Mouse Print* – Page 2 – Exposing the strings and catches buried in the fine print.

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Here We Downsize Again – Year-End 2020

January 10, 2021December 21, 2020 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Final Week
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Edgar Dworsky

For 25 years, Consumer World, the creator of Mouse Print*, has served readers with the latest consumer news, money-saving tips, and independent investigations. It is your generosity (and not advertising nor corporate contributions) that keeps Mouse Print* and Consumer World available as free consumer resources. So MrConsumer turns to you and humbly asks for your support again this year. Your gift will be most appreciated.

NOTE: The next new Mouse Print* story will appear on January 4.

Once again, it is time to spotlight another crop of products that are shrinking inconspicuously right in front of your eyes (and thus sneakily raising the price).

Downy Unstoppables

The bottles look the same size, but Downy Unstoppables went from 10 ounces down to 8.6. This is the second time the product has been made to weigh less. The first time in May 2019 the bottle went from 13.2 ounces to 10. That was a reformulation of the product to remove weight from each pellet. We are guessing the same thing was just done a second time.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Nathan’s Pretzel Dogs

Nathan’s made a dramatic change to their pretzel dogs. Instead of five in a package, they reduced the number to just four. Thanks to Dan K. for spotting the switch.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Charmin Ultra Strong

It took a while for P&G to get around to reducing the size of their “ultra strong” Charmin from 286 sheets to 264. Back in March, we reported that the “soft” version had already made the change. Thanks to eagle-eyed Richard G. for spotting this.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Publix Baby Shampoo

It is not just big brand names that downsize. Usually store brands will will shrink after their brand name counterparts have done so too. Two years ago, Tom G. reported that Johnson’s Baby Shampoo went from 15 ounces to 13.6. Now he discovered that his supermarket has done the same thing with their store brand.

*MOUSE PRINT:

If you spot a product that has been downsized, please take a sharp picture of the old and new one, including the net weight, and submit it to edgar (at) mouseprint.org . Thanks.

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Thanks for Nothing – Year-End 2020

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

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Edgar Dworsky

In this series, we look at ads or products that just make you shake your head and maybe even chuckle.

Natrol 3 a.m. Melatonin

MrConsumer has a sleep disorder of sorts where he often wakes up in the middle of the night and has a hard time falling back to sleep. So when he saw this product called Natrol 3 a.m. Melatonin he got all excited. “For middle of the night wakeups” the package said.

Yeah, finally someone was making a product to keep me from waking up at 3 a.m. Presumably the product had some type of heavy-duty delay-release coating on it so it could deliver a big punch of melatonin in the middle of the night. I grabbed a coupon and was about to head out to Walmart, but then I read the instructions on the package.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Oh, so I have to get out of bed at 3 a.m. to take this pill and then it will help me get back to sleep. Thanks for nothing, Natrol.

Amazon – Frequently Bought Together

Amazon and other sellers always like to encourage people to buy more things during their shopping trip. One way is to group things together, such as showing a particular toy along with the batteries that it requires. That can be very helpful. But this recent example from Amazon is a head-scratcher.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Yes, I am sure that many people buy a bidet, washing machine cleaning tablets, and a cast iron skillet so they can be used together. Thanks for nothing, Amazon.

From the Installment Sales Department…

Has it really gotten to the point where people have to buy everyday products like underwear on the installment plan?

*MOUSE PRINT:

If anything had to be offered on installments it would be this Dyson hair dryer.

Good news… the price has now dropped to a mere $400.

Thanks for nothing, 2(x)ist and Dyson.

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Choice Hotels’ Customer Service Gets Points Handling Rewards Issue

December 8, 2020December 7, 2020 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

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Edgar Dworsky

MrConsumer recently got an email from Choice Hotels with some bad news. It said that his accumulated points in their rewards program were about to expire.

The fine print explained how to keep one’s points from disappearing. Basically you have to earn or redeem points every 18 months or they go bye-bye.

*MOUSE PRINT:

So I looked to see what one could get for 5,000 points. Seemed like a nice round number — surely there was something of value available. But all the gift cards required 8,000 points at a minimum, such as this one.

I did see that I could convert the points to American Airlines frequent flyer miles, but would only get 1,000 miles for my 5,000 points. Nonetheless, that seemed like the best option for me, so I called Choice customer service to make the transfer.

I explained the situation to the agent on the phone, Ken (a female), and she said “let me see what I can do for you.” After reviewing my account, she said that as a one-time courtesy, she would bump up my account from 5,160 points to 8,000 points so I could redeem them for a gift certificate right then and there.

What? WOW! She wished me a Merry Christmas, and proceeded to process a $25 Home Depot gift card for me.

I thanked Ken profusely. What amazing and unexpected customer service she provided! But it would be nice if Choice eliminated their points expiration policy just as most airlines have in their own frequent flyer programs.

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