Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with consumer

Good Prepaid Cellphone for Austin, Tx?

Sentus — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:10:58 -0800

Hey there, I hate dealing with credit cards, signing contracts. Need a good simple and reliable Prepaid cell phone. Hope you folks are having a great weekend...

I am thinking about finally getting a prepaid cellphone.
It's going to be mainly for business purposes. Going to use it in moderation.

A few questions:
1. Voice mail. I need it to have a reliable voice mail service. To be able to customize it with my voice.
2. What happens If I brake it, lose it, it gets stolen? Would I be able somehow to get the same number again?
3. Google Voice - Is any body uses that? Could it work for me?
4. Good/Bad experiences with providers in the area?
5. Other ideas?

Thank you in advance and have a great day,

Prepaid Cellphone For NYC That Is Not Virgin Mobile?

jason's_planet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:52:01 -0800

I need a prepaid cellphone service in NYC that is NOT Virgin Mobile. Looking to pay about $10 a month. Don't need lots of fancy telecom doo-dads. Just need decent reception and reliable service and voicemail. What are my options? How about Verizon? Are they any good? I've been using Virgin Mobile for a while. But the relationship is no longer meeting my needs. Because you've been nice enough to read my question and (possibly) help me out, I will spare you the gratuitous kvetching. Here is the abbreviated kvetching: Virgin Mobile's service is so piss-poor that I can barely make out what people are saying on my phone and it's not unusual for me to get voicemails two or three days after they would have done me some good. This is unacceptable. I feel as if I'm paying $6 a month for absolutely nothing. I am willing to pay c. $10 a month if it actually gets me something.

I'll add here that I am a very occasional user of my cellphone. It's there for potential employers to contact me and so that I can let people know if I'm running late. I don't need five hundred minutes of calling a month or anything like that.

I've done a little bit of research, and Verizon prepaid appears to fit the bill. If you have firsthand experience of Verizon prepaid, would you recommend them? Or is there another service that you would recommend? Again, halfway decent reception here in the concrete canyons of NYC and reliable service -- i.e. getting voicemails when people leave them, not four or five days later -- are what I'm looking for. Nothing fancy.

Many thanks in advance.

Refunds from UK merchant

NorthCoastCafe — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:14:58 -0800

I mailed $20 cash to a British merchant to pay for an item ordered via email. The merchant refused to accept cash insisting payment only via Paypal. I refuse to use Paypal because of two previous bad experiences. The British merchant said they would return my cash but hasn't and no longer replies to my emails. What recourse do I have to get my money back and or file a complaint against the merchant? I'm in the USA.

Invoices and consumer rights

Neale — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:43:36 -0800

IANALFilter: What legal rights does having an invoice grant a buyer? If a buyer has a invoice that has all the things an invoice should have - order number, items, quantities, prices, payment method, etc - is the seller obliged to honour the invoice at that price? Or can the seller 'retract' the sale?

Calling all MeFi Greasemonkeys!

stevyb — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:14:33 -0800

Could brake pads wear down from 50% worn to metal against metal after one 12 hour round trip to Yosemite? (See details) I have a 2004 Honda Accord. Had it checked by a mechanic friend before we went on a trip to Yosemite and he said the brakes were fine. At least 50% of the pads were still there. We came back and noticed the A/C wasnt working, so since it's still under warranty we took it to the local dealer. Brakes were working fine to this point. they replaced some parts and the AC works fine, driving back we noticed the brakes were suddenly squealing quite loudly and grinding on the rotor!! Before I accuse of them of foul play, could the brakes pads wear down that quickly?

What are good data sources for laptop and PC sales?

PercussivePaul — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:51:58 -0800

Where can I find detailed sales data on best-selling laptops and PCs? I'm scoping out a research project and trying to see what kind of data I am going to be able to find. Ideally someone would hand me a database containing records of all models of laptops and PCs for sale in the US (or the world, or other countries) along with their list price and all relevant specs, and total number of units moved per year for the past few years.

Something like this already exists thanks to Amazon (best selling PCs, best selling laptops, or of course I could just pull the data straight from Amazon itself). This is a good starting point, but two main issues:
1. It only tells me what Amazon is selling, and I'm interested in what everyone is selling
2. It has sales rank, but I want absolute numbers, or at least a percentage of total sales.

I imagine this data exists but is likely not freely available on the web. I don't know where to begin looking for this sort of thing as I don't have a background in business or anything like that. I have found some stuff (IDC quarterly PC tracker, NPD Group) that might be what I want but I can't read it and it's clearly meant for businesses that can pay a lot. Being a grad student, I can't.

There are possibly resources at my University I could use (for example I have access to Forrester reports) but having spent a day or two poking around I have yet to find what I need. Before I go bothering people in the business school for help, I could use some orientation as to what's out there. Thanks.

How do I fix my friends kitchen stove issue?

abdulf — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:31:45 -0800

Kitchen appliances: What remedies do you have when an appliance purchase and installation goes wrong? I'm asking this for a friend. He bought a gas Electrolux cooktop stove from a local dealer 2 or 3 weeks ago (this is the model http://www.electroluxappliances.com/node30.aspx?categoryid=1184)

He has 2 problems with the appliance:
1. The knobs look like they are metal, but they're actually plastic, and have melted. They're still usable, but not as aesthetically pleasing. I'm assuming the reason you pay extra for a stove like this is for design and appearance.
2. Half of the burners- whatever - won't light automatically. Seems like a lighter problem. He has to use matches.

Here's what he's tried

1. Working with the dealer/installer (http://www.choiceappliances.net/)

Dealer won't refund or exchange. It's a small business, so no corporate person to write to. Sent a person to his home on a service call. Service repair person concluded nothing is wrong with the stove and suggests contacting the manufacturer

2. Manufacturer (Electrolux)
Says to deal with the dealer since the issue appears to be related to installation. Also, warranty does not cover knobs because it is not a defect - the knobs were designed to be plastic.

3. Credit card company (Chase)
Cannot dispute because it was a face-to-face transaction and buyer had an opportunity to inspect the merchandise.

So how do I help my friend without sinking a great deal of my own time into this?

I think the right customer service person at the manufacturer or credit card company might do it. If not, what legal cause of action exists for a consumer in his position (in Texas)? (I guess something could be done in small claims court, I'm just not sure under what basis)

Undercharged for DSL and land line. Now what?

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:42:29 -0800

Telecom has undercharged me for DSL and land line service the past couple months. Is this going to bite me in the butt? If so, when and how severely? Back in December last year, I signed up for DSL internet service from my local telecom on a "first six months free with two-year commitment" promotion for longtime residential phone service customers. In the spring of this year, before the six months were up, they mistakenly started charging me for DSL, and I had to call them several times to get them to adjust my bill.

They rectified it and then some: since then, they've been crediting me on every billing cycle for more than the amount of the DSL charges, so that my total bill, including land line phone service, has been ridiculously low. The six month free period ended in late June, and I should now be paying around $70.00 per month for the two services. My July bill came last week: the erroneous credit is on it again, and my total amount due is about a dollar.

How likely is it that they'll discover their mistake? If they do, are they likely to bill me for all of the charges I should have been paying during the time they've been crediting me incorrectly? If they do that, do I have any recourse, since it was their error? Should I a) notify them of their error, b) simply start paying what I think I actually owe without comment, or c) continue paying the exact amount they're billing me? Thanks.

How can I work towards more consumer transparency?

Vidamond — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:33:30 -0800

How can I work towards more consumer transparency? So I have wondered many times why the government (I'm in Germany right now but I think this question applies elsewhere as well) does not make it easier for consumers to distinguish between "good" and "bad" products. By good I mean a product that is produced as environmentally friendly as possible.

Wouldn't it just be logical that each product in the grocery (or really every other store) is labelled extensively with the following information:

-more specific nutrition facts than currently
-where exactly every single subgredient comes from
-what the net carbon dioxide balance is
-how much water was used to produce the product
-probably other relevant information that I'm forgetting right now

Of course the information could be summarised in a table with one bigger overall environmental rating.

So for instance if I'm standing in the fruit section of the supermarket I would be able to see with a glance that the apples from Chile need ten times the ressources to be available here in the shelf than the German apples (of course this example is kind of obvious).

My best guess would be that there is huge lobby resistance against better labeling.

But I'm pretty sure others have thought of this before, so I was wondering if you guys knew of any consumer organization that wants such an "eco-label", too. I know there are many that support better labelling, but I haven't heard of any organization that wants the carbon dioxide and the water-usage label.

If there is anything like what I have in mind out there, I would love to get involved and help bringing more transparency to our stores.
Thanks a lot.

Which prepaid cell company to use?

reenum — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:49:26 -0800

PrepaidCellFilter: Two questions about prepaid cell plans: 1. Can I use a phone I buy off eBay with one of these plans, or is it essential to use the phones provided by the carrier? 2. If I'm mostly interested in texting, which prepaid cell provider would be the best for me? I'm thinking of ditching my Sprint contract and switching to a prepaid carrier. I only use the cell to call people if there is an emergency and little else.

However, I do like texting and would like to try and choose a plan that allows unlimited or a high number of texts at a reasonable price.

Also, I'd like to have a nicer phone with T9 rather than the cheapo Nokia phones some of these carriers give you.

So, Hive Mind, what say you?

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

Fairchild — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:39:59 -0800

How to you curb your desire for material goods? I'm pretty good at not succumbing to shopping for things I can't afford or don't need. Lately I have been wanting to buy, buy, buy! I want new things for my house. I want new furniture and artwork and other expensive things that are not in the cards right now. I'm not broke, it's just not in the budget.

My house is pretty nice and I don't need anything. I have a lot of new things that I bought last year. How can I stop wanting to purchase even more new things? I have a problem with never being satisfied. If I bought a beautiful print or piece of furniture, next week I would want something else. If I redid my kitchen I would hate my bathroom, etc.

Can you point me to blog entries, articles, and advice that inspire simplicity? Intellectually I know things can't make me happy but I still want and have anxiety that things aren't as nice as they should be. Bonus for tips and advice to change or improve rooms with very little cash. Thanks.

Is a CA store compelled to honor the price shown?

scarabic — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:05:44 -0800

Was at Best Buy today. They had the Flip Ultra HD on display - an employee led me right to it when asked. The price card said $150. As I suspected, they'd mixed it up with the Flip Ultra II. Is there anything in California state law that requires them to honor the price shown? I've been in this situation before and I'm never sure if I'm in the right to insist that they honor the price displayed. I thought there were consumer protection laws governing this stuff, to keep the retailers honest and make them care about accuracy, but I don't really know.

Help me buy a foam mattress on a budget

fermion — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:12:16 -0800

How can I find the best foam mattress on a limited (<$400) budget? I'm in the market for an inexpensive mattress--$400 is about my upper limit, but I'd be happy if I could find something workable for less. The extra money could go toward a fancy mattress topper.

Ideally I'd like to get a foam mattress--not memory foam, just plain old foam--but I'm having a lot of difficulty figuring out how to comparison shop effectively. I went to a local foam supplier, and they offered to sell me a full-XL-mattress-sized slab of foam for $330; they tell me foam of that particular grade will last 5-7 years. But then I find something like this foam-based futon mattress that seems like a much fancier product for a similar price. Is it really a better buy? Are there other places where a basic polyurethane foam mattress can be had for less? How can I figure out which mattresses are worth the money?

How does a consumer-based economy generate wealth?

wastelands — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:21:13 -0800

Economics newb asks: how does a consumer-based economy generate wealth? I hear things like, "70% of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending." It seems like if this were the case, then money would just be "recycled." How is there a net gain or production of wealth for the country if most of it is a result of people spending money internally? I must be missing something simple...

Photos + Demographic Data = Useful ?

ericc — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:56:06 -0800

I have thousands of photographs of the insides of closets, refrigerators, cabinets, medicine chests, etc., all of which have a decent amount of demographic data attached to each photo. It sure seems like this data would be useful to some product research firm, or manufacturer, or product developer. Is it? Do any of those companies ever buy datasets like this?

Retails sales are down, so where are the bargains?

abdulf — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:06:34 -0800

If retailers are being hit hard with a recession, then why am I not finding bargains? If retail sales are falling, and businesses are posting losses or cutting forecasts, then why am I not finding great bargains?

I guess a "bargain" is a subjective term. But surely there are deals to be had in this economic environment for the people who can spend?

For example - I am looking to buy/rent the following:
1. winter coat, boots (anything suitable an icy/windy winter)
2. point and shoot digital camera (Canon SD 750 or similar)
3. blackberry/smartphone/new cell service (currently with Sprint)
4. new apartment (Amarillo, TX)
5. car maintenance (timing belt/waterpump for 2000 Camry)

None of these good or services seem significantly discounted compared to when I saw them years ago. I've casually looked through sites like slickdeals.net and Black Friday ads. It looks like the same kind of stuff I've seen before.

So maybe I'm not buying the right kinds of goods and services in this economy?

Perhaps the discounts I seek don't come from business cycles but from events like seasonal changes and clearing old inventory.

Or maybe the items I'm buying have prices built in from before the financial crisis?

Consumer Advocacy in Canada?

RockCorpse — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:02:45 -0800

My dad wants to volunteer for a consumer advocacy group in Canada. Anyone know of any good & legitimate ones I could refer him to?

The Incredible Shringking Yogurt

longsleeves — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:27:29 -0800

Is the 8 oz. yogurt serving gone for good? For some time now I've been noticing that the national brands of yogurt have been reducing the size of their single-serving containers from 8 ounces down to 6 ounces. One by one, they've been getting smaller. The last of the name brands has now gone that route, and now the store brands seem to be doing this too. Today, I noticed that one of the last local store brands with the 8 oz cup has restocked their product with containers that are the same price, same basic package graphics, but 6 ounces. The Nov. 1st expiration date containers on the shelf were 8 oz, the Nov. 15th ones are little 6 ounce-ers.

I'm a guy who has been in the habit of bringing a yogurt to work for lunch 2 or 3 days a week and the little servings don't really satisfy, with the added insult of not being any cheaper. I live in New England, by the way.

Is this happening everywhere? Anybody in the food market or yogurt biz have any insight?

How many peanuts are in a Snickers bar?

caroljean63 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:05:36 -0800

So how many actual peanuts are there in a Snickers bar? We're having a bit of a disagreement here about how many actual peanuts are in a King Size Snickers candy bar.

Definition of a peanut: the contents of one whole shelled peanut, both halves.

Size of a King Size Snickers bar: 2.07 oz.

I found one site that said there are 27-28. In other words, 54-56 peanut halves, or if they're cut in half, which I believe they are, over 100 peanut fourths! Sounds like a stretch to me, considering there is merely a layer of peanuts.

What other consumer goods have "premium" versions that are identical to the budget version?

andrewzipp — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:43:26 -0800

The only difference between regular vodka and super premium vodka is the price. Double shielded, gold plated speaker cables work just as well as cheap ones. What other consumer goods have "premium" versions that are identical to the budget version? I'm not really looking for a debate on cables or liqour, just examples where packaging and price tag determine the difference on bulk goods.

Dryer cut clothing. Dryer folk not helpful.

kmennie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:19:58 -0800

Clothes dryer [new] slashed clothing. "Repaired," dryer snags clothes, makes unsettling noise. Visited store 4x; sent registered mail to manufacturer 2x, nothing. Now what? A bit over a year ago I bought a new high-efficiency Frigidaire front-loader and matching dryer from a small local appliance shop. The washer is lousy, but no mind. The dryer made the same 1cm J-shaped cut in most of our knit clothing.

It took a while to figure out where these cuts were coming from, of course. When we finally did, we contacted the store, who sent out Local Repair Dude. LRD scratched his head and asked if I was using HE detergent. (Yes.) LRD said he'd put in a call to Frigidaire. Came back, gave me a hard time about the detergent despite standing under many bottles marked "HE," and did something to the dryer that he thought would maybe solve my problem, and if it didn't, it was Frigidaire's problem, not his.

The "repaired" dryer started snagging a lot of stuff -- drawstrings and snaps on baby clothes get sucked in to a rim around the door and don't come out without ripping -- and making a "Hi I'm a broken dryer" sort of ka-thump noise, intermittently. One knit top came out with a terrible slash; the status of the J-cuts is unclear because our old clothes are already too cut up for us to notice new cuts, and good knits now get hung to dry.

The local shop is nearby, so I went in person. At this point I went in at least three times. Oh, they'd get right on it. Had nobody called me back? Goodness! Be sure to get right on that, yes'm! Same deal each time; never heard a peep.

I sent Frigidaire a letter, via registered mail, enclosing a onesie covered in the J-cuts and missing a snap and a plastic bib that accidentally got in the dryer for a few minutes and came out looking like it'd been in a fight with an X-acto knife. Nothing. I sent a second letter, summarized: "WTF? No response to this one, and it's court. Just in case, here is a copy of the letter I sent." Nothing.

Is small claims court the appropriate/best place to pursue this? At this point I would be happy to return the washer and dryer pair for a full refund and never think of Frigidaire or the shop again; I'm not sure what's realistic, though.

Is a refund enough?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:01:29 -0800

Is a refund enough? This is a relatively minor issue but I'm annoyed about it and lack perspective, so I'm turning to you.

Earlier this week I bought a cookie at the local pricy Whole Foods-type grocery store where I am a frequent customer. I was halfway through it when I bit into something hard and sharp. It was a large red thumbtack. It fucking looked like this. (I wasn't hurt, just surprised and spooked.)

I immediately returned to the store and asked for a manager, and because it was late it was just a stoned kid who took down my name and number and made some apology-type noises and probably ate the rest of the cookie once he went back to the office. My main concern was making sure it wasn't a deliberate tampering so that someone else didn't get hurt. (I know that makes me sound like a goober, but it's true.)

The next day a real manager called and said that they figured out what happened: the cookies were made under a bulletin board and one of the tacks must have fallen, etc. They pulled the rest of the batch and moved the prep area and everything is great now, and it's great that I'm ok, and we all find crazy things in food sometimes, huh? Ha ha ha. She offered me a refund for my cookie, and that was that.

I accepted it but the more I think about it the madder I get. They sold me a goddamned thumbtack cookie. Couldn't they have least had the decency to offer a gift certificate -- or hell, just a really contrite apology?

Should I take my cookie refund and go, or should I tell them that I think they are being pretty cavalier about retaining me as a customer? I'm cursing right now but I was calm and polite throughout. I've never been an aggressive or demanding customer, but I feel like I just got fucked in the baked goods aisle. With a giant thumbtack.

this or another shaving mirror

amtho — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:54:13 -0800

Gatco shaving mirrors - good quality? I'm considering buying a mirror like this for my honey to use as a shaving mirror. Out in the local shops, I've seen a huge range of quality, and prices ranging from $19.99 to $238.

I'd like to buy something that will last, not have loose joints, and not corrode in the moist bathroom atmosphere.

Can anyone recommend/de-recommend Gatco hardware like this? Any specific shaving mirrors to recommend?

Thanks!

Consumer Reports worth subscribing to?

boby — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:48:34 -0800

Are there any other companies/websites that compare to Consumer Reports for information/ratings of consumer products? Before I subscribe to their service I was looking for input as to the quality of the reports they provide. Thanks.

Indian consumer-oriented research service?

blue andrea — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:59:09 -0800

I'm looking for a company based in India, cited in a story I heard on NPR sometime in the past week or so, that handles a given number of Joe Consumer research queries per month for a flat fee. The reporter in the story used the example of calling the service around 5pm on a Friday, trying to find a part for a bike, just wanting to know who locally had the part, how much it cost, and if they could set it aside for him to pick up; the service was able to accomplish this in a short period of time.

Normally I can find these stories searching the NPR or WBUR site, but not even Google is helping me this time.