Good Old Samoas?

Besides, those expiration dates aren't the big deal many consumers think they are. No matter that you'd turn up your nose at a product that's days past its date, stores aren't legally required to remove them from their shelves, VanLandingham says.

Looking over a box of Girl Scout cookies, he finds a seven-digit code on the box's bottom flap under the name of the cookie. "It means nothing to me, but I'm sure the people who boxed them would know how old they are from the code," he says.

Bassett confirms: "You can always call the baker to check on the production date of your box -- but people tend to consume them very quickly."

Default Boxes

Speaking of boxes, you know those little boxes at the end of an online order that they ask you to check to give permission to receive other offers and information? Or those "terms and conditions" boxes online that by checking you agree to have your credit-card charged monthly for a service?

Suspicious why sometimes those boxes are already checked? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, but the result may surprise you: "Research has shown that subscription rates increase by a 2-to-1 factor when the box is already checked," says Trevor Hughes, executive director of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, which held a summit of 800 privacy experts here a week ago.

Presumably some people never get to the bottom of the Web page to uncheck the default box. And unchecking those boxes requires taking action -- which is harder than doing nothing. "It can have a real effect as to how many people say yes," says Hughes, citing a study conducted by Eric Johnson at the Columbia University's Business School.

Kid Cellphones

The recent column on unforeseen problems with first cellphones for children ("One Mother's Wake-Up Call," Feb. 12) rang a bell for lots of readers. Feedback ranged from tsk-tsks such as "Kids don't need cellphones 'cause they'll just abuse 'em" to complaints about carriers insisting they "can't block text-messaging on a child's cellphone . . . a big fat lie!"

Mike Stewart, an Internet technology project manager in Atlanta, e-mailed to share some lessons he learned from getting his 13-year-old daughter a cellphone that was an add-on to his existing Cingular family-share plan.

Besides establishing basic cellphone rules for his daughter, Stewart says he made sure he could put her new phone on hold if necessary -- meaning take it away. "I couldn't cancel [her phone] but I did find out I could suspend the charges indefinitely and reactivate later," he says. "This allowed me to revoke and allow privileges to the phone."

Next, he "completely blocked" text-messaging from her phone. Yes, it can be done. But note that Stewart's family plan includes text-messaging only as an option at an additional charge that he wasn't willing to pay. "This is too big a risk and temptation for teens," he says. "The purpose of the phone was to communicate with family and, secondarily, friends."

Finally, he says he informed his daughter that he can go online to the Cingular account site and check every call she makes and receives, when it was made, and for how long. "Daddy can watch what you do!" he says.

Current status of his daughter's cellphone: suspended. "Unfortunately, she still chose to disobey the rules of use and had her privileges temporarily revoked," Stewart reports. "But that's another issue. I'm just pointing out that you can eliminate the annoyance, concern and cost of text-messaging. Just say no. . . ."

Got questions or comments? A consumer complaint? A helpful tip? E-mail details to consumer@washpost.com or write to Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Because of the volume of mail, personal replies are not always possible.