Credit cards are displayed in Montreal on December 12, 2012.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
After court battle, Equifax agrees God exists
Without a decent credit rating, it's tough to borrow for large purchases, as a Russian-American discovered.
The New Yorker, owner of a business called Gold Hard Cash, was refused a car loan because rating agency Equifax would not provide financial details on the man.
The problem? God Gazarov was told the company "could not process his name as God."
After appearing before Brooklyn Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes, the two parties to the suit struck an agreement, and Equifax will now acknowledge God's name. He will also receive an undisclosed monetary settlement from the company, the New York Daily news reported last week.
Mr. Gazarov claims his name is not uncommon in Russia, and that he was named after his grandfather.
Still, he's used to the jokes. "My principal in junior high school would walk by me in the cafeteria and say, 'Oh my God, there he is.'"
Anyone for golf?
The award for understatement of the week (well, last week) goes to former chief executive officer of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Patrick Neary.
Mr. Neary doesn't have a big fan club. He was in the post from 2006 to 2009, during the time Ireland's banks blew up, forcing the country to go cap-in-hand to the IMF and the EU's European Financial Stability Facility.
In a 2010 report by the central bank governor, the regulatory agency was branded as "excessively deferential," "timid" and "accommodating," and many fingers pointed at Mr. Neary in the wake of the banking crisis, as Reuters reported.
Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry last week, he was raked over the coals for, among other things, golf balls handed out that were branded with the agency's logo.
With reference to the golf ball promo, inquiry panel member Susan O'Keefe said: "Your job was the micro-prudential supervision of the banks. What was going on?"
Mr. Neary fell on his sword over that one, telling the panel" "I regret that. It was a mistake."
It's all wonderful now
Food and drink company Roll Global wants everyone to know they're wonderful.
The L.A.-based company claims that nearly half of American households use their products, but its name – which you have to admit is not very catchy – isn't widely known.
What to do? Why, change it, of course. And so Roll Global did, announcing on Monday that it has now become The Wonderful Company. Its brands include Fiji Water, Teleflora, and various wine, fruit and nut products.
Despite the name change, its detractors don't see it as so wonderful. California's East Bay Express said Wednesday that as the largest orchard fruit and nut grower in the world and big water users in the drought-stricken state, billionaire owners Stewart and Linda Resnick are often called "the Koch Brothers of California Water." A report from the Center for Investigative Reporting referred to Mr. Resnick as "a one-man environmental wrecking crew." Business may be good, but for some Californians, he's no Mr. Wonderful.
Quaff that coffee down, the meter's ticking
It's frustrating to enter your local coffee shop and find every seat taken, often by patrons nursing their brews and chatting away for ages.
A small European chain found a solution for that, as U.S.-based Web publication Small Business Trends reports. Offer customers coffee, tea, and cookies for free, but charge them for the amount of time they're there. Oh, and also make them wash their own dishes. Ziferblat coffee shops keep track of patrons' entry and exit times, charging them five pence (nine cents) per minute in Britain.
The company, whose business model appears to be catching on, now operates in 13 countries with plans to expand. The Manchester Evening News reported on Tuesday that the location in the city has doubled in size and new branches are slated to open there.
Patrons on a tight budget may want to wolf down that coffee and snack. Remember, time is money.
Silicon Valley matchmaker puts a price on true love
Working in Silicon valley, you're probably making serious money, but also putting in serious time. That can make it hard to find love, so you might want to get in touch with Amy Andersen.
The founder of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Linx Dating has fashioned herself as the valley's matchmaker, charging $25,000 (U.S.) to get on her dating books, as Business Insider reports.
Ms. Andersen also gets paid according to a pre-agreed graduated bonus system: The first level kicks in if a couple start seriously dating, a bigger bonus is paid if they get engaged, and the biggest payout comes if they tie the knot.
"I work with a very accomplished set of clients – many are in technology and are generally very smart, type-A, industrious, compulsive, and results driven. These people understand the notion of aligning incentives and paying for performance."
Finding "the one" means so much to some Linx clients that they'll offer bonuses in the six-figure range, Ms. Andersen says.
Who says you can't put a price on love?
Double cheese, pepperoni, and a happy home buyer
You think Canada's real estate market is hot? Look south, to Portland, Ore., where houses are selling like hotcakes.
Homes are getting multiple offers and selling in days, with bidding wars sending prices rocketing, as Reuters reported on Wednesday. So house hunter Donna DiNicola, owner of DiNicola's Italian Restaurant, got creative in her efforts to clinch a deal.
Finding the perfect house, Ms. DiNicola sweetened her bid with an unusual offer: free pizza every month for life.
"It was really a joke," she said. "I swear to you I did not know that made it into the paperwork."
The house was at the top of her price range, and so she also threw in two months of free rent for the sellers.
"Donna's offer was just so compelling and the fact that she offered 60 days of rent back for free is practically unheard of," said seller Holly Marsh. "And then the pizza part was just hilarious. It just goes to show they really did something to stand out among the offers."
As for the pizza offer? Ms. DiNicola said "they can have whatever they want."