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Trump Uses Mouse Print to Weasel Out of Condo Discounts

Donald TrumpAs the feud between Rosie and the Donald cools, the Chicago Tribune reports a new brouhaha involving the billionaire. This time, it seems that Mr. Trump is trying to renege on preconstruction discounts he offered to get friends and family to buy in early at the forthcoming Trump International Hotel and Tower project in Chicago. This is the project that 2004 Apprentice winner Bill Rancic was overseeing.

At the time of these early sales, some insiders paid as little as $500 a square foot for their units. Now that units are selling as high as $1300 a square foot, Mr. Trump apparently feels he offered too great a discount to the early buyers. So, starting a few months ago, Trump’s lawyer began notifying the buyers that their deals are null and void “in accordance with our rights under the contract, including, without limitation, paragraph 12 (b)” (cited below):

*MOUSE PRINT:

Paragraph 12 (b): If seller defaults on any of seller’s covenants or obligations hereunder, and such default is caused by matters beyond seller’s reasonable control, then purchaser’s sole and exclusive remedy … shall be a refund of purchase’s earnest money deposit and interest which may have accrued thereon to which purchaser is entitled pursuant to Paragraph 2 hereof and all payments theretofore made by purchaser. Upon refund to purchaser of said earnest money and payment of interest thereon, if any, and refund to purchaser of other amounts paid by purchaser, this purchase agreement shall be thereupon null and void with no further liabilities of either party hereto.

One would normally think that clauses like this would be used in cases of unforeseen events, such as natural disasters, the city denying Trump’s building plans, etc., rather than a predictable real estate reality such as increasing or decreasing property values. It certainly doesn’t appear that the buyers could weasel out of the deal if real estate prices crashed.

One can only hope that some of the early buyers in the “Friends and Family Sales Program” will stand their ground and fight. Some way to treat friends.

[Alternate link to Trump story. Trump photo copyright AdWeek.]

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Text “LOVE”: Get Billed $30 a Month*

Text LOVE smallYoung people today “text” each other (send text messages from their cellphones) and use various premium text messaging services advertised on television.

One such service invites viewers to text the word LOVE to 66466 (that five digit phone number is known as a shortcode). After doing so, the caller will receive text messages back that will “spice up your love life”, help you “discover the secrets of love”, and “how to be a great kisser.” 

When the would-be casanova gets his or her phone bill, however, they probably will only have learned how to be a great sucker.

*MOUSE PRINT:  This is actually a subscription service that costs $1 per daily message or $30 a month, and you will continue to be billed until you text “stop.”

This disclaimer actually says, adding the missing punctuation: “www.glomobi.com charged to your wireless phone bill. Text messaging fees apply. Under 16: seek permission from the bill payer and/or parental approval. Unsubscribe: txt ‘stop’ to 66466. $1 (+tax) per daily msg. $30 per month; Cingular $30 per month.”

What the commercial does not do is disclose the price orally. As Mouse Print* has mentioned before, the federal rules governing “pay per call services” [900 numbers] pre-date the advent of these type of text-based calls, and thus those price disclosure rules do not apply.

The cost of these tips might even be equal to or higher than the monthly service fee for the cellphone itself charged by the cell carrier! 

So, if you still believe that love is free, that’s fine, but just don’t text it.

 

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Kellogg’s Special K2O Water: Lose Up to 6 lbs* ?

special kwater small At the beginning of the new year, many people are diet-conscious. That makes it a good time to promote new weight loss products.

So, don’t be surprised if you are bombarded with ads for Kellogg’s new protein water called Special K2O Protein Water.

It seems to be a diet drink to help you lose some significant weight rather quickly. “Losing up to 6 lbs in 2 weeks* Just Got Easier” the ad proclaims. [SmartSource insert 1/7/07]

When one follows the asterisk after the weight loss claim, one discovers that losing that weight has little to do with consuming the advertised water:

*MOUSE PRINT:

special k2o disclaimer

So it is not that you drink this protein water to lose six pounds, but rather you must eat two bowls of cereal (presumably Special K) instead of two regular meals per day. The water helps account possibly for the extra pound of weight loss in their claim if used as a substitute for other higher calorie snacks, but it certainly is not the means to lose the six pounds promoted.

Using the Kellogg’s philosophy, a computer company could advertise a laptop and claim it will help you lose up to six pounds (if you eat cereal for two meals a day, and lug around the computer from place to place daily).

Special K2O water, incidentally, contains 50 calories; sugar, whey, and artificial sweetener per 16 oz. bottle. The whey contributes only five grams of protein, which is what you would get from drinking a mere five ounces of milk. And, the protein water is not cheap — it is $1.25 to $1.50 per bottle on sale.

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