California does not want my money! I own a nice little ‘86 Isuzu Trooper. When I didn’t have a job and was getting low on my savings, I decided not to pay the insurance (it’s mandated in California). The insurance company contacted the state and there is a $14 suspension fee on my registration.

I finally got a job and can start paying bills again. I got the car some insurance with AAA and tried to use their in house vehicle registration service. I paid my registration fee, but they told me that I have to pay the suspension $14. They say that the fee is contracted out to another company. I call the number, and they and tell me that AAA has to fax proof of insurance. So I go to the front desk and say “I just bought insurance with you and to lift the suspension off my insurance I need a proof of insurance faxed.” They say “That will take 3 business days.” I just bought the insurance I have it in my hand but the insurance company takes three days to press a 10 digit number. I just say fine and they put in the request.

About five days later, I call to find that the number I was given now points to the DMV main office and not the company that handles the suspensions. I go to the DMV and try to pay there. The lady at the checkin counter tells me that they closed that phone line today and you can not pay over the phone. They have a website, but the website down and I have to mail them a check. I haven’t written a check in years, but I dug out the checkbook

I wait about 2 weeks and they still have not processed my payment. The best thing is I went back to AAA to see if there is some way quicker, and they gave me a different phone number from before and that number points to the DMV as well.

I just want to pay $14. I have the money, maybe if I leave it in front of the state capitol building they will take it. Have any suggestions for me. Now I understand why California can’t decide on a budget.

If the gods of irony are looking after Justin, this story would end with him receiving a three-digit ticket for driving with a suspended registration. Let’s just hope that his lost and forlorn check is siting somewhere, waiting

The Rudd Center [for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University] recently published a study that found the least-healthy breakfast cereals are the most frequently and aggressively marketed directly to children. It also found that General Mills markets to children more than any other cereal company, and six of 10 least-healthy cereals in its study were made by the company.

“Children deserve to be marketed products that are healthier to them than what is being marketed now,” [Rudd Center director kelly] Brownell said.

General Mills said the move is a reaction to consumers’ desire for less sugar, rather than a response to criticism. The company said it has taken a number of steps — including increasing whole grain and nutrients in its cereals — to improve their healthfulness.

It’s a start. I always thought Apple Jacks would actually taste better with less sugar.

General Mills reducing sugar in kids’ cereal [AP] (Thanks, Drew!)

He writes:

I’ve been a Verizon DSL customer for seven years between two addresses. I currently have 3MB dry loop DSL for $34.99 with NO contract. (it expired a year ago). Six months back I found out a friend of mine in my same zip code just upgraded to their faster speed, 7MB at a rate of $42.99 per month. I called Verizon the same day, asked to renew my contract and upgrade to the new speed. I was told that it wasn’t available at my address, which is in the same zip code, but they sure can offer me 5MB for $49.99. After the run around, I politely declined and left everything be.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, 12/2/09. The summary? Seven phone calls, 1 hour and 42 minutes between 11:50am and 12:42pm. What did that earn me? Absolutely nothing but utter frustration and torture.

I checked my address online and hooray, 7MB is available for my address, and for $42.99 with contract! Call #1 ended up me being told that I can in fact get 7MB but for $49.99. I declined and said no thank you. Call #2 told me that 7MB was not available, only 5MB, and it also was $49.99. I declined and called back a third time. Call #3 told me I can upgrade to 7MB but only online as “they have different specials we don’t honor over the phone.” The problem? My address states it has 7MB available… as a NEW account. If I log in my account and choose to upgrade, I can only order 5MB. I call back again, and a couple calls routed me to either the Philippines or India, and I politely hung up in frustration even before I started a conversation.

Now call #7 took the cake. At this point I was livid and called to cancel my service. I politely told the agent in retention why I’m in the department and I hope she could be my end all to the madness (I truly wish I could remember her name, but I sure as hell won’t forget her voice) The woman told me 7MB is absolutely 100% definitely not available for my address. She couldn’t explain why I could order it as a new account but not as an existing customer. The next part takes the cake from every reply I’ve ever heard. I directly asked “why is it I can open a new account with 7MB but I cannot order it as an existing customer?”. Her response: “your home cannot handle the 7MB speed. If I put in the order for 7MB, it will burn your house down”.

I kid you not. I asked her to repeat it, and she was 100% sincere. Ordering 7MB DSL for my house will cause my house to burn down. She offered me the 5MB service for my same price, $34.99 if I renewed my contract. At this point I was flabbergasted by her comment, was not taking her seriously anymore, and ended the call.

Last night surprisingly I get an email about my Verizon account. My rates are being raised to $36.99 “in the next two months” for my current 3MB service. I called back last night as a last ditch effort to fix this madness. I wanted to take the offer the prior rep quoted me, the 5MB DSL for $34.99 with 1yr contract. I immediately chose the option for cancelling, and spoke with a Wendy in the Pittsburgh retention call center. After 45 minutes, her supervisor, and a sales agent conferring, nothing was accomplished again. I was told the prior agent left no notes, it’s as if I never called before, and the rates I’m telling her do not exist. Oh, and I still can’t get 7MB at my address.

Seriously, is Verizon asking me to close my account? I have absolutely no idea what to do at this point. I’m trying to pay Verizon more money and sign a contract, and they act as if they don’t care!

A well-crafted EECB has worked on Verizon in similar situations in the past. The CEO will surely be delighted to hear how his front-line staff are turning away extra money from an existing customer.

Reddit commenter residentskitz needed some ink, and found that a refill of black and color cartridges for a Lexmark printer would come to about $42. And two cartridges for a new Canon would run about $38. But a quick trip to Walmart yielded a new Canon printer, with two ink cartridges included, for $30. “Then I remembered why I have 3 other printers sitting at home with no ink,” residentskitz posted. “It’s cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy new ink.”

We’re not sure this is the case across-the-board, and we know that some printers come with “sample” ink cartridges that don’t print as many pages as the full-price ones. But this may be the right excuse to ditch that old inkjet sitting in the home office and get a shiny new model without the guilt.

According to KPTV in Portland, the skimmer was discovered earlier this week by a station employee, and managers at the 7-Eleven have no idea how long it was there before it was discovered.

Credit Card Skimmer Found On Gas Pump – Portland News Story [KPTV Portland]

Thanks, Brandi P!

(Photo: INS)

From The Daily Mail:

…out in the real world, you or I might decide we want to send the AA Golf Course Guide 2008 and a Philips kettle to someone in Timbuktu. We type our order on our keyboard and – ping! – it is instantly digested by the omniscient computer which redirects our command to the nearest ‘ associate’ on picking duty….

Each ‘picker’ is allocated precisely enough orders to fill a trolley and the gun even calculates the fastest route between products. It’s like shopping with sat nav.

So our kettle and book end up in an orange crate which is automatically propelled to somewhere called ‘binning’. ‘Binners’ then separate orders and push them to ’shippers’, who pack them. The computer even tells them which one of 15 differently-shaped pieces of cardboard to wrap them in for the optimum fit.

Santa’s not so little helper: Today’s the busiest online shopping day of the year. So are they ready at the biggest grotto this side of Lapland? [The Daily Mail]

“Two babies die in infant hammocks, product recalled” [WalletPop]

“Two Reality Shows Stir Publicity and Anger” [New York Times]

I am submitting this story to your website hoping to make the public aware of HP warranty coverage regarding defective LCDs in their laptops.

We bought the laptop (HP-Compaq HP G60-230US) 7-8 months ago and it was working fine. We booted up one morning and we had an ‘ink blot’ in the bottom-middle of the screen and over the next few days it ‘grew’, and actually grew a sister spot on another part of the LCD. We called HP support and they had us send in the laptop. We received a call about a week later telling us the LCD damage was caused by us by, and get this, “opening and closing the LCD too hard” and would not be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, which is absurd considering the cost of repairing it is almost as much as we paid for the laptop new. (roughly $200 to repair, including parts and labor, versus $350 paid for the unit brand new).

HP support then proceeded to tell us, and personally adding insult to injury, that we could still use the laptop, just plug in an external monitor. When we pointed out that kind of defeats the purpose of having laptop, they told us we could pay to replace the LCD.
We are not the only people being affected by these “ink blots” as evidenced here.

People with this issue all seem to describe the same symptoms: one day the unit is fine, the next day the LCD has an inkblot that develops in the lower-middle of the screen and spreads.

I find it outrageous that HP’s warranty does not cover faulty LCDs and that they are insisting that we caused the damage ourselves by being ‘too rough’ with our laptop (which we are not, it stays on the desk when not traveling)

I am also submitting a complaint to the BBB, but would like your site to run the story, if deemed appropriate, so people become aware of HP LCD issues on certain models of their laptops.

Has anyone else dealt with a similar problem with their laptop?

I just thought I would share this wonderful customer service story, as it seems there are never enough positive consumer stories anymore!

Recently, I went to a local Lowe’s store (in Glenwood Springs, CO) to buy a washer and dryer set for my new home. As we were sitting down waiting for some paperwork to be finished, I was perusing through the pile of papers on their waiting area table and happened upon a store flier that I noticed had a different price for the very set that I was buying! It was on the back page and discounted for hundreds of dollars off of the price I was going to pay in a few minutes. I looked around for other copies of the flier and could not find any, so I confusedly looked at the one in my hand and noticed that the dates at the bottom were in the future. This was next week’s flier that had been mistakenly placed out for public viewing ahead of schedule – and only one copy! I took it to my salesperson and showed her the much cheaper price of my washer and dryer, who then took the paper to her manager assuring me it was a mistake and I couldn’t get that price. However, the manager came out, apologized for whichever employee placed the flier out early, and told me he would sell the set to me at the future fliers price since it was their mistake for leaving it out! Not only did I get hundreds of dollars off my washer and dryer after the company fessed up and so honestly repaid their own mistake, but I saved enough from that discount to be able to buy the pedestals for my washer and dryer as well – and still save money overall! It was a great deal and I truly appreciate how the manager handled the situation and chose to abide by the flier’s advertised price.

Thank you Lowe’s, for brightening my holiday season already!