As we told you in September, a woman is suing a debt collector for her husband’s final heart attack and death. [More]
Government Policy
FTC Online Mall Teaches Tweens About Online Privacy, Scammers
By 12.14.09
This month, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled You Are Here, a virtual mall where kids can learn to avoid online scams, spot misleading ads, and learn good habits to be smart consumers. [More]
Videodrome #3: Paper Puppet Reenactments Of Removed YouTubes
By 12.14.09
Faster! Leaner! Meaner! Ben Popken rounds up Consumerist.com’s top stories of the week, from psychotic stewardesses to deadly foreclosures. This week we introduce a new feature: printing out the internet and turning it into a puppet show. [More]
Recent Class Action Settlement Roundup
By 12.13.09
Motorola handsets, cell phone ringtones, BP propane, Sony VAIO laptops, and the hormone replacement medication Estratest: if you purchased any of these items, you could be eligible for some recently settled class actions. Are you? Well, there’s only one way to find out. [More]
Kill Slightly Fewer Trees By Leaving Junk Mail Lists
By 12.13.09
Thanks to e-mail and online bill payments, mailboxes are a lot less personal than they used to be. According to WalletPop, each week, the average American receives 1.5 pieces of mail they might actually be interested in (yes, including bills), but 16 pieces of junk mail. Evidently, “OCCUPANT” is a pretty popular guy. But when unwanted solicitations are 90% of what’s in our mailboxes, why do they keep on coming? How can you make them stop? [More]
State Of California Doesn't Know How To Accept $14 Fee
By 12.12.09
Reader Justin may have discovered the real reason for California’s fiscal crisis. He owes the DMV $14, but says that the DMV doesn’t seem to want his money. Which is strange, since this is the opposite of how most people think of the DMV. Maybe they don’t have any lines, either. [More]
House Passes Financial Reform Bill
By 12.11.09
The House of Representatives today passed the Wall Street Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with a 223-202 vote. No Republicans voted for the bill, and 27 Democrats joined the nay column, If passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, the bill would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and either fix a broken financial system or lead to a government takeover of Wall Street, depending on your perspective. [More]
Update: Accidental "New Moon" Taping Felony Charges Dropped
By 12.11.09
The felony piracy charges against a woman who accidentally taped a few minutes of the film “New Moon” while taking videos of her sister’s birthday party have been dropped. The incident occurred at a theater in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, and Cook County prosecutors announced today that they have dropped the case. [More]
Action Alert: Stop The CFPA Gutting
By 12.11.09
Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick (D) is trying to abort the the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CPFA). If you care about this agency getting established, call your Reps now (call1-877-445-1317 to get connected directly to your Reps office) and tell them to oppose the Minnick amendment to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009”, H.R. 4173 that would strip out the provision creating the CFPA. UPDATE: The amendment was rejected, 222 to 208. [More]
Wells Fargo Steps Up, Animals Are Safe
By 12.11.09
Wells Fargo promised to secure care for the animals left without food and water when a Rhode Island sanctuary for abandoned beasts was foreclosed on. [More]
Wireless Industry Needs Better Oversight From FCC, Says Government Audit
By 12.10.09
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just completed a survey of wireless customers and a review of the “tens of thousands” of complaints made to the FCC every year, and they’ve reached a verdict: the FCC needs to step up and provide a better way for consumers to get help. [More]
BlueHippo Can't Pay Bills, Switches To Chapter 7, May Finally Die
By 12.10.09
A chain of events over the last month does not bode well for the continued existence of the no-credit-check, allegedly scammy computer purveyor BlueHippo. When the FTC found the company in contempt of its agreement to stop scamming people, Bluehippo’s payment processor froze the company’s funds with little notice. The company was unable to pay its bills and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now, the company has changed to a Chapter 7 filing (liquidation) and will most likely go out of business. [More]
"Public Option" Removed From Senate Health Care Reform Proposal
By 12.9.09
Senate Democrats have just hammered out a new version of their proposed health care reform proposal, and as a compromise they’ve removed the part about requiring a government-run insurance program. The public option is still part of the proposal, but now it will only be triggered if the private sector doesn’t create some new national nonprofit policies as spelled out by the government. [More]
FTC Sues "Interest-Reduction" Robocallers
By 12.9.09
So, all telemarketing robocalls magically vanished a few months ago when the FTC banned them, right? Um, not quite. There are still companies out there exploiting their metallic minions in the name of feeding deceptive information to consumers. This month, the FTC filed suit against three companies that were pumping out “hundreds of thousands or even millions” of calls offering questionable interest-rate reduction services. [More]
Give Us Your Questions For The White House: Small Business Edition
By 12.9.09
Yesterday, President Obama spoke at the Brookings Institute about his administration’s plan for spurring job growth in our not-quite-a-recession-anymore-but-still-pretty-much-a-recession. Now they’ve invited Consumerist to bring our readers’ questions about the program to Austan Goolsbee, the staff director and chief economist on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. [More]
$700 Billion Bank Bailout Extended Until 2010
By 12.9.09
The administration announced it’s extending the $700 billion financial bailout program until next fall. The Treasury said it’s important to hold onto money and have it available in case any new catasrophes slam our financial system: [More]
UPDATED: No, Wells Fargo, You Can't Leave Animals To Die
By 12.9.09
Wells Fargo foreclosed on a Rhode Island shelter for abandoned animals, barred former owner Dan MacKenzie from entering the property, and seems to be just letting the animals fend for themselves, the Providence Journal reports. [More]
