It’s always a surprise as to what you’re gonna get when you pop quarters into a toy vending machine, but there are some prizes that no parent wants dispensed to their kid. Say, blood pressure medication. [More]
Quality & Safety
Pizza Shop Customer Claims Daughter Received Medication From Toy Machine
By 10.25.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Judge Approves VW’s $15B Settlement, Still No Fix For Affected Vehicles
By 10.25.16
It’s official: Volkswagen will begin the process of buying back thousands of vehicles equipped with “defeat devices” designed to skirt federal emission standards after a judge signed off on a proposed $15 billion settlement between the carmaker and federal regulators on Tuesday. [More]
The Inside Story Of How Samsung Botched The Galaxy Note 7 Recall
By 10.24.16
One important decision by Samsung executives turned the Galaxy Note 7 from a big but manageable product defect to a brand-destroying disaster. Reports from all over the world were coming in of Galaxy Note 7 fires, along with pressure from mobile carriers and from customers to do something about it. Yet the company didn’t know exactly what was causing the batteries to explode. [More]
Facebook Relaunches “Safety Center” Anti-Bullying Hub With More Resources
By 10.24.16
Six years ago Facebook launched The Safety Center as a way to address bullying and provide users with copies of the social network’s community standards to ensure that anyone using the site can do so safely. Today, the company relaunched the Center and updated its Bullying Prevention Hub in order to reach more of its 1.7 billion users. [More]
Samsung Tries To Move Past Galaxy Note 7 Debacle With Discounts On Note 8 In South Korea
By 10.24.16
Samsung may have discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone earlier this month after a massive recall linked to reports that the devices had the tendency to overheat and explode, but that doesn’t mean the tech company is ready to throw in the towel on the entire Galaxy Note line. In fact, a new report suggests the company is still planning a new version of the devices and offering customers in South Korea a discount if they stick around. [More]
American Airlines Flight Delayed After 2 Passengers Walked Onto Plane Without Showing Boarding Passes
By 10.24.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
You know that feeling you get when you realize you’ve left the car unlocked overnight? That may be what American Airlines felt like after two passengers were able to walk onto an apparently unlocked plane sitting at Philadelphia International Airport without showing anyone their boarding passes. [More]
Target Recalls 127K Halloween Window Clings Over Choking Hazard
By 10.21.16
One of the easiest — and less messy — ways to decorate for any holiday is to slap a few plastic clings to your windows, and if those decorations happen to include lights, even better. Except, of course, if you bought some of those products from Target, as the retailer has recalled 127,000 Halloween-themed LED gel clings. [More]
Apple Investigating Report Of iPhone 7 Catching Fire
By 10.21.16
While we’ve heard numerous reports of Samsung smartphones and tablets overheating and catching fire — sometimes destroying property and injuring customers — now Apple is on the receiving end of at least one similar report. [More]
Eleventh U.S. Death Linked To Takata Airbags
By 10.21.16
An eleventh person has died in the United States as a result of a shrapnel-shooting Takata airbag, according to federal safety regulators. [More]
Authorities In Detroit Investigating Hepatitis A Cases Linked To Whole Foods
By 10.20.16
Public health authorities in Detroit are raising the food safety alarm: anyone who bought prepared food at the Whole Foods store at 115 Mack Ave in midtown should seek medical attention, since they may have been exposed to Hepatitis A. While details are fuzzy, they know that the span from Oct. 6-10 is when any exposure would have happened. [More]
Galaxy Note 7 Owners Unhappy With Samsung’s Handling Of Global Recall
By 10.20.16
One of the early victims of an exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 said that the company offered to cover his expenses, including damage to the hotel room he was staying in at the time his phone caught fire. Now that the phone has been officially recalled and Samsung is in crisis, customers report that Samsung hasn’t handled customers whose phones have actually caught fire very well. [More]
Hyundai Recalls 63K Sedans Because Sunroof Glass Shouldn’t Fly Off While Driving
By 10.20.16
Drivers of vehicles with panoramic sunroofs might choose to roll back the glass on a nice day to get a bit of fresh air. But the key here, is that the drivers get to choose when to do this. That’s apparently not the case for more than 62,000 recently recalled Hyundai vehicles, as the glass from the sunroof has been found to fly off the vehicle while the car is in motion. [More]
Tesla To Make New Cars Self-Driving, Won’t Actually Turn The System On
By 10.20.16
Tesla’s vehicles already come with Autopilot, a semi-autonomous, assisted steering feature that is not fully hands-off. But in the not so distant future, the electric carmaker plans to equip all of its cars with fully autonomous driving capabilities. [More]
Apple: 90% Of “Apple” Power Accessories Sold On Amazon Are Fake
By 10.19.16 — Updated: 10.20.16
For years, Amazon and Apple have fought their own battles when it comes to counterfeit products: third-party retailers selling lookalike Apple accessories and companies hawking fake name-brand products on the e-commerce site. Now, the two issues have come together, with a lawsuit claiming that 90% of the supposed Apple power accessories listed on the site are fake. [More]
Senator Wants To Know What’s Up With Samsung’s Lithium-Ion Batteries
By 10.19.16
While Samsung says it tested the batteries used in its now recalled and defunct Galaxy Note 7 devices before putting them in consumers’ hands, there are still plenty of unanswered questions related to how such a dangerous problem — exploding phones — could have gone unnoticed. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Recalls 257K Vehicles Over Airbag, Fire Risks
By 10.19.16
Fiat Chrysler hasn’t exactly been having a great year when it comes to vehicle safety and recalls — from cars that tend to roll away because of confusing gear shifts to a slew of vehicles with airbag issues. Those woes continued today as the carmaker announced two separate recalls — totaling more than 257,000 vehicles — involving airbags that might not deploy and wiring issues that could cause a fire. [More]
Galaxy Note 7 Owners Sue Samsung After Being Left Without Phones For Weeks
By 10.18.16
Before any official recall was announced, Samsung offered replacement devices or refunds to owners of potentially explosive Galaxy Note 7 phones, but some customers maintain that the company still left them hanging without a smartphone for too long. [More]
