Think the arbitration clause in a contract is unfair? Go ahead and contest it! Of course, you shouldn’t expect to win, since the Supreme Court has just ruled that it’s just fine for the arbitrator to decide whether the clause is fair. [More]
Government Policy
Yankees And Mets Among Baseball's Biggest Online Ticket Fee Gougers
By 6.23.10
A new study released by Rep. Weiner shows that Yankees and Mets fans are bleeding more than just their team colors, they’re also getting gouged with some of the highest online ticketing fees in baseball. [More]
Half-A-Dozen Companies Knew About Tainted Drywall, But Stayed Mum And Kept Selling It
By 6.23.10
Newly released court documents indicate that over a half-dozen companies knew about the rotten egg smells exuding from Chinese drywall since 2006, but they stayed quiet and kept selling the junk. [More]
Flavored Cigarettes Banned As Of Today
By 6.23.10
New rules about tobacco marketing that targets young people go into effect this week as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act. Among the rules: No candy- or fruit-flavored cigarettes. [More]
Verizon Blames Improper Billing Of Non-Verizon Customers On Human Error
By 6.23.10
Yesterday, we reported on the Attorney General of Wisconsin filing a lawsuit against Verizon for sending bills to people who had never subscribed to any Verizon services. Today, a rep for Big V contacted Consumerist to give the telecom titan’s side of the story. [More]
1,300 Prison Inmates Received $9 Million In Home Buyer Tax Credit
By 6.23.10
As always happens when the government puts tons of cash up for grabs, scam-happy people will line up to take advantage of it. And a new report says that nearly 10% of the 15,000 folks caught scamming the government for the recent home buyer tax credit were doing it from behind bars. [More]
The DOT Wants Your Opinion On Proposed In-Flight Peanut Ban
By 6.23.10
A couple weeks back we wrote about how the Dept. of Transportation was considering a possible ban on peanuts on airplanes and what resulted was easily one of the site’s more divisive debates. Now, as the DOT and FAA continue to mull over this plan — and consider other options — the regulators say they want to hear from you, the citizens of these United States of America. [More]
38,700 Lbs. Of Ground Beef Recalled For Possible E. Coli Contamination
By 6.23.10
Yesterday, the Dept. of Agriculture’s Food Safety & Inspection Service announced two separate recalls — one in California and one in New York — totaling nearly 40,000 pounds of ground beef after learning that the batches of meat could have been contaminated with the E. coli bacteria. [More]
New FTC Lightbulb Labels Still Won't Explain What A Lumen Is
By 6.22.10
If all of the new lightbulbs — CFLs, LEDs and more — have left you wondering whether switching technologies is a bright idea, the government is here to help. Sort of. Starting next year, the Federal Trade Commission plans to mandate new labels for all lightbulbs, modeled after the nutrition labels on most packaged foods. There’s just one problem: If you don’t know what a lumen is, or how it relates to a watt, the labels may not shed much light on the subject. [More]
Self-Insured Premiums Jump By 20%, Triggering Warning From White House
By 6.22.10
About 10% of respondents in our informal poll yesterday about health insurance said they pay their own premiums, and according to a new poll from Kaiser Survey, three quarters of those people just faced a premium increase of 20% on average. The recent hikes have prompted the White House to say it will “sternly warn industry executives” today that insurers shouldn’t try to use the new health care law as an excuse to gouge customers, according to the New York Times. [More]
NY State Approves $4.35/Pack Tax On Cigarettes
By 6.22.10
As we reported over the weekend, the NY State Legislature was considering a proposal to increase the state’s already high $2.75/pack tax on cigarettes by $1.60. And last night, the ayes had it over the coughing and hacking nos, making New York the most expensive place to smoke in the U.S. [More]
Coming Soon, A Way To Find Out How That Online Ad Knows What You Like
By 6.22.10
Last year the FTC asked online marketers to regulate targeted advertising, so in an attempt to avoid new regulatory policies the major ad industry groups have gotten together to launch a new service. Starting late summer, when a targeted ad from a participating marketer appears on your screen, you’ll be able to click a small icon somewhere on the ad and see your profile on that marketer’s site. You’ll also be able to then opt out of future ads from that ad network, reports Wired. [More]
National Pork Board Attempting To Halt Sales Of Canned Unicorn Meat
By 6.22.10
The ever-vigilant folks at the National Pork Board are out to put an end to the sale of Radiant Farms’ canned unicorn meat. But it’s not because they want to stop the slaughter of the one-horned flying horses, it’s because they say the product infringes on their “other white meat” trademark. [More]
NYC Store's Vigilante Justice Against Shoplifters May Be Extortion, Or Maybe Not
By 6.21.10
The NYT says that a local independent supermarket in Queens has an interesting way of dealing with shoplifters. If they catch you, the store’s security guards take your ID, photograph you and then fine you. If you refuse to give up the money (usually $400, according to the manager), the workers threaten to post your picture and call the police. [More]
NYC Forces Retailers To Stop Selling Illegal Knives
By 6.21.10
If you were planning on picking up a sturdy switchblade or gravity knife from one of the Home Depots in NYC for your next home improvement project, or because you wanted to stab someone, you should note that they’re no longer available. That’s because last week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office persuaded that store and 13 other retailers to stop selling such knives. They’re generally illegal in New York, and the retailers have agreed to surrender their inventory and forfeit any profits they made from illegal knife sales over the past four years. [More]
Special Lovemaking Coffee Can Cause Sudden Drop In Blood Pressure, Lovemaking
By 6.21.10
If you want to be a passionate lover, or at least a noticeably hyper one, of course you should drink a lot of coffee before hitting the sheets. That’s just common sense. But the FDA says that a specially marketed aphrodisiac coffee, Magic Power Coffee, can interfere with prescription drugs and cause a dramatic loss of blood pressure. [More]
BP Document Puts Early Spill Estimate At Up To 100K Barrels A Day
By 6.21.10
Though British Petroleum’s own CEO has made public statements like “The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into [the Gulf of Mexico] is tiny in relation to the total water volume,” and the always classic “The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest,” a recently released internal document shows that BP’s initial estimates of the ongoing oil spill were outright apocalyptic. [More]
Italy Recalls 70,000 "Blue" Balls Of Mozzarella
By 6.21.10
It may seem like we’re going for cheap innuendo in the headline — and on some level, we are — but this time it’s also accurate. Authorities in Italy have removed 70,000 balls of mozzarella from stores in Turin (or Torino, if you’re not into the whole Anglicizing thing) after customers complained of a bluish tint to the spheres. [More]
