An online friend writes in telling us he went into Bank of America looking for a cashier’s check or money order, and the teller was so embarrassed of his bank’s high fees — for customers, mind you — he recommended he buy one elsewhere. He writes:

I recently moved and started a checking account with Bank of America. I needed to send a friend who is incarcerated some money for commissary so he can buy food.

Bank of America - fees STUPID!

I went to BoA and asked for either a cashier’s check or money order whichever was cheaper as the prison will accept either. The cashier told me that it would be $7.00 for a Cashier’s Check or $5.00 for a Money Order. Sympathetically she suggested that I go to the post office and get a money order there for $1.10

These are the changes BofA applies if you have an account. If you don’t have an account they will simply refuse to provide either a money order or cashier’s check.

Props to the BofA teller for the customer service that went above and beyond. So, Consumerists, is Bank of America alone on these exorbitant fees, or have any of you found yourselves in similar situations while trying to give prisoner friends money for cigarettes and shivs — uh, I mean food?

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NEW TAMPA — The youngest Powerball winner ever has packed up his millions and moved to Tampa Bay, fulfilling his dream of working in the wrestling business with a wild new TV show. Combine beautiful women, professional wrestling, and part of a $17 million lottery payout, then stir — and you get the new TV show “Wrestlicious”.  

“MAD TV + the WWE + Baywatch + Dave Chappelle = Wrestlicious,” explained Powerball winner Jay Vargas, who’s helping finance the show with his lottery loot. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Videos of the show posted on YouTube show a mix of pro wrestling, sketch comedy, and bikini photo shoots — all involving women in a variety of skin-tight outfits. 

And one of the recurring characters on “Wrestlicious” is “J.V. Rich” — “The rapper-slash-owner of ‘Wrestlicious,’” Vargas said. 

“J.V. Rich” is a mansion-dwelling, single 21-year old millionaire surrounded by ladies and spending cash like crazy. What’s that character have in common with the real Jay Vargas?  

“Attractive and handsome — like myself,” Vargas said with a laugh that showed he wasn’t taking himself seriously. 

Physical appearance is about all the two share. The real Vargas is normal — and pretty humble. After snagging a $17 million lump sum payment last year at age 19, becoming Powerball’s youngest-ever winner, Vargas vowed to spend his money smartly.  

“I don’t have the temptation to go out and buy 15 cars or 50 houses, or a big mansion with 50-plus rooms… I just want to be comfortable,” he said. 

He’s settled down with a wife and family in a nice, but not-over-the-top house in New Tampa. His money and his mind are totally devoted to his TV show-in-the making.  

Since Tampa Bay’s home to so many wrestlers, Vargas made it his home, too. It’s a much better situation than the rumors he hears back home in South Carolina.  

“I hear I’m dead every month,” Vargas said, repeating a rumor that he hears about when he talks to friend and family. “Ever since I won the Powerball.”

“They actually did a press conference saying that I was dead and that I was found in pieces or something like that. I think it’s sort of funny. ‘Cause I’m not dead at all,” he said with a big laugh.

Vargas said his producer is working with TV networks to find a home for the TV show, which has already filmed a pilot episode hosted by wrestling promoter Jimmy Hart.

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Germans angry as tins of Heinz ‘have fewer baked beans’

Fans of baked beans in Germany and Austria were furious yesterday after it emerged that tins of Heinz contained fewer beans than cans sold in Britain.

European fans of the product, which for decades has been sold with the slogan “Beanz Meanz Heinz”, were outraged after the British variety was declared superior to its European counterpart.

Heinz Baked Beans - who has less beans?

Tins in Germany and Austria were also found to have a more watery and less tasty sauce than the British equivalent.

An Austrian newspaper conducted a comparative study of the British beans with those sold locally after receiving complaints from its readers following the launch earlier this year of Heinz Gebackene Bohnen, a version of the British original destined for the German speaking world.

“The readers were correct,” said David Rogers, editor of the Austrian Times. “We did a poll which found that many people felt the German Heinz baked beans were substandard and when we tested them we had to agree.”

The English language newspaper based in Vienna asked 20 fans of the Heinz product to carry out a taste test. “Our testers reported that the German baked beans were a pale copy of the original.”

Susana Vega, a British student in Vienna who took part in the study, said: “If you shake the tins the contents of the German tin sloshes around which it doesn’t with the British tin.

“The sauce when you pour it out is a lot more watery and it’s a much paler, watery looking colour than the thick tomato colour of the British beans.”

Labelling on the British Heinz tin states it is more than half full with beans – while the German version contains less than half.

British beans also have five per cent more tomato in their sauce than the German product, which contains more water, sugar and salt instead.

Heinz Joseph from Germany said he was disappointed with the new product. “I was a student in London and bought them because they had the same name as me and I really grew to love them.”

“I was delighted when they went on sale in Germany but then I realised they just don’t taste the same. I think it’s very unfair to German bean lovers.”

A spokesman from Heinz said: “The subtle blend of Heinz spicing, sauce and beans can vary slightly in different countries depending on local tastes and consumer preferences. Quality is always paramount.

“The UK is the baked bean capital of the world and we sell 1.5 million cans of Heinz Beanz a day. They are simply part of the British diet.”

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Ben and Jerry’s Gives Away Gay-Rights Ice Cream

The ice cream company will distribute “Hubby Hubby“ in its home state of Vermont, celebrating gay marriage.

Gay Rights Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s is temporarily renaming their popular “Chubby Hubby” ice cream to “Hubby Hubby” starting Wednesday to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in its home state of Vermont.

“The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction, and something worth celebrating with peace, love – and plenty of ice cream,” Ben & Jerry’s CEO Walt Freese said.

The Boston Herald reports that the ice cream will only be sold for 30 days and only in Vermont, mostly rendering the move symbolic.

A wedding-themed Ben & Jerry’s truck will give away free cartons of “Hubby Hubby” around Vermont Wednesday. One scheduled stop is the Vermont Capitol, where a gay-marriage law was passed that took effect Wednesday.

Yes Pe-can! Obama Ice Cream

The company is no stranger to liberal causes, in January renaming its Butter Pecan flavor to “Yes, Pecan” to celebrate President Obama’s inauguration.

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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) – Fast food giant McDonald’s on Tuesday lost an eight-year trademark battle against a Malaysian curry restaurant after the country’s highest court allowed the latter to use the prefix ‘Mc’.

Malaysia’s Federal Court dismissed an application by McDonald’s Corporation to appeal against an earlier Appeals Court judgment which allowed McCurry to use the prefix.

Mc Donalds? NO! McCurry!

Chief Judge of Malaya Ariffin Zakaria, reading the verdict of the three-person Federal Court in the administrative capital, said McDonald’s had failed to properly frame its questions when applying to challenge the Appeals Court’s earlier verdict.

“It is unfortunate that we have to dismiss the application with costs,” Ariffin said.

McCurry, which is short for “Malaysian Chicken Curry,” serves Malaysian staples including fish head curry, according to the company website (www.mccurryrecipe.com).

“We feel great that this eight-year legal battle is finally over, and we can now go ahead with whatever we plan to do such as opening new branches,” McCurry owner P. Suppiah told Reuters after the court decision.

McDonald’s, which has 185 outlets in Malaysia, first sued the curry restaurant in 2001 and a High Court ruled in favor of the international fast food chain in 2006.

McCurry then took the matter up to the Court of Appeal, which ruled in favor of the Malaysian restaurant. McDonald’s subsequently took the matter to the Federal Court.

The McDonald’s operation in this country of 27 million people is run as a franchise and wholly owned by McDonald’s Corporation.

(Reporting by Royce Cheah; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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