Automakers of cars equipped with defective Takata airbags have just a week to stockpile enough replacement parts to fix the vehicles deemed to be the most at risk for a rupture. That is, all of the carmakers beside BMW, which now has five additional months, after tests of its chosen replacement parts failed safety tests. [More]
Government Policy
Former Corinthian College Students To Have Easier Time Getting Student Loan Discharges
By 3.25.16
For nearly a year, advocates and lawmakers have shared their dissatisfaction with the Department of Education’s pace and complicated process on discharging the student loan debt for students of now-defunct for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges. Today, the Department is expected to clear a path for debt relief for these students after determining that state investigations into the schools found enough proof that the company widely misled students about their futures if they attended the schools. [More]
Gree Must Pay Record $15.45M CPSC Penalty For Self-Immolating Dehumidifiers
By 3.25.16
This morning at the Consumer Federation of America’s Consumer Assembly in Washington, DC, Consumer Products Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye announced a record civil penalty against Gree Electric Appliances, the manufacturer of millions of particularly flammable dehumidifiers that were recalled in 2013 and 2014. The company has been ordered to pay $15.45 million to the CPSC to settle charges that they failed to report fires to the Commission, “knowingly made misrepresentations to CPSC staff,” and put UL safety marks on products that didn’t meet UL standards. [More]
Netflix Admits To Throttling Its Own Streams On AT&T, Verizon Wireless Because Data Caps
By 3.25.16
If you have a network connection of a certain speed available on your phone, you expect receive data at roughly that speed, more or less. That’s how it works. Except that’s not how it’s been working for Netflix: the popular streaming video service was moving at a fraction of what users expected, on Verizon and AT&T networks. Consumers were all ready to line up and blame their mobile carriers, but the wireless companies weren’t the ones screwing around with anything, as it turns out. Netflix was. [More]
Judge Scolds FTC For Maybe Telling Amazon Exec What To Say In Staples-Office Depot Hearing
By 3.24.16
Is Amazon a valid competitor to Staples and Office Depot for the business of corporate office supply customers? In a hearing in the federal lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission has filed against the two retailers, the government argues that it isn’t yet, and the two stores argue that it is, or soon will be. Yesterday, an attorney for Staples accused the FTC of telling an Amazon executive what to say in his testimony about his company’s plans for office supply domination, earning criticism from the judge. [More]
Gerber Recalls Two Baby Food Pouch Varieties Because You Shouldn’t Feed Your Kid Anything Spoiled
By 3.24.16
Giving your child a pouch of baby food can make for a convenient and less messy dinner. But you know what might make that dinner a little bit less delicious? Coming down with an upset stomach and then finding out what’s inside that pouch is spoiled. For that reason, Gerber announced the recall of select Organic pouch products. [More]
Maker Of Super-Powerful Desktop Magnets Must Recall Pieces, Provide Refunds
By 3.24.16
Nearly four years after federal regulators dealt a swift blow to the makers of super-powerful desktop magnetic toys Buckyballs, filing a lawsuit against the company and persuading retailers to stop selling the dangerous toys, a Colorado-based company has been ordered to recall similarly powerful magnets that can cause fatal injuries when swallowed. [More]
Banks Are The Key To Stopping Scammers That Target One In Five Older Americans
By 3.23.16
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million time: those who attempt – and often succeed – at scamming senior citizens of their savings are the worst of the worst when it comes to already unsavory, immoral fraudsters. Despite regulators’ attempts to take these operations out of commission, one in five older Americans report being the victims of financial exploitations either by ne’er-do-wells or family members. [More]
Why Does My Alcohol-Free Product List Alcohol As An Ingredient?
By 3.23.16
When shopping for personal care products like antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer, many customers look for brands that don’t contain skin-drying alcohol. So what happens when you pick up an item that’s clearly marked “alcohol-free,” but upon closer inspection, the ingredients list includes at least one “alcohol” component? [More]
The Cable Industry Is Either Incredibly Stupid, Or Thinks You Are Really Gullible
By 3.23.16
The Comcast-connected faux grassroots group created to protect the cable industry’s $20 billion annual revenue stream of set-top box rental fees is now claiming that it caught FCC Chair Tom Wheeler in a real “gotcha” moment, proving that there is indeed no need for competition on these devices. But either this group has no idea what it’s talking about, or it thinks the American consumer is incredibly gullible. [More]
Servicemembers Twice As Likely To Submit Complaints About Unsavory Debt Collection Practices
By 3.22.16
While millions of Americans are no strangers to questionable debt-collection practices, a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that the men and women in the armed forces are twice as likely than their civilian counterparts to file a complaint when a collector crosses the line.
[More]
Congressional Committee Grills FCC About The Way They Do The Things They Do
By 3.22.16
Agencies like the FCC operate under the auspices of Congress, which has oversight authority. And when an agency like the FCC touches a political third rail — in their case, regulation of powerful communications companies — they can expect to have to answer to Congress. Sometimes repeatedly. And so the FCC found itself on Capitol Hill today, being grilled by a panel of passionate Representatives. [More]
New Warning Labels Coming To Opioid Painkillers
By 3.22.16
A week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called on physicians to stop prescribing opioid painkillers when less-problematic therapeutic treatments will do the trick, another federal agency is joining in the effort to alert consumers to the potential risks of using these frequently prescribed medications. [More]
Verizon: We Still Hate Net Neutrality And Hope It Loses, But We Love Net Neutrality!
By 3.22.16
Verizon is at it again: with a ruling on net neutrality likely to show up in the next few weeks, they are falling all over themselves to talk about how much they love net neutrality and what it protects, while explaining that they hate the rule that’s been put in place to protect net neutrality, and think it could ruin everything. [More]
Authorities Searching For Flight Attendant Accused Of Leaving Bag Full Of Cocaine At LAX
By 3.22.16
Although airline personnel and airport employees may not have to take off their shoes or undergo the same security procedures as travelers, there are still checks in place to keep workers from carrying whatever they want onto planes — like, say, a bag full of cocaine. [More]
Toyota Promises Automatic Braking Will Be Standard In Most Models By 2017
By 3.22.16
Just days after automakers and federal regulators reached a deal that would make forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking standard in vehicles by 2022, Toyota says it’ll do one better — make these safety features standard years ahead of schedule.
[More]
Group Accuses ‘Your Baby Can Read’ Creators Of Violating False Advertising Settlement With ‘Your Baby Can Learn’
By 3.22.16
Nearly two years ago, the creators of the popular Your Baby Can Read! series of videos put an end to a Federal Trade Commission deceptive advertising complaint by agreeing to cease making unsubstantiated claims about any product that purports to teach kids how to read. But the advocacy group that first spurred the FTC into action says that the creators of this program are violating that 2014 deal. [More]
Alaska Airlines Now Lets You Use Frequent Flyer Miles For TSA PreCheck Membership
By 3.22.16
It’s been two years since the Transportation Security Administration declared that the PreCheck airport security fast lanes — no removing shoes, no taking your laptop out of your bag — is only for paying customers. Now Alaska Airlines is letting its frequent fliers use their airline miles to pay the PreCheck membership fee.
