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Dishing on the Obama Victory Plate

obamaplate1With one of the most historic inaugurations upon us, it is no surprise that Obama souvenir peddlers are coming out of the woodwork. Take the Obama “Victory Plate”, for example.

In a current TV commercial, the announcer is exhorting us to “own a piece of history”, “priceless work of art”, “first issue collector’s plate”, “this issue has been strictly limited to 65 firing days; after that, the die will be destroyed forever”, “this special treasure will be cherished as a prized family heirloom”, and “the certificate of authenticity from the American Historic Society promises you will own a collectible of the highest quality and integrity”.

Well, if the American Historic Society has endorsed this “collectible”, maybe it could worth money someday. Not.

*MOUSE PRINT: Not disclosed either in the commercial or on their website is the fact that the American Historic Society is not related to the American Historical Society — the  organization incorporated by Congress in 1889.  The latter nonprofit has neither commissioned the manufacture and sale of this plate, nor endorsed it.

The American Historic Society appears to be merely a marketing company engaged in the sale of commemorative coins and memorabilia.

And like so many other made-for-tv “collectibles”, the Obama plate is most likely destined to join that velvet picture of Elvis in your garage.

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In TurboTax vs. Consumers, Consumers Win

turbotax08Please excuse the following unprofessional comment: the folks at Intuit who market TurboTax tax preparation software are a bunch of money-grubbing creeps. You will see why in a moment.

The company decided to pull several fast ones on purchasers of their software this year, including by limiting the usability of their product in a way they never have before. On the back of the box is the following disclosure:

MOUSE PRINT*:

turbo08disclaim

The little “4” refers to a virtually unreadable footnote that says “Product includes preparation, e-file, and print of 1 Federal return.”

Translation: This year if you wanted to prepare a second return (say for a spouse or child) and merely print it on your own printer, Intuit was going to charge you $9.95 extra for each return beyond the first. What chutzpah!

At the same time, on their website, they are claiming “NEW – Free federal efile included”:

*MOUSE PRINT: What TurboTax does not tell you is they raised the price of the software by one-third from 2007 to 2008 to cover the “free” efiling.  Last year, TT Deluxe retailed for $44.95 and was commonly available for $39.95.  That price did not include $17.95 extra for OPTIONAL e-filing.  This year, Intuit raised the price of  TT Deluxe to $59.95, but included one “free” efiling. (For Costco customers last year, after a $15 coupon, the price was only $19.99. This year, the price actually doubled because the software went up to $49.99 there, and the coupon is only for $10 off that price.)  So in essence, customers have no choice but to pay extra for efiling whether they want to use it or not.

These two policy and price changes caused an uproar. Consumers were livid that they had to pay $10 extra to print a second return on their own printer, and that they were being forced to pay for efiling via a $15 price increase for the product itself.  And for once, consumers found a way to get even.  They downrated TurboTax 2008 on Amazon, so that it was only rated as a one star product.

turboreviews

Then, on December 9, 2008, H&R Block announced that their competing software, TaxCut, would include completely free efiling without raising prices.  Intuit gave in to the pressure three days later and issued a press release allowing purchasers to print unlimited copies of returns for free on their own computers (offering refunds to anyone who paid the extra $9.95), and they now included FIVE efiles.  That is a bona fide savings compared to the $17.95 each they used to charge, but we are still paying $15 extra for that privilege.

Unfortunately, Intuit has a history of trying to take advantage of consumers by deliberately disabling online functions for its Quicken software three years after issue thereby forcing customers to buy the software again; eliminating, reducing, or hiding rebates on certain software and thus raising prices; and giving away non-upgradeable software as a bonus (forcing the purchase of a more expensive edition in the future in order to view the already entered data).

Here is this year’s hidden TurboTax rebate of $10.

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Spirit Airlines: Buy One Ticket, Get One Free (Eventually)

Spirit BOGONothing draws attention like a “Buy One, Get One” free offer from an airline. Recently, Spirit Airlines ran a two and a half day sale, from December 22 -24, promising just that.

The asterisk leads to the inevitable phrase:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Additional terms and conditions apply.”

One expects there to be rules such as registering for the promotion on their website, being a member of their frequent flier program, etc.  What travelers may not have expected was lurking in the fine print.

*MOUSE PRINT:

On or about 7/15/2009 Spirit will e-mail qualified vouchers.

[Spririt will] issue a voucher in the name of the passenger that traveled in the amount of the reservation purchased less taxes and fees (please note that for domestic tickets the base fare includes 7 ½% Federal Excise Tax which will also not be included in the created voucher). 

Translation: You have to wait until seven months from purchase — next July 15th — to get your voucher!  It is not for the full price you paid. And further down in the fine print is the notation that the “free trip” is only good Sept 9, 2009 through November 18, 2009 — nine to eleven months after purchase.  The voucher will also be sent in your name and is not transferable.

Who knows if Spirit Airlines will even be in business next fall?

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