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- Washington Sports Clubs Sets Up New Account, Bills Ex-Member $700 More In Fees [Washington Sports Clubs]Today
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Angela Valdez has had an interesting experience with her former gym:I just found out that after I canceled my account with Washington Sports Clubs last year, they created a new account and continued to deduct hundreds of dollars from my account. More than $700, actually. I should have noticed this, but the charges varied each month and didn’t say “Washington Sports Club” anywhere — so I missed it. After more than a week of phone haggling and bringing in documents, the club is refunding my money. I would also like them to grovel and send me on a trip to Paris.
You know what we're going to say next, despite Angela's very reasonable explanation as to why she didn't catch it sooner: pay close attention to your monthly bank statement. Make it a habit to log in to your bank's website once or twice a week, or use a free online service like Mint or PageOnce so that you can stay on top of what's happening. This goes double if you've done any business with a gym or a company that demands some sort of recurring fee, or if you've authorized your cellphone company to automatically debit your monthly bill.
But also notice that Angela solved the problem herself (she wasn't even the one who tipped us to this story) by being persistent and providing documentation—your two secret
- Grill Drills! Wendy's Burger Rap Attack [Videos]Today
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Hey gang! Remember the 80's, when we were always getting sucked inside video games, tvs, and instructional Wendy's rap videos?
- Get One Free Tax Answer [Taxes]Today
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Got a Federal tax question you can't figure out? Input your question at FreeTaxQuestion.com now through Jan 31st and they will call you back within 24 hours with an answer or guidance. Limit one question per person. - Graphic: Why GM Will Still Fail [Gm]Today
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Not that you necessarily need convincing that GM is doomed no matter how much cash is thrown at it, but here's a cool graphic that shows all of the auto company's problems as piles of shipping containers. The designer points out that "many aspects of this graphic can apply to the rest of the Big Three but I focused on GM since they are in the most dire position." 
The designer also created the Death & Taxes poster (for sale on his site) that you probably saw last year.
And if you want a deeper look at GM, check out this article from Fortune a couple of months ago—the author has been reporting on the company for decades and offers a unique perspective on the corporate culture and the legacies of its CEOs.
- Consumers Union Asks Nancy Nord, CPSC To Do A Better Job Explaining These New Toy Testing Rules [Stern Talking To]Today
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In this letter (PDF) sent to CPSC chair Nancy Nord, and released to the public, Consumers Union and a bunch of other consumer interest groups ask the CPSC to please do its part to clear up all the confusion over the coming Toy Testing Apocalypse. Don't want to read the whole thing? Here's a much shorter summary:
- The CPSC has the power to explain how smaller retailers and manufacturers should follow the new rules when they go into effect, but so far it hasn't;
- The CPSC should publish hard data on the real cost of testing, to help reduce the amount of misinformation circulating online;
- Consumers Union feels smaller manufacturers shouldn't automatically be exempt based solely on size, since company size doesn't guarantee a product will be safe.
As we mentioned before, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that Congress passed last year requires any product in