102030405060708090 102030405060708090 DESIGNER EDITION FILM 2 Consumer HE EWS BSERVER SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2006 3 Infidelity has a price Considering an affair? Men might want to weigh it carefully. An unscientific calculation published in the June issue of Health magazine says an affair will cost a man $10,471 in lost wages, therapy charges, legal fees and other expenses. SAVINGS ACCOUNT YIELDS Largest Triangle Institutions Here are the annual percentage yields that 22 federally insured Triangle institutions were offering May 12 on money-market accounts and certificates of deposit. Yields are based on lowest minimum deposit to open an account and may vary by branch location. Rates subject to change.
IInnssttiittuuttiioonnMMMMAACCDDCCDDCCDDCCDDCCDD Bank of America0.402.002.263.013.013.41 Capital Bank0.802.152.502.903.204.00 Coastal FCU1.25N.A.3.253.503.755.00 Crescent State Bank2.003.053.304.304.354.40 First Citizens First Federal Bank0.752.002.703.25N.A.4.00 Four Oaks Bank Trust Co0.752.252.753.353.604.00 KS Bank, Inc1.502.005.003.35N.A.4.25 Mechanics Farmers Bank0.751.001.051.861.962.78 MetLife Bank1.004.254.505.05N.A.5.20 Mutual Community Savings Bank0.702.533.055.283.674.08 NC Local Govt Empl CU3.50N.A.4.504.505.005.25 North State Bank0.502.303.003.303.704.65 RBC Centura Bank0.301.552.353.003.253.75 RTP Credit Union1.97N.A.4.244.39N.A.N.A. Self-Help Credit Union4.374.524.635.03N.A.5.41 SouthBank0.301.001.101.302.504.50 State Empl CU4.00N.A.4.754.754.755.25 SunTrust Bank0.452.002.503.253.304.00 Wachovia Bank0.252.002.453.103.404.10 Wake Forest TTrriiaannggllee BBaannkk RRaattee MMoonniittoorr nnaattiioonnaall annual percentage yield offered last week by 100 large institutions in 10 largest markets. N.A. not available, account not offered. Source: Bank Rate Monitor North Palm Beach, Fla.
FYI 3E, SUNDAY MAY 21 2006 OB EDESCHI THE NEW YORK TIMES Online retailers have been using product videos for years and with few exceptions have succeeded only in irritating customers with problematic pictures or leaving them slack- jawed with boredom. But retailers and others might be starting to crack the code. are trying to figure out how to put the dopamine of in-store experiences into the online said Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with JupiterResearch, a technology consultancy. walk into a store and see all these wonderful things you know you needed, and the endorphins take over. Video may be one way to re-create that One of the new ideas to make multimedia work for retailers is to make it interactive.
For example, HomeDepot.com has made a variety of videos for multipurpose drills and other items not well served by a single photo and a short text description. When HomeDepot.com started selling large, costly appliances such as ranges and refrigerators earlier this year on its Web site, the company suspected the idea might not fly if the products were displayed with a thumbnail picture, a few lines of text and a price. As a result, it started displaying product demonstrations alongside refrigerators and other items, with a twist. Rather than run uninterrupted video of someone fawning over a fridge, the company offered customers a way to click on various parts of each appliance to receive short media clips about distinct parts of the equipment. Flash technology, meanwhile, lends motion to otherwise static photos and helps romanticize the images.
The experiment worked, according to Shelley Nandkeolyar, vice president for e-business at Home Depot. He said that appliance sales spearheaded a shift toward a lot more big-ticket items being purchased on HomeDepot.com.” Now Nandkeolyar is using interactive media more aggressively. When customers click on a barbecue grill, the Web site automatically displays a large picture of the grill, with an audio introduction. Users can click on various parts of the grill, zooming in on, say, its burners to hear more details. is a much more interactive Nandkeolyar said.
seeing different things, and the one And unlike in other areas of HomeDe- pot.com and competing Web sites, where product demonstration videos are stashed among a handful of links near a photo, these product introductions are up front and central to the merchandising approach. is the selling Nandkeolyar said. not an The interactive product demonstrations also appear in the lawn furniture and lawn tractor section of HomeDepot.com, where items sell for $800 to $3,000. The demos cost the company about $1,000 each, according to Vendaria Media, the Seattle-based business that produces the clips.Be- cause higher-priced goods generate much more profit than cheaper items, the investment makes sense, said Evans of Jupiter. But these relatively elaborate introductions suit many other retail categories, such asmass-market apparel, where profit margins are lower and where the products change so quickly that the multimedia packages have short shelf lives.
QVC.com, she said, is perhaps the best example of a big offline company with a deep well of videos from its television vault to feature on online product pages. And Scripps Networks, which owns HGTV, the Food Network and others, broadcasts product-oriented videos millions of times each month on Web sites associated with the networks, according to a company spokeswoman. Some Internet companies are spending sizable amounts of money in the belief that interactive video will yield better results than clips cut from television shows or more static Flash-based product demonstration. Ed- munds.com, the auto research site, recently introduced Vehicle in which users can examine a 2006 Lotus Elise, for instance, in close detail depending on what parts of the car catch the fancy. This approach, called hot-spotting by Matthew Kumin, an executive vice president at Edmunds.com,involves slicing videos of two to three minutes into 15-second clips.
Kumin said the company would create interactive videos for each of the 400 mainstream car models introduced each year. Selling smarter with video Web clips become shorter, more interactive as retailers get more sophisticated Home Web site allows shoppers to choose among short videos on different features of some of its merchandise, such as large appliances, lawn furniture and tractors. The demos cost the company about $1,000 each. MARKETWATCH Roadside-assistance plans are among the few purchases that pay for themselves the first time you use them. Drivers have plenty of choices these days, from motor clubs that offer a host of services and discounts to cheap add-ons to their insurance policies.
Many auto manufacturers also include roadside assistance with new cars, but the plans may come with restrictions and generally expire with the warranty. AAA: The Automobile Association of America is the oldest and largest club, with 49 million members. The basic roadside services towing to any service station within three miles, locksmith, flat tire, gasoline and minor repairs come with membership, which costs $38 to $80 a year, depending on which of 61 chapters you belong to. You can also add family members for an extra fee, and have nationwide network of service stations and tow trucks to rely on. A single tow can make a worth of dues pay for itself, and members also get discounts on travel, shopping and insurance.
AARP and GE: AARP offers a plan through the General Electric Motor Club. A standard membership costs $44 for one person or $74 for a family and includes towing up to five miles as well as money for bail if you are arrested for a traffic violation and a reward if your car is stolen. How practical those last two are depends on your driving habits and penchant for parking expensive hot rods on the street. For $25 more a year, a premier membership comes with free towing up to 100 miles and extra reimbursem*nt for incidentals if your trip is interrupted. Allstate: Allstate has its own motor club, open to insurance customers and noncustomers alike.
Plans range from $48 a year to $156 for a platinum membership that includes up to $250 worth of roadside service and $1,500 worth of trip-interruption reimbursem*nts. The club has 1.3 million members. Add-ons to insurance policies: Buying an extension to your auto insurance is the cheapest and most straightforward way to make sure a tow truck finds you. Allstate charges less a year, Progressive charges $14 and State Farm less than $5. But you get extra services such asreimbursem*nt for meals and lodging with those plans, just a tow or a boost when you need one.
Using the service would not affect a premiums, the insurers said. Caveats: Some clubs place limits on how many times you can use their services in a given period, and services may take you only to the nearest dealer, which may not be to your liking. Auto clubs make good value Can add on to insurance You might havereceived at least one mass e-mail message from a friend that said, my cell phone Please send me your contact To save irritation for both absent-minded phone owners and their friends, Sprint has introduced Sprint Wireless Backup, which synchronizes the contact list on a phone with a copy on servers. Software on the phone automatically uploads changes made on the handset, and if the original phone is lost or broken, a new phone can automatically download the data. For now, the service is available on two new Sprint phones the Samsung A580 and the LG LX350 for $2 a month.
Subscribers can also log on to a Web site to seetheir contact list or make changes that are then sent to the phone. But the service cannot exchange data with other online address booksor with desktop information managers. THE NEW YORK TIMES or registering your rebate online will allow you to track your status, a big plus. more, while some rebates will still require you to mail in the paperwork, storessuch as Rite Aid, Best Buy and Staples allow you to complete the entire process on the Internet. By the way, if you buy the item online, print out the rebate form when you place your order.
As soon as the over, a good chance the form you need will disappear. Keep records. Make a copy of everything submitting for future reference, in case you have a problem. If filing online, Ridout recommends taking a screen shot of your submission. On submissions with high values, consider using delivery confirmation to prove your submis- sionmade it to its destination.
Watch the mail.Some rebate checks look suspiciously like junk mail, and you want to inadvertently throw away a rebate check. Once a rebate check has been mailed, it generally requires divine intervention to get another. Follow up. Mark your calendar for when expecting to receive your check. If it come, call.
Be sure to write down the name of the service representative and the claim number assigned to the rebate submission and find out when the company expects to mail your check. Companies are legally obligated to deliver on the rebate as promised, so if you get your money, file a complaint with one or more consumer agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney Office and the BetterBusiness Bureau in North Carolina and in the state where the operator is. Cash that baby. Most rebate checks have a specified timein which they can be deposited, often 60 or 90 days. Rebate checks that make it to the bank within that worththe paper printed on.
Redeeming rebates always some soul searching may be in order before you decide to make a big purchase that depends on a big rebate. thinks going to do Silk said. need to check themselves and say, Ireally do this? Let me be honest with SAVVY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1D Annual fees for motor clubs can cost up to $150. STAFF FILE PHOTO BY TAKAAKI IWABU Backing up phone lists.
