Three passengers who were aboard a Spirit Airlines flight when a brawl broke out over an overly loud boombox are now suing the airline, claiming that the airline “failed to protect” them from harm. [More]
IRS Now Accepting Cash Tax Payments At Your Local 7-Eleven
By April 8, 2016
Jonesing for a Slurpee and still need to pay your taxes? You can kill two birds with one stone with the Internal Revenue Service’s new payment option: taxpayers can fork over what they owe in cash at one of the participating 7,000 7-Eleven locations in the country. [More]
Senate Votes Against Minimum Legroom, Spacing Standards For Airline Seats
By April 8, 2016
Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) said he would try to get federal regulators to come up with limits for airline seat size and spacing. But yesterday, his fellow senators shot down that effort. [More]
More Colorado Communities Vote To Toss Restrictive State Law, Explore Municipal Broadband
By April 8, 2016
Colorado is one of the 20 states with some kind of industry-friendly, public-network-blocking law on the books. But in this state, there’s a catch: instead of being blocked altogether, state law prevents communities from running service unless local voters specifically authorize it first. [More]
Judge Rejects Proposed Settlement In Lyft Class Action
By April 8, 2016
To settle a class action filed by their drivers in California, ride-hailing service Lyft and the drivers’ attorney agreed to a settlement back in January. One flaw with the settlement was that it had been negotiated based on the company’s roster of drivers in June 2015, right before Lyft expanded significantly, including in California. The judge now won’t approve that figure, declaring it to be too low. [More]
Man Accused Of Giving Dunkin’ Donuts Drive-Thru Staff A Peep Show They Never Asked For
By April 8, 2016
There are many things fast food staff working in the drive-thru have probably had to see that they didn’t want to, we have no doubt. Workers at a New Hampshire Dunkin’ Donuts just added one more to their list, after a man allegedly cruised through the drive-thru while exposing his genitals. [More]
Hyundai Recalls 173K Sedans Because Power Steering Shouldn’t Just Stop Working
By April 8, 2016
Power steering helps drivers maneuver their vehicles by taking away some of the steering effort. When the system unexpectedly fails it can take drivers by surprise and increase the risk of a crash. For that reason Hyundai is recalling thousands of sedans. [More]
Comcast Tells Florida Customers They’ll Be Losing Channels; Won’t Say Which Ones
By April 8, 2016
Comcast giveth (by accident) and Comcast taketh away (via form letter with no pertinent information). The cable giant is telling some Florida customers that they will soon be losing channels they weren’t supposed to get, but isn’t telling them which ones. [More]
Maryland Passes Bill That Would Keep Pesticides Harmful To Bees Off Retail Shelves
By April 8, 2016
Although some retailers have stopped selling pesticides that are thought to be harmful to bees, amid concerns over the declining population of honeymakers, Maryland will become the first state to have a legal measure barring the products. [More]
Uber To Pay $25M To Settle Allegations It Misled Passengers On Drivers’ Safety, Fees
By April 8, 2016
Less than two months after Uber agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of misleading consumers about its “industry leading” safety procedures, the ride-hailing company is ready to put another case behind it. The company will pay $25 million to settle a civil lawsuit with the district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco over nearly identical allegations. [More]
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
By April 8, 2016
Here are seven of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness. [More]
Federal Judge: Government Didn’t Prove MetLife Is ‘Too Big To Fail’
By April 7, 2016
How can a financial company become a threat to the entire economy? If its failure would be catastrophic for the economy and the financial system, it’s considered “too big to fail.” That concept was formalized as part of the Dodd-Frank financial legislation of 2010, and the government has special requirements for institutions considered too big to fail. Today, a federal court ruling was unsealed where a judge ruled that the government didn’t sufficiently prove that one such company, MetLife, really fit the requirements. [More]
Boss Scam Toll Reaches $2.3 Billion In Less Than 3 Years
By April 7, 2016
In law enforcement, they call this scam the “Business Email Compromise.” We refer to it as the “Boss Scam” or “CEO Scam.” What happens is that someone contacts a person inside a business, pretending to be the chief executive officer or other boss-like person. They ask for one of two things: a wire transfer, or personal information about the employees under the real boss’s charge. Both scams are still going strong, and a new FBI report says that the scammers have taken at least $2.3 billion since 2013. [More]
Air France Offering Younger Customers A 30% Discount With New Rewards Program
By April 7, 2016
Here’s something we haven’t seen in the U.S. yet: Air France is intent on wooing the younger crowd of fliers, and is willing to bestow perks on them for being loyal passengers with a new rewards card. [More]
Pennsylvania Man Charged With Racketeering For $688M Payday Loan Operation
By April 7, 2016
A Pennsylvania man, known for helping to usher in the payday loan movement, has been charged with racketeering for his alleged part in a scheme that bilked more than $688 million from consumers and defrauded 1,400 others from a million-dollar settlement. [More]
Remember: Your Eye Doctor Should Give You Your Prescriptions After Your Exam
By April 7, 2016
Generally, you don’t visit your doctor and then buy the medicine that she prescribes right from her office. Contact lenses are different: you generally order those directly from your doctor’s office, and you often order glasses from the same place too. Yet you don’t actually have to: you have the right to actually buy your glasses or contacts anywhere that you want, whether it’s for a better price or because you really like Warby Parker frames. [More]
Would You Still Eat That If You Knew How Much Exercise It’ll Take To Burn It Off?
By April 7, 2016
There are times when we feel like throwing caloric caution to the wind and just chowing down on whatever we darn please. But if the evidence is staring you right in the face, with cold hard facts about how much exercise it will take to burn off that food or beverage, would you change your eating habits? [More]
Victoria’s Secret Parent Company Restructuring, Plans To Rely Less On Catalog
By April 7, 2016
Before the era of online commerce, catalogs were the holy grail of shopping without leaving your house. Top on the list for many consumers were the thick books full of Victoria’s Secret merchandise. While the retailer continues to send out those catalogs, the company’s parents has plans to step away from the iconic mailers in the future.
[More]
