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Posted
Mar 13 2008, 11:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Even a consumer reporter can get ripped off. Just ask me. I've waged a lengthy battle against a furniture store that repeatedly pushed back the delivery date for a loft bed my husband and I ordered for our son. More than six months have passed since we placed that order. The bed hasn't arrived. And now, the furniture store is closing its doors. How, you may wonder, did a supposedly savvy consumer reporter get into this predicament? That's a question I keep asking myself. After all, I thought I followed all the consumer protection rules.
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Posted
Feb 01 2008, 06:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The scammers are out in full force this tax season, targeting taxpayers, accountants and anyone else who can answer a phone or open an e-mail. Kay Bell at Don't Mess With Taxes gives readers a rundown on some of the latest tactics being used to steal your identity. One is an e-mail purporting to be from the IRS, asking you to click on a link to a refund claim form, where you're instructed to provide personal financial information. A similar e-mail tells you that you're going to be audited. Unlike many phishing attempts, this one actually addresses you by your name, Kay says.
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Posted
Jul 23 2009, 10:13 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Are you familiar with those companies that get paid to enforce traffic lights? Their cameras snap a picture as you drive through a red light, and a ticket arrives in the mail.
Now one of them, American Traffic Solutions, has ventured into another type of enforcement in Baton Rouge, La., TheNewspaper.com reports:
Under first-of-its-kind initiative, city workers will drive around photographing neighborhoods with special cameras hooked into a global positioning system (GPS) satellite tracking device. The workers will be looking to capture homes that might have litter, weeds or trash on their lawn so that a hefty fine can be imposed.
Wait! There's even more: "Residents will also be ticketed for putting out garbage cans before 4 p.m. or failing to retrieve them before 6 a.m."
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Posted
Mar 05 2009, 02:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The average woman spends about $120 a year on feminine-hygiene products. (We bet the male readers who ignored the headline have now moved on to another page. Bye-bye.)
There's an alternative called the menstrual cup, available in brands like the DivaCup, The Keeper and Moon Cup. This device, hugely recommended by female bloggers, usually costs less than $30 -- we saw one online for about 17 bucks -- and eliminates the need to spend any more money on pads and tampons.
We'd been skeptical because it sounded too good to be true.
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Posted
Feb 25 2008, 04:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Waiting in line at the grocery store is a guaranteed way to see the covers of magazines targeting women. It's a real challenge to find a checkout tabloid that doesn't have blaring headlines about weight loss or the most recent diet sensation. "Better than gastric bypass!" "Kim lost 200 lbs in 11 months!" "Christin lost 100 lbs in 5 months!" Those very comments appeared on the cover of the June 12, 2007, issue of Woman's World magazine. The story was a fascinating look at a weight-loss diet known as Kimkins, created by Kim Drake, also known as "Kimmer." The Woman's World story begins by saying the magazine sent out spies to gather intelligence about Kimkins. The Kimkins Web site included numerous before-and-after pictures of not only Kimmer, but also happy members who had shed massive amounts of weight. Woman's World describes Kim as "smiling" when responding to questions. This implies that the Woman's World interviewer was personally watching the response of Drake. So, you would think that Woman's World would have noticed that "Kim" was in fact a 300-pound woman.
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Posted
Jun 01 2009, 06:58 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When Kris at Cheap Healthy Good said that Phil Lempert's Supermarket Guru is "THE Internet authority on grocery shopping," we headed right over to his Web site.
Supermarket Guru is, in fact, a gold mine if you shop for food -- and who doesn't? It covers a wide range of food topics including new products and prices, shopping trends -- and food safety. A headline on a recent front page was "Harvard studies BPA: Can the FDA ignore this?" We knew there was a reason why we stopped microwaving in plastic containers a long time ago.
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Posted
Aug 18 2008, 06:12 PM
by
Ryan MacClanathan
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
An astute reader of The Consumerist
noticed that Arm & Hammer baking soda has
seemingly lost its strength.
New boxes now advise users to replace the box in their refrigerator
once a month. Older containers say to replace every three months.
"It looks like marketing got a hold of the packaging, and
suddenly baking soda only works for one month instead of three!" the reader
wrote. "Arm & Hammer say that they are 'America's #1 trusted baking soda
brand,' but I'm not really feeling the trust anymore."
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Posted
Sep 10 2009, 03:39 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Remember that peanut butter scare? We wondered whether the flavored dog treats we'd bought were on the recall list, but finding the latest information seemed difficult.
Or maybe you have a general question about the safety of food: Will that package of hot dogs you opened stay good for a week or a month? (One week.) How about bacon? Is it indestructible? (No.)
A new government Web site can help us out.
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Posted
Feb 19 2008, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Mark Huffman of partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Master marketer and infomercial maven Kevin Trudeau has a new book out, but he hasn't strayed far from his successful diet and health book formula, which critics say panders to consumer paranoia. His new book, coincidentally introduced during the current credit crisis, is "Debt Cures They Don't Want You To Know About." Consumers who called an 800 number to order a copy are reporting experiences similar to those relayed to ConsumerAffairs.com by people who called to order "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About." They're finding it very hard to buy just the book. "I only wanted to order the book, but the young lady kept telling me about a trial for 30 days, and I kept telling her 'the book only, please,'" Cynthia, of Mexia, Texas, told ConsumerAffairs.com.
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Posted
Dec 13 2007, 01:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. While this year's Thanksgiving travel rush was less troublesome than expected, frustrations of all kinds await travelers not only during the holidays but year-round. Here's a holiday review of frequent mishaps and what you can do to avoid them. The epidemic of lost bags is the tip of the iceberg. Flight delays, canceled flights, overbooking and an assortment of other annoyances are common. Keeping your cool is only part of the equation. You also must be educated about your rights and the laws and regulations that govern airlines. For instance, it's no secret that airlines routinely overbook flights in anticipation of passengers not showing up, and there is nothing illegal about that. Part of the traveling life is the chance of being bumped, and minors are not exempt.
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