If You Bring A Baby With You To Shoplift At Walmart, Don’t Leave Her Behind

(Allison)

While we don’t condone theft of any sort, we are aware of the notion that having a baby with you while you shoplift might help create the illusion that you’re not a petty criminal who needs to be watched by store security. But if you get spotted trying to take advantage of some five-finger discounts, leaving that infant behind is incredibly uncool. It will probably also lead the police right to your doorstep.

TribLive.com reports on a Pittsburgh-area woman who had gone to Walmart with her 1-year-old niece in tow while she shopped at Walmart for laundry detergent and Miracle Whip.

Problem is, she apparently didn’t think to pay for the suds and salad dressing. Store employees say they spotted her and her infant accomplice trying to exit the store with the pilfered products, so they confronted her.

That’s when the woman tried to make a quick exit, attempting to grab her niece from the cart. Alas, the little girl was strapped in and her aunt’s efforts only resulted in the cart tipping to an “unsafe position,” according to the police report.

That’s when the woman left without the kid.

We’re not quite sure how, but the baby’s mom did come to the store to claim her left-behind daughter. The worst aunt in Pennsylvania was later arrested near her home and was charged with retail theft, recklessly endangering another person, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of children… All for $87 worth of stuff.

[via PennLive.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Everyone Is Really Into Eating Butter Right Now, Sending Prices Soaring

(Robert S. Donovan)

When it comes to fatty spreads, it seems butter’s popularity is climbing these days. But because the butter industry can’t keep up with the spike in demand, you could be facing higher prices at the store.

Butter futures are at an all-time high, reports Bloomberg, and consumption is projected to rise 0.8% in 2014. That number marks its second-highest since 1965, with shipments up 42% in the first six months of this year already.

But the problem is, there isn’t enough butter getting made to keep prices low for consumers — not as much milk was produced this year as analysts thought, which means all the makers of dairy products have to fight for what milk there is.

“Ultimately, there’s good demand for cream-based products that’s tightening up the market,” Dave Kurzawski, a Chicago-based senior broker at INTL FCStone Inc., told Bloomberg. “We haven’t had a tremendous amount of milk to deal with either, and the quality of fat in milk has gone down.”

Our appetite for cheese could be to blame as well, explains Cameron Thraen, Ph.D., Ohio State University dairy marketing and policy specialist tells the Scranton Times-Tribune.

“Milk follows money,” he said.

Milk gets made into whichever product is the most expensive, he says, which recently, was cheese. When cheese costed more than $2.20 per pound, cheese makers went nuts and bought up all the milk. Butter competitors then had to shell out more money for what milk they could get, and pass it on to the consumer.

There’s some good news in all this buttery sadness: Once all the stores are stocked up with butter for the holiday season, when Americans will need it slathered over all manner of traditional meals, prices should go back down again.

Butter Prices Reach All-Time High Amid Smaller Stockpiles [Bloomberg]

No margarine for error with butter prices at all-time high [Scranton Times-Tribune]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

This Is Getting Old: Another Flight Diverted Over Reclining Seat Spat

See all these people who aren’t beating each other up or demanding an emergency landing? Let’s all be like these people. (photo: Martin Rottler)

First it was that United flight where a passenger used an illegal device to prevent the person in front of them from reclining. Then an air marshal on an American Airlines flight arrested a traveler who wouldn’t give up on his complaint about the woman in front of him putting her seat back. Delta now continues this trend, diverting a flight that was almost at its destination because one passenger thought her tray table was for napping.

WPTV reports that Delta Flight 2370 from LaGuardia in NYC to Palm Beach International in Florida had to be diverted to Jacksonville on Monday night “due to safety reasons in regard to a passenger issue.”

A witness tells the station that a woman on the plane tried to recline her seat, but this didn’t go over well with the woman behind her, who was apparently trying to rest her head on the tray table at the time.

He says the napping passenger “started screaming and swearing and the flight attendant came over and that just exacerbated what was going on, and then she demanded that the flight land.”

According to the witness, the irate passenger began cussing at the flight attendants while demanding to return to terra firma, saying something like “I don’t care about the consequences, put this plane down now.”

The flight, which normally takes fewer than 2.5 hours to complete, then landed after just over two hours in Jacksonville, where the irate passenger was taken off the plane.

According to FlightAware.com, the plane got back up in the air about an hour later, making the 45-minute trip to Palm Beach.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

FCC Hopes To Spare Your Ears, Tweaks Rule To Turn Down Obnoxiously Loud TV Commercials

(Great Beyond)

Some things haven’t changed in 20 years: you’re watching some old movie late at night on TV, and you turn the volume up because the dialogue is so quiet. Then the ad break comes and suddenly salesmen are shouting at you so loudly you could practically hear them from space and you bang your head on the coffee table in a frantic dive for the remote. Everyone hates that — and the FCC hates it, too.

Close to three years ago, the FCC passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, decreeing that all ads need to be played at the same average volume as the programs they accompany, or else. The rule went into effect in December, 2012 despite protests from cable networks.

However, despite the CALM act, consumers continue to feel that commercials are out-shouting the rest of their content. Complaints continued through 2013, and so the FCC is tweaking their rule hopefully to end this problem once and for all.

In an update to the implementation of the CALM rule (PDF), the FCC has announced a change to the algorithm they use to measure loudness. Changing the algorithm will hopefully make advertising seem more quiet or, in the FCC’s words, they “hope that these changes will result in a modest decrease in the perceived loudness of certain commercials.”

The tweaked version of the rule goes into effect on June 4, 2015. In the meantime, if you happen to see particularly shouty commercials that really annoy you, you can report them to the FCC.

[via DSLReports]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Norwegian Cruise Line To Buy Two Upscale Brands, Remains Industry’s Third Largest In Size

(Patrick)

The cruise industry just got a little bit smaller now that three cruise brands have plans to become one.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced Tuesday that it reached a deal to purchase Oceania Cruises’ and Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ parent company Prestige Cruises International for $3.025 billion, USA Today reports.

The potential deal would provide mass-market line Norwegian a foothold in the upscale cruise line market. Both Oceania and Regent Seven Seas are known for their intimate and luxurious offerings.

Norwegian operates 13 large ships that carry as many as 5,000 passengers, while Oceania and Regent branded ships carry roughly 490 to 1,250 passengers. If the merger is successful Norwegian will operate a total of 21 ships.

Even with two new brands under its belt, Norwegian is a distant third when it comes to the cruise industry. Currently, Carnival Corp. controls half of the industry with 10 brands and 100 ships, while Royal Caribbean Cruises operates six brands and 42 ships.

The cruise industry has been marred by unfortunate headlines this year. In May, Norwegian’s own “Breakaway” cruise ship was stuck for hours in the Hudson River because it was unable to make it into port.

Prior to that incident, Royal Caribbean and Carnival each has ships return to port early because passengers fell ill.

Norwegian Cruise Line to buy Oceania, Regent Seven Seas [USA Today]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Former Countrywide CEO Still Says He Did No Wrong, Still Refers To Self In Third-Person

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Angelo Mozilo, the curiously orange-tinted former CEO of Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender during the housing boom; a mansion built on a swampland of toxic loans given out to just about anyone who applied. And even though Countrywide, a Worst Company In America winner, had to be bailed out by Bank of America — a deal that has since cost BofA at least $40 billion in settlements, penalties, write-downs, and legal fees — and even though Mozilo’s sunny mug will forever be seen as the face of the mortgage meltdown, he still doesn’t really see the problem. He also continues to refer to himself in the third person.

“No, no, no, we didn’t do anything wrong,” he tells Bloomberg about claims that Countrywide precipitated the housing market crisis by issuing loans for houses that were grotesquely overpriced to borrowers that could not possibly have paid the money back. “Countrywide or Mozilo didn’t cause any of that.”

Mozilo settled with the SEC back in 2010 for around $67 million but, like all other top financial execs responsible for the mortgage crisis, has escaped any criminal prosecution from a Justice Dept. that was too terrified of wreaking further havoc in the banking world.

With regard to reports that the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles is now planning to sue him for his misdeeds in the lead-up to the spectacular failure of Countrywide and its loan servicing portfolio that was once worth around $1.5 trillion, Mozilo tells Bloomberg, “You’ll have to ask those people, ‘What do you have against Mozilo, what did he do?’… Countrywide didn’t change. I didn’t change. The world changed.”

He says he’s being punished for running a successful company.

“Should Amazon be condemned for being the biggest in their space?” asks Mozilo, glossing over the fact that Amazon is selling books, DVDs, clothes, lamps, and mini-tanks. If Amazon suddenly got into the business of writing billions of dollars in worthless subprime mortgages which are then sold off to investors who aren’t told that they are buying bundles of crap, then yes… condemnation would be in order.

Mozilo can’t legally be the CEO of a corporation, but like the rest of the folks that should be in jail right now, he is doing just fine, living in a house that is probably much bigger than yours and occasionally teaching finance to college student in Italy.

“I taught them the basics of finance based on my own experiences,” he explains in a rare instance of using a first-person pronoun.

Here’s another famous crook who loved the sound of his own name (possibly NSFW).

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Dollar General Ups Bid For Family Dollar, Threatens To Take Quest For Merger Straight To Shareholders

(J.G. Park)

Less than a week after Dollar General officials said they weren’t giving up on a possible relationship with Family Dollar, the No. 1 dollar store made another attempt to woo its target by flashing a huge wad of cash – this time in a much more aggressive manner.

According to Reuters, Dollar General upped its bid to $9.1 billion and warned Family Dollar officials that the deal could turn hostile if the new offer is once again rejected.

Officials with Dollar General say they would “consider taking our persuasive and superior proposal directly to your shareholders” if Family Dollar refuses to engage in discussions.

In addition to increasing its bid from the previous $8.95 billion offer, Dollar General says it would pay a break-up fee of $500 million if antitrust law prevents the two retailers from merging.

Family Dollar cited “significant antitrust issues” in its rejection of Dollar General’s first bid. The North Carolina-based retailer instead said it would stick with an earlier $8.5 billion merger deal with Dollar Tree to create a company with more than 13,00 stores and annual revenues of $18 billion.

But Dollar General doesn’t like the sound of that and attempted to ease Family Dollar’s antitrust review worries on Tuesday by saying it would close 1,500 of the combined company’s 20,000 stores. Previously, Dollar General said it would close 700 stores.

The dollar store wars began back in July when Chesapeake, VA-based Dollar Tree announced it has struck a deal to purchase Family Dollar. Not one to feel left out, Dollar General entered the race with an unsolicited bid just a week later.

UPDATE 2-Dollar General sweetens Family Dollar bid, may go hostile [Reuters]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

American Airlines Fares Back On Orbitz After Everyone Agrees To Kiss And Make Up

(Can of Corn)

Feathers were flying, dust was stirred up and a general hullabaloo was underway when American Airlines and US Airways announced last week that they’d be pulling fares off travel booking site Orbitz.com. But now the tiff is over almost as quickly as it began, as the two sides have agreed to get back together.

Last week American pulled its fares from Orbitz.com and all its websites, saying it couldn’t agree to a new contract with the company. US Airways was set to remove its fares this week as well.

But the parties involved have come to an understanding, with American confirming that it signed a “letter of intent” with Orbitz to make way for a deal, and its fares went back on the site on Friday, reports the Chicago Tribune. US Airways fares remained on the site as well, the company said.

“The companies are working toward final agreements based on the letter of intent,” American said in a statement.

All tickets bought on Orbitz sites are still valid for travel, and travelers can once again change their flights through the sites.

“We are pleased that our long-standing relationship with American Airlines allowed us to quickly resolve business matters, and that we continue to offer a broad range of options, including American Airlines and US Airways flights, to the millions of shoppers who book travel on our global sites each day,” Sam Fulton, president of Orbitz.com, said in a statement.

American had a similar dispute with Expedia and Hotwire back in 2011 — and because time is a flat circle, what has happened before will probably happen again. As long as there’s money to be made, there are disputes to be had, after all.

American Airlines fares back on Orbitz after scuffle [Chicago Tribune]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Amazon UK Ruins Cat’s Birthday By Shipping Gift In An Envelope, Not A Box

Cats care about many things, ranging from sunbeams to food, but they don’t care very much about birthdays. They don’t seem to care whether it’s their birthday or not. However, when the creator of a line of cat-themed accessories contacted Amazon UK on the pretext that they had ruined her cat’s birthday by sending a gift in an envelope instead of a box, Amazon played along.

(Beth Wilson)

Beth’s cat Molly is very cute, and she got some fab toys for her first birthday. However, much to her owners’ dismay, the toys came in an envelope instead of a box. (Maybe the Stupid Shipping Gang phenomenon hasn’t crossed the Atlantic yet?) Boxes are very important to cats for some reason that no human will ever understand, so she reached out to Amazon using Twitter.

. @AmazonUK you ruined our cat's birthday, you delivered her gifts in an envelope not a box. Sad times!—

Doodlecats (@doodlecats) August 20, 2014

Since this is the Internet and a cute kitty was involved, Amazon got right on that.

@doodlecats How terrible of us! What's her name? Pass on your details here and we'll see if we can make it right: amzn.to/1h3tO5b—

Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) August 20, 2014

@AmazonHelp Her name is Molly, it's her first birthday tomorrow. Have got in touch! Sadly the other part of her gift hasn't turned up either—

Doodlecats (@doodlecats) August 20, 2014

Molly would not go giftless, if Amazon had anything to say about it. Which they did. Because that’s where her gift was ordered from.

@doodlecats Oh no! No play box and no gift? Was Customer Service able to offer options to sort this out? First birthdays are important! ^KR—

Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) August 20, 2014

Of course, the part where a shipped item was missing is much more important to Amazon than one cat’s lack of a box. The company and the customer exchanged e-mails behind the scenes. “I didn’t tell Molly,” Beth wrote. “I didn’t want to get her hopes up just for them to be dashed again.”

A few days later, on the doorstep, as promised…a fun toy. Oh, and some plastic thing with a ball that goes around a track.

The important thing here is that the toy came in a nice, big box.

Molly loves her @AmazonUK box http://t.co/7DPwibMV2O—

Doodlecats (@doodlecats) August 30, 2014

Molly and the birthday box [Beth Wilson]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

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