Author: Laura Northrup

There are a lot of people who don’t like the name of the iPad, Apple’s upcoming device that will save the news industry, destroy the nettop market, cure cancer, and save the princess. This is because the name makes them think of feminine hygiene products. An Etsy seller took the product’s name as inspiration, and has produced the iMaxi: a handmade, utilitarian case designed to protect your iPad and look exactly like a gigantic menstrual pad.

With its durable vinyl outer layer and plush, quilted-cotton sleeve, the iMaxi helps keep your iPad clean and dry. Plus, the iMaxi’s Velcro-latched, advanced wing design wraps snugly around your device, so your iPad always stays where it should. Best of all, it shields it from all those unsightly and embarrassing data leaks that would make any motherboard worry!

I have nothing to add, except that it also comes in red.

iMaxi – The Apple iPad Case with Protective Wings (PRICE REDUCED) [Etsy] (Thanks, Kelly!)

The past few weeks in product recalls: lots and lots of lead and salmonella. Not in the same products. As far as we know.

Food and Consumables
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars – salmonella
Turkey Hill Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream – undeclared almonds
Giant Food 24 oz. Party Platter Cookies – undeclared almonds
Estrella Family Creamery Red Darla cheese – possible listeria infection
Nature’s Variety raw chicken dog food – salmonella
Flying Horse Black and White Sesame Chewy Candy – undeclared peanuts
Lemon Chalet Creme Girl Scout Cookies – rancid oils
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars – salmonella
Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch, Dutch Apple and Wildberry Chewy Granola Bars – salmonella
Queseria Bendita Queso Fresco, Panela, and Requeso – listeria
Wholesome Spice 25 Lb. Boxes Of Crushed Red Pepper – salmonella

Furniture and Household
Thermador Built-In Ovens – fire hazard
Lysol Steam Cleaning Mop – Can squirt hot Lysol water at you.
Discovery Kids Animated Marine and Safari Lamp – fire hazard
Copco and Wild Leaf Tea Co. Bristol model and Martha Stewart Collection® Enameled Steel Tea Kettles – handle can fall off – burn hazard

Health Care
LifeScan OneTouch SureStep Test Strips – inaccurate readings

Babies and Children
Danbar Knight Hawk Toy Helicopters (Radio Shack) – fire hazard (while charging, not while flying)
Nature Wonders Horse Figures (Walmart) – lead paint
Boy’s Three-Piece Santa Set (Macy’s) – buttons pose choking hazard
Tiny Tink[erbell] and Friends Children’s Toy Jewelry Sets – metal connector contains lead
Papyrus Brand Greeting Cards with bracelets – lead paint
Special Forces and Police SWAT Toy Gun Sets (Dollar General) – choking hazard
ChildDESIGNS Generation 2 Cribs – death and injury hazard
Pull-A-Long Friends Pull Toys – choking hazard
Britax “Blink” Umbrella Strollers – finger amputation hazard
Allreds Design baby brakcelets and pacifier clips – lead
“Tiny Love” wind chimes – full of tiny stabby metal rods

Electronics
Franklin Electric Motor Controllers for Submersible Pump Systems – shock hazard
GE Telaire Airestat and Carrier Single Beam Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Temperature Sensors – fire hazard

Hobbies and Recreation
Horizon Fitness and LIVESTRONG Fitness Elliptical Trainers – Pedals can randomly fall off.

Update: This is the new discrimination incident that this post was about. Sorry for the link mixup. There are evidently a lot of things that violate the “look policy” of Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores. For example, having a prosthetic arm. Or wearing an Islamic head scarf. According to the complaint a California woman filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Hollister store hired her, then fired after a visit from a district manager who found the scarf inappropriate work attire.

Hani Khan, 19, of Foster City said was fired Monday at the Hollister clothing store at the Hillsdale Shopping Center. She was dismissed a week after a district manager visited the store, called her into a meeting and said she was not supposed to wear the scarf while at work, said Khan, who is of Indian and Pakistani descent.

A representative from human resources joined the meeting by phone, and Khan said she had been told that she was in violation of the store’s “look policy.”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because an Oklahoma Abercrombie & Fitch store allegedly declined to hire a 17-year-old Muslim woman specifically because of her headscarf.

“>Lawsuit: Abercrombie Said Muslim’s Headscarf Violated “Look Policy” [San Francisco Chronicle] (Thanks, Vince!)

RELATED:
Abercrombie & Fitch Fined For Discriminating Against Autistic Shopper
One-Armed Abercrombie & Fitch Worker Wins Wrongful Dismissal Case

There is the Snuggie that you wear while watching American Idol and eating Cheetos. That’s the regular, plebeian fleece Snuggie. Then there is the Snuggie that you wear while reading continental philosophy and eating havarti with dill on organic rice crisps. That is the “happiness in bed” sleeved blanket. Or, as Buzzfeed calls it, the Snob Snuggie. [Sleeved Blanket] (via Buzzfeed)

Some Girl Scout cookies have been recalled because they “contain oils that may be breaking down which can result in an off taste and smell.” Fortunately, only the lemon creme sandwich cookies were affected, and nobody likes those anyway.

Statement re: Lemon Chalet Crèmes™ Cookies [Little Brownie Bakers] (via Consumer Reports Safety)

When you are a major national bank, and your fees and policies compare unfavorably to those of a Mafia loan shark, you’re probably in trouble. To celebrate the CARD Act going into effect on Monday, last night “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” gave their audience a quick overview of how credit cards work. (“Or maybe they’ll just give you a rate hike of 30% for no reason at all. Why? F*** you, that’s why!”) Then correspondent Wyatt Cenac spoke with two people who have unique insights into how the American lending industry works: former Bank of America credit collections CSR, YouTube star, and Consumerist hero Jackie, and former Mafia loan shark Lou.

Lou’s insight: Sure, if you’re behind on your payments with the mob, you might “accidentally” fall down a flight of stairs, but at least they won’t kick you out of your house. Thanks, Lou.

Make it Rain – Bank of America [The Daily Show]

RELATED:
What Changes Should You Expect From The CARD Act?
‘I Stopped Denying People’: Ex-Bank Of America CSR Tells All
Bank Of America Only Lends You Money When You Have No Income

Pizza Hut is now running a promotion for 50-cent chicken wings. That’s per wing, not per order. Not the best price around, but a sensible pricing scheme. In theory. Brian writes that he discovered where this promotion begins to fall apart.

I saw an ad for “50 cent” wings at Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, they failed math class. I went to their website and here is a screenshot of what I found. It is $4 for 8 wings (math = good), $7 for 14 wings (math = good), then $13.99 for 22 wings (oops) and $24.99 for 44 pieces (really?). In other words, for $14.00, you can have two orders of 14 wings, 28 wings total, or one order of 22 wings for a penny less. I’ll take the extra 6 wings thanks….unless you are too lazy to click Qty 2.

Um, aren’t you supposed to charge less per wing as the quantities get bigger? Maybe I just don’t understand the food industry.

Mike shared with Consumerist a story that is almost baffling for many reasons. First, he writes that T-Mobile charged his wife a $200 ETF when there were only 90 days left on her contract. But then a delightful, wonderful AT&T customer service rep offered a $200 credit for AT&T service–effectively paying her T-Mobile ETF and earning themselves two delighted customers in the process.

I’ve been with AT&T for 4 years (and a few iPhones) and in November ’09, my wife finally decided she wanted an iPhone as well. She was with T-Mobile with a contract ending in February ’10. As any good tech-loving husband would, I went right to the AT&T store, had her number ported, bought a new iPhone and started a family plan with AT&T – effectively saving us $30/month.

My wife called T-Mobile to see what she owed as a final payment and she was told by the customer service rep that it looked like she was all paid up for her contract and she was good to go. She was shocked, as was I, but we assumed that since her contract had only 3 months left, there wasn’t going to be an ETF and that was that.

And then the T-Mobile bill arrived a few weeks ago. $200.00 ETF plus $48.00 in service fees. Ouch.

My wife called T-Mobile and asked why, if she had less that 90 days left on her contract was she paying a $200.00 ETF… blah, blah, blah, no prior notice, blah, blah, older contract, blah, you owe us $248.00. UNLESS, she wanted to leave AT&T, port her number back to T-Mobile for the duration of her contract and fulfill said contract. She would only have to pay a reconnection fee, her previous balance and any fees to bring her account up to date and then finish out her contract – total cost would be about the same as paying the ETF and balance.

I called AT&T customer service to find out what my wife’s ETF would be on THEIR end – The very personable rep told me it would total $168.00, plus a reconnection fee when she came back after February. After a bit of discussion, the rep thought for a moment and asked if she could place me on hold. After a few minutes, she came back on the line and told me that AT&T was going to credit my account $200.00 to offset the T-Mobile ETF. Instead of putting us through all the porting back and forth and the considerable fees on both ends, AT&T offered to pay T-Mobile’s ETF by crediting our account.

I was speechless to say the least.

I know AT&T gets knocked for service and speed and ‘big corporation’ issues all the time, but I thought I’d let you know that they still seem to care about their customers from a consumer service point of view. And back that caring up with cold-hard cash.

I’ll be an AT&T customer for a good long while now. (Until Apple decides to go with another carrier of course).

Sarah had an unpleasant experience at her local movie theater, and sent a complaint e-mail to the company that runs it. We don’t know what response she expected, but it probably wasn’t a letter from a company vice president that began, “Drive to [a competing theater] and also go f*** yourself. If you dont have money for entertainment, get a better job, and don’t pay for everything on your credit or check card.”

My husband and I just went to your theater to see Shutter Island.
First off, the year is 2010 and your establishment does not accept cash cards or credit cards. We did not have enough cash on us and neither did your ATM. If you run out of cash by Saturday evening you should have a higher allotment of cash. Since most people expect to use their cash card, the ATM, I’m sure, is utilized frequently. Frankly, get with the time. I know you are charged for transactions on a card machine but frankly your customers would be better served. How many customers do you lose because they don’t have cash or check (since 90% of establishments don’t accept checks anymore).Thankfully, we had friends who had 1 check on them. We would have had to go to the bank to get cash to see a movie. Should we charge you for time and gas?
Secondly, after the first 10 minutes a staff member came in and announced that there were 8 people who should not be in that movie. She proceded to check tickets of paying customers trying to enjoy a movie. She also brought in the ticket clerk to see if she would recognize the 4 remaining people who did not leave after the announcement. This ruined the first 30 minutes of the movie. Frankly, we lost the first part of the plot and new characters. I did not pay 18.00 to have a distracted experience. Are 8 people worth a theater full of refunds? Why not wait until the movie is over and check people leaving? Why not pause the movie? I expect a refund, but only by check card. Oh wait, sorry, we are all out of check cards. Get the point yet? I would rather drive to White Bear Lake, where they obviously know how to run a theater than have this experience again.

Sarah

The theater company’s vice president sent Sarah a response. It was not what she had expected.

Sarah,

Drive to White Bear Lake and also go fuck yourself. If you dont have money for entertainment, get a better job, and don’t pay for everything on your credit or check card. You can also shove your time and gas up your fucking ass. Also, find better things to do with your time. This email is an absolute joke. We don’t care to have you as a customer. Let me know if you need directions to white bear lake.

Steven
Steven J. Payne – Vice President
Evergreen Entertainment
929 Old Highway 8 NW
Suite 200
New Brighton, MN 55112

A few hours later, Sarah received a follow-up email from the manager:

Dear Mrs. [Sarah’s last name],
I tried to contact you via a phone call to issue this apology personally
and was unable to reach you. I sincerely apologize for my inappropriate
response to your email yesterday. As vice president, I should never have
reacted that way, no matter how I felt about your email. At Evergreen
Entertainment, customer service is an important part of our business, and
that clearly was not reflected by my use of profane language.

Our St. Croix Falls theatre has gone through a management change and that
transition has not proven to be easy, although it is for the best. There
have been several issues lately, including some brought upon our operation
without our knowledge, that we have been working hard to address and it
appears that we are not quite there yet. We will continue to work towards
these improvements in the hope that it will allow our customers better
service and an overall improvement in the entertainment experience.

With that being said, if you would be willing to give our theatre another
chance, I welcome you to contact me personally.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for my actions, and I hope that this
misstep does not affect your experience with Evergreen Entertainment in
the future.

Sincerely,

Steven

Steven J. Payne – Vice President
Evergreen Entertainment
929 Old Highway 8
Suite 200
New Brighton, MN 55112

Establishments that don’t take credit or ATM cards is nothing new–in fact, my favorite independent theater doesn’t. But seriously, what movie theater management thinks it’s a good idea to check everyone’s tickets while the movie is playing?

BOYCOTT St. Croix Falls Cinema 8 (Evergreen Entertainment LLC) [Facebook] (Thanks, Michael!)
Woman Gets Profane E-mail from Theater Co.’s VP [WCCO]

Do you marvel at the ridiculous products in the SkyMall catalog? Musician Nina Katchadourian does, and she has written a song about them, viewed through the lens of the cats featured within its pages. The SkyMall Kitties.

Sky Mall Kitties video [YouTube] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!)
Sky Mall Kitties [Nina Katchadourian]

Mark tells Consumerist that he noticed a disturbing trend while shopping at his local Apple Store this weekend. While using the display models and contemplating a purchase, he and his son were displaced twice to make room for a customer training session. Does the Apple Store still exist to sell computers, Mark wonders, or is it now primarily an educational institution?

He rants:

So me and my son are in the Apple Store in [redacted], MA looking at 21 inch monitors; these things cost 900 dollars. While we are trying them out an store employee comes up and tells us to get off the machine because she has a ‘training session’. We’re like ‘Ok… can we use the one next to you?” she says “no” but doesn’t give a reason.

So we wander away and get a stool to sit on to try out a different system, not the one we wanted. ANOTHER store employee comes by and is trying to wrangle the stool out of my hand, saying he has a training session and needs the stool!

My question to the Consumerist is: is Apple in the business of selling computer equipment at the Apple Stores or running training sessions? If the latter, I hope they’re changing hundreds of dollars per person – they just lost a 900 sale today. And why can’t they buy a few more stools?

A year-long membership in Apple’s training sessions costs $99 per year, so Apple is earning a profit on these training sessions. People are encouraged to buy a membership with a new computer.

But should training sessions be given priority over browsing customers? Is the mission of an Apple Store to sell computers, to indoctrinate users further into the Cult of Mac with hands-on training, or some combination of the two? Or does Mark’s local store just have its priorities skewed?

Greg is unhappy with Gilette, the maker of his favored razor. He writes that first, they raised the prices (at Walmart, at least.) Then the number of razors in each package decreased, from four to three and from eight to six. Will the indignities never end?

Looks like the “Shrink Ray” has hit Gillette Fusion razors. At my local WalMart, the 4-pack that has been available for years, is being replaced by a 3-pack – at the same price! The 8-pack is also being replaced by a 6-pack.

Two additional points of interest:

1) Over the past year or so, the price of a 4-pack has increased from $11+ to $13+, and it appears that the higher price is in place for the new 3-pack.

2) The 4-pack package claims it can last for up to “3 Months”. I typically get about 5 DAYS of use from each cartridge before the lubrication wears off and I start getting nicked by the blades! Have there ever been tests on the actual life of razors?

Gillette needs to be called out on these issues!

When we were soliciting money-saving tips from Consumerist readers, many people mentioned thoroughly drying and otherwise pampering their disposable razors’ blades, and maintaining sharpness and extending the razors’ lives that way. Might that help? Any other Gilette Fusion users out there with advice?

Tommy reports that he visited a Guitar Center store in Houston, and found what seems like a nice compromise between receipt checking and not receipt checking. Instead of giving out receipts at the cash register, the store gives customers their receipts at the exit, as they leave the store with their merchandise. Since it’s hard to put a Stratocaster in a plastic bag.

I was at a Guitar Center in Houston last night and my friend had
bought something. The clerk checks him out and then says “You can
pick up your receipt at the front of the store.” So we walk to the
front where there is a guy standing, receipt in hand. He looks at
what my friend bought and stamps the receipt. So in order to receive
your receipt, you have to let them check it. Thought it was an
interesting way to get around the whole receipt checking procedure.

Police in East Peoria, Illinois say that an unidentified man used a stolen pickup truck to smash through the door and front window of a gas station and dislodge an ATM from the wall it was bolted to. He then hauled the machine to a parking lot where he attempted to withdraw cash by backing the truck into the ATM. He was not successful, and may have stolen another vehicle to leave the area.

No, really.

Although the ATM was badly damaged, it did not come open. The truck, a pickup with ladders on the sides, was stolen from C&G Concrete, 1906 Meadows Ave., police said.

Police responding to an alarm at the event center located the ATM and truck still running in the parking lot. The exterior brick wall was cracked. A hole was punched through the wall, and a large interior window was shattered, police said.

“There was an ATM with extensive damage behind the truck,” East Peoria Police Chief Ed Papis said. “The individual took the ATM machine from the truck, put it against the building and was backing into it to try to crack it open. It’s pretty well banged up.”

After the suspect gave up on getting to the money after a few minutes, police believe he apparently then stole a van from Spectacular Floor Care, 200 Sunrise Ave., located near the event center. The floor business reported the cargo van missing about 9 a.m.

This was probably a crime that seemed like a really, really good idea at the time.

Man slams stolen truck into Huck’s, ATM [Peoria Journal Star] (via Fark)

Reader Neil found this sign on a gas pump near Cleveland. He’s disappointed, since he prefers to pre-pay after the transaction is over.

For a brief, shining moment, Barnes & Noble let customers pre-order the upcoming PC game Battlefield Bad Company 2 for $19.95, far below the retail price. Gamers were skeptical, but placed orders anyway. Their skepticism was well-founded, since the retailer caught the error and canceled all of the mistaken pre-orders…nine days after the deal began to go viral.

Reader Richard writes:

Back on 2/8, B & N had a hot deal going for the upcoming EA video game Battlefield Bad Company 2, 19.95 for the sale of the game. Often times when you see a new gaming being offered well below retail price like this, it brings to mind a too good to be true worry. Naturally Barnes & Noble delivers by affectively canceling every single order of Bad Company due to their own apparent Price Mistake.

The game was featured on many bargain sites and gained much interest, but today, B & N began a mass mailing informing honest customers that they would not be honoring the price they offered. Too good to be true or not, it’s poor practice and made even worse in that they waited 9 days from when this deal was making the rounds on the internet to inform customers.

There’s a common urban legend that retailers are obligated to keep their end of the deal when pricing errors like this occur. They are not. But it’s still very disappointing that it took Barnes & Noble this long to catch the error.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC) Preorder $23 [Slickdeals]

Gizmodo reports, based on a story in the subscription-only El Norte, that workers in a Foxconn factory in Juarez, Mexico became enraged and set the building on fire. Supervisors had misled the workers into working unpaid overtime. A delightful follow-up to the Reuters report about a Foxconn security guard threatening a foreign reporter. [Gizmodo] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!)

If you’ve spent enough time on the Internet without good ad-blocking software, you’ve probably seen the odd-looking fellow on the left. He’s clearly the product of either a very polluted gene pool or a graphic designer with an odd imagination. But why has he become a mascot for mortgage refinancing and other financial products? MainStreet’s Michael Schreiber decided to find out.

Lowermybills.com is owned by Experian, and an Experian PR rep wouldn’t give Schreiber any more information than this:

Thanks for your follow up. As a free online resource for consumers to compare low rates and reduce the cost of living, LowerMyBills.com’s primary concern in designing creatives is capturing consumers’ attention so that we can make them aware of the opportunities they have to save money.

Translated from PR-speak to English by Consumerist’s proprietary Megglefish algorithm, that statement is:

People tend to click on pictures of weird s***, and we make money when they do.

The Weirdest Ad on the Web [MainStreet]

Ed Whitacre, new CEO of General Motors, will receive a $1.7 million salary and $9 million total compensation package. That’s about twice what his predecessor Fritz Henderson received. Don’t cry for Henderson, though–he’s making almost $3,000 per hour consulting for GM for twenty hours a month.

GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said Whitacre’s pay is higher than Henderson’s because of his previous CEO experience.

“Ed is a long-serving veteran CEO and chairman, and while his package is higher than Fritz’s, it is significantly lower than that of our peer companies,” Rashid-Merem said in an e-mail.

Most of that $9 million is GM stock, and Whitacre will receive it in coming years.

GM CEO Whitacre Receives $9M Pay Package [Associated Press]
Former CEO Fritz Henderson now consults GM at $2,954 an hour [USA Today]

Verizon Wireless now says that the astronomical bills some customers received after making cell phone calls from Haiti shortly after the catastrophic earthquake there last month were due to a computer glitch. According to the Fayetteville Observer, mobile calls placed in Haiti showed up in their system as being placed in Jamaica. Calls from Haiti to the United States should have been free all along, and Spc. James Crawford does not owe Verizon almost $2,000 for phone calls he placed to his pregnant wife back in North Carolina.

…Verizon spokeswoman Kathy Schulz said in an e-mail Thursday evening that all calls to and from Haiti should have been free.

Adding to the confusion, she said, was one provider in Haiti that shows up in the billing system as Jamaica, so anyone using that system would not have been automatically recognized as having placed calls in Haiti.

A Verizon customer service representative originally told Crawford’s wife that calls to Haiti were free, but calls from Haiti were not. The Crawfords’ only option, the representative initially said, was to sign up for an international plan that would have doubled her monthly bill.

Nice save, Verizon. Way to make a military family panic about having to pay a huge bill, but it’s good to hear that the real policy is much less obnoxious than we had initially thought.

Bragg soldiers in Haiti won’t be charged for calls [Fayetteville Observer]

PREVIOUSLY:
Did You Make Calls From Haiti On Verizon? Better Start Saving.