Customers

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

Some Comcast customers lost access to cable TV service in the Baltimore area on Thursday morning, as a result of "technical issues related to a piece of equipment," according to spokeswoman Alisha Martin. Video service has been disrupted for some Baltimore area customers since shortly after midnight, Martin said, and customer relations lines have been jammed since 3 a.m. Martin said she did not have a figure for exactly how many customers were affected. She said some customers have had their service restored already, and technicians are working "through the morning to restore service for all remaining customers as quickly as possible.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

Not even getting stabbed repeatedly by a needle could get Danielle Cromb to put down her smartphone Saturday afternoon. "I've been on Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest," said Cromb, of Charleston, S.C., who clutched her iPhone as she was having ink injected into the skin on the back of her neck. "Mostly it's helpful if I'm looking up a picture in the middle of a conversation with an artist. And it can definitely be a distraction. " It is a common sight this weekend inside the Baltimore Convention Center: Semi-dressed, prostrate people playing games, texting and listening to music on their cellphones as tattoo artists work.

Hundreds of people lined up on sun-drenched asphalt Saturday to see if they could get regular payouts, in the form of paychecks, from the new Maryland Live! Casino, a slots casino scheduled to open at Arundel Mills mall in about three months. "I hope I get lucky enough to get a position," said Mark Ellison, who's from West Baltimore. "They want people who are willing to go the extra mile so customers come in and enjoy spending their money. " The operators of what will be the state's largest casino hosted a job fair Saturday with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.

Potomac Edison is introducing its first energy-conservation programs that include financial incentives for customers to participate.But the power company's Maryland customers -- in part of Carroll County and all of Western Maryland -- will have to foot the bill as builders and businesses enjoy most of the incentives.The programs give rebates for installing energy-efficient lighting and energy-saving devices, said Susan Tuckwell, director of customer relations for Potomac Edison."We've been encouraging energy efficiency and energy conservation for a long time," she said.

One of the country's largest national prepaid cell phone carriers is making free phones and 64 minutes of monthly air time available to nearly 400,000 low-income Maryland residents under a new effort it brought to the state this week. TracFone Wireless Inc., which has 10 million customers nationwide for its prepaid cell phone plans, can offer the free service because it obtains a $10-per-customer subsidy through a federal program whose goal is to improve land-line and wireless phone access, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

If you've got an analog television and subscribe to Comcast's "limited basic" package --- basically broadcast channels plus Univision and some government access --- you'll need some new equipment. Comcast is offering customers up to three digital adapters at no additional monthly charge, said spokeswoman Alisha Martin. With the adaptors, these customers will get digital-quality picture and sound as well as an additional dozen channels. Customers who subscribe to other levels of service have already moved to digital-only, she said.

The Wild Buffalo Grill Restaurant in North Laurel was struck by lightning on Sunday and caught fire. Jessica Anderson reports that the fire spread to the restaurant's second floor and attic, causing an estimated $10.000 in damages. The restaurant was open when the fire started but there were no injuries.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews finished restoring power to more than 1,300 customers after Friday's windstorm. By Sunday evening, the utility company had restored power to more than 93,000 customers. Linemen, tree crews, call center and storm response staffers worked over the weekend, including hundreds from Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The area most affected was Anne Arundel County, where more than 25,000 customers lost power. About 23,000 Baltimore County customers and 19,000 in Baltimore City were affected, according to BGE. Spokeswoman Linda Foy said BGE would be monitoring an approaching weather system that may bring thunderstorms along with rain through today.

Interesting case going on in a federal district court in eastern district of Pennsylvania. A woman sued General Information Services, Inc., a credit reporting agency, for reporting dismissed criminal charges against her that were more than seven years old. Usually, negative information comes off after seven years. She says her rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act have been violated. The company argues that it has a first amendment right to publish the information, based on a recentU.S.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Tuesday that it planned to test its PeakRewards program on two separate occasions this month. The tests, done ahead of the summer peak demand season, are designed to gauge the program's technical enhancements, as well as its website and other customer communications. The voluntary PeakRewards program eases energy consumption when demand spikes. Customers receive bill credits in return for allowing BGE to periodically turn off their air conditioning when overall power demand is high.

When a woman refused to pay the automatic 17% gratuity at a Houston seafood restaurant named La Fisherman, she says the restaurant locked her and her party inside the restaurant and threatened to call the police. The story, which was reported by KRPC , the NBC-affiliate in Houston and began spreading on Wednesday to other websites like the Huffington Post, goes like this: The customer, Jasmine Marks, decided that the automatic gratuity the restaurant applies to checks for  parties of five or more, and which is clearly stated on the menu, was null and void in her case.

A party bus company that promised "luxury charter buses" to the Sweetlife Music Festival Saturday is facing a major backlash and thousands of dollars in refunds after it left hundreds of customers stranded. Numaan Akram, founder and CEO of Rock & Bus, conceded Monday the company screwed up and was working through "hundreds" of complaints to offer refunds to disgruntled customers. "Unfortunately, we had a serious problem," he said. On Saturday, some 1,800 people had booked transportation to the festival through the company, Akram said.

An electrical failure Thursday morning at a pumping station on South North Point Road in eastern Baltimore County was repaired by 3:30 p.m., restoring water to about 8,000 city and county residents. The area that was affected extends north to East Baltimore Street in the city, east to Merritt Boulevard, south to Delvale Avenue and west to Interstate 95 in the county. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

It will soon be hard to miss the Hollywood Casino Perryville when driving along Interstate 95. The Cecil County casino Friday erected a massive 175-foot sign on its property that will be visible from the highway. The casino's marketing director Marc DeLeo said the sign will make the facility more visible and attract more customers. Some 82,000 cars drive pass the casino's exit off the interstate, DeLeo said. The Perryville commissioners approved the sign late last year after some debate about its aesthetics and other issues.

WASHINGTON - Toyota is extending nationwide some recall-related services that it was offering to customers only in the state of New York. The added services will be tailored to a customer's needs and can include quick scheduling of repairs, pick up and return of their vehicle by the dealer, driving a customer to work, or providing alternate transportation such as a loaner or rental car. The services will be offered to all Toyota and Lexus owners in...

UNNOTICED, but much welcome at a moment of economic gloom, two big new items of demographic news are upon us, each powerfully optimistic.Among other things, the new demographic tidings should create -- presto! -- a new generation of business geniuses whose faces will adorn the covers of Forbes and Fortune.A demographic milestone was reached during the first six months of 1990. The Total Fertility Rate in the United States climbed to an estimated 2.1 lifetime births per woman. The new figure is the highest since 1971.

Want to pick and choose not just the color of your sofa, but the legs, cushions, pillows, piping and other details? A new sofa store in Towson will allow you to customize your couch. The Sofa Store recently opened in 50,000 square-foot site at Luskin's Hill, off Cromwell Bridge Road. The store was vacated by discounter Syms three years ago.  

After five years in banking, Linda Cheng decided it was time for a change of course. Faced with the decision between obtaining her MBA and following her passion for baking, Cheng enrolled in L'Academie de Cuisine's yearlong pastry arts program. That was three years ago, and today Cheng is the owner of Linda's Bakery in Columbia. “I've always enjoyed baked goods, and I'm one of the lucky ones in that I get to pursue what I love,” says Cheng. The bakery, which opened in December 2011, specializes in customized cakes for all types of occasions, from weddings to baby showers and birthdays to graduations.