This Is Why You Don’t Pack Rotting Food: Maggots Infest Plane’s Baggage Area

(_tar0_)

We know it’s tempting to squirrel away that food on the verge of rotting and bring it along on your next plane trip, you know, in case it’s still edible when you land. But anyone traveling on that same flight with you would really appreciate if you didn’t, you know, because going without your luggage while it’s de-maggoted is a big inconvenience.

Everyone on a flight from Brussels to Stockholm found they couldn’t pick up their bags when arriving at their destination, reports The Local, because maggots had infested the plane’s luggage area.

“When they opened the baggage area, maggots spilled out,” one passenger said.

Go ahead and feel grossed out, I’ll wait.

[pause for disgust to set in and be shaken off]

Brussels Airlines confirmed that Sunday’s infestation was the fault of one passenger who had packed expired food, prompting officials to take the all the luggage back to Brussels to be sanitized, while the bag containing maggots was destroyed.

“I can confirm that we have had sanitation problems with a passenger’s baggage, which apparently contained food which was expired and rotten,” an airline spokesman said. “It was transfer baggage from another continent.”

The bags were then flown back to Stockholm the next night, and we hope, finally maggot-free.

Maggot-infested baggage flown to Sweden [The Local]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

ESPN Accounts For More Than $6 Of Your Cable Bill; Could Soon Top $8

Data from SNL Kagan shows that ESPN is by for the most expensive channel for cable providers to broadcast.

In recent years, cable companies and broadcasters have squared off in nasty, public spats that sometimes result in blackouts for millions of viewers. The broadcasters say they aren’t being paid properly and the cable companies claim they’re on our side, trying to keep costs down (though we always end up paying more). These battles will likely only get worse, with analysts predicting that the cost of content will continue to increase.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the average amount of our cable bill that goes to pay carriage fees to broadcasters is expected to increase 36% by 2018, according to estimates by media research firm SNL Kagan.

Currently, providers pay $28.32 for about a dozen channels, but that cost is expected to increase 36% by 2018 according to estimates by media research firm SNL Kagan.

Which network charges cable providers the most each month per customer? ESPN with an estimated cost of $6.04. That figure doesn’t include ESPN 2, which is also among the 10 most expensive channels at $.74 per customer. By 2018, SNL Kagan estimates providers will pay $8.38 per month to air the sports network.

The cost for ESPN is nearly 43-times the median average price of 14 cents paid for each channel a subscriber receives. The next most expensive network is TNT, which charges $1.48 per month per customer. Among the least expensive networks are Nick 2, Hallmark Movie Channel, MTV Hits and CNBC World.

It’s worth noting that Comcast-owned NBCUniversal is responsible for three of the 10 most costly cable channels. USA clocks in at $0.83, SyFy costs $0.27 and Bravo costs $0.25.

While Kagan predicts steep increases in the cost of content, the analysts expect that consumers’ cable bills won’t increase as dramatically. The average basic service currently costs $54.92 per month for consumers, while Kagan’s data expects the cost in 2018 to reach $61.76, a 12% increase.

That figure is generally in line, if not a bit lower, than what was detailed in a FCC report earlier this year. That report found the most basic cable package increased by 6.5% in 2012 alone.

If cable companies aren’t astronomically increasing our cable bills by 36% to make up for the amount they pay to networks, how are they making ends meet?

There’s no need to worry about the poor little cable companies, because WSJ reports most generate hefty profits through bundling cable with phone and broadband service and charging fees for equipment.

How Much Cable Subscribers Pay Per Channel [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Frozen Pizza With Cookie Layer Is What Pizza Hut Only Aspires To

Sure, Pizza Hut thinks it’s being all revolutionary with its cookie pizzas, and infinite variations on stuffed crusts but the chain isn’t taking things nearly far enough. Have they tried putting an entire cookie pizza layer on top of a pizza? They have not. Yet. One brave man, Michael J. Hudson, has tried such a feat. The result looks horrifying. And amazing. And horrifying.

The inspiration for this pizza came from the pre-packaged DiGiorno frozen pizza including frozen chocolate chip cookies, but Michael went even further and used a separate tube of Toll House brand cookie dough. (When the pizza-and-cookies combo pack debuted, Consumerist called it a “watershed moment in American obesity,” an assessment that we stand by.)

I am a person with an unhealthy love of both pizza and cookies, but this actually turned my stomach. Proceed at your own risk.

Here’s how it all began: two packages of frozen food, a man, an oven, and a dream.

my apologies @besthandleever http://t.co/LNdX2YLU8x—

michael (@michaeljhudson) August 04, 2014

The waiting dough. ( michael ‏@michaeljhudson )

Nicely browned and apparently edible. ( michael ‏@michaeljhudson )

I am going to barf. ( michael ‏@michaeljhudson )

One Brave Man’s Dream Was To Put Cookie Dough On A Pizza And He Did It [Buzzfeed Food] (via Foodbeast)

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Comcast Happy To Sing Comcast’s Praises To Regulators For Making Tiny Improvements To Broadband Access Program For Low-Income Families

(Consumerist)

Comcast yesterday announced a few changes to its Internet Essentials program. The program is, in theory, great. It aims to provide broadband internet access to low-income households, allowing families to stay connected to critical jobs, education, government and social services, and social media just like everyone else. And while Comcast is indeed taking baby steps to let more families access Internet Essentials, they are mainly taking great strides to shout aloud about every incremental, insufficient change in the hopes that regulators will nod along.

Just before filing their official merger paperwork with the FCC, Comcast made a big deal of announcing that their Internet Essentials program had reached 1 million people. Today, they say the program reaches 1.4 million individuals in 350,000 families.

Comcast also announced two big promotions related to the program. The first is that that new families who sign up now will get “up to” six months of service for free. The second is that they will in some circumstances waive the “no prior unpaid balance with Comcast” condition for enrolling. Comcast will provide amnesty for any past-due bill more than one year old for a family that wants to sign up for Internet Essentials, as long as they meet the other eligibility criteria.

Would-be Internet Essentials subscribers whose old unpaid Comcast bill is less than a year old, however, will have to work out a payment plan with Comcast to pay the old debt before they can enroll. (Of course, that means it might make more financial sense for a family with a 10- or 11-month-old unpaid debt just to wait two more months and then call Comcast.)

Although there are reasons to be cynical about Comcast’s claims, the expansion of Internet Essentials really is great news for those 350,000 families. These days internet access is vital to doing almost everything, from applying for a job to staying in touch with your kids’ school. Expanding broadband access to low-income Americans is absolutely crucial to helping families connected and successful as the 21st century marches on.

But Comcast’s rosy promises about expanding the program still aren’t bringing it where it needs to be. Granting amnesty for old past-due bills is great — but overdue bills aren’t the only, or even the biggest, stumbling block for many families who could benefit from Internet Essentials.

Back in March, outreach workers who specialize in helping low-income families access services told Consumerist that the two biggest challenges for getting families enrolled are actually other requirements. The first big block is that new subscribers to Internet Essentials must not have had any Comcast package in the past 90 days. Because there are basically never different, competing cable services to call, that means a family wishing to enroll in Internet Essentials must first spend at least three months without any service at home at all.

The second challenge is getting connected. Internet Essentials has a different phone number and website from Comcast’s regular customer service. When consumers who hear about “the cheap internet” call Comcast’s regular customer service line, they usually get sold a low-level “standard” package instead of getting redirected to call the other number. And having been sold that package, even if they cancel it a few days later, resets that 90-day no-service window.

Even with successful enrollments on the rise, though, and even removing some of the roadblocks, Internet Essentials isn’t really about helping low-income families with mediocre broadband. It’s all about helping Comcast.

From Comcast’s perspective, the Internet Essentials program is a very low-cost way to make individuals and federal regulators alike look favorably on their business. It’s another tool in the toolbox Comcast uses to explain why they should be allowed to take over Time Warner Cable — and maybe everything else, too.

Comcast to offer six months of free internet essentials service and announces amnesty plan for back due balances [Comcast corporate blog]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

McDonald’s Testing Guaranteed 60-Second Drive-Thru Lunch Service (Sort Of)

(Bluwmongoose)

Surveys show that the average service time at a McDonald’s drive-thru is longer than three minutes, but some McDonald’s in Florida believe they can cut a chunk of time off of that time — or your next meal is free.

According to the Miami Herald, certain South Florida McDonald’s (it doesn’t list which ones) are guaranteeing that weekday lunch-hour (noon to 1 p.m.) customers will get their order within a minute after paying.

Customers get a timer when they pay at the first window and then trade in that timer at the next window where they get their food. If it’s been longer than 60 seconds, their next meal is free.

However, it’s important to note that the only guarantee is that it will only take 60 seconds between paying and picking up your food. You could still see a substantial wait in line before you pay.

The three-minute average service time for McDonald’s is from QSR Magazine’s annual survey of the fast food drive-thru experience. QSR measures service time as “the time from when the vehicle stops at the order station to when the entire order is received, including change.” So that is going to be slightly longer than the time frame being measured at the Florida McDonald’s.

And like other guarantees where the refund is store credit instead of cash, the hope is that the customer will return and spend more money in addition to the credit.

If anyone in South Florida wants to try the guarantee, it’s apparently going on through Aug. 29.

[via Time.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

7 Ways To Not Be Annoying About Charging Your Phone At A Bar

Relax. Have a drink. And say “please.” (.sanden.)

It’s a desperate, panicky feeling, gnawing at your insides and lighting your brain on fire. Your phone is about to die. It’s dead! What if someone texts you something important, like the score of the Brewers game or what happened on that show last night? We’ve all been frantic or something like it over a dead phone, but guess what? Not every bartender or waiter you ask has a charger, or wants you to plug your phone in while they’re trying to work.

Because none of us are alone in our dependence on mobile devices, there’s always bound to be a situation where you find yourself powerless and in need of a charging session. But there’s a good way to go about it, and then there’s an annoying way.

Let’s not be annoying, shall we?

7 WAYS TO NOT BE TOTALLY ANNOYING WHILE CHARGING YOUR PHONE AWAY FROM HOME

1. Bring your own charger: When I know I’m going to be away from home for a large part of the day, I stuff my charger in my purse/bag, because I’m smart like that. If you find yourself already out and about without one and don’t want to bank on a stranger/bartender lending you one, you can always spend a few bucks and pick up a new one. It never hurts to have more than one charger.

Added bonus: You get karmic points if someone else is need of a charger and you can provide. Just don’t forget to collect it later or all your hard work remembering to bring a charger will have gone to waste.

2. Accept no for an answer: Start out by being polite and asking very nicely if you can please charge your phone behind the bar. If the bar staff says no, accept that they’ve got their reasons and try your luck elsewhere.

After all, smartphones are often incredibly expensive and that bars are a very hazardous place for them. You can’t always expect a bartender to take on the risk of babysitting your $600 phone.

3. Charge at your own risk: On the above note, don’t expect the staff to babysit your phone. They’re already busy running a bar, so if your phone ends up in a pool of beer, you’ve only got yourself to blame.

4. Put your phone in airplane mode or turn it off: It’ll charge faster this way, and the bartender won’t have to worry about accidentally seeing any embarrassing texts or calls that might pop up. Emojis can be very graphic these days.

5. Don’t ask to check your phone while it’s charging, especially if it’s behind the bar: The bartender is busy enough making drinks — so no, he or she doesn’t want to be bothered by you asking every other minute if you can just check your texts. They’re already doing you a favor, so sit on your hands and be patient.

6. Plug it in somewhere near you: If at all possible, locate a plug near where you’re sitting, preferably not behind the bar so you won’t be tempted to pester the bartender. And no one wants to be around the person fretting over whether or not her phone is safe plugged in behind that shady looking couple that are probably the Bonnie and Clyde of phone thefts. If your phone is close by, you can chill out — and so can everyone else. Here, have a drink.

7. Leave a tip: After putting up with you and your phone troubles, the bartenders will probably just have to deal with someone else after you, on and on into eternity. You know what makes that better? A little monetary gratitude. So if you want the universe to shine its good graces on you in the future, leave a buck or two for the staff for being so accommodating.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Facebook-Shaming Gets Another Dine-And-Dash Artist To Pay Up

Even though it’s no different than other forms of theft, it can sometimes be difficult to get the authorities worked up about a restaurant customer who skips out on a meal without paying. But some restaurant owners are having success with getting these dine-and-dash scofflaws to pay up by publicly shaming them on social media.

KDFW-TV in Texas has the story of one Fort Worth-area eatery that is realizing it can use social media both to promote the business and to call out bad consumers.

Over the weekend, it posted surveillance photos of a customer who had just dined at the restaurant with his family. In the images, he’s standing by the register, acting like he’s going to pay… all before he pockets his bill and exits without paying.

The Facebook post asking the man to please make good on his debt drew a lot of attention.

“We had 42,000 views, 300 shares and 200 comments,” the restaurant’s owner tells KDFW.

And the plan worked, with the customer coming back in to pay the bill he’d skipped out on a few days earlier.

Last year, we brought you a similar story of a Reno, NV, restaurant that Facebook-shamed (with a little help from local media) a dine-and-dasher into paying his $100 dinner bill.

While the restaurant got its money, things didn’t go so well for the bill-skipper, who was subsequently arrested on a probation violation.

[via Eater]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Start Decorating For Halloween In Early August Thanks To Dollar Tree

It’s the beginning of August, but maybe you like to plan ahead. You’ve already started to stock up on pumpkin spice snacks, and you even picked out your kid’s costume at Costco back in July. The logical next step? It’s time to start shopping for orange decorative lights, streamers, and pumpkin-shaped flashlights for trick-or-treating. At least, that’s what Dollar Tree thinks.

Brian sent along this picture from his local store. “And here it was I thought only Xmas was allowed to push ahead in line,” he wrote to Consumerist. Oh, if only.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Verizon’s Defense For LTE Throttling: We’re Not Going After Unlimited Users; They’re Just Data Hogs

(Steve Rhodes)

Verizon Wireless recently announced that it will soon expand its data-throttling “Network Optimization” program to include users of its high-speed LTE network. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler then wrote the company, saying he was “deeply troubled” that Verizon might be trying to pass off a cash-grab as legitimate network management. Verizon has responded to Wheeler, defending the program and asking why the FCC is picking on them.

To quickly review, Network Optimization is a three-year-old program in which Verizon throttles the speeds of those customers with “unlimited” data plans who are in the top 5% of monthly data users. Optimization does not currently apply to LTE data use, but VZW has announced that LTE users will face throttling starting in October.

In his letter to Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead, Wheeler said it was “disturbing… that Verizon Wireless would base its ‘network management’ on distinctions among its customers’ data plans, rather than on network architecture or technology.”

“‘Reasonable network management’ concerns the technical management of your network,” wrote the Chair, “it is not a loophole designed to enhance your revenue streams.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon’s response to Wheeler points out that other major carriers have throttling plans for heavy users, and asks why he is singling out Verizon.

The response also defended Optimization by saying it only targets a small number of users who account for a “disproportionate amount of network resources and have an out-sized effect on the network.”

Verizon and others have been accused of throttling unlimited account-holders under the guise of congestion-management when the real goal was to get these heavy users switched onto tiered data plans with hefty overage fees for those who eat up more than their allotted amount of data.

The Verizon response to Wheeler claims the company isn’t going after unlimited subscribers; it’s just that unlimited subscribers are the ones most likely to be the heaviest data users.

“Unlike subscribers on usage-based plans, they have no incentive not to do so during times of unusually high demand,” explains the letter. “Rather than an effort to ‘enhance [our] revenue streams,’ our practice is a measured and fair step to ensure that this small group of customers do not disadvantage all others in the sharing of network resources.”

Verizon’s LTE Network Optimization is slightly different from other carriers who throttle all data after a user reaches a certain monthly threshold. Instead, the company says that data hogs will only have their download speeds affected when they are connected to a cell site that is experiencing high demand.

We asked the FCC last week whether Wheeler had plans to write the other carriers that throttle data for unlimited users. Reps for the Commission declined to comment, but sources tell Consumerist that all wireless providers are currently being looked at and more letters regarding similar programs may be forthcoming.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Woman Shouting Obscenities Kicked Off U.S. Airways Flight

(YouTube)

While we’ve never had occasion to experience it, getting kicked off a plane cannot be a fun time. But it isn’t just a terrible experience for the person in the midst of being taken away, but often it’s a very uncomfortable, cringeworthy event for all those around. To wit: A woman screaming obscenities at her captors on a US Airways flight as they take her into custody and force her off the plane.

And because we live in a world with a million electronic eyes ready to record our actions for posterity (as if posterity will even want to see some of this stuff), a music video director happened to be on the same flight bound from Philadelphia International Airport — where the incident took place — and Portugal, reports the New York Daily News, and caught part of the scuffle on tape.

The video he captured only shows officials and some others he says could be air marshals or perhaps just normal citizens, telling the NYDN people were still boarding the plane when she first started shouting.

“The woman walked on the plane and she was yelling a bunch,” he said. “I don’t know if she was excited or happy or scared. She was swearing a lot.”

He adds on Reddit that she started by yelling that they were going to Portugal, not Brazil, and being “loud and obnoxious.” He notes that it’s likely that some of the parents with kids complained, at which point, police arrived.

“You need to get up now or I will pick you up. Do you want me to pick you up?” one man tells her, prompting her to yell, “You can’t pick me up, it’s against the law… I’m going to sue the s**t out of you,” she adds as the scuffle begins.

By the end, as you can see in the very NSFW video below — seriously, she is yelling at the top of her lungs, making me want to do what one little girl in the video does and cover my ears — the obscenities are rolling off her lips as others struggle to subdue her.

“I think the flight attendants and security handled it well,” he said. “I don’t think it got too many people afraid. It’s uneasy seeing a situation like that unfold.”

Again, video is NSFW due to very, very strong language:

SEE IT: Woman shouts obscenities during meltdown on plane at Philadelphia airport [New York Daily News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist