Man Collects $200,000 In Box Tops To Raise Money For Schools, But Did He Cheat?

Scott is just one of many brands participating in the Box Tops for Education program.

Where do you draw the line between being industrious and being a cheat? That’s the question the folks at Scott are working through after a Brooklyn man, attempting to get the most out of a school fundraising promotion, submitted around $200,000 worth of box tops to the company.

At the heart of that question is just how much help the man received from a local wholesaler who was able to supply several thousand of those Box Tops for Education coupons — worth up to $.50 each for the school of the donor’s choice.

“I feel this is a just cause. Everything was done by the book. There was no monkey business,” the man tells the NY Daily News. “We had a team of parents helping. I created a network. People were excited. We were working hard thinking we would get this big donation.”

He also claims that he only sent in around 75,000 box tops, a significantly smaller number than the 300,000 Scott says it counted.

The man, who was trying to raise funds for four private Jewish schools in the area, says that he located the wholesaler, who then provided him with any unused wrappings that contained the Box Top coupon.

“He buys truckloads and repackages them,” says the man. “He supplies the bodegas and throws out all the packaging.”

When Scott received the garbage bags full of coupons last year, it began investigating.

“We had such an extraordinarily high number of coupons redeemed by one person,” says a Scott rep, adding that the company has hired a private investigator to research the matter. “We still need to figure out if the coupons were gathered appropriately.

Until we are comfortable with verifying how this was obtained we are not in a position to pay.”

The wholesaler who provided the coupons for the fundraiser fears that if he outs himself to Scott, the company could drop him as a customer, hurting his business.

“I was trying to do this as a charity,” he explains. “Once they sell me the product, we can do whatever we want with it.”

The Daily News spoke to the rabbis of two of the schools that would receive funds from the collected coupons, and they appear to be divided in their view of this issue. One called it an “illegal campaign” while the other says, “more power to him. He did it trying to help the school.”

Thanks to Dov for the tip!

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Hotmail Going The Way Of The Dinosaur As Microsoft Opens Outlook To The Public

Hotmail, we hardly knew ye.

I remember the giddiness of being freed from the yoke of a paid AOL membership, ready to choose my very own email address instead of the one my dad had set up. I probably searched AltaVista or asked Jeeves before finding I could set up a free account at Hotmail.com. It was a heady feeling, one of liberation and unbounded email opportunities. Fast forward to the present, when those still faithful to Hotmail are no doubt mourning its impending demise.

Nowadays it’s a source of comedic joy to giggle at a friend who doesn’t have a Gmail account, or a guy who gives you his email ending with “@hotmail.com” (“Really? Please!). In order to compete in that more Hotmail-deriding world, Microsoft has released Outlook.com to the general public in a move that will shift its email services away from Hotmail.

Users with a Hotmail account will still be able use those addresses, but they’ll be accessed through Outlook’s cloud, notes the Los Angeles Times. Microsoft had a hard think about this move before unveiling it, say company executives.

“It’s not a light brand decision,” said Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of product management for Outlook.com and SkyDrive. “I don’t know of any other company that has hundreds of thousands of users and has changed the brand name. But this is something new, an opportunity to set us up for the future.”

Despite the fact that pals may snicker over a Hotmail email address, there are still 300 million users of the service, says Microsoft. That’s not too bad, considering Google says Gmail has 425 million users. It all came down to the fact that Microsoft needs to have one email service to present to users, and “Outlook equals email for Microsoft.”

In a fit of nostalgia I tried to access my old Hotmail account and was told there’d been too many attempts to access it so I’m locked out. If only I could remember the security question I set up years ago or still had my first cell phone, I could reset my password and relive my glory days of emailing questionnaires about my favorite colors, songs and what kind of guy I liked.

Microsoft opens Outlook.com to public as Hotmail brand shuts down [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

I Want Toys ‘R’ Us Protection Plan Help, Manager Threatens To Call Cops

Not working.

It wasn’t very long ago at all that Esdras went to Toys ‘R’ Us and bought a tablet for his son. Barely four months ago, he picked up the KD Interactive Android tablet, along with a protection plan. A protection plan is generally a good idea when you combine a toddler and an electronic device, even if it is one designed especially for kids. Where Esdras got confused, though, was when the cashier gave him incorrect instructions regarding the protection plan. Just bring the item back if he had any problems, he was told. No plan brochure, no details, nothing.

Esdras says that he was told to just bring it back. Only that’s not how the Toys ‘R’ Us protection plan works. Something went very wrong, and store staff ultimately blame Esdras. Esdras blames the clerk. We’re not sure who the clerk blames. Probably Geoffrey the Giraffe.

Back in October 29. 2012 I purchased a KD interactive Tablet for my son from the ToysRUs store in [redacted] with the protection plan. As a rewards members, I have spent several hundred dollars over the past five years for my kids [at this particular store] and when purchasing this tablet it was no different from other times. The clerk simply stated, bring the item back if you have any issues and we will take care of for you under the protection plan.

No pamphlet, no further instructions, just my receipt.

Well, lo and behold, the tablet stopped working for my son and I decided to go back to the store for assistance. When approaching the counter, the young lady decides to give me a lecture on having to register my product through a website and file any claims through that site and not the store. I told her what the clerk had told me and she absolutely refused to handle anything and instead decided to call the “manager”.

The manager heard my plea and all he did was give the the brochure on how it works and told me to register the claim through there. So far so good? NO!!! When I asked for them to print my receipt for me, the manager then proceeded to walk away from the counter stating I was harassing them by asking for that and said he would call the police! I said, how do I register the product without the receipt, to which he said “that is your problem!”

Needless to say I walked away and trying to get a hold of anyone from the district has been as useless as finding a needle in a haystack.

Shame on these people. A quick search for my Toyrus charges in the financial bookeeping software addition came up with over $1800 in purchases including our baby “stuff” over the last 24 months only to be treated like this by some kid in that store.

Never again will I ever purchase anything from TOYSRUS!

It helps to back up and figure out what the problem is that Toys ‘R’ Us needs to solve. Is it “I need a new tablet” or “the cashier who helped me back in October did not explain how to sign up for the protection plan”? Regular customer service (1-800-869-7787) might be able to help with that if you have the receipt at home. Other customers have found help from the social media representatives on the chain’s Facebook page.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Man Collects $200,000 In Box Tops To Raise Money For Schools, But Did He Cheat?

Scott is just one of many brands participating in the Box Tops for Education program.

Where do you draw the line between being industrious and being a cheat? That’s the question the folks at Scott are working through after a Brooklyn man, attempting to get the most out of a school fundraising promotion, submitted around $200,000 worth of box tops to the company.

At the heart of that question is just how much help the man received from a local wholesaler who was able to supply several thousand of those Box Tops for Education coupons — worth up to $.50 each for the school of the donor’s choice.

“I feel this is a just cause. Everything was done by the book. There was no monkey business,” the man tells the NY Daily News. “We had a team of parents helping. I created a network. People were excited. We were working hard thinking we would get this big donation.”

He also claims that he only sent in around 75,000 box tops, a significantly smaller number than the 300,000 Scott says it counted.

The man, who was trying to raise funds for four private Jewish schools in the area, says that he located the wholesaler, who then provided him with any unused wrappings that contained the Box Top coupon.

“He buys truckloads and repackages them,” says the man. “He supplies the bodegas and throws out all the packaging.”

When Scott received the garbage bags full of coupons last year, it began investigating.

“We had such an extraordinarily high number of coupons redeemed by one person,” says a Scott rep, adding that the company has hired a private investigator to research the matter. “We still need to figure out if the coupons were gathered appropriately.

Until we are comfortable with verifying how this was obtained we are not in a position to pay.”

The wholesaler who provided the coupons for the fundraiser fears that if he outs himself to Scott, the company could drop him as a customer, hurting his business.

“I was trying to do this as a charity,” he explains. “Once they sell me the product, we can do whatever we want with it.”

The Daily News spoke to the rabbis of two of the schools that would receive funds from the collected coupons, and they appear to be divided in their view of this issue. One called it an “illegal campaign” while the other says, “more power to him. He did it trying to help the school.”

Thanks to Dov for the tip!

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Hotmail Going The Way Of The Dinosaur As Microsoft Opens Outlook To The Public

Hotmail, we hardly knew ye.

I remember the giddiness of being freed from the yoke of a paid AOL membership, ready to choose my very own email address instead of the one my dad had set up. I probably searched AltaVista or asked Jeeves before finding I could set up a free account at Hotmail.com. It was a heady feeling, one of liberation and unbounded email opportunities. Fast forward to the present, when those still faithful to Hotmail are no doubt mourning its impending demise.

Nowadays it’s a source of comedic joy to giggle at a friend who doesn’t have a Gmail account, or a guy who gives you his email ending with “@hotmail.com” (“Really? Please!). In order to compete in that more Hotmail-deriding world, Microsoft has released Outlook.com to the general public in a move that will shift its email services away from Hotmail.

Users with a Hotmail account will still be able use those addresses, but they’ll be accessed through Outlook’s cloud, notes the Los Angeles Times. Microsoft had a hard think about this move before unveiling it, say company executives.

“It’s not a light brand decision,” said Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of product management for Outlook.com and SkyDrive. “I don’t know of any other company that has hundreds of thousands of users and has changed the brand name. But this is something new, an opportunity to set us up for the future.”

Despite the fact that pals may snicker over a Hotmail email address, there are still 300 million users of the service, says Microsoft. That’s not too bad, considering Google says Gmail has 425 million users. It all came down to the fact that Microsoft needs to have one email service to present to users, and “Outlook equals email for Microsoft.”

In a fit of nostalgia I tried to access my old Hotmail account and was told there’d been too many attempts to access it so I’m locked out. If only I could remember the security question I set up years ago or still had my first cell phone, I could reset my password and relive my glory days of emailing questionnaires about my favorite colors, songs and what kind of guy I liked.

Microsoft opens Outlook.com to public as Hotmail brand shuts down [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

I Want Toys ‘R’ Us Protection Plan Help, Manager Threatens To Call Cops

Not working.

It wasn’t very long ago at all that Esdras went to Toys ‘R’ Us and bought a tablet for his son. Barely four months ago, he picked up the KD Interactive Android tablet, along with a protection plan. A protection plan is generally a good idea when you combine a toddler and an electronic device, even if it is one designed especially for kids. Where Esdras got confused, though, was when the cashier gave him incorrect instructions regarding the protection plan. Just bring the item back if he had any problems, he was told. No plan brochure, no details, nothing.

Esdras says that he was told to just bring it back. Only that’s not how the Toys ‘R’ Us protection plan works. Something went very wrong, and store staff ultimately blame Esdras. Esdras blames the clerk. We’re not sure who the clerk blames. Probably Geoffrey the Giraffe.

Back in October 29. 2012 I purchased a KD interactive Tablet for my son from the ToysRUs store in [redacted] with the protection plan. As a rewards members, I have spent several hundred dollars over the past five years for my kids [at this particular store] and when purchasing this tablet it was no different from other times. The clerk simply stated, bring the item back if you have any issues and we will take care of for you under the protection plan.

No pamphlet, no further instructions, just my receipt.

Well, lo and behold, the tablet stopped working for my son and I decided to go back to the store for assistance. When approaching the counter, the young lady decides to give me a lecture on having to register my product through a website and file any claims through that site and not the store. I told her what the clerk had told me and she absolutely refused to handle anything and instead decided to call the “manager”.

The manager heard my plea and all he did was give the the brochure on how it works and told me to register the claim through there. So far so good? NO!!! When I asked for them to print my receipt for me, the manager then proceeded to walk away from the counter stating I was harassing them by asking for that and said he would call the police! I said, how do I register the product without the receipt, to which he said “that is your problem!”

Needless to say I walked away and trying to get a hold of anyone from the district has been as useless as finding a needle in a haystack.

Shame on these people. A quick search for my Toyrus charges in the financial bookeeping software addition came up with over $1800 in purchases including our baby “stuff” over the last 24 months only to be treated like this by some kid in that store.

Never again will I ever purchase anything from TOYSRUS!

It helps to back up and figure out what the problem is that Toys ‘R’ Us needs to solve. Is it “I need a new tablet” or “the cashier who helped me back in October did not explain how to sign up for the protection plan”? Regular customer service (1-800-869-7787) might be able to help with that if you have the receipt at home. Other customers have found help from the social media representatives on the chain’s Facebook page.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Man Collects $200,000 In Box Tops To Raise Money For Schools, But Did He Cheat? Chris Morran

Scott is just one of many brands participating in the Box Tops for Education program.

Where do you draw the line between being industrious and being a cheat? That’s the question the folks at Scott are working through after a Brooklyn man, attempting to get the most out of a school fundraising promotion, submitted around $200,000 worth of box tops to the company.

At the heart of that question is just how much help the man received from a local wholesaler who was able to supply several thousand of those Box Tops for Education coupons — worth up to $.50 each for the school of the donor’s choice.

“I feel this is a just cause. Everything was done by the book. There was no monkey business,” the man tells the NY Daily News. “We had a team of parents helping. I created a network. People were excited. We were working hard thinking we would get this big donation.”

He also claims that he only sent in around 75,000 box tops, a significantly smaller number than the 300,000 Scott says it counted.

The man, who was trying to raise funds for four private Jewish schools in the area, says that he located the wholesaler, who then provided him with any unused wrappings that contained the Box Top coupon.

“He buys truckloads and repackages them,” says the man. “He supplies the bodegas and throws out all the packaging.”

When Scott received the garbage bags full of coupons last year, it began investigating.

“We had such an extraordinarily high number of coupons redeemed by one person,” says a Scott rep, adding that the company has hired a private investigator to research the matter. “We still need to figure out if the coupons were gathered appropriately.

Until we are comfortable with verifying how this was obtained we are not in a position to pay.”

The wholesaler who provided the coupons for the fundraiser fears that if he outs himself to Scott, the company could drop him as a customer, hurting his business.

“I was trying to do this as a charity,” he explains. “Once they sell me the product, we can do whatever we want with it.”

The Daily News spoke to the rabbis of two of the schools that would receive funds from the collected coupons, and they appear to be divided in their view of this issue. One called it an “illegal campaign” while the other says, “more power to him. He did it trying to help the school.”

Thanks to Dov for the tip!

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Hotmail Going The Way Of The Dinosaur As Microsoft Opens Outlook To The Public Mary Beth Quirk

Hotmail, we hardly knew ye.

I remember the giddiness of being freed from the yoke of a paid AOL membership, ready to choose my very own email address instead of the one my dad had set up. I probably searched AltaVista or asked Jeeves before finding I could set up a free account at Hotmail.com. It was a heady feeling, one of liberation and unbounded email opportunities. Fast forward to the present, when those still faithful to Hotmail are no doubt mourning its impending demise.

Nowadays it’s a source of comedic joy to giggle at a friend who doesn’t have a Gmail account, or a guy who gives you his email ending with “@hotmail.com” (“Really? Please!). In order to compete in that more Hotmail-deriding world, Microsoft has released Outlook.com to the general public in a move that will shift its email services away from Hotmail.

Users with a Hotmail account will still be able use those addresses, but they’ll be accessed through Outlook’s cloud, notes the Los Angeles Times. Microsoft had a hard think about this move before unveiling it, say company executives.

“It’s not a light brand decision,” said Dharmesh Mehta, senior director of product management for Outlook.com and SkyDrive. “I don’t know of any other company that has hundreds of thousands of users and has changed the brand name. But this is something new, an opportunity to set us up for the future.”

Despite the fact that pals may snicker over a Hotmail email address, there are still 300 million users of the service, says Microsoft. That’s not too bad, considering Google says Gmail has 425 million users. It all came down to the fact that Microsoft needs to have one email service to present to users, and “Outlook equals email for Microsoft.”

In a fit of nostalgia I tried to access my old Hotmail account and was told there’d been too many attempts to access it so I’m locked out. If only I could remember the security question I set up years ago or still had my first cell phone, I could reset my password and relive my glory days of emailing questionnaires about my favorite colors, songs and what kind of guy I liked.

Microsoft opens Outlook.com to public as Hotmail brand shuts down [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

I Want Toys ‘R’ Us Protection Plan Help, Manager Threatens To Call Cops Laura Northrup

Not working.

It wasn’t very long ago at all that Esdras went to Toys ‘R’ Us and bought a tablet for his son. Barely four months ago, he picked up the KD Interactive Android tablet, along with a protection plan. A protection plan is generally a good idea when you combine a toddler and an electronic device, even if it is one designed especially for kids. Where Esdras got confused, though, was when the cashier gave him incorrect instructions regarding the protection plan. Just bring the item back if he had any problems, he was told. No plan brochure, no details, nothing.

Esdras says that he was told to just bring it back. Only that’s not how the Toys ‘R’ Us protection plan works. Something went very wrong, and store staff ultimately blame Esdras. Esdras blames the clerk. We’re not sure who the clerk blames. Probably Geoffrey the Giraffe.

Back in October 29. 2012 I purchased a KD interactive Tablet for my son from the ToysRUs store in [redacted] with the protection plan. As a rewards members, I have spent several hundred dollars over the past five years for my kids [at this particular store] and when purchasing this tablet it was no different from other times. The clerk simply stated, bring the item back if you have any issues and we will take care of for you under the protection plan.

No pamphlet, no further instructions, just my receipt.

Well, lo and behold, the tablet stopped working for my son and I decided to go back to the store for assistance. When approaching the counter, the young lady decides to give me a lecture on having to register my product through a website and file any claims through that site and not the store. I told her what the clerk had told me and she absolutely refused to handle anything and instead decided to call the “manager”.

The manager heard my plea and all he did was give the the brochure on how it works and told me to register the claim through there. So far so good? NO!!! When I asked for them to print my receipt for me, the manager then proceeded to walk away from the counter stating I was harassing them by asking for that and said he would call the police! I said, how do I register the product without the receipt, to which he said “that is your problem!”

Needless to say I walked away and trying to get a hold of anyone from the district has been as useless as finding a needle in a haystack.

Shame on these people. A quick search for my Toyrus charges in the financial bookeeping software addition came up with over $1800 in purchases including our baby “stuff” over the last 24 months only to be treated like this by some kid in that store.

Never again will I ever purchase anything from TOYSRUS!

It helps to back up and figure out what the problem is that Toys ‘R’ Us needs to solve. Is it “I need a new tablet” or “the cashier who helped me back in October did not explain how to sign up for the protection plan”? Regular customer service (1-800-869-7787) might be able to help with that if you have the receipt at home. Other customers have found help from the social media representatives on the chain’s Facebook page.

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Even Bestselling Authors Aren’t Immune From Shoddy Home Depot Warranty Repair Work

The authors claim a botched dishwasher repair job will cost $20,000. (Ilona-Andrews.com)

In spite of the completely nonexistent rumor that making the NY Times bestseller list grants an author access to a level of customer service reserved for elite celebrities, it turns out that no one is immune to a bad repair job that can ultimately result in $20,000 worth of damage.

Author Ilona Andrews — who is actually the husband and wife team of Ilona and Andrew Gordon — have detailed their ongoing ordeal with Home Depot’s warranty department on their personal blog.

The couple bought the GE dishwasher back in July 2011 and then say it crapped out on them after about 18 months, shortly before Christmas 2012.

The tech said it needed a new pump but that the extended warranty they purchased from Home Depot should cover it.

They then waited more than two weeks for someone actually show up and do the repair. When it was done, the tech warned them it might leak a little at first and to put down a towel just in case.

After running the dishwasher twice in the days that followed, they noticed that water seemed to be coming up from under the laminate flooring in the kitchen, doing thousands of dollars in damage.

The Gordons claim that the repair tech, from a third-party company contracted by Home Depot, failed to properly replace the dishwasher’s flood guard when he replaced the motor.

They write:

Flooded floor resulted in damage to the lower run of cabinets, which means lower cabinets and the island must be replaced. Unfortunately these cabinets, while of good quality, are older and made in a style that can’t be readily matched. That means we also have to replace the upper cabinets. The flooded floor resulted in damage to wallpaper – I had no idea the kitchen was wallpapered, I though they sponged those ugly colors on – which means we need to repaint it. The baseboards are gone. So is the floor. We decided to tile the floor, because we don’t want to be flooded like that again, and since the foyer has tile, which again can’t be matched, we have to rip up floor in the foyer and re-tile it. You get the picture.

You can see plenty of pictures of the kitchen being ripped up here.

Their insurance company, Allstate, paid out $11,000 for the damage. The Gordons went into their own pocket for the $2,500 cost to dry the kitchen out.

They figure they need around another $10,000 just to replace the bare minimum of what was lost because of the botched repair.

“I don’t expect Home Depot to buy us a brand-new kitchen or to compensate us for the huge amount of work time we lost as a result of this disaster,” writes Ilona. “I expect them to pay for the dry-out bill and to compensate us the difference between what insurance company is paying us and what it will actually cost to return the kitchen back to its functional state. The chances of that happening are zero.”

She puts the blame squarely on Home Depot, which she claims doesn’t care about the contractors it hires to perform warranty repairs.

“The contractor who caused damage to our kitchen by improperly repairing the dishwasher has an abysmal rating on yelp,” she writes. “If the contractor screws up or causes damage to your house, Home Depot Extended Warranty department will tell you they are not liable for damages. I asked the manager point-blank on the phone, ‘If a contractor comes out to repair my house and burns it down, you are not liable for any damages?’ He said, ‘That’s right.’”

She also accuses Home Depot of trying to pass the buck to GE, the dishwasher’s manufacturer. But her view is that GE isn’t responsible because GE didn’t hire the contractor that screwed up the repair.

“Our contract is with Home Depot,” explains Ilona. “It is now cheaper for us to just pay the money, than to waste more time trying to get Home Depot and [the contractor] to take responsibility for this matter.”

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Even Bestselling Authors Aren’t Immune From Shoddy Home Depot Warranty Repair Work

The authors claim a botched dishwasher repair job will cost $20,000. (Ilona-Andrews.com)

In spite of the completely nonexistent rumor that making the NY Times bestseller list grants an author access to a level of customer service reserved for elite celebrities, it turns out that no one is immune to a bad repair job that can ultimately result in $20,000 worth of damage.

Author Ilona Andrews — who is actually the husband and wife team of Ilona and Andrew Gordon — have detailed their ongoing ordeal with Home Depot’s warranty department on their personal blog.

The couple bought the GE dishwasher back in July 2011 and then say it crapped out on them after about 18 months, shortly before Christmas 2012.

The tech said it needed a new pump but that the extended warranty they purchased from Home Depot should cover it.

They then waited more than two weeks for someone actually show up and do the repair. When it was done, the tech warned them it might leak a little at first and to put down a towel just in case.

After running the dishwasher twice in the days that followed, they noticed that water seemed to be coming up from under the laminate flooring in the kitchen, doing thousands of dollars in damage.

The Gordons claim that the repair tech, from a third-party company contracted by Home Depot, failed to properly replace the dishwasher’s flood guard when he replaced the motor.

They write:

Flooded floor resulted in damage to the lower run of cabinets, which means lower cabinets and the island must be replaced. Unfortunately these cabinets, while of good quality, are older and made in a style that can’t be readily matched. That means we also have to replace the upper cabinets. The flooded floor resulted in damage to wallpaper – I had no idea the kitchen was wallpapered, I though they sponged those ugly colors on – which means we need to repaint it. The baseboards are gone. So is the floor. We decided to tile the floor, because we don’t want to be flooded like that again, and since the foyer has tile, which again can’t be matched, we have to rip up floor in the foyer and re-tile it. You get the picture.

You can see plenty of pictures of the kitchen being ripped up here.

Their insurance company, Allstate, paid out $11,000 for the damage. The Gordons went into their own pocket for the $2,500 cost to dry the kitchen out.

They figure they need around another $10,000 just to replace the bare minimum of what was lost because of the botched repair.

“I don’t expect Home Depot to buy us a brand-new kitchen or to compensate us for the huge amount of work time we lost as a result of this disaster,” writes Ilona. “I expect them to pay for the dry-out bill and to compensate us the difference between what insurance company is paying us and what it will actually cost to return the kitchen back to its functional state. The chances of that happening are zero.”

She puts the blame squarely on Home Depot, which she claims doesn’t care about the contractors it hires to perform warranty repairs.

“The contractor who caused damage to our kitchen by improperly repairing the dishwasher has an abysmal rating on yelp,” she writes. “If the contractor screws up or causes damage to your house, Home Depot Extended Warranty department will tell you they are not liable for damages. I asked the manager point-blank on the phone, ‘If a contractor comes out to repair my house and burns it down, you are not liable for any damages?’ He said, ‘That’s right.’”

She also accuses Home Depot of trying to pass the buck to GE, the dishwasher’s manufacturer. But her view is that GE isn’t responsible because GE didn’t hire the contractor that screwed up the repair.

“Our contract is with Home Depot,” explains Ilona. “It is now cheaper for us to just pay the money, than to waste more time trying to get Home Depot and [the contractor] to take responsibility for this matter.”

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Even Bestselling Authors Aren’t Immune From Shoddy Home Depot Warranty Repair Work Chris Morran

The authors claim a botched dishwasher repair job will cost $20,000. (Ilona-Andrews.com)

In spite of the completely nonexistent rumor that making the NY Times bestseller list grants an author access to a level of customer service reserved for elite celebrities, it turns out that no one is immune to a bad repair job that can ultimately result in $20,000 worth of damage.

Author Ilona Andrews — who is actually the husband and wife team of Ilona and Andrew Gordon — have detailed their ongoing ordeal with Home Depot’s warranty department on their personal blog.

The couple bought the GE dishwasher back in July 2011 and then say it crapped out on them after about 18 months, shortly before Christmas 2012.

The tech said it needed a new pump but that the extended warranty they purchased from Home Depot should cover it.

They then waited more than two weeks for someone actually show up and do the repair. When it was done, the tech warned them it might leak a little at first and to put down a towel just in case.

After running the dishwasher twice in the days that followed, they noticed that water seemed to be coming up from under the laminate flooring in the kitchen, doing thousands of dollars in damage.

The Gordons claim that the repair tech, from a third-party company contracted by Home Depot, failed to properly replace the dishwasher’s flood guard when he replaced the motor.

They write:

Flooded floor resulted in damage to the lower run of cabinets, which means lower cabinets and the island must be replaced. Unfortunately these cabinets, while of good quality, are older and made in a style that can’t be readily matched. That means we also have to replace the upper cabinets. The flooded floor resulted in damage to wallpaper – I had no idea the kitchen was wallpapered, I though they sponged those ugly colors on – which means we need to repaint it. The baseboards are gone. So is the floor. We decided to tile the floor, because we don’t want to be flooded like that again, and since the foyer has tile, which again can’t be matched, we have to rip up floor in the foyer and re-tile it. You get the picture.

You can see plenty of pictures of the kitchen being ripped up here.

Their insurance company, Allstate, paid out $11,000 for the damage. The Gordons went into their own pocket for the $2,500 cost to dry the kitchen out.

They figure they need around another $10,000 just to replace the bare minimum of what was lost because of the botched repair.

“I don’t expect Home Depot to buy us a brand-new kitchen or to compensate us for the huge amount of work time we lost as a result of this disaster,” writes Ilona. “I expect them to pay for the dry-out bill and to compensate us the difference between what insurance company is paying us and what it will actually cost to return the kitchen back to its functional state. The chances of that happening are zero.”

She puts the blame squarely on Home Depot, which she claims doesn’t care about the contractors it hires to perform warranty repairs.

“The contractor who caused damage to our kitchen by improperly repairing the dishwasher has an abysmal rating on yelp,” she writes. “If the contractor screws up or causes damage to your house, Home Depot Extended Warranty department will tell you they are not liable for damages. I asked the manager point-blank on the phone, ‘If a contractor comes out to repair my house and burns it down, you are not liable for any damages?’ He said, ‘That’s right.’”

She also accuses Home Depot of trying to pass the buck to GE, the dishwasher’s manufacturer. But her view is that GE isn’t responsible because GE didn’t hire the contractor that screwed up the repair.

“Our contract is with Home Depot,” explains Ilona. “It is now cheaper for us to just pay the money, than to waste more time trying to get Home Depot and [the contractor] to take responsibility for this matter.”

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Doctors would tax sugary drinks to combat obesity

Hiking the price of fizzy drinks would cut consumption and so help fight obesity, urges the British Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..

Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit

(Reznicek111)

From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe.

The hassle began last May, the man tells the Newark Star-Ledger’s Bamboozled column, when the collections agency contacted him about a supposed credit card debt from 2002.

Forgetting for a moment that the statute of limitations on credit card debt in New Jersey is six years — meaning he wouldn’t be on the hook for the debt regardless of whether or not he’d ever owed it — the man claims he never had the debt to begin with.

He looked at his credit report and found nothing on there, and his current credit score of 780 doesn’t indicate anyone with lingering debt issues. And as a recruiter for the Federal Air Marshal Service and an employee with the U.S. Customs and Border folks, he’d also been through several background and credit checks during the past decade without being flagged.

“I asked them to send me something in writing, and they never did,” he says.

And the collectors kept calling him, at home and at work. He told them to stop contacting him at the office — one of the aforementioned no-nos — “But they kept calling.”

Believing the collections people were violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, he contacted a lawyer, who sent two cease-and-desist notices to the collectors.

Ultimately, the man had to file a lawsuit against the company, alleging 10 FDCPA violations. In addition to the harassing phone calls, the suit claims that the collectors failed to provide written notice of the debt in a timely manner and that the account statements it did eventually provide clearly demonstrated “the debt had indeed been paid in its entirety in or around 2002.”

Of course, as the recent FTC report on debt-buying showed, these collectors often buy debt from creditors with no guarantee that it’s accurate.

Bamboozled look into this particular agency and found that it has been the defendant in 598 federal lawsuits — and that’s only since 2005!

If you find yourself dealing with a debt collector that refuses to follow the rather uncomplicated rules set out by the FDCPA, then — in addition to any legal action you might take — you should complain to your state’s consumer affairs division and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

And if a debt collector contacts you about a debt you believe is no longer active because the statute of limitations has expired, be warned that paying any part of that debt may result in it being “resurrected” or “zombie” debt, which could start the statutory clock ticking again.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit Chris Morran

(Reznicek111)

From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe.

The hassle began last May, the man tells the Newark Star-Ledger’s Bamboozled column, when the collections agency contacted him about a supposed credit card debt from 2002.

Forgetting for a moment that the statute of limitations on credit card debt in New Jersey is six years — meaning he wouldn’t be on the hook for the debt regardless of whether or not he’d ever owed it — the man claims he never had the debt to begin with.

He looked at his credit report and found nothing on there, and his current credit score of 780 doesn’t indicate anyone with lingering debt issues. And as a recruiter for the Federal Air Marshal Service and an employee with the U.S. Customs and Border folks, he’d also been through several background and credit checks during the past decade without being flagged.

“I asked them to send me something in writing, and they never did,” he says.

And the collectors kept calling him, at home and at work. He told them to stop contacting him at the office — one of the aforementioned no-nos — “But they kept calling.”

Believing the collections people were violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, he contacted a lawyer, who sent two cease-and-desist notices to the collectors.

Ultimately, the man had to file a lawsuit against the company, alleging 10 FDCPA violations. In addition to the harassing phone calls, the suit claims that the collectors failed to provide written notice of the debt in a timely manner and that the account statements it did eventually provide clearly demonstrated “the debt had indeed been paid in its entirety in or around 2002.”

Of course, as the recent FTC report on debt-buying showed, these collectors often buy debt from creditors with no guarantee that it’s accurate.

Bamboozled look into this particular agency and found that it has been the defendant in 598 federal lawsuits — and that’s only since 2005!

If you find yourself dealing with a debt collector that refuses to follow the rather uncomplicated rules set out by the FDCPA, then — in addition to any legal action you might take — you should complain to your state’s consumer affairs division and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

And if a debt collector contacts you about a debt you believe is no longer active because the statute of limitations has expired, be warned that paying any part of that debt may result in it being “resurrected” or “zombie” debt, which could start the statutory clock ticking again.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit

(Reznicek111)

From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe.

The hassle began last May, the man tells the Newark Star-Ledger’s Bamboozled column, when the collections agency contacted him about a supposed credit card debt from 2002.

Forgetting for a moment that the statute of limitations on credit card debt in New Jersey is six years — meaning he wouldn’t be on the hook for the debt regardless of whether or not he’d ever owed it — the man claims he never had the debt to begin with.

He looked at his credit report and found nothing on there, and his current credit score of 780 doesn’t indicate anyone with lingering debt issues. And as a recruiter for the Federal Air Marshal Service and an employee with the U.S. Customs and Border folks, he’d also been through several background and credit checks during the past decade without being flagged.

“I asked them to send me something in writing, and they never did,” he says.

And the collectors kept calling him, at home and at work. He told them to stop contacting him at the office — one of the aforementioned no-nos — “But they kept calling.”

Believing the collections people were violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, he contacted a lawyer, who sent two cease-and-desist notices to the collectors.

Ultimately, the man had to file a lawsuit against the company, alleging 10 FDCPA violations. In addition to the harassing phone calls, the suit claims that the collectors failed to provide written notice of the debt in a timely manner and that the account statements it did eventually provide clearly demonstrated “the debt had indeed been paid in its entirety in or around 2002.”

Of course, as the recent FTC report on debt-buying showed, these collectors often buy debt from creditors with no guarantee that it’s accurate.

Bamboozled look into this particular agency and found that it has been the defendant in 598 federal lawsuits — and that’s only since 2005!

If you find yourself dealing with a debt collector that refuses to follow the rather uncomplicated rules set out by the FDCPA, then — in addition to any legal action you might take — you should complain to your state’s consumer affairs division and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

And if a debt collector contacts you about a debt you believe is no longer active because the statute of limitations has expired, be warned that paying any part of that debt may result in it being “resurrected” or “zombie” debt, which could start the statutory clock ticking again.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Why Were 13,000 Boxes Of Girl Scout Cookies Sent To A Landfill? Laura Northrup

(CBS Los Angeles)

It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill.

The toll of cookie destruction was high: 1,100 cases of cookies, or about 13,000 boxes. CBS Los Angeles traced the source back to a Girl Scout Council in Redlands, Calif., and questioned a spokesman about their fate. ““We didn’t know that was the way they were being disposed of,” the spokesman said, decrying the waste of food.

The council assured the reporter that normally they donate leftover cookies to food banks or elsewhere.

Investigation: Why Were More Than 13,000 Boxes Of Perfectly Fine Girl Scout Cookies Tossed? [CBS Los Angeles]

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Former Spirit Airlines Mechanic: I Was Fired After Complaining To FAA About Service Issues Chris Morran

(afagen)

A New Jersey man who had worked at Spirit Airlines for more than a decade claims he was fired last year after he and a group of his fellow aircraft mechanics filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration about allegedly sketchy service practices at the carrier.

The Press of Atlantic City has a report on the lawsuit, which was filed last month in the New Jersey Superior Court.

According to the plaintiff, he was one of nine Spirit mechanics to write the FAA in 2011, alerting the agency to allegations that the airline was, among other things, not providing its mechanics with the tools needed to properly service Spirit’s fleet of jets.

The plaintiff also claims that he contacted airline management about his supervisor, who he alleges “was signing inspection stickers in blank and giving them to mechanics to fill out, date, and use without him actually performing the inspections which he was signing off on.”

Spirit subsequently dismissed six of the nine mechanics who wrote to the FAA, claims the complaint.

The Press points out that the FAA did investigate the mechanics’ claims last year and found nothing to substantiate the allegations of bad record-keeping.

The former Spirit employee says that he initially complained to the company’s human resources department that management was favoring certain employees and retaliating against others. He says the company never investigated these claims, but that he was eventually moved to the night shift, in spite of his 12 years on the job.

He was ultimately let go in Jan. 2012 for improperly signing off on a service entry in an airplane maintenance logbook.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Why Were 13,000 Boxes Of Girl Scout Cookies Sent To A Landfill?

(CBS Los Angeles)

It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill.

The toll of cookie destruction was high: 1,100 cases of cookies, or about 13,000 boxes. CBS Los Angeles traced the source back to a Girl Scout Council in Redlands, Calif., and questioned a spokesman about their fate. ““We didn’t know that was the way they were being disposed of,” the spokesman said, decrying the waste of food.

The council assured the reporter that normally they donate leftover cookies to food banks or elsewhere.

Investigation: Why Were More Than 13,000 Boxes Of Perfectly Fine Girl Scout Cookies Tossed? [CBS Los Angeles]

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Former Spirit Airlines Mechanic: I Was Fired After Complaining To FAA About Service Issues

(afagen)

A New Jersey man who had worked at Spirit Airlines for more than a decade claims he was fired last year after he and a group of his fellow aircraft mechanics filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration about allegedly sketchy service practices at the carrier.

The Press of Atlantic City has a report on the lawsuit, which was filed last month in the New Jersey Superior Court.

According to the plaintiff, he was one of nine Spirit mechanics to write the FAA in 2011, alerting the agency to allegations that the airline was, among other things, not providing its mechanics with the tools needed to properly service Spirit’s fleet of jets.

The plaintiff also claims that he contacted airline management about his supervisor, who he alleges “was signing inspection stickers in blank and giving them to mechanics to fill out, date, and use without him actually performing the inspections which he was signing off on.”

Spirit subsequently dismissed six of the nine mechanics who wrote to the FAA, claims the complaint.

The Press points out that the FAA did investigate the mechanics’ claims last year and found nothing to substantiate the allegations of bad record-keeping.

The former Spirit employee says that he initially complained to the company’s human resources department that management was favoring certain employees and retaliating against others. He says the company never investigated these claims, but that he was eventually moved to the night shift, in spite of his 12 years on the job.

He was ultimately let go in Jan. 2012 for improperly signing off on a service entry in an airplane maintenance logbook.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Why Were 13,000 Boxes Of Girl Scout Cookies Sent To A Landfill?

(CBS Los Angeles)

It’s currently that most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are available for sale from your friendly local Girl Scouts…well, or your co-worker who has a daughter. Last year, though, a video camera caught workers crushing cases of Girl Scout cookies to render them inedible before dispatching them to the landfill.

The toll of cookie destruction was high: 1,100 cases of cookies, or about 13,000 boxes. CBS Los Angeles traced the source back to a Girl Scout Council in Redlands, Calif., and questioned a spokesman about their fate. ““We didn’t know that was the way they were being disposed of,” the spokesman said, decrying the waste of food.

The council assured the reporter that normally they donate leftover cookies to food banks or elsewhere.

Investigation: Why Were More Than 13,000 Boxes Of Perfectly Fine Girl Scout Cookies Tossed? [CBS Los Angeles]

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Former Spirit Airlines Mechanic: I Was Fired After Complaining To FAA About Service Issues

(afagen)

A New Jersey man who had worked at Spirit Airlines for more than a decade claims he was fired last year after he and a group of his fellow aircraft mechanics filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration about allegedly sketchy service practices at the carrier.

The Press of Atlantic City has a report on the lawsuit, which was filed last month in the New Jersey Superior Court.

According to the plaintiff, he was one of nine Spirit mechanics to write the FAA in 2011, alerting the agency to allegations that the airline was, among other things, not providing its mechanics with the tools needed to properly service Spirit’s fleet of jets.

The plaintiff also claims that he contacted airline management about his supervisor, who he alleges “was signing inspection stickers in blank and giving them to mechanics to fill out, date, and use without him actually performing the inspections which he was signing off on.”

Spirit subsequently dismissed six of the nine mechanics who wrote to the FAA, claims the complaint.

The Press points out that the FAA did investigate the mechanics’ claims last year and found nothing to substantiate the allegations of bad record-keeping.

The former Spirit employee says that he initially complained to the company’s human resources department that management was favoring certain employees and retaliating against others. He says the company never investigated these claims, but that he was eventually moved to the night shift, in spite of his 12 years on the job.

He was ultimately let go in Jan. 2012 for improperly signing off on a service entry in an airplane maintenance logbook.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Alleged Delta Baby-Slapper Fired For Allegedly Slapping Baby On Delta Flight

(ash)

You probably remember last week’s story of the Delta passenger accused of not only slapping a 19-month-old child but also using an unpleasant racial slur while doing so. Looks like that man’s employer isn’t exactly thrilled with the publicity caused by the incident.

Over the weekend, that man’s employer — an aerospace contractor — released the following statement:

“Reports of the recent behavior of one of our business unit executives while on personal travel are offensive and disturbing. We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon. As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company.”

“We wish to emphasize that the behavior that has been described is contradictory to our values, embarrassing and does not in any way reflect the patriotic character of the men and women of diverse backgrounds who work tirelessly in our business.”

For those coming late to the party, the man allegedly had too much to drink while flying Delta from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Feb. 8. As the plane was beginning to descend, the baby boy in the seat next to this passenger began to cry. His mother attempted to console the child but could not. This is when she and at least one other witness say the man said, “shut that ni**er baby up,” and then slapped the child across the face.

The man contends that he was not intoxicated and that he neither slapped the child nor used that sort of language.

“This has escalated into a racist issue and I want to be clear he is not a racist,” his attorney tells CNN.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Mom Claims 4-Year-Old Found Drugs At Chuck E. Cheese’s, Manager Wouldn’t Call Cops

We always thought Mr. Cheese was a little too perky all the time.

A mother in Illinois says her young daughter found an unexpected gift baggie while attending a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Making matters worse, the mom claims that the restaurant’s management refused to notify the police for fear of being shut down.

“She got on the carousel, bent down and picked up a baggie full of… some white substance,” the mom tells St. Louis’ KTVI about what her 4-year-old daughter discovered at Chuck E. Cheese’s. “My guess would be a bag of… dope.”

She says that when she brought it to the manager, “he didn’t want to call the cops or anything.”

According to the mom, the manager told her, “There are five birthday parties going on right now. If they come they’re going to shut us down.”

And so, she threw the baggie away as the manager requested.

In a statement to KTVI, Chuck E. Cheese’s HQ writes:

“We are aware that a guest found an unknown substance in our Chuck E. Cheese’s location in Fairview Heights, IL on Sunday evening. Our store management personnel were notified and the substance was immediately disposed of by the guest. As such, law enforcement could not verify the nature of the substance.”

The police have since begun investigating the matter.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist