Nisondia Tv

When you sign up for an insurance policy, you’re given a price for that plan for the year. So when California consumers discovered changes to their Anthem Blue Cross policies in the middle of the year that came with extra out-of-pocket costs, two policyholders filed a class-action lawsuit against the insurance provider in 2011. Anthem Blue Cross has now agreed to a settlement that includes reimbursing about 50,000 customers in California almost $8.3 million. Anthem Blue Cross agreed to stop imposing mid-year policy changes that raise costs for consumers, reports the L.A. Times . The 2011 lawsuits accused the company — California’s largest for-profit health insurer — of hiking annual deductibles and other costs individual consumers had to cover in the middle of the year. Anthem Blue Cross isn’t admitting any wrongdoing here but agreed to the settlement to avoid “further expense.” The insurer will mail notices to affected customers as well as post information about the settlement on a we...

George Orwell’s 1984 imagined a bleak bureaucratic future where free speech was easily inhibited. Perhaps the people who run his estate (and certainly the people at Cafe Press) should read the book; or at least brush up on copyright basics. [NOTE: This story has been updated from its original version to reflect claims made by a rep for the Orwell estate.] TorrentFreak reports that the Orwell estate successfully petitioned CafePress to remove a handful of T-shirt designs that used a photo of the numbers “1984.” But exactly what was demanded by the estate is in question, as the literary rep who filed the claims with Cafe Press tells Consumerist that he was not targeting the design shown in the above screengrab, which features only the number “1984” and some scribbling that declares “is already here” in addition to the numbers. On thing that is certain is that the mere number “1984” is not eligible for copyright protection. U.S. Copyright Office regulations declare [ PDF ] that “words a...

While we’re sure there are a lot of very experienced, bright and imaginative adults out there designing toys, who knows what a kid wants better than a kid (see: Big )? That’s why IKEA is straying from the traditional, realistic stuffed animal and instead, offering plush toys straight out of the imaginations of a few lucky children. IKEA’s fundraising efforts this year through its Soft Toys for Education line led it to tap directly into the minds of kids, taking 10 winning entries and turning them into real stuffed animals. Each toy purchase will donate €1 toward children’s education projects via Unicef and Save the Children. As one might expect, the winners are pretty much the best thing ever, and will likely make you wish you were six years old again, with a huge, new box of crayons at your disposal. Here are a few more ( full list of winners here and their real-life counterparts here ), try to contain your squeals of delight: (h/t AdWeek ) by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist...

Back in May, the Department of Education proposed rules to govern college prepaid credit and debit cards in order to afford students proper protections from excess fees and other harmful practices. Fast forward five months, and those rules have are now finalized.  The Dept. of Education announced Tuesday that it had finalized regulations to protect students and the nearly $25 billion in federal student aid issued on debit and prepaid cards through college’s lucrative partnerships with credit card issuers. With about 40% of all postsecondary students enrolled in institutions that have debit or prepaid card agreements, the Dept. aims to protect students from aggressive marketing, restricted choices and high fees. “The final rules published today represent a continuation of our efforts,” Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, said in a statement. “These regulations will… bring overdue reforms to campus cards, a sector that too often puts taxpayer dollars and student consumers at ...

Getting upset when you find out a beloved menu item costs more today than yesterday is completely understandable, but damaging a restaurant’s property will not do anything to mitigate that problem. To that end, police in Georgia say a man who was enraged over the increase price of Waffle House’s sausage biscuits shattered a glass door on his way out of the restaurant. According to law enforcement on the scene early Sunday morning, a 39-year-old man became irate upon receiving his check when he saw that the price of biscuits had gone from $1 to $1.50, reports The Smoking Gun . First he threw his bill to the floor, and then stormed out — allegedly punching the door as he went, breaking the glass. Police officers tackled him outside the Waffle House and arrested him for felony damage to business property, as well as criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. He claimed he “barely kicked the door” as he was leaving, because “he not want to open the greasy door with his ha...

We’ve said before that star ratings for restaurants are often arbitrary and may not be an accurate representation of the review’s content or of other diners’ standards. You might think that critics who get paid to give such ratings would defend the practice, but at least one of them has come out swinging against the stars, bells, and other dingbats he and his fellow reviewers are often compelled to use. “Stars… are stupid, subjective short-hand added almost entirely as a tl;dr for people too lazy to read actual words,” writes Philadelphia Magazine’s Jason Sheehan in his impassioned rebuke of the star system . “I’ve known a lot of critics in the nearly 15 years that I’ve been reviewing restaurants and not one of them ever had a defense for them more nuanced than ‘we use them because we use them.'” And yet Sheehan uses them at his current gig because (A) the magazine has employed star-ratings for ages, and (B) because “Readers are accustomed to seeing stars. Restaurateurs and chefs ...

Walgreens Boots Alliance — the holding company that owns Walgreen Co. and Boots pharmacies in Europe — is reportedly looking to expand its portfolio of drug stores by adding Rite Aid into the mix. The Wall Street Journal cites insider sources who say the deal is expected to be announced Wednesday. There’s no price tag on it, but with Rite Aid currently valued at more than $6 billion, a typical premium takeover deal could see the company going for close to $10 billion. If the takeover is successful, it would combine the country’s second- and third-largest drugstore chains, the WSJ notes. The merger would be the latest in a recent spate of new combinations in the healthcare industry as companies try to lower costs and get more leverage with suppliers: health insurer Anthem is buying Cigna , and Aetna offered $37 billion for Humana. News of the possible merger seemed to please the stock market, as Rite Aid shares went up more than 40% Tuesday afternoon, while Walgreens shares rose about ...

Chestnuts roasting by the open fire, logs crackling merrily in the hearth while the snow piles up outside… it’s basically the ideal for many seeking warmth in the chill of fall and bitter cold of winter. But New Englanders will be paying more for firewood this season, due to fracking and other big construction projects that are using large amounts of hardwood. The effort to tap another natural resource for fuel is eating into the available hardwood supply in the Northeast right now, reports the Associated Press : hydraulic fracturing well sites in Pennsylvania slorping up natural gas from the ground are using construction mats made of hardwood logs to get heavy equipment over soggy ground, wetlands and other soft surfaces. It isn’t just fracking sites gobbling up logs, but many large-scale construction projects — like laying pipelines — have been increasingly turning to the hardwood mats. That’s sending the price of a cord of firewood up in New England. Prices in some areas are averagi...

The kiosks at pharmacies where you can take your blood pressure, pulse, and maybe even weigh yourself aren’t just for killing time while you wait for a prescription. Well, they’re mostly for that, but Walmart will be trying out a new rewards card that compensates customers to visit the checkup kiosks to take a few measurements. The rewards come from health insurance companies, which find data about their customers’ weight, pulse, and blood pressure very valuable. A risk assessment from the kiosk can send a patient back to their doctor if there’s a flag for a potential problem. The data can be sent to their insurance company or directly to their healthcare provider. Where will you find these kiosks? They’re going where customers are likely to be: Walmart. Insurance companies will send out rewards card and reminders to their customers, encouraging them to visit the kiosks to get free stuff. Intervening as early as possible when someone has high blood pressure, for example, or encouragin...

With a $104.2 billion merger agreed to in principle , beer giants Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller could be walking down the aisle soon, creating a company that provides nearly 70% of the beer sold in the U.S. While such a mega-merger might be beneficial to the companies as far as increasing market share and cutting costs, the deal could have some very real consequences for consumers – and other beer producers.  While we can’t know for sure just what the outcome of the proposed merger will be for consumers, AB InBev (ABI), SABMiller and the hundreds of other smaller brewers, antitrust experts provided Consumerist with a few plausible scenarios, none of which really benefit the consumer. In fact, Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute, tells Consumerist that virtually no merger scenario between the two companies would benefit consumers. Instead, the deal spells higher prices, fewer choices, and a harder life for smaller craft brewers. Because ABI and SABMil...

Sometimes, when you make a big move, you don’t have to do anything, just sit back and watch the jaws drop and arteries clog: a Canadian restaurant chain has lit up the internet by debuting a burger stuffed — and topped — with Reese’s peanut butter cups. American in search of something new to test the limits of calorie-laden Frankenfood creations can travel north to Canada, where Ontario-based burger chain The Works is peddling the Reese’s PBC: it’s got peanut butter chocolate candy inside the beef patty, as well as more crushed on top. It’s not just beef, chocolate and peanut butter, however, because why stop there?: the PBC is “stuff’d with Reese Peanut Butter Cups candy right inside our juicy beef patty and topped with crispy onion strings, two strips of smoked bacon and even more Reese Peanut Butter Cups candy!” (In Canada, Reese’s is Reese, apparently.) All that heart-stopping glory goes for $15.98 Canadian. Is this a trick or a treat? It depends on how you look at it, and how stro...

Copyright law is surprisingly pervasive . It affects everything from computers to cars ( and tractors ). The law says you’re not allowed to circumvent DRM on anything for any reason… except for a big pile of things you actually legally can. Those exemptions get re-evaluated every three years, and today the new list is out. The Copyright Office holds something called a Section 1201 rulemaking procedure every three years. At the end of all the hearings and proceedings, the Register of Copyrights releases a set of recommendations, which it’s technically up to the Librarian of Congress to accept or reject. The Register did, the Librarian did, and now the full set of exemptions is out [80-page PDF ]. In the end, it’s chock-full of recommendations that manage to affect basically everybody. Things You May Do Education: College and university faculty and students, K-12 faculty and students, and libraries and museums continue to be able to circumvent DRM on “motion pictures” (TV and movies) ...

Earlier this year, a California man sued MillerCoors (which is half-owned by SABMiller, which is currently in the process of a massive global merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev) over its continued labeling of its Blue Moon brew as a “craft beer.” But yesterday, a federal court threw out the case against the mega-brewer. The original complaint [ PDF ] alleged that MillerCoors was deceiving customers into paying more for BlueMoon by labeling it a craft beer and by distancing the brand from the MillerCoors name. Citing the non-binding Brewers Association standard for craft beer — fewer than 6 million barrels produced annually; a craft brewer must be the majority stakeholder; the beer is made using only traditional or innovative brewing ingredients — the plaintiff contended that Blue Moon is just another beer made by a huge beer company. In fact, according to lawsuit, Blue Moon beer made for retail consumption is brewed at the same plant where MillerCoors makes decidedly non-craft brands Co...

As part of its attempt to bring struggling sales numbers up, Kohl’s is betting on two new kinds of stores: the company announced plans to open a number of smaller-format stores that don’t take up as much space as its traditional stores, as well as more “Off-Aisle” outlet locations offering lower-priced items. Kohl’s Chief Executive Kevin Mansell outlined the company’s long-term plan, saying everything is going exactly as it should be right now, reports Fortune . To keep things moving, Kohl’s is opening between five and 10 smaller stores of 35,000 square feet each, which is quite a cut from its usual 80,000-square-foot stores. It’s also going to add two locations to its Off-Aisle roster in 2016, after opening its first clearance and discount items outlet in May in New Jersey . “There are a whole bunch of markets that are completely underserved by Kohl’s,” Mansell told Fortune. City centers like New York and Chicago may be included in that, or small markets that simply can’t handle a typ...

For the fourth time in eight years, General Motors is recalling a number of older vehicles because the engine compartment can catch fire when drops of oil overheat.  The carmaker announced on Tuesday that it will recall 1.4 million vehicles worldwide over fire risks linked to drops of oil in the cars’ exhaust, the Detroit News reports. The recall covers model year 1997 to 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix; model year 2000 to 2004 Chevrolet Impala; model year 1998 and 1999 Chevrolet Lumina; model year 1998 to 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo; model year 1998 and 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue and model year 1997 to 2004 Buick Regal vehicles with 3.8-liter V6 3800 engines. According to GM, drops of oil may fall on the hot exhaust manifold during hard braking, which can cause engine compartment fires. So far, the company is aware of several post-repair fires that resulted in 19 reported injuries over the last six years. However, no crashes or fatalities have been reported. GM previously issued th...

Next month, Microsoft’s Xbox One will celebrate its second birthday, which makes it as good a time as any for a software update that will finally allow users to play some of their old Xbox 360 games on the console. While backwards compatibility has been promised for some time, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb confirmed on Twitter last night that all Xbox One users will get a software update starting Nov. 12 that will give them the functionality to play the older games. Or rather, we should say some older games. With only a few weeks to go before the wide rollout of this update, Microsoft’s official list of backwards-compatible games is pretty small and lacks a lot of big-name titles from the previous-generation console. The company says the intention is to add hundreds of games to that list, but don’t expect that on Nov. 12 you’ll be able to just dust off all your old green disc boxes and party like it’s 2009. [ via Ars Technica ] by Chris Morran via Consumerist

With college tuition prices continuing to rise, you might assume that college students are entering the real world with more debt on their shoulders.  According to a new report, that assumption would be correct. The latest annual student debt survey [ PDF ] from The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)  found that nearly 7-in-10 (or 69%) of 2014 graduates of four-year public and nonprofit colleges owed an average of $28,950, up 2% compared to $28,400 in 2013. It’s important to note that this study does not include debt rates for for-profit colleges because most choose not to report what their graduates owe. In addition to the higher level of student loan debt, recent college graduates continued to face relatively high levels of unemployment in 2014, with the unemployment rate at 7.2% for graduates and 14.7% for consumers with only a high school diploma. “Despite rising debt levels, a college degree is still the best path to a job and decent pay,” Debbie Cochrane...

The outdoor equipment co-op REI sells gear for people to have fun, well, outdoors. That’s why it makes sense that they’ve started a campaign encouraging all of us to spend the day after Thanksgiving having fun outside. Oh, and they’re including store employees in that mandate: stores will be closed, and employees will have that day off with pay. This is all part of a broader campaign called Opt Outisde, or #optoutside. It’s not surprising that an outdoor equipment company would tell their customers to spend a day that many people have off work having fun outside, since that’s what they’re about. The part where they’re closing stores on such a popular shopping day: that’s unusual, even if it is a publicity stunt. The president and CEO of the co-op put an open letter on the campaign page , explaining the campaign’s very on-brand logic: For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors. We believe that being outside makes our lives better. And Bla...

After more than 26 incidents in six years in which e-cigarettes have caused fires or explosions on planes, a new federal rule is set to go into effect banning the devices from being left in checked baggage.  The Department of Transportation announced Monday that it had issued an interim final rule prohibiting passengers and crew members from carrying any battery-powered portable electronic smoking devices (e-cigarettes, vaporizers, e-cigars, etc.) in checked baggage. The rule, which is set to go into effect in the next two weeks, also prohibits passengers and crew members from charging the devices or their batteries on aircraft. “We know from recent incidents that e-cigarettes in checked bags can catch fire during transport,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “Fire hazards in flight are particularly dangerous. Banning e-cigarettes from checked bags is a prudent safety measure.” Passengers who own e-cigarettes can still bring them aboard aircraft in their c...

One of the barriers to the formation of the StaplesMaxDepot office-supply Voltron has been the commercial supply businesses that both companies run: in addition to running retail stores, they both also do business delivering office supplies to corporate clients. One possibility could let the mega-merger go forward: Staples could sell its commercial supply business to competitor Essendant. That’s a possibility presented in a research note from investment analysts at Bank of America, who have discussed what might happen with contacts in the industry. The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly a pproached Essendant with the option of acquiring that part of Staples . As far as we know, that is the main hurdle for the merger ; both chains have closed stores in areas where their business overlaps. Office Depot plans to close 400 stores by the end of next year whether the merger goes through or not. Staples and Office Depot are the largest and second-largest commercial office suppliers resp...

Part of the game that department stores play with their customers is holding rotating sales to let is think that we’re getting a real bargain. Are there items that were never available for the “retail” price at all? Macy’s has discovered a way around that, by slapping a disclaimer on their website pointing out that no one necessarily ever paid the original price for an item. Is that confusing? Here it is in the wild, spotted by reader Kelly: “Regular” and “Original” prices are offering prices that may not have resulted in actual sales, and some “Original” prices may not have been in effect during the past 90 days. Theoretically, someone may have bought this dress at $99, that doesn’t mean anyone necessarily did. If the “original” price is unreasonable, does that mean that you really saved any money at all? by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Amazon isn’t the only retailer on the market that wants to get into the drone delivery game : Walmart filed paperwork with the Federal Aviation Administration today asking permission to test drones outside for home delivery, curbside pick-up and duties around the warehouse and parking lots. Walmart has been conducting its tests indoors so far, but needs the go-ahead from the FAA to bring its experiments into the skies. It’s seeking permission to research drone use in “deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes,” according to a copy of the application reviewed by Reuters . Beyond dropping off packages at a customer’s home, drones could be used to check trailers sitting in warehouse parking lots for inventory, or bring an order from the warehouse to the curbside grocery pickup spot for customers to collect. “Drones have a lot of potential to further connect our vast network of stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation fleet,” a ...