Ever heard of price-fixing chocolate? How about fish or rubber shoes? Those are just a few of the price-fixing schemes found by competition authorities in a record-breaking year of anti-trust abuse. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
![Buckyballs Founder Could Be Found Personally Liable For $57 Million In Refunds](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/buckballft.png?w=240&h=181&crop=1)
Buckyballs Founder Could Be Found Personally Liable For $57 Million In Refunds
Buckyballs: cute office toy, or powerful balls of magnetic doom? The inventor insists they’re the former, the Consumer Product Safety Commission insists they’re the latter, and the lawsuit fighting it all out just keeps getting uglier. [More]
![Careful with your digits.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/wmartchairsfold.jpg?w=300&h=216&crop=1)
Walmart Recalls 73,400 Card Table And Chair Sets Because Finger Amputations Are No Fun
The thing about fingers is that they work best when each one is nice and complete. Since it’s much harder to complete everyday tasks with only half a finger, not to mention it’s a very uncomfortable experience to have the tip of your digit squeezed off, Walmart has issued a recall for 73,400 card table and chair sets. [More]
![Imagine How Upsetting It’d Be If Donkey Meat You Bought At Walmart Was Actually Fox](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/immeatsm.jpg?w=240&h=180&crop=1)
Imagine How Upsetting It’d Be If Donkey Meat You Bought At Walmart Was Actually Fox
If I had a nickel for every time my donkey meat snack turned out to be fox meat instead, I’d have no nickels. But there would be plenty of coins coming in for customers at some Walmart stores in China after tests showed that what was labeled as “Five Spice” donkey meat was tainted with the meat of other animals. [More]
![How A 12-Mile Car Ride Can Cost $357.08](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/carsdriving.jpg?w=240&h=180&crop=1)
How A 12-Mile Car Ride Can Cost $357.08
One person’s “supply and demand” is another person’s “price gouging.” Uber, a smartphone app that matches up professional drivers who want to pick up strangers and people in need of rides, is a serious competitor for licensed taxis in many cities, but its business model has one feature that taxis generally don’t: surge pricing. [More]
![Google Officially Recalls Super-Hot HP Chromebook 11 Chargers](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/hpchromebook11_heroshot.jpg?w=610)
Google Officially Recalls Super-Hot HP Chromebook 11 Chargers
A month after Google pulled its then-new HP Chromebook 11 laptops because the micro-USB charger included with the device can reach unsafe temperatures (as high as 140 degrees), the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a formal recall. If you have an affected Chromebook 11, just fill out this form here to get a replacement charger. [More]
![The SMILA lamps, available in 8 models, were primarily marketed for use in kids' rooms.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/ikearecalllamps.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
IKEA Recalls 23 Million Wall-Mounted Lamps Following Death Of Toddler
IKEA has issued a global recall of 23 million lamps (more than 3 million in the U.S. and Canada alone) after the death of a 16-month-old child who became entangled in the lamp’s cord while in their crib, and another incident involving a 15-month-old who nearly strangled on the lamp’s cord. [More]
![What Should I Do If No One Accepts My Chobani Recall Coupons?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/imgres.jpeg)
What Should I Do If No One Accepts My Chobani Recall Coupons?
Remember the Chobani yogurt recall this past fall, when fungal contamination led to sour-tasting, occasionally-exploding yogurts distributed nationwide? Chobani made it up to their customers by sending coupons so they could replace their contaminated products. The problem with that is that some grocers won’t accept these coupons. [More]
![Coby Electronics TVs Recalled: Might Go Down In Flames Just Like The Manufacturer](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/cobytelevisionlarge.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Coby Electronics TVs Recalled: Might Go Down In Flames Just Like The Manufacturer
You might remember Coby Electronics, the manufacturer of low-priced gadgets that always seemed to be on half-price sale at your local drugstore. The company went out of business a few months ago, and a well-known liquidation firm took over its assets but not its liabilities. One of the company’s TV models may have a faulty component, which could cause the set to catch fire. [More]
![December Recall Roundup: Tablets Of Fire](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/infinity-udc3-cw-large.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
December Recall Roundup: Tablets Of Fire
In this month’s Recall Roundup, wheels break, fire bowls turn into fiery explosions, and chargers and refrigerators alike might overheat and catch fire. It’s a dangerous world: that’s why we bring you these recall listings.
![Recall: Baby Monitors Should Monitor Babies, Not Strangle Them](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/angelcaremonitor2large.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Recall: Baby Monitors Should Monitor Babies, Not Strangle Them
The entire purpose of a baby monitor is to keep an ear or an eye on your baby while it sleeps in a different room. The Angelcare monitor adds an extra component to that: a pad that monitors movement and rests under the mattress. Sounded like a great idea…until two babies got hold of the cord and were strangled to death. [More]
![(CNNMoney)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/elonmuskteslacrazy.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk: We Get Way Too Much Attention
Attention can be delightful, say when you have a new haircut or you’ve just finished the entire crossword by yourself in under three weeks and everyone (cat, roommate) cheers for you. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk definitely feels his company and its electric cars are getting way too much attention, the bad kind, after three car fires prompted the feds to open a probe into the Model S. [More]
![Customers In Gree Dehumidifier Recall Start Receiving Checks, Are Upset With Amounts](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/greehumidifiers.png)
Customers In Gree Dehumidifier Recall Start Receiving Checks, Are Upset With Amounts
Earlier this week, we shared a note from a reader who sent away for a refund when her dehumidifier was part of a massive recall because dehumidifiers aren’t supposed to catch fire. She wondered why her refund check was taking so long to arrive, and got even more confusing information when she called the recall hotline. Could we help? We could try. [More]
![Hey, Gree Electric Appliances, Where’s My Recalled Dehumidifier Refund?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/greehumidifiers.png)
Hey, Gree Electric Appliances, Where’s My Recalled Dehumidifier Refund?
A few months ago, we reported that 2.2 million dehumidifiers sold under a variety of brands had been recalled after a few units sort of… started fires. Customers with affected units were to send back the unit’s name plate, dispose of it safely after cutting off the cord or otherwise rendering it unusable, then sit back and wait for their refund checks. And wait… and wait… and wait. [More]
![Did This Mom Really Find Free-Range Maggots In An Organic Baby Food Pouch?](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/02392332003.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Did This Mom Really Find Free-Range Maggots In An Organic Baby Food Pouch?
Jack likes to feed his small daughter little food pouches. They’re an easy, shelf-stable and portable way to get actual food substances into small children. His daughter loves them, but suddenly wouldn’t eat them. Ingredient change? Plain old little-kid fickleness? Maybe not. [More]
![Got one of these? Fill out this form to get a free replacement charger from Google.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/hpchromebook11_heroshot.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Google: Stop Using That Charger That Comes With Your New HP Chromebook 11
One of the selling points of the recently released HP Chromebook 11 was that the laptop could be charged using the same micro-USB chargers used for many non-Apple mobile devices. Alas, the chargers supplied with these new Chromebooks can get super-hot (something I can attest to first-hand) so Google and HP from temporarily pulled the computer for sale and told current HP Chromebook 11 owners to use any other UL-approved micro-USB charger to power up their laptops while the companies sort out a resolution with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. [via GigaOm and The Verge] [More]
![Yep, field fresh.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/screen-shot-2013-11-12-at-8-57-15-am.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Salads And Wraps Recalled From Walgreens, Whole Foods, And Trader Joe’s
The bad news is that 181,620 pounds of chicken and ham salads sold in popular retail outlets like Walgreens, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s has been recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli bacteria. The good news, if such a thing is possible, is that this isn’t yet another iteration of the massive and scary Foster Farms salmonella recall from last month. [More]