Interbrand Design Forum– part of a global brand consulting firm– has ranked the top retail brands and guess what? Walmart is most valuable.
Here are the top 10:
Do you agree?
Walmart, Target, Best Buy Named Most Valuable Brands [Brandweek]
Reader Chalicechick writes in to let us know that her local AMC has a sign up banning kids under 6 years old after 6pm in R-rated movies.
She thinks this is good news, but also writes in with a complaint.
The good news is that children under six are no longer allowed in to rated-R movies after six p.m.
The bad news is when I stood at the ticket window of the theater in [redacted] and took a picture of the sign with the good news on it, then went inside the theater, I was stopped by an AMC employee in the lobby.
“You’re not allowed to take pictures of the AMC logo” she snapped. I thought of pointing out the legal issues with that one, but I’d already paid for a ticket to the 3-d Alice in Wonderland and didn’t want to get kicked out.
“Um, OK” I said. My friend was late and I was standing in the lobby waiting for her. I was bored so I pulled out my phone.
“Are you taking pictures AGAIN?” the employee snapped, racing over. Again, I was in the lobby. I guess I could have been taking a picture of a movie poster or the popcorn guy or something, but nothing remotely close to photographing a movie or anything actually illegal.
“I’m, um, looking at Twitter,” I said, holding up my phone. She examined it intently, taking it out of my hand to make sure I wasn’t, in fact, photographing the popcorn guy. I had actually been looking at twitter, so she handed my phone back and my friend showed up and that was that.
I still like AMC’s new policy and I’d already sent a post to my blog praising them when all the drama about my photo started. I’m keeping that post complete with photograph up, but either AMC’s policies or their employees are completely insane.
Could be either, really. At least they didn’t give you directions to White Bear Lake.
Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish, and Verizon all want the FCC to force the media companies to stop pulling their channels during negotiations or disputes, removing their main bargaining chip from the table.
The AP says fourteen companies and a consumer group made the request. Absent, of course, was Comcast which may soon become owner of one of the networks that may be threatening to pull its programming soon. Guess that gives you an idea of what to expect should the merger go through, huh?
Sudden unemployment can really help you think creatively. The OC Register has a profile of a guy who lost his condo after being laid off from his 6-figure corporate development job — and is now living out of his leased BMW and a storage unit — and using his rewards points to survive.
“I’m not going to claim I was cheated out of my house,” Kennedy says several times. “I didn’t pay my mortgage.”
Now the former frequent flier from his days working in IT and finance is living off those rewards – airline loyalty programs and hotel points. His clothes and everyday supplies packed into his leased BMW, the single Kennedy stays a few nights here, a few nights there, always running the numbers of how many points he will use and trying to stick to a self-imposed $5-a-day food budget.
His life is up in the air.
“I’m on hold but time keeps going. That part’s frustrating,” Kennedy said. “I should be in major-dollar earning years and I am losing major-dollar earning years, which I will not get back. That part is frustrating and a little scary.”
This week, Kennedy is at the Holiday Inn Express in San Clemente, where he converted his United Airlines miles. He brought down the 7,000-points a night cost to 5,000 by adding $100 for his four-night stay, so it costs him $25 a night. But there’s an added benefit because he can expand his food budget with the free breakfast. It’s also convenient, as he can drive up the 5 Freeway to get his mail at the Mailboxes Plus in Irvine – he has a post office box because he has no address. It’s here he gets his unemployment checks, which he and 147,000 other jobless people in Orange County are using for survival.
He seems to be keeping a positive attitude and isn’t giving up. We wish him luck!
Homeless man lives off hotel points from former life [OC Register] (Thanks, kimdog!)
After the spat between Cablevision and Disney invaded the Oscar telecast last Sunday, the fees channels charge cable companies (who then pass them along to you) have come into the spotlight. All Things Digital posted a list from industry analyst SNL Kagan that shows the wholesale prices each channel charges cable companies for their product.
The list is making the rounds as fodder for a la carte cable activists. It makes it very apparent how much of your bill goes to sports programming — which tends to irritate people who hate sports. Alternatively, you can study the list and count how many stupid makeover shows you are unwillingly paying for.
Keep in mind these are wholesale prices, cable companies obviously mark-up the prices, profit, etc. Meanwhile, it seems that the whole ABC/Cablevision was just a dress rehearsal for the real showdown: Time Warner Cable VS ABC. Look for that to get crazy in August as TWC’s deal expires.
Hate Paying for Cable? Here’s Why [All Things Digital]
Here is a video of the Food Network’s Sandra Lee telling people to mix cream, lemonade and vodka to make a “delicious, sweet treat.” From the look on her face, we suspect this is a lie. Also, when you put accidentally put cream in tea that has lemon — it curdles (sigh). This leads us to further suspect that someone hates Sandra Lee.
Anyhow, the moral is: Don’t try every recipe you see on the Food Network. Although if you do try this, and you make awesome faces like Sandra, send us pictures.
Sandra Lee’s Nasty Cocktail [BuzzFeed]
Poor Newegg. They said yesterday they are dropping one of their suppliers after they inadvertently sold a bunch of fake Intel Core i7-920 processors.
[H]ard|OCP, the site that first reported the story, says that Newegg is sending the following letter to people who may have bought the fake processors:
Dear Valued Customer,
It’s been brought to our attention that you may have received a Demo Version of the Intel Core i7 Processor you recently purchased. We would like to first and foremost apologize for any confusion this may have caused you. Please take a moment to examine the product you received thoroughly to determine if you in fact received the wrong product. The Demo Version of these CPUs were purchased between March 1, 2010 through March 4, 2010 and will have FPO/BATCH# 3938B006 printed on the product’s packaging. Additionally, the Part Number on the heat sink will read CNFN936612 and there will be no wiring on the heat sink itself. If you have determined that you received the wrong product, please except(sic) our deepest apologies. To resolve this matter immediately, simply forward this email to both [email protected] and [email protected] and state which of the two following options best suit you: Full Refund – We are more than willing to issue an RMA for a full and complete Refund. Replacement for the Correct Product – If you are still interested in the product, we will issue an Advanced Replacement RMA to get the product to you immediately. We would like to once again extend our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience and we appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Kindest Regards.
Once You Know, You Newegg.
Your Newegg.com Customer Service Team
The company also announced on their Facebook page that they would be dropping the supplier that sent the fakes, and that later called them “demo units.” Intel says they are investigating where the so-called “demo” units came from.
A series of photos posted on the overclockers.com forum show what appears to be a fairly well executed fake. We especially like the part where they printed the “factory sealed” stuff on the actual box and just put clear tape over it. (Shown above)
Anyhow, the moral of this story appears to be: Don’t buy stuff with typos on it. It’s a pretty good indicator of a fake product. Not that this would have helped people ordering stuff on the internet — but you can apply this knowledge to like, toothpaste at the dollar store.
Newegg Sticks with “demo boxes” – Intel Counters [[H]ard|OCP]
Newegg probes shipments of fake Intel chips [CNet]
Reported fake Intel CPU sold at Newegg [Overclockers]
Burger King’s nutritional information page is apparently quite a lot of fun. If you find it necessary you can create a multi-patty superburger with 6880 calories. Instructions, inside.
From TJIC.com:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
* Go the Burger King website.
* Select the triple whopper.
* Up the number of beef patties from 3 to 5.
* Click the “more” button on the right hand side.
* Up the bacon to 5.
* Add 5 “steakhouse patties”.
* Add 5 “steakhouse XT”.
* Add 5 “Whopper Junior patties”.
* Contemplate the sheer awesomeness of a 6,880 calorie burger that has almost half a pound (197 grams) of saturated fat, over 1 lb of total fat, and 18 times the USRDA of sodium (8,990 mg).
Well, yay. Reminds us of this.
Bonus: Try the chicken sandwich. Ew.
tower of meat [TJIC via BoingBoing]
Much is said about distracted driving. Don’t text, don’t talk on the phone, don’t eat soup. Apparently nobody bothered to tell one Florida woman not to shave her privates while driving. Clearly, this was our mistake.
Here we go:
Florida Highway Patrol troopers say a two-vehicle crash Tuesday at Mile Marker 21 on Cudjoe Key was caused by a 37-year-old woman driver who was shaving her bikini area while her ex-husband took the wheel from the passenger seat.
“She said she was meeting her boyfriend in Key West and wanted to be ready for the visit,” Trooper Gary Dunick said. “If I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have believed it. About 10 years ago I stopped a guy in the exact same spot … who had three or four syringes sticking out of his arm. It was just surreal and I thought, ‘Nothing will ever beat this.’ Well, this takes it.”
The woman was recently convicted of a DUI while on a suspended license, so it’s not like there weren’t warning signs, but damn. Who knew we had to tell people not to do this?
FHP: Driver lacked razor-sharp focus [Keys News via BuzzFeed]
Reader Chad was deployed to Iraq from 5/05 to 6/06. American Express gives a special rate to service members when they are deployed, but apparently Chad wasn’t getting it. They figured this out and let him know that they would be crediting his account with a mysterious number they couldn’t explain. Then they credited all his accounts with this exact amount of money– even new ones he didn’t have while in Iraq. Free money is nice, but he’d rather they just give him the right amount.
Chad says:
Anyways, On 9/1/09 Amex credited my card for $299.10, because I was deployed to Iraq from 5/05 to 06/06 and service members get a special rate while on deployment. When I was deployed, Amex actually adjusted my rate and was very helpful.
But I guess they want to be really helpful, because they want to send me another $299.10 in 2009. The real kicker is… When I was deployed I only had one AMEX card. Since I have returned from deployment, I have a personnel amex card and two business cards. They gave me $299.10 on all cards, even thought they didn’t exist during deployment.
So when I asked what the deal was they told me that I don’t have worry about it. They don’t have to show their equations, or how they got to the number, they are right! I can rest assured.
You’re right to be wary, Chad. Eventually they are going to figure out that they gave you a discount on accounts you didn’t have and are going to want their money back. What a pain.
Here’s the second letter Chad got after trying to let them know they’d made a mistake.
Consumerist readers are on to you, Target. After reading the site for awhile, people are moving the sale cards over to see what the price used to be before it went “on sale.”
Reader Mike says:
After looking for some groceries on sale, I wandered over to the DVD section. I saw “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” on sale for $16.99. After reading your site for a while, I learned to look behind the sale card on the DVD. The sale price is $2 more than the regular price. Looks like I’ll wait for the “sale” to end before I consider buying this DVD.
Sounds like a plan, Mike. See what I did there? Yes, I know. I’m trying to forget it, too.
Reader Lane wants to know if other readers out there have experienced the following scenario from DirecTV. You think you are paying too much so you call to negotiate. They offer you a discount, then raise your rates. When you call to cancel, they threaten to bill you for the “discounts” you were getting.
Lane says:
My first call was to my DirecTV support representative where I immediately attempted to negotiate a different rate. This is apparantly a mistake and was met with utter failure. It should be noted that the first tier of customer support staff — seemingly at no fault of their own — are completely and totally powerless to help customers when it comes to these matters. This is not a guess, this was communicated to me each time I have dealt with them. Being an avid reader of the Consumerist however I was savvy to the fact that retention agents have a lot more power to assist in these matters.
I called back but this time asked to cancel my DirecTV. I spoke to their representative specialist named Stacey. Naturally some discussion ensued over the cause of the termination and in the end we had negotiated, or so I had thought, new rates effectively putting my invoice at $48 a month. They actually implement this rate change as a monthly discount that is offset to your bill; the perception that you have a different package rate is the core of the scam. The line item charge for the package then started showing at $53.99, much higher than what I thought I had negotiated but I let it pass the first time.
It is now March and my new DirecTV bill shows that my rate has once again crept back up again. My bill now shows the “TOTAL CHOICE” charge at $57.49 but the discount is still applied but after the package is invoiced. In my opinion this is quite different from negotiating a fixed rate, they can then use the discount to play games and adjust the total by offsetting it with other line items on the bill.
Recalling my prior success dealing with the retention group I attempted the cancel maneuver route once again. This time however the game is played quite differently. To quote a metaphor, “instead of the carrot you are given the stick”: I am told that after my discount was applied a system-wide rate increase went into effect bringing ALL rates back up again. Whether this is actually true or not I have no idea since DirecTV made no mailings or statements that there was an official rate increase. Additionally, if I cancel this time I will be charged for the full amount of the discount that they have been applying to my bill (an additional $100 I am told). This aspect of the prior negotiation was never originally agreed upon when I spoke to Stacey.
In summary, this is the sequence of events that unfolded:
* They raised my rate (in my case several times).
* My cancellation attempt yielded a line item credit labeled a “discount”.
* Rates are raised again, but as an additional line item charges offset against the alleged discount.
* A cancellation is met with a threat to be back billed for the prior discount.
It would be interesting to know from the consumerist readership whether a system-wide rate increase was experienced for others for the month of February 2010? Also, it would be interesting to know if anyone has ever been threatened to be back-billed for a retention discount?
At this point I am thinking it would be better to just cancel and take the discount to small claims court. Am I being petty or should I just take my lumps?
Anybody out there know how to navigate the perilous waters of lowering your DirecTV bill?
What should Lane do?
Unemployed? If you’re looking for something to get you out of the house, the Census is hiring and apparently they’re really enjoying the sudden influx of lawyers and other professionals to choose from, says the Washington Post.
The WaPo says:
The Census Bureau expects to hire at least 700,000 people throughout the spring and summer for part-time jobs, paying $10 to $25 an hour, mostly to knock on the doors of people who don’t send in forms that will arrive in mailboxes this month. Many of the expected 3 million to 4 million applicants will be like Williams: highly educated and in the prime of their working life but sidelined by a recession that has driven the unemployment rate to almost 10 percent.
So, what are they looking for? WaPo says you must be 18 and submit to an FBI background check that includes fingerprinting. it’s also helpful if you are actually from a neighborhood where the Census needs people for canvassing. They figure that people are more likely to open the door to a familiar face.
Language skills will also be important.
Does this sound like something you’d like to do?
Laid-off professionals line up for part-time census jobs [WaPo]
[Census.gov]
Google Books now hasPopular Science‘s entire archive on the web for free, so we thought we’d take a look and what was new and hot in 1928. Check it out! Prototype teakettles with LIDS. So you can clean ’em! Is that a mop with a wringer? Shut up! Oh, and check out this new thing you can kneel on when scrubbing your floors.
When you’re done with that, spin your salad with this crazy French thing and then use this weird bumpy knife to cut an orange. You’ll realize the future is now as you unplug your toaster or vacuum without needing to yank on the cord. Yay, science!
Say what you will about the heart of the Midwest, it’s certainly not hard to find a bar. Geography blog FloatingSheep took a look a the bar-to-grocery store ratio in different parts of the country and it became immediately apparent that Illinois and Wisconsin (and part of Iowa) team up to form the beer belly of America.
From FloatingSheep:
Starting in Illinois, the beer belly expands up into Wisconsin and first spreads westward through Iowa/Minnesota and then engulfs Nebraska, and the Dakotas before petering out (like a pair of love handles) in Wyoming and Montana.
The clustering was so apparent that we wanted to check how it compared to the “official” data on this activity. So we gathered 2007 Census Country Business Pattern on the number of establishments listed in NACIS code 722410 (Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)) and divided by Census estimates for state population totals for 2009 and found remarkable correspondence with our data.
On average there are 1.52 bars for every 10,000 people in the U.S. but the states that make up the beer belly of America are highly skewed from this average.
We wonder if this information will help improve tense Illinois/Wisconsin diplomatic relations.
Alisa, the tipster who sent this in, says, “I am from Wisconsin, and I would say this is accurate!” Well, I am from Illinois, and I would have to agree.
Have to say I’m disappointed in Chicagoland, however. Guess that’s why we have to vacation in ‘Sconsin. Or maybe they’re just counting Binny’s as a grocery store.
The Beer Belly of America [FloatingSheep]
Don’t become too preoccupied with raging against the dying of the light — you have to remember to tell your PIN to someone before you die or Verizon will never stop billing your corpse.
That’s what happened to one Florida family, says the St. Petersburg Times.
They sent a death certificate, but Verizon still chuckled and hung up whenever the deceased’s daughter called to cancel his account. Why? Because she didn’t have his PIN.
“Well, there’s nothing else I can do for you,” the representative said before laughing and hanging up the phone.
“This is wrong,” a frustrated Lacy said. “I’ve already sent them the death certificate.”
The whole thing was holding up the settling of his estate (the man died last June), and it took a call to the media to clear things up.
Verizon admitted they didn’t handle things properly and have refunded the money.
Pinellas woman’s Verizon fight shows why PINs should be shared [TampaBay.com] (Thanks, sdk!)
According WBEZ, the former head of security at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport says security at the airport is “extremely weak” and “easily defeatable.” We suppose he would know.
The former security chief is protesting his dismissal from the airport with a lawsuit that alleges improper firing and slander. He claims that airport bosses are too distracted with airport expansion plans to care about security.
In the eight months that I was the head of security under the Andolino administration, the commissioner of the busiest airport of the world, depending on who’s taking the survey, the busiest airport in the world, never once had a meeting with the head of security for the busiest airport in the world. Never once.
Mayor Richard Daley, who appointed the former security boss, says the man is just “disgruntled.”
Reader Aaron directs us to his recent delightful experience with Comcast’s internet service. The tale begins when he finds the cable that is supposed to be supplying Comcast to his thirsty computer… draped across his driveway. This event causes one of those Kafkaesque situations where the tech guy calls to make sure you are home, even though the CSR said you didn’t need to be home, and then the tech doesn’t show up because he says you said you weren’t home, but you clearly were home, even though you didn’t need to be home…
Aaron says:
The cable is clearly coaxial (used almost exclusively by cable providers), is still attached to one of the telephone poles and clearly fell out of the junction box/router/amplifier/whatever it is across the street on another pole. So I get back inside, try to check my email and of course I have no internet.
To me this seems like a clear case of failed Comcast infrastructure. I call them up and ask them to come out and fix it. The rather nice service rep assures me that someone will be out between 2-5PM. I can live with that. It takes to time get people to places and really, it’s 12:30 right now so not too long of a wait. The rep also assures me that I don’t have to be home, though it would be helpful so they can make sure service is restored. Around 2PM Comcast calls me to make sure I am at home and I say yup, come on over. Not sure why they needed to call if I did not need to be home, but whatever, I was home.
5PM comes and goes with no repair person showing up.
I call again. Kind of angry this time. The rep tells me no one answered the phone when dispatch called to confirm the appointment. Uh, wait. Yes I did. The service rep apologizes. I am sure that was a scripted apology just like everything else these service reps are trained say. He schedules another appointment for me for some nebulous time between 5PM and 8PM even though I informed him I had a dinner meeting at 6PM and would probably not be back home till after 8PM. He insists. I acquiesce.
I now have an appointment scheduled that requires me to be home, the rep said I had to be there this time. Except I assured him I would not be home. Logic does not exist in Comcast’s world. The dispatch person calls my home phone at some point during the evening to confirm I am home. I am not. No tech is ever dispatched.
I arrive home from dinner at 10PM, find the cable nicely wrapped around one of the poles, but still clearly not reattached. I think a neighbor decided it was unsightly to have it draped across my driveway. Thanks neighbor. Just to make sure, I check my internet connection. Still dead.
I call again. Why? Because it would really be nice to be able to work tomorrow.
Aaron doesn’t think the whole Xfinity rebranding thing is going to work if this is what its like to deal with the company.
My main beef is why do I have to be home to fix a problem outside my home that exists between two utility poles? Connect up the cable, make sure a signal is running through the line and call it a day. If I am still having troubles I will call back, I assure you. Yes, I realize it is cheaper, in the short term, to make sure my service is working in my home while you are nearby. But really, I think the long term damage to their brand is worse. I am willing to bet I am right and the reason they changed their brand was precisely because they ruined it with experiences like this for their customers.
The Comcast customer service fire brigade is already posting comments to Aaron’s blog, so we’re assuming they’re going to take care of him.
A day in the life of a comcast err…. Xfinity customer [Exebot]
Crappy freezing weather in Florida has resulted in a lack of acceptable tomatoes to put on your burger, says Wendy’s. So, if you want tomato, you will no longer get it automatically. You’re going to have to ask,and even then you might not get the sort of luscious tomato experience you are accustomed to at Wendy’s.
The Wall Street Journal talked to Reggie Brown, executive vice president of Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, who told them that if there were tomatoes for restaurants to buy they’d be pretty damn expensive.
“Doesn’t matter though, because there isn’t anything to sell,” said Mr. Brown.
Wendy’s doesn’t want to replace their usual tomatoes with massively expensive, yet also totally crappy ones, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
“We have standards that we want to meet on our sandwiches and that our customers expect,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told the paper. “And for a short-term situation, we are finding very inconsistent tomatoes and some questioning about the availability of tomatoes.
“But we feel this is in the best interest to inform our customers that the quality of the tomatoes at this point are not necessary as good as they usually are,” he said.
Subway is changing the type of tomatoes they use and also shipping some in from Mexico. You can also expect crappy tomato displays and high prices at grocery stores.
Freeze may take tomatoes off menu [Columbus Dispatch]
The arrest and ticket quota is supposed to be an urban myth, but one NYPD officer told ABCNews that it is anything but. He works in the Bronx and says he’s “not going to keep arresting innocent people.”
“Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?” said Officer Polanco.
Eyewitness News asked, “Why do it?”
“They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses,” said Officer Polanco. “Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?” said Officer Polanco.
Eyewitness News asked, “Why do it?”
“They have to meet a quota. One arrest and twenty summonses,” said Officer Polanco.
ABC also has a recording of an officer seemingly referencing the “1 and 20” quota when addressing cops at a morning roll call meeting.
“You think 1 and 20 is breaking your balls? Guess what you’re going to be doing,” the voice says.
Other recording features an officer suggesting that they meet the quota or go work at Pizza Hut.
“Next week, 25 &1, 35 & 1, and until you decide to quit this job to go to work at a Pizza Hut , this is what you’re going to be doing till then. Do you understand?” asked the patrol officer.
Reached for comment, the NYPD said: “Police Officers like others who receive compensation are provided productivity goals and they are expected to work.”
NYPD Officer claims pressure to make arrests [ABC 7]