Disgruntled Wet Seal Employees Post List Of Grievances In Store Window

(via Reddit)

If there’s a handwritten sign in your store’s window penned by employees, odds are it’s not a glowing review. Adding to the rolls of disgruntled workers airing grievances in public are workers at a Wet Seal in a Seattle mall, who posted a list of alleged wrongdoings against the floundering retailer.

As seen on Reddit, the complaints are laid out on a long yellow sheet of paper, positioned right next to a sign crowing “Entire Store 70% Off Sale.”

And if that stock discount isn’t enough of a sign of a struggling business, the tally of complaints doesn’t prove promising for Wet Seal either, which is trying to reinvent itself in the face of continuing losses:

The alleged mistreatment against ostensibly former Wet Seal workers includes boxes next to each item with a checkmark:

• Unused vacation & sick time unpaid (19 weeks blacked out… Impossible to get approval anyways!)

• One days notice to find new jobs

* Store Manager — 8 years with company

* Assistant Manager – 7 years with company

* Assistant Manager — 4 years with company, mother of 2, student

* 2 associates — 4+ years with company

* 2 associates – 3+ years with company, student

* Newest hire — 4 weeks & missing paycheck

• No transfers to open stores — can apply & interview if interested

• “Financial Hardship” but CFO receives $95,000 raise

(5-year employee received first rase this year from minimum wage of 16 cents)

•Celebrate success? This location #1 YTD in district

• Thank you to our loyal (and hopefully former) customers!

The sign urges others to “make your voices heard!!!” with hashtags like #ForgetWetSeal and #BoycottWetSeal. In the meantime, it appears someone has also made use of the rather convenient, though conjurer of sad things hashtag of #ClubWetSeal.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Netflix Announces “Recommended TV” Evaluation Program

Netflix announcing the Recommended TV program at the LG press conference earlier today.

Since its inception, Netflix has been trying to personalize content recommendations for users, but it’s remained relatively neutral about which devices you should actually watch this content on. But today the company announced the launch of a “Recommended TV” program that will single out certain brands and models of smart TVs that Netflix believes offer the best options for viewers.

The program was announced in conjunction with the LG press conference at International CES in Las Vegas this morning.

““We’’ve created the Netflix Recommended TV program to help consumers identify smart TVs that offer better performance, easier menu navigation and new features that improve the experience for Internet TV services,’’” said Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix. ““When you see a TV with the Netflix Recommended TV logo, it means that TV will provide an excellent Netflix experience, based on criteria our members tell us matter most.’’”

While the launch was announced at the LG conference, Netflix says that the first line-up of Recommended sets will include multiple manufacturers, like Sony, Sharp and VIZIO. It will also include the Roku TVs that were introduced at CES in 2014.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Morgan Stanley Fires Employee Accused Of Stealing Data From Up To 350K Clients, Posting Some Info Online

(Julio Marquez)

Another day, another bank reveals that client information was leaked where it shouldn’t have gone leaking: Morgan Stanley notified authorities and fired an employee accused of stealing data from up to 350,000 wealth-management clients and allegedly posting some of that information online.

The bank said that although account numbers were stolen among other info, it doesn’t appear that clients lost any money, reports Bloomberg News. Social Security numbers and passwords were not included in the leak, Morgan Stanley says.

Morgan Stanley said it found account information for about 900 clients on an external website and “promptly” had it removed. It’s believed that the employee might’ve been trying to sell the stolen information, a person close to the investigation told Bloomberg, but so far there’s no evidence that a third party received it, or if anyone accessed the website.

“Morgan Stanley takes extremely seriously its responsibility to safeguard client data, and is working with the appropriate authorities to conduct and conclude a thorough investigation of this incident,” the company said in the statement.

The bank said it’ll be notifying anyone who might have been affected, around 10% of its wealth-management customers in all, as well as enhancing security for those accounts.

Morgan Stanley Fires Employee Accused of Stealing Client Data [Bloomberg News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

LG Claims Its Newest Curvy Smartphone Is Tougher Than The First One

Last year, LG (or as I still call it, Lucky Goldstar) revealed its curved G Flex smartphone, which got some press but didn’t help the company overtake Apple or Samsung in the market and didn’t lead to a slew of imitators. But LG isn’t giving in, launching the G Flex 2, which it claims is both curvier and tougher than its predecessor.

According to LG, the reason for the curves is more than aesthetic. It brings phones back to the ergonomic devices that landline headsets were becoming before they got steamrolled by the cellphone revolution. The microphone is intended to be closer to the user’s mouth, improving sound quality and reducing background interference.

Interestingly, LG isn’t going the phablet route with this device, keeping the screen to 5.5″. Of course, that screen is now 1080p and uses an OLED display. The company believes that the curved form makes it easier to grip the device for viewing video.

And while it might seem like a curved phone would be more fragile than its straight-line competition, LG maintains that it actually improves the device’s durability, making the screen less prone to cracking and generally improving the phone’s strength. According to the company, the G Flex 2 is 30% more durable than the G Flex.

The Flex 2 also improves on the previous version’s self-healing back. LG says that it now only takes seconds for scratches to disappear, as opposed to minutes or hours.

Again, we haven’t gotten our hands on this phone to judge any of these statements. But we will as soon as the show floor opens tomorrow morning.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

LG Figures Out What To Do With Washing Machine Pedestals — Put A Small Washer In Them

For years, washing machine makers have been upselling consumers on pricey but pretty much useless pedestals to put under their front-loading machines. At best, these products have been expensive metal drawers that save your back by forcing you to not bend over as far. But this morning at International CES, LG introduced a novel idea — stick a smaller washing machine in the pedestal.

So users of the new devices would be able to do two loads (or really, one and a half) at the same time. LG is pushing the mini washer as a good place to put your delicates or when you really need to keep your bright red T-shirt away from your crisp white work short.

And for the busy family that is constantly doing laundry, it could be a time-saver, claims LG.

What’s nice is that this appears to be a standalone product that can be added to any existing LG front-loading machine. So you can replace that basically useless pedestal you’re using now and gain washing capacity without having to buy an entirely new main machine.

Of course, we don’t yet know what this will cost or whether it will perform well at doing what’s most important — cleaning your clothes — so right now it’s a good idea that we expect others to follow.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Study Shocks No One By Revealing That We Snack A Lot At Work

(Caleb Sommerville)

Anyone who works somewhere with other people around know that it’s pretty much impossible to avoid snacking on the job, what with all those horrible free cupcakes and the endless parade of homemade baked goods. It is anathema to those trying to eat things that are not laden with sugar and fat. Which is why no one around here is surprised to hear that a study finds workplace snacking is the downfall of dieters.

After all, many adults spend many hours chained to a desk or otherwise marooned in a workspace, during which time, you’ve gotta eat at some point.

Or at all the points: Because we can squirrel away tidbits and treats in the corners of a desk or office, snacking all day is far from hard, says a study done by Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University and author of Slim By Design, reports USA Today.

In his research, participants ate on average 2.2 more pieces of chocolate when the candy was in clear jars instead of opaque, and 1.8 more pieces when the candy was placed near their desk as opposed to across the room.

The siren song of the communal candy dish can often prove too strong to overpower the urge to be healthy, so get those treats in an opaque bowl and as far away from you as possible.

USA Today spoke to a nutritionist who advised stocking up on lots of whole foods instead of processed stuff, and healthy choices like nuts, seeds and trail mix. And then your stomach was like, “Yeah, but I want chocolate and white cheddar popcorn, so shut up.”

Most insidious diet breaker: snacks at your desk [USA Today]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

GM Will Use OnStar To Zap Coupons Into Your Car

(DebMomOf3)

OnStar is General Motors’ in-car information service that does everything for you from call for help when it detects an accident to offering the kind of information and directions that most people now get from our smartphones. Now GM has a new offering to tempt new GM owners to subscribe to OnStar: special location-based coupons beamed right to their vehicles.

Wait…doesn’t that sound more like a marketing effort than an OnStar perk? Well, OnStar already lets drivers know about active recalls for their vehicles, so coffee coupons are almost as useful. The company has signed early deals for the service with Dunkin’ Donuts and, more importantly, Priceline, which allows the user to make reservations directly using the OnStar system.

Dunkin’ Donuts, which will offer coupons to customers who are already headed to a Dunkin’ Donuts, having selected it in the car’s navigation system. We can’t think of a more exciting and targeted way to connect with our guests than when they are in their vehicles looking for a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant,” a Dunkin’ Donuts executive is quoted saying in GM’s announcement. “We’ll bring value to GM drivers while driving those consumers to our stores with instant incentives.” Weren’t those customers already driving to a Dunkin’ Donuts store?

It’s the Priceline partnership that’s the most interesting, since it’s designed to get the business of traveling OnStar users who are looking for a hotel. Priceline says that customers making same-day reservations from their cars while driving is a growing segment of their business.

GM will demonstrate the service at CES in Vegas later this week, and the service will roll out to users in real life early this year.

With GM’s AtYourService, cars are now rolling billboards [The Verge]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

U.S. To Accept Irish Beef Imports Again, 15 Years After Mad Cow Scare

(Meneer Dijk)

Americans loooove stuff from Ireland — rolling green hills, thatched roof cottages, saint’s days that give you an excuse to binge drink… But for the last 15 years, Irish beef has definitely not been one of them, after the mad cow scare that rocked Europe and ended beef imports into the U.S. from the countries affected. Until now, as the United States says it’ll start accepting imported beef from Ireland soon.

It’ll be the first European Union state that’s been given the go-ahead to sell beef in this country again since mad cow made everyone mad at foreign beef back around the turn of this century, notes the Associated Press.

Ireland’s minister for agriculture, food and the marine, Simon Coveney, issued a statement today saying that American authorities had inspected Ireland’s beef production systems and signaled that everything was ready to go for exporting to the States.

Irish officials estimate that annual exports could be worth at least Monday announcing that access to the lucrative U.S. market came after American authorities inspected Ireland’s beef production systems. Authorities estimate annual exports could be worth at leas t€25 million euros, around $30 million.

The ban was actually for the EU back in March, but it’s taken this long for the necessary inspections to take place before exports could start.

US to resume first beef imports from Ireland since mad cow [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Etihad Passengers Claim They Were Stuck In Plane On The Tarmac For 12 Hours

(Kentaro IEMOTO@Tokyo)

Anyone can get crank when it’s time to eat and there’s no food in sight. But hundreds of passengers claiming they were stuck on an airplane sitting on the tarmac for 12 hours with reportedly little to no food were beyond cranky yesterday when an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco turned into a 28-hour ordeal.

Reports from passengers say the plane sat in the middle of the runway waiting to leave Abu Dhabi for 12 hours without a scrap to eat, reports the Associated Press, with tempers flaring yesterday during the fog delay. The plane eventually took off for its 16-hour flight to San Francisco.

People on board said the flight crew chalked up to a crowded airport crippled by the poor visibility the fog brought to the situation.

“They kept telling us that we were going to leave, you know 15 minutes from now, 20 minutes from now, 30 minutes for now, for 12 hours,” one passenger said.

Others took to Twitter to air their grievances, some who claimed missing luggage when they finally arrived after a 16-hour flight and 12-hour tarmac wait:

Hey @EtihadAirways, I've been sitting on EY 183 in Abu Dhabi for 10 hours now. THIS IS NOT OK. There are kids and seniors on this flight.

— Ravali Reddy (@ravaliareddy) January 3, 2015

A horrible experience with flight EY183 from Abu Dhabi to SFO on 3 Jan. 28 hr flight with 1 meal and missing baggage #etihadairways #etihad

— Abhishek Latthe (@Abhishek_Latthe) January 4, 2015

Etihad’s web site blamed “severe fog disruption” for the delay, but hasn’t said much so far about why passengers were allegedly stranded that long without food.

“Etihad Airways apologises to its passengers for the inconvenience that this major disruption has caused and thanks them for their patience during these extremely challenging few days,” the airline said in a statement.

It added on Twitter:

We apologise for the serious inconvenience that these events have caused, which have been beyond our control. 8/8

— Etihad Airways (@EtihadAirways) January 4, 2015

The United States Department of Transportation has rules regarding tarmac delays, of course — domestic carriers can’t leave passengers on a tarmac for more than three hours, for example — but the rule guiding foreign airlines simply simply requires those carriers to develop “carriers operating to or from the U.S. with at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats to adopt and adhere to tarmac delay contingency plans.” (PDF)

Passengers stuck on Etihad plane for 28 hours after fog delays flight [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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