News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
If you own a GM vehicle, especially one that’s under warranty or belongs to a soon-to-be discontinued brand, here are some answers on how the bankruptcy will affect you. On the plus side, if you’re up to taking a little risk you can probably get some good deals. All I can say is that I’ve had my Chevy truck for nearly 10 years, and I bought it used. Definitely got my money’s worth.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
A journalist went “undercover” at a local Wal-Mart to see just how bad of an employer it really was. To his surprise, it was a positive experience. From my time at UPS, I know that labor unions absolutely hate Wal-Mart, so I was a bit surprised as well.
Link: http://www.nypost.com/…
(via Neatorama)
Quiznos is giving out a million coupons for free subs, today. Go to this link to sign up for a coupon.
When I call tech/customer support, it’s usually for an issue not covered by the automated phone system or the company’s website. So I need to speak with a human being. One strategy to skip past the automated system is to repeatedly press zero, but that doesn’t always work. Which is where the gethuman database comes in—it has specific instructions on how to reach a human being at a variety of companies.
Link: http://www.gethuman.com/
January was a good month for class action lawsuit settlements. Some of them have very broad participation requirements.
It doesn’t pay to be a repeat customer at certain online stores. Some internet shopping sites charge different amounts for the same product, based on whether you’ve previously done business with them. It’s possible to get significant discounts simply by deleting your browser’s cookies.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
When shopping for sheets, I just assumed that higher thread counts were better. This is not necessarily the case, and some thread counts are outright deceptive.
Link: http://home.howstuffworks.com/…
(via Lifehacker)
You may be in trouble if your credit card bill has an unexpected 25¢ charge from “Adele Services”.
Link: http://www.boston.com/…
(via Kim Komando)
When buying over the internet, if the seller asks you to pay via wire transfer, then it’s most likely a scam. This is because wire transfers cannot be canceled or disputed. The best practice is to use a credit card for internet purchases.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
US citizens are entitled to a free yearly credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies. The official site for this is www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Do not confuse this with www.FreeCreditReport.com, which tries its best to separate you from your money.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
Politicians have been fuming for years over the significant amount of sales tax lost to internet sales. Case law states that an internet business must have a physical presence in the state in order to be forced to collect sales tax for that state. In the case where the sales tax is not collected by the business, a use tax usually applies. But individual consumers rarely pay use taxes for internet purchases.
The state of New York believes it has found a loophole. Some online retailers, such as Amazon, have affiliate programs. If Chad’s News was an Amazon affiliate, for example, I would have special links on my site to Amazon products, and I’d receive a percentage of any sales made via someone clicking on those links. New York legislators contends that my (theoretical) status as an affiliate constitutes a physical presence, and (if I lived in New York) allows them to require Amazon to collect sales tax. It’s convoluted. Expect court challenges.
Link #1: http://www.internetnews.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Link #2: http://www.news.com/…
A class action lawsuit has been brought against members of the DeBeers Group for inflating the price of diamonds. You can get part of the settlement if you belong to this group: “All persons located in the United States who purchased any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006.”
Link: https://diamondsclassaction.com/
(via The Consumerist)
