CyberCJH’S Blog

I found this story on The Consumerist. They have the best website. 

Viviane Reding, the European Union’s Telecommunications Commissioner, is demanding that wireless carriers in Europe begin billing on a per-second basis rather than per-minute. She says this is because at the retail level, the difference between billed and actual minutes appears to be typically around 20 percent. She’s also threatening to place caps on fees for text messages and data plans if carriers don’t cut their rates.

Compare that to the US. Last week, a lone congresswoman had to ask three national carriers when they were going to honor their promise to pro-rate early termination fees.

Verizon already does this.
Sprint said sometime in the second quarter of 2008.
T-Mobile said sometime in the first half of this year.
AT&T Mobility said, “Who the f*ck is this b*tch?”

So, for now fellow citizens, you will be charged 1 minute for your 25 second call and you will like it.

written by cybercjh

According to Wikipedia, a shenanigan is a deceitful confidence trick or mischief causing discomfort or annoyance. I think it’s Amazon’s official pricing policy. On Amazon, if they lower the price on an item within 30 days of shipping it to you, they will refund you the difference. But, it’s up to you to monitor the price and request the refund. There are websites that help you do this like Price!pinx, but what a PITA. Anyway, check out these recent Amazon price changes. Sometimes, their prices change on a daily basis or even several times a day. Oh, by the way, enjoy this rare glimpse into my online purchasing habits.

• 2/5/07 : 1GB MiniSD Card : Price dropped $1 on 2/13/07. 
• 10/16/07 : Energizer Battery Charger : Price dropped $1.18 on 11/3/07.
• 11/30/07 : Racor Gravity Freestanding Bike Stand : Price dropped $3.78 on 12/5/07.
• 12/7/07 : 8 sets of LED Christmas Lights : Price dropped $55 on 1/3/08 and a further $12.50 on 1/5/08
• 1/15/08 : Dilbert DVD : Price dropped $3 on 1/30/08, then a further $5.50 on 2/2/08 and then a further $8 on 2/12/08.
• 1/25/08 : XM Car Kit : Price dropped $1.66 on 2/2/08.
• 3/3/08 : Clatterford DVD : Price dropped $4.50 on 3/11/08.
• 3/9/08 (Ida’s purchase) : KitchenAid Mixer : Price dropped $19.99 on 3/15/08 and a further $16.90 on 3/17/08.
• 3/11/08 : Canon Grey Leather Case : Price dropped $0.25 on 3/13/08 and a further $0.36 on 3/16/08 and then a further $2.75 on 3/17/08.

I’ve saved just shy of $100 over the past 15 months. Considering that Christina & I have been Amazon Prime members since January of 2007, the refunds from the price drops have basically paid for our membership in that program. I don’t understand how Amazon makes money off me. I can’t see them making any money off anything I’ve ever bought there.

If you buy something from Amazon, I highly recommend that you monitor the price for 30 days after that or have a website like Price!pinx do it for you. You will probably end up saving money.

written by cybercjh \\ tags: Amazon