UPDATE: Our colleagues at Consumer Reports have decided to suspend the “Recommended” ratings it had previously given to the Passat diesel and Jetta diesel. [More]
Government Policy
Feds Say Vision-Improvement App Not Backed By Science
By 9.17.15
They say that staring at a computer for hours at a time can ruin you vision, so it might be hard to swallow claims that a mobile app can improve your vision… especially when science doesn’t back it up. [More]
American Airlines Fined $20K For Failing To Adequately Compensate Bumped Passengers
By 9.17.15
If you get bumped from a flight because the airline overbooked the plane, you usually get some sort of compensation — money or vouchers for future flights — in exchange for having to change your travel plans. But federal regulators say American Airlines screwed up when it bumped nearly a dozen passengers from a Miami-to-London flight and failed to tell them why or offer them anything for their troubles. [More]
TV Stations & Radios Can Now Just Tell You To Go Online For Contest Rules
By 9.17.15
In 1976, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the so-called “Contest Rule,” which sought to increase transparency in on-air contests by requiring that TV and radio broadcasters disclose the terms of the contest over the air. And even though there have been huge technological and cultural changes in the nearly 40 years since, allowing shows to also put their rules online, broadcasters must still explain them on air. That’s about to change. [More]
Government And Industry Get Together At FCC Workshop To Figure Out How To Kill Robocalls Already
By 9.16.15
Robocalls suck. They have continued to suck for a very long time. Everyone hates them. The FCC has been trying to make them go away for many months now, and to that end they held a workshop today in Washington, DC bringing together regulators, consumer advocates, and industry executives to talk about what everyone can do to make these lousy, often-fraudulent annoyances go away. [More]
AT&T Unlimited Data Plan Now Tops Out At 22GB/Month Before Throttling
By 9.16.15
AT&T, which is currently fighting the Federal Communications Commission over a possible $100 million penalty for its practice of throttling data speeds for customers with so-called “unlimited” data plans if they used up more than 5 gigabytes of LTE data in a month, has decided to increase that monthly usage threshold all the way up to 22GB. [More]
CFPB Sues Debt Relief Firm, Alleging It Bilked Customers For $67M
By 9.15.15
Being in debt can be paralyzing, leaving some people with the feeling like they’ll never climb their way out of the hole. So when a company promises it can help ease that burden, it might some like a good idea to spend even more money in the hope that you’ll ultimately be pointed in the right financial direction. Federal regulators say one debt relief operation took in $67 million from customers in need of help, but most of that money just went to the firm’s fees while the customers’ debts continued to pile up. [More]
RJ Reynolds Ordered To Stop Selling 4 Cigarette Brands
By 9.15.15
The nation’s top cigarette manufacturer must stop selling four products after federal regulators determined RJ Reynolds failed to show the brands did not pose increased health risks compared to items already on the market. [More]
No, You Shouldn’t Incorporate And Register Your Car Tax-Free In Montana
By 9.14.15
Car ownership is fun and convenient, but paying sales tax, use tax, or personal property tax on your car is expensive and annoying. What if you could avoid that, and avoid annual car inspections, just by filling out a little bit of paperwork? That’s the premise of companies that offer to help you incorporate in Montana, have your corporation own the vehicle, and pay no taxes. [More]
College-Bound Students Can Fill Out Their FAFSA Forms 3 Months Earlier Starting Next Year
By 9.14.15
Each year Consumerist reminds college-bound students and their families that billions of dollars in college aid will go unclaimed because so many people won’t take the time to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] form. But a new initiative by the Department of Education aims to change that by revamping the application process: starting it earlier and making it easier to fill out. [More]
Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses Fiat Chrysler Of Hiding Safety Issues To Increase Stock Value
By 9.14.15
Fiat Chrysler once again finds itself in the legal doghouse after some of its investors filed a class-action suit, claiming the automaker deceived them by withholding information related to the safety and computer problems in millions of vehicles in order to inflate the price of company stock. [More]
Driver’s Licenses From 4 States Could Soon Be Useless For Getting Through Airport Security
By 9.14.15
At some point in the next year, millions of Americans may need to start carrying a second form of ID with them when they go to the airport, as driver’s licenses from four states and one U.S. territory are not currently compliant with federal security standards. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Pay The IRS With A Check For $100 Million Anymore
By 9.14.15
You there! The one ready to write a big, fat check to the Internal Revenue Service — drop that pen. The agency has announced that it will no longer accept checks for $100 million, so you’ll just have to write more than one check. So yeah, you can go ahead and pick that pen up again now. [More]
Automakers Commit To Making Sensor-Based Emergency Braking Systems Standard In Vehicles
By 9.14.15
Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced plans to change its vehicle safety rating program to include two sensor-based automatic emergency braking systems. While the agency didn’t go so far as to mandate automakers’ use of the systems, 10 manufacturers recently pledged to do so. [More]
Lyft & First National Bank Busted For Forcing Customers To Accept Robocalls & Spam Text
By 9.11.15
As we recently pointed out with the PayPal terms of service, it’s against the law for a company to require that its customers to accept spam text messages and pre-recorded, auto-dialed robocalls. Someone should have forwarded that message on to Lyft and First National Bank. The FCC has cited both companies for forcing their customers to agree to unwanted marketing messages, in violation of federal law. [More]
Regulators Could Call On Other Parts Makers To Increase Production Of Replacement Takata Airbag Inflators
By 9.11.15
Just days after federal regulators announced they would hold a public meeting to once again address the slow replacement of defective, shrapnel-shooting, Takata-produced airbags linked to eight deaths and hundreds of injuries, officials with the agency outlined what steps it could take to finally coordinate the messy recall. [More]
For-Profit Colleges Lead The Way On Loan Defaults: Report
By 9.11.15
During the Great Recession, the growing industry of for-profit colleges promised millions of Americans a path to a higher education. But the high tuitions charged by many schools sent U.S. student loan debt soaring to more than $1.2 trillion. A new report claims that while for-profit schools charged top-dollar, many students were getting a cut-rate education, making it difficult to obtain jobs that will allow them to pay down this debt.
[More]
Leaked Photo Leads To 3-D Printed Copies Of TSA’s Master Keys For Approved Luggage Locks
By 9.10.15
The keys to the Transportation Security Administration luggage kingdom can now be printed on a 3-D printer, thanks to photos published on the Internet of the agency’s master keys, the ones that can unlock any number of approved locks travelers might use to keep their belongings safe. [More]
