Yes, it’s that time of year again. Consumerist will be tagging along with Consumer Reports to the Consumer Electronics Show. How shall you follow our adventure? On Twitter, naturally. Follow @Consumerist. This account will be staffed by the inimitable Chris Morran, who will be continuing the fine tradition of making Best Buy uneasy with his presence. Be sure to say hello if you spot us on the floor. [More]
Consumer Reports: New Burger King Fries Are Better, But Still Not As Good As Wendy's
By December 19, 2011
Last Friday, Burger King launched some new fries – offering free samples while supplies lasted. Our scientific sisters at Consumer Reports jumped in the car and headed to two Burger King locations near our shared Yonkers, NY, headquarters to see if they could detect any changes. [More]
Salvation Army Bell Ringers Will Accept Credit Card Payments With Their Smart Phones
By November 16, 2011
The Salvation Army has announced that they are testing Square, a service that allows a smart phone to accept credit card payments. The test will take place at 40 locations in Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Previous attempts at accepting credit cards weren’t successful, but the Army is feeling optimistic that consumers will adopt this new way of paying. [More]
Do You Know People Who Throw Away Change Instead Of Saving It?
By November 16, 2011
A (presumably) sarcastic comment on Vanguard’s Facebook page about throwing away change instead of saving it has started something of a debate over on reddit. The question? Are there, in fact, people who really throw away their change rather than save it in a jar? Could this be true? Or is everyone being sarcastic and messing with us? [More]
Um, Do I Actually Need To Buy Winter Tires?
By November 15, 2011
Ah yes, winter tires. That’s what you need right now. You want to buy an expensive set of tires just for one season. Is it even necessary? Can’t you just get all season tires and be done with it? Maybe! But the answer really depends on where you live and what type of surface you’ll be driving on. [More]
Chase Drops Plan For $3 Debit Card Fee
By October 28, 2011
Chase joins U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup, PNC, KeyCorp and other large banks that have recently moved away from the plan to charge consumers a monthly fee when they use their debit cards to make purchases, reports the Wall Street Journal. The bank recently tested the fee in both Washington and Georgia. [More]
Consumerist Talks To Jeep's CEO About Being The Most Reliable U.S. Auto Brand — But Still Middle Of The Pack
By October 26, 2011
Yesterday, our gearhead cousins at Consumer Reports released the results of their Annual Auto Reliability Survey, which had Jeep jumping up seven spots from the previous year to become the top-ranked domestic brand, though it was still #13 overall. Soon after this news came out, we got the chance to speak to Jeep CEO Michael Manley about this mixed blessing [More]
Guy From Green Day Kicked Off Southwest Because Of Saggy Pants
By September 3, 2011
Add “saggy pants” to list of reasons you, or your favorite celebrity, can get kicked off Southwest Airlines. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong objected to being told to pull up his pants by a flight attendant, and, according to an eyewitness who happens to be a producer for ABC 7 in San Francisco, the dispute resulted in both Mr. Armstrong and his companion being asked to leave the aircraft. [More]
Scofflaw Lemon Tree Escapes Florida, Causes Interstate Incident
By August 31, 2011
Florida is apparently under quarantine because of diseases that affect the quality of citrus fruit. This isn’t information your average person from Wisconsin is in possession of, so when the United States Department of Agriculture wrote to one Waukesha woman to let her know that she’d have to give up her Meyer lemon tree, she was a little confused. [More]
Consumer Reports: Are New LED Lightbulbs As Good As The Inefficient Incandescents?
By August 30, 2011
Our scientific sisters over at Consumer Reports have set out to answer the question that’s on everyone’s minds lately: Is an LED lightbulb really a viable replacement for the controversial-and-soon-to-be-phased-out inefficient incandescent?
CR says:
After 3,000 hours of testing, the best LEDs were still as bright as the incandescents they replaced. But only about half were as bright as promised. All the LEDs reached full brightness instantly, even at frigid temperatures, providing warm white light that was unaffected by frequently turning them on and off. Energy use matched or exceeded claims, and LEDs don’t contain mercury (CFLs do in small amounts). Some LEDs dimmed as low as incandescents. But not all LEDs are good at shining light where you need it. [More]
Consumer Reports' Excellence Award: Tell Us Which Small Non-Profit Should Be Awarded $25,000!
By August 24, 2011
Five small non-profits are competing for $25,000 as part of the first Consumer Reports Excellence in Consumer Advocacy Award, and we need your help choosing the winner. [More]
Antitrust Committee Chairman: AT&T, T-Mobile Merger "Contrary To Antitrust Law" "Should Be Blocked"
By July 20, 2011
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, called on the FCC and the Department of Justice to block the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, saying the deal would “likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies.” [More]
Harm Yourself With These 5 Dangerous But Useful Cleaning Products
By July 12, 2011
Chlorine gas was used for chemical warfare during World War I. You can make it easily in your own home by accidentally combining chlorine and ammonia in a misguided effort to boost cleaning power. Aren’t you clever? [More]
TechCrunch Provides Complaint Letter Template For Their Own Redesign
By July 12, 2011
AOL-owned technology blog TechCrunch is extremely interested in your opinion of its new redesign, so they’ve created a helpful complaint letter template full of swearing and finger-pointing so that you, the user, can compose your thoughts more efficiently. [More]
Elizabeth Warren: Mortgage Forms Should Be Comprehensible To Normal Human Beings
By June 9, 2011
At yesterday’s White House Personal Finance Online Summit, Elizabeth Warren, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, went into details about the still-nascent agency’s “Know Before You Owe” project and how the CFPB is working to simplify the documents that consumers are shown when shopping for a mortgage. [More]
Consumer Reports Tests The Ninja Blender, Shake Weight, And Mr. T Flavor Wave
By May 21, 2011
Our nerdy cousins over at Consumer Reports had their technicians put some “as seen on TV” products to the test as part of yesterday’s edition of the ABC News magazine “20/20.” Among the tested products were two designed to get you in shape (Belly Burner and Shake Weight) and three aimed at making cooking easier (FlavorWave Oven Turbo, Magic Bullet Express, and Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004). So how did they do? [More]
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz On Oreck's "Flu Reducing" Vacuum And Other Bad Ads
By May 20, 2011
The FTC is in charge of keeping an eye on spurious claims from TV product ads — so ABC News sat down with FTC Chairman and friend-of-the-blog Jon Leibowtiz to discuss what manufacturers are, and are not, allowed to claim in their ads, as well as the hurdles the FTC faces in enforcing truth-in-advertising rules. Case in point, Oreck recently settled with the FTC over a vacuum that claimed to prevent the flu. [More]
Yep, Microsoft Bought Skype For $8.5 Billion
By May 10, 2011
The rumor was true, Microsoft has purchased Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. The Wall Street Journal says the deal will allow the company to integrate Skype into everything from its Bing search engine to Windows smartphones and its Xbox 360 video game system. [More]
