Filed under: Law, Scandals

Peter Gossels, a 77-year old retired lawyer was furious over a 4% fee charged to him on the deposit of a large check drawn on A German bank. Fleet Bank didn’t bother posting its exchange rates and then charged Gossels the difference between the retail exchange rate and the interbank “spot rate” for foreign currency — 4%.

The fee came out to $10,000, and Gossels believed it should have been about $30. After failing to get anywhere with complaints and please to consumer reporters, he sued the bank.

According to The Boston Globe, “Last month, eight years after he went to the bank, a three-judge panel on the Massachusetts Appeals Court agreed, saying Fleet (now owned by Bank of America Corp.) had failed to properly disclose the differential in the rates”.

Good for Mr. Gossels! Bank fees have gotten completely out of hand. While there’s nothing wrong with banks charging outrageous fees, consumers have a right to be informed of them so they can make a decision:

As Gossels said, “This is the only way banks will learn not to cheat its customers.”

I hope I have the courage and vivacity to take on a major corporation when I’m his age.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Magazines, Personal finance

An interesting piece in the latest issue of Money takes a look at the lengths that some parents are willing to go to get their children into the colleges of their choice.

One high school senior’s parents have spent $12,825 on test-prep/resume building in an effort to get her into Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, and San Diego State.

Sound excessive? According to her mother, Cathy, “It’s not about the money. The stress is, oh my gosh, will my child get into the college she wants?”

If the family can afford it, it really doesn’t matter, in a sense, if they spend such a large sum on college-prep programs.

Continue reading Shelling out for private college prep programs?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Law, Scandals

Peter Gossels, a 77-year old retired lawyer was furious over a 4% fee charged to him on the deposit of a large check drawn on A German bank. Fleet Bank didn’t bother posting its exchange rates and then charged Gossels the difference between the retail exchange rate and the interbank “spot rate” for foreign currency — 4%.

The fee came out to $10,000, and Gossels believed it should have been about $30. After failing to get anywhere with complaints and please to consumer reporters, he sued the bank.

According to The Boston Globe, “Last month, eight years after he went to the bank, a three-judge panel on the Massachusetts Appeals Court agreed, saying Fleet (now owned by Bank of America Corp.) had failed to properly disclose the differential in the rates”.

Good for Mr. Gossels! Bank fees have gotten completely out of hand. While there’s nothing wrong with banks charging outrageous fees, consumers have a right to be informed of them so they can make a decision:

As Gossels said, “This is the only way banks will learn not to cheat its customers.”

I hope I have the courage and vivacity to take on a major corporation when I’m his age.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Television, Scandals, Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA)

Things are bigger down in Texas. Especially controversies that blend beef with cheesecake.

Thirty-year-old B-list actress Alicia Silverstone (of Clueless fame), did a commercial for controversial animal rights group PETA recently. In it, the actress, an animal rights activist and recent convert to vegetarianism, climbs out of a pool to seductive music. She offers the camera various come hither-looks as she drips dry, and in an inane voiceover, tells the camera about how her life has changed since she’s become a vegetarian.

I suppose the idea is to show us how good she looks, now that she’s no longer eating meat. Too bad being a vegetarian hasn’t boosted her vocabulary. “It’s so amazing!” Is it now? I’m so convinced.

Continue reading I’m too sexy for your beef: Texas just says no to racy Alicia Silverstone ad

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Magazines, Personal finance

An interesting piece in the latest issue of Money takes a look at the lengths that some parents are willing to go to get their children into the colleges of their choice.

One high school senior’s parents have spent $12,825 on test-prep/resume building in an effort to get her into Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, and San Diego State.

Sound excessive? According to her mother, Cathy, “It’s not about the money. The stress is, oh my gosh, will my child get into the college she wants?”

If the family can afford it, it really doesn’t matter, in a sense, if they spend such a large sum on college-prep programs.

Continue reading Shelling out for private college prep programs?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Law, Scandals

Here’s an interesting possible twist in the O.J. Simpson story-line: After, in the opinion of many observers, getting away with the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, it may finally be Simpson’s avarice that allows justice to prevail.

According to media reports, lawyers for the Goldman family are investigating reports that Simpson hid money in offshore bank accounts to prevent the Goldman’s from gaining access to his assets with the family’s $33.5 million wrongful death suit against the former football player.

In a video released by TMZ.com, Bruce Fromong, one of the two memorabilia collectors Simpson is accused of stealing from, rants in an audiotape recording reportedly made one hour after the incident: “Nobody puts a gun in my face. I stood up for [him] while he was in jail. I stood up for him in the press. I stood up for him… on the stand. I helped him set up his offshore accounts.”

Continue reading O.J. Simpson going down like Al Capone?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Television, Scandals, Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA)

Things are bigger down in Texas. Especially controversies that blend beef with cheesecake.

Thirty-year-old B-list actress Alicia Silverstone (of Clueless fame), did a commercial for controversial animal rights group PETA recently. In it, the actress, an animal rights activist and recent convert to vegetarianism, climbs out of a pool to seductive music. She offers the camera various come hither-looks as she drips dry, and in an inane voiceover, tells the camera about how her life has changed since she’s become a vegetarian.

I suppose the idea is to show us how good she looks, now that she’s no longer eating meat. Too bad being a vegetarian hasn’t boosted her vocabulary. “It’s so amazing!” Is it now? I’m so convinced.

Continue reading I’m too sexy for your beef: Texas just says no to racy Alicia Silverstone ad

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Products and services, Law, Yahoo! (YHOO), Marketing and advertising

Just in case you needed one more example of litigious stupidity, here it is. It seems that a Dallas family has filed suit against the Australian, Virgin Mobile communications company over the allegedly improper use of a photo gleaned from the Flikr photo sharing site, as reported by Associated Press. That’s “photo sharing” as in, here’s my picture to look at and use.

Stupid part one is that the advertising company that created the visual advertising mechanisms which are allegedly making questionable use of a girl’s photo should have a general idea about what materials they’re using, where they came from and what conditions surround those materials, such as rights and restrictions. They still teach about copyright in advertising school right? Just in case they don’t, Flickr has a really understandable explanation of creative commons license right there on its site. It’s by the photos. Advertising guys from Australia should probably read that.

Continue reading Dallas lawsuit: Flickr photo cause headaches for ad execs, Virgin

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Law, Scandals

Here’s an interesting possible twist in the O.J. Simpson story-line: After, in the opinion of many observers, getting away with the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, it may finally be Simpson’s avarice that allows justice to prevail.

According to media reports, lawyers for the Goldman family are investigating reports that Simpson hid money in offshore bank accounts to prevent the Goldman’s from gaining access to his assets with the family’s $33.5 million wrongful death suit against the former football player.

In a video released by TMZ.com, Bruce Fromong, one of the two memorabilia collectors Simpson is accused of stealing from, rants in an audiotape recording reportedly made one hour after the incident: “Nobody puts a gun in my face. I stood up for [him] while he was in jail. I stood up for him in the press. I stood up for him… on the stand. I helped him set up his offshore accounts.”

Continue reading O.J. Simpson going down like Al Capone?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This

Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Columns

Welcome to the 29th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

Earlier this week, I discussed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) in terms of some very specific challenges the retail giant faces as it matures: gaining new customers, trying to improve already best-in-class operational efficiency and market saturation.

To conclude the “what’s wrong in a nutshell” series today, I’ll look at where Wal-Mart’s international strategy is headed, and what the retailer can do to try and repair all that ails it, if that is possible. It’s hard to get a $350 billion giant to continually improve when it comes to some items, but there is vast room for improvement in many areas. If the retailer wants to break out of its funk and grow at the expectations the market needs of it, several areas will need work in 2008.

Continue reading The Wal-Mart Weekly: What’s wrong in a nutshell, Part 2

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share This