why god hates me

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Zack in Wilkes-Barre, PA would like to know why each of these three kinds of Tide laundry detergent gives you a different amount of loads - 48, 52 and 64. They all weigh and cost the same, they’re all “2X Ultra” formulation. The only difference is they have different scents, Clean Breeze, Mountain Spring, and Original. We have no friggin clue. Can anyone crack this detergent dilemma?

A number of readers chimed in on the Best Buy-branded wishlist browser add-on post with the alternatives they prefer instead. They were: 1) Amazon’s Universal Wishlist, 2) Del.icio.us, 3) Wishlist.com, 4) Wishlistr.com. Got any others? As far as what most Consumerist’s thought of the Best Buy add-on, commenter dragonfire81 probably captured it best…

(Photo: heyu1021)

“Saving up.” It’s nearly an alien concept in this “buy with debt” world, but into that breach steps SmartyPig. The site lets you set and save for specific goals in their online savings accounts at a competitive 3.9% APY savings rate. There’s all sorts of built-in graphs and widgets to track your progress, but then you can make it social, if you like, by making a page where your goals public and having friends and family or other random people on the net track and root for your progress, or even contribute to your goal.

After you meet your goal, you can take out money in a MasterCard debit card or a gift card from one of their retail partners like Amazon.

One thing to remember is that you can only take out the money after your goal is met, and the goal has to be at least $250. So if you’re looking for the liquidity of a normal online savings account, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for something with built-in restrictions and tools that will both help and force you to save up for specific purchase goals, instead of whipping out the plastic, SmartyPig could be worth a shot.

Smarty Pig [Official Site]

The site has been around for a bit, here’s a few other people who’ve written reviews about it worth checking out:

Get Rich Slowly [Get Rich Slowly]
SmartyPig Review: With Less Fees, Are Piggy Banks Back? [My Money Blog]
Social Networking Meets Savings Accounts: SmartyPig Launches this Week [NetBanker]
Some people had trouble with the sign-up, but I was able to clickity-click and get rolling within minutes.

This chat transcript from “Yet Another Girl”’s blog is an example of how sometimes you can find exactly the answer you’re looking for on a customer service chat. Unfortunately, in this case, you’ll do all of the work yourself while the chat agent stares numbly at the screen, wondering how did I end up here? I don’t even know what this “apple” thing is!

You are chatting with {Name Withheld to Protect… Something}, an Apple Expert:

Hi, my name is {Name Withheld to Protect… Something}. Welcome to Apple!

{Me}: I need a new doohickey; TSA lost my old one.
{Me}: I need the thingy that you use to connect a mac laptop to a pc projctor/monitor
{Me}: obviously i dont know what it’s called
{Me}: thus I can’t find it.
{Me}: and then once I know what it is, I need to know if the apple store by the mall by my house has it

*** 60 second pause ***

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Good afternoon.
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: I’m happy to assist with that.
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Would you like a link to the local Apple STore.

{Me}: I need to know what the thing is called firsty

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: One moment while I research that for you.
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Are you trying to hook your Mac to a projector? Explain to me exactly what you are doing.

{Me}: yes
{Me}: i have a mac laptop and we have projectors for pc
{Me}: the connector for the projector is the same as if I was hooking the mac laptop up to a pc monitor

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Did you have a plug that you previously attached?
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: What type of prong was on the projector for input or output?

{Me}: i don’t know what you mean by plug. I had a small white cable, one end hooked up to my laptop on the mac side and one end hooked up to the monitor/projector
{Me}: the pc end looked like pc monitor connectors have always looked. the mac side has a bunch of square looking slots at one end
{Me}: that cable fell out of my bag at airport security
{Me}: or my dog ate it. anyway, it’s gone and now I can’t hook up to anything.

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: One moment while I research that for you.

*** several minutes go by***

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Thank you for your patience.

****several more minutes go by, I stop sending emails and try some more searches***

{Me}: i think i found it.
{Me}: On my own.
{Me}: http://store.apple.com/us/product/M8754G/A?mco=MTIxODk3Mw

***60 second pause***

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Perfect.
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Would you like me to place it in a cart for you?

(this is one of the stupider offers of help ever, I just found something faster than you did, I think I can click the “add to cart button”.)

{Me}: No, I need the phone number for the Mac store in South Pointe mall in Durham, NC.
{Me}: I don’t want to pay shipping.

{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: I will gladly send you a link so that you may contact them directly, one moment
{Name Withheld to Protect… Something}: Click Here

(Thanks for nothing. A link to the site I’m ALREADY ON. Way to go.)

You will note I never got what I wanted — them to check the inventory without me calling the store and find out if they had it in stock.

I think I’m going to order the $1.94 knock-off on Amazon, instead. It’s got $2.95 shipping, but that’s a net of $15.00 less than Apple…

(Photo: Getty)

We’re big fans of Target’s smart approach to package design for medicine. They may want to give a little more thought to their OTC generics, however—how about using more distinct labeling for the children’s line, for example? One reader explains why this would be a lot safer.

I’m all in favor of buying generic over the counter medications; however, this morning when my child was sick, I went for the acetaminophen, and almost ended up giving him allergy medication.

Is it just me, or should Target make the bottles just a bit different, as to not confuse those of us who wake at 4am to a crying toddler?

(Thanks to Circadian Swing!)

“There’s a fungus among us,” is a humorous phrase. “There’s a fungus among us, and it’s in my eye,” on the other hand, is a lawsuit. 14 more consumers filed lawsuits against Advanced Medical Optics over their recalled Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution. The fluid was recalled because the CDC linked it to cases of Acanthamoeba infection, which can cause Keratitis, which can leaves your eye red, inflamed, in pain, and possibly lead to impairment or loss of vision. [Press Release]

Got a problem with your federal student loan? The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman specialists are here to help. First they’ve got a bunch of tips for you to fix your problem on your own. If all those don’t work, contact them by phone, fax, or mail and they will help you out. For reals. This is reader Trey’s great experience with them:

I recently finished law school and accepted a fellowship with the Department of Homeland Security. As part of my compensation package, DHS graciously offered to repay some of my student loans under a federal recruiting program. I was thrilled and immediately set about filling out the required paperwork. The last item I needed to supply was an Electronic Funds Transfer Number and Tax ID for my lender, EdSouth/EdFinancial. That, as it turns out was easier said than done.

I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I went round and round with EdSouth’s phone goons for more than three weeks, repeatedly explaining my situation and faxing documents which (they said) would make it possible for me to get the information I needed. After a final marathon phone call in which I spoke with three reps and two supervisors of ever-escalating grade, I finally got so frustrated that I threw my phone across the room.

At this point I was shaking with anger. I called three different lenders to try and just move the loans to another servicer that might be more receptive. As I was looking, I came across a webpage for the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman, a kind of Mr.-Fixit for disputes with lenders. I ran down their “Before You Call” list and found that I’d already taken all the steps necessary before contacting the Ombudsman’s office. I sent a brief e-mail explaining my situation and got a receipt a short time later.

Today, less than 24-hours later, I got a response from Thad Bartkowiak, an Ombudsman Specialist. He’d already investigated my situation, spoken with EdSouth, and obtained the federal payment number DHS will need to process my loan payments. The Ombudsman’s Office is a GREAT resource for anyone with student loans. Their website, www.ombudsman.ed.gov, has self-resolution tools as well as the complaint form that I used.

The Office Of The Ombudsman [Official Site]

An anonymous tipster sent us the following information today on how to reach the executive level at CVS. Remember, don’t use this to be a jerk to anyone—use it when you have a valid complaint that you can’t get resolved through the recommended paths.

Here is some information you might find handy.

Call 401-765-1500 and press #

This will get you into the Company phone directory. All you have to do is say the name of the person you want to call…including the CEO (Tom Ryan). You wont get him, he has 2 dedicated secretaries, but it will get things moving along.

Also, if the people being “nasty” are pharmacists or in-training, the worst they will get is a slap on the hand. There is a lack of pharmacists in the country right now so no-one will get fired.

The most customer service can authorize is a $25 gift card. That is hard-coded into the system. The only person that can go over that limit is the District manager. You can usually find their name on the main store door (should list the manager and DM).

If you need a list of CVS executives to navigate the directory, check here.

It used to be that $1,000 was a good amount of money. Then again, it used to be 1980 once too.

Certainly time and inflation have eroded the value of what one grand can buy, but Kiplinger’s says there are still several useful things $1,000 can do. Their list supposedly contains 37 “new” tips on what to do with $1k, but they read like a who’s who of tried-and-true tips: invest it, save in a 529, give to charity, yada, yada, yada. In other words, we started yawning on tip #3.

That said, maybe some of the “best” ways to use $1,000 are the most basic — saving it, investing it, using the money to pay down debt, and so on. If pressed to recommend what someone should do with an extra $1,000, these suggestions would probably be among the first we’d offer up.

But what would you do with $1,000? Anyone for something a bit more exciting or unusual like taking a unique trip, splurging, or starting a pretzel business?

What $1,000 Can Still Do [Kiplinger's]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: Earth2Kim)

Wegman’s is recalling all in-store made bagels and bialys (flattened bagels) sold between August 24th and September 9th “because the bagels may contain pieces of a metal spring from a mixer that entered the dough.” If you have some, return them to your store’s customer service desk for a refund. Wegmans says this doesn’t affect their frozen bagels.

The recall was announced after an unspecified customer complaint, which we imagine went something like, “Hey, there was a chunk of metal in my bagel this morning, wtf.” Luckily, no injuries have been reported.

“Voluntary Recall: Wegmans In-Store Made Bagels” [Wegmans] (Thanks to Jeff!)
(Photo: Getty)