Best Buy Introduces Wedding Registries

(Ryan)

A few years ago, I thought it was hilarious when friends included a video game console and games on their wedding registry at Walmart. Was it, though? Most households would get more use out of a PS4 than a set of fancy china or a crystal punch bowl. That’s why it makes sense that Best Buy now offers wedding registries.

Before you picture newlyweds eating off paper plates in between Wii games, remember that Best Buy also sells appliances. The registry allows people to make group purchases, so a few of your friends could get together to buy a washing machine, stand mixer, or a TV for the couple. (While it is called a “Wedding” registry, it would make sense to use this service for gifts for a new home or a newly cohabiting couple.)

Best Buy’s head of gift strategy (which is an actual executive title) explained to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that registering for flatscreens instead of flatware makes sense for millennials as they form new households. [S]ome of the traditional [wedding registry] products like silverware and linens have migrated for millennials to digital products.

Part of the idea behind making registries available is to interest more women in shopping at Best Buy, since women typically take charge of the registry in opposite-sex couples.

Like other stores that offer wedding and baby registries, Best Buy will offer a “completion” coupon for 10% off when the couple purchases the remaining items on their registries.

Best Buy banks on gadgets trumping china with first wedding registry [Star-Tribune]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

California Authorities Stepping Up Efforts To Combat Cardboard Thefts

(The Joy of the Mundane)

While you’ve heard of people swiping copper pipes or hauling away scrap metal to trade it in for cold hard cash, perhaps not so familiar to many is the crime of stealing cardboard set out for recycling and trash collectors. In California, authorities are now trying to cut down on the thefts, which could end up costing residents and shopkeepers by way of higher collection rates.

“It’s big, big money — for somebody,” Steve Rivera, a senior investigator with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office who has been conducting sunrise surveillance to track, educate and cite the culprits told the Associated Press. “People don’t recognize the fact that it’s actually theft.”

Authorities are cracking down in the industrial suburbs east of Los Angeles at a time when peak cardboard prices is inspiring thieves to swipe valuable cardboard.

New York City has also fought such thefts in recent years, which can bring in anywhere from $100 to $200 per ton of cardboard.

The problem comes down to this: Waste haulers use the money they make from cashing in recyclables to offset the cost of collection. When they don’t make as much that way, they can push up rates for homeowners and businesses, experts say.

“Our industry loses millions of dollars a year due to cardboard,” said David Biderman, general counsel for the National Waste & Recycling Association. “One piece of cardboard by itself isn’t valuable. But customers often generate substantial volumes of it.”

It’s not illegal to collect cardboard left outside by a business or handed out by a shopkeeper for recycling under most state and local laws. But taking stuff from recycling bins left out at the curb is considered stealing from the local waste hauling company.

Officials in San Bernardino County have been citing offenders with misdemeanor petty theft, and have issued two citations so far. In that county, at least one waste collector is considering hiking its rates.

“We can’t absorb it completely as a company,” said the president of one company of the profits lost by the thefts. “If it continues, the return value of the material has to go down, and therefore it increases the cost of that recycling container.”

California authorities crack down on cardboard theft [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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Comcast Accidentally Receives Customer’s Rent Check, Cashes It Anyway

When a 79-year-old Comcast customer accidentally included her rent check with her Comcast bill, not only did the cable company cash the check — which was more than 10 times the amount of her bill and was made out to someone else — but it also refused to issue her a refund when it acknowledged the goof.

Instead, the woman tells KRQE-TV, Comcast offered to credit her the $235 rent check to her account. Since her monthly cable bill is only $20.69, that amounts to more than 11 months of service.

But that won’t help the elderly customer on a fixed income who had to scrape together another $235 to make her rent payment.

A rep for Comcast explained to KRQE that this happened because no humans at Comcast actually look at the checks they receive. The payments are just processed automatically. She admitted that similar mistakes have occurred before but claims the company has remedied those situations quickly.

Of course that doesn’t explain why that didn’t happen in this case or why Comcast — which can afford to spend $45 billion to acquire 10 million Time Warner Cable customers — couldn’t simply send the customer a check for $235.

Comcast says it has reached out to the customer to apologize and rectify the situation. The company is also planning to talk to the employee who told the customer she couldn’t get a refund.

Hey, at least that employee didn’t change her name to “A**hole.”

In the end — and once again, only after the media got involved — Comcast issued the customer a refund check and kept the $235 credit on her bill.

Maybe the customer should have just called the Comcast CEO’s mom.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Looking To Untie That Knot? Hotel Offers $5K Divorce Weekend Getaway Package

(Sister 72)

Falling into love and get married can be so much fun, but often, the reverse isn’t quite a blast. That is, unless you and your formerly beloved decide to untie the knot with a nice, relaxing weekend getaway, so you can celebrate permanently getting away from each other.

Couples basically check in on Friday married and check out on Monday divorced, reports the New York Post. The paper followed a couple’s weekend stay at the so-called “DivorceHotel,” the Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa in Upstate New York.

For $5,000, couples seeking to untie the knot get separate accommodations for two nights, a designated lawyer for each party and a mediator to draw up divorce papers.

Then there’s a welcome basket with dark chocolate, red wine and an information packet about the hotel. You can get separate spa treatments, enjoy cozy fireside drinks and basically just hang out happy that you’re about to be single again.

The concept started with a Dutch Company called DivorceHotel. This New York hotel is the first U.S. location to offer the quickie divorce package.

While four couples have gotten divorced there since the launch in September 2014, it doesn’t sound like this place is ideal for just nay divorce.

“It’s for people who are pretty civilized and without complex financial matters,” says one divorce attorney. “You go in married, you come out single — it’s magic.”

Couples leave the premises with a legally binding agreement, with divorce papers taking about a week to be finalized.

“We laughed. We had a few drinks,” says the woman.

“This is the best weekend we’ve had in years,” agreed her ex.

‘I checked into the divorce hotel — to check out of my marriage!’ [New York Post]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Users Complain Of Rashes From Fitbit Charge, Told To Air Out Their Wrists

It was thirteen months ago that we heard the first reports of serious skin problems caused by the Fitbit Force wristband. Since then, Fitbit has introduced a new generation of trackers and fitness watches, adding a pretty strong warning label to them about the possibility of allergic reactions. The new batch of products has led to a new batch of complaints.

One group of co-workers are well positioned to notice common problems with the new trackers, since they all received them from their employer as a holiday gift. Two people in the same office noticed rashes on the wrist where they wear the tracker, and took their concerns to TV station KGO. They say that they contacted Fitbit, the company apologized and asked whether the users needed to see a doctor.

Fitbit explained to KGO’s Michael Finney in a statement that the company changed factors that they suspected caused skin irritation issues with the Force: they used less of a certain adhesive, and the new trackers also contain less nickel than the Force. Users are also warned that wearing the band too tight or getting moisture under it may cause skin problems. Yet the people complaining to KGO of issues say that they kept their wrists clean, their bands loose, and their skin dry. Users of both new bands, the Charge and Surge, complain of skin irritation.

If you encounter problems with a fitness tracker of any brand, contact the company with your complaints, and be sure to file an incident report with the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

7 ON YOUR SIDE: FITBIT RELEASES NEW TRACKERS, RASH PROBLEM REMAINS [KGO]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Facebook Adds Features To Let Users Control What Happens To Accounts After Death

In a reversal from its past stance that all it would do is freeze a user’s account upon death and “memorialize it,” Facebook says it will now allow users to designate a “legacy contact” to have some control over their pages, or otherwise designate what they’d like to happen to their accounts after they’ve passed. Or, you can tell Facebook just to shut the account down for good.

The new legacy feature is rolling out for all U.S. users today, and will let people choose their legacy contact to manage their account when they die. That person won’t be able to read private messages or post as the deceased user, but will be able to pin posts to display at the top of the memorialized timeline, respond to new friend requests and update the profile picture and photo, Facebook announced in a newsroom post today.

Users can also give their legacy contact permission to download an archive of photos, posts and profile information they’d shared on Facebook.

Everything else will remain the same, though the word “Remembering” will also be added above the user’s name once a family member or friend alerts Facebook that the person has passed away.

You can also choose to have Facebook permanently delete your account upon death.

To choose a legacy contact: Go to Settings > Security > Legacy Contact (at the bottom of the page). Choose your person, and you’ll have an option to send them a message to give them a heads up.

“Our team at Facebook is grateful and humbled to be working on these improvements,” the post ends. “We hope this work will help people experience loss with a greater sense of possibility, comfort and support.”

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Costco To Stop Accepting American Express In 2016

(m01229)

It’s been rumored for months that Costco and American Express would eventually end their exclusive relationship, allowing members of the warehouse club to use other cards. Now AmEx has confirmed that the deal will indeed come to an end in early 2016.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Costco/AmEx arrangement is slated to terminate on March 31, 2016.

“Taking a very disciplined approach, we began discussions on a possible renewal with Costco well in advance of the contract expiration,” explains AmEx CEO Kenneth Chenault in a statement. “However, we were unable to reach terms that would have made economic sense for our company and shareholders.”

Costco and AmEx have already parted ways in Canada, where the wholesaler replaced its store-branded American Express card with a Capital One MasterCard. The company has reportedly been negotiating with CapOne and MasterCard to do the same for its U.S. stores.

As we pointed out in November, while the AmEx exclusivity deal likely had kept Costco’s payment processing charges down by only having the single card network, it also severely limited the number of members who could pay with plastic.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

United Blames Ridiculously Cheap First-Class Fares On Software Glitch, Won’t Honor Those Tickets

(afagen)

Yesterday, a travel blogger figured out that by changing United Airlines’ online booking page to Denmark, travelers could take advantage of what appeared to be a crazy conversion rate to buy super cheap tickets between London and Newark. But what do they say when something seems too good to be true? Yup. It probably is: United now says it won’t be honoring those fares, blaming a third-party software provider.

Some travel sites breathlessly reported the run-around, wherein users would switch their home country Denmark, with varying results — some got London to Newark in first class for a few hundred Danish kroner, or around $44, when it usually costs upwards of $8,000 to do so.

But it seems United caught on pretty quickly, as others who tried later in the day to see what would happen found Denmark had vanished from the list of available countries, and fares were back to normal.

United announced last night that it had identified the problem, and would be voiding all those tickets:

“United is voiding the bookings of several thousand individuals who were attempting to take advantage of an error a third-party software provider made when it applied an incorrect currency exchange rate, despite United having properly filed its fares. Most of these bookings were for travel originating in the United Kingdom, and the level of bookings made with Danish Kroner as the local currency was significantly higher than normal during the limited period that customers made these bookings.”

United is no stranger to glitchiness getting customers; hopes up: It accidentally sold $0 to $10 fares in September 2013, but decided to honor those fares, only to turn around in October 2013 with another glitchy incident and not honor those tickets. Hang on, let’s not forget the July 2012 incident, either. Customers were out of luck that time, too. You just keep breaking our hearts, United. Right before Valentine’s Day and everything.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Expedia Continues Taking Out Competition With $1.6B Purchase Of Orbitz

Expedia appears to be enjoying a shopping spree of epic proportions this year. Less than a month after the online travel agency bought rival Travelocity, it’s taking out another competitor by purchasing Orbitz for $1.6 billion.

Bloomberg reports that the transaction, which is valued at $12 a share, brings brands such as CheapTickets, bookers and HotelClub under the Expedia umbrella.

Washington-based Expedia’s recent purchases are a sign the company is bulking up against competitors like travel site behemoth Priceline, which also closed several mergers last year.

Orbitz, which is the smallest online travel company without the benefit of economies of scale, began exploring a sale and reaching out to potential buyers last month, Bloomberg reports.

Expedia’s previous deal to purchase Travelocity came with a $280 million price tag. The two companies had previously been working together since 2013.

Expedia to Buy Orbitz for $1.6 Billion to Take On Priceline [Bloomberg]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist