pileofcrapola

What: About 1,176,000 model year 2008-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia sport-utility vehicles, and 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook SUVs. 

Why: In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the front-seat side-impact air bag wiring harnesses may result in the air bags and seat belt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash. Failure to deploy may increase the risk of injury to the driver and front seat occupant.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected parts free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. 

For more information: Buick owners may contact the owner center at 800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 866-694-6546, Saturn at 800-553-6000, and GMC owners at 866-996-9463. GM's number for this recall is 14030. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.gov.

What:  About 8,200 Ganz Grumpy Cat stuffed animal toys, sold in gift, drug, and toy stores nationwide from December 2013 through January 2014 for about $8 to $10. The recalled toys include an 8-inch Grumpy Cat in laying position, a 5-inch long sitting Grumpy Cat and a 4-inch Grumpy Cat key clip.

Product numbers for the recalled products are as follows: 

8-inch Grumpy Cat: model HGC12974, batch numbers 86754 or 224861

5-inch Grumpy cat: model HGC12982, batch numbers 86754 or 224861

4-inch Grumpy Cat: model HGC12983, batch numbers 86754 or 224861

Why: The stuffed animals’ eyes can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children and contact Ganz for a free replacement Grumpy Cat product of equivalent value or a full refund. 

For more information: Call Ganz at 800-724-5902 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, or online at www.Ganz.com and click on Recall Info for more information.

What: About 98,000 Vera Bradley Bear Ring Rattles and Bunny Stuffed Toys, sold at Vera Bradley retail stores, department stores, specialty gift shops, and online at www.verabradley.com and other online stores from September 2012 to January 2014 for between $12 and $19.

The serial numbers for recalled products are as follows:

Bunny (Lola pattern): 007590013357145

Bunny (Little Bell pattern): 0000630012803140

Bunny (Tutti Frutti pattern): 0000630012803142

Bear (Lola pattern): 007590013234135

Why: The pom-pom tail can detach from the body, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the toys away from young children and stop using these recalled products and return them to Vera Bradley for a full refund.

For more information: Call Vera Bradley toll-free at 888-855-8372 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Saturday and Sunday, or go online at www.verabradley.com and click on Product Recall for more information.

Custom closet systems neatly organize your clothes and make the most of your available space, but, depending on the size of your closet, they could cost thousands of dollars. Mindy of My Love 2 Create transformed her master closet with just a few hundred dollars and lots of elbow grease.

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Whether you're buying secondhand or antique furniture, or you've broken or lost a handle or fixture on your own cabinet or dresser, replacing it while keeping the original look doesn't have to be tricky. All you need is a little oven-bake clay, available at any craft store.

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You'd think there's only one way to breathe, like the way you do naturally, but you'd be wrong. Certain methods take more work than others, and you can improve your health by doing it better.

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We all have goals and dreams, but it can be difficult to stick with them. Each week, I hear from people who say things like, "I start with good intentions, but I can't seem to maintain my consistency for a long period of time." Or, they will say, "I struggle with mental endurance. I get started but I can't seem to follow through and stay focused for very long. Don't worry. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else.

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If you like white noise to help you relax, you can certainly buy an electronic player or a phone app, but nothing sounds quite as nice as an actual machine. Make Projects put together a DIY version made from common household objects.

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Hide your toes, hide your feet — there are people out there willing to pose as podiatry students in order to get a peep at your de-socked digits… and then trying to get a taste of them. A Walmart customer in North Carolina told police she had a very unsettling encounter with a man who convinced her to remove her socks and shoes at the store.

Police have arrested a suspect and charged him with assault after the woman claimed that he sucked her toes at Walmart, reports WSOCTV.com.

As for how he wheedled her into removing her footwear, the woman said she was in the shoe department at the big box store when the man talked her into trying on a couple pairs.

He claimed to be a podiatrist student, because everyone knows when you happen to meet a podiatrist, it’s only polite to show him or her your feet. Things got weird though when the victim said he took her foot and put it into his mouth to suck her toes.

Police say he attempted the same move at another Walmart a few miles away, but this time spun a story of conducting a survey on the feet of different races and nationalities, reports the Associated Press (link has autoplay video). That time, however, the intended victim left the scene when he asked her to take off her socks.

Just a reminder — you don’t have to take your shoes off for everyone who asks, and you should certainly keep your socks on. It’s the only way to stay safe.

VIDEO: Man arrested, accused of sucking woman’s toes at Walmart [WSOCTV.com]
Toe sucker sought after Walmart incident [Associated Press]

Comcast is a former Worst Company In America champ and has already moved on to the second round of this year’s tournament, but how does Kabletown’s bureaucracy compare to the red tape of the Soviet Union? One émigré from the USSR says it’s worse.

When Emil wanted to save a few bucks each month he decided to lower his monthly Comcast bill, he tells the Chicago Tribune.

The company was able to lower his month bill by $27 and Emil thought the transaction went off without a hitch.

That is until he realized that the company changed his long-time phone number with no explanation.

Emil called the company immediately and they promised to fix the mistake. That was March 12. The following day he called the company again and was passed from department to department to try to find a solution.

“Each time I call them, they say, ‘Call again’ and that’s it,” he said. “Why I’m absolutely frustrated, they promise every day. They said one day it would be done after 7 p.m. Of course, nothing was done.”

Finally after contacting the Tribune’s What’s Your Problem column, Emil’s phone number was changed back on Wednesday. An associate with the company apologized and provided him with a credit.

He’s still trying to figure out why it took Comcast so long to fix a problem they created.

“When we were in the Soviet Union, it was bureaucracy,” Emil, who emigrated 25 years ago, says. “Now I’ve found it’s even worse (with Comcast).”

Emil says everyone makes mistakes, he’s just glad to have his phone number back.

Customer gets hung up with Comcast [Chicago Tribune]

Because most of us don’t buy our fish straight off the dock, finding a worm with your fresh fish is bound to be a bit of a surprising event. And while a Costco customer’s video of a fresh package of cod doesn’t show the kind of wriggling worm you’d put on a hook, seeing a parasitic nematode snuggled in there is still enough to warrant a “careful if you’re eating lunch while reading this” warning.

The video (seen here, but again, it’s your lunch you’re risking) shows a parasitic roundworm known as a nematode doing a little worm dance inside a package of fresh wild pacific cod fillet earlier this month at a South Carolina Costco, and has shot to viral status since it was first posted to Facebook.

So should you be worrying checking every package you pick up carefully, or this one of those wild and wacky isolated incidents? Well… you should probably check, as a Costco spokesman confirmed the nematode finding and told WSPA.com this isn’t a rare thing by any means.

“Although it’s, quite frankly, disgusting, I wish I could tell you it’s very very uncommon,” Vice President of Quality Assurance and Food Safety Craig Wilson for Costco told the news station.

He adds that ground fish like cod and sole are particularly susceptible to nematodes, but that the company tries its best to nab’em all before they get to you, with fish going through a process called “candling” that involves laying them out on a lit table.

“Around these conveyor tables are employees of the seafood company that are doing nothing but looking for parasites,” said Wilson, adding that the fish in question wasn’t sold, and was instead removed by managers.

You’re probably wondering whether its safe to eat fish that have been packed with these little stowaways, and Wilson says it’s totally fine, there’s no health risk to humans — unless you eat the parasite along with the raw fish. Or eat the parasite without it, don’t do that. Make sure to cook your seafood fare thoroughly before eating.

Fear of parasites is probably why Frodo looks so concerned here:

Worm In Package Of Fish At Spartanburg Costco; Video Goes Viral [WSPA.com]

Everyone loves scoring a great deal, right? Outlet malls are the perfect place to do just that. With warmer weather on the way, it’s the perfect time for a wardrobe or living room update. But how do you know you’re getting the best bargain possible?

Outlet malls are the retail industry’s response to consumer demand for merchandise that’s similar to what’s sold in the regular retail stores, but at a lower price point, the Federal Trade Commission reports.

As long as consumers know what they’re getting into, outlets can be a treasure trove of good deals from your favorite stores like Nike, J.Crew, Prada and many more.

1. Do some research before hitting the stores. Look for coupons on outlet mall and store websites. Often outlet coupons can be combined with the store’s sales.

2. Timing is everything when it comes to outlet shopping, according to US News & World Report. Get to stores early in the week to avoid crowds and find the best selections.

3. Be familiar with the retail prices of items you want to buy to ensure you’re truly getting a bargain, the FTC reports. There are even apps to help consumers compare prices with the regular store.

4. When starting at any given store, ABC News says it’s best to begin at the outer edge. Bigger markdowns can typically be found in those areas, while pricier items are in the center of the store.

5. Did you know that most of those clothes, shoes and home furnishings were manufactured specifically for the outlet store? They were and sometimes those products can be of lesser quality than what you’d buy at a traditional store. So to clear up any confusion about a product just ask a staff member if it’s “made-for-outlet”.

6. If an item looks new and undamaged, there may be a different reason for its lower price. And many times that reason is a difference in material or quality. For example, plastic might replace leather trim on a jacket, or a t-shirt may have less stitching and lighter-weight fabric than it’s counterparts.

7. Off-season merchandise is often the best deal at outlet malls. So go ahead and stock up for next year.

8. Be sure you understand the store’s return policy. If the outlet is a long distance from your home it may not be economical to drive to the store to return your merchandise. Additionally, most regular retail stores don’t accept returns from their outlet counterparts.

Now that you know the tips and tricks it’s time to start those shopping engines.

Outlet shopping: Getting your money’s worth [Federal Trade Commission]

Shh, ease your worried minds, my sweet little lambs! We can all rest easy in our beds tonight knowing that the unforgivable crime of stealing a shoe autographed by wrestler Hulk Hogan has been remedied. A tourist who snagged the shoe from the wrestler’s Florida store has fessed up to her infraction.

The daring heist took place earlier this week in broad daylight, when CBS Detroit says workers at the Clearwater, FL store were distracted when a Hogan statue outside toppled over.

That’s when the store’s security footage shows a woman strolling toward the $5,500 autographed wrestling shoe while the attention was on the disturbance, calmly plucking it from its display and walking out.

The 55-year-old tourist from Michigan is now regretting walking on the wild side and has called up the store to arrange the return of the shoe.

“She wanted to get the shoe back to the store where it belonged, but she was not in possession of the shoe,” a police spokesman said. “So she had to get in touch with people down here that she had met and they were in possession of the shoe. And then late last night, they brought the shoe in question back to the Hogan Beach Shop.”

In her admission of the crime, the woman says she’d done “a stupid thing.” She hasn’t been charged at this time.

“Our officers and detectives need to still do a thorough investigation and that might include talking to Mr. Hogan and to the state attorney’s office as well to figure out whether or not this woman will be charged,” the police rep explained.

Downriver Woman Returns Stolen Hulk Hogan Shoe To Florida Beach Shop [CBS Detroit]

You can follow MBQ on Twitter but don’t expect her to know a darn thing about wrestling or Hulk’s flowing locks: @marybethquirk

Just because a robbery is unsuccessful doesn’t mean the police shouldn’t be involved. But try telling that to the manager at a Walmart in California, where a customer says she was urged to not contact authorities after being assaulted in the store.

In the incident, a would-be thief attempted to steal the customer’s gold necklace while she was still wearing it. He failed in his snatching efforts, and the customer says Walmart management failed at showing any interest in getting the police involved.

“I yelled from the back of the store, where I was, yelling for security, yelling for help,” the woman tells KTLA. “Nobody came.”

Meanwhile, the man who’d attempted the necklace theft got out of the store. And the customer says the manager didn’t see why police needed to be involved.

“They just made me feel unimportant, like… you got your chain back so what are you complaining about,” she recalls.

A rep for the mega-retailer points out that it’s impossible to prevent all in-store crime but admitted, “we can definitely do a better job of how we respond in a situation like this.”

The rep said Walmart is reaching out to apologize to the customer and has gone over company policies and expectations with the employees involved in the incident.

Prince William County community calendar, March 20 to 26, 2014 Washington Post Thursday, March 20. Free AARP income-tax preparation help, for seniors and low-to-moderate-income taxpayers, with trained volunteers. 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, Chinn Park Regional Library, 13065 Chinn Park Dr., Woodbridge, 703-792-4800, ... and more »

- Honolulu police are urging lawmakers to preserve an exemption in Hawaii law that lets undercover officers have sex with prostitutes during investigations. But they won't say how often -- or even if -- they use the provision.

- A two-year study concludes the Charlottesville area has more than 180 active gang members.

- Virginia Beach's popular boardwalk is off-limits to dogs at the height of the tourism season, but that could be changing.

- Animal keepers at the National Zoo have saved a sloth bear cub after two others were eaten by the mother.

- A 74-year-old woman has been charged with a series of arsons in an Alexandria apartment complex.

Those of you with attention deficit disorder might not make it to the end of this sentence. I had that problem as a kid, but I found ways to trick my brain into paying attention and listening properly. I'll never be a great listener, but I get by without medication because of three simple things I taught myself how to do.

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Most HDTVs ship with default settings that are meant to look good in store showrooms, but they're not ideal in your home. Thankfully, with the right tools, calibrating an HDTV to your viewing style is easy, and you can do it in less than a half-hour.

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Good tools can be quite an investment, but if you take good care of them, they'll return the favor. Keeping your tools properly stored, cleaned, and maintained will save you time and money and make your DIY endeavors that much more rewarding.

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A US Court, at the behest of movie studios, has ordered the shutdown of domains related to DVDFab, one of our favorite DVD and Blu-ray ripping tools . For the time being, DVDFab reps say you can get around it by going to the company's Japanese website. Read more and see the full injunction over at TorrentFreak.

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A month ago, Comcast and Netflix seemed to be buddy-buddy when the streaming video service agreed to pay a price to end Comcast’s passive-aggressive efforts to make sure its customers had cruddy access to Netflix. Then today, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had a not-so-nice word or two about his new paid-peering partner.

In a Netflix blog post titled “Internet Tolls And The Case For Strong Net Neutrality,” Hastings writes candidly (at least as candidly as the CEO of a huge company can be) about his true feelings regarding Comcast and the deal his company made to ensure that Comcast Internet subscribers could actually have access to Netflix.

“A few weeks ago, we agreed to pay Comcast and our members are now getting a good experience again,” says Hastings. “Comcast has been an industry leader in supporting weak net neutrality, and we hope they’ll support strong net neutrality as well.”

SOMEONE ACTUALLY SAID THIS WITHOUT LAUGHING
Though Hastings also mentioned other companies — most notably Verizon, whose lawsuit resulted in the recent gutting of the Open Internet rules that had prevented ISPs from throttling or blocking access to websites and services — Comcast’s David Cohen, Exec. VP of Shoving Mergers Down Consumers’ Throats, actually released the following laughable statement to Consumerist and other outlets:

“There has been no company that has had a stronger commitment to openness of the Internet than Comcast. We supported the FCC’s Open Internet rules because they struck the appropriate balance between consumer protection and reasonable network management rights for ISPs. We are now the only ISP in the country that is bound by them.”

W-W-WAIT A MINUTE
(Insert sound of record scratching for full effect.)

What Comcast’s Regulator Whisperer fails to mention is that Comcast is only still bound by those Open Internet rules because it’s part of the agreement Comcast made to fool the FCC and Justice Dept. into allowing its merger with NBC Universal.

This is like a paroled convict saying she’s a real homebody without revealing that she’s not allowed to leave her home except for trips to work and to visit her parole officer. Or someone who brags about having a positive impact on the environment by only using public transportation without mentioning that he had his license taken away.

While we’re at it, let’s continue to call B.S. on Cohen’s inane claim that Comcast is some crusader for net neutrality. As Senator Al Franken of Minnesota recently pointed out in his timeline of Comcast’s checked history, Comcast was caught not only throttling BitTorrent traffic for its users, but lied to consumers and regulators that it was a matter of network efficiency. The FCC referred to Comcast’s actions as a “discriminatory and arbitrary practice [that] unduly squelches the dynamic benefits of an open and accessible Internet and does not constitute reasonable network management.”

LET’S BE HONEST FOR A SEC
Do not be fooled. Comcast is not, and will never be, a supporter of true net neutrality. It begrudgingly accepted the terms placed upon it by regulators, terms that expire in 2018, meaning that Comcast can then join in the fun of blocking and throttling services that compete with its on-demand offerings.

Additionally, the conditions of the now-dead Open Internet rules were vague enough to allow for ISPs to make end-runs around the regulations by allowing for bottlenecks on the wholesale end, where bandwidth providers connect to ISP networks, and which were not guided by the weak-kneed net neutrality rules.

“The essence of net neutrality is that ISPs such as AT&T and Comcast don’t restrict, influence or otherwise meddle with the choices consumers make,” writes Hastings, calling the rules that were recently shredded “insufficient” in meeting those aspirations.

He calls for regulators to craft a stronger series of rules that would also prevent ISPs “from charging a toll for interconnection to services like Netflix, YouTube, or Skype,” or to the bandwidth providers they contract out to.

Strong neutrality rules, says Hastings, “must provide sufficient access to their network without charge.”

“Without strong net neutrality, big ISPs can demand potentially escalating fees for the interconnection required to deliver high quality service,” contends the Netflix CEO. “The big ISPs can make these demands — driving up costs and prices for everyone else — because of their market position.”

Two of today’s WCIA battles were dominated by household names, proving that being the biggest doesn’t mean you’re the best. Another showdown featured companies that aren’t necessarily on the tip of everyones’ tongues, but are no less hated than the big brand names.

WALMART VS. CVS CAREMARK
This one wasn’t even close. Even though CVS is the country’s second-largest drugstore chain and operator of one of the nation’s biggest pharmacy benefits programs, it just didn’t really stand a chance against the mass of unhappy consumers, many of whom shop at Walmart but only because they feel they don’t have many other options. In the tournament’s second-largest drubbing thus far (only to Comcast’s monster thumping of Yahoo), Walmart coasted to an 81.9% victory.

Up next for Walmart is the surprise winner of Day One, fellow reviled retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, which earlier pulled off an upset defeat of Delta Air Lines.

KOCH INDUSTRIES VS. SALLIE MAE
Sallie Mae handles (and occasionally screws up) a good chunk of the more than $1 trillion in student loans that are out there. But apparently that wasn’t enough to hold off Kansas-based Koch Industries, which has its hands in everything from cattle to fertilizer to carpet fibers to asphalt to pipelines to… Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, and Quilted Northern toilet paper. It’s one of those companies that not everyone knows, but whose products touch just about everything we do. In the tightest contest of the tournament thus far (granted, there are 10 more bouts to go in Round One alone), Koch eked out a 58% win over Sallie Mae.

The true test of Koch will come in the next round, when it faces either the two-time reigning WCIA champ EA or potential dark horse contender Time Warner Cable.

TARGET VS. McDONALD’S
The second day of WCIA competition came to an end with another tight contest featuring two big brands that would probably rather they weren’t in the news as often as they have been of late. Some had predicted that the massive hack of Target’s in-store payment system would carry the retailer to at least the third round. Perhaps the fact that the breach has had, relative to the sheer number of people whose info was stolen, resulted in few negatively affected consumers turned some votes toward McDonald’s, which often ranks low on food quality surveys, isn’t exactly known for its customer service, and has been widely criticized for the way it allows franchisees to deal with employees’ paychecks. McDonald’s detractors put some special sauce on their voting buttons and pushed the fast food giant to a 58.4% win over the beleaguered Target.

McDonald’s had better get greased up it it wants a shot of repeating this success in its upcoming Round Two showdown against Chase, which crashed GM’s car in an earlier contest.

For those who don’t feel like filling in their brackets at home, here’s the latest and greatest version of where things stand now:

We’re not sure how many times we’ve said it, but it’s worth repeating: Debt collectors are the worst. It’s not just that they’re often rude and occasionally violate the law. What really puts collection agencies at the bottom of the barrel is the fact that they consistently go after debt that consumers simply don’t owe.

Since 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been working to rein in collectors’ less than savory tactics of separating consumers from their money. A report to Congress highlights the Bureau’s efforts to carry out the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, including a review of the new consumer complaint system.

NONEXISTENT DEBT
While the Act creates a fairly straight forward list of things debt collectors can’t do when contacting consumers, a number of collectors don’t play by the rules. And that’s evident when reviewing the more than 30,300 consumer complaints the Bureau received about the market from July 2013 through December 2013.

The CFPB’s “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act” annual report [PDF] shows that nearly 34% of complaints received by the Bureau involve consumers being hounded by collectors for a debt the consumer does not believe is owed.

Of those complaints 65% of consumers report the debt is not theirs, and 27% report the debt was paid.

The reports notes that in many cases the attempt to collect the debt is not the issue, but rather the calculation of the amount of underlying debt is inaccurate or unfair.

“Consumers should never be hounded about debts they do not owe,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray says in a news release. “We will not tolerate companies harassing consumers or threatening illegal actions in the debt collection market. We will continue to work hard to ensure that consumers are treated with dignity and fairness.”

AN AGGRESSIVE PURSUIT
The second-most frequent complaint the Bureau received involves aggressive tactics used by debt collectors. Many of the complainants, 55%, detailed frequent or repeated improper telephone calls made by collectors.

Often, these complaints stem from being called about another person’s debt. Sometimes the call is for someone with a similar name. More often, it appears the consumer’s phone number has mistakenly been included in the collector’s information about another person’s account. Consumers often complain to the CFPB when the collector continues to call even after the consumer has repeatedly told the collector that the alleged debtor cannot be contacted at the dialed number.

Consumers also complained about debt collectors calling their places of employment or third parties.

Additionally, 30% of consumer complaints alleged that collectors threaten to take legal action, while 2% complain about the use of obscene, profane or abusive language during phone calls.

ILLEGAL ACTIONS
The third most common complaint consumers made involves the collector threatening action deemed illegal under the FDCPA.

The act makes it illegal for debt collectors to threaten to arrest consumer for not paying a debt, yet 60% of the complaints about illegal action involved a collector threatening just that.

Another big no-no for debt collectors is to impersonate law enforcement or government officials. Even with the Federal Trade Commission cracking down on such cases, nearly 31% of complaints about false statements or representations involved a collector pretending to be a government official.

Consumer advocates say the issues dealt with in the complaints come as no surprise.

“We’ve been calling out these kinds of abuses for years,” our very own Consumers Union posted on the DefendYourDollars blog Thursday. “Most recently, we urged the CFPB to issue strong rules that will protection consumers from unfair and deceptive practices by debt collectors.”

COMPLAINT RECEIVED, NOW WHAT?
Of the 30,300 debt collection complaints received, the CFPB sent approximately 11,000 to companies for their review and response. Nearly 9,000 of the complaints sent to companies have elicited a response. More than half of those complaints were closed with an explanation to the Bureau.

The Bureau referred some of the remaining complaints to other regulatory agencies, while other were found to be incomplete or currently pending.

TAKING BABY STEPS
Although the number of complaints received in just half the year seem staggering, the CFPB made strides in reining in the debt collection market last year.

The Bureau sued online loan servicer, CashCall Inc., its owner, its subsidiary, and its affiliate for collecting money on loans that were legally invalid. In separate action, the Bureau ordered payday lender Cash America International, Inc. to refund up to $14 million to consumers for robo-signing court documents in debt collection lawsuits.

In January 2013 , the Bureau’s larger participant rule for debt collection went into effect. Under the rule, the Bureau has supervisory authority over any firm with more than $10 million in annual receipts from consumer debt collection.

In November, the CFPB created the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the first step toward considering consumer protection rules for the debt collection market.

While ANPR is an adequate start, consumer advocates say more can be done to ensure consumer protection.

Consumers Union continues to urge the Bureau to write rules that achieve: sensible regulations that apply to all persons collecting debt and strong federal standards for information flow and verification procedures.

“The debt collection system has been long overdue for a comprehensive overhaul, to address current market realities and provide meaningful protections to consumers,” officials with Consumers Union posted on its DefendYourDollars blog. “By writing strong rules of the road at the federal level, the Bureau can help ensure that consumers across the country have basic important protections against improper collection practices.”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumers Report Being Hounded About Debts Not Owed [CFPB]

If you aren’t familiar with the perpetually-frowning, totally adorable Grumpy Cat, we feel very sorry for you. Obviously, you need to spend more time looking at cute pictures of animals on the Internet. Grumpy Cat started as a cute kitty who always looks like she’s frowning, and somehow spawned an entire industry of apps, merchandise, and beverages, and became a Friskies spokescat. One of those pieces of merchandise has been recalled.

Specifically, some batches of the selection of stuffed Grumpy Cats made by the company Ganz. While the critters are marketed as safe for children ages three and up, the kitty’s grumpy eyes are a little too detachable for small children, so, in Consumer Product Safety Commission-speak, they “can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.”

Recalled cats include the 8-inch-long lying-down Grumpy Cat, the 5-inch-tall sitting Grumpy Cat, and a 4-inch keychain Grumpy Cat. If you own one, check the batch number on its tag against the recall notice, and contact Ganz if you want to make an exchange or if you have any questions. You can reach them at (800) 724-5902.

Grumpy Cat [Official Site]
Ganz Recalls Grumpy Cat Stuffed Animal Toys Due to Choking Hazard [CPSC]

Have you or your child developed a mysterious rash in unmentionable areas of your bodies? If so, you might need to check the labels of any pre-moistened wipes that your family uses for an ingredient that’s causing allergic reactions in many users.It’s not a sudden reaction that happens the first or second time that you use the wipes. For some people, it takes daily exposure over a period of years before they have any kind of bad reaction to the wipes. One mother described to New York’s WCBS her experience after suffering for more than a year from painful, blistering rashes on her hands. “The rash was driving me crazy and it was sometimes showing up on my face too,” she said.

After keeping track of everything that she touched for more than a year, she sought help from an Ohio State University contact dermatitis clinic. Eventually, she solved the mystery: the baby wipes that she used on her kids were destroying her hands. Now she only uses water to cleanse them.

The problem chemical is a preservative used in both baby wipes and pre-moistened toilet wipes for adults. It’s called methylisothiazolinone. Wipe-makers are searching for a replacement, since there could be millions of people affected by allergies.

Test wipes before use on a less sensitive part of your body that’s acceptable to scratch in public: say, your forearm or the back of your hand. If you develop an allergy after use, stop using any products that you suspect might be causing the problem for at least a month, since it can take that long for a rash to clear up.

When you sacrifice up your hard-earned quarters in order to secure a parking spot, it might be annoying, but at least that money ostensibly goes toward bettering your community via the local government. Which is why it’s totally uncool for a town official to loot the parking meter coin storage like it’s his own personal piggybank.

The former public works inspector for a New Jersey village admitted this week that he carted out 1.8 million quarters — totaling about $460,000 — from the municipality’s coin-collection room, where the money from parking meters is stored.

His scheme involved hauling out 11.25 tons of coins by the fistful over a period of 25 months, before he was arrested. Each time he’d visit a different bank branch and use coin machines to keep his cover, authorities told The Record.

He won’t do any time in jail for his crime, however — he’ll just have to pay it all back.

As for why he was motivated to plunder the town piggy bank, his lawyer said his client just couldn’t resist the tantalizing prospect all those coins presented. Just sitting there, being worth money, all alone in a big room… tempting. Oh but wait, IT’S NOT YOURS TO TAKE. So there’s that.

Ex-Ridgewood inspector admits to stealing $460,000 in quarters from village [The Record]

Life is meant to be lived, guys. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned about living that life is that it’s much better when there’s good reading material. Here’s where the Consumerist newsletter comes in.

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Has it just been too long since you’ve felt the panic rising from your stomach and into your throat at the idea of competing for Black Friday specials? You’re in luck! Walmart and Lowes are both pushing so-called spring “Black Friday” discounts in an attempt to stir up some business, or maybe just to make us feel like the walls are slowly closing in…

Lowes hasn’t said yet when exactly this next wave of shopping pandemonium will break upon us, with simply a “wait and see what’s gonna happen” placeholder on its website, urging shoppers not to worry.

Meanwhile, Walmart is making a big move for garden business this year for the first time, points out the New York Times, with its “Black Friday-like prices” on more than 60 things including grills, bags of mulch and patio sets. That sale begins this Friday and will go for about a week.

“After this tough of a winter, we’re really excited to bring spring to our customers with great brands and great prices,” Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president of home at Walmart told the NYT.

“And we’re going to do this in true Walmart fashion,” she said. “Think of just pallets and pallets of mulch and grills, patio sets and big yellow bags of Miracle-Gro. We’re ready to bring it out in a big way.”

On the upside? Deals on outdoor stuff for your garden, because it’s about goshdarn time this cold, gloomy, brown world we live in turned into something warm, alive and beautiful.

On the downside? BACK FRIDAY BLARGH.