Cool things for yuppy parents who are worried about losing their children:

Philips SBC SC605 In-Touch Address Recorder for jittery parents

How much do I love that they have little devices that you can clip on your kid that will play back a recording of where the child lives and the phone number of the parents. 

Philips “No Kidding” wearables help parents track kids under the guise of fun and games

What is no kidding about this little gem is that children aren’t stupid, and I don’t think it is going to take very long for a kid to think it would be cool to leave their "toy" laying around and run off where no one could track him.  I mean really, it is cool that you know where your friends are, but it is also cool for your friend (and parent) to not know where you are.  For the ski slopes, I can maybe understand.  Otherwise, it seems like a terrible "toy" and one that I might possibly "break" by "accident." 

Read Full Post »

Just in case you were interested in buying an American Express Gift Card, don’t do it.  Don’t. Do. It. 

American Express Gift Cards can not be shipped you via regular mail, and you are forced to pay for UPS. But they don’t tell you this.  It will give you an option to ship regular mail, but the card won’t get to you because, as a gift card it will be in another person’s name, and the USPS doesn’t deliver credit cards to people other than the person whose name is on the card.  But you can only ship the American Express Gift Card to the billing address of the card you use to buy it – so basically, you are screwed – American Express knows that it isn’t going to work – and let me tell you about getting your money back. 

They really wanted me to let them reissue me another card which they offered to ups to me for free.  But I don’t need the card anymore, it no longer serves the purpose I needed it for, and as such, I want my money back.  And if they send me the card, I can’t cash it, because it isn’t in my name. 

Okay.  Know how American Express Gift Cards and Traveler’s Cheques
claim that you can get your money back in 24 hours around the world?
Well, turns out not if you cancel the card.  If you cancel the card, it
takes up to 30 days (a whole billing cycle) to be refunded your money.
AND they charge you $10 to get it refunded and want to know your SS#, shoe size, and blood
type.  Also, the $14.95 that the card costs – on top of how ever much
you want to be on the card – this isn’t going to be refunded either.
They did tell me that they would file a claim asking for a waiver of
the $14.95 and the $10, but that they couldn’t guarantee that it would
be approved.

So basically, they sold me a product that they KNEW would never reach me, and charged me $25 that was non-refundable. 

Oh, and this doesn’t even get into the buyers protection program with the regular american express credit card, where supposedly they extend your warranty on electronics?  When my laptop that I bought using an American Express card broke, they sent me a check for how much they THOUGHT it should cost to fix.  Much less than the actually cost of repair. 

Whatever, I feel like I’ve been lied to.  Spread the word. 

AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 
AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARDS ARE FRAUDULENTLY ADVERTISED AND SOLD. 

Read Full Post »