(Mike Rollerson)Earlier this week, we asked whether our readers had any experience with zombie refunds: items that you sent back to a retailer, only to have your refund later reversed for no clear reason. We heard from a surprising number of people whose transactions have risen from the archives and devoured their bank accounts. Reader C. wrote: This happened to me with Amazon with a return in March/April. Had defective item, selected instant refund or whatever its called, printed UPS label, package picked up next day, arrived at Amazon warehouse a few days later, signed for at loading dock. About a month later got a letter that the defective return had not been received and my credit card would be charged for the amount of the instant refund. A web reply to customer service with the UPS tracking number resulted with CSR apology for the oversight and an alleged credit for the credit to my card. Thanks for reminding me to check if I ever got that. John has a warning for people who don’t normally peek at their spam folders: I had to get a customer service rep on the phone to get it fixed. I gave them all the shipping information and they cleared it up, it took about 30 minutes. The email that they sent to me was not the same as normal amazon emails and got tagged as spam by my email program, but I check my spam folder, lucky. It could just be that a large company like Amazon processes so many transactions and so many refunds in a day that something will to wrong with a certain percentage of them. That’s normal, and we don’t expect every transaction to go perfectly. Just let this post serve as a warning: this is something that can happen. Check your spam folders and don’t ignore e-mails from retailers after the transaction. PREVIOUSLY: Zombie Amazon Return Rises From Dead, Gets Charged To Credit Card

(ktorster)Retailers and manufacturers continue to react to last month’s tragedy at the Rana Plaza factory outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. Days after Walmart announced its own program to review and inspect manufacturing facilities in the region, JCPenney has outlined its plans to audit factories. Neither retailer has signed on to the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which has been agreed to by numerous European companies and PVH Corp., the American parent company of brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Abercrombie & Fitch said yesterday it intends on signing the accord, making it the only U.S. retailer to join thus far. Instead, JCP will go it alone with the goal of making its inspections more rigorous with the inclusion of checks for structural concerns. Previous inspections had focused mainly on fire safety. “We’re going to require structural and engineering inspections in countries that have that kind of risk,” a JCP exec tells the Wall Street Journal. Though many retailers claim to have bolstered their factory reviews in recent years, most of these inspections have been done by auditors employed or hired by the retailer, and the results are rarely made transparent. Walmart’s recently announced plan calls for increased transparency, but the company will not be paying for repairs or required upgrades it finds. Instead, it plans to use its leverage as the nation’s largest retailer, telling owners of these factories to improve conditions or lose Walmart as a customer. It also says it expects that these updates will result in Walmart having to pay more for the goods manufactured in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation says it is working with five American and Canadian trade groups, repping both sellers and makers of apparel, to form its own pact regarding factory safety and working conditions in Bangladesh. While increased and improved inspections can only make things better, some critics maintain that a unified approach to inspections and reporting transparency is the ideal way to go.

(kakissel) Generally, when you go to the doctor for a checkup, you don’t fill your prescriptions right there in the office at the same time that you hand over your co-pay. That generally is what pet owners do at the vet, though. As it turns out, the cheapest place to get your pets’ drugs may not be mail-order pharmacies or your vet’s office, but the chain or independent pharmacy where you get drugs for the human members of your family. They usually stock both common pest control medications, like flea and heartworm prevention drugs, and also the drugs to treat any medical conditions that your pet may have. Walgreens told our sibling publication Consumer Reports that with a valid vet’s prescription, they can even turn pills that your pet might spit out under the refrigerator into liquids infused with meat flavors that he or she will actually consume. Just like they do for little kids, but with beef and salmon flavoring. Sometimes it’s easier just to pick up the meds at your vet’s, especially in an emergency situation or the first time you get new drug. Just talking about shopping around may save you a trip: vets’ offices may price match other pharmacies when you ask for a written prescription or if you specifically ask for a price match. Where is the best place to get medication for my pet? [Consumer Reports]

(WITI News) Perhaps burning bras was all the rage back in the day, but fire department officials in Milwaukee were worried about a very specific collection of undergarments going up in flames. After a bar with a 45-year tradition of decorating its premises with bras and boxers had to take down the hanging intimates for fear of spreading fires, the business’ owner is now celebrating after the city said the clothing is probably harmless. Whew. The tradition all started with a bunch of boozy galpals, the 87-year-old owner tells WITI News. “About 45 years ago all the girls got together and we were drinking so we decided to take our bras off and hang them up,” she remembers. That all changed lats month when the bar was served with an order to take down the collection of dangling bras and boxers, over worries that all that material was violating fire codes. Shock, outrage, and denial followed. “You know, I got a retired chief of police that comes in here and he was on an arson squad and he says ‘I never heard of a fire starting with a bra,’ ” the owner said. Her local alderman agreed, saying the city was probably overreaching, and made a couple of phone calls. And boom — back in the bra business: Milwaukee’s Department of Neighborhood Services dismissed the takedown order yesterday. Turns out that based on the size of the bar and the location of its exit, those dangling underoos aren’t a fire hazard. “Put the bras back up, well that’s great!” the owner said in response to the news, which apparently hit during her interview with the news. “We’re gonna have a party for that and call the girls!” And lest you think customers only donate their laundry-week underthings, the bar’s owner says that ain’t so. “We’ve got some Victoria’s Secret [bras] in here — we’ve got some good ones!” Officials backpedal after bras hanging in bar ordered taken down [WITI News]

Chanel Preston at work.With so many people choosing to watch porn for free online rather than pay for it, the adult industry claims to be nowhere near as lucrative as it was at the height of the VHS and DVD era. Making matters worse, some in the industry say their banks don’t want to be associated with this particular form of entertainment. Porn star Chanel Preston — about whom we will admit to knowing absolutely nothing (because our parents are probably reading) — tells CNBC that she recently opened a business account at City National Bank in Los Angeles, the so-called “bank to the stars.” But apparently it’s not the bank to the stars of Office Perverts 5 (again, mom, we had to look that up; we swear). Ms. Preston says that when she attempted to make a deposit into her new account, she learned it had been closed because of “compliance issues.” She says that the manager who had helped her set up the account explained that the bank was worried about the live cam shows on her website and had decided to close the business account. The actress says she’s previously been turned down for loans because of her profession, which may be controversial, but is certainly legal. “[The loan officer] asked me ‘are you affiliated with the adult entertainment industry?’” she recalls. “When I said yes, she said ‘We will not give you a loan.’” Meanwhile, a former softcore porn producer in California is suing JPMorgan Chase after the bank refused to underwrite a loan for “moral reasons.” The plaintiff — who actually sold his company several years ago — says it was the bank that had originally approached him about refinancing the loan, but after the refi got bogged down in months of delays, he eventually learned the truth. In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the plaintiff states that Chase VP “finally informed plaintiff during a telephone conversation that plaintiff’s loan application was refused due to ‘moral reasons,’ because of JPMorgan’s disapproval of plaintiff’s former source of income and occupation as an owner of a television production company that produced television programs that dealt with the subject of human sexuality.” He says the bank told him that Chase would be taking a “reputational risk” by going through with the loan. “JPMorgan purports to be so ashamed of nudity and human sexuality that it cannot process a refinance of a home loan of plaintiff, secured by plaintiff’s house, because plaintiff’s source of income six years ago included production of television programs that contained nudity and human sexuality,” reads the complaint. Unfortunately for folks in the adult industry, the banks may be fully within their rights to pick and choose who they deal with. “The decision to open or maintain an account is up to the individual institution,” explains a rep for the FDIC. “The rules are not prescriptive, which means that the bank must make its own assessment to determine the risks associated with an account and whether that account should be terminated or not opened in the first place.” It’s not just porn stars that have problem with opening bank accounts. Some banks have taken heat in recent years for deciding not to do business with gun sellers and manufacturers, while we recently wrote about licensed marijuana sellers in Colorado and Washington who have to pay their taxes and fees in cash because banks won’t allow them to open accounts. It’s a little unclear to us what risk a bank might take in allowing someone in the adult industry to open an account or take out a loan — assuming he or she can provide proof of creditworthiness — especially at a time when many of us would probably rather be associated with skin flicks than the collapse of the American econo

(KOAT News) For every case of restaurant owners going ballistic on customers, there are other stories of restaurant staff who actually want to be kind to their patrons. Such was the case in 1997 when a teenager had to borrow $40 from the chef at a French eatery so he could afford to impress his Valentine’s Day date. He’s since returned, 15 years later, to repay that debt — with interest. The owner and chef of a French restaurant in Albuquerque tells KOAT News that he once helped out a teenager back in the 1990s, who wanted to impress his date with a fancy Valentine’s Day dinner. Trouble is, the kid couldn’t afford to pay the check when it came. He could’ve made a run for it while his date was in the restroom, but instead asked to speak to the owner and explained that he was short about $40. The owner says he was like, “Hey, I have $40 in my pocket, have it,” and told the kid to pay him back someday if he could. “Sometimes things come back to you,” he said. “You shouldn’t do them for that specific reason. You should just do it because it’s the right time and the right place and it just felt good.” The years passed, and the memory of that $40 all but faded. The restaurant had closed down somewhere in the intervening years, and just reopened last week in a new location.  And who do you think was one of the first people through the door? That now-grown teenager, with a $100 bill in hand. “Sometimes it pays off to be a nice guy,” the owner said. “It made me feel good. I went and bought myself a bouquet of flowers.” Patron pays 15-year-old debt at restaurant [KOAT News]

(afagen)Spirit Airlines can call itself the “most consumer-friendly airline” all it wants, but that won’t change public opinion of the discount carrier. And a new round-up of the world’s worst-rated airlines would seem to confirm that Spirit is far from living up to its own description. Using ratings data from SkyTrax, BusinessInsider counts down the 20 worst-rated airlines in the entire world. Unless you’ve done a lot of globe-hopping, you’re probably not familiar with most of them, like Tajik Air, Rossiya, Merpati Nusantara, Air Koryo, Ukraine International, or Turkmenistan Airlines, the lowest scorer on the list. In fact, only two of the 20 carriers even do business in the Americas — Spirit, and Cubana Airlines — with Spirit being the sole U.S. representative on the list. According to Skytrax, Spirit has an overall score of 45 out of 100, making it #11 in the countdown. It’s currently the only 2-star rated U.S. carrier on the site. In the breakdown of its ratings, Spirit scores generally mediocre numbers, earning two stars or fewer in categories like Standard of Customer Support Service, Cabin Cleanliness, Responding to Requests, Enthusiasm/Attitude, and explanations for Add-On Charges and baggage. These last two are incredibly important, as Spirit has been leading the way in stripping its fares to the bones then charging additional fees for things that were previously included in the ticket price. The reviews from Spirit passengers are even more harsh, with the airline only averaging a score of around 2 out of 10 on more than 1,100 posted reviews. On the first page of reviews alone, we counted more than 50 reviews that gave the airline 1 or no stars. Meanwhile, only 11 reviewers on that page said they would recommend Spirit. Most U.S. airlines, including American, United, Delta, and Southwest, are 3-star rated by Skytrax. JetBlue and Virgin America each have four stars on Skytrax, while no U.S.-based carriers are currently on the 5-star list.

(nystrele)We are not experts and any and all things paranormal, but perhaps auras are a thing, and perhaps it is possible for one person to repair another’s aura and prevent bad things from happening to them. However, it seems unlikely to us that it’s possible to do so by giving the “psychic” all of your savings and family heirlooms to watch over for you. And yet, someone tried this, and someone fell for it. A 65-year-old Colorado woman who put her trust and her retirement fund in the hands of a psychic is now out to warn the public not to do the same. It all began with an upsell: she stopped by his shop one day and had a $10 reading done. The psychic saw bad things, and upsold her to an $825 reading in order to figure out the terrible things he saw “on the right side” of her aura. Then he told her that he needed to borrow almost $10,000 in cash that would give him the “power” to prevent bad things from happening. After that first visit, the psychic gave his victim a call. “[S]omething terrible was about to happen to me which he was trying to ward off,” she explained to reporters. That terrible thing was that she was about to have a total of $73,000 taken from her by a scammy psychic. He was just holding on to it in order to prevent bad things from happening, he assured her. He drew his psychic power from her cash. He assured her that the money was safe: he had stored it in a cave. Eventually, she saw through this act and after handing over $73,000 over a period of months, went to police. It was only after she took her story to local news media that she learned that he had a criminal history. He was charged with theft, crimes against an at-risk adult and intimidating a witness. The case is still pending. Psychic Victim: ‘How Could I Be So Stupid?’ [CBS Denver] This embed is invalid" />

Subtlety? Washington doesn’t need no stinkin’ subtlety. Now that marijuana is legal in Washington state, officials there are working hard to make sure this whole thing goes off without a hitch. That means branding, of course, hence the new green (natch!) label that authorities say will have to adorn every package of legal pot. And of course, it’ll surely make the rounds of music festival-bound vehicles, guitar cases and your teenage neighbor’s car bumper. Along with that nifty new logo, officials have released their first attempt at rules for the new marijuana industry in Washington, almost eight months after voters legalized pot consumption for adults. There are about 46 restrictions set out in the preliminary regulations, reports the Associated Press, including a ban on any marijuana extracts like hash. However, if you infuse that hash into another product, that would apparently be okay. Here are a few of the other relevant bits: • Authorities are aiming for a “seed to store” outline for the government’s involvement in the whole process. • There’s likely going to be a cap on the number of retail outlets allowed to sell pot in each county, but when it comes to licensed pot growers or processors, the sky’s the limit. All pot-related businesses will have to include security systems, 24-hour video surveillance and insurance. • State-licensed stores will have to include the official green label that discloses that marijuana “may be habit forming” and that ”this product is unlawful outside of Washington state.” These rules aren’t just the product of a quick brain-storming session in a room filled with velvety black light posters and lava lamps — the state’s Liquor Control Board has apparently spent a lot of time visiting grow houses and studying the science involved in getting high. To that end, Sharon Foster, chairwoman of the board, is now known by friends as”the Queen of Weed.” “They are based upon hundreds of hours of internal research and deliberation, consultation with multiple industry experts and input from the over 3,000 individuals who attended our forums statewide,” she says of the new rules. This first draft of the rules are basically just a starting point. The public will provide feedback to guide a fresh set of rules, which the Liquor Control Board will debut next month. Then there will be another round of public comment, before sales finally, possibly begin in early 2014. That will depend on whether the Justice Department chooses to sue to block licensing in Washington and Colorado from taking effect. Washington Governor Jay Inslee is of the mind that everything is going down as it should, so far. “I’m impressed with the depth and thoughtfulness of their approach and look forward to moving forward,” he said, adding that he hopes any concerns U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has will be allayed by the rules. “I don’t think you can design a system with much more integrity, as far as tracking the product from the producer to the consumer,” he said. “This plan has a robust system of controls and checks in a variety of ways.” Wash. state releases draft rules for legal pot [Associated Press]

(ronnyg)The Angus burger has mooed its last moo, and Chicken Selects clucked off months ago, but it looks like McDonald’s isn’t done ditching menu items, as the company seeks to streamline its business by paring down the available offerings. According to Bloomberg, since 2007 the full McDonald’s has swollen by 70% to 145 items, up from 85 items, putting a burden on franchisees and workers, and perhaps giving customers too many things to choose from. “It’s gotten to the point where the operation has kind of broken down and that’s all a symptom of the complication of the menu,” a former fast-food consultant and former McDonald’s franchisee explains to Bloomberg. “They can’t make the food fast enough.” Among items that Bloomberg says could go the way of the Angus burgers, which are being replaced by gussied-up Quarter Pounders, are Caesar salads, the McSkillet Burrito, the Southern Style Biscuit and steak bagels. However, the company has also recently added some items, like the egg-white McMuffin, and three varieties of its chicken wraps. However, these items can be made quickly and share materials with other existing offerings, meaning less strain on the franchisees and employees, and (hopefully) faster wait times for customers.