Several years ago, Apple introduced Activation Lock, a program that allows consumers to render their devices useless once stolen, along with Activation Lock status checker, which allowed customers to determine if their phone had been secured with another user, a sign it may have been stolen. Now, it appears the latter option is no more. [More]
Quality & Safety
600,000 Audi Vehicles Recalled Over Fire Hazard, Airbag Issues
By 1.30.17
Audi’s parent company Volkswagen is kicking off the week in style, announcing two separate recalls — one involving a potential fire risk, the other for faulty airbags — covering a total of nearly 600,000 vehicles. [More]
FDA Once Again Finds Elevated Levels Of Belladonna In Some Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Tablets
By 1.27.17
Your infant is in pain from sore gums, and you want to do something to ease that pain, so maybe you consider a homeopathic treatment, with its heavily diluted active ingredients. What you may not know is that this seemingly innocuous teething tablet might contain unsafe levels of potentially dangerous belladonna. [More]
Scientists Reinstalling “Tasty” Genes In Supermarket Tomatoes
By 1.27.17
Researchers recently confirmed what food storage experts had long believed: Refrigerating tomatoes causes them to lose flavor. Now scientists are hoping that some genetic tinkering will turn blah supermarket tomatoes into flavorful rivals to their farm-fresh cousins. [More]
Nexus 5X Owners Say Device Boot-Looping Kills Phones; Getting Runaround From LG
By 1.27.17
Even in an age where you’re expected to regularly shell out hundreds of dollars on a new smartphone, you expect each new pricey device to last at least a year before becoming worthless. Yet, some owners of relatively new Nexus 5X phones tell Consumerist that their smartphones have unexpectedly been rendered useless. Making matters worse, the manufacturer is allegedly giving them the runaround, leaving them without a phone for months. [More]
U.S. Poultry Industry Facing New Bird Flu Strain Currently Wreaking Havoc Overseas
By 1.27.17
A very familiar threat could be winging its way toward U.S. poultry farms, and it’s got the industry more than a little bit worried: there’s a new strain of avian flu speeding across Europe and Asia, forcing farmers to destroy tens of millions of infected birds. [More]
Are You Having Trouble Getting Your Recalled Samsung Washer Fixed? Tell Us About It
By 1.26.17
Late last year, Samsung announced its second major recall in less than a year by calling back more than 2.8 million top-loading washing machines after customers complained about violent, almost explosive vibrations. While the company promised to fix the devices or provide refunds to owners, three months later, things apparently haven’t gone as planned, leading to a class-action seeking lawsuit. To that end, we’d like to hear from people who have experienced problems with Samsung’s recall process. [More]
What Can You Do When The Utility Company Says You Owe A Bill You Can’t Pay?
By 1.26.17 — Updated: 1.27.17
Having your gas cut off in the middle of winter isn’t just an annoyance; it can put your health and life at risk. So when your utility company claims you owe them thousands of dollars, you might feel pressured into paying just to keep warm. If you try to dispute the bill and refuse to pay, you may be without heat for months. But if you make a deal to pay some of what you allegedly owe, will you be able to plead your case later? [More]
Whole Foods Closes Regional Kitchens, Says It Isn’t Related To Sanitation Problems
By 1.25.17
For prepared food items in its stores along the East Coast, Whole Foods uses regional kitchens, each of which cooks various in-house items and distributes them to dozens of stores. The company recently announced that it’s closing the facilities in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia, for reasons that have nothing to do with past sanitation issues in one of them. Nope. [More]
Target Unveils Policy Aimed At Removing Potentially Harmful Chemicals From Products
By 1.25.17
The ingredient lists dotting the aisles of Target could soon get a makeover, one aimed not only at making the lists easier to read, but reducing the amount and types of chemicals used. [More]
Volkswagen’s “Dirty Diesels” Wait For A Fix In Purgatory’s Parking Lot
By 1.25.17
While Volkswagen tries to figure out a solution to make its cheating diesel engines pollute less, the automaker is still buying back cars from individual owners who chose that option and has to put those cars somewhere. It turns out that “somewhere” is actually several places, including the parking lot of the long-abandoned Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions and Pistons. [More]
New Mexico Sues 15 Carmakers, Takata For Concealing Deadly Airbag Defects; Seeks $10K/Day
By 1.25.17
Just when you thought Takata’s massive shrapnel-shooting airbag debacle was beginning to wind down after the company settled federal criminal charges for $1 billion, New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against the company and 15 car companies for allegedly covering up the deadly defect. [More]
CPSC: Risk of Fire Is Real, And We Really Need To Modernize The Standards For Lithium-Ion Batteries
By 1.24.17
You’re probably within the explosion radius of at least once device containing a rechargeable lithium-ion battery right now, maybe even holding it on your lap or close to your face. Elliot Kaye, chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, wants to make sure that all of the rechargeable devices in your life are safer and less likely to burst into flames than they are now. [More]
IKEA Recalling Beach Chairs Worldwide Because Lounging Shouldn’t Be Dangerous
By 1.24.17
When you’re enjoying a day at the beach or a gorgeous day in the backyard, there’s nothing so relaxing as leaning back in your lounge chair and letting your worries go. What’s not so relaxing is having that chair collapse while you’re sitting in it and pinch your fingers, which is why IKEA is recalling a popular beach chair sold worldwide. [More]
HP Expands Lithium-Ion Battery Recall To Include 101,000 Additional Laptops
By 1.24.17
Seven months after HP recalled 41,000 laptops because the lithium-ion batteries could overheat, causing explosions and fires, the company is expanding the recall to cover 101,000 additional batteries in HP and Compaq computers. [More]
Pricey Wearable Baby Monitors May Be Better At Giving Parents Anxiety Than Monitoring Babies
By 1.24.17 — Updated: 1.25.17
Raising a baby can be pretty nerve-wracking, especially for first-time parents. Babies make weird sounds, do bizarre things, and can’t describe when something’s actually wrong. Meanwhile, it’s 2017 and our solution to basically every old problem is: “Have you tried throwing new technology at it?” [More]
Volkswagen Dealers To Receive $1.85M Each In “Dieselgate” Settlement
By 1.24.17
The final pieces of Volkswagen’s efforts to put the “Dieselgate” scandal behind it are beginning to fall into place, as a judge approved yet another billion-dollar settlement from the carmaker, this time relating to compensating dealers affected by the carmaker’s decision to equip more than 500,000 vehicles equipped with “defeat devices” used to skirt emission standards. [More]
Feds: No Proof That ‘Breathometer’ Blood Alcohol Content Test Actually Works
By 1.23.17
The Breathometer promised to be a pocket-sized law-enforcement-grade device that could be used to accurately measure blood alcohol levels to determine if the user is sober enough to drive. It’s a good enough idea that it won over the panel on Shark Tank, but according to federal regulators, the only thing you can definitely say about this device is that it does fit in your pocket. [More]
