@lastingsmilledge: You mean besides Bridgeport? What if Dickie B's in Bridgeport and you're standing between him and a camera, are you well and truly fucked? :P

the most dangerous place in connecticut is in between richard blumenthal and a camera.

cheers on a job well done Richard Blumenthal (and your office)

@BlondeGrlz is having a BlondeBoyz!: Sad to hear that the ol' Crystal Mall seems to be in decline. I haven't been there in about 20 years, but when it first opened it was pretty awesome - y'know, for a mall...

Meanwhile, Milford and Meriden's malls are emptying at a mind-blowing pace. Ah, Connecticut.

The wife and i would probably like that.. could always use new people to hang out with.

i'm currently trying to implement a "stored value" VISA card program at my credit union & b/c of the way the laws are, the best choice for my members violates state law. the "compliant" choice sucks.

fee: card A / card B
======================================
card cost: $6.95 / $3.00
monthly fee: $2.95 / none
inactivity fee: $5.95 per mo. after 6 mos. / $2 per mo. after 12 mos.
expiration: 12 mos. / 24 mos.

now check it out - card program A is compliant with state law b/c it is issued thru a national bank. card program B is NOT compliant b/c it is not issued thru a national bank. & i can't find a single card vendor that is willing to issue stored value VISA cards that don't expire, primarily b/c VISA-branded cards (even gift cards) MUST carry an expiration date.

so, there's my story. love the law from a consumer standpoint, but as great as it is, it doesn't always provide the best value to the customer.

My husband works in offices next to a BB&B. Everyone in his office brings in the 20% coupons from home, and they keep a big bin of them at the front desk. Whenver we need stuff, he brings a handful of the coupons from the bin at work, and for three years, cashiers have let him use a coupon for each item all at the same purchase.

When we got new bathtowels, he brought eight of those coupons, one for each towel. They just put them through. Same thing when we bought curtains. We brought in a coupon for each panel (each window needed four panels.) They let him put through expired coupons, too. Same with the other employees where he works. I wonder if any other stores do this?

The one in Manchester isn't so bad. For a mall.

He's also been outspoken against the ridiculous energy rates we pay. We love him here.

@Ash78: This could be problematic, especially if people use the gift cards to buy more gift cards. Suppose a company offered 50% off gift cards. (That's high, but it makes the math easy). I go in and buy a $20 gift card for $10. The next day, I buy a $40 gift card with my $20 gift card. Then, I get an $80 gift card, 50% off, with my $40 gift card. Pretty soon I have a plasma screen TV for $10.

And after April 1st be prepared to meet me in person at that play area.

No, Blumenthal is our awesome Attorney General. he's filing on behalf of those people who had cards.

well, unfortunately, it's the only indoor mall around anymore.. ever since the New London Mall was turned into an outdoor venue.

I like to at least take my soon to be 2 year old to the cushy play area in front of Macy's

odd, this is the 2nd major consumerist story in a month here in southeastern ct.. are we getting that bad?

@Ash78:

BB&B is a bad choice for an example. Their "20% off any thing in the store" coupons are actually "20% off one thing in the store", due to exclusions.

Better to go with something like Best Buy, which, while it does not have coupons like that, does have quite a few gift cards.

I'm wondering when--in this crappy economy--companies will start offering a percentage off on gift card sales. It's guaranteed to either be spent (and then some) in the store, or it will expire. With all the coupons companies send out, I'm surprised they haven't started on the gift card discounts. Seems like the same idea, but in reverse. Bed Bath and Beyond could sell gift cards at 10% below face value and stop sending out 20% off coupons. It'd probably be a wash. Just an idea--companies are always looking for these so-called continuity programs intended to get you back into the store ASAP.

(They might attach a stipulation that it's invalid for the first week after purchase, which would stem the ability to immediately flip them for a purchase in the moment.)

Gift cards have only a downside for the consumer, NO upside. None. In fact, they have several downsides. I made sure to specifically put "no giftcards" on my Christmas list this year. And it worked.

Simon Property, who would have thought. (lol, snorts the former commercial real estate flunky)

I love Richard Blumenthal for this, even though I haven't been to the Crystal Mall in years.

These gift cards are complete scams like I have said before. Now companies are going out of their way to circumvent laws meant to protect you and to keep the gravy train going for themselves.

DO NOT BUY GIFT CARDS!!!!

Wait, so he had gift cards worth 259 000 USD?!