Selections from Consumer Reports' Selling It

In each issue of Consumer Reports, the Selling It page covers the goofs, glitches, gotchas, and howlers that appear on product packaging, in advertising, and elsewhere. Below you’ll find a few recent Selling It entries that relate to the home. We’ll present these pieces on this blog from time to time. (Click on each image to enlarge it.)

Look for more Selling It items on our Web site—new ones are added monthly—and submit ideas to this section.

Military mix-up
This offer for a door knocker (right) says, “Show your pride for our Armed Services.” Just don’t be picky about which service you support. As a Maryland reader pointed out, the knocker identified as “Army design” has the Navy design; “Navy” is Air Force, and “Air Force” is Army. The Marines design is correct. (From the December 2007 issue of Consumer Reports.)

Maybe you use scissors?   
Cuisinart’s Mini-Prep food processor (right) came with directions to heed before use: To get an even chop, “always cut large pieces of food into smaller pieces of even size—about 1/2 inch.” (From the January 2008 issue of Consumer Reports.)

A kinda sorta guarantee
The language on the package at right is common in lightbulb packaging (longevity depends on how bulbs are used), but those two tiny words—"up to"—still shed very little light. As a Georgia reader reasoned, “If it lasts one minute, one hour, or one day it fulfills the guarantee.” (From the February 2008 issue of Consumer Reports.)

Gee, no GE
This package for a replacement part (left) had a Massachusetts reader scratching her head. (From the March 2008 issue of Consumer Reports.)

Essential information: Learn more about entry doors and door locks. Find the best food processor. Consider replacing incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Choose a new coffeemaker.

Comments

[Beth Terry]

This is Selling it in the Internet Age. I was looking for a cell phone reverse lookup service and found this:
http://www.freecellphonetracer.com/register.php

In case the page I saw doesn't come up, try punching in a cell phone number on the home page - "FREE cell phone tracer" -- when you do, it says this:

Free Cell Phone Tracer
Download Full Results For (602) 573-7496

Cell phones are NOT public record, so owner details cannot be accessed for free. View your full results for (602) 573-7496 from these options:

and then it offers several options for you to PAY for this FREE service!!

[Ron Vermillion]

How do I submit material to the Selling It section?

Ron Vermillion
ronvermillion@comcast.net

[Abe W.]

Real chocolate chips? With what flour instead of sugar?

[Jon Nyquist]

I had the same question as Ron Vermillion. Apparently the moderator approved the comment, but no one approved an answer. Ironic for "Selling it."

[A. Mathiesen]

I also wondered how to submit something to Selling It. Since no answer to this is available online, I'm going to try mailing the mismarked box of the offending product to Consumer Reports, P.O. Box 2109, Harlan, IA 51593-0298, which is an address that appears in the magazine. The magazine also gives addresses in Yonkers and Ann Arbor, but those seem to be for Customer Relations and back issues in microform.

[JB]

I found the following in one of the FAQs on their site:
----------------------------
How do I submit an item for the "Selling It" column?

Question
How do I submit an item for the "Selling It" column?

Answer
Sorry - for security purposes, we cannot accept attachments or embedded images on e-mails that we receive.

To submit an item for our "Selling It" column, please send to:

Consumer Reports
Attn: Selling It
101 Truman Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10703

You may also fax us your submission to 914-378-2915, Attention: Selling It