Author: Laura Northrup

Nick writes that he found this cheese at Kroger. Sure, mold isn’t going to hurt you, but how far marked down would it need to be for you to buy it?

He writes:

Yesterday I saw a deal at my local Kroger that was very difficult to pass, but somehow I managed to pass this one up. The delicious mold growing on the side convinced me it was not such a good deal. I’m not sure which is funnier, the fact that it is a “Deli Fresh” Kraft item, or the closeout special. The exp. date on the package was for June 22, 2010.

David wants to know why Terminix won’t stop sending him mail. He just wants to them to leave him alone. The company received his requests to stop sending mail…and instead started sending junk to him and to his imaginary wife. This was not helpful.

I have been receiving junk mail advertisements from Terminix for 4 straight years now. I have called them and told them to stop. I have faxed them and told them to stop. I have filed no less than 4 BBB complaints telling them to stop. I have filed as many complaints with the Tenn. AG’s office of Consumer Affairs requesting that they be told to stop, yet every year I start getting my mailbox filled with their garbage. What’s even more pathetic about this is that A. the junk comes addressed to a David and Nancy [Last Name]. There is NO Nancy [Last Name], and B. Every year when they start mailing out the junk, it comes no less than once a week EVERY week. Apparently the geniuses there in Tennessee believe that if we don’t want their useless overpriced services the first 100 times, we just might want them the 101’st Last year Terminix had me fax them copies of the junk through the BBB, and promised to stop, and yet it continued. This year they are supposedly sending me a SASE for the same purpose and I am sure with the same outcome.

If Terminix refuses to listen this time, we’d suggest filing a prohibitory order, which can lead to Big Trouble for the company if they continue mailing you. It’s intended for pornographic materials, but can be used against anything that you find “offensive.”

The prohibitory order forbids the mailer, his or her agents, or assigns from making further mailings to the designated addressees, effective on the 30th calendar day after the mailer’s receipt of the order; directs immediate deletion of such addressees from all mailing lists owned or controlled by the mailer, his or her agents, or assigns; and prohibits any sale, rental, exchange, or other transaction by the mailer, his or her agents, or assigns, involving mailing lists bearing the names of the designated addressees.

Daniel recently had an interesting tipping dilemma. He ordered a smoked brisket from a locally owned barbecue place, and had it delivered. Unexpectedly, the restaurant owner himself showed up to deliver the brisket. So, he asks: should he have tipped the restaurant owner?

Most customers wouldn’t even recognize the owner, manager, or franchisee of their favorite delivery places, so does it change things if you do?

It turned out that Capital Q [the restaurant] was shorthanded. But help was on the way and scheduled to arrive at 4:30. I was given assurances that at 4:30 my order would be out the door and on its way to my house. And if there were any problems they would call me immediately so I could execute Plan B.

The doorbell rang well before 5:00 and at my door with two pounds of the best barbecue brisket available in the region was [restaurant owner] Sean Custer himself. And he was all smiles. As was I.

I know I mentioned in the past that my idea of celebrity may be different than most people’s idea of celebrity. But to me, this visit from the pit master was like ordering the complete Lost DVD box set on Amazon and having J. J. Abrams bring it to the house and put it in my hot little hands.

What an unexpected treat.

Here’s a question for you, though. I had tip money ready in my pocket. But it just felt wrong to tip the owner of the restaurant, even though he certainly went above and beyond to get me my food. I think I did the right thing. But we live in such a culture of tipping that it felt a bit weird.

Instead of a tip, I gave him a good firm handshake, and thanked him very much. I suppose there are the above few hundred words, but I’m pretty sure he never saw that coming.

What do you think?

There Will Be Brisket [FUSSYlittleBLOG]

In Miami-Dade County, hit particularly hard by the housing boom, about one in ten dwellngs are in foreclosure. Don’t worry, though. They’re not empty. Homeless families have moved in. To be precise, colonies of feral cats. Because nothing makes a bank-owned property more appealing than the stench of cat urine.

Colonies of feral cats roam in and around the shuttered buildings in North Miami Beach. When the sun goes down, they come out — and so does professional cat catcher Rob Hammer.

“All you need is a little tuna to lure them into the cage and then gotcha! Nothing hurt except their feelings,” said Hammer as he demonstrated how his pain-free cat trap worked.

While Hammer has been catching cats for 22 years, he said he’s never seen anything like this.

“Along the boardwalk here, say 300 yards, there are literally 200 cats. They live under buildings, abandoned buildings,” he said.

Three hundred thousand cats currently roam Miami Beach.

300K Cats Move Into Foreclosed Homes [WPLG] (Thanks, Harper!)

Like most readers of Consumerist, Adam is cynical about extended warranties. However, he writes that he had a surprisingly good experience with a SquareTrade warranty that he purchased, and wanted to share.

Back in 2007 I purchased a new Samsung home theater in a box on eBay. The price and specs were exactly what I wanted but I read some bad reviews that the electronic dimmer would go bad in some of these. Usually I send the Square Trade emails to SPAM but this time I figured that a 3 year warranty for under 50 bucks would be what a new dimmer would cost and I might as well just buy it (The unit was under 400). Fast forward 3 years later and no problems with the dimmer but the unit began making an intermittent noise. I filed an easy online claim with Square Trade which denied the claim since intermittent noises are not covered per the fine print (overall I think this is a reasonable policy). A few weeks later my unit was out of warranty but the noise turned into a growl which literally shook the unit and wasn’t going away any more. I called the toll free number and spoke to Mark (who ironically also denied my previous claim). Without having to hold Mark went through some basic troubleshooting steps and standard questions. After 5 minutes on the phone Mark determined the problem could not be fixed and it would be too expensive to actually ship the unit. However, since they had record of the problem beginning to occur before the warranty date Square Trade will send a Paypal for the original cost of the unit less the shipping charges I paid to the eBay seller.

Although I was extremely skeptical of Square Trade before this, I will now be purchasing the coverage alongside all of my online purchases. Good Job!

We normally don’t advise buying extended warranties (after all, you can make your own at home), but in some cases it can be a good idea. Manufacturer’s warranties often don’t apply for items purchased on eBay, and in this case, Adam also researched the failure rate and decided that he was better off with one. Kudos to Squaretrade for going above and beyond and replacing the unit.

When visiting a pet store that allows leashed pets to visit, is it unreasonable to keep an eye out for dog poop? Inside the store? The Virginian-Pilot reports that a man is suing Petsmart in federal court after slipping and falling on a pile of feces in a Norfolk, Va. store. He alleges that the fall exacerbated his existing back injury and knocked out four of his false teeth.

Holloway, of Poquoson, went to the Jefferson Avenue PetSmart on Jan. 18, 2009. The suit says that PetSmart and the manager should have protected him from harm.

The suit says PetSmart and its employees “negligently allowed animals to enter the premises and deposit feces in such a manner as to create a dangerous and hazardous condition.”

The employees either should have known there was a pile of feces on the floor, or if they did know, they should have cleaned it up before Holloway stepped in it, the suit says.

In a responsible, perfect world, the owner of the dog should have cleaned up after it.

Peninsula man sues pet shop after slipping on dog feces [Virginian-Pilot] (Thanks, Jwm909!)

Lana is a little frustrated with the U.S. Postal Service right now. She writes that she received an odd envelope in the mail from USPS–the tear-off advertising sheet from the front of a Netflix envelope addressed to her. An overly conscientious postal employee took the flyer, carefully placed it in a damaged item envelope, and mailed it back to Lana.

She writes:

Dear Consumerist,
I have been an avid reader of yours for some time and have followed your articles detailing the postal service’s desire to rid us of our mail on Saturdays. The postal service has lost many items of mine over the years, birthday cards, magazines, bills… but I’ve never received anything quite like this from them before. In the past two weeks the postal service has mailed me back the piece of the Netflix envelope that you normally tear off and discard when opening it. The worthless scrap of paper that I always trash as soon as I open my movies was sent back to me as if it were a precious letter. And not once, but twice.. and on two separate occasions. And what’s more interesting, at the top of this scrap it says ‘presorted first-class mail u.s. postage PAID netflix’ but apparently the postal service just wanted to take that extra step and re-package it, pay additional postage fees, and send it home to me. I have no idea how these wound up in the mail to begin with, possibly still attached to the movies I mailed back to Netflix, but I find it incredibly bizarre that they would actually opt to send them back to me. Wouldn’t SOMEONE working there realize what it was? Don’t they see enough of these envelopes daily to know that if there is literally nothing attached to it, no dvd, no actual Netflix envelope, that it is fairly worthless? Maybe the whole thing is just a practical joke. To add another level to their dedication, this message was on the back of the envelope sent to me by the USPS:

“WE CARE
Dear Valued Postal Customer,

I want to extend my sincere apology as your Postmaster for the enclosed document that was inadvertently damaged in handling by your Postal Service.

We are aware how important your mail is to you. With that in mind, we are forwarding it to you in an expeditious fashion.

The United States Postal Service handles over 202 billion pieces of mail each year. While each employee makes a concerted effort to process, without damage, each piece of mail, an occasional mishap does happen.

We are constantly working to improve our processing methods so that these incidents will be eliminated. You can help us greatly in our efforts if you will continue to properly prepare and address each letter or parcel that you enter into the mainstream.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and sincerely regret any inconvenience that you have experienced.

THE POSTMASTER”

The only inconvenience that I can think of from this experience is the waste of federal money used to send me these items.

I’m not sure. I find it oddly touching that the post office is willing to carefully pack up anything without judging its value, but I also see Lana’s point.

Have you ever exchanged an American Express gift card for goods or services? Luke writes that he received one as a gift, but hasn’t been able to use the card to make any purchases. All he’s managed to do is prove the futility of giving people credit card-branded gift cards as presents. Cash, my friends. Think cash.

Luke writes:

A friend of mine gave me an American Express gift card awhile back. I
decided to use it. So I tried to use it to buy Microsoft Points
online. It rejected the transaction because the card had no address
attached to it. So I called American Express’s hotline, got
transferred to India, and had my address put on the card. And it still
didn’t work. And every time I tried to use it, a $1 hold was put on
the card to, as the CSR rep said, “Check the address on file.”

So I waited a week for these holds to vanish, and then tried to use it
at a gas station. It asked for my zip code (a lot of gas pumps do this
to prevent fraud, it seems) and when I put it in, the card was
rejected. So I took it to a restaurant. Again the card was rejected. I
find out this is because the card has a $25 hold on it from the gas
station, which seems really odd considering the card is only worth $25
and the transaction was rejected.

I’m beginning to wonder if this card is, in fact, redeemable for
products and services, or if my friend was ripped out of $25 (he has
since shifted to sending checks for Christmas instead). Help?

All we can tell you, Luke, is for the love of God, don’t take it to any Best Buys in New York City.

Are you sure there’s a balance left on the card at all? American Express is famous for charging the card for the privilege of existing. If there is money left, try the card at some sort of big-box store that doesn’t put a hold on your purchase–maybe a grocery store, Walmart, or Target.

Richard has a warning for the Consumerist community: he writes that if you mess up a zip code on an overnight UPS package, they will charge you an $11 “address adjustment” fee to fix it. Excessive? Richard thought so, and UPS was nice enough to waive it when he asked.

Just a warning out there to UPS users: I recently sent a package overnight via UPS and accidentally wrote the wrong zip code on the “To” address (xxx20 rather than xxx14). The shipment was billed to the receiver’s UPS account, and I filled out the shipping document at the local UPS store (and not online through my own shippers account), so you can imagine my surprise when the day after the package was delivered I received an email invoice on my own account from UPS for a charge of $11 for an “address adjustment.”

I called and was told that I had written the wrong zip code and that it was a legitimate charge, and that even though the shipment was charged to the receiver using their account number, any adjustments are charged to the shipper, but after complaining that $11 was pretty steep, that risk of such a charge was not mentioned on the actually shipping document (only, apparently, on the UPS website), and that I found it troubling that even though my own account number was nowhere on the shipping document I filled out, they found it within their rights to look me up in their computer, find that I had my own UPS account, and felt free to go ahead and charge the credit card account associated with that account, they gave me a one-time waiver, but warned that my account now would have a note in it that I had used my one “get-out-fee-free” card and would not get to do so again.

I always thought that the reason they asked for your phone number on the shippers info section was for this very reason–so they could call you if there was a problem like this.

I freely admit that I got the zip code wrong, but $11 seems pretty steep.

The logistics of sending an overnight package make it difficult to take the time out to call the sender–but an $11 fee is indeed pretty steep for an address change.

Chuck tells Consumerist that he witnessed a strange transaction at Pizza Hut recently. When another customer went to pay for her purchase with a credit card, the person behind the counter asked to see her ID before allowing her to pay for her pizzas with a credit card. She didn’t have any ID with her, and was forced to leave without her pizzas.

I was sitting in a Pizza Hut yesterday near my hotel waiting for my to-go pizza (please don’t blame me for not wanting something better; Pizza Hut’s pan pizza, especially at just $10, is a weakness for which I shall surely pay) when I observed another customer come it to pick up here two-pizza order and pay for it with her credit card. The person behind the counter asked her for ID, and she began searching through her wallet and failing to find it. After about a minute of the fruitless search, I decided to speak up and offer my standard “you understand that the merchant agreement you sign with the credit card company specifically prohibits requiring ID as a condition of sale” speech.

It did not have any effect. The person behind the counter said it was out of his hands, and that his manager had said that he must require ID or be fired. I did reply in sympathy, saying that in this economy, I can very much understand wanting to keep a paying job (especially as I’ve been unemployed for more than 6 months now), and that I understood that the directive was coming from above him, but that the company risked losing its ability to take credit cards if it violated the merchant agreement.

The woman was ultimately unable to find her ID (which also made me wonder as most people use a river’s license as ID, and how did she get there without having her license on her) and left the two pizzas sitting there. Whether she returned for them later or gave up on the quest, at least at Pizza Hut, I cannot say, as my order was ready soon after and I was back to my hotel room to watch what was ultimately a disappointing March madness matchup.

Did Chuck witness a thwarted fraud attempt, or an overzealous store violating its credit card merchant agreement? We’ll never know. What we do know is that the store’s demanding ID for a credit card transaction isn’t actually permitted, no matter what the Pizza Hut’s manager may insist. You can print out handy wallet-sized cards with the relevant information and number to call in order to prevent this from happening to you.

Oh, yeah, and don’t go driving without your license on you. That’s just stupid.

RELATED:
Squash Minimum Purchase Fees With Wallet-Sized Merchant Agreement
If I Can’t Check ID’s, How Am I Supposed To Prevent Credit Card Fraud?
How I Learned To Start Worrying And Hate Showing My ID
I’m Happy When Clerks Demand I Show My ID With Credit Card Purchases
10 Things You Might Not Know About Your Credit Card

Salmonella in the pepper! Salmonella in the hydrolyzed vegetable protein! Salmonella everywhere! Oh yeah, and some other stuff was recalled too.

Babies and Children
Graco Harmony High Chairs: Chair may tip over unexpectedly
Holiday-Themed Charm Bracelets: High levels of cadmium, which children should not eat.
Infantino SlingRider: Suffocation hazard
Evenflo Top-of-Stair™ Plus Wood Gates: Slats can break
Scooby Doo, Tweety and Batman Fork and Spoon Sets: Fork prongs can fall out, choking hazard

Tools and Household
Hitachi Coil Nailers: May shoot nails sideways.
Fluke VoltAlert Voltage Detector: May fail to detect voltage.
Gerber machetes: May slice hand open
Therma Scarf microwaveable scarf: Fire and burn hazard
Lutron Shading Solutions Roman Shades; Meijer Roman shades: Strangulation hazard

Automobiles
Titan, Armada, Quest and Infiniti QX56: Problems with brake pedal pins and fuel-gauge components

Food and Consumables
Binell Bros. Cutlery Black Pepper: Possible salmonella contamination
Bass Pro Shops Uncle Bucks Beer Batter Mix: Possible salmonella contamination
Modern Products Seasonings: Possible salmonella contamination
H.D.W. Foods Black Pepper: Possible salmonella contamination
Chilli Man Seasoning Mix: Possible salmonella contamination
Blue Line Foodservice Distribution Spice Paks: Possible salmonella contamination
McCain All American Roasters: Possible salmonella contamination
C. H. Guenther & Son (products sold under IGA, Hy-Top, H-E-B, and other store brand names) seasoning kits: Possible salmonella contamination
Fisher and Archer Farms nuts and snack mixes: Possible salmonella contamination
Sunbird and Williams seasoning mixes: Possible salmonella contamination
Gluten-Free Naturals baking mixes: Possible salmonella contamination
“Spreadables” brand Crab Creole and Shrimp Scampi cheese spreads: Possible salmonella contamination
Spice Barn black pepper: Possible salmonella contamination
Flying Horse Sesame Chewy Candy: Undeclared Peanuts

You can find a variety of Easter egg dyeing kits in stores, but what sets them apart? Holidash tested a variety of commercial egg-decorating kits, evaluating methods to decorate eggs with everything from glitter to Star Wars decals. Their winner? The classic color tablets and wire egg holders of the century-old Paas egg-dyeing kit.

Easy for big and little kids to manage. Colors were most vibrant in the vinegar-based bath; the lemon juice bath was disappointing. Dye will temporarily stain little fingers and hands, but will wash out of clothes with basic pre-treating, although we recommend smocks or old t-shirts to keep kids covered.

We do, however, take offense to their declaring the Dudley’s Star Wars kit to be the best for boys. Hmph. Just for boys?

Easter Egg Dye Road Test: Which Kit Is the Best? [Holidash]

A recent scientific study on rats shows that our brains’ wiring is what causes humans to love overeating so darn much. Rats offered a selection of rich, tasty human foods not only became obese, but their brain chemistry changed. The rats needed more food to feel content…and discomfort wouldn’t keep them away from their tasty snacks.

Not surprisingly, the rats that gorged themselves on the human food quickly became obese. But their brains also changed. By monitoring implanted brain electrodes, the researchers found that the rats in the third group gradually developed a tolerance to the pleasure the food gave them and had to eat more to experience a high.

They began to eat compulsively, to the point where they continued to do so in the face of pain. When the researchers applied an electric shock to the rats’ feet in the presence of the food, the rats in the first two groups were frightened away from eating. But the obese rats were not. “Their attention was solely focused on consuming food,” says Kenny.

The difference between us and other mammals, of course, is that we have access to a stunning array of unhealthy food, and are bombarded with advertisements trying to get us to eat that food.

Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction [CNN] (Thanks, Kelly!)

After being accused of cashing counterfeit money orders and arrested at a Walmart in 2008, a Houston woman has won $9 million in damages in a civil lawsuit against the retailer. 24-year-old Nitra Gipson spent two days in jail…and the money orders turned out to be genuine.

Company lawyers based in Utah later sent her a letter alleging that she owed Walmart money for taking merchandise. The letter threatened to pursue a shoplifting charge if she didn’t pay $200.

“The jury found that she had been defamed by being accused of forgery, counterfeiting, theft and shoplifting,” said Houston lawyer Lloyd Kelley, who represented Gipson.

“The main problem for Walmart has been the bad publicity,” Kelley said, adding that the retailer hasn’t offered an apology, hasn’t asked that charges against Gipson be expunged and has not revealed any company policy changes resulting from the incident.

To be fair, since this incident and the lawsuit, Walmart has started charging a lot more fees when people come to their stores to cash money orders. That’s probably not what they had in mind, though.

TSU grad wins $9 million in Wal-Mart suit [Houston Chronicle] (Thanks, Juvir!)

Spring is actually here, and do you know what that means? Spring cleaning! Consumer Reports offers tips Ugh. If you live in a wintery climate, take some time to clean up your vehicle and pretend that all that salt and gravel never happened. Our sister publication Consumer Reports shows you how. After all, who else thoroughly tests kinds of car wax? Exactly.

Spring cleaning tips: How to wash away winter and get your car looking like new [Consumer Reports Cars]

Now that Wii-owning Netflix customers have received their streaming discs, let the console wars begin anew! At stake now: which provides the best Netflix-browsing experience….and the least agonizingly slow load times?

The winner in a competition of the Wii and Playstation 3? According to Super Power Bros’ unscientific test, Wii. While video streaming is relatively smooth, this video shows menu load times long enough for you to wander off and make popcorn.

Browsing movies with the Wiimote is apparently also pretty fun. Me, I’m sticking with my 20-year-old NES and cheapest model Roku.

Video Comparison: Netflix PS3 vs Wii [Super Power Bros] (via Kotaku)

Sometimes calling customer service just leads to theater of the absurd. Earlier today, reader Will blogged about his recent interaction with Amazon customer service. He writes that when he called up Amazon to find out the location of a missing package. The rep informed him that the package had been eaten by an alligator.

Will was confused. He writes:

I swear, I am not making any of this up.

So I ordered a computer part from Amazon. We have Amazon Prime, and the part was supposed to show up yesterday, but never did. I called Amazon’s 800 number this morning (actually 866-216-1072, if you want to note it for future reference), and got a female rep with not-so-good English. After quite a thrash getting my information, she allegedly called the shipper (long time on hold for me) and came back to say they had told her my package would not be delivered…

… because it had been eaten by an alligator.

Again, I swear, I am not making this up.

I made her repeat it about five times. “It may have been a different animal” was as far as she’d budge off of this story.

I called the shipper after I got off the line, they said, “WHAT?!?”, and went on to tell me the package is on the truck and should arrive today. So I called Amazon back, and kept at it until I reached a native English speaker. He said, “WHAT?!?!?”

Acording to both the shipper and the non-alligator Amazon rep, the package is still on its way, and allegedly does not have any large tooth marks. I may not ever get the part, but at least I’m giving people some good stories to tell today…

Our theory: the customer service fabulist who told another reader that DSL would burn his house down quit Verizon and is now making life strange and exciting for Amazon customers.

“Your Package Has Been Eaten By An Alligator” [Will Collier]

In celebration of the upcoming FTC-mandated drastic changes to “free” credit report advertising and web sites, public radio program Marketplace located the actor and musician who serves as the public face of FreeCreditReport.com in its horrifically catchy ads. That’s when they discovered something that, as they put it, means you will never look at the ads the same way again. The singing spokesdude, Eric Violette, is actually a pretty talented musician, but he isn’t the man singing the jingle. See, the commercials were cast and filmed in Montreal, and Violette has a distinct French accent.

Yes. He’s Canadian. Which is merciful in a way, because it means that when he walks down the street in Montreal, no one has any idea who he is….unless they’re visiting from America.

Imagine there’s a line drawn in the dirt about two hours from your house. Cross it and everything goes haywire. People stop Eric on the street in America and ask for his autograph. They want pictures with him. At one point he made the mistake of going to Mardi Gras.

Violette: And when people recognize me they were obviously pretty drunk. So they were louder than, I don’t know…. It was like, “Hey that’s the FreeCreditReport.com guy!” So everybody like … Foom! Turn their head.

Seriously, listen to the story. You won’t be sorry.

As part of the CARD Act, the FTC requires that the ads and (crucially) Web sites for not-so-free credit report services disclose that they are a paid service, not the free annual credit report that all Americans are entitled to. Web sites must change on April 2, and TV and radio advertising on September 1.

Hey, it's the Free Credit Report guy! [Marketplace]

Tomorrow is Sunday, which means that you can take advantage of the exciting Sunday sale at Mike’s local Subway. Yes, this restaurant does participate in the $5 footlong promotion. We asked.