Saturday May 19, 2012 5:13 AM

Dear Tom and Ray: I have a 2007 Toyota Prius. I was hoping you could help me with what I suspect
is a cheap sales tactic by my Toyota dealer. The dealer says that if I buy tires from anyone else,
I will adversely affect my gas mileage. He says that the Prius takes a special
low-rolling-resistance tire that is available
only through the dealer. Like you guys, I have been around awhile, and this seems like a
big, fat load of you-know-what. What do you think — is this a sales pitch, or is it really the case
on the Prius? Of course, the dealer wants about twice as much for the special tires as the local
tire shop. I love your column and read it first each week! Thanks for your help.

— George

Ray: The 2007 Prius came with either Goodyear Integrity or Bridgestone Turanza tires, George.
Those tires are available at lots of places other than your dealership. We even found them at
Sears. So your dealer is — what’s the word? — lying!

Tom: He’s right that the Prius uses low-rolling-resistance tires to improve gas mileage. But
there are a lot of low-rolling-resistance tires on the market these days. In fact, some will give
you even higher mileage than the original-equipment tires.

Ray: The website Tire Rack tested a bunch of low-rolling-resistance tires in your size
(185/65R15). The Michelin Energy Saver A/S, the Bridgestone Ecopia EP100, the Yokohama dB Super
E-Spec and the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max all beat your original tires for mileage (“When Round
and Black Becomes Lean and Green” at www.tirerack.com).

Tom: Of course, mileage isn’t the only thing to consider when buying tires. There’s dry
handling, wet handling, snow-and-ice traction, comfort and tread life. So, depending on your needs
and de- sires, and the weather conditions where you live, you should look at the research and pick
the tire that best balances all of your needs.

Ray: For instance, if you live in Portland, Ore., you might be willing to give up a mile or two
per gallon to be able to stop better in the rain.

Tom: If you live in Minnesota, it might be worth a couple of mpg to get better traction in the
snow.

Ray: Or, if you live near us, it might be worth a small reduction in mileage to soften up the
potholes and reduce the number of welts on your head from bouncing up and hitting the roof.

Tom: But in any case, you’ve got plenty of choices, George, and plenty of competition for your
business. Good luck.

Have a question about cars? Write to Click and Clack Talk Cars in care of King Feature
Syndicate Group, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Article source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/05/19/dealer-isnt-the-only-place-to-find-proper-prius-tires.html

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — (Marketwire) — 05/19/12 — Struggling to get signal? Fed up with your mobile network’s customer service? And why does there never seem to be any 3G coverage?

To commemorate ideas week and to make these problems a thing of the past, giffgaff is inviting their wonderful community to have their say so that they can improve their overall service. Run by their members for their members, giffgaff is reliant upon their community to help shape, modify, and innovate their mobile network.

To show how much they value customer feedback, giffgaff has established an Ideas Board to reinforce their community inspired ethos. Created on the 4th February 2010, the Ideas Board has led to some remarkable changes. Without the ideas board, the giffgaff network would not have gigabags, a coverage map, Twitter integration, giffgaff surveys, goodybags, topping up via vouchers, and giffgaff T-shirts!

For the past 27 months, giffgaff has, on average, implemented an idea once every 3 days, and has put into operation over 11% of all unique ideas. Contributions have quadrupled year on year, which shows that the giffgaff community is both vocal and full of brilliant suggestions.

Since the foundation of the Ideas Board, giffgaff has seen over 7,000 community-generated ideas, over 60,000 comments, and 45,000 votes for the ideas that you want implemented.

Moving forward, giffgaff is evolving their service to better accommodate their consistently growing community. To help this process, giffgaff will be taking into consideration every suggestion, comment, and concern on the Ideas Board.

Issues that giffgaff are currently attempting to resolve include new rewards for innovators and contributors, a system to deal with duplicates, and an improved method to communicate updates with members. Any ideas are welcome, as giffgaff promise to read all suggestions regardless of whether they are wacky or worthy!

For additional information, please visit giffgaff’s blog.

Notes to editors

What is giffgaff?

--  giffgaff is a community-led free SIM PAYG mobile operator which keeps
    costs low by encouraging its community members to help grow and run the
    business 

--  giffgaff has a customer satisfaction index of 84% and a Net Promoter
    Score of 75% (July 11) 

--  giffgaff has a simple, competitive pricing structure for sim only deals
    with internet, with absolutely no sting in its tail: 

    --  Calls are charged at 10p per minute and 6p per text 

    --  Free member to member (giffgaff to giffgaff) calls and texts 

    --  Competitive international call rates 

    --  Free calls to 0800 numbers 

Contacts:
Blue Rubicon
020 7260 2700
giffgaff@bluerubicon.com

Article source: http://www.sys-con.com/node/2280974