uElderly Shopper Punched In The Face Over Nutella Samples At Costcor

4 4 4 9

• 

  One would think combining free sample day and Nutella would create the ideal shopping experience. That certainly wasn’t the case at a California Costco where an elderly shopper was punched in the face was punched in the face in the name of free chocolate hazelnut spread.

  The Burbank Leader reports that a 78-year-old man was punched in the face on Sunday morning after asking an excessive sample grabber to share with others.

  Police say the incident occurred when a 24-year-old man snatched several Nutella and Eggo Waffle samples from a cart.

  The older shopper reportedly told the younger man to take just one sample, at which point the overzealous younger man allegedly punched his fellow shopper in the face.

  Authorities say the older man was transported to the hospital with a one-inch cut and swelling to his eye.

  The younger man was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse following the incident.

  Elderly man reportedly punched at Costco by excessive Nutella-sampling shopper [The Burbank Leader]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uCable Company Cutting Off Service To Entire Condo Complex Over Crime Concernsr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Following the armed robbery of a repair tech, a cable and Internet provider has decided to stop serving an entire Orlando condo complex, potentially leaving residents without any affordable way to get online.

  Last week, Florida-based Bright House Networks told the residents of the Tymber Skan condominiums on Orlando’s Lake Catherine that crime in the area had reached the point where the company felt it could no longer offer service.

  “We have had multiple escalating issues including an incident where a technician was held at gunpoint and robbed,” a rep for the company told the Orlando Sentinel. “This was a difficult decision after requesting help and working with local law enforcement for months…. We do not plan to continue service to this location until the safety of our workforce can be assured.”

  This condo complex of around 60 units has seen better days. The Sentinel reports that it’s been fined more than $20 million by Orange County for various code violations. Nine buildings have already been demolished with more to go.

  A property manager tells the Sentinel that he’s not surprised about Bright House’s exit from the complex, explaining that “It’s hard to get vendors on site because of liability issues.”

  A lawyer representing the Tymber Skan homeowners says he’s never heard of Bright House pulling out of an entire neighborhood. In a letter, he recently told county officials, “It is not fair to condemn these residents to living as second-class citizens without access to services so common in America today that most people take them for granted.”

  One resident who has been the public face of the story is a disabled 54-year-old who works from home and says that Bright House’s decision to end service has put her in a bind.

  “Loss of income, loss of entertainment, I don’t know about you, but I prefer not to stare at four walls all day,” she told WESH-TV.

  She says she relies on the Internet for her income and that she can’t afford to move.

  “Any neighborhood can go bad,” she tells the Sentinel. “They’re not looking at us as people but as piles of trash.”

  Bright House was scheduled to meet with Orange County Sheriff’s Office reps on Friday and service was slated to end yesterday. We’ve written to the company for an update but have not yet heard back.

  [via DSLreports.com]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uAccounting Giant PwC Unveils Plan To Help Pay Down Employees’ Student Loansr

4 4 4 9

• 

  When you’re a huge international consulting and auditing firm that hires some 11,000 recent college graduates every year, you want to have a benefits package that appeals to candidates’ needs. That’s why PricewaterhouseCoopers has unveiled a new program to help pay down employees’ student loan debt.
  

  The Wall Street Journal reports that, starting in July 2016, PwC will pay up to $7,200 of an employee’s loan debt.

  Eligible PwC staffers will receive a maximum benefit of $1,200 a year for six years. Nearly half the company’s workforce could be eligible for some relief through this program.

  The benefits will be available to the company’s associates and senior-associates – positions which typically range from entry-level hires to those with up to six years of experience, the WSJ reports.

  Funds provided through the benefit will be paid directly to the loan servicers of certified student loans.

  “This is an issue that is important to our people,” Michael Fenlon, PwC’s global talent leader tells the WSJ. “We certainly think it’s a beneficial attraction for top talent.”

  The benefit was created after the company’s employee focus groups identified student loan debt as a particular concern among its college hires.

  One recently hired employee who could benefit from the payments says she graduated from college in May with around $30,000 in debt.

  “I am personally living with my parents to try to save up some money and not be so tight on my budget,” she says. “This is something that’s really helpful. Hopefully I will be debt-free sooner.”

  PwC to Offer Perk: Student Loan Aid [The Wall Street Journal]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uJos. A. Bank Wants To Change Image, Ditch Reputation Of Cheap Suits By The Bushelr

4 4 4 9

• 

  When Saturday Night Live shows a family using your menswear company’s products to sop up orange juice spills and pet urine because they’re cheaper than paper towels, and people actually find this funny, that’s a sign that maybe it’s time to reconsider your promotions strategy. Jos. A. Bank is trying a new strategy, which involves promotions with suits in more reasonable quantities than in the past.

  Historically, the company has made money by marking their suits up more initially, and then offering large and impressive discounts periodically to clean out their closets. The chain’s leaders have apparently come to realize that “buy one, get three free” promotions are “unnatural,” which is the actual word that their CEO used in an interview with Bloomberg News.

  “There’s a fair amount of evidence out there that there aren’t enough customers who want to buy four suits at a time or want to buy that quantity to get a deal,” notes CEO Doug Ewart. Instead, they want to make more sales more often instead of bringing customers in periodically to buy a bushel of suits.

  They also plan to offer more types of suits: expanding their slim-fit and big and tall options to suit up a wider range of men, and adding shoes.

  Jos. A. Bank’s Makeover Will Dial Back Discounts, Update Clothes [Bloomberg News]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

u3 Ways You Can Help Protect Against Elder Scamsr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Scams can often seem like the stuff of urban legends — an odd, urgent phone call, a smooth-talking person on the other end who weaves a tale of money won in a sweepstakes, or funds needed to help a loved one, that seems too detailed to be a lie — but unfortunately for many seniors who have lost thousands of dollars to unscrupulous strangers, scams that take advantage of the elderly are all too common.

  Every year, scammers bilk billions of dollars out of seniors and their families, often by way of impostor schemes, in which criminals pose on the phone or by mail as government officials or other authority figures and claim that money is owed (often to get a family member out of some kind of trouble). They’re also hit hard by gambits involving prizes, sweepstakes, and gifts.

  In a new cover story out this month, our colleagues at Consumer Reports take an in-depth look at how these fraudsters are targeting elderly victims around the country, detailing the stories of individual victims as well as outlining steps that can help consumers protect themselves and their loved ones against this kind of fraud.

  Quick tips for seniors and their family members that can help combat elder scams
  1. Stop robocalls: Using a free service like Nomorobo, which is available to consumers with VoIP service with select providers. A whitelist call blocker device that blocks numbers that aren’t programmed into it can also be useful. If someone from an unknown number calls, don’t press to connect to a representative, just hang up; responding shows that a live person is there and that may generate more calls.

  2. Have someone help pay the bills:: Create a shared bank account with a trusted friend or family member, and arrange to transfer only enough funds every month to pay off bills, and not say, send $10,000 to someone in Costa Rica who’s claiming your nephew is in prison and needs the bail money. Getting to know the tellers and other other workers at the local bank or credit union can also come in handy, as they could sniff out suspicious activity on an account.

  3. Set up an emergency plan: Temporary hospitalization or permanent incapacity are just two reasons someone may not be able to control his or her own finances. Give power of attorney to someone trusted and financially secure. The power-of-attorney document can be drawn up with limits, such as assigning a relative or friend to monitor the person with power of attorney; mandating a periodic written report of financial transactions; or assigning joint powers of attorney, which requires two signatures on every check.

  For more information and resources you can use to fight elder scams from spreading, check out Consumer Reports’ cover story “Lies, Secrets, and Scams: How to Prevent Elder Abuse”.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uDish Customers Can Now Track Repair Tech’s Location, ETAr

4 4 4 9

• In an effort to add some accountability to install and repair appointments, Dish Network has launched “My Tech,” a new feature of its MyDish.com that allows customers to see where their tech is, when they’ll arrive, and what they look like.

  When a Dish customer has a scheduled appointment, they’ll receive two links that day from the satellite service. The first link will provide them an estimated 75-minute window for the tech to arrive, along with a map showing that tech’s location.

  An hour before the estimated arrival time, the customer will be able to see the name and photo of the dispatched tech. My Tech also provides a countdown and tracker so you hopefully can get some idea of whether that tech is indeed en route.

  “We recognize that people want control of their own time and DISH’s My Tech tool helps them get on with their day without waiting on the TV guy,” explains Dish exec. VP of operations Erik Carlson in a statement. “A minute-by-minute countdown and interactive map allow the customer to track their DISH technician to determine when to leave work or if they have time to run to the store.”

  Comcast has been rolling out a similar tool since late 2014, but it looks like Dish has decided to go nationwide all at once with My Tech.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uE-Book Subscription Service Oyster Shutting Downr

4 4 4 9

• E-book subscription service Oyster (otherwise known as “the Netflix of books” because that’s how everyone describes things now) will be shutting down after two years.

  The Oyster team wrote in a blog post on Monday that they’d be taking steps to “sunset the existing Oyster service over the next several months.” Oyster readers will receive an email about their accounts in the next few weeks. Until then, accounts will operate normally.

  Though the company didn’t explain the exact reasons for the change, it seems the service will live on in some other, unspecified way: using language like “as we continue on, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of ebooks and mobile reading,” the Oyster team says that going forward, the best way to get people to read books on their phones is for the team to take on “new opportunities to fully realize our vision for ebooks.”

  To that end, Re/code confirmed a report that Google had hired some members of the Oyster team. A spokesman explained they’ll be working on the books section of the Google Play store, which doesn’t have a subscription service as yet, and only sells individual e-books. This could mean Google has a new subscription service for books in the works, though the spokesman declined to comment on that front to Re/code.

  Those team members have also already dipped their toes into e-book selling: as recently as April, Oyster was still trying to compete with the big e-book players, launching its own online e-book store, with deals at that time to sell work from five of the largest book publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist