Happy Columbus Day :)
And it's Thanksgiving if you live in Canada ...
Unfortunately, Columbus Day isn't a holiday at my work...I could have used a long weekend!
I did see Great Big Sea (a Canadian Celtic rock group) Thursday night in Harrisburg and they mentioned the Thanksgiving thing. I thought it was a uniquely American holiday...
Of course, they also were singing Christmas songs. It was a great concert, though - lots of fun!
ConsumeristThat's Comcastic Comcast Sends Out Phone Sex Number, Apologizes
The Harrisburg, Pa. Patriot-News reports Comcast sent out a service upgrades flier with a number for a phone sex line.
The story says:The company by mistake listed an 800-number prefix on a flier that was mailed to certain customers regarding service upgrades to HBO and Cinemax. The flier was supposed to have an 866-number prefix. The mistake was from a printing error, Comcast said.
You have to applaud Comcast's transparency here. They're finally letting customers know how badly they are getting screwed, and paying for it to boot.
At least Comcast handed out a customer service number that left its customers fulfilled for once. Finally - -a Comcast story that could have a happy ending!
Comcast apologizes for error that led to callers being connected to phone sex line [Patriot-News]
Columbus Day is no longer a holiday at my company either ... they converted the 3 minor fed'l holidays (Presidents', Columbus, and Veterans' Days) into discretionary holidays.
Honestly, I don't mind working them since the traffic is much lighter than usual.
ConsumeristPossession is 9/10ths of the Law Officials Take Baseball Away From Little Girl Who Sues And Gets It Back
Back in July in Miami, 12-year-old Jennifer came away with Phillies player Ryan Howard's 200th home run ball. Florida Marlins officials asked her to give up the milestone ball so Howard could autograph it.
Turns out the team pulled the old switcheroo on Jennifer, handing her a polished, new ball autographed by Howard. She didn't buy the trickery and went home and told her mom, who asked the Phillies for the ball she gave up. After a long struggle, which included a lawsuit, she's finally gotten the Phillies to back down.
CNN reports:If the girl wants the baseball, Webb continued, contact Howard's agent, "since the player now has the ball."
By Monday of this week, with the regular season over and no ball in hand, Kent took the extraordinary measure of suing on behalf of Jennifer. He sought the ball and a judgment "in excess of $15,000."
The ball was promptly returned.
"Ryan Howard 200th career home run," it says in capital letters across the ball, now encased.
"My ball," Jennifer says with a smile.
The Phillies may be the reigning world champs, but they're no match for Jennifer.
Girl, 12, slugged back at Phillies slugger [CNN]
I've read a slightly different version of this story. According to other news reports, Howard offered the girl an exchange of the home run ball for a signed ball, which she accepted. It wasn't a subversive switch-a-roo according to [www.nbcmiami.com] and [www.phinallyphilly.com]. She told her parents about it, and it seems that they didn't raise care about it until they found out the (potential) value of the ball. Up next in the news: Phillies player Ryan Howard's 200th home run ball up for sale on eBay. "My ball" = "my college tuition" probably.
The Wisconsin Tourism Foundation quietly changed its name (and updated its logo) to the Tourism Foundation of Wisconsin.
W.T.F. is up with that?!? LoL
Consumeristbad consumer Angry Customer Shoots Taco Bell Employee Because They're Closed
So, you roll into Taco Bell at 3:30 am. They're closed. Sure, you're upset, but do you need to shoot the person working there? One guy in Miami thinks so, and he's apparently still at large after shooting a Taco Bell employee in the leg simply because the restaurant wasn't open.
From Fox Miami:The gunman, who remains at large, ambushed several employees as they stepped out of the Taco Bell at 630 NE 79th St. at closing time, at about 3:30 a.m., Tuesday.
One of the employees took a bullet in the leg. It's still in there and she has to use crutches to get around.
"I couldn't believe it because I'm never rude to any of my customers, I never get any complaints," she told FOX. "The most I get is compliments and something like that, but when it happened I'm like, oh, my God, I couldn't believe it."
Police say the gunfire was prompted because the restaurant was closed and the man wanted food:
[The employee] took the bullet, according to Miami Police, because some guy was upset the store had closed and he could not buy any food.
She feels lucky to be alive and hopes to see luck run out for her assailant. "For you to do what you did, it was very unnecessary," Bouie said, addressing the shooter, "and I have a child. I didn't do anything or say anything wrong to you, and even if I did, that doesn't give you reason to shoot or to fire your gun at anybody, and I hope you get caught for what you did."
They're still looking for the guy, so if you know anything: call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
Taco Bell cashier speaks out after disgruntled customer shoots her [FOX7]
ConsumeristBlack Thursday Toys R Us Manager Says Store Will Be Open On Thanksgiving This Year
Retail isn't a great field to be in if you enjoy having nights, weekends and holidays off. A disgruntled Toys R Us manager wrote us to say Thanksgiving, one of his three guaranteed holidays per year, will vanish in order to give the store a jump on its Black Friday competitors.
He writes:I'm not sure if this is really pertinent to your website but I just feel like venting right now...I am a manager with Toys R Us and have been with the company for 10 years. Today on our weekly national conference call it was announced that we will be open on Thanksgiving Day. This may not come as a shockto the average consumer, but to a retail worker who only typically has three guaranteed days off a year (Easter, Thanksgiving, and Xmas) this was disturbing. It was presented to the stores as capitalizing on a competitive advantage. This information is supposed to be highly confidential but I just feel like calling b*llsh*t on these arrogant corporate *ssholes who will be enjoying Thanksgiving with their families whilst the true workers will be working and preparing for the busiest shopping day of the year. Also, we will be opening at midnight Thanksgiving Day to enjoy another competitive advantage.
Signed,Soon to be former Toys "R" Us Kid
Whatever Toys R Us honcho made this call must not only face guff from managers like the one who wrote us, but now will probably be visited by the ghosts of Thanksgivings past, present, and future, which I'm pretty sure are totally freaky flying headless turkeys. So it's really that guy I feel bad for rather than the manager and employees.
Now, who's up for some Thanksgiving Day toy shopping?
Oh and on a side note, can we try not to murder anyone with our shopping fervor this year? Please?
I'm old enough to remember when New Years, Memorial, Independence, and Labor Day (as well as Thanksgiving, Xmas, and Easter) were all full holidays or at least 1/2 days off at the retail store level. In states with strong blue laws, Sundays were also mandatory closings by law. ALL of these have been or are being slowly taken away.
**********
Not so quietly...it was all over the news...Leno...Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, etc.
ConsumeristCrime Robber Walks Through Walmart Receipt Check With $200,000 Cash
You and I can't get past Walmart's receipt checks with a 12-pack of toilet paper, but one criminal made it past the greeter with a cart full of cash. $200,000 from the store's safe, to be precise. How does that happen?
Somehow, this feat was pulled off in Florida back in July. True, Walmart greeters are no substitute for actual security measures, but a combination of social engineering and inside knowledge was behind the success of this heist. Police have been unable to identify the culprit(s) despite having the entire incident on surveillance video.
A criminal dressed as a Walmart supervisor, complete with badge, had the proper combinations to open office doors and the store's safe, but no store employees admit recognizing the man.
After closing the safe, the burglar carried boxes outside the office and loaded them into his shopping cart. Then he headed for the store exit.
However, a Walmart greeter briefly stopped the cash-rich thief at the door and asked to see his sales receipt.
"The man continued to walk out the store," the report states. "Upon insisting to see his receipt, the man held up his name badge that said assistant manager and 10 years of service on it."
The greeter let him pass.
Does this mean that Walmart managers can walk out of the front door with boxes of whatever they can carry and no consequences? That doesn't seem right, either.
Who stole more than $200,000 at Walmart? [Orlando Sentinel]
$200k is an awful lot of cash to keep on hand. If the store is generating that much cash, it needs multiple daily visits to the bank/pickups to limit its exposure.
Would you support a tax break for pet care?Especially when it's called the "Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act." [Consumer Reports Money]
In the midst of all the heated conversation about health-care reform, a Michigan Congressman is sponsoring a bill to give pet owners a tax break for pet care.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mi) has introduced H.R. 3501 to create a deduction of up to $3,500 on federal tax returns for the care of "qualified" pets, defined as "legally owned, domesticated, and live animals." Animals used for business purposes – say, a dog that helps round up sheep or a cat filmed in TV commercials – aren't covered. The bill says qualified care includes veterinary care, though it doesn't mention what else (pet sitting? chew toys?) would be included. There's no apparent provision for people who don't itemize and utilize the standard deduction instead. And there's no word on whether the pet needs a valid Social Security number. (Just kidding.)
A main finding to support the proposed deduction is that the human-animal bond "has been shown to have positive effects upon people's emotions and physical well-being," in the bill's words. The title of the bill is the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act.
The bill doesn't mention the growing expense of medical care for pets, though ostensibly that's a major impetus for it. Consumer Reports Money Adviser recently discussed ways to save on pet expenses, regardless of whether this bill becomes law.
ConsumeristAirline Urges Passengers To Leave Their Urine Behind
In a new and exciting airline cutback effort, an airline is now asking passengers to relieve themselves before getting on the plane in order to decrease passenger weight and save fuel. No, we're not making this up. And no, it's not Ryanair.
Japan's All-Nippon Airways is embarking on this experiment for the month of October. Airline staff will ask passengers to relieve themselves shortly before boarding.
ANA hopes the weight saved will lead to a 5-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of 30 days.
Although it is intended as an experiment lasting 1 month and 42 flights, the trial may be extended if it is well-received by passengers and if results are positive.
Based on an average human bladder capacity of 15oz, if 150 passengers relieved themselves on board an aircraft, this would amount to 63.7kg [140 lbs] of waste.
Interesting idea, but what kind of insane person gets on a plane with a full bladder in the first place?
Although I'm not surprised it's a Japanese airline. All I have to say is that in Japan they are very particular about their bathrooms.
Airline asks passengers to use the toilet before boarding... so they will weigh less and help cut carbon emissions [Daily Mail]
Who Knew?The first-pitch temperature Sunday at Coors Field was 35 degrees, tying the majors' record for a low temperature in a postseason game. It tied Game 4 of the 1997 World Series at Cleveland between the Indians and Marlins. -- Denver Post
Well, maybe if they had moved it to the timeslot no longer needed by the Dodgers/Cardinals instead of starting it after 10P (ET) ...
