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I just took a trip to Tokyo and saw two things I think the Consumer Blog audience might enjoy.
The first was the Sony Rolly video demonstration. This is a robotic mp3 player that 'dances' to music. I wouldn't personally buy one, but it is fun to watch this video demo.
Next, for you computer types out there, a sushi USB thumb drive! The only time that saving documents can make you hungry. Do you have to use chopsticks to insert it into the USB port though?
It's called an after warranty adjustment. If you have a problem with your car that has not been the subject of a recalled, you may be able to get it fixed free anyway. Ask your mechanic if any technical service bulletins have been issued for the repair, or check out this site, http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm to see if any have been reported to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
Friday's sales frenzy is right around the corner, but you do not need to wait to see what's being discounted.
Check out these links for the deal buster deals that will be advertised Thursday.
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
In some cases you can get those deals today, with a bit of work. Macy's will price match Friday sales on items bought before Friday. All you need to do is check out the Friday Macy's sales items, go buy it now, then take your receipt to Macy's Friday before 1 p.m. to get the lower price.
At Circuit City managers say they have the discretion to price match. At Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart, no price matching.
Good Luck!
Take a look at this story that was on Eyewitness News at 6pm the other evening:
Passengers who have experienced airline nightmares are joining forces.
They formed the Coalition for Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights. The group is made up of the passengers who were stranded on several planes last December -- some of them for up to nine hours.
The group is sending volunteers with video cameras to document everything that happens in airports and airplanes over the holidays.
It also has a web site where passengers can read its bill of rights and post their own problems.
You may know about the "Do Not Call List", but there are other things you can opt of too. From credit card offers to catalogs, you can cut the clutter and take control of what comes to your mail box. The opt out options include e-mail too, check out the link for a complete guide on how to opt out.
By Mike McGuff
If you are looking for an inexpensive way to capture memories this holiday season, you might want to consider the rectangular shaped Flip Video camera by Pure Digital Technologies.
From signal problems to rate hikes, some Missouri City residents are upset about their cable company and they took those complaints all the way to city hall.
Comcast took over from Time Warner earlier this year and some in Missouri City say the transition has not been a smooth one.
Here is the press statement from Comcast Houston:
November 19, 2007
We value our relationship with Missouri City and fully intend to address the issues they raised last week in an effort to deliver the best possible experience to our customers.
We’re working every day to better serve our customers. In Houston, we’ve continued our practice of in-sourcing our customer service by hiring more than 200 local call center representatives and field technicians, increased appointment availability to seven days a week and invested in new customer care technologies that allow us to proactively monitor network performance so that we can resolve issues before they impact the customer. In 2008, we anticipate continued job growth, and will look to hire an additional 200 employees in Houston to serve our local customers.
Since entering the Houston market, we’ve added more than 30 new networks, including 14 High-Definition channels, boosted our Internet speeds and introduced PowerBoost Speed Enhancer, a patent pending technology that gives our commercial customers extra bursts of speed when downloading or uploading large files. We also recently began the roll out of our signature ON DEMAND service, delivering our digital cable customers an ever-growing library of up to 9,300 programs a month, including 150 hours of HD content along with movies, news, sports and children’s programs, network shows and other choices, to watch whenever they want with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind selections. The majority of ON DEMAND content is available at no additional cost to digital cable customers.
Price adjustments reflect the increased value of our services, and a $200 million local investment to improve network reliability, launch new products and services and enhance the customer experience.
Travel expert Terry Trippler sent us these holiday travel tips:
While there isn’t anything you can do to assure your bag travels with you – it helps to know what to do when it doesn’t.
Things to know – things to do
Note: It is so wise to pack a full change of clothing in every bag – both checked and carry-on.
Reliant Energy sent us these fall/winter and holiday lighting energy efficiency tips.
(1) Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Indoor lighting often is used more in the winter than in summer because of the shorter days when it’s cold outside. Reliant recommends that consumers replace incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). CFLs save about $30 over the life of the bulb and use about 75 percent less energy to burn.
(2) Close the fireplace damper when not in use. The same way smoke escapes through the chimney, warm air will escape if the fireplace damper is open.
(3) Ensure proper home insulation. Check your attic insulation and seal air leaks around the home. Consumers can install weather-stripping around doors and windows to prevent heat from streaming out. Attics should have about 12 to 16 inches of attic insulation and flat attics should have at least R-38 insulation. Up to 40 percent of heating and cooling dollars can be lost if a home is not properly insulated.
(4) Install a programmable thermostat. For every degree above 70, consumers may increase their heating cost by 3 to 5 percent. A programmable thermostat can be set so that the temperature will automatically decrease during the day and increase in the evening when the home is more likely to be occupied. A programmable thermostat can be purchased at nearly any home improvement store.
(5) Ensure proper ceiling fan rotation. Air should flow down in the summer and up in the winter. Therefore, your ceiling fans should rotate clockwise (to the right) during winter and counter-clockwise during the summer. If the fan is set for summertime rotation, the breeze you feel will be noticeably stronger when standing directly under the fan. Turn off ceiling fans in unoccupied rooms, as fans are designed to increase the comfort of those in the room.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY HOLIDAY LIGHTING TIPS
(1) Consider using LED (light-emitting diode) lights. They require about one-tenth the energy of a comparable incandescent bulb, are much more durable, last much longer and produce almost no heat. They cost more up front, but should pay for themselves in a season or two.
(2) Newer lights are typically more energy efficient. Standard mini-bulbs use about 25 watts per 50-bulb strand, while older lights can use as much as 250 watts per 50-bulb strand.
(3) Use a timer and set it appropriately to reduce the chance of inadvertently leaving holiday lights on 24/7. Unplug lights when sleeping, when leaving the house or when the lights will be left unattended.
(4) Do not overload electric sockets/extension cords, and thoroughly inspect light strands and discard damaged cords.
(5) Make sure light strands used outside are rated for outdoor use and follow manufacturer’s recommendations when connecting multiple strands.
For more information about ways to save on your electric bill, visit Reliant’s Energy Savings Center at http://www.reliant.com. You also can e-mail Reliant’s energy experts at energyexperts@reliant.com.
November 12, 2007 - This year millions of products have been taken off store shelves, many of them made in China. But these products account for just a fraction of the total items imported to this country. Some of the items on that list may surprise you.
For instance, 80 percent of the seafood sold in the United States is imported from places such as Thailand, China, Japan, Chile, Ecuador and the Philippines. Guess what? The Food and Drug Administration tests less than one percent of those fish.
Last June, the FDA forbid the import of five kinds of seafood from China because traces of banned drugs and food additives were found.
Other products with very familiar domestic names come from overseas like Birds Eye and Green Giant frozen vegetables from Mexico, Lays Stax Originals also made in Mexico, and Libby's Corned Beef from Brazil.
We asked Kiesha Walter where she thought Del Monte Pineapples originated. She hoped in America, but it turns out the can in her cart came from Thailand.
Some of our meat, poultry and egg products also come from overseas.
While every foreign country must get approval before it can export those goods, the individual plants and factories in those overseas countries aren't certified by U.S. inspectors, but by their own governments.
U.S. officials do check the boxes and paperwork of all imported items once they land on American soil. However, inspectors actually open only 10-percent of all imported packages to inspect the contents inside.
Food isn't the only concern. Action News found many products are made elsewhere.
"U.S. safety standards and laws apply to all those products whether they're made here or they're made overseas," said Patty Davis of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Many consumer still want to know where their products come from and, in some cases, all you to do is look for the label. Federal law requires country of origin labeling on most fish and seafood. By the end of next September, fruit, vegetables, meat and peanuts must also be marked.
However, manufacturers of most other products do not have to disclose country of origin, although if they want to use the "Made in the USA" label, virtually all parts must also be of U.S. origin or the company risks being fined.
"Everything I'm wearing right now, every single thing I wear every day is made in America. If I can do it, everyone can do it," said author Roger Simmermaker. He wrote the book, "How Americans Can Buy American."
He finds most of the U.S. made products he buys online and said it is possible to buy only American-made apparel, toys and other products. He's built his own website so you can find U.S. made items, too. You can visit howtobuyamerican.com by clicking here.
"People have to be aware of where they can find these products," he said.
All the importers we talked to say their products meet U-S safety standards and that product safety is their top priority.
(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)
Paying full price? Not any more. Today Action 13 Consumer Reporter Jeff Ehling showed us how to get a better deal on just about anything, sorry gasoline prices are non-negotiable, but check out these tips before you pay.
A just-published survey of more than 2-thousand people from Consumer Reports National Research center shows most who tried met with success. The money saved was on a whole range of products and services, including lower bank and credit card fees. In stores, the price of furniture is worth negotiating. Electronics, too. Even jewelry.
But probably the biggest surprise was medical bills. Ninety-three percent of those who tried to negotiate lower fees were able to.
The Texas Attorney General sent us this warning today:
Several businesses recently complained to the Office of the Attorney General about invoices they received for office supplies that were never ordered, including paper, toner cartridges and other office products.
Business owners should be aware that scam artists often send fraudulent billing invoices to companies of all sizes, hoping that the accounting department will simply pay the bill. Crooks count on the business’s failure to confirm that a purchase order was issued or that goods actually arrived.
Office supply schemes can take multiple forms. In one variation, the scam artist simply sends an invoice without ever delivering any products. Other thieves send merchandise that the business did not order and charge a price that dramatically exceeds what the same supplies would cost at a local retailer. If the invoices are unpaid, scammers try to intimate the businesses with threatening telephone calls and letters.
Most office supply scammers are based in other states, so Texas businesses can only communicate with them by telephone or e-mail. Businesses that attempt to question the invoices are often met with vague statements claiming that “someone” at the company ordered the supplies. By law, businesses that receive unordered merchandise are under no obligation to pay to return the unwanted products. Generally, these items can be considered a gift. Otherwise, the retailer that sent the merchandise must pay to retrieve it within a reasonable period of time at no expense to the business. A scam artist will seldom bother to do so.
Businesses should consider alerting all employees about office supply scams, not just those who work in accounting and billing departments. Some scammers are known to dial random numbers throughout a business until they find an unsuspecting employee who will “accept” the unordered merchandise. According to some reports, employees have also been persuaded to fill out sweepstakes forms without realizing that the fine print committed their company to buy unwanted, overpriced supplies.
Businesses that receive fraudulent invoices or unordered supplies, or are subjected to bogus collection threats or any other scam should file a complaint with the OAG Consumer Protection Division by calling (800) 252-8011 or visiting the OAG Web site at www.oag.state.tx.us.
Miley Cyrus' fan club is being sued by the last people you'd expect: the fans.
class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Kerry Inman of Pennsville, New Jersey, who tried to buy tickets to a "Hannah Montana" concert starring Cyrus the moment they went on sale and was shut out. The suit also is on behalf of anyone else who joined the Miley Cyrus Fan Club based on its promise that joining would make it easier to get her concert tickets.
The suit seeks triple damages for all members of the lawsuit and attorneys' fees. The fan club cost $29.95 a year to join, and the suit says the club should have known that the site's membership vastly exceeded the number of available tickets.
The Web site does not guarantee ticket availability, but the suit says it represents that members would have a good opportunity of getting tickets.
A representative for the fan club did not return calls for comment. However, Cyrus' publicist, Meghan Prophet, says more than 70,000 club members were able to buy tickets because they were given access to pre-sales through the club. She says the claim that the majority of club members were unable to get tickets is "simply false." "Hannah Montana" tickets sold out in four minutes in some markets, and scalpers are getting four or five times face value.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Disney is the parent company of KTRK
Privacyrights.org sent us these tips for private holiday shopping:
As the holidays approach, consumers are more likely to be visiting crowded stores and malls. Scam artists and fraudsters know this, so they are likely to be lurking there too. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is pleased to offer these helpful tips to protect yourself during this often hectic holiday season:
1. Clean out your wallet, purse, or pocketbook. Remove unnecessary credit cards, debit cards, your Social Security card, and other unneeded documents that could compromise your identity if lost or stolen while shopping. Keep them locked up in a safe place. Pickpockets will be out in force during the holiday season. The more documents that you carry with you, the more difficult and time-consuming it will be to report and recover from your loss. If the worst should happen, and your wallet, purse, or pocketbook is stolen, see our “Identity Theft Victims Guide” at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm
2. Make sure that the credit card receipts that you receive from merchants do not contain your full account number. Under federal law, all electronically printed credit and debit card receipts must shorten (truncate) the account information to no more than the last five digits of the card number. The receipt must also not include the card’s expiration date. This only applies to electronically printed receipts, not to handwritten or imprinted ones. It does not apply to transaction records retained by the merchant.
3. Some states have laws that dictate what kind of information merchants cannot ask for or write down when a consumer pays with a check or credit card. For example, in California, when a consumer pays with a credit card, the merchant cannot record any personal information other than what is on the front of the credit card. When a consumer pays by check, the merchant cannot record the credit card number. For more information and exceptions to the law, see “Paying by Credit Card or Check: What Can Merchants Ask?” at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs15-mt.htm
4. Be aware of a stores return policy. Some retailers require a state issued ID or license when you return or exchange merchandise. Typically, stores swipe the shopper's driver's license when a return is being made, and if the store's return limit is exceeded, the customer's return is denied Retailers do this to keep better track of possible return fraud. Some retailers maintain their own database while others use a third-party service. A number of national merchants outsource the collection of return and exchange data to a company called The Return Exchange. If you make repeated returns or exchanges to a participating merchant, subsequent returns to that merchant’s stores may be refused.
5. If you decide to purchase a gift card, be aware of expiration dates, fees, and what will happen if the card is lost. Many states have passed laws regulating gift cards. Often these laws set the same standards for gift certificates, the paper equivalent of gift cards. However, these laws generally do not give you a right to recover from a lost or stolen card. Rather, most state laws cover such things as service fees, expiration dates, and exempt the cards from unclaimed property laws. For a list of state laws governing gift cards, visit the National Conference of State Legislators’ Web site, www.ncsl.org/programs/banking/GiftCardsandCerts.htm .
In California, most gift cards cannot have expiration dates or service fees. However, the California gift card law is complex and does not apply to all gift cards. For additional information, please see our online information on Gift Cards, Prepaid Cards, and Stored Value Cards at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs32-paperplastic.htm#5
6. Don’t use a debit or check card to pay for your purchases. These cards typically put consumers at much greater risk than credit cards because they offer fewer consumer protections in the event of a loss. And because these cards access funds directly from your bank account, your money will remain missing while you and your bank sort out any theft, which could mean bounced checks, late fees, and numerous other problems. Some crooks have learned to use “skimming” devices to steal card information off merchant card-swipe machines. Debit or check cards pose a substantially greater risk to consumers in the event that a card swiping device is “skimmed.” We discuss the shortcomings of debit cards in great detail in our guide “Paper or Plastic: What's the Best Way to Pay?” at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs32-paperplastic.htm
7. Don’t forget to take simple precautions to protect your personal safety. Men can carry their wallets in a front pocket, which is less susceptible to pickpocketing. Women can place their purse strap over their head and across their chest. When shopping at night, park in a well-lit area. Be careful getting into and out of your car at the shopping mall -- people are sometimes targeted by muggers when doing so.
8. When shopping online, make sure that the Web site uses encryption technology before you provide your personal information. Encryption scrambles the information you send, such as your credit card number, in order to prevent computer hackers from obtaining it en route. You can tell when you are on a secure web page several ways. If you look at the top of your screen in the address bar where the Web site address is displayed, you should see https://. The "s" that is displayed after "http" indicates that web site is secure. You may not see the "s" until you are actually on the order page on the Web site. Another way to determine if a Web page is secure is to look for a closed padlock displayed at the bottom of your screen. If that lock is open, you should assume it is not a secure site. Finally, if you use the Firefox browser, the entire address bar will turn yellow if you are on an encrypted page. In Internet Explorer 7, the address bar will turn green if the page is encrypted.
9. The safest way to shop on the Internet is with a credit card. In the event something goes wrong, you are protected under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act. You have the right to dispute charges on your credit card, and you can withhold payments during a creditor investigation. When it has been determined that your credit was used without authorization, you are only responsible for the first $50 in charges. You are rarely asked to pay this charge. We recommend that you obtain one credit card that you use only for online payments to make it easier to detect wrongful credit charges. Make sure your credit card is a true credit card and not a debit card, a check card. A debit or check card exposes your bank account to thieves. Your checking account could be wiped out in minutes. Further, debit and check cards are not protected by federal law to the extent that credit cards are. For additional information, please see our online guide “Paper or Plastic: What's the Best Way to Pay?” at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs32-paperplastic.htm.
10. Finally, be sure to check out a Web site’s privacy policy before providing any personal information online. You can also learn what type of information is gathered by the Web site, and how it is — or is not — shared with others by reading its privacy policy. A link to the privacy policy is often found at the bottom of the site’s home page. You can also look for online merchants who are members of a seal-of- approval program that sets voluntary guidelines for privacy-related practices, such as TRUSTe (www.truste.org), Verisign (www.verisign.com), or BBBonline (www.bbbonline.org). For additional information, please see our online Fact Sheet “Online Shopping Tips: E-Commerce and You” at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs23-shopping.htm.
There are a lot of chances for your car to be towed in Houston, now it looks like that chance is also going up for being booted. You know, that's when you get that yellow device attached to your car's tire that would keep you from driving away. (READ FULL STORY)
Here is what you need to know if you get booted:
- What is a boot?
- How does a vehicle get "booted"?
- What are the boot fees?
- I received a notice that my vehicle is "boot-eligible." What do I do?
- My car was booted. What do I do now?
- What is a boot hearing?
In case you get towed too:
My car was towed – is there anything I can do?
The letters are in the mail to thousands of Carnival Cruise Line guests, the cost of your trip is going up, even if you already paid in full, because of rising fuel prices.
Cruise agents had been calling vacationers to tell them about the increase, but switched to letters after the first few conversations - deciding letters were an easier way to communicate the news.
"People are not happy because it was not told to them up front," said cruise agent Dru Walker
Carnival is adding a fuel supplement of five dollars per day per passenger starting in February.
That means a couple taking a four day trip from Galveston will have to pay $40 more.
A five day trip will cost an extra $50 per couple.
The seven day cruise will be another $70 per couple.
Looking at dozens of letters to be sent Walker said, "This is just my stack of invoices with the new prices so i can send it to my clients and let them know they are about to receive a new fuel surcharge."
Carnival officials say the company has shouldered the burden of rising fuel costs for three years.
In that time fuel prices have increased 140%, but in the last seven months fuel expenses have risen 50%
The additional fee applies to everyone sailing after February 1st, even those who have already paid in full for the cruise, but vacationers can choose to walk away from the trip.
"You can cancel the cruise if you want, we hope that you don't and carnival hopes you don't, it's just like the airlines, anything taking fuel, the fuel prices are going up," said cruise agent Sharon Preuss
In a written statement, a Carnival official told us, "We purposely chose february 1 as the implementation date to ensure that no one would be within a penalty period if they opt to cancel."
Cruise agents say most vacationers understand the increase but some are upset, agents did not know of anyone who canceled because of the fuel fee.
Carnival says if the price of oil drops below $70 a barrel the fuel fee will go away.
East side restaurant kitchens were on the checklist of city health inspectors, and Action 13 followed along.
The Panaderia Atotonilco at 973 Federal Road is the first stop for Health Inspector Ramonda Robinson. But managers did not want us in the kitchen.
"No, because, no," they said.
The inspection continued without us. When it was over, Robinson had three pieces of advice for owners -- clean, clean, clean.
Inspector Robinson said, "They have a lot of cleaning that they need to do, dirty floors, dirty shelves."
While no citations were issued, Inspector Robinson says she'll have to come back in two weeks to make sure things have improved.
Next, there's good news for a mobile taco stand. Inspector Robinson lifted a closure order issued the day before. The food was fine. Instead, the problem here was with the plumbing.
Inspector Robinson said, "The water was back-flowing into the two compartment sink, so they were not able to properly wash or sanitize, and I had to close them for that."
With the problem resolved, the taco stand could again serve the public.
The next stop is the Flamingo Supermarket on Canal Street. Here, too, managers did not want us inside. Inspector Robinson found problems within the meat market.
She explained, "They had quite a few violations. They had flies, cross-contamination with meat in the meat department -- raw chicken and beef that were touching, so that had to be discarded."
The meat slicer and cutting board needs to be cleaned and holes in the wall need to be fixed. No citations were issued, but inspectors will be back in two weeks to make sure problems have been resolved.
The city health department inspects dozens of restaurants each
week and we are showing you just a fraction of those they visit. But if
you'd like to see those reports, you can look them up in the city of Houston's online database.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)
Millions of Chinese-made toy beads for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested.
In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, which are distributed by Spin Master Toys based in Toronto. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.
The beads are sold in general merchandise stores for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fuse together when sprayed with water.
Scientists say the beads contain a chemical that the human body metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound -- made from common and easily available ingredients -- can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after it was announced in Australia.
Aqua Dots were sold nationwide from April 2007 through November 2007 for between $17 and $30. Consumers should immediately take the recalled toy away from children and contact Spin Master to return for free replacement beads or a toy of equal value.
For additional information, contact Spin Master at (800) 622-8339 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.aquadotsrecall.com
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)Yard sales have been around forever, but now there is a new twist on the old Saturday sell off. The biggest drawback to having a yard sale is the work involved in getting ready for one - and for buyers, if you don't get there early, all the good stuff is gone. Well, that's changing, thanks to Adam Allgaier. The Kingwood father has dozens of yard sale finds in his home. From a $125 piano to a $200 armoire, Allgaier's love of yard sales deals led him and his brother to start the website: http://kingwoodyardsales.com/houston.jsp.
The site allows people to list their yard sales and it even maps all the locations for you. Sellers who do not want the hassle of holding a yard sale can list single items.
"Then interested buyers will contact them, call them, email them, you can chat with them right on line immediately," said Allgaier.
Sheryl Enright and Sade Deboer routinely buy and sell using the site. In fact, both women use yard selling on line to supplement family income.
Certain items are big for re-sellers. Enright says, "Big Little Tykes outdoor stuff is the best stuff, instruments, musical instruments."
Yard selling aficionados say there is so much stuff being sold it's a good idea to check the web before buying anything brand new.
They also say there is usually a buyer for just about anything.
"Don't throw anything away, put it on Kingwood yards sales first," said Deboer.
Eden Grimm teaches people how to make hair bows, she uses the yard selling site to list her creations and her classes.
"There are people like me who make items and have home based businesses that sell things on Kingwood yard sales also," said Grimm.
The site even has a free section for people looking to get rid of stuff at no charge There are yard selling sites for Sugar Land, Katy, The Woodlands - 15 different communities in all.
by Michael Finney
If thieves want in to your vehicle bad enough they'll get in, armored cars are broken into. How scary is that? Especially with the holiday shopping season coming, when our cars will be filled with gifts.
But most consumers don't know just how easy it is to get inside, and we are not talking about breaking windows or using a burglary tool we are talking about breaking in while looking totally legit.
I am opening the back of this Chevy Astro van. I have a key and permission. But I am not using the key that goes with this van.
ABC7's Michael Finney: "Look at that, smooth as silk."
Robert Axelrod: Let me see the key. There is no comparison what so ever."
See for yourself. The key on the left is the van's actual key the one on the right is a GM key I've borrowed these guys -- Alex and Eddie Kamand from Kamand Locksmith Services.
"Basically what you are doing here is picking the lock. You are picking it with a different key," said Eddie Kamand from Kamand Locksmith Services.
They are showing me on their own van, how this works. Keep in mind these two keys have not been altered, they are standard issue GM keys.
Alex Kamand: "This is Eddie's car we are trying it again and it works, right. We put in the other key and it doesn't but then you jiggle and wiggle it and it turns."
ABC7's Michael Finney: "Would it do it on another car?"
Eddie Kamand: "If they were close enough, yes."
I wanted to try this for myself, and that's how I ended up in this parking lot with those two keys.
Robert Axelrod: "How did you get that key? You can't get that key."
ABC7's Michael Finney: "This is just a key to another van; that's all is all it is."
Robert Axelrod: "You are kidding me? I am shocked I am actually really shocked."
Now, it certainly doesn't work every time, and I was never able to get a GM passenger car door to open.
ABC7's Michael Finney: "Do you mind if I try these to try and open up your door?"
Driver: "Go for it."
ABC7's Michael Finney: "No it doesn't work."
However on this one used car lot, between two keys and 13 GM products, I was able to open three vehicles.
"For 25 years, I have been in this kind of business and I am, really for me, surprised," said auto broker Louis Hernan.
But not everyone is surprised. I was unable to open Loretta Liu's Suburban, but she had once pulled this stunt herself.
"Yeah, it happened to my brother's car. It was a Chevy and I used my keys to open it. It was a Tahoe," said Loretta Lui.
Which brings us back to our locksmiths.
"They all do it, but GM it is more likely to work," said Alex Kamand.
They tell me GM makes a lot of cars and GM locks don't use standard tumblers.
And what does GM say? A Chevrolet spokesperson told says: "That he has never received a complaint about this, and that without knowing these vehicles' history the company can't comment that the locks on 2007 trucks have been changed."
Robert Axelrod: "We left $600 a dollar tool in there last night."
ABC7's Michael Finney: "Don't do that tonight."
Robert Axelrod: "We won't. I am amazed, thanks for showing me that. I can not believe that. Would you try that one more time?"
ABC7's Michael Finney: "Sure, go ahead and lock it up so you know it's locked. Can you hold that?"
Robert Axelrod: I'll hold that. You just wiggled it a little bit, there it goes. Oh, Man."
It is hard to nail down which vehicles are at risk. No government entity is keeping track and many locksmiths are hesitant to talk about their secrets.
That said, at least with our keys and GMs, the years at risk seem to be late 90s through 2004 models of SUVs, trucks and minivans.
wear and tear is becoming less of a problem because so many of us use a key fob to open our doors but keep in mind locks do wear out over time and become less secure. The cost to replace? About $150 dollars.
There is some good news; this does not work on ignitions. And finally one of the reasons we are reporting this is because some insurance policies won't pay if there is not a visible means of entry. if you get ripped off, use this report as proof entry could have occurred.
Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.
Here we go again. It's my shift to web produce on the weekend so I work with Joe Williams to come up with the best in Houston restaurants. This month we tackle the top Houston Mexican food restaurants.
That is no easy task as you might imagine.
See if you agree or you can tell us how wrong we are.
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There are so many recalls lately, that we're are starting to run out of room around here!
Here is the latest recall of a million pounds of beef:
The giant agribusiness company Cargill Inc. said Saturday it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
The ground beef was produced between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11 at Cargill Meat Solutions' plant in Wyalusing, Pa. and distributed to retailers across the country. They include Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and Weis.
Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on Oct. 8, the company said. The bacteria is E. coli O157:H7.
"No illnesses have been associated with this product," said John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef, said in a statement. "We are working closely with the USDA to remove this product from the marketplace."
People should be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam soliciting donations to California wildfire victims in the name of the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. government, the IRS said Friday.
The tax agency said the bogus e-mails appear to be a "phishing scheme" that tries to trick recipients into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to steal a person's assets.
The IRS said it does not send e-mails soliciting charitable donations and never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or other secret information for credit card, bank or other financial accounts.
People "should avoid opening any attachments or clicking on any links until they can verify the e-mail's legitimacy," IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support Richard Spires said in a statement.
The agency said the scam e-mail urges recipients to click on a link which opens on a fake IRS Web site. That site includes a link to a donation form which requests the recipient's personal and financial information.
The IRS said it also believes that clicking on the link downloads malware, or malicious software, onto the recipient's computer. That software will steal passwords and other account information it finds on the victim's computer system.
It urged those who received the scam e-mail to help the IRS shut down the operation by forwarding it to phishing@irs.gov, using instructions found in "how to protect yourself from suspicious e-mails or phishing schemes" on the genuine IRS Web site, www.irs.gov.
Since the mail box was established last year, the IRS has received more than 30,000 e-mails from taxpayers reporting almost 600 separate phishing incidents.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
General Mills is issuing a recall for Totino's and Jeno's frozen pizza. The pizza's in question all contain pepperoni. More than 20 cases of E. coli in 10 states are under investigation. It is not known if the pepperoni is to blame for the illnesses, but General Mills says it is taking no chances. If you have the pizzas, throw them away. General Mills is offering to replace the pizzas, log on to their web site to see the brands and refund information.
http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/media_center/news_release_detail.aspx?itemID=29007&catID=227
We've been covering the Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus ticket saga for a while now on this blog and have some good news for fans. More tickets are on sale in Houston says the Toyota Center.
Like we've preached here before, going to the concert venue's web site right before the show can land you some choice seats as the band and promoters offer their unused tickets for sale:
The production for the tour has been finalized and a limited number of tickets will be released for sale on Saturday, November 3 at 1pm at www.toyotacentertix.com and charge by phone at 1-866-4-HOUTIX.
The procedure to purchase tickets is as follows:
- Tickets are only available online and by phone. Tickets are NOT available at the Box Office or at the outlets.
- All tickets will not be available for pick up until the day of the show at the Box Office Will Call window. You MUST have the credit card you purchased the tickets with and a photo ID. Box Office Will Call will be open beginning at 10am.
- There is a 4-ticket limit per person.
Toyota Center is proud to welcome 14-year-old singer, songwriter and actress, Miley Cyrus, of the hit Emmy-nominated Disney Channel series, “Hannah Montana,” to Houston on Sunday, November 11. This “Best of Both Worlds” concert tour will be a double billing where Miley Cyrus performs both as a solo artist and as her popular TV character, Hannah Montana. Don’t miss Miley Cyrus and her special guests, Jonas Brothers, as they stop in Houston this fall!
Have you ever seen the commercial where a man is driving a car and feels that he is falling in love with the voice in his vehicle's navigation system? I had a similar experience, but it was only more of an affair since I have to give the unit back to the company.
Over the last few weeks, I've been testing TeleNav's GPS Navigator v5.2 on a Samsung m610 through Sprint, but the service is available on most phone companies.
That's right, this is a navigation system on a cell phone. The company sent me a mount for the windshield that could hold the phone while I drove.
The program was easy to launch and within minutes I was being told where to go. All I had to do was enter my destination, which was La Marque's football stadium on the first run, and TeleNav located my starting point with its GPS system.
Then I was off. A pleasant female voice told me where to turn and which roads to take. That is accompanied by a display that shows where you are and going on a map.
What's the advantage of using a cell phone based navigation versus one that is not connected to a service? Real time data is the answer. TeleNav scanned the freeways and looked for traffic. In Houston, that didn't take long to find. The service told me how many miles till the congestion and to press '0' to find an alternate route.
Another cool feature is a countdown in miles to your destination plus an estimated time of arrival which during my tests was always pretty much dead on.
I am a native Houstonian. That's not me bragging, but telling you that I know the roads around here pretty well. I know when the freeways will have a lot of traffic. This kind of experience cannot yet be captured by a navigation system.
What I am trying to say is there were a few directions the system gave me that I did not agree with. That's cool, because if you go your own route, TeleNav reorients itself and continues on your current path to the destination.
An another trip we were trying to go to a new barbecue joint in Spring. The navigation told us to exit the freeway miles before the destination. Then it told us to get back on the freeway only to exit again for the restaurant that was located right on I-45. In all fairness, this is a new location and Google Maps could not even locate it. While sending us on a strange path, it did tell us how to ultimately get there.
TeleNav will cost you around $9.99 a month. Also consider the data usage charge your company would charge for use of a Web application. Another consideration is the cost of your phone's batteries power if you are on a long trip.
This system would be overkill for a driver who goes to the same spots every day. However if you are new to a city, it could be a lifesaver.
7 ON YOUR SIDEOct. 31, 2007 - KGO - Most people don't like telemarketers bothering them at home, so much so that millions have put their names on the national Do Not Call registry. As a result, unwanted calls are way down. But what about the federal government's plan to take everyone off the registry next June?
If you listen real carefully, you can hear a new sound in Nick's home. It's the sound of his telephone not ringing. Nick says it's a big change from those noisy days before the Do Not Call registry.
"The telephone was ringing off the hook, one, two three times a night. It would get more frustrating and I'd get madder and madder," says Nick.
Then he signed up for the national Do Not Call registry. That's the federal government list of all those who don't want telemarketers calling them during the dinner hour or any other time.
"The number of calls went drastically way down and literally disappeared," says Nick.
So Nick was really happy when he found out his name won't be yanked off the Do Not Call list and neither will anybody else's.
The Federal Trade Commission just announced it will keep all current phone numbers on that list instead of making everybody re-register next June as was originally planned.
"We haven't heard from anyone who actually wants to receive more telemarketing calls or wants to have their name on a please call me list," says Joe Ridout with Consumer Action.
Consumer advocate Joe Ridout says it's the best news since the registry was started in 2003. Like Nick, he thinks it's working.
"For most people on this registry, it's been a great relief and they've been relatively free of telemarketing calls," says Ridout.
Right now Congress is deciding whether to make the registry permanent. Being on the list means telemarketers can't call you unless they represent a charity, political group or a business you've done business with.
Telemarketers can be fined up to $11,000 dollars per violation.
The Federal Trade Commissions says 145 million people are on the registry -- that's three quarters of all phone users. Ninety-two percent of people surveyed said their calls have gone way down.
The FTC has prosecuted 27 telemarketers for violating the law. The biggest case was a $5.3 million settlement against companies selling satellite TV subscriptions.
"The Do Not Call registry is not a perfect cure for receiving unwanted calls. If you have an established business relationship with a company, they do have the right to keep calling you," says Ridout.
Joe Ridout says the law is effective, but some unwanted calls still do filter through.
"Try to avoid giving them your phone number because once you do they can call you with unsolicited advertisements or sell it to some of their affiliates," says Ridout.
Nick says, just lately, he has been getting a few unwanted calls.
"Only within the last couple of months did one or two calls a week come sneaking through again as if they're trying to get around the law somehow," says Nick.
But for the most part, Nick's enjoying his evenings at home, and can even play his grand piano without any interruption.
If you want to put yourself on the Do Not Call list, visit the National Do Not Call Registry.
Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.
Health inspectors are working to keep you healthy as they look behind the counter in Houston restaurant kitchens.
Health Inspector Gary Lee's first stop was the Grand Lux Cafe across from the Galleria. Restaurant managers would not let us in, however Inspector Lee says the kitchen only had one minor problem with a pre-scrape sink.
"There is a sink they scrape all the food debris off of and it was missing a cold water knob, but it still has hot water available,” Lee said.
The Grand Lux called a plumber and passed its inspection.
Up next was the El Pupusodromo Restaurant on Renwick. Here too, managers did not want us to look behind the counter. Inspector Lee says he found an insect problem.
"Unfortunately they did have a roach that was crawling on some dinnerware, but they did have pest control service last night and whenever that happens it flushes them out,” Lee told us. “So we had them clean all the dinnerware, wash it with sanitizer before they can use it."
Because El Pupusodromo has routine pest control, no citations were issued. Inspector Lee also found slime in the restaurant's ice machine, he ordered it cleaned but issued no citations.
Next Inspector Lee visited the Dos Amigos food store on Chimney Rock, here we were allowed inside.
The store has a small kitchen. Behind the counter we saw roaches on the floor. Inspector Lee noticed them too.
"We did come across a roach that was crawling across the wall, I talked to the owner and they did call pest control and in looking at their documentation they were serviced on October 4th,” Lee said.
Because the store has routine extermination and corrective actions are being taken, no citations were issued. Inspector lee also found a problem with some of the canned food on the store shelves.
"We did come across what's called Austex Chili hot dog sauce, hot dog chili that was on the recall list earlier this summer so they pulled it off the shelf,” Inspector Lee said.
Because the store removed the three cans of recalled food, no citations were issued.
It was a clean slate for all three stops on this day.
To see how your favorite restaurant faired on its last health inspection, click here.
Ever wonder how Jeff Ehling compiles the Rat and Roach Report? Read more in our Q&A.
You may be seeing more ads about home auctions as the foreclosure rate continues to rise. There are auctions all the time in Houston, and a big one is coming up in two weeks at Reliant Center. here's the web site of the auction company coming to town, www.ushomeauction.com. Take a look at the homes, the inspection dates and the terms of the auction before the bidding starts. It's also a good idea to talk to a mortgage broker or banker to see home much you can spend on a home.
The most talked-about cell phone is getting more juice for the jabber. Time magazine has named the iPhone "Invention of the Year."
Apple Inc.'s latest darling topped dozens of other creations
that made leaps in environmentally friendly technology, molecular
science, robotics or military uses. The photogenic personality of
the sleek, hybrid cell phone-iPod media player didn't hurt either.
"Intel's 45-nanometer (parts for chips) -- that's a serious
deal, but it's a lot less glamorous than the iPhone even though
it's important," said Lev Grossman, a Time staff writer who covers
technology and helped select the magazine's annual honorees.
Yet the gadget's celebrity chic was not the core reason,
according to Grossman's story, which appears in Friday's issue.
The iPhone's design and beauty contribute to its appeal, but its
functionality and features are what gets people talking. The
features themselves may not be groundbreaking, but the way in which
Apple presents them is.
Take the iPhone's touch screen. Apple neither invented nor
reinvented the technology, Grossman contends, but "Apple knew what
to do with it."
The wide-ranging impact of the iPhone -- on the cell phone
industry and how it will evolve into an ever more useful handheld
computer -- is only beginning, he concludes.
Last year's winning invention was the online video site YouTube.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars on Thursday formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop Comcast Corp. from interfering with file sharing by its Internet subscribers.
Two of the groups are also asking the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000 for every affected subscriber.
The petitions will be the first real test of the FCC's stance on "Net Neutrality," the principle that Internet traffic be treated equally by carriers. The agency has a policy supporting the concept but its position hasn't been tested in a real-world case.
The long-standing industry practice of treating Internet traffic more or less equally has started to fray. In tests spanning several states, The Associated Press found that Comcast hindered file sharing by subscribers who used BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing program. The findings, first reported Oct. 19, confirmed claims by users who also noticed interference with other file-sharing applications.
Comcast is the country's largest cable company and has 12.9 million Internet subscribers, making it the second-largest Internet service provider.
Comcast denies that it blocks file sharing, but acknowledged last week that it was "delaying" some of the traffic between computers that share files.
In practice, the company blocks requests from users who are trying to retrieve files from a Comcast subscriber's computer for a period of time. But it eventually lets the requests through if they are repeated.
In one AP test, a request went through after 10 minutes of trying. The technology does not directly affect downloads of BitTorrent files by Comcast subscribers, only uploads.
Comcast has said the interference is intended to improve the Internet experience for all its subscribers, noting that a relatively small number of file sharers is enough to slow down its network.
In response to the filings, David Cohen, an executive vice president at Comcast, said that the FCC's policies recognize that ISPs need to manage the traffic on their networks.
If other ISPs follow in Comcast's footsteps, file sharing would essentially crawl to a halt. While the technology is a popular way to illegally share copyright movies and music, legal uses are proliferating, particularly in movie distribution.
"They're blocking an innovative application that could be a competitor to cable TV," said Marvin Ammori, general counsel at Free Press, one of the advocacy groups behind the petition to the FCC.
The petition asks the commission to immediately declare that Comcast is violating the FCC's policy. The co-signers are Consumer Federation of America; Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports; Media Access Project; and professors at the Internet practices of the Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools.
Free Press and another group, Public Knowledge, are separately filing a formal complaint that asks the FCC to demand a "forfeiture" from Comcast of $195,000 per affected subscriber.
The number is based on the statutory maximum of $97,500 for a single continuing violation, doubled by what the groups see as deception on the company's part. Comcast kept its practice secret until publicized by the AP, saying that it couldn't divulge the inner workings of its network for security reasons. Its filtering technique also involves the company forging network messages so that they appear to come from subscriber and non-subscriber computers.
The complaint includes affidavits from three Comcast subscribers who say they have been affected by Comcast's interference. The complaint asks the FCC to determine the total number of affected subscribers.
It's not clear how quickly the FCC would act on the filings.
"The FCC should be aggressively reviewing these cases because they go to ensuring the freedom and openness of the Internet which is so vital to our communications future and to our civic dialogue," FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said in a statement.
Comcast's Cohen noted that the FCC's policy statement, which says that consumers are allowed to run the Internet applications of their choice, makes that "subject to reasonable network management" by ISPs.
"The Commission clearly recognized that network management is necessary by ISPs for the good of all customers," Cohen said.
"If Comcast is right -- that what it's doing meets the policy statement -- then anyone can start blocking BitTorrent tomorrow," Ammori said.
A ruling against Comcast could cause problems not only for the cable company, but other Internet service providers. Many of them acknowledge managing traffic to improve flow, which likely includes slowing down file-sharing traffic by means less drastic than Comcast's.
The Net Neutrality debate erupted in 2005, when the FCC abolished the obligation of providers of Internet service via digital subscriber lines, or DSL, to carry all traffic nondiscriminately (that obligation had been abolished for cable broadband in 2002). The obligation was replaced with the policy statement.
Phone companies started suggesting that they would like to be able to charge large Web companies more for guaranteed delivery of their traffic as a way to finance the build out of their networks.
Web anchors like Google Inc. and Amazon Inc., joined by consumer groups, opposed the notion, saying it would make Internet service providers the toll keepers of the Internet and enable them to stifle competition and innovation.
The debate was stilled when AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to shelve their plans temporarily to get their respective plans to acquire BellSouth and MCI approved by the FCC.
Ammori said it appeared that the "nightmare scenario" portrayed by Net Neutrality proponents like his own group, Free Press, had been averted.
"Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Comcast is doing exactly what we most feared ... secretly degrading an application," Ammori said. "We didn't expect the first violation to be so blatant."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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