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justice
disputes
Credit Card Expert Disputes Erroneous Charge, Frustration Ensues
Georgetown law professor and Credit Slips blogger Adam Levitin is having trouble disputing an erroneous $176.96 charge on his Citibank Amex card from PACER, the federal court's online docket system, which he accesses for free. The professor is a consumer credit expert and should have no problem understanding and fixing the error, right? Fat chance. More »
technology
Citigroup Developing Citi-Branded Phone That Can Make Contactless Payments
Do you wish you had a way to spend your money more easily, without all that opening-the-wallet or punching-the-pin-number manual labor? The trade publication Cards & Payments (registration required) says that it's received a copy of a report filed with the FCC that indicates Citigroup is developing a Near Field Communication, or NFC, mobile phone that would allow its customers to make contactless payments at participating retailers. More »
complaints
New Report Says FCC Fails At Tracking Customer Complaints
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report yesterday that says that while the FCC processes about 95% of the complaints that come in, it takes some sort of enforcement action in only about 9% of them. "The GAO said it was unable to determine why the [other] investigations were closed without action because 'FCC does not systematically collect these data.'" The FCC uses five separate databases and "about 46,000 paper files" to track complaints, and the GAO said "made it difficult to get answers to basic questions like how long it takes the agency to close an investigation and the total dollar amount it assesses in fines." More »
consumers
BusinessWeek's cover story from their March 3rd issue, "Consumer Vigilantes," looks at last year's wave of stories about consumers who took matters into their own hands, either by smashing up a Comcast office with a granny-hammer, starting a "Comcast must die" blog, or sending EECBs to unsuspecting executives. "Frustrated by the usual fix-it options—obediently waiting on hold with Bangalore, gamely chatting online with a scripted robot—more consumers are rebelling against company-prescribed service channels," BusinessWeek writes. What we can't figure out is how they got those three guys to actually pose with those goofy masks on—sometimes it's okay to say no to the photographer.
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BusinessWeek: "Consumers Are Fighting Back"
BusinessWeek's cover story from their March 3rd issue, "Consumer Vigilantes," looks at last year's wave of stories about consumers who took matters into their own hands, either by smashing up a Comcast office with a granny-hammer, starting a "Comcast must die" blog, or sending EECBs to unsuspecting executives. "Frustrated by the usual fix-it options—obediently waiting on hold with Bangalore, gamely chatting online with a scripted robot—more consumers are rebelling against company-prescribed service channels," BusinessWeek writes. What we can't figure out is how they got those three guys to actually pose with those goofy masks on—sometimes it's okay to say no to the photographer.
More »
survey says
U.S. News: It's Your Own Damn Fault You Can't Redeem Rebates
U.S. News & World Report hates our inability to redeem rebates. If we only tried harder, they say, we might be able to conquer our "tendency to procrastinate and inability to follow multistep directions." Yes, that must be the problem. More »
credit cards
Nobody Knows The True Cost Of Credit
Credit card companies make it impossible for consumers or markets to know the true cost of credit, according to Georgetown Law professor Adam Levitin. The professor makes his point with a pop quiz:... what's the interest rate on the credit cards you're carrying? How about the default rate? Do you know what constitutes an event of default? What will trigger a penalty fee or surcharge? How much are those fees? If you're like most Americans, you probably cannot answer many or all of these questions.More »
food safety
FDA Is So Underfunded It Can't Protect Consumers
Today, an advisory panel to the FDA will present its findings developed over the past year. The result is "a scathing review of the state of the FDA" that says it's "so underfunded and understaffed that it's putting U.S. consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety." More »
testing
The Times brings us the story of vigilant consumers who successfully drove regulatory agencies to yank dangerous toys from store shelves. We have argued, along with the CPSC, that consumer testing is an utter waste of time, but consumers who are willing to bring their suspicious toys to a professional lab are able to have a surprising impact.
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Consumer Testing Spurs Toy Recalls
The Times brings us the story of vigilant consumers who successfully drove regulatory agencies to yank dangerous toys from store shelves. We have argued, along with the CPSC, that consumer testing is an utter waste of time, but consumers who are willing to bring their suspicious toys to a professional lab are able to have a surprising impact.
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unlocked
Verizon To Go GSM
Verizon's next generation of devices will run on the GSM network that will be used by AT&T and T-Mobile, meaning that in a few years, customers with unlocked phones will be able to move between the three providers without purchasing new equipment. Verizon currently uses a CDMA network along with Sprint, but last week announced that it would use the GSM-protocol LTE (Long Term Evolution) for their fourth-generation data services. Note, Verizon's LTE phones will not be backwards-compatible with the current GSM networks run by AT&T and T-Mobile. Both are expected to support LTE. And don't expect to see the new phones anytime soon... More »
identity theft
Finding Legal Lucre In Identity Theft
A slate of companies legitimately profit from identity theft by offering services that the three credit reporting agencies refuse to make easily accessible to consumers. The Times brings us the stories of three such companies that are sucking the venture capital teat all the way to market: More »
weights and measures
Walmart Fined $89,705 For Overcharging Wisconsin Customers
Walmart received an $89,705 fine after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection found 280 weights and measures violations at nine Walmart stores. The gargantuan retailer failed to subtract the weight of packaging materials, or "tare weight," when pricing bulk items like coffee, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.More »
economy
Fed Chair Warns Congress of Economic Slowdown, Continuing Mortgage Crisis
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke isn't feeling too optimistic about the economy these days, according to NPR. He warned Congress today of an coming economic slowdown tied to the subprime meltdown, the surge in energy prices, and oh yeah, did we mention the subprime meltdown? More »
consumer debt
Sorry, Your House Isn't An ATM Anymore
For years homeowners have been using their soaring-in-value homes as ATMs, drawing money out to finance whatever they wanted. No more. Falling home prices mean that your house is no longer a source of cash. More »
the sound of silence
Cellphone Jammers Are Effective, Illegal
The power to silence the annoying schmo yabbering away on their cellphone rests within a small black box the size of a cigarette pack. Selling for as little as $50, cellphone jammers can spew radio signals powerful enough to disrupt all nearby cell signals. The downside? It's illegal.The Federal Communication Commission says people who use cellphone jammers could be fined up to $11,000 for a first offense. Its enforcement bureau has prosecuted a handful of American companies for distributing the gadgets — and it also pursues their users.More »
cheese
California Police Seize 375 Pounds Of Bathtub Cheese
Meet Floribel Hernandez Cuenca and Manuel Martin. California police arrested the pair on "felony cheese making charges" after they tried to sell 375 pounds of bathtub cheese at an open-air market in San Bernardino. Bathtub cheese, otherwise known as "illegal soft cheese," can cause a range of maladies including listeria, salmonella, and everybody's favorite gut goblin, E. coli.The 375 pounds of seized illegal cheese included panela, queso fresco and queso oxaca varieties, the [California Department of Food and Agriculture] says. It was a significant find, the department says.More »
news from the swamp
Liveblogging The House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On The Arbitration Fairness Act
Consumers may finally escape from the clutches of mandatory binding arbitration if the House Judiciary Committee smiles favorably today upon the Arbitration Fairness Act. Arbitrators rule against consumers in more than 98% of all disputes; the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is currently meeting to consider H.R. 3010, which would restore consumers' rights to resolve disputes fairly and openly.
Today's hearing will feature two panels. Four separate law firms will testify, along with the American Arbitration Association and Public Citizen. Join us as we struggle to interpret the Committee's legalese - which may prove just as futile as binding arbitration.
(Photo: xsparrowx)
2:00: Video Link
2:05: Today's commentary is brought to you by both Carey and Meghann in the hope that two pairs of ears will be able to decipher the Committee's legalese.
2:41: FINALLY! The hearing has been called to order.
3:05 PM on Thu Oct 25 2007
By Carey
6,843 views,
14 comments
Latest by char: Consumerist, it's like snarky CSPAN. not that I mind, the CC hearing was SOLID GOLD. more »
weights and measures
1/3 Of South Florida Gas Pumps Failed State Accuracy Tests
More than a third South Florida's gas station pumps have failed the state's accuracy test in the past three years. An analysis of state inspections reveals that slightly more than half of the broken pumps err in favor of the consumer. The state inspects all pumps every 12-18 months.The Sun-Sentinel analyzed state inspection reports from 2004 to 2006. The analysis found 580 of more than 2,500 stations in South Florida had at least one pump dispensing more gas than customers paid to purchase, while 477 provided less fuel than they should.More »
