Is Yahoo Triple-Billing You For Your Old Flickr Pro Account?

(frankieleon.)

While Yahoo’s photo sharing site Flickr now offers free users a reasonably hefty 1TB of storage, it didn’t use to be so generous, and the only way around those old limits was to upgrade to a Pro account for $25/year. When Flickr stopped offering the Pro tier last spring, Yahoo grandfathered in existing Pro accounts at the same rate. But if you’re still paying for Flickr Pro, you may want to keep an eye on your bank statement when it comes time to renew your account.

I learned this for myself earlier this week when I noticed three separate charges (one cleared, two pending) to my debit card for $24.95 each, all from Yahoo and all with the same Flickr Pro note attached.

Knowing that my bank would say it couldn’t do anything about disputing pending charges, I contacted Yahoo customer service and patiently waited for nearly 20 minutes as the same ill-looped piece of music repeated itself.

The Yahoo CSR I spoke to told me this “is a known issue” in which sometimes Flickr accounts are sent to customers’ banks multiple times. He explained that the duplicate two charges would likely disappear when the bank went to finish processing them.

But in the meantime, fifty of my dollars were not at my disposal because of a glitch that Yahoo is apparently aware of. Luckily, I’m not in a position where having to wait a couple days for those $50 to be released will hurt me, but there are plenty of people for whom the same can’t be said; whether it’s because they are low on funds or because they try to keep as little as possible in no-interest checking accounts.

And indeed, those bogus charges have since been reversed and I can now get back to counting my money. But the question remains: How many other people are having this same issue?

We’ve reached out to Yahoo’s corporate office to see if it could give us some idea of how widespread this problem is and what’s being done to fix it, but have not heard back. A quick Google search turns up multiple-charge complaints about Flickr Pro accounts back in 2010, with Yahoo saying at the time that the issue had been resolved.

We’d like to know if any of you have had similar problems with Yahoo’s billing for Flickr accounts. If so, shoot us an e-mail at tips@consumerist.com with “FLICKR DOUBLE BILLING” in the subject line.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Pizza Hut Closes Down After Video Shows District Manager Using The Kitchen Sink As A Urinal

(WOWKTV.com)

Food and bathroom behavior just don’t mix — especially at a restaurant that’s serving paying customers. So it’s no wonder video footage of a Pizza Hut employee in West Virginia peeing into the kitchen sink — the same one used to wash utensils and supplies — has prompted health officials to shut down that location to investigate.

In the video, via WOWKTV.com, a man looks like he’s just checking something on a computer and then oh, there he goes, walking over to the deep sink and undoes his pants… and relieves himself. Sigh, gross, and sigh again.

Pizza Hut has confirmed that the fellow shown in the surveillance footage is a Pizza Hut District Manager.

When the news channel contacted the county health department about the video, the city’s sanitarian watched it and then temporarily closed down the restaurant. A sign hanging on the door says it was shut down because of “conditions within the establishment constituting a substantial hazard to the public health.”

“It’s something you hope to never have to deal with but we take it seriously,” the county sanitarian says. “They’re closed until we do a thorough cleaning on the place and have the reassurance there are safeguards in place.”

Safeguards like maybe a big signing reading, “THIS IS NOT A URINAL?” perhaps?

In a written statement Pizza Hut said of the franchise location that it doesn’t like it when people pee in the sink:

“First of all, we are embarrassed by the actions of this individual. Pizza Hut has zero tolerance for violations of our operating standards, and the local owner of the restaurant took immediate action and terminated the employee involved. While the isolated incident occurred during non-business hours and did not involve any food tampering, we follow strict safety and handling procedures and the restaurant has since been closed. We apologize to our customers of Kermit, West Virginia and those in our system who have been let down by this situation.”

*Thanks for the link, Brandon! And by thanks I mean, oh goodness gracious, that’s so gross.

Shocking video leads to local Pizza Hut closing [WOWKTV.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Complete Your Childhood Collection With Really Expensive 19th Century 1-Cent Stamp

This is a really old, really expensive stamp.

It’s the Dodo bird of the stamp world, the rarest of the rare, and a collector’s dream. Hopefully, you’ve been saving up your pennies, or billions of them, because this stamp will blow your current collection out of the water when it hits the auction block in New York this summer.

The 1-cent postage stamp from a 19th century British colony in South America is expected to sell for between $10 million and $20 million at Sotheby’s on June 17, the Associated Press reports.

The One-Cent Magenta has a storied past, including breaking the auction record for a single stamp three times. It’s also the only major stamp missing from the British Royal Family’s private Royal Philatelic Collection.

Marked with a three-masted ship printed in black on magenta paper, the stamp is thought to be the only survivor of a small batch commissioned in British Guiana when a shipment of stamps was delayed from London.

The stamp was first owned by a Scottish boy in South America in the late 1870s. The boy sold the stamp to a local collector, who in turn sold it to a dealer in Liverpool. When the man died his collection was bequeathed to the Postmuseum in Berlin. Following World War I, the stamp was auctioned by France for $35,000, setting the first record for a single stamp.

Another auction record was set in 1970 when the stamp was purchased for $280,000 by an investment consortium. In 1980, the stamp was sold to John E. du Pont for $935,000. du Pont’s estate is currently selling the stamp. A portion of the funds from the auction will go to the Eurasian Pacific Wildlife Conservation Foundation.

Rare stamp could bring millions at NYC auction [Boston.com]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

FCC Chair Announces Vague Plan To Try To Fix Net Neutrality

Last month, a federal appeals court struck down the core components of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, effectively opening the door for Internet service providers to block, throttle, or charge exorbitant fees to bandwidth-heavy content companies (Netflix, we’re all looking at you). The court had ruled that the FCC had never properly classified ISPs in a way that would allow the neutrality rules to apply. Today, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler unveiled a general outline for his plan to get those guidelines back in place.

Wheeler says the FCC will not appeal the court’s ruling in the lawsuit brought by Verizon that resulted in the gutting of net neutrality. Instead, he is proposing new rules “that will meet the court’s test for preventing improper blocking of and discrimination among Internet traffic, ensuring genuine transparency in how Internet Service Providers manage traffic, and enhancing competition.”

At issue in the court’s ruling was the FCC’s outdated classification of broadband Internet service. Once upon a time, the Commission needed to decide whether broadband constituted infrastructure or content. Had it been considered infrastructure, it would be subject to the non-discrimination regulations that apply to common carriers, like landline telephone service. But because ISPs were classified as information-providing services, they are not subject to those rules.

With the goal of fixing this glaring oversight, Wheeler said he will propose new rules that would reinstate bans on blocking Internet traffic to customers or discriminating against content providers. His plan leaves open the option of reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service.

Wheeler also wants to make sure the commission is enforcing the transparency rule — one of the few net neutrality aspects that survived the appeals court — which requires that ISPs disclose how they manage traffic.

“Preserving the Internet as an open platform for innovation and expression while providing certainty and predictability in the marketplace is an important responsibility of this agency,” writes Wheeler.

At least one commissioner disagrees.

In a statement responding to Wheeler’s announcement, FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said that the Chair’s plan “reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day… I am skeptical that this effort will end any differently from the last.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Kellogg Commits To Only Buying Environmentally Friendly Palm Oil

(Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie)

In the future when you bite into a Pop-Tart or an Eggo Waffle, know that the palm oil in those items didn’t add to the destruction of the rain forest. Kellogg Co. has promised to only buy palm oil from companies that are friendly to the environment.

This pledge is a response to pressure from environmental groups that have been pushing big names in the food industry to stop using palm oil from plantations that destroy rainforests in Southeast Asian countries, especially in Indonesia, reports the Associated Press.

As we’ve all been learning since grade school, there are many endangered species living in the rain forests — in these, there’s the orangutan and Sumatran tiger — and cultivating palm oil is a big threat to those animals. More than 30,000 square miles of Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests have been destroyed in the pursuit of palm oil, say leaders of a campaign against such a practice.

Kellogg has promised to require its suppliers to trace their palm oil back to those plantations that have been verified independently as complying with the law and meeting standards for protecting the environment and human rights. Processors and growers will also be held accountable under the policy, says Kellogg’s chief sustainability officer.

“We must ensure they are all producing palm oil in a way that’s environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable,” she said.

Palm oil shows up in small amounts in products like Pop-Tarts, cookies and waffles, but most cereals don’t have it, she added.

Environmental groups are all about this policy change, which requires compliance or substantial progress by Dec. 31, 2015. Thus far it’s one of the toughest policies out there, joining other food companies like the Girl Scouts and Burger King.

“Kellogg is sending a strong message to palm oil producers that traceable, deforestation-free and exploitation-free palm oil are core conditions for global market access,” said the campaign director for a group called Catapult.

Kellogg to use environmentally friendly palm oil [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Krispy Kreme Puts Coffee Inside Donuts, Glass Bottles

Krispy Kreme wants to caffeinate America. They’re best known for their light, fluffy, sugary donuts, but apparently they serve coffee too. The company has plans to inject that coffee in two new and exciting places: the beverage shelves of selected Walmart stores, and inside the chain’s own donuts.

When we say inside the donuts, we mean inside. The glazed donut with coffee included has “mocha drizzle” and “coffee Kreme” on the outside, but the filled yeast donut has a mocha filling along with its sugary, coffee-infused exterior.

The bottled coffee, meant to compete with Starbucks’ bottled Frappuccino line of highly highly portable chilled espresso drinks, will only be available in about 900 Walmart stores, presumably in areas where Krispy Kreme does business. (They also sell bulk coffee in the South, but only at Walmart’s Sam’s Club warehouse chain.) The bottles are 9.5 ounces, exactly the same as the Starbucks products. They come in mocha and “original glazed,” which we can only hope is a bottle of sugar syrup with some incidental coffee flavoring.

New Krispy Kreme Coffee-Flavored Doughnuts: A Hint of Coffee in Every Bite [Press Release]

Krispy Kreme expands retail reach with Walmart iced coffee deal [Business Journals]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Homeland Security Looking To Build Massive License Plate Tracking System

(Triborough)

In news that is both disturbing and not at all surprising, the Department of Homeland Security is currently asking private contractors to bid on a system that would create a National License Plate Recognition database that could allow various forms of law enforcement to track the movements of drivers, whether they are suspected of a crime or just going to buy a Big Gulp at 7-Eleven.

The Washington Post got its hands on the request for bids [PDF], which outlines the system requirements but doesn’t really provide any guidelines for privacy or security of info.

Reads the document:

“The database should track vehicle license plate numbers that pass through cameras or are voluntarily entered into the system from a variety of sources… and uploaded to share with law enforcement. NLPR information will be used by DHS/ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to assist in the location and arrest of absconders and criminal aliens. Officers should be able to query the NLPR database with license plate numbers based on investigative leads to determine where and when the vehicle has traveled. This information will assist in locating criminal aliens and absconders, and will enhance officer safety by enabling arrests to occur away from a subject’s residence. The use of NLPR will reduce the man-hours required to conduct surveillance.”

And while the bid request provides a great level of detail on the government’s wishlist for the NLPR database — 24/7 access, unlimited tech support, smartphone apps for users — the apparent lack of concern for discretion and privacy may be cause for concern.

But not to worry, as a rep for ICE tells the Post that the NLPR “could only be accessed in conjunction with ongoing criminal investigations or to locate wanted individuals,” and that “this database would be run by a commercial enterprise, and the data would be collected and stored by the commercial enterprise, not the government.”

As you’d expect, such assurances don’t really deal with the bigger issue — that the government wants to create a massive database that could be used to track the movements of drivers.

“Ultimately, you’re creating a national database of location information,” Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tells the Post. “When all that data is compiled and aggregated, you can track somebody as they’re going through their life.”

The bid request also doesn’t give specifics on how long information will be stored, which agencies would have direct access to NLPR, and what exactly would constitute a justified use of the system to track a driver.

“This is yet another example of the government’s appetite for tools of mass surveillance,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Court Throws Out Online Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against Major Hotel Chains, Booking Sites

(SA_Steve)

For years, some have accused America’s largest hotel chains of colluding with travel booking sites like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline to make sure that the room rates offered to consumers on these sites are the same. This practice, claimed plaintiffs in various lawsuits, effectively allowed the hotel chains to determine their own prices and kept the booking sites from competing against each other; meaning consumers could be paying more than they should. But a U.S. District Court judge feels differently.

Yesterday, the Dallas-based judge granted the dismissal [PDF] requested by the defendants — which included the above-mentioned sites, along with hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, Wyndham, and others.

While the plaintiffs had contended that the defendants behaved in an anticompetitive matter because the hotel chains would each provide all the travel sites with a bottom-level room rate below which the website was not to go. This meant that each of these websites could each claim they were offering the lowest price available at these hotels, as they were all offering the same price.

To the plaintiffs, this amounted to price-fixing by not allowing the sites to compete for customers with discounted room rates. Thus, the rates at these hotel rooms were artificially inflated, alleged the complaint.

But the judge in the case just didn’t see any evidence of a conspiracy here, writing:

Plaintiffs would have the Court infer an antitrust violation because a hotel ensures that its many distribution channels offer a specific room in a specific location for a specific date at the same price. In effect, Plaintiffs ask the Court to repudiate antitrust law’s well-established focus on interbrand pricing and the rule that a business need not compete against itself in setting the price of its own product.

Price-fixing allegations generally involve competitors colluding to set a price level for the entire market. The plaintiffs in this case never made such claims, instead alleging that each hotel was fixing its own room rates among pseudo-competitive booking sites.

“Just because defendants’ rational business interests can be recast in a suspicious light does not mean the allegations actually suggest a conspiracy was formed,” writes the judge, pointing out that the plaintiffs’ evidence actually showed “vigorous hotel competition” when you compared pricing at competing hotel chains.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Another Plane Hits Extreme Turbulence, Injuring 12 People Aboard Cathay Pacific Flight

(frankieleon)

The friendly skies seem to have been turning decidedly bumpy lately, folks. After a United Airlines flight hit severe turbulence on Monday, injuring five people, now comes the news that a Cathay Pacific plane had air bumps so bad, 12 people were hurt.

It’s enough to make you want to obey the captain when he has that seatbelt sign on: At least 12 passengers and crew members were injured on the Cathay flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong yesterday when the plane flew over “strong turbulence” as it passed over Japan, reports the South China Morning Post.

Upon landing, two injured crew members and six passengers who were hurt were hospitalized. A flight attendant is still reportedly in serious condition as of last night, while the others were released after treatment. The other injured passengers didn’t need to go to the hospital.

“It was even more intense than sitting on a roller coaster,” said one of the passengers. “[The plane] was jolted for at least two minutes. I was thrown up very high.”

The turbulence hit so quickly that there was no time for the captain to turn on the seatbelt sign or alert passengers, he says, saying that some passengers were thrown out of their seats and into the overhead bins. He says the person in front of him hit a panel so hard that it was damaged, echoing what a passenger on Monday’s United flight said happened.

Perhaps it’s time to have a chat with the Greek gods. It’s like Aeolus is out there and we’re all Odysseus. We’ve got one up on him though, and it’s called “keeping my seatbelt on at all times on all flights, ever.”

12 people hurt as plane hits ‘strong turbulence’ [South China Morning Post]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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