Im surprised I havent seen more posts about this recently, but a few weeks ago, HSBCDirect upped the rate on savings accounts from 5.05% to 6.00% (APY). The catch is that its only for new money – meaning if you already have $1000 in there, that $1000 will still only earn 5.05% (which isnt bad), but any money you transfer in above that $1000 will earn 6.00%. The second catch is that the 6.00% rate is only good until April 30th 2007 – so you cant actually earn 6% since it only applies for a couple of months. Still, if youre looking for a good high-yield savings account, this might be a good deal for you – at least worth a look.

So I just got an e-mail from Time magazine about the double charges on my Best Buy account(initial post here – this relates to the second story of that post.) I would have thought the promotion I signed up for would have meant I was getting a low intro price and then it goes up next year. (ie. $24.95 for the first 52 issues and then $29.95 for each year after the first – since thats the regular price on the TIME website.) Turns out, it was more like a scam than a promohere is the response from TIME:

We appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us regarding your magazine subscription. According to our customer service records, you accepted a special promotion when you made a purchase at a Best Buy store.

Once a purchase is made at Best Buy, a Best Buy sales associate provides you with a brochure describing the terms of the promotion and the benefits of the Automatic Renewal Plan.

At checkout, you had to sign the electronic signature pad that states you understand the terms and benefits of the agreement for the risk-free trial subscription to be sent to us, as well as the Automatic Renewal Plan. This information is also printed on your Best Buy receipt.

The brochure you were provided with states that we will charge your credit/debit card for the subscription after the risk-free trial period, unless we receive a request to cancel. The brochure also states that the subscription would be automatically renewed and charged to the same credit card account.

We also send a reminder when the subscription is ready to renew and your credit card charged.

Please be advised that the charge for the amount of $24.95 was for the first 24 issues. The additional charge for the amount of $29.95 would have extended the subscription for an additional 28 issues.

We canceled your subscription as requested. You should see a credit posted to your account within the next 7 to 10 days. You should see the credit on your printed credit card statement within 30 to 60 days depending on your billing cycle.

So I was basically signed up for a $30/yr subscription for the low, low price of only $54.90! What a rip-off!

Lesson learned: Dont sign up for ANYTHING without reading the fine print AND dont trust a company to do anything they promise (like send a card reminding you that your card is about to be charged – at least dont expect to see that card before youre charged).