Study: People Try Apple Pay Once, Don’t Go Back

(Colin)

The prospect of using our phones in place of wallets is exciting to absent-minded people everywhere, but how well is adoption of mobile payments going in the real world? A recent survey looking at adoption of Apple Pay a few months out from its introduction shows that consumers are enthused about it, but are having trouble finding retailers where they can use the service.

Near field communication chips and mobile payments are nothing new, but they were new to Apple’s lineup of smartphones. but making Apple Pay part of the iPhone 6 meant that the capability rolled out to millions of people all at once. According to a survey by Phoenix Marketing International, about two-thirds of people who own the new iPhones at least signed up for Apple Pay and added a credit card to their accounts, but the problem has been on retailers’ end.

88% of survey participants who set up Apple Pay went out into the world and tried to use it, Phoenix reports, but almost half of those users (47%) say that they tried to use the service in a store that advertised Apple Pay capability but didn’t actually have it. About two-thirds of people who tried to use Apple Pay out in the wild reported problems actually using it at checkout. The process was slow, the cashier didn’t know what they were doing, or they couldn’t resolve problems: they experienced a variety of issues with the service, but

Apple Pay Performance: The First Four Months [Phoenix Marketing International]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

This Chris Kaman sweatshirt will haunt your dreams

The Portland Trail Blazers routed the Phoenix Suns, 109-86, on Monday night to clinch a playoff spot in the Western Conference and we can’t help but think one fan’s sweatshirt helped sway the momentum.Read full article >>

















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Missing Malakhi, 10, found in Hertfordshire

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بيريز: رونالدو وغاريث بيل ليسا للبيع

أعلن فلورينتيو بيريز، رئيس مجلس إدارة نادي ريال مدريد الإسباني لكرة القدم، وصيف الدوري الإسباني، أن نجم الفريق الجناح الويلزي جاريث بيل، ليس للبيع بأي



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Patriots owner Robert Kraft takes stand at Aaron Hernandez trial

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft testified in the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday, saying that the team’s former tight end told him he played no role in the murder of Odin Lloyd.“He said he was not involved,” Kraft testified, “that he was innocent.”Read full article >>

















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Humberside Bridge closed as lorry overturns in high wind

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Police to missing Malakhi: You are not in trouble

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'Miliband and Cameron know they won't get a majority'

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March stays on sunny side despite gales, thundery showers, hail, sleet and snow unleashed in last 24 hours.

Statistics show month of March to be sunnier than average despite a very windy and wintry period of weather in last 24 hours.



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Court Awards Pizza Hut Customer $2,400 For Denture Damaged While Eating “Excessively Hard Croutons”

(Not the Pizza Hut in question. SchuminWeb)

While the human mouth gets to have all the fun of tasting, chewing and eating delicious food in all its various incarnations, it can also be the portal to pain when something isn’t right. In the case of a man who said he broke a partial denture at Pizza Hut, the weapon of destruction came in the form of “excessively hard croutons.”

The Tennessee man was awarded a $2,400, interest and court costs in a judgment against Pizza Hut, reports Roane County News, after he sued the restaurant for his damaged denture.

His lawsuit claimed the restaurant caused personal injuries and damages to his specialized partial denture by “negligently serving at defendant’s restaurant excessively hard croutons.”

The customer’s attorney said they approached Pizza Hut to find a resolution before going ahead with the lawsuit, but nothing came of it.

“We tried to work it out with their insurance company, but they never wanted to talk,” his attorney said. “So we went ahead and filed.”

Dough for denture damage [Roane County News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Nats Journal: Nationals-Mets lineups and discussion thread

VIERA, Fla. — A busy Nationals spring training only continues. The diagnosis from James Andrews on Monday on Anthony Rendon’s left knee confirmed the Nationals’: a sprained MCL, the knee is stable but will need rest. He will see now see Steve Singleton, a knee specialist in Vail, CO at the Steadman Clinic.Read full article >>

















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Man killed after mother-in-law's headstone falls on him

The 74-year-old was hanging decorations on the grave for Easter when the freak accident happened, according to local authorities.



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Missing boy, 10, 'seen boarding bus to Brixton'

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Presyo ng tickets sa Pacquiao-Mayweather, nakakalula

Nakalulula ang napaulat na presyo ng ringside tickets para sa tinaguriang fight of the century nina Manny Pacquiao at Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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Starbucks Finally Gets Around To Selling Yogurt-Based Cups, Smoothies, Parfaits After Two Years

The unlikely partnership between Starbucks and Dannon parent company Danone that Consumerist first reported on back in 2013 is finally coming to fruition with the launch of an exclusive line of yogurt-bases smoothies, parfaits and fruit cups at 4,300 of the company’s coffee shops.

Starbucks announced today that it will add a line of three Evolution Fresh Smoothies at select stores in Washington state, Oregon, Alaska, Northern California and Idaho.

The smoothies, which will come in flavors like Sweet Greens, Strawberry and Mango Carrot, were first piloted in select Starbucks stores last year.

The new menu offerings will consist of exclusive-to-Starbucks Dannon Greek yogurt and hand pressed juices from Starbucks-owned Evolution Fresh. Customers can customize the new drinks with add-ins like protein powder and kale.

Starbucks’ latest endeavor doesn’t end there, though. As it was suggested in 2013, the company plans to begin selling Evolution Fresh Greek yogurt parfaits in about half of its U.S. stores by early May.

Additionally, the company will start selling Greek yogurt cuts, complete with fruit on the bottom at actual grocery stores later this summer.

Cold Pressed HPP Juice and Traditional Greek Yogurt Smoothie Launches in 4,300 Starbucks Locations with Fresh Approach to $2.2 Billion Smoothie Market [Starbucks]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol takes out frustrations by ripping open his jersey on the court

Whatever thoughts were running through Marc Gasol’s mind Monday night, they can’t have been positive.The Memphis Grizzlies’ center dropped back on defense and made one of the more curious moves of the NBA season, ripping open his jersey like Clark Kent. Gasol then realized what he had done and made a quick attempt at putting the sides of the tear together.Read full article >>

















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Man Who Says Comcast Got Him Fired From Job Seeks $5M In Damages After Company Smeared Him Publicly

(honeylamb)

Last fall, we were the first to tell you about Conal O’Rourke, the Comcast customer in California who spent more than a year dealing with consistent over-billing — including $1,820 worth of equipment he’d never ordered nor needed — and horrendous customer service who was fired from his job at Comcast-consulting accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers after he took his complaint to the office of the Comcast controller. Shortly after publishing that story, Conal sued Comcast over the incident, and now he’s amended that lawsuit to allege invasion of privacy and to put a higher dollar amount on the damages being sought.

The amended complaint [PDF] adds a seventh cause of action — invasion of privacy — to the original complaint, claiming that Comcast’s public statements about Conal’s customer service calls involve a public disclosure of private facts.

After Conal filed suit, Comcast released a statement to Consumerist and others, explaining that, “As part of this investigation, we have listened to recorded calls between Mr. O’Rourke and our customer service representatives and his treatment of them and his language is totally unspeakable.”

This statement and description of the customer service calls goes to far, says Conal in the revised lawsuit.

“The recorded customer service telephone calls between Mr. O’Rourke and Comcast are private, and are not the subjects of legitimate public concern,” reads the amended complaint. “Comcast’s public disclosure of the existence and nature of Mr. O’Rourke’s private calls to Comcast customer service – which disclosure falsely portrays Mr. O’Rourke as an individual lacking in decency, ethics and integrity – is offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.”

The lawsuit claims that “Comcast’s conduct towards Mr. O’Rourke was wanton, willful and intentional, and committed with malicious intent.”

The amended complaint now ups the original damages estimate from more than $1 million to more than $5 million.

In a statement to Ars Technica, Conal’s lawyer Harmeet K. Dhillon says it could be years before this lawsuit is resolved.

“That’s how long hard-fought federal lawsuits are taking in this district these days, and Comcast will be opposing it hard,” she explained to Ars. “I can’t say on the record why it didn’t settle, but you can see from Comcast’s public statements that they want to be ‘vindicated.’”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Missing 10-year-old boy with a rare medical condition 'may have fallen into a coma'

Police issued an urgent appeal to trace Malakhi Chijiutomi-Ghosh, who needs medication three times a day.



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Scottish Labour 'confident' they can turn polls around

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ليس مويتيس يعلن اعتناقه الإسلام بعد انتقاله للقادسية السعودي

أعلن اللاعب الكونغولي ليس مويتيس مهاجم نادي القادسيه السعودي، اعتناقه



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Dietitian Group’s “Kids Eat Right” Logo Won’t Be On Kraft Singles Packages After All

(JeepersMedia)

Kraft Singles won’t come with a stamp from the Academy of Nutrition and Diatetics reading “Kids Eat Right” anymore, after a group of dietitians signed a petition calling to put an end to the partnership. The petition claims that having such a logo makes it seem like the group is endorsing the cheese product.

The two sides say the deal is over due to “misperceptions” that are “overshadowing the campaign,” reports the Associated Press. The petition also seeks transparency about the terms of the deal that allowed Kraft to slap the logo on its products.

Kraft and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said the effort was supposed to raise awareness about kids not getting enough calcium and Vitamin D, but Kraft didn’t reveal how much money it forked over for the right to use the logo.

It was supposed to be a three-year deal, and would’ve included a website and, among other things. A Kraft spokeswoman says they’re still figuring out how to end the effort.

“That collaboration is not going to be happening,” she said.

Though the Academy of Nutrition and Diatetics didn’t offer a statement, in a letter sent to its 75,000 members yesterday, the academy’s president said the group “deeply regrets the circumstances that have led to the pending termination of this initiative.”

“This pilot initiative was never intended to be an official Academy endorsement of a particular product, which is strictly prohibited by our policy and is expressly included in all contracts,” the letter said.

As it stands, the logo is already set to appear on products this week, and will be around eat least until July because the packaging has already been manufactured.

Kraft Singles to drop ‘Kids Eat Right’ logo after ‘misperceptions’ [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

DC Sports Bog: Shirt swap promotion aims to eradicate Syracuse, Villanova T-shirts from Georgetown campus

There’s an epidemic of non-Hoyas college apparel on the Georgetown campus and it must be stopped.“I walk around campus and I’m shocked with the stuff that [students] wear,” Georgetown director of marketing Chris Grosse said. “A girl in Marquette sweatpants, or a guy in a Villanova or Harvard shirt. At the gym, it’s insane.”Read full article >>

















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Thunderbirds Are Go - again - in new ITV series

Fifty years after the Tracy brothers and Lady Penelope first hit TV screens, Thunderbirds returns in a new guise this weekend.



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Watch this 84-year-old woman sink a putt to win a car on ‘The Price is Right’

Margaret is 84 and a contestant on “The Price in the Right.” There’s a new car on the line and all she needs to do is tap in one putt. But of all the things she’s learned over her 84 years, properly holding or swinging a putter seems to not be one of them. So just remember, Margaret: It’s all in the hips. It’s all in the hips. Or you know what? Never mind. Just do it your way.Read full article >>

















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High-End Online Retailers Net-A-Porter, Yoox Officially Tie The Knot

It seems like just yesterday we were dreaming of a mega-luxury online retail platform where we could buy all the designer brands our wallets will never be able to afford. That’s probably because it was one day ago that reports began to swirl that online merchants Yoox and Net-A-Porter were thinking of merging to create one big high-end shopping destination on the interwebs.

Those talks appear to have escalated quickly, as Yoox confirmed this morning that it has clinched a deal with Net-A-Porter to create a “business combination.” The financial aspects of the deal were not made public.

The merger creates a new group to be known as Yoox Net-A-Porter Group with expected revenue of $1.4 billion. Under the deal, the new company is expected to attract nearly two million high-spending customers and over 24 million monthly visitors worldwide.

Both Yoox and Net-a-Porter – which is owned by Swiss company Richemont – launched in 2000 as a way to provide more upscale brands in one place.

However, the two companies took a decidedly different approach to doing so.

London-based Net-a-Porter showcases its products much like one might see while thumbing through a fashion magazine, while Yoox focuses on buying overstocked or unsold items from previous seasons from high-profile fashion designers and then selling those apparel products for a discounted price.

“This is a game-changing merger between two pioneering companies that have already radically transformed the marketplace since 2000 and will now shift the industry paradigm once again,” Federico Marchetti, founder of Italian-based Yoox Group and the new CEO of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group says in a statement. “Together, we plan to expand on our many combined successes and industry breadth to strengthen partnerships with the world’s leading luxury brands and harness a significant untapped growth potential.”

The quick turn around regarding Yoox and Net-a-Porter’s merger are a bit surprising, considering just last week it was reported that Amazon was in talks to purchase Net-a-Porter for a hefty $2 billion. However, officials with Richemont tell Fortune that those talks never occurred.

To Create a Leading Online Luxury Fashion Retailer Worldwide [Yoox]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

SNP willing to work with 'allies from across the UK'

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Charter Digs This Whole Cable Merger Thing, Plans To Buy Bright House For $10.4B

In cable, merger mania isn’t just for the biggest players. The next tier down wants to play, too. And so we have the announcement this morning that Charter is planning to buy regional operator Bright House Networks for a cool $10.4 billion.

Bright House is, according to Charter’s press release, the sixth largest cable operator in the U.S., serving about 2 million customers in Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, and California. And Florida really seems to be Charter’s main target here: the company has no presence in that state at this time, nor will the Comcast/TWC merger land them customers there.

Charter is, of course, intimately involved in the pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger. If that trio gets its way with regulators, Charter will directly trade roughly a million and a half customers to/from Comcast, as well as own a significant stake in the new spin-off organization, GreatLand.

Charter has also indicated that should the Comcast/TWC deal for whatever reason not come to fruition, they’re still perfectly ready to go buy TWC themselves.

The planned Charter/Bright House merger will have to follow the same approval steps at the FCC as its bigger siblings, but is likely to face significantly less opposition as the companies involved are much, much smaller.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist