Okay, so this story is a bit different than my usual posts, but I saw this earlier and had to say something about it.

In the video above, the news reporter goes undercover to show how valet companies in Los Angeles, CA are taking up public parking spaces to make money. One owner says that he only does it because he needs more room. I’m sorry, but that is no excuse to take parking spaces from the public to profit from them.

Chris and I both discussed this and thought that perhaps someone’s pockets are being padded so that the valet companies can get away with this. If these signs are illegal to put up, then how are they not being arrested or at least fined for doing it?

Then, there are valets that are parking without putting money in a meter and getting tickets on other people’s cars. That’s outrageous enough, but to make matters worse they aren’t telling people that their car had a parking ticket put on it.

These business practices are deplorable and should not be tolerated. It is awful that it’s happening somewhere as densely populated as LA, but there’s not much that most people can do except hope that law enforcement can do something about it.

Okay, so this story is a bit different than my usual posts, but I saw this earlier and had to say something about it.

In the video above, the news reporter goes undercover to show how valet companies in Los Angeles, CA are taking up public parking spaces to make money. One owner says that he only does it because he needs more room. I’m sorry, but that is no excuse to take parking spaces from the public to profit from them.

Chris and I both discussed this and thought that perhaps someone’s pockets are being padded so that the valet companies can get away with this. If these signs are illegal to put up, then how are they not being arrested or at least fined for doing it?

Then, there are valets that are parking without putting money in a meter and getting tickets on other people’s cars. That’s outrageous enough, but to make matters worse they aren’t telling people that their car had a parking ticket put on it.

These business practices are deplorable and should not be tolerated. It is awful that it’s happening somewhere as densely populated as LA, but there’s not much that most people can do except hope that law enforcement can do something about it.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/video.

Wal-Mart is starting to roll out Project Impact. The project is meant to make stores more easily navigable by customers and put certain items closer to where the customers would logically think they belong.

Wal-Mart stores haven’t exactly been known for their ability to be easily navigated or for their friendly staff and accommodations. The stores are more often known for their low prices and convenience of a one stop shop. While the employees of the stores are getting a bit of a “pick-me-up” from the store redesigns, I honestly don’t believe that chipper mood will last too long after the project has been implemented.

So what happens when a store goes through a Project Impact change? Here’s what an article from Time said:

“We’ve listened to our customers, and they want an easier shopping experience,” says De La Rosa. “We’ve brightened up the stores and opened things up to make it more navigable.” One of the most noticeable changes is that Project Impact stores reshape Action Alley, the aisles where promotional items were pulled off the shelves and prominently displayed for shoppers. Those stacks both crowded the aisles and cut off sight lines. Now, the aisles are all clear, and you can see most sections of the store from any vantage point. For example, standing on the corner intersection of the auto-care and crafts areas, you can look straight ahead and see where shoes, pet care, groceries, the pharmacy and other areas are located. And the discount price tags are still at eye level, so the value message doesn’t get lost.

The idea sounds great in theory, but I can go to my local Wal-Mart store during any given time of the day or night and have to battle with palettes set up in the aisles as well as empty shelves. When I think of Wal-Mart, this is always going to be what comes to mind. There’s really nothing easy about a trip to Wal-Mart. Once you’ve added in shoppers with cell phones, it makes the whole situation that much worse.

Wal-Mart has to battle the opinion of shoppers like me, who have been burned in the past by what the store has done (or not done) to help my shopping experience.

Source

Well, it turns out many customers are having a hard time redeeming these coupons. Quiznos is a franchised chain and the stores have to buy all their food from corporate, but corporate makes the store pay  for all the food used in promotions.

This has led many people to be messed over by the promotion, both in store and customers. Stores are flat out refusing to allow the coupon or are offing discounts in place of a free sandwich.

The Consumerist reported several people not being able to redeem their coupons and many are still commenting on the site about how they are unable to redeem their coupons.

The resignation was expected. President Obama nominated Mary Schapiro to lead the SEC and is waiting for her to be confirmed by the Senate. Until then, he is expected to name one of the four remaining commissioners to head the SEC.

This is a hard time to be in any public office. The SEC chairperson will have a lot of weight on his or her shoulders and will be blamed for things that may or may not be his or her fault.

Here’s the “original” bottle Nina by Nina Ricci:

They are very similar.

However, this could be the act of someone else and Hot Topic isn’t actually producing the perfume, just selling it.

Here are two articles from the Consumerist about some more Hot Topic offenses recently:

Hot Topic Steals Yet Another Design and Sells it as its Own – Consumerist

Hot Topic likes your art so much they’re selling it – Consumerist

The Governor of Illinois will go on to nominate someone to fill the seat for the remaining 2 years of the term.

With his resignation, Democrats will still have majority in the Senate, but will need Joe Lieberman to vote with them as he has in the past. Haha. Lieberman has been on a lot of Democrats “black list” because of his speech at the DNC.

Now, Delta is announcing they will be imposing the $15 first checked bag fee, as well as the $25 second checked bag fee. These fees came directly from the Northwest Airlines playbook.

The fees will begin taking place starting Dec. 5th. Customers who already purchased tickets will not be charged for the first checked bag, but will be charged for the second ($50). Those flying first or business class or members of SkyMiles Medallion or WorldPerks Elite will not be charged for the first 3 bags checked (up to 70 lbs each).

The price is actually really good for a new car, and not a Chevy or Kia either. The cheapest Chevy is around $12,000 while the Kia runs around $11,000. While Nissan doesn’t have the “name” like Toyota or Honda, for under $10,000 it is hard to beat.

Chris and I were looking at Nissan cars last week. It was the first time we have been on a car lot since we bought the Scion last October, there were so many mark downs on the windows, and 0% financing signs all over the lot. The dealerships are really trying hard to get new customers in it seems. I think this car may help them with that.

This is a problem everywhere. In 2004, I had a Kerry/Edwards sticker on the back glass of my car, within a week my car was keyed once and gum was thrown on the trunk area. It was a warm week, and I had a black car…the gum was a mess. Since I have a new car now, there are no campaign signs on my car, I have one in my yard and two in my house as backup. I made a campaign contribution for these signs and would be pretty angry if someone came into my yard, almost to my front door, to take the sign from my yard.

Here’s the video…

Don’t steal campaign signs…Or vandalize property…NO MATTER WHO THE CANDIDATE IS

I think one day the iPod will become so thin and small they will just disappear. When I got my 4th gen iPod way back in 2005, I thought it was the thinnest and most amazing piece of gadgetry I had ever seen. Then cell phones started playing music and videos. Then I got a new car and the iPod magically came back to life because my car has an iPod plug-in-dock-type-thing.

Anyway, I suppose we’ll see in about a week what Mr. Jobs has up his sleeve as far as new iPods go…making mine more and more obsolete by the day.