Idiotprogrammer Blog

Category: Consumerism

  • Secrets to Houston Supermarkets

    KPRC Reporter Amy Davis has a great report comparing the price-cutting strategy of Houston supermarkets.

    I added this comment:

    I want to mention a crucial and overlooked fact about these supermarkets. Look at your receipts seconds after your purchase! Frequently supermarkets will have old tags underneath an item and forget to  remove the label when the sale/promotion is over.  Customers assume they are getting the 12 pack of Coca Cola for 2.99 (which ended 2 weeks ago)  but don’t see on the receipt that the price is in the computer for $4.19.

    I once had this happen at Walmart (which is the worst about correcting prices).  For three consecutive weeks I noticed they had incorrect prices for a 12 pack of Coke and I told the manager every time. But nothing was ever changed.

    It’s worth remembering that supermarkets are now changing their policy about returns. Formerly, service managers used to handle voids/returns/exchanges. Nowadays, the courtesy booth is handling these things, causing you to have to wait in line. That means, if the courtesy booth is closed (which is customary after 8:00 PM), you won’t be able to make a return.

    Finally, I’ve noticed that HEB has a policy where they won’t do refunds/exchanges for defective merchandise unless you have a receipt. Formerly stores used to do this on a case-by-case basis,  but now supermarkets are sticking to this rule more strictly. The notable exception is Walmart, which has one of the most liberal return policies out there.

  • Don’t Eat Chocolate from Ivory Coast!

    I can’t believe I forgot to blog about this important story. Last February, Christian Parenti broke a great story about the exploitative nature of the chocolate industry.

    The big cocoa exporters – Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM, Fortune 500), Barry Callebaut and Saf-Cacao – do not own plantations and do not directly employ child workers. Instead, they buy beans from Ivorian middlemen called pisteurs and treton. These middlemen own warehouses and fleets of flatbed trucks that travel deep into the jungle to buy cocoa from the small independent farmers who grow most of the crop. But labor and human rights activists charge that Big Chocolate has an obligation to improve working conditions on the farms where so many children toil. They argue that the exporters and manufacturers bear ultimate responsibility for conditions on the farms because they exert considerable control over world cocoa markets, essentially setting what is called the farm gate price.

    …

    Tulane recently released its first report, and though the tone is polite, the picture isn’t pretty. Researchers found that while industry and governments in West Africa have made initial steps, such as establishing task forces on child labor, conditions on the ground remain bad: Children still work in cocoa production, regularly miss school, perform dangerous tasks and suffer injury and sickness. The report criticized the governments of Ivory Coast and Ghana for lack of transparency. And it said the industry’s certification process "contains no standards."

    In some respects the situation only got worse after Harkin-Engel. From 2002 to 2004, Ivory Coast was gripped by civil war. As militias and renegade soldiers killed and raped their way across the lush interior, income from cocoa exports helped fuel the fighting. Like diamonds and timber, cocoa became a so-called conflict resource. "Blood chocolate" was providing fast cash for armed groups and creating misery for common people. Since 2004, Ivory Coast has settled into an armed peace, with French and UN troops keeping the warring factions apart. But chocolate exporters and manufacturers say the war and its aftermath have hampered their efforts to eradicate child labor.

    The industry’s two main trade groups, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the National Confectioners Association, say tens of millions of dollars have been spent on building a socially responsible cocoa sector across West Africa. But the Tulane report criticizes the industry for not providing specifics to back up those assertions. And on the ground there is little evidence anyone is paying much attention. "What protocol?" asks Ali Lakiss, the director general of Saf-Cacao, the largest cocoa exporter in Ivory Coast, which controls about 20 percent of the trade. "The farmers don’t get the best price. If the cocoa price is good, then kids go to school. No money, and kids work at home."

     

    Democracy Now had a dialogue about chocolate exploitation in Ivory Coast after the  the Fortune article. Parenti adds:

    You can’t hide behind the fact that they’re small family farmers. You completely control—the industry controls the market in Cote d’Ivoire. No one can sell without going through one of the large corporations that are members of the international chocolate organizations. And if you really wanted to improve conditions for farmers, there would be an agreement to raise prices by ten or twenty percent, and what that would mean would be that large firms like Cargill and ADM and those who buy from them, like Hershey and Nestle, would have to pay more money and would make less profits. It’s that simple.

    And they don’t want to do that, because they’re in the business of making money. They’re not in the business of developing Cote d’Ivoire and keeping children out of poverty. That is fundamentally not what they’re about. And it’s very simple, what could happen. They could agree to regulations of their industry that would translate into price controls for farmers, and they don’t want to do that. And so, they will do everything except that, because what they are about is fundamentally making as much money as they possibly can off of the people of Cote d’Ivoire. And if that forces independent farmers to take their children out of school, as happened again and again, and exploit them and work them, so be it.

     

    …

    The fact of the matter is, 40 percent of world cocoa is produced in Cote d’Ivoire. The international cocoa firms control the ports, they control the market there. It would not be hard at all to have higher prices. In fact, until 1991—I mean, until 1999, there was a structure for ensuring minimum prices for farmers, and US firms lobbied hard to eliminate that. And due to a debt crisis, that was eliminated. And since then, prices have gone through the floor.

    Now, whatever the price in London is is one thing. What matters to the farmers in Cote d’Ivoire is what the price is at San Pedro, or, more to the point, what the farm gate price is. And unless you guys make an effort to pay higher prices, that’s not going to happen. And we have to be realistic: they don’t want that to happen. And that’s why—

    … there needs to be some accountability. You can’t just consistently say, oh, we partner with these NGOs, we partner with these NGOs. What NGOs? The only NGO that your one—the International Cocoa Initiative’s single employee in Ivory Coast would send me to was Mesad, an orphanage, where the head of the orphanage said only a handful of children from the cocoa sector had been there. This is hardly an education program for farmers. This is hardly some sort of social welfare program. I mean, there’s nothing that you can point to, but yet you continually just roll out these claims that you’re partnering with this group, you’re partnering with that group. And usually you don’t even mention the groups.

    (Here are links to other Parenti articles).

    In June, 2008, the World Cocoa  Federation released its updated report about labor conditions in Ivory Coast. (The Press release is here . The actual PDF report on Ivory Coast chocolate production  is here. Some conclusions:

    • Cocoa production is the main economic activity in three-quarters (78%) of the villages surveyed
    • 53% of villages have no electricity. Just 15% of households have electricity;
    • there is limited access to potable water; only 40% of villages have access. 8% have no source of potable water;
    • Access to education is limited: 9% of villages do not have a primary school, with the nearest school an average distance of 3 km away. No village has a secondary school, with the nearest located at least 10 km away.
    • Most of the farmers surveyed own small plantations (94%), with the average size of plots varying from one to three hectares. Labour essentially comes from within the family, confirming trends seen in national agriculture surveys conducted in 1974 and 2001. The average number of children per household is six; however, 35% of households have between 6 and 10 children. In these family businesses, children usually play a role.
    • 89% of children work in cocoa production. Fewer than 2% of children who work in cocoa production are not members of the household. This confirms the predominance of family labour in the production of cocoa in Cote d’Ivoire.
    • many children are involved in dangerous work. 53% are involved in carrying heavy loads,  16% are involved in burning. Many children between 6-14 are involved in this kind of work.
    • More than half of heads of households have no formal education (53%). Moreover, 21% have not completed primary school. Barely one-quarter (27%) of men and 7% of women have completed primary education. 63% of children attend school, while 27% had never been to school. 10% have dropped out of school. In a context of relatively low levels of school attendance, more than half of children in school (60%) cannot read while 22% read with difficulty.

    (See also this superficial collection of articles about the issue on Wikipedia).

    Since February, I have pretty much abandoned purchasing anything from Ivory Coast until I see visible results from the Harkin-Engel protocol. The Ivory Coast report prepared by the trade group seems balanced and accurate (let’s thank intrepid reporters like Parenti for being skeptical). Here is a case where the industry is contributing to the problem, but now finds that any kind of certification process is difficult. In the meantime, stores like Whole Foods and even my local HEB offers chocolate from other countries (Guyana, Ghana, etc). I’ve been enjoying Endangered Species chocolate bars (which sell for $2.50 each).

  • Nice Rims

    Liz Pullam Weston writes an article about 5 Things you should never rent and 5 you should:

    Rims. You can blame it on MTV’s "Pimp My Ride" or simply a car culture gone crazy, but flashy chrome wheels are big. They’re also expensive, typically costing $1,000 and up for a set. So a bunch of "rent to own" stores hawking rims and tires have sprung up to cater to those with expensive tastes and bad credit.

    For example: At Rent A Wheel in Van Nuys, Calif., you can pay the cash price of $1,612 for a set of VCT Grissini wheels, or you can pay $62 a week for a year — and pay for them exactly twice ($62 times 52 weeks is $3,224). But hey, there’s no credit check involved — or common sense, apparently.

    Honestly, if you fall for this scheme, you deserve to stay broke. If you really must have the baddest wheels, you can save up for them in six months (or less, since you’re likely to find a better deal if you shop around).

    Excuse me, $1600 for a set of wheels?

    (Weston smartly suggests renting the car you wish to purchase to give it a test drive. That sounds sensible, except that lots of foreign brands never seem to appear at car rental places. By the way, over the last 4 months, I rented a car at three agencies for about 3 weeks; my car was stolen, and then after it was found, it was flooded by a flash storm in Houston. I was appalled at how crappy the American car rentals were).

    The next question becomes: what kinds of items are you willing to pay top dollar for?

    For me, I sometimes will buy specialty gadgets at almost-new prices (like my ebook reader or camera/audio equipment). But I will research it to death. I will soon be buying a  top of the line kitchen knife called the Wusthof Classic . Also, over time I’ve been willing to pay top price for computer manuals, ties and shirts. Also certain kinds of work software (you almost can always justify the cost if you regularly use it).

    Speaking of software, I have almost never paid for Adobe/Macromedia software, which I regard as ridiculously expensive. On the other hand, now that MS Office sells at a reasonable price, I have no more qualms about using it. I love the grammar/spelling checker of MS Office so much that I would be willing to be only for that. I type most of my documents in a simple text editor, but then at the last minute will transfer everything over to MS Word to see if I have extra words or bad verb tenses.

    I would never think twice about hiring a lawyer or a highly paid artist or actor to do something important. Generally I’m willing to pay extra for item whose primary purpose is to make a statement about fashion or style, especially if I plan to use it heavily. I will almost always pay good prices for high quality cooking ingredients and meat –though I have resisted the temptation to buy organic food when it is significantly more expensive. Chocolate is one such item.

  • How to Buy an Individual Health Insurance Policy in Texas

    Here are some questions you should ask to evaluate an individual health insurance  plan:

    1. Copay: I go to a general doctor, and the bill for the doctor visit (excluding lab work) is  $300. This is my first visit for the year. How much do I have to pay?
    2. Lab work . Is lab work and doctor cost included in the same deductible or are they separated?
    3. Contracted rate vs. actual rate. I go to a general doctor, and he recommends lab work to be done. How can I tell the contracted rate (i.e. the actual amount of this procedure) which the doctor is allowed to bill)? b)If the contracted rate is $500, how does the insurance company figure out what portion of that amount it will cover and the amount I will need to pay?
    4. Prescription Copay: My doctor writes me two prescriptions: a)a generic drug worth $50, and b)a brand name drug costing $200. How much will I need to pay if this is the first prescription in the calendar year?
    5. Prescription Deductible: Is there a separate deductible for prescriptions or are they mixed together?
    6. Coinsurance: I have reached my annual deductible of 5000.  I incurred $6000 of expenses (i.e., office lab work, but not prescriptions).  How much will my health insurance pay of that extra $1000?
    7. Maximum Out-of-Pocket: What is the maximum amount total that I will be expected to pay for one calendar year?
    8. Routine Exams: I want to get a routine physical at my primary physician and it is the only doctor’s visit I have made in the year, what will I need to pay? If a doctor recommends $500 of tests in addition to the cost of the routine office visit (and $500 is the contracted rate for these tests), how much of that amount will be included in the insurer’s coverage of the physical? How much of it will go towards my deductible? Is lab work recommended during the physical reimbursed any differently from lab work recommended during an office visit?
    9. HSA Eligible: Can I use money from my health savings account for this plan? (Read about HSA guidelines here).
    10. Initial exclusions. Suppose a day after the policy begins, I get in a serious illness or become afflicted with a serious illness. Are there any initial restrictions on your company’s obligation to cover me? How long do these restrictions last?
    11. Caps on Chronic Conditions. Suppose I have a chronic condition.  Are there   separate lifetime limits for claims related to  any kinds of chronic conditions?

    More about HSA Eligibility: Ehealthinsurance says a health insurance plan must meet the following criteria to be considered HSA eligible:

    1. The health insurance plan must have an annual deductible of at least $1,100 for individuals and at least $2,200 for families.
    2. The sum of the annual deductible and the other annual out-of-pocket expenses required to be paid under the plan (other than premiums) does not exceed $5,500 for individuals and $11,000 for families.

    The most confusing thing to me is coinsurance. “Coinsurance is the term used by health insurance companies to refer to the amount that you are required to pay for a medical claim, apart from any co-payments or deductible. For example, if your health insurance plan has a 20% coinsurance requirement (and does not have any additional co-payment or deductible requirements), then a $100 medical bill would cost you $20, and the insurance company would pay the remaining $80.” (RJ: That would seem to suggest that coinsurance is bad and the closer to 0%, the better. However, I see that high deductible plans have 0% coinsurance, while small deductible plans have coinsurance minimums (usually 20-30%). What a strange nonintuitive detail!

    Another important thing to keep in mind is which expenses count towards your deductible? In many cases, all lab work and medical tests are to be paid by you until the deductible is finally met. When the doctor participates in a particular network, they sign an agreement to limit the costs of medical tests to the patients (that is called the “contracted rate”). In fact, this agreement is a hidden advantage of health insurance because it helps you avoid paying a higher rate for tests and lab work. The key thing is understanding that most lab work will not be covered by coinsurance, so you will be responsible for all of it until the deductible is met. Also, to be truly cost-conscious, you should go to the insurance provider’s website to find out what “contracted rate” which the doctor has agreed to when they signed up for their provider network.

    Finally, two things are worth mentioning. In 2012, Obamacare expanded its requirements to preventative care which need to be 100% covered by doctors.  That doesn’t mean you will still have to pay for lab work, but it is nothing to sneeze at. Second, on Jan 1, 2014, individual health plans will be forbidden to do underwriting to weed people out and to add special rider to at-risk people. At that date, you are guaranteed to get coverage from wherever you apply for coverage without having to answer a questionnaire (and submit to the prying questions via telephone by a nurse practitioner)

    (more…)

  • How to Obtain low-priced electricity in Texas

    Texans probably already know that this site can help you choose a good energy provider.  It is also a great place to compare plans with carbon-neutral renewable energy plans. Here are some things I learned:

    • apparently variable rates vary wildly over time. (surprise, surprise). This happened last summer when natural gas prices skyrocketed; some people on variable plans were reporting that the electricity rates had practically doubled overnight.
    • Some people lock in a rate through a fixed plan, but when the fixed plan expires, they forget to lock in another rate. As a result, the variable rate keeps climbing, and the prices keep becoming more expensive.
    • Fixed rates may be a little more expensive, but they prevent too many fluctuations in what you pay (especially if it happens during a month with high energy use).

    Here’s a comparison of rate plans in Texas . Here’s a blog dedicated to following the fluctuations in Texas energy prices (you need to make sure not to confuse the legitimate posts with the banner ads though). Here’s all posts related to Houston rates.

    Yesterday I locked in a  renewable energy 12 month rate of 13.05 cents per kilowatt with Dynowatt. Actually, many people complained about the variable rate plan last summer when they jacked up rates from 14 cents a minute to 23 cents, but with a fixed rate, you’re safe. As long as you remember to get a fixed rate the next time. 

  • Look for the American Flag

    This is not a subject I normally get excited about, but two days I bought the most incredible tennis shoes! Skechers has some incredibly stylish and comfortable shoes.

    Question: How do you know if a pair of tennis shoes has been made in China? Check for a picture of the American flag or the words “USA” on the box.

  • New local blog: KPRC reporter Amy Davis

    I always am pleasantly surprised to discover a new local journalist or blogger. How easy it is to be distracted by national or international news stories and forget that interesting things are happening in your own backyard.

    Last Thursday, I saw a great report by KPRC reporter Amy Davis about political contributor Rick Perry. Short, punchy, effective presentation. The highlights:

    “People would say he’s the only individual who could afford his own state agency,” said McDonald. “They say his political donations actually resulted in the creation of the Texas Residential Construction Commission.”

    The commission was advertised as giving customers a place to sort out problems with faulty builders before going to court. Just last week, a sunset advisory committee recommended shutting down the commission.

    “It (TRCC) has been a failure. It really supports the home building industry and doesn’t support consumers,” Mc Donald said.

    I had come across the factoid about Rick Perry’s political contributions on another post about how Texas homeowners can’t sue their builders. But it’s nice to learn that Perry was one of the original Swift Boat contributors—Texas values indeed.

    Amy Davis apparently has a consumerist blog which is fun to read. Here’s where she calls the bluff of a Bank of America PR statement.

  • My Camera Purchase

    Last night, after a week of hemming and hawing, I finally purchased my camera. The winner is

    • Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5A 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)” $276.94
    • Lenmar DLP007 Lithium-ion Digital Camera/Camcorder Battery Equivalent to the Panasonic CGR-S007A Battery” Electronics; $9.15
    • LLC1 “Samsonite Adaptor Plug – Europe, Middle East” Apparel; $4.50
    • Joby GP1-0BEN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Blue) $21.95
    • Mack 3 Year Extended Warranty For Digital Cameras – Value Up to $500 $29.95
    • 2 “Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD CLASS 6) with Compact Card Reader” $46.82

    A few observations about the camera buying experience.

    First, the lowest price on retail isn’t always the cheapest overall. Typically you have to pay shipping or compare things as a bundle, not a single product. Amazon’s camera price wasn’t the lowest, but they had a larger variety of lower-priced accessories, including the Mack warranties. Buydig (also an excellent company) had the lowest price, but they were selling more expensive Mack warranties and didn’t offer the selection of memory cards or the Gorillapod tripod. Of course, the truth is that Amazon merely is the front end for several electronic stores, so they are providing the illusion of an all-in-one-place shopping experience.

    The big choice for me was between Canon G9  ($450) and the Panasonic TZ5A ($276). I went to Circuit City and tested that G9 camera to death…and absolutely loved it. It had several extra features (such as audio recorder, a flash shoe and a great user interface). But at Circuit City the TZ5A battery was dead every time I visited, so really all I was able to do was glance at the outside. Conventional wisdom is that the G9 is great but overpriced (if you want that much camera, why not just buy a low end SLR?). TZ5 is the perfect spot for price, portability and features (although there was a lot of lukewarm feelings about its new HD capability).  As you see, I bought two 16 gig SDHC cards, so that lets me take a lot of video footage.

    I looked at reviews and forums about both cameras and was overwhelmed with information. The expert reviews gave great opinions (I especially liked the ones which dated their reviews and compared them to the competition). I really liked the Cameralabs reviews (and seriously would have clicked on the camera link to amazon through Pricegrabber to give them a commission, but apparently Amazon no longer participates in pricegrabber).

    The Lumix TZ5A has more automatic settings than the G9 (which was good as well as bad). The fact that G9 offered RAW files was actually a reason against buying it. I wasn’t ready at this point to tackle a new set of processing technologies (however superior I’m sure they were).  Not only did the Lumix have HD (sort of), but they had wide angle and 10x optical zoom (which is amazing). Ultimately though, the amount of features is less important than the user interface to allow it. G9 offered lots of knobs and dials ; I felt that many features were within easy reach (That said, I couldn’t figure out how to enable Face Recognition, which apparently is becoming a standard feature these days). Interestingly, the fact that the G9 was so expensive wasn’t as big an obstacle to me as the fact that it would make me paranoid about it getting stolen during my September Europe trip.

    Now there are many places to showcase your videos and often many user groups form around a certain camera. On Vimeo it’s easy to find videos tagged with TZ5. It’s also possible to read hundred of reviews and forum threads and be no more enlightened about a gadget before you read it.

  • Blue Cross Texas: More Lunacies

    Businessman and KPFT radio commentator Leo Gold tells an amazing tale of how Blue Cross Texas rejected his medical coverage (and later found that the Texas health insurance risk pool assigned him to be insured by…the same company!).

    I looked a little deeper at the Pool’s information, and to my surprise I discovered that the fulfillment arm of the Pool – the physician network, treatment management functions, and so forth – was contracted to an outside company, and lo and behold, that company is Blue Cross. The relationship between the Pool and Blue Cross is so intertwined that Blue Cross representatives regularly attend and participate in the Pool’s Board of Directors meetings. I’m not saying there’s anything illegal about this, but let’s consider the ironies: a Republican legislature, inveterately and philosophically opposed to government health care, writes legislation that allows insurance companies to exclude applicants who simply have a therapist, thereby ensuring that there will be a need for a government health insurance pool; and that government health insurance pool, because it does not have the resources to offer all elements of a health plan to its participants must contract with the very entity whose refusal of coverage resulted in the need for the pool in the first place. It’s no wonder that we Americans spend 15% of our GDP on health care, with all the inefficient bureaucracies, public and private, designed to pass people from entity to entity like hot potatoes.

    I had a similarly bad experience with Blue Cross Texas two years ago. When I signed up, I made a similar mistake of being honest. I mentioned to the Blue Cross interviewer that my doctor offhandedly mentioned that I should have a freckle checked by a doctor. Blue Cross Texas turned me down for coverage…all because of a freckle! You see, Blue Cross Texas expected me to (pay to)  visit a dermatologist who would look at my freckle and perhaps remove it. Listen, I’ve had this thing since the time I was a teenager.  If Blue Cross Texas were willing to pay for me to visit a dermatologist, I might have consented, but the real problem is that the system penalizes honest disclosures.  This suggests the need for a system which does not depend on prescreening individuals.

    Gold was using a psychotherapist for various reasons, and now Blue Cross is providing a perverse incentive not to seek alternative help unless sanctioned by Blue Cross itself.  That is an example of how health care privatization is removing choices–by forcing disclosures!

    The question becomes: what restrictions should an individual agree to simply to receive discounts on medical care? Should the individual:

    • agree never to receive alternative care from an agency unless Blue Cross were notified?
    • promise to disclose every kind of visit that he has made to a health provider?
    • agree to disclose every kind of medicine he has ever taken?
    • promise to tell all future providers about any past care he has received?
    • have no choice but to visit health providers who promise to share medical records with the the health insurance provider?

    Obviously Leo Gold is a healthy person and able to afford coverage (and so am I). But what about  people  like Esmin Green or Belinda Bach who couldn’t possibly  afford coverage? A company like Blue Cross Texas would easily and gleefully ignore them while at the same time issuing press release about its latest profitability. This is what we call "the American Way."

  • Perils of Mandatory Arbitration

    I am currently embroiled in a minor dispute about HSBC credit card. They treated me shabbily and then continued to assess fees. And I continue to protest and am willing to bring it to small claims or mandatory arbitration. I am a stubborn SOB when I am in the right.

    Here’s a news-breaking article in Business Week by Robert Berner and Brian Grow about mandatory arbitration. Highlights:

    • National Arbitration Forum is reponsible for the overwhelming majority of cases (Citibank, Discover, Chase), etc.
    • In addition to NAF clauses being included in credit card contracts, they are also included in home contracts and (soon apparently) health insurance forms.
    • here is a fee collection schedule set by the NAF(PDF). It’s both outrageous and hilarious.
    • according to the article, creditors win their cases 99.8% of the time.
    • the reporters found a Power Point used in sales presentations bragging to bank clients a “marked increase in recovery rates over existing collection methods.” Another quote:

      • A current NAF arbitrator speaking on condition of anonymity explains that the presentation reflects the firm’s effort to attract companies, or “claimants,” by pointing out that they can use delays and dismissals to manipulate arbitration cases. “It allows the [creditor] to file an action even if they are not prepared,” the arbitrator says. “There doesn’t have to be much due diligence put into the complaint. If there is no response [from the debtor], you’re golden. If you get a problematic [debtor], then you can request a stay or dismissal.” When some creditors fear an arbitrator isn’t sympathetic, they drop the case and refile it, hoping to get one they like better, the arbitrator says.

      The firm goes out of its way to tell creditors they probably won’t have to tussle with debtors in arbitration. The September, 2007, NAF presentation informs companies that in cases in which an award or order is granted, 93.7% are decided without consumers ever responding. Only 0.3% of consumers ask for a hearing; 6% participate by mail.

    • here’s another article by the same reporters.
    • here’s an mp3 by the same reporters talking about how they prepared the article.
    • see also these interviews with debt/credit experts on 2004 PBS Frontline episode, “The Secret History of the Credit Card”. I recommend Elizabeth Warren’s interview especially.

    I have a feeling that reporting on this credit card dispute will start to be a regular feature on this blog. For the record. I’ve had two other cases in my life where I’ve disputed bank cards/wrongful debt.

    The first was in 2002 when I was out of work and Citibank offered me a debt payment plan, and then withdrew it or changed their terms or I never quite figured it out. I requested numerous times in writing for Citibank to send the original legal agreement and the terms of the repayment plan, which they refused to do. Eventually I gave up, mainly because I was  not in good shape financially but also because I had no way of confirming any statement or interpretation made by a customer rep made over the telephone. I took good notes, but so what? Lesson learned: communicate only in writing.

    The second time was in 2006 when outrageously enough AT&T refused to provide telephone service and Internet service because of a theft of identity issue. I had to pay the criminals’ debt and then “prove” that I was not responsible  in order to receive the refund. AT&T was the only telephone provider in the neighborhood and had the ability to prevent me from having Internet access, so I had to pay, like it or not. Eventually AT&T conceded their error, but only after 6 months of my complaining.

    So I am ready for my next dispute. HSBC essentially sent me a form letter today denying my complaint. (The facts of the case are simple: I paid off a credit card in full in late March and wrote them asking to cancel the account. I received a written confirmation of this from an HSBC rep, but apparently the company has continued to assess fees and fees for the fees and fees for the fees for the fees….)

    For those at HSBC reading this, let the record show that I am still waiting on them to provide a copy of the legal agreement. And I am ready to fight!

  • Brilliant Search Engine Idea (Google, please steal it!)

    Google’s search algorithm is being polluted by commercial entities that game the system.

    Establish a criteria called Commercial  Density.  Commercial Density refers to the ratio of text content on a page to links to commercial sites (i.e., advertisements) on the same page:

    • if the ratio is low (or even zero), then the web page contains little or no ads
    • if the ratio is high, then the web pages contain lots of ads and relatively small amount of content.

    Right now,  well-known consumer products or names of celebrities go to Youtube (no surprise) or metasites or category listings. When searching for Jessica Jay (see my previous article), I notice that most of the search results are meaningless–links to ringtones, song lyrics or Youtube videos. Actually, though the Youtube links are perhaps the cleanest search results I found (no ads), plus the comment section has more information than I find elsewhere.

    If I had a way to filter out/exclude content with a high saturation of ads, that would help me find useful content. One reason I end up going to wikipedia first  is not that  I love wikipedia  (See my thoughts about wikipedia and Digital Maoism), but that it’s relatively ad-free.

    Alas, even that is changing. Wikipedia’s anti-spam policies ironically is leading to a bias against independent media in favor of mainstream media outlets.  Wikipedia may be inadequate, but for now, it’s still all we have.

    I don’t dislike ad-supported media. Far from it. For example, New Yorker, Time and even CNN sometimes have great content. But many database-driven sites are savvy at catching search queries regardless of relevance. One sign of this kind of gaming  is high commercial density. Google already has a way to filter adult content; why can’t it also filter out things by commercial density as well? 

  • Anti-Smoking Goes Disney

    Magical Amount by Sunny Side of the Truth.

    I’ve blogged about this Public Service Announcement  video production group before. Here’s some older videos.

    The most interesting thing about these PSAs is that they never appear in time slots I watch–so essentially I never hear about them except  through youtube. I have no  doubt that they are strategically scheduled to maximize impact (Nickolodean, MTV, Disney, etc). But it’s another example of how even the most attentive cultural watchers miss so much outside of their intended demographic.

    To illustrate my point: if you don’t know what webkinz and Heely’s  are, chances are you don’t have a child under 10. If you know these terms, chances are you are absolutely sick of  hearing about them.

    Have you ever heard someone rave about a particular car and you just don’t care about these things? I have never cared about cars (although I enjoy listening to Car Talk once in a while). I am mildly interested in energy-efficient cars, but I am always hearing about cars through sisters, friends, parents, colleagues, etc. Perhaps it has to do with affluence, but whenever car commercials come on TV, I never even notice them. My only hope is that it has semi-decent background music (if I don’t have time to put it on mute). A striking difference between US and (East) European TV is that US television was all about car commercials and European TV was all about consumer products. I wonder: if any Europeans are reading this weblog, do the frequency of TV commercials in your region drive you as crazy as they do to us?  Commercials make it impossible to watch anything on the major networks these days.  Even for people who have satellite or cable, TV watching is still unwatchable.

    In case this is not clear: these anti-smoking campaigns serve a vital purpose. It is not mere entertainment. The consequences of experimenting with cigarettes are far-reaching.

  • Goth Musician Dies (and Bereaved Mother asks tough questions about health insurance)

    While reading a digg post about Nataline Sarkisyan (the girl who died after CIGNA refused to pay for a liver transplant) , I found a comment on the bottom (with 0 diggs) by Sharon Bach. The saddest thing is that she wrote it on Christmas. Gee, some Christmas.

    If the argument that someone would have died anyway is valid, we should just stop treating all patients with terminal illness and let them die. I just buried my beautiful daughter, Belinda Bach, who died as a result of the inadequacies of the health care system. Her condition only became serious when treatment became unavailable. There is no big insurance company to sue, so the lawyers won’t be interested. Belinda was not allowed to buy health insurance because of chronic health problems. She was denied care in the public sector as well. By the time she was “approved” for SSI (the only way she could “qualify” for Medi-Cal), she had already suffered liver failure due to acetaminophen poisoning, something that would not have happened had she been receiving proper care. She tried using the so-called “free” clinics, but not only was the care inadequate, but she was hounded by bill collectors for what “services” she did receive. So much for “free” clinics. Her followup care was abysmal or non-existent. The next serious episode of liver failure, the hospital dragged their heels and did not transfer her to an acute care facility in time and she developed hepatic encephalopathy. By the time she got to UCLA, it was too late. They tried desperately to save her, but she died. Why is it OK to sacrifice our most fragile citizens and at the same time provide free health care to people who have broken our immigration laws and are here illegally? If we can afford to be that magnanimous, then why can’t we extend the same humanitarianism to our own citizens? The ancient Spartans left their infirm outside the city to die. The Third Reich exterminated them in death camps along with the Jews and all the others they did not like. In this country, we just make it almost impossible for the physically frail to get adequate health care. Belinda was the daughter of Oz Bach, bass player for Spanky and Our Gang in the 60s, belindabach.com but I doubt the media will do a story on Belinda. Meanwhile the media circus over Nataline will continue. I do hope her family gets some sort of closure (if that is EVER possible with the death of a child!).

    Now perhaps the rhetoric about immigrants is a bit too strong, but her gripe is as legitimate as they come. When she asked a question in July on Youtube for the Youtube presidential debate, she asked this (2 months before her daughter died at 28):

    What would you do to assist medically disenfranchised to obtain access to maximum health care? By “medically disenfranchised”, I mean: those individuals who cannot obtain private insurance, who are unable to obtain coverage through an employer and do not currently qualify for any sort of assistance.

    Here’s a memorial site for Belinda Bach, her daughter. A strikingly pretty woman, she was also a talented musician and artist. (Alas, her tribute site only contains clips of her music; you can download complete mp3s from her Ockham’s Razor Band page on myspace). As a musician & DJ affected by various things (notably Goth styles and club life), her writings on her myspace DJ Luna C Memorial page are both turbulent and poetic and even fatalistic, struggling with a dark side.

    image It’s hard to tell if that nihilism predated her sickness; but of course, nihilism is itself a kind of pose, one of many which artists adopt over time. Her music of course is more upbeat. Here’s a live videotaped performance of a bluesy song Wayfaring Stranger . After surfing through it all, I was struck most by the “Time” song in her Photomontage Memorial video. (For what it’s worth, here’s a pretty kickass playlist she put on her DJ myspace page).

    image Art by Belinda Bach

    I am cautiously optimistic that the new election will bring small improvements to the health care system. But only one candidate seems to be raising the issue. That is John Edwards (see this relevant video clip) .

    My point is this: mass media and the blogosphere have a limited attention span and an uncanny ability to ignore important stories. Then suddenly, often quite by chance, something changes and suddenly an issue is brought to centerstage (as though the issue had never previously existed). With this information, so much is ignored, overlooked, forgotten. I see this in the arts for example. I am constantly uncovering great new fiction, great new forms of artistic expression and great new music (not to mention great new videos). Very few things receive the proper amount of recognition.

    In the meantime, the Ann Coulter appearances continue, and so do the Mitt Romney attack ads, as well as the latest mini-traumas involving Britney Spears/Paris Hilton/(insert minor celebrity’s name here).

  • Carbon-Neutrality

    Consumer’s Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers (PDF). To Summarize:

    • Buying an offset does not solve the problem if you continue your lifestyle. You can’t buy an indulgence.
    • Different carbon offset companies have different ways of measuring and different ways of offsetting carbon. (See this article by Andrew Revkin).

    Based on the ratings, it looks like Climate Trust and Native Energy are the best providers in US.

    Wow, it looks like a consumer-guide is a secured read-only document, meaning you can’t copy excerpts of it into a weblog post like this. Way to go!

    Update: Matt alerts me to a good information/rating site about carbon offsets. Thanks, Matt!

  • Consumers Research

    On a day like this, I’m afraid to blog, because I have a backlog of things to post.

    But here’s a clear exception. Consumersresearch is a great site that gathers consumer information from various sources and puts it into a single site.  It’s especially good for household products and things which don’t need to be absolutely up-to-date.  Here’s a gift giving guide (with reviews of popular product types).  This site solves the problem of too much consumer information. For example, have you ever spent hours reading hundreds of reviews before actually buying something?

  • Usability Test

    1. Chemistry. Just for fun, go to www.chemistry.com (the online dating service). Try to learn how much membership costs without first signing up.

    2. Go to Dell.com . Try to find the physical address and/or phone number of its Austin, Texas HR department.

    That is the story of what the Internet is about: hiding  information.