I’m sitting at home scanning the Black Friday sales ads… and couldn’t believe the one to the right.

Really? 20% off at Bed, Bath & Beyond? That’s unheard of! Oh- except for the 20% off coupon all of America gets in the mail every week. But don’t let that spoil your shopping plans. To get this deal on Black Friday you should be the first in the door at 5am!

Let me know where you’re headed. I still haven’t found anything that makes me want to head out at the crack of midnight.

I love pie! Creamy, gooey, delicious pie. The Flying Saucer Pie Company on Crosstimbers is definitely my favorite place to pick up a pie for Thanksgiving… but you’ve probably seen the lines. You pretty much need an inside connection to get hooked up with some strawberry pie if you don’t want to wait for hours in line. I was lucky enough to have the day off on Wednesday, but I didn’t have hours to wait. I had an errand to run over on Westheimer near the House of Pies, so I thought I could just swing by and pick up a “Bayou Goo” pie to take to my sister’s house today.  Swing by?? Ha! I kept on driving when I saw the scene below.

No Flying Saucer AND No House of Pies for Thanksgiving. Instead, I made a Double Layer Pumpkin Pie. Here’s the recipe:

Mix 4 oz. of softened cream cheese with 1/2 a container of cool whip, 1 tablespoon of milk & 1 tablespoon of sugar. Spread the mixture into a 6 oz. graham cracker pie crust.

Combine 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin, 1 cup of milk, 2 Jello-O Instant Pudding Vanilla mixes, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 tablespoon of ground ginger & 1/4 tablespoon of ground cloves. Mix together. This mixture will be thick. Spread over the first layer in the crust. Refrigerate for 4 hours. When you’re ready to serve it, spread the other half of the cool whip on top. (I made real whipped cream for the top layer cause it takes so much better). Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It’s 9:07pm. I bet I could get a Bayou Goo pie now with no line at all.

You might remember our investigation of Conn’s Appliances in early May.  A couple of weeks after our story, the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the retailer, charging the company with misleading and deceptive sales tactics, among other things.

Now 6 months later, the AG says Conn’s has agreed to pay $4.5 million to help reimburse customers who were sold worthless warranties or otherwise lost money. You can read all about the settlement at the Attorney General’s website.  This type of settlement is exactly why I encouraged many of you who called me to file a complaint with the AG’s office. The state received more than 3500 complaints. They are now reviewing them all to decide how to distribute the money. If you have questions, call the AG’s office at (800) 252-8011.

On a side note, Conn’s has also agreed to give $100,000 to the University of Houston Consumer Law Clinic. You might have noticed in my first investigation I interviewed Robert Johnson with the UH Texas Consumer Complaint Center.  The center takes consumer complaints; and it’s a great resource. You can contact the Texas CCC online. Congratulations to the group on the well-deserved award!

Tonight on Local 2, we show you the fall out of the Royce Homes bankruptcy. There are dozens of homeowners, contractors and other consumers who lost money when Royce closed its doors.

If you are one of these people or businesses, November 26th is the deadline for filing a “proof of claim” in Royce’s bankruptcy. If you file, you may be reimbursed when any of Royce’s remaining assets are distributed among creditors. There’s no guarantee you will see any money. But it’s a sure bet you’ll never get a dime if you don’t file.

If you had a warranty on your home, but you haven’t been able to get the work done because of the bankruptcy, there is a value on the warranty that you are owed. If you put earnest money down on a home that never closed, and you never got a refund, you should file.

Here is how you do it. The directions are on this “Proof of Claim” form. Click it. Follow the directions for filling it out.

In the blank for “name of debtor,” type Royce Homes, LP. In the blank for “case number,” type in 09-32467.

You do have to attach documents that prove you are owed money. That might be a statement from your HOA dues if Royce stopped maintaining the property or paying for the street lights in your subdivision. If it’s a warranty issue, include your closing documents that show your home came with a warranty.

For now, the Royce bankruptcy trustee says Royce owes more than $17 million; but he believes it’s much more… and that many people just haven’t filed.

Check it out here: Free Black Jack Taco

Just go in to any Taco Bell between 6pm and midnight today to get one free Black Jack Taco (retail value of 89 cents).

Tonight we aired a second part in our series on Debt Collection.

Watch Part 1 here.

In Part 2, we told you about Houston debt collector Steven Guignard. He is being sued by 5 businesses (from Texas to Utah) that claim Guignard took their money. Each business owners says they hired Guignard and his company Morgenthal, Meyers & Sterns to collect some debts; but they say after MMS got the money, they kept it all. You can watch our entire interview with Guignard (who we caught up with outside of a Katy gas station) here:

If you didn’t get through to our phone bank tonight to speak with our panel of consumer attorneys, you can call them at their offices. They are happy to answer your questions. Their names and numbers are below.

We thank them all for helping with our Phone Bank tonight.

Blake Henshaw (281) 497-2650

Dana Karni (713) 552-0008

Daniel Ciment (713) 270-4833

Mike Weston (713) 623-4242

Rich Tomlinson (713) 627-2100

Greg Nodler (713) 627-2100

Hugh Plummer, Jr. (713) 520-0900

Jim McMillen (281) 458-9100

“The People’s Lawyer” Richard Alderman is another helpful consumer attorney in town. He’s put together an entire video on debt collection and your rights. You can watch it online.

You know I love to take your complaints. I hope I’m the first place you turn! But even if I broadcast one complaint a day, I still couldn’t fit them all in on Local 2.

You should know there are other online outlets to vent and share your frustrations with other consumers.  These are great resources for checking out a business (just like you’ve always done with the BBB). Just plug in a company’s name and find out in seconds what others have to say about their service or products.

Two of the most popular sites are ConsumerAffairs.com and Ripoffreport.com.

I actually check these sites when I’m doing stories on businesses. You can be anonymous or only post a screen name, but the Ripoff Report actually asks you when you post your complaint if you mind the site sharing your information with the media. They do that in case a reporter (like myself) sees a consumer’s post and wants to interview that person. I call Ripoff Report and they would put us in touch.

The downside to these sites is that people can post anything about any company… and there are no fact checkers or mediators who call to get the business side of the story.  There are also fake posts by the businesses themselves to smear competitors or give themselves positive feedback to negate a lot of customer complaints.

Consider yourself warned… and complain away!

Plum Organics of Emeryville, Calif., is recalling some of its apple and carrot pouch baby food because of concerns over possible botulism contamination.

The product was sold individually throughout the country at Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores. The recalled product is sold in 4.22-ounce pouches, with a “best by” date of May 21, 2010.

“The product did not meet the FDA guidelines for proper acidity level,” Paul Gerhardt, a member of the Plum Organics action team, said in a statement.

The company is concerned that the baby food may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, a sometimes life- threatening condition. Consumers should not use these products, even if they appear to be normal.

It’s said to be the credit card industry’s response to legislation that will restrict credit card issuer’s ability to raise interest rates on existing balances. That legisaltion takes effect in February. In January, Bank of America will begin charging between $29 and $99 a year to customers who pay off their credit card on time each month.

The story is in USA Today. This should encourage everyone to start paying off that debt, cut up your cards.

Not practical, you say? The article also gives some advice for finding a card that won’t nickel and dime you.  They say consider applying for a card through a credit union because many credit union cards charge no annual fee and offer below-average interest rates.