Consumer issues: February 2008 Archives

Comcast has come under a lot of fire recently.

Last week I reported that the cable company was removing two channels from it's expanded basic service and requiring customers to get digital converter boxes if they wanted to continue to have access to those channels (Game Show Network and Turner Classic Movies.)

In the YDR this morning there was an article about Comcast hiring "seat-warmers" to attend a federal hearing at Harvard Law School regarding the company's treatment of Internet subscribers.

I've received numerous calls from customers who are upset about the service from Comcast and are seriously considering switching to dish service.

Did you see the article in this morning's YDR about Barbie?

Mattel, the company that created the plastic doll, is building an online world for Barbie because her sales are down so much because little girls would rather play on the Internet than with actual toys.

According to the article, girls spend seven hours each week on the computer, which is twice as much time as four years ago.

That means childhood icons like Barbie are suffering without a computer aspect. To fight declining sales, Barbie now has a Web site: BarbieGirls.com.

I'm a little late on this one, but it looks like there might be some justice for the pets that died because of tainted wheat gluten in their food.

Two companies in China and one in the United States have been indicted for allegedly letting the poison-laced food onto the market. The allegations state the poison was put into the foods to make it appear as though it had a higher protein content than it actually had.

Interestingly, the case could set a precedent on how business laws are enforced across international borders.

"It is unclear if United States authorities can extradite the Chinese executives or enforce fines against the companies," the story says.

If you plan on ordering flowers for your sweetie for Valentine’s Day you may want to check out this study in Consumers Reports.

After hearing complaints that some ordered flowers had no petals or appeared wilted, Consumer Reports wanted to see which places delivered the best flowers.

What it found was that many of the flowers came with damaged petals, broken stems or flowers that faded in a day. Other times they didn’t get the color of flower they wanted.

It’s still the thought that counts, but if you want flowers that will look and smell pretty, the study suggests you may have better luck with a local florist.

There are plenty in York, and although I have personal experience with none of them, last year the Daily Record hung out with the people at Stagmeyer Flower Shop as they battled to make 200 deliveries in the snow and ice storm that blanketed the area.

What are your experiences with florists? I’d love to hear.

This shouldn't have been so hard. All I wanted was a few small vegetables and a small portion of meat or fish to make dinner for two. Turns out, the grocery store doesn't sell much that is both fresh and in a small portion.

So I searched high and low for individual items to turn into a meal. My rule was to stay cheap (throws organic out) and stay with a size that wouldn't be more than I needed. I could have negotiated an end to the writer's strike in less time than my shopping took.

I managed to find a small squash that was about half the size of its counterparts. The same goes for a red pepper, which had a similarly sized brother, but both were again twice the size of the rest of their friends. I didn't even bother considering the baking potatoes; they are probably visible from space.

And looking for a small amount of fish made the decision really easy: The smallest portion was about half a pound of fresh catfish; the next biggest was about a pound of the southern delicacy, and the same went for every other kind of fish in the cooler.

I added all that to a few small mushrooms and some boxed brown rice (the smallest container was about five times what I needed). A bit of butter and some seasoning turned it into a meal that probably would have served three, not just my fiance and myself.

Basically, I lucked out. The meal's ingredients picked themselves; they were the only ingredients I could find in a very large grocery store that were small enough that I didn't have any waste, and weren't off the organic shelves. If I went back and did it again, I don't know if I could produce a different meal under the same rules.

Why is it so hard to find normal-sized food?