Consumer United testimonial on Chronicle

Missy Lioz, one of Consumer United's die-hard supporters, chats with Chronicle about how much she's saved after joining the movement.

Save on groceries using Peapod

Who could've imagined? With today's technology, you can sit on your couch all day and do your "errands" without hardly moving a muscle. Even your grocery shopping can be done with a click of the mouse!

And that's where Consumer United's new service partner, Peapod, comes in. The online grocery is partnered with your local grocery store, so your groceries are delivered right to your door.

First time shoppers with our new service partner, Peapod, will instantly save $10 on their online grocery order.

Use the Consumer United promotional code, CJN10, and click on the promotional link HERE to start saving!

Consumer United on Chronicle

Consumer United was featured in a segment on Chronicle that aired on Wednesday, May 14. The local WCVB-TV (ABC Channel 5) news piece is called "Cutting Back."

Click here for more information.

NYTimes reports that cable rates keep rising

Cable prices have risen 77 percent since 1996, roughly double the rate of inflation, reports the New York Times in an article titled "Cable Prices Keep Rising and Customers Keep Paying" found here.

The technology news feature cites data supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics released earlier this month.

Compared to the music industry, the piece reports that "the cable industry has never felt the pricing pressures the music industry is feeling. The most obvious reason is that Internet speeds have not been fast enough to permit easy downloading of movies and other video material."

Click here for the complete New York Times article.

Want to save money on your cable bill? Click here to find out how.

CU Advocate's Deals of the Week

Baskin Robbins: $1 scoops every Tuesday from 6-10 p.m.

Dunkin Donuts: Red Sox won, free iced coffee with sandwich purchase

Home Depot: Buy one shrub, get one free

MXenergy: $25 Consumer United rebate upon signing

Verizon: Limited time offer! Verizon FiOS bundle, cancel within 90 Days with no early termination charges. Click here to sign up for the Internet service and get the first month free.

Go Boston Card offers sightseeing savings

Visiting New England this summer? The Go Boston Card may be the answer.

While prices range from $54.99 for each day to $55.22 for a three-day pass, the Go Boston Card is a multi-attraction pass granting admission to Boston’s top attractions, city tours and museums. You can go to as many Boston attractions as you like, once per day on your card. Boston Cards are available in single and multiple day increments.

If you actually plan to visit all of the attractions on the Go Boston Card list, this purchase may be cost effective.

Offerings include: Duck Tours, Hop-on/Hop-off Trolley Tour, New England Aquarium, Freedom Trail Attractions, Museum of Fine Arts, Paul Revere House, Six Flags, 5WITS, Cambridge Double Deck Bus, Charles River Tour and more.

One caveat: the card only offers discounted offerings (ranging from $5 to 25 percent) for several attractions and doesn’t act as a “one card pays all” solution for several of the events featured.

Click here for the lowdown.

Gas prices continue to soar in Boston

According to the Boston Globe, gasoline prices in the Hub were lower than the national average in April.

Nationally, the average price of all types of gas hit $3.49 a gallon, 15 cents more than Boston and 12 cents above the inflation adjusted price in March 1981. Unleaded regular prices average $3.44, 13 cents more than Boston and 4 cents above the inflation-adjusted 1981 price.

However, prices have continued to soar in May. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Massachusetts last week averaged $3.92 a gallon, according to the Globe's "gas prices in your area" statistics.

Click here for the Globe's real-time gas updates.

Cost of living in Massachussets

There's an interesting Topix messageboard thread on the rising cost of living in Massachusetts here.

One comment, from Jargonite in Brighton, impressively describes how Consumer United works.

"Their concept is pretty simple really," Jargonite writes. "By bringing people directly to the service providers, the service providers don't have to spend as much money trying to attract customers, hence the discount. I just don't know why I didn't think of this!"

When asked if Consumer United was similar to a buying club like BJs or Sam's Club, guitarmaestro gives a snarky reply.

"If you mean places like Costco, then the answer is yes and no," guitarmaestro remarks. "It's like a Costco in that you become a member of an organization that gives you special access to lower prices. But unlike Costco, you don't have to pay a membership fee to join. You also don't have to buy a 50-pack of auto insurance. That would be odd."

Click here for the complete Topix thread.

And click here to sign up for your 50-pack of auto insurance.

Revamped ConsumerUnited.com is live!

Consumer United launched its new, more robust Web site today in response to the public's interest in getting better deals together.

On the side navigation of the new ConsumerUnited.com, we're linking to social networking sites like Yelp and MySpace to promote interactivity among our customers.

Also, the segment on Consumer United just aired on WCVB's Chronicle and the result has been immediate. Traffic to both our site and blog has spiked dramatically in a matter of minutes.

For those who didn't catch the piece on Chronicle, we plan to post the video on our blog. We'll keep you updated!

Consumer United testimonials

Consumer United is currently revamping its Web site to include testimonials from die-hard CU users and fans. Want to be featured? Please send us an e-mail telling us why you joined CU and what rocks about our service here.

Catch Consumer United on Chronicle!

Consumer United will be featured in a segment on Chronicle starting at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14. The local news piece airing on WCVB-TV (ABC Channel 5) is called "Cutting Back."

Here's the teaser from Chronicle's Web site:

Are you trying to make your hard earned dollars work a little harder for you? Maria Catalano understands. She and her husband have been cutting back on everyday expenses for several years now, and tonight she shares what they've learned.

*We also report on a new group that promotes the power of consumers banding together to get better deals on insurance, utilities and entertainment.

Consumer United :: Mission Statement

These are the nine articles from our mission statement. The 10th is for you to create. Submit your suggestions to Consumer United by e-mail using the link at the end and we'll post the best ones on our blog.

1. More people, more savings
Based on our numbers, we can negotiate lower prices on auto insurance, phone, Internet, cable, personal banking and utilities.

2. Keep it simple
We do the initial research and legwork for you. Tap into the power of the masses and get more for your money while making an informed decision in less time.

3. Rely on research
We make a decision to partner with a service provider after exhaustive research while considering the quality of the product and whether or not it's the best deal for our network.

4. Keep it real
Our goal is to inform consumers so they can make up their own minds. So, if a competitor offers a better deal, we'll let our network know. We’re consumer watchdogs, so think of us as your personal advocate.

5. Empower the consumer
Consumers now have more control of brands, not big corporations. Smart, business-savvy types embrace the shift in power rather than fight the cold, hard truth.

6. Get to the point
When customers call our office for a quote, they'll hear a real, breathing CU advocate and not some automated voice.

7. DIY: Do it yourself
Consumer United takes a DIY grassroots approach to building our network. We rely on word-of-mouth referrals and not overpriced advertising.

8. Challenge the system
Strong products. Not slick ads.

9. Better deals together
We’re flipping the script by taking the social networking business model and actually using it as a tool to help people where it matters most … their pocketbook.

10. ???
This is where you can help. The point of this mission statement is to make it about interaction. So tell us what you think our 10th step should be here.

Consumer United Poster :: Viral Savings

Click on the image above to download the latest Consumer United poster so you can spread the word! Download a hi-resolution .pdf HERE.

Go to our site HERE for more information.

GasBuddy.com

Found this great grassroots, consumer-driven Web site today:

GasBuddy.com is a network of 181 local gas price Web sites, like www.bostongasprices.com or www.worcestergasprices.com where where consumers work together to fight high gas prices.

The site works by having consumers, like you, report local gas prices so that everyone can avoid high priced gas and save money at the pump.

The GasBuddy.com network is a grass-roots community effort to lower gas prices. In a typical city, gas prices vary by about 30-50 cents per gallon in the US. If everyone buys gas at the lower priced stations, it puts pressure on the higher priced stations to lower their gas prices since their sales will decrease. In effect, it makes gas stations more competitive.

Click here for the lowdown!

About Consumer United

1. What is Consumer United?
Consumer United is a group formed to get better deals on phone, Internet, cable, insurance, personal banking, utilities and gasoline from leading providers.

2. What is Consumer United’s goal?
Our goal is to help you get rid of hidden fees, improve customer service and $1,000+ in annual savings.

3. How does Consumer United make money?
Consumer United selects the best service providers in each category and negotiates better deals for our members. We pick the best provider and receive a payment from the provider, when a member decides to enroll for a service through us. Our commercial relationships with each service provider are in place to help make the switching process as convenient as possible for our members, and in some cases we can offer exclusive deals that are not available directly from the provider.

4. Do you share or sell member information to other companies?
We promise that we will not sell your data to any third party.

5. How do I access the deals?
We will notify you via e-mail when deals are live in your area. Soon, you will also have access to the deals via our website.

6. Will I be charged for this?
Consumer United membership is currently free.

7. Do I have to sign up for a service?
You have no obligations to sign up for a service as a Consumer United member.

8. Do I have to switch providers?
You can keep your current provider if you choose, but if you decide to switch to a new provider please view your terms on your original agreement.

9. Will I be charged a fee if I switch to a new provider?
You need to view your original agreement terms for your service provider.

10. Do I have to sign up for all services to get the discounts?
You can choose to enroll in just one deal or all.