too revealing. This coming from the "LUV" airline that used to force its flight attendants to wear hot pants and boots that Britney Spears would wear to a funeral. What the hell, Southwest? From CNN:Setara Qassim said a flight attendant confronted her during the trip from Tucson, Arizona, to Burbank, California, and asked whether she had a sweater to go over her green halter-style dress.Qassim, 21, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles she was forced to wrap a blanket around herself for the rest of the flight. She complained that if Southwest wants passengers to dress a certain way, it should publish a dress code. Southwest, every time you think you need to tell a woman to cover up, look at some old photos of your flight attendants instead.Second woman says Southwest made her cover up [CNN] (Thanks,...
The Internet Is Now Safe: After an 18-month-long investigation, German ...
After an 18-month-long investigation, German police have arrested 10 Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans who they think were involved in phishing scams that bilked users out of "hundreds of thousands of euros." The suspects targeted customers of eBay and Deutsche Telekom, among other companies, and lived "luxurious lifestyles involving expensive jewelry, cars and travel." [Reuters](Photo: Getty)
Subprime Meltdown: Southern California Home Sales Sink To 15-Year Low Forcing "Blow-Out" Sales Of New Homes
Bad news for Southern California; home sales in August dropped to a 15-year low according to the LA Times. Sales plunged 36% from last year and 71% of Southern California zip codes are reporting declines in housing prices. "Prices are falling everywhere," Christopher Thornberg, a former UCLA business professor who is now a principal at Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics, told the LA Times. "People just don't have the income to support these prices except with crazy mortgages -- and now the mortgage money is going away, and people are walking away from their homes," Thornberg said.With a shrinking pool of consumers who can qualify for a mortgage under new, tighter lending conditions and a flood of foreclosures on the market, home builders are actually having blow-out sales: Dennis Hsii is counting on builder desperation to help him buy his first home. This weekend, the Los Angeles technology consultant hopes to renegotiate his contract to buy a $700,000 town home in Playa Vista...
Lost And Not Found: What To Do When Your Luggage Is Hopelessly Totally Completely Lost
Here at Consumerist we get a lot of complaints that go something like this:"XYZ Airlines lost my f**cking luggage. F*ck. Sh*t. They won't call me back or listen to me. I hate them. I miss my shoes, my camera, my ren. fair costume, my dog, my saxophone, my collection of rare Hummels, my great aunt suzy's diamonds, my lizard... (No, seriously. The lizard and the ren. fair costume are real complaints. Airlines will lose, steal or mistreat anything.) I hate XYZ airlines. What can I do to make them find my luggage?"Let's assume that if you're writing to us your luggage has been missing for a long time. Ok. It's gone. We're sorry. Next time don't check bags through Philadelphia. Here's what to do when you've given up all hope: Accept the fact that you're going to need to fill out another claim form with the airline. You probably already did this when your bag failed to greet you at your destination. Sorry. It's time to fill out a second form. If you took more than one airline, the...
Analog To Digital: FCC Takes Action To Prevent Cable Companies From Dropping Digital Broadcast Networks From Analog Cable
In 2009, broadcast channels are going to switch over to digital, freeing up a large swath of bandwidth that will be sold to the highest bidder. At that point, says the FCC, cable companies were going to drop broadcast networks from analog cable. That's not cool with the FCC. They've recently ruled that cable companies must continue to provide access to broadcast networks on analog cable until 2012. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says:This item, at its core, is about the consumer. It is about ensuring that all Americans with cable - regardless of whether they are analog or digital subscribers - are able to watch the same broadcast stations the day after the digital transition that they were watching the day before the transition. If the cable companies had their way, you, your mother and father, or your next door neighbor could go to sleep one night after watching their favorite channel and wake up the next morning to a dark fuzzy screen. This is because the cable operators believe...
Howto: How To Order A Domain Name From GoDaddy
The times, they are a changin': whether it's for business, a hobby, some drunken money-making scheme at three in the morning, or just to feel like you own something (our friend says it's "the poor man's real estate"), there's a good chance that you have bought or will buy a domain name at some point. One of the cheapest and most popular places to do this is GoDaddy.com, and designer C. Julian Klewes has written a handy illustrated guide to getting through their check-out gauntlet unscathed. If you've ever used GoDaddy, you know how confusing it can be to actually make it out alive with your purchase. This is because the GoDaddy checkout sequence is designed like one of those money sorting machines where each level has different holes to sort and catch every single item that passes through it.Klewes' guide also has a list of promo codes you can try for additional discounts, although we have no idea if any of them are still valid (but a little Googling should turn up fresh ones...
Rural Areas: 44% Fewer West Virginia Payphones Since 1998
The number of payphones in West Virginia has decreased 44% since industry deregulation in 1998, according to reports by the state's Public Service Commission.Year - West Virginia Payphones2002 - 9,0472003 - 8,2542004 - 7,5212005 - 7,0182006 - 6,190Live in the boonies, get the short end of the sticks.The seventh through ninth interim reports by the West Virginia payphone task force all contain this paragraph:The substantial decline in the number of payphones in West Virginia means that many areas - especially rural areas - remain on the edge of market failure. Even though cell phone service has become more widespread, there are many areas of the state without cell phone coverage and many households that cannot afford either a traditional landline phone or a cell phone. For these areas and these families, the declining availability of payphones can have a direct effect on the quality of life in West Virginia.With no other phone available, a payphone's removal makes it harder to...
Personal Finance: How To Budget With An Irregular Income
Most money-management systems presuppose a steady paycheck, but No Credit Needed shows how you can track your dollars even if you aren't sure of when they'll arrive.Write a prioritized list of expendituresSet a budget for each itemWhen you get money, put it in your checking accountPay down the list from bottom to topLeave some in checking for unexpected expenses, and withdraw some for day to day petty cashTransfer leftover money to savingsIn tighter months, focus on necessities and must-pay bills and withdraw from savings as needed"Eventually, you will be able to build up enough money in your savings and you will not have to worry about when you receive income," writes No Credit Needed. "Instead of making deposits into your checking account and using that money for current expenses, you will make a deposit into your savings account and wait for the bills to arrive. You will be a month (or more) ahead, prepared for the bills that are coming."How To Create A Budget If You Have...
Graphs: Installing CFLs Decreased Family's Electric Bill
Blogging Away Debt made this graph to show how much their family reduced energy consumption by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs and unplugging a freezer in the basement. The chart shows a decrease of around 2-3 average kilowatts hours per day, resulting in electrical bills that were about a half as much as before.A Few Changes Made a Big Difference in Our Electric Bill [Blogging Away Debt]
Shopping: Morning Deals
Vanns.com: Toshiba HDA1 HD DVD Player (Refurb) for $149.77 shipped>/li>Family Video: Brain Age 2 (Nintendo DS) for $13.98 ShippedAmazon: Chicago Cutlery Bistro Forged 10-Piece Set for $43.77 shippedHighlights From DealhackDell Home: Compact Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Camera $205 ShippedBuy.com: Western Digital Elements 320GB USB External Drive $80 ShippedEastBay: Save 20% off All Sports Clothing & Gear Store-WideHighlights From BargainistAmazon.com: ConAgra Foods $25 off $49 couponTimberland: Friends & Family Event couponRalph Lauren: Clearance up to 70% off + extra 25% off coupon
Time To Say Goodbye: When Should You Get Rid Of Your Old Car?
We know some of you would love to buy a new car every year. Others want to drive the same car forever, but realistically, when should you find a new (to you) ride? Consumer Reports thinks they know the answer:It needs repairs costing more than its value.The vehicle's structural integrity is threatened by a badly rusted floor pan or sills. Despite repairs, the car remains unreliable, and it seems likely you could be left stranded. It has been in a flood or serious accident. Boring, we know. The guys at Jalopnik will never go for this, but it's still good advice... both for spendthrifts and those of you who just can't let go.When to say goodbye(Photo:morsteen)