Red Robin Fulfills Dreams, Offers Bacon Caramel Bourbon Milkshake

http://ift.tt/WV1JsL

2014 hasn’t been a great year for our planet overall, but here’s one bit of great news in our otherwise gloomy world. Following the news that Five Guys plans to offer bacon as an ingredient in their new customizable shakes, even wackier burger chain Red Robin has announced that they’ll be offering bacon shakes with bourbon, caramel, and a strip of candied bacon to stir the whole thing with.

This milkshake is called the Beam-N-Bacon Boozy Shake, with that “beam” standing for Jim Beam. Specifically, that brand’s maple bourbon. There’s also caramel, bacon bits, vanilla ice cream, and that strip of candied bacon to stir the whole thing up. Or you can eat it. More likely, both.

Red Robin’s head mixologist explained that people just can’t get enough bacon. “Bacon goes with so many things. We even see people putting bacon on top of bacon,” she told USA Today.

The candied bacon does menu double duty and also appears on another limited-time item, the Southern Charm Burger. That burger features BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, red onions, lettuce, and mayonnaise. That’s all pretty great, but it’s not a milkshake.

Does this sound magical to you? You’re not alone. The popularity of bacon is currently soaring, increasing for the fourth year in a row.

‘Bacon Shake’ takes milkshakes to new level [USA Today]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Why Does The New England Aquarium Breed Jellyfish As Currency?

http://ift.tt/1AHuKVS

(Grant Henderson)

When zoos first began in this country, there was nothing wrong with going shopping for the animals that they wanted to have in their collections. Explorers would capture critters from all over the world and bring them back for Americans to gawk at. After the passage of the Endangered Species Act, that changed, and institutions now only barter or donate animals. So where do new animals come from?

Barter systems are, on the surface, very simple. When two parties each have something that the other wants, they can trade. That’s how animals move from one aquarium to another: for example, the New England Aquarium wanted to acquire some puffins, and they orchestrated a trade of 800 mackerel for a dozen puffins. They maintain a jellyfish breeding program in order to have something to trade to other institutions for the critters that they seek.

Meanwhile, zoos don’t usually barter in this way: their animal-sharing model is more like Freecycle. Zoos that need to re-home animals share the news with others, but receive nothing in return other than good karma, and maybe donations from the same or other institutions when their own collections have a gap that needs filling.

A Dozen Puffins Will Get You 800 Mackerel: Inside The Weird Economy Of Zoos [NPR]

Episode 566: The Zoo Economy [Planet Money]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Tesco Abandons Plan To Have Sniper Shoot Protected Bird Living In A Store

http://ift.tt/1D1dqzp

(LoopZilla)

It’s hard out there for a pied wagtail. First of all, your species is in decline. Second, it’s hard enough to get a nice place to live, without meddlesome humans coming in and trying to shoot you out of your home. Good news for one particular pied wagtail living in a Tesco store in England, then, that supermarket officials have decided not to bring in a hired sniper to shoot it with an air rifle.

The wee birdie took up residence in the store a few weeks ago, reports the BBC, and spent its time flying around the aisles and eating crumbs. The wily bird refused to be captured, prompting Tesco to give up and apply for a license to shoot it this Sunday after the store closed.

That didn’t go over so well with customers and conservationists including Chris Packham, presenter for nature program Springwatch. He tweeted at Tesco asking it to reconsider, and the company responded that it was open to advice. Tesco now says it will look for another solution with the help of the British Trust for Ornithology, as Packham suggested.

Tesco confirmed the plan, saying in a statement that it would work on capturing the bird for the next several weeks:

“Our goal is always to release any birds which have found their way into our stores, while ensuring we maintain our high standards of hygiene. In spite of repeated efforts to free the bird including laying down traps, deploying nets and opening windows, we have been unsuccessful so far. We’re going to continue to try to release the bird over the next few weeks. We want to give ourselves more time to catch it and we will be liaising with different groups on how best to do this. Our position has always been that we want to catch it and let it go.”

The wagtail has its fans, who are bound to be relieved at the stay of execution.

“You rarely see a wagtail in the wild so it was a lovely to see this one here,” one shopper told the BBC. “It has obviously got quite tame and doesn’t seem to mind being around lots of people. I am glad it is not being shot. I can understand why it should not really be in the store – but I would be much happier if they managed to net it.”

Tesco calls in sniper to shoot protected bird in Norfolk store [BBC]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

The Only Way To Avoid Paying A Fee For iPhone Upgrade Is To Pay Full Price

http://ift.tt/ZjFwq3

Earlier this week, we looked at the various offers being thrown out by the four major wireless carriers in their attempts to attract people switching to the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. What was left out of that discussion — and which seems to be catching a number of customers by surprise today — is that some of them must pay a fee to upgrade.

For example, over in the AT&T forums, numerous customers are complaining that they have to pay a $40 fee to upgrade to the new iPhone, even if they are out of contract and willing to sign up for another two years. That brings the total for the phone up to $239 for the least expensive version of the phone (assuming you aren’t trading in your old phone).

The only way to escape this fee is to switch to the AT&T Next program, which requires the customer to pay the full price (starting at $649) spread out in installments over up to two years.

Customers are complaining — and not without good reason — and some are saying they will switch to another provider.

If they do switch to Verizon, they could take advantage of the $200 gift card offer that can be used to pay for the phone, but everything we’ve seen shows that you’ll still be hit with Verizon’s “activation” fee on top of the price of the phone. Additionally, the only way to get that $200 offer is to trade in an older iPhone. Sorry, Android users.

Current Verizon customers are in the same boat as AT&T customers — if you want to get the phone at the $199 price (without trading in your old device) you’ll have to pay an upgrade fee in addition to the cost of the phone. AT&T is offering competitive trade-in pricing for your old phones, but customers who switch will have to pay the activation fee.

The only to avoid an activation fee from Sprint is to pay full price for the device via Sprint’s Easy Pay system. That is also the only way to get Sprint’s new $50/month unlimited data plan for iPhones.

And T-Mobile no longer offers data plans that include subsidized phones, so anyone switching to T-Mo will have to pay the full sticker price for the phone. Though it has also said it will match all competitors’ trade-in offers, so this is a way to knock a couple hundred dollars off the total you pay.

So if you want to pay the $199 price for a phone at any of the major national carriers, you’re probably going to have to pay either an upgrade or activation fee on top of that. None of this is new or specific to the iPhone 6 models; it’s just been pushed into spotlight because of the popularity of this launch.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

MPAA Swears It’s Not Pushing For More Anti-Piracy Legislation

http://ift.tt/1ByUKoR

(Jason Cook)

A few years back, the entertainment industry used its unique charms (read: money) to glamour several members of Congress into supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act, one of the few pieces of legislation to draw almost universal disdain from everyone other than the industry that backed it, as it would have exacerbated the shoot-first-maybe-investigate-later model already in place thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Thankfully, some Congressional aides actually look at the Internet and sensed the public backlash wasn’t worth the campaign donations that their bosses were still going to get anyway, and SOPA failed. Now the industry says it wants to combat piracy by winning over consumers instead of arresting teenagers.

Earlier this week, the House’s Creative Rights Caucus threw a bash with various Hollywood types — Patrick Duffy!! — including the Motion Picture Association of America, one of the most powerful backers of SOPA and other anti-piracy legislation.

But when MPAA CEO Chris Dodd — a former Senator who is no stranger to controversy — spoke to The Wrap at the event, he said his organization is giving up legislative efforts to penalize pirates.

“The world is changing at warp speed. We are not going to legislate or litigate our way out of it,” said Dodd. “We are going to innovate our way out by educating people about the hard work of people.”

That was the point, he claims, of the D.C. event — to show lawmakers that piracy hurts not just the studio execs with their fancy cars, but all sorts of people who the studio execs can’t name because they aren’t important enough.

“In this space everyone has to contribute to ensure that peoples’ content can be respected,” continued Dodd. “Instead of finger pointing at everybody and arresting 14-year olds, the answer is making our product accessible in as many formats and distributive services as possible at price points they can afford. We are discovering that works.”

Of course, one of the MPAA’s recent efforts is trying to convince theatergoers to call the cops on people they see trying to record a movie in the theater.

[via TorrentFreak.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

When Your Company Owns Madison Square Garden, Your Band Opens For The Eagles

http://ift.tt/WUuHZC

(Flodigrip’s world)

If I was a billionaire CEO of a cable company, I’d buy an island in the South Pacific and get a house with one of those cool libraries with a ladder to reach higher shelves and dedicate myself to the art of cheesemaking. If Jim Dolan was a billionaire CEO of a cable company, he’d book his own band to open for the most rockin’ band he knows at the venue his company happens to own. Oh wait, he is, and he did book his own band to open for the Eagles at Madison Square Garden.

In a situation that works out quite nicely for Dolan, when it came time to choose which musical act would have the honor of taking the stage before your Uncle Jimmy’s favorite band, he had one already lined up to go: Turns out his band JD & The Straight Shot was available for the gig at Madison Square Garden, which Cablevision has owned since the mid 1990s. Imagine that.

They’re opening tomorrow night, reports The New York Post, with Dolan saying out there, on that stage, in front of all those people? He’s not CEO and chairman you all know him to be.

“I am the singer-songwriter,” he told the NYP, adding that the artist in him needs to be free to express is own opinion.

Fans can look forward to a ballad inspired by a dispute with ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer over relocating MSG in 2008, “Fall from Grace.” Sample lyrics: “See the shame on your face/Look at what you’ve become/And smiling at your fall from grace.”

“He [Spitzer] threatened me at the meeting,” Dolan said. “We were figuring we were going to have a big fight, and on Monday he started not being the governor anymore.”

But seriously guys, you’ve gotta give it to the guy for having the ability to enjoy his hobby by opening for a six-time Grammy-winning rock group by being a billionaire who Runs Things. He’s got feelings too, after all. Rock on, Dolan.

“You are definitely putting it out there and making yourself vulnerable and susceptible to criticism, and since it’s so personal, you run the risk of being hurt,” he said.

He’s not the only CEO who loves to get his jam on — British media magnate Richard Desmond is the resident drummer in his band with Roger Daltrey of The Who, RD Crusaders. I’m sensing a cross-Atlantic collaboration in the future, guys.

Jim Dolan’s band to open for the Eagles at MSG [The New York Post]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

CashForiPhones Keeps My iPhone, Cuts Cash Offer By $222

http://ift.tt/YE6cSo

(Rayce Sugitan)

Apple announced new iPhone models earlier this week, which means that for many people, it’s time to trade up. While your mobile phone carrier might offer a sweet trade-in deal, some customers are able to get even more by using outside trade-in services. That’s what Steve tried to do, selling his iPhone 5 to the site CashForiPhones.com. The site offered him $263, but once they had the phone, only sent him a check for $41.

“I was offered $263 for my iPhone 5 which is in excellent condition. They sent me a prepaid mailer, and I sent the phone to them,” he writes. Simple enough. With most services, the next step in the process is that the company sends the seller their revised estimate once they’ve inspected the condition of the iPhone.

Here’s a screen shot from the company’s site. You’ll notice that there’s something missing from this process: the part where sellers get to confirm the real trade-in price for the item they’re buying. Maybe they do that, but Steve says that wasn’t his experience.

“Two weeks later, I received a check in the mail for only $41,” he wrote. “At no time did they inform me of the lowered offer, or give me the option to refuse the offer and get my device back.” His estimate is that his phone must be worth at least four times that much, and more likely about $200.

The site’s terms and conditions spell out what’s supposed to happen in this situation. Spoiler alert: it’s not “we short you two hundred bucks and keep your phone.”

F. Should we, upon inspection of your device, decide to offer you a lower price than originally quoted, you will have three days to either accept or reject that new price quote. The three days begins to run upon inspection of your device, our e-mailing you notice of payment and our sending you payment either pursuant to the original quote or such value as we determine in our sole discretion. If you reject the price quote and payment made prior to the elapsing of this three-day period, you must return the payment and we will return your device to you within five days thereafter.

Did Steve miss an e-mail, or did something go awry? That’s possible. Still, there’s an important lesson in here for everyone getting in the real-life and virtual lines for a new iPhone. Be careful where you trade in your own cast-off phone, and learn the details of the process before you ship off your once-beloved device. With this much money in the balance, take the time to read the details of the site’s policies before you commit to a quote. Be realistic about your device’s condition so you don’t get a nasty surprise when the company finally comes up with a total.

We tried to get a comment from the company regarding Steve’s issue, but eCycleBest, the parent company of this site, CashForLaptops.com, and some other sites, couldn’t put us in contact with anyone who is authorized to speak to the media.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Southwest Passenger Detained After Creating WiFi Hotspot Names Like “Bomb On Board”

http://ift.tt/1qsOE78

(zonaphoto)

Authorities detained a passenger aboard a Southwest flight that landed at Seattle-Tacoma Airport yesterday on its way to Denver, after reports that he created a bunch of creepy names for his in-flight WiFi hotspot, naming it “Southwest – Bomb on Board” and making comments about the attractiveness of flight attendants, among other things.

According to ABC News, passengers started to worry when they realized the weird names popping up during the flight.

“He changed it to ‘the bomb is on this seat,’ and then he changed it to something about the stewardess being hot,” one passenger said. “And so that’s why once we found all that stuff out we realized he was probably just goofing off.”

Whether or not he was just goofing off like an insensitive jerk — especially in light of the fact that the flight was on Sept. 11, as the passenger pointed out added an extra layer of concern — authorities ordered the plane to a side tarmac, surrounded the plane and took the man into custody.

All passengers deplaned and bags were re-screened, before the plane could be reloaded and back on the way to Denver. Southwest said it was the captain’s decision to report the potential security threat, and that the airline’s “highest priority is the safety and security” of passengers and employees.

PASSENGER DETAINED OVER OMINOUS HOT SPOT NAMES [ABC News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

BJ’s Is Just Daring You To Move This Question Mark

http://ift.tt/1qOdEVJ

According to the warehouse club’s handbook for new employees, BJ’s is named for Beverly Jean Weich, the daughter of the company’s first president. That was in 1984, so it’s not like nobody knew that the name had a possible secondary meaning other than “a person with the initials B.J.” Right? Josh really questions the wisdom of the company’s new slogan.

He’s not the first one person to notice this, obviously, and maybe that’s the problem. “Does BJ’s really believe that a question mark is enough to stop people from reading it wrong?” he wrote to Consumerist.

Is that it? Are they just daring us to move that question mark?

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Here’s Why American Stores Refrigerate Eggs While Some Other Countries Don’t

http://ift.tt/1qOdEVu

(poopoorama)

At the sight of an egg sitting on an unrefrigerated store shelf, many Americans would shudder and think, “Well, that can’t be very safe because we keep our eggs nice and chilled and America is No. 1.” But are those foreign countries wrong and are we right? How can it be safe to keep eggs either chilled or at room temperature?

The answer is all in the washing, explains NPR’s always informative The Salt (thanks for the tip, K.C.!), but everyone is basically on the same side, fighting contamination from bacteria like salmonella.

See, Americans, the Japanese, Australians and Scandinavians all wash eggs when the pop out of hens, and in doing so, scrub off a barely visible protective layer on the egg’s shell that keeps it from becoming porous and letting bad things in, while keeping water inside.

Egg producers in the U.S. then spray the eggs with oil and refrigerate them, to make up for the loss of that coating.

“The egg is a marvel in terms of protecting itself, and one of the protections is this coating, which prevents them from being porous,” food writer Michael Ruhlman, author of Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient explained to The Salt.

Many countries that used to wash their eggs also freaked out after a batch of eggs in Australia that had been bathed went rotten, starting a chain reaction against the practice. In places like Asia (with the exception of Japan) and most other foreign countries, washing is prohibited.

So which method is better? Is it more effective to vaccinate hens against salmonella, as some European countries do, or require washing and refrigeration, along with other safety measures, as the U.S. does? Both work fine as long as there’s consistency, explains Vincent Guyonnet, a poultry veterinarian and scientific adviser to the International Egg Commission.

But if you’re going to refrigerate them, it has to be from the farm to the store and everywhere in between. Once the eggs go from cold to warm, “they’re going to start sweating,” he says. Sweat can lead to mold, and that’s gross.

Eggs also stay good longer when chilled — 50 days with refrigeration and about 21 without.

“They’re different approaches to basically achieve the same result,” Guyonnet told The Salt. “We don’t have massive [food safety] issues on either side of the Atlantic. Both methods seem to work.”

Previously in important egg issues: From Gadgets To Diners: How To Make Or Order The PerfecT Egg Every Time

Why The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most Of The World Doesn’t [The Salt]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Sprint CEO On Failed “Framily” Plans: It’s Hard To Sell A Talking Hamster

http://ift.tt/1BytU02

If you’ve watched TV in the last year, you’ve likely caught one of the many, overly quirky ads for Sprint’s former “Framily” plans. Between the francophile daughter, random goth hanger-on Gord-on, and a hamster patriarch voiced by Andrew Dice Clay, the company’s new CEO admits that it was all just a bit too much for what was otherwise a cruddy group data plan on a really slow network.

“Dealers said it was hard to sell,” explains Marcelo Claure, who recently took over the reins of the beleaguered wireless company. “We are marketing a hamster talking to people… That’s very hard to sell.”

Claure, the billionaire founder of Miami-based Brightstar Corp. (which was recently acquired by Sprint’s majority investor, Japanese telecom biggie Softbank), says he was initially advised that he should not shake things up at Sprint until after his first 100 days on the job. But the Framily nonsense was such an obvious target that he apparently felt compelled to shelve it.

“I couldn’t help myself,” Claure told investors, according to FierceWireless. “There wasn’t a compelling value proposition here. We were more expensive and coming out of a traumatic network experience.”

He says the focus now is on trying making customers see the value in choosing Sprint. Claure replaced the Framily plans in late August with the Sprint Family Share Pack that offers significantly more data for your dollar than you might get from other carriers.

Claure followed that up almost right away with a $60 unlimited data plan, and then announced this week that it would be offering a special $50/month unlimited plan only for iPhone customers.

And while all of Sprint’s new plans give you a ton of data for a decent amount of money, the company faces some major hurdles in convincing customers to switch.

First, recent tests have shown that Sprint’s data network is much slower than the LTE networks for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. There is little point to having an unlimited data plan if you’re unable to do enjoy data-heavy services (like streaming video) that require decent network speeds.

Additionally, while Sprint has effectively slashed the price on data by increasing the amount customers have access to each month without increasing rates, most smartphone users in the U.S. don’t use more than 2GB of data per month on their wireless accounts. It’s like a restaurant that serves very filling food, meaning most diners won’t finish what’s on their plates. There is no real additional value if the restaurant says you can get a free second helping.

Claure says Sprint is actively working to improve its LTE network, and we hope the company is indeed committed to catching up to the data speeds and coverage offered by its competition. An industry with so few players desperately needs companies willing to shake things up to challenge the market leaders.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

General Motors Doesn’t Recall Corvettes, Stops Shipments And Sales Instead

http://ift.tt/X7AzPL

(Mike Matney)

Remember how General Motors promised that it is totally done with recalling cars? Well, strictly speaking that’s true, because the company is not recalling any 2015 Corvettes. They’re stopping shipments and sales of cars that are currently on dealer lots, because there may be problems with their parking brakes and airbags. There are 2,800 ‘vettes that may have problems with their airbags, and 800 that may have problems with their parking brakes.

Specifically, the air bag problem is an issue with the part that connects the steering wheel and the air bag. The parking brake problem is one where only one of the vehicle’s brakes engaged on the wheel.

The 2015 Corvette has been very popular, and sales are up, but the company hasn’t recalled vehicles that have already been sold. The company hasn’t indicated that 2015 Corvettes that have already been sold have issues: it’s only the vehicles in batches that are either en route to dealers or on lots that have problems.

GM Issues ‘Stop Delivery’ Order on 2015 Corvettes [Wall Street Journal]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Apple Online Store, Some Carriers’ Sites Get Glitchy With Start Of iPhone 6 Preorders

http://ift.tt/1D0klsw

We’ve got a sneaking suspicion that whoever was in charge of handling Apple’s livestreaming announcement for its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus earlier this week might’ve been at the helm of the company’s online store early this morning, after frustrated customers trying to preorder the phones were unable to do so when the clock finally hit the designated hour.

The Apple Store was slated to open up to preorders at midnight PT, but eager customers were stymied by Apple’s online store, which failed to open at the designated time, reports CNET. It’s now up and running, albeit hours after customers first started trying and failing to get their orders in.

There were problems with some of the various carriers as well — customers reported some glitches and delays through Verizon Wireless and AT&T, though those issues don’t seem to be as bad as the frustrations suffered by Sprint and T-Mobile customers.

Those sites were still down two hours after preorders were supposed to start, with Sprint’s site working patchily and T-Mobile sticking to a registration form that serves to remind people about when the preorders were (supposed) to start.

If all else fails, Apple’s physical retail stores started accepting preorders this morning, as well as other retailers like Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart.

Me, I’m going to sit under an Apple tree and just wait for one to drop on my head. Seems more efficient.

iPhone 6 presales begin — with US Apple Store caught napping [CNET]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Investor Asks Olive Garden Servers To Be Stingier With Free Breadsticks

http://ift.tt/1qJZioZ

The Starboard critique not only slammed Olive Garden for wasting breadsticks, but also said the new logo looks like it was written by a second-grader.

For all of its menu updates and attempted image changes over the decades, Olive Garden has never stopped reminding consumers of the free breadsticks they’ll get when they come in for a bite. But one hedge fund says that the O.G. is hurting itself, and its investors, by not paying enough attention to all the bread they put in those baskets.

According to the AP, the folks at the Starboard Value hedge fund recently put together a 300-page writeup of the issues facing Olive Garden, including its apparent bread problem.

While servers are supposed to bring one breadstick per diner at a table, plus one stick that is apparently to be fought over by those who still crave its stick-like goodness, Starboard says that poorly trained and undisciplined servers are bringing out much more bread than is needed.

Dumping all that cooked dough on the table at once results in bread going cold and uneaten, which means breadsticks in the trash and money wasted by the restaurant.

“Darden [Olive Garden's parent company] management readily admits that after sitting just 7 minutes, the breadsticks deteriorate in quality,” reads the Starboard critique.

The hedge fund also claims the quality of the Olive Garden breadsticks has declined, likening the current version to hot dog buns.

Olive Garden is also slammed for being too heavy-handed with salad dressing, and that booze sales at the family friendly restaurant chain should account for at least double what they currently do.

Starboard isn’t just trying to point out to Darden that there is too much waste at some Olive Garden restaurants, which have seen sagging sales and fewer visitors. The hedge fund is also attempting to wrest control of the Darden board of directors. Other Darden restaurant brands include LongHorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, and Yard House.

In addition to the breadstick beatdown, Starboard claims that Olive Garden’s marketing is outdated and that the company relies too heavily on TV ads.

Starboard even went so far as to insult the recently revamped Olive Garden logo, unless you think saying that it looks like “a second-grader’s cursive practice” is a compliment.

For its part, Darden tells the AP that the “Olive Garden Brand Renaissance” is ongoing, and that it will look at the Starboard presentation. The company defended itself, saying, “we believe many of the brand and cost optimization strategies are already being implemented across our company and are showing results.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Starbucks Might Allow Employees To Show Tattoos

http://ift.tt/X77DHD

(Steve)

In spite of Starbucks’ origins in tattoo-heavy Seattle and the fact that the coffee colossus employs thousands and thousands of younger adults with ink somewhere on their body, the company’s dress code has long been decidedly anti-tattoo. But in an acknowledgment of changed public attitudes toward tattoos, and an effort to retain its workers, Starbucks may be relaxing its stance on body art.

The current rules don’t forbid Starbucks employees from having tattoos; they are just supposed to cover them up when working.

Earlier this year, CEO Howard Schultz launched a campaign seeking feedback from employees on how the company could improve its workers’ careers. And a number of them mentioned that the company could rethink its policy on tattoos.

“I live on Capitol Hill, Seattle. It’s rare to see someone without a tattoo here,” wrote one worker, according to the Seattle Times.

There was also some online discussion among employees about how the company could allow visible tattoos while also maintaining a level of professionalism. For example, would face tattoos be acceptable? What about tattoos that may be gang-related?

Of course, one could argue that having a face tattoo has no impact whatsoever on a person’s ability to make coffee or serve customers. Similarly, there are many people who are no longer associated with gangs, but haven’t been able to get old gang-related tattoos removed or covered.

A recent online petition gathered more than 21,000 signatures from people who believe the policy should be changed, arguing — among other things — that having to wear long sleeves, regardless of the weather or time of year, just to cover up tattoos is a hindrance to job performance at Starbucks.

Without committing to any changes, Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead sent an internal e-mail last week announcing that the company is revisiting its “dress code, including the tattoo policy.”

A rep for the company tells the Times that Starbucks is “always actively engaged in discussion with our partners to determine how to make their Starbucks experience better and more valuable to them… We know the dress code and tattoo policy is important to them so we are taking a fresh look at it.”

In addition to the “no visible tattoos” policy, Starbucks has other restrictions on piercings, jewelry and perfume/aftershave for its baristas.

Starbucks may let baristas bare their tattoos [SeattleTimes.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Nice People Donate More Than 200 Pounds Of Onions To School That Had Its Garden Plundered

http://ift.tt/1qPwVEr

(ilovebutter)

After some total jerk or jerks stole 100 onions from a patch cultivated by elementary school kids in Maine, a whole lot of other nice people have turned around and made the situation into a positive one, by donating more than 200 pounds of onions to replace the ones that were stolen. Feel that? Your heart is applauding.

The story caught the attention of onion growers around the country, reports CentralMaine.com, prompting generous hearts to send in or drop off bags of onions so the kids can still donate them to local food pantries and use them in the school cafeteria, which was the plan for the 100 onions grown by the fifth-grade class.

So far, more than 200 pounds of onions have rolled in from nearby farms, and more are coming from as far away as Texas and New York.

“They grow produce to donate to local food pantries and for the college cafeteria, so when she saw we were donating the onions for the same reason, she connected,” the kids’ teacher said of the director of a farm at a college nearby. “She brought them in this morning.”

Another local farmer read the article and called up the school to say he wanted to donate some onions. He brought in two 50-pound sacks of onions and told the school that the reason he did was not only because he felt bad for the kids, but for the person who took their onions in the first place, saying “he doesn’t know any better.”

“I mean, look at that!” one student said. “We got 210 onions here and we’re getting another 100 from Texas and 100 from New York. We’re getting more than we planted. It’s not tomatoes, it’s not pizza, it’s not apples — it’s onions. I mean, who would donate onions? Who would steal onions?”

Who indeed? We might never know, but the teacher says it’s all part of a learning process for the students.

“So, this is the lesson the kids are learning,” she said. “It renews their belief in human nature, which is what disasters do. Not that disasters are good, but when something goes wrong and you hang in there, something good comes of it.”

Onion donations bloom after Waterville school garden theft [CentralMaine.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Walmart, Best Buy Won’t Accept Apple Pay At Their Stores

http://ift.tt/1rTmAFr

NOPE, says Walmart and Best Buy.

Though the highways and byways of America may be dotted with their stores, customers shopping at Walmart and Best Buy won’t be able to pay for stuff using the new Apple Pay system announced this week. Both retailers are eschewing the near-field-communication (or NFC) method of payment in favor of another mobile wallet application.

Apple’s new system is backed by a bunch of banks and credit-card issuers to provide support for Pay, which will allow customers to buy things at certain retailers using the newest iPhones.

But while the financial institutions might be all for it, it seems retailers are a bit more sluggish, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Thus far, iPhone 6 owners will be able use Pay to buy products at 220,000 retail locations in the United States, like McDonalds, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. But that number pales in comparison to the more than nine million merchants in this country that accept credit and debit cards.

Using NFC requires retailers to install readers at the checkout line to accept the payments, but only about 10% of merchants are using those readers. Best Buy had NFC-enabled scanners at many stores back in 2011, but stopped using them because it was too expensive to keep them, a spokesman said. It’s not planning on going back down that road, the company said, despite Apple’s push for Pay.

Walmart also confirmed to the WSJ that customers shopping at Walmart won’t be able to use Apple Pay.

Instead, both retailers are getting behind a mobile technology group that’s owned by retailers, called the Merchant Customer Exchange. MCX is in turn launching a mobile wallet application called CurrentC coming in 2015, which will only require a software download instead of checkout scanners, and can be used on any iPhone or Android phone already in use, instead of just the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

CurrentC will connect to consumers’ checking accounts, retailer gift cards and some retail credit cards but won’t work with traditional credit cards.

Will Stores Warm Up to Apple Pay? [Wall Street Journal]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

http://ift.tt/YDdzcI

Here are nine of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

(Chuck Miller)

(Linnie)

(warmheartcold)

(Charlie O’Hay)

(photographynatalia)

(Derelict Compositions)

(Rich Renomeron)

(Xavier J. Peg ☠)

(Joel Zimmer)

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Want to see your pictures on our site? Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Walmart Focus Group Of 1,000 Kids Tells Us What Toys To Buy Them

http://ift.tt/WPtseh

Walmart started a new holiday tradition last year. It starts in the summer: the company invites a test panel of 1,000 children of all ages to play with a variety of toys, then rate how fun they are. About a quarter of the toys make the chain’s annual list of the 20 hottest toys, which Walmart then stocks up on, and Walmart shoppers might pick up after their Black Friday towel-grabbing frenzy. Maybe.

This year’s list includes toys at a variety of prices that do everything from fly to bark to making mobile phone cases. No, we’re not kidding: there’s a craft kit that lets kids mold silicone to make custom phone cases. I’m not sure whether this is more or less useful than the woven cotton potholders that I made and gave away at that age, but at least it doesn’t leave tiny rubber bands everywhere.

Photo collages AND stick-on rhinestones? Sign me up! I am not being sarcastic.

On the hot list, there’s also a cool flying car from Hot wheels, a robopuppy, a bunch of licensed toys from the movie “Frozen,” a remote-control dinosaur that’s so awesome that it’s already sold out, and a $60 smartwatch for kids, that, as far as I can figure out, actually has more features than the Apple Watch.

At least Walmart has the sense to not let the children in their focus group develop the toys. We all know where that leads.

Walmart’s Kid-Approved 2014 Holiday Toy List Reveals New Trends [Press Release]

To Find Hot Holiday Toys, Walmart Turns to Kid Testers [Bloomberg Businessweek]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Here’s What Brands Tweeted Right Before Their 9/11 Tributes

http://ift.tt/1suPi3r

(910to911)

On a day when the entire country is paying tribute to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we usually see a number of brands flounder when it comes to honoring the victims of that day and promoting themselves. While there are surely some flubs out there this year, it’s also pretty telling to see what companies were tweeting about right before they posted this year’s 9/11 tributes. Prepare to cringe. [via 910to911.tumblr.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist