Mouse Print* – Page 255 – Exposing the strings and catches buried in the fine print.

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Exterior House Painting — Only $899?

June 20, 2011 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Everyone seems to be getting in on the Groupon-like “deal of the day” promotions. The latest is home improvement contractors. Here is one for an unbelievable deal on having your house painted.

Only $899 to paint a whole house? How is that possible when it costs thousands to paint most homes? For one, they limit the size of the home that can be painted for that price to those that are 1600 square feet or less. That disclosure is very clear.

There is, however, a surprising catch in the fine print.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Nothing like promoting a price for a paint job that doesn’t include the paint!

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Asterisk-Free Checking!?

June 13, 2011 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Huntington Bank has a clever new advertising campaign promoting “Asterisk-Free Checking”. So many banks promise what sound like great accounts, but then you find all kinds of hidden charges and minimums buried in the fine print.

Not with Asterisk-Free Checking, they say:

[wposflv src=https://www.huntington.com/free/video/HuntingtonBank_AsteriskFree_Rev.flv previewimage=http://www.mouseprint.org/wp-content/avert/huntingtonasterisk1.jpg width=425 height=250 title=”Asterisk Free”]

A whole host of services are provided with this account, including “Free Online Banking and Bill Pay”. However, if you are planning to use Quicken to do online banking and pay bills, it is not free.

*MOUSE PRINT:

There is a $2.95 a month charge for “PC Banking”, which apparently is different from “Online Banking and Bill Pay”. That fact is buried in their FAQs which are not accessible from the detailed description page for Asterisk-Free Checking. And true to the name of this account, unfortunately, there is no asterisk leading the reader to this qualification and distinction.

When asked why they don’t disclose that charge upfront, and would they now consider doing so, a spokeperson for the bank replied:

“PC Banking is not actively promoted and is offered only to customers who contact us requesting services not provided through Online Banking. The monthly $2.95 fee applies only to customers using the extra services offered directly through QuickenÂ® and QuickbooksÂ®. Therefore, our Online Banking and Bill Pay services as the vast majority of our customers use them are indeed free.”

MrConsumer is not trying to beat up on Huntington Bank. In fact, it was selected as a refreshing change from how other banks advertise by hiding costly things in asterisked footnotes. However, if they talk the talk, they should walk the walk. No one put a gun to their head and forced Huntington to advertise “asterisk-free checking” and “isn’t it time you switched to a bank that believes in no surprises.” But having gone down that road, shouldn’t they have been a little more forthcoming about the actual cost of “free online banking and bill pay” for those who use Quicken?

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New Nutrition Guide’s “Plate” Uses New Math

June 6, 2011June 6, 2011 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

The USDA last week unveiled its replacement for the decades’ old food pyramid, and calls it MyPlate.

It has generally received rave reviews and positive press for more clearly showing the types of things we should be eating daily and their proportions. If you read the details, however, you would see that what looks like roughly equal portions of five food groups at a meal is not what they suggest you eat. And that was the value of the old food pyramid — it better depicted relative quantities of each of the food groups that should be consumed daily.

Digging deeper into the “plate”, you discover what the actual amount of each category of food the government suggests we consume.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Here, for example, the government suggests that most people should eat three cups of dairy per day. Depending on the particular dairy food, that could be a good amount or a crazy amount.

It turns out, however, when they tell us to eat three cups of dairy a day, they really don’t mean three cups. But that is the unfortunate term they chose.

*MOUSE PRINT:

A cup of milk is a cup’s worth, and the same goes for yogurt. But when they tell us to eat a cup of cheese, they really mean to only eat as little as an ounce and half. Except for cottage cheese. A cup of cottage cheese should be two cups.

And the ice cream industry really must have lobbied the government hard, because a cup of ice cream is really a cup and half.

Confusing, huh?

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