Pylon Sounds

VJ Movement is a new site that lets everyday people pitch their ideas for news stories to a group of selected global professional video journalists who then go on to produce them and post them online. Here's one about a poor Chinese immigrant turned professional gambler who plays poker so that his kids can live the American Dream in Orange County, California.

I also love their raison d'être:

Loudon came up with the idea for the VJ Movement while covering conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. While talking with colleagues after long days of reporting in these war zones, Loudon realized two things: that many journalists could not do stories they wanted to do because editorial directors in far-off newsrooms believed other events were more important, and that when multiple journalists covered the same topic, they all ended up with entirely different stories. This is the basis of our concept, "There is more than one truth."

VJ Movement is in its early stages and who knows how successful it will be but it's a great idea. However, in order to register so that you can pitch, it costs $50 for a year's membership. That seems a pretty steep price for the right to send a reporter tips and leads. So if you want to give it a whirl, we've got a free 3-month trial login you can use, username and pass are consumerist.

VJ Movement

When an insurer decides whether to offer you a new policy, or whether to raise rates on a current one, he most likely pulls a CLUE report that lists any homeowner or automobile insurance loss claims (or sometimes even just inquiries) that you've made over the past 3-7 years. Hopefully you monitor your consumer credit report for errors, but as you can see, that's not the only one you should keep an eye on.

Consumer Reports has a detailed information page about companies that track and sell your personal information. The data comes in the form of consumer credit reports, insurance credit reports, your health history, your checking and banking account history, your criminal background, your history of retail returns, and your property rental history.

In most cases, you can pull free copies of these reports periodically, which is good because errors can pop up in these reports just like they can in a consumer credit history. But who has time to pull and monitor that many databases of personal information? The website PrivacyRights.org suggests you stick with yearly monitoring of your consumer credit report (the one you can get for free only at www.annualcreditreport.com), and pay attention to the other ones only under certain circumstances:

• New homeowner's or auto insurance: order your CLUE or A-PLUS reports
• Victim of check fraud or general checking or savings account problems: order your ChexSystems report
• Employer (current or potential) asks for permission to run background check: ask for name of the screening company and contact them as soon as they've issued the report
• Applying for a new job: order Employment Data Report from Work Number if any past employers used that company; also consider ordering a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure
• Renting an apartment or home: ask the landlord for the name of the screening company, as there are several
• Health, life, long-term care, or disability insurance: order your MIB report from Medical Information Bureau
• General overall check-up on what you look like as data: order a ChoicePoint Full File Disclosure and a Lexus-Nexis Accurint Person Report

There is one time when you may want to go crazy and order everything, and that's if you've been a victim of identity theft.

(Thanks to commenter mac-phisto, whose advice in an earlier post on auto insurance triggered this one.)

"Big Brother is watching" [Consumer Reports]
"What You Should Know about 'Specialty' Reports" [Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]
(Photo: Erik Pitti)

Hollywood studios are sick of you renting their DVDs and want you to start buying them again. The way to trick you into this, they figure, is to withhold the discs from rental companies for a month, forcing you to get all antsy and run out and buy them.

What's frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.

If the deal goes through it will no doubt hurt both parties. Trashing the value of its service, Netflix will lose subscribers, and the studios won't see the sales bump they're hoping for since a chunk of otherwise honest would-be renters will either opt for piracy or just sit out the 30 days to rent the movies.

Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you're not allowed to rent it until a month after it's released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?

Netflix Wants 50 Percent Discount Under Release Delay Scenario [PaidContent via TechCrunch]
(Photo: Great Beyond)

Chris navigated Verizon Wireless's troubled phone upgrade waters and came away with Droids for both himself and his wife, even though her upgrade date was still a ways off. Earlier, his wife had gotten a new Voyager with assurances that her contract renewal date wouldn't be affected.

Turns out Verizon moved back her renewal date to 2011 anyway. Chris called to negotiate with Verizon, which reset the contracts and let the couple get a pair of new Droids. He writes:

On Thursday night, I went online to check her equipment renewal date, and was shocked to see that it was in January of 2011 which meant that her the Voyager Titanium had in fact change her upgrade date despite the previous CSR's assurances to the contrary. I called Verizon, and the first CSR I spoke to told me that there was nothing she could do, as receiving a new phone as a replacement virtually guarantees that your upgrade date will be extended. I asked to speak to her manager, and she put me through to a guy named Roman.

I gave Roman a recap of my wife's previous struggles with her Voyagers and made sure to reiterate that the CSR we spoke to assured us that her upgrade date wouldn't change. He stated, rather matter-of-factly, that receiving a new phone as a replacement changes your upgrade date, and there wasn't anything on the new phone replacement order that would indicate they should handle things any differently.

At this point, I'm getting upset. I'm telling him that we were lied to by one of their CSRs, and he's telling me that there's no reason he should believe anything I'm saying. After a bit of this kind of back and forth, I go on a tirade — I don't remember what I said exactly, but there my observation that the situation was total bullshit, that I was a good customer that paid my bills in full and on time, and that I deserved better treatment.

He asks for a minute and places me on hold. At this point, I'm trying to become resigned to the fact that we've been screwed. We were hoping to get on the same contract renewal schedule and, if it all worked out, get the same phone. After a while, Roman comes back and told me that he would be changing my wife's upgrade date back to the original date, which would make her eligible to sign a new contract.

I was a bit shocked. He had completely reversed his position and noted that I was a good customer and that he accepting my version of events as the truth. I thanked him for doing the right thing, and mentioned that we were looking forward to going out the next morning and checking out the DROID. At that point, he perked up and asked if we'd both be getting DROIDs. I told him we were hoping that would be the case, and he responded by telling me that he was changing my wife's upgrade date to Friday (the next day - about four months earlier than the date he had just agreed to). I was shocked. This would mean that both my wife and I would get discounts on our phones and that we would finally be on the same contract schedule. I thanked Roman profusely, and told him that we'd tell people about how good we'd been treated by Verizon.

I've told my family, friends, coworkers, and just about anyone that would listen. And now, I'm telling you, Consumerist. Verizon kept their word without me having to do an EECB, and went beyond that to extend my wife and I a courtesy. I like to think they did just to treat a good customer nicely, but I'm not ignorant to the fact that they'll be making an extra $60 per month from us in the form of data plans for our fancy new phones.

At this point, I don't even care. Our new phones rule and we got everything we wanted. Hooray!

As Chris hints, this is just as much a happy ending for Verizon as it is for him. If you're a Verizon Wireless customer who recently upgraded but are suffering from Droid envy, it wouldn't hurt to give the company a ring to see if you could get Chris's deal.

Jeff can no longer play his two Xbox 360s online because Microsoft has banned him with no explanation. When he calls customer service, he says he's accused of modding his consoles, which he insists he hasn't.

Yet he's guilty until proven innocent, and Microsoft isn't willing to hear him out. He writes:

My console and my fiance's console were caught up in the Mass Banning going on by Microsoft in their latest Pirate Witch Hunt. My fiance is a chef, and plays games like Viva Pinata, Arcade Games, and can't figure out how to remove the battery pack, much less tear apart her system to "mod" anything.

I have purchased (2) Xbox 360 consoles (one for each of us), 68 games, several hundred dollars worth of Live content and DLC, another several hundred on disks that were scratched by faulty first gen consoles, a faulty 20 gig drive that Microsoft refused to warranty, and extra controllers / etc. All together I have dropped over $5200 supporting Microsoft, which I don't have a problem with ... what I DO take issue with is that yesterday we downloaded some content for the game Left 4 Dead and played it a bit, this morning I turned on my console and when I tried to log in, it stated my console was banned. What? The only "mod" I have ever done to my Xbox 360 was replace the crapped out 20 gig drive with an official 120 gig drive I purchased at Best Buy (I know, don't hate on me for buying at Best Buy...) and that was almost 5 months ago. Of course I had a RRoD, but that was over a year ago (whic was another horror story all together).

Of course I tried to figure out what happened, but the outsourced "support" team refused to give me ANY information other than their investigations were very though. At one point a man who called himself "Charles" told me that it was my problem and I should learn to follow the rules, then hung up on me. I checked the Xbox Live Forums and while I am sure that some of the people posting in the Account Suspension and Player Feedback forum have probably done something to their consoles, I find if hard to believe that ALL of the people posting in there have modded their systems or whatever it is Microsoft has been flagging for.

One forum post shows exactly the type of sub-par support I experienced: A supposed Microsoft Support Rep named "StormShadow425" belittles a concerned customer and at one point tells him "But this is what you get back for tampering the console."

Here is the thread if you are interested in seeing what type of support you can expect from Microsoft now.

As it will take several weeks for Microsoft to check my system / account / whatever black magic they do to determine if they made a mistake, I have pretty much written off any more Xbox Live and online gaming on my Xbox for a month at least, if ever. My fiance never actually played on Live, we would either System Link via Wireless to play Left 4 Dead with each other, of if a friend came over and we wanted to play 4-way split screen, or she would just play her little games, so not a big deal there. Our accounts were going to revert to Silver in February I think so not a big deal anyway. I think I am more angry with the spectacular terrible support Microsoft has, and the way they treat their customers... especially right before the Holiday season when people are looking to spend on gifts? I was considering picking up an Arcade bundle for my nephew, but I think I have pretty much crossed that off the list, ha ha! He will have to settle for a Nintendo DSi or possibly a PS3 now that they are cheaper.

Has anyone been banned by Xbox Live for accused modding and managed to get the ban lifted? Other than buying new consoles and starting new Xbox Live accounts, there must be some way for Jeff to get out of this mess.

(Photo: jim699)

Nintendo's flapjack-like selling Wii Fit isn't much of an exercise program, according to researchers from the American Council on Exercise, who researched the calorie-burning video game along with the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Gamasutra reports.

The good news for Wii players hoping to feel the burn with assistance from their console is the system comes with a free game that researchers found more effective than the $100 Wii Fit:

Researchers found that in all cases, performing an actual exercise activity rather than Wii Fit's virtual approximation resulted in "significantly higher" caloric expenditure. The Rhythm Boxing activity, in particular, burned one-third of the calories expended per minute of traditional boxing.

"While we found that playing the Wii Fit burns twice as many calories as a sedentary video game," said ACE's chief science officer Cedric X. Bryant, "the outcome of the study suggests that Wii Sports, the Wii's suite of exergames that includes tennis, boxing, golf and bowling, is a better option and more capable of helping consumers meet minimum intensity guidelines for exercise."

I've found Wii Fit's most effective weight-loss tool to be its fattening/thinning of your Mii avatar depending on your body mass index. The game also passive-aggressively scolds you when you gain weight, making you provide a reason for your piggishness. You think twice about eating those fries when you remember you've got to answer to Wii Fit in the morning. But yeah, it sucks as exercise.

American Council on Exercise Charts 'Underwhelming' Wii Fit Health Benefits [Gamasutra, via Kotaku]

How to Make Money as a Soccer Referee [Free Money Finance] "If you're interested in making some extra money as a soccer ref (or any sort of ref for that matter), this post should be right up your alley."
How to file an insurance claim — and win [MSN Money] "Submitting a claim doesn't have to be painful, drawn-out experience. Follow these tips to get a quicker response from your insurer."
Money Issues That Can Test Even a Rock-Solid Marriage [NY Times] "Five of the financial issues that are most likely to cause strife and a few ideas about how to work them out."
The Trade-offs of Selling Your Life Insurance [Smart Money] "Cashing in your policy can be a stopgap. But you probably shouldn't do it."
Be a smarter charitable giver [CNN Money] "Make your charitable dollars go further by following these three strategies."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: kevindean)

Veterans Day Specials (Thanks to John!)
• KrispyKreme: [Donut] Free donut! Today only, at participating locations
• Applebees: [Restaurant] Free meal for Veterans on Veterans Day. See available menu on Applebees promo site.
• Brides Across America: [Wedding Gowns] Free gowns from participating shops on first come, first serve basis, for brides-to-be with deployed fiancés


• Golden Corral: [Restaurant]Free meal for veterans from 5 to 9pm on Monday, November 16th
• MilitaryAvenue.com: [Discounts] List of discounts or freebies offered to veterans

Clothing
• New York & Co.: [Women's Fashions] Save 30% off All Women's Apparel
• Nike: [Men's Apparel] Nike Men's Graphic Sport T-Shirts for $10 + free shipping
• Lands' End: [Men's Apparel] Lands' End Men's Dress Shirts: Deals from $10 + free shipping

Computers and Electronics
• Buy.com: [MP3 Player] V-Clip 4GB Compact Portable MP3 Player $20 Shipped
• CompUSA: [Blu-ray Player] Samsung BD-P1590 Blu-Ray Player (Refurb, Netflix/Pandora Streaming & BD-Live) $100.00 Free Shipping
• Kodak Store: [HD Camcorder] Kodak Zi8 1080p High Definition Pocket Video Camera $152.96 Free Shipping


• Walmart: [Media Player] WD TV Mini Media Player (Smaller Size, 1080i Upconversion) $59.99 Free Shipping
• Nero: [TV Tuner Cards] LiquidTV TiVo PC w/ USB tuner, 1-year TiVo subscription for $35 + free shipping
• Adorama: [HDTV] Netflix-ready LG 50-inch 1080p 600Hz Plasma HDTV $900 + free shipping


• Amazon: [Printer] Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless All-In-One Photo Printer $110 + free shipping
• MacMall: [Mac Portable] Save $99: Apple 13.3-in 2.26GHz MacBook Pro $1100

Entertainment
• Walmart: [Blu-ray Movie] The Hangover Movie (Blu-ray) Preorder $16.86 Free Shipping
• Buy.com : [Console Accessory] DS Lite 10-Piece Accessory Pack for $5.99 w/ Free shipping
• Buy.com : [Movie] Batman Begins DVD - Widescreen for $4.99 w/ Free shipping


• Shortcovers: [Ebooks] $2 off ebook purchase through November 13th with coupon code Nov2dollar

Health and Beauty
• Amazon: [Trail Running] Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Wrist-mounted Trainer with Heart Rate Monitor $149 Shipped
• 1-800 CONTACTS: [Health] New 1-800 CONTACTS Coupon Code $8 Off $85 + Free Shipping
• Sensis: [Condom] Free sample condom by mail (our tipster John writes, "great for any occasion, including Veterans Day")

Misc
• BJ's Wholesale Club: [Memberships] Free 60-Day Trial Membership (regular 12-month membership is $45)
• Petco : [Pets] $5 Off $25 and $10 Off $50 w/ Coupons - Printable

Toys
• StarWarsShop: [Toys & Hobbies] StarWarsShop.com Sale: 25% off sitewide
• Buy.com : [Toys] Lionel Railroad Crossing Coin Bank for $19.99 w/ Free shipping
• Amazon: [Puzzle] Earth 540-piece puzzle ball $28 + free shipping

Morning Deals are purely an informational service for the readers. Consumerist receives nothing in exchange for their posting.
If you have a tip for Morning Deals, send it to tips@consumerist.com, and be sure to put "morning deals" in the subject line.

Target has agreed to pay New Jersey $375,000 to settle charges that it sold baby formula and non-prescription drugs that had expired, and that it charged higher prices on some products than what was displayed on the shelves.

From NJ.com:

State officials said the company will no longer sell non-prescription drugs or infant formula beyond their expiration dates, nor will it sell merchandise for more money than the displayed price. Target also created a new position to monitor the company's compliance with the settlement for the next two years.

The state's Division of Consumer Affairs sued Target, Walmart, and Drug Fair in September 2008, after finding that despite earlier agreements with the state, they were still selling expired products and charging wrong prices. Lawsuits against the other two retailers are still pending.

"Target reaches $375K settlement with N.J. for selling expired baby formula, charging different prices" [NJ.com]
(Photo: j.reed)

Apparently Staples is worried that their emails might be too accurate when it comes to marketing office supplies to people—accurate enough to make potential customers paranoid.

Alexandra writes,

I recently grew tired of the daily Staples email I received. Somehow, hot discounted office supplies just weren't doing it for me anymore. I diligently followed the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email, and was led to a page that immediately let me unsubscribe. Nice. Once unsubscribed I had the option of selecting why I no longer wanted to be pestered with daily deals on manila folders.

Hilariously, one of these options is "Staples emails are too relevant (feel watched)."

Guess which one I picked? I also wonder if they are gathering any usable statistics from this form. I'd think that it would all be skewed by what I assume (perhaps incorrectly) to be a joke.

(Photo: bdjsb7)

Considering a Layaway Purchase? Read This "With so many Americans still struggling financially and reeling under credit-card debt, layaway is likely to be an even more attractive alternative to pay for gifts this holiday season. If you're unfamiliar with the layaway process, here's how it works." [Consumer Reports Money]

From now until January 15th, 2010, Google will offer free WiFi access at 47 airports around the country. As part of the promotion, they'll be collecting donations through Google Checkout for three non-profit organizations and will provide matching funds up to $250,000. But whether you donate or not, there's a much better chance now that you'll be able to go online while waiting for your flight. Imagine all the airline tips you can send to us!

"Free WiFi for the Holidays" [Google via IntoMobile]
(Photo: quinn.anya)

Over at the Mint blog they've posted a list of 10 ways to reduce your car insurance premium. You'll want to contact your current insurer and ask some questions, like whether they offer a discount for paying up front, or if they'll cut you a deal for being a long-term customer.

Other tips include reducing your mileage and having a theft-deterrent device installed. You might also want to compare risk classifications for cars if you're shopping for a new one—your insurer should be able to provide you with a comparison chart.

"10 Things That You Can Do To Lower your Auto Insurance Premium" [Mint]
(Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³)

A new poll out from U.K. retailer Debenhams casts a dim light on the personal purchasing habits of the men of that country. According to the poll, British guys typically count on their mums to buy their underwear until they're 19. After that, they finally catch on and realize they should pick it out on their own, the better to woo young women, who generally start picking out their own "knickers" when they're about 13.

After they turn 19, guys go on a shopping spree, apparently to make up for lost time and replace those charming undies selected by mom.

"Our research shows that you can tell when a man is looking for a partner by the number of new underpants they buy for themselves," said Debenhams Head of Men's Accessories Buying, Rob Faucherand. "If he buys more than 31 pairs every year then he's either still trying desperately to impress the woman in his life — or else she's not The One."

After they turn 23, men basically stop buying underwear altogether, presumably because they're leaving it to girlfriends or wives — or have gone back to mom (if there's another reason, we don't want to know). Midlife crises fuel a brief bulge in sales for guys in their late 30s, who slink back to their spouses after a couple of years, and stop picking out their own underwear for the rest of their lives.

If he lets you buy his underpants, you're The One [Reuters]

(Photo: midorisyu)

6 Easy Ways to Get More Fiber "Many of us hear the word 'fiber' and immediately think bulky, coarse, and unpalatable. CR's sister publication, ShopSmart, suggests these easy, appetizing ways to get your fit in your daily serving (25 to 30 grams) of fiber." [Consumer Reports Health]

Here's an idea: When your top rivals are renting dirt-cheap DVDs from ubiquitous kiosks, or streaming thousands of films as a free bonus to customers who rent mail-order rmovies, what do you do? If you're Blockbuster, you start a trial run of kiosks that will allow consumers to rent DRM-protected videos on SD cards, and play them back using a proprietary box that will do nothing else. Yeah, that'll show 'em.

The new service, Blockbuster Express Digital, will be tested in a few markets. The initial offering will have about 1,000 movies, which is about 15,000 fewer than Netflix offers on its streaming service, which works with TVs, computers and PS3s, and other devices.

Blockbuster isn't the first company to try to to rent DRM-protected movies that play on proprietary devices. Apple's been doing it for years through iTunes. Of course, to rent movies on iTunes, you don't have to go hunt down a kiosk. You can download them to your computer, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV and watch them instantly. How's Apple doing with that? CEO Steve Jobs calls Apple TV his "hobby," and when the company released an upgraded version of the box last month, it didn't exactly take the world by storm.

So, yeah, good luck with that Blockbuster. It's nice to have a hobby.

NCR, MOD Systems begin digital kiosk download revolution in Entertainment with first technical trial in retail [Press Release]

The WSJ says they have their hands on a document that shows that a nationwide McDonald's Breakfast Dollar Menu is coming. The fast food giant has already tested these menus in several markets.

The menu is meant to stop a slowdown in breakfast menu item sales. With fewer people going to work — they are understandably buying fewer breakfasts on the way to their non-existent jobs.

From the WSJ:

The fast-food chain's national advertising fund has "overwhelmingly approved" backing the dollar breakfast menu with a nationwide campaign during the first six months of 2010, according to the document. The matter will be put to a vote of regional advertising groups, but it comes with the blessing of the national council and a sense of urgency "to ensure that breakfast continues to be a strong contributor to our overall sales, guest count and profit growth," the document said.

Danya Proud, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said the chain wouldn't comment on information obtained from unauthorized sources. "Matters concerning the future of our business and internal discussions are confidential and proprietary to the McDonald's system," she said.

The items we know have been featured on breakfast dollar menus include wo hot cakes, a fruit 'n yogurt parfait, a sausage biscuit, a sausage McMuffin, two hash browns or medium coffee.

The document also approved the January nationwide roll out of the Big Mac burrito, also known as the "Mac Snack Wrap," for $1.49.

McDonald's Cooking Up Dollar Menu for Breakfast [WSJ]
(Photo:donbuciak)

In this job market, anything you can do to give your cat or dog an edge is worth pursuing. That's why you shouldn't enroll your pet in just any diploma mill—you want one that's a proven scam. Boingboing points out that there's a Wikipedia page to keep track of animals with fraudulent diplomas to make it easier to comparison shop for that next fake certificate.

"List of animals with fraudulent diplomas" [Wikipedia via Boingboing] (Thanks to Trai_Dep!)
(Photo: ourdogholly)

Reader Jeremy says that his attempts to be polite and have everything taken care of for someone who was doing his organization a big favor were made more difficult by a secret, unpublished "prepaid baggage fee" that American Airlines attempted to charge him.

Jeremy says:

My organization has a wonderful, articulate but disabled lady who has agreed to speak to a certain state's legislature about patient's rights, a very timely and powerful message in the times where scrutinizing healthcare is front and center in our national debate.

I made the reservations for her to fly down and back on my American Express — something we do all the time — through American Airlines because we are a corporate rewards BusinessExtrAA member. All things being equal, we usually pick American because of the rewards my organization get through flying with them. I clicked through the reservation online, trying to be considerate of her every option — wheelchairs and aisle seats all around, because of her disability. Because of her being generous with her time, we wanted to take care of everything for her. I thought it odd that there wasn't a way to prepay for luggage, but made the reservation anyway and figured I had missed it and could add it later.

As an avid Consumerist reader and a chart nerd, I regularly click through to read what the baggage fees are on certain airlines and get incensed, feeling glad I mostly fly Southwest. I often saw discounts for other airlines for pre-paying for luggage on a reservation, I wondered why I hadn't been given the option to do so with my American Airlines reservation. I logged back into the reservation online and looked for the option to prepay for luggage. Where is it? I searched their website for clues, and, figuring that it was one of the options they don't allow you to change with your reservation online, called the reservations line.

The first woman, Lisa, couldn't answer my question and didn't know how to pre-pay for luggage, and having been a former call center representative myself, I very politely suggested that I hold for a few minutes while she ask the information from a supervisor. She came back a few minutes later and told me — it would be $20, and a $100 pre-payment fee. $120 total. Each way. I blanched, not expecting that answer at all. I very politely suggested that she may have gotten the information wrong and asked where I could find that information online to verify this, but she couldn't answer my question. I then asked to speak to her supervisor directly, because I needed this information documented for possible tax reasons or because of corporate reimbursement policy. I think she was glad to get rid of me.

Pat answered and as a savvy supervisor as a call center can, she listened to my story and answered my questions with politeness and clarity. She repeated the information she had given me about the pre-paid baggage fee - $120 - and I said I could wait on hold for a few minutes while she checked with the people who work at the website helpdesk to see where this fee was published online. A few more minutes on hold and she came back to me, telling me that there is no information published on the aa.com website that mentions this fee. There isn't anywhere this information is published.

I asked why, and by this point Pat and I had developed a polite rapport. She admitted that they must not publish it because of its exorbitance — although I suspect she regretted saying that, because you're trained as a call center supervisor to never directly express your contrary opinion to corporate policy. She didn't have the power to waive the fee, and there were no other options for me. To her credit, she actually said this out loud instead of transferring me to someone else. I decided not to fight it any more.

$120 pre-paid baggage fee! This is not an option for my organization going forward when we have to curry favor for someone to speak for us. I think that my organization's policy on "all things being equal" for choosing American Airlines just got a little more unequal, BusinessExtrAA member or not. As for our disabled passenger - she will get to the event, thanks to pre-paid AmEx cards (wait, can you even use those to pay for luggage??) — but thank god there's no "wheelchair fee" - YET!

Has this happened to anyone else?

(Photo:Oliver 62)

Eating The Road has posted THE definitive guide to maximizing your all-you-can eat buffet experience. From types of buffets, to pre-game preparations, to inter-diner tactics, to post-game, everything you need to know about pigging your friggin' brains out like a pro is here. A sampling:

It is a good idea to get in a nice workout prior to the meal as well. This is a great way to get your metabolism running at full speed and burn off some calories that you'll surely be adding right back up. I recommend a large amount of cardio exercise preferably running, biking or swimming....

It is acceptable to go around slow diners as long as there is room on the other side and you will not be needing to reach back towards the skipped individual. A powerful technique here can be the "accidental" elbow bump in order to encourage them to move on. It is also important to steel yourself from others use of this maneuver....

I try to allot a large portion of my meal to high cost items, while sampling things that look tasty and also making sure that I get to those items that I know and love....

You'll want to be sure that you have to further commitments for at least 3 hours and preferably the remainder of the day....

Are you an all you can eat aficionado? What tactics and etiquettes do you follow to get the most out of your smorgasboard?

The All-Inclusive All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Guide [Eating The Road] (Photo: Bryan Maleszyk)