Sometimes, you might want a car to pick you up to get you where you’re going, but you may not necessarily want to pay for the whole trip. That’s why some ride-hailing companies offer carpooling options that allow passengers to share rides with strangers, and in turn, share the cost. More Lyft customers will have that choice soon, with six new markets slated to join the company’s Line carpooling service. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Uber Driver Wakes From Nap To Find Passenger Leading Cops On High-Speed Chase
By 4.5.16
A lot can happen when you take a nap on the job, as one Uber driver found out when he fell asleep while taking a passenger on a 200-mile ride. He awoke to find the car in the middle of a police chase, with his customer at the wheel. [More]
21 Pranks, Fake Products, And Other Corporate Attempts At April Fools’ Day Relevance
By 4.1.16
Ever since April 1, 1922 when our print forerunner, The Consumerist Bugle-Gazette, ran an April Fools’ Day cover story that unwittingly — but accurately — announced the death of exiled Austrian Emperor Charles I, we’ve not tempted fate and avoided such tomfoolery. But others aren’t burdened by these ghosts of Aprils gone awry. [More]
Volkswagen Recalls 91,000 Diesel-Engine Passats Over Fire Concerns
By 4.1.16
Volkswagen’s diesel-engine vehicles haven’t exactly had a great few months, what with federal regulators finding that 500,000 of the vehicles contain “defeat devices” that cheat emission standards. Issues for the cars continued this week as the carmaker announced it would recall 91,000 Passat TDI sedans over fire concerns. [More]
Ford Recalls 48,300 Vehicles Over Fire Hazard, Airbag Deployment Issues
By 4.1.16
Incorrectly positioned airbags, heaters that can cause a fire, and parking brakes that can fail. Those are three things you probably don’t want to occur in your vehicle. But for thousands of Ford owners it’s a possibility and the carmaker has issued three recalls to fix things. [More]
American Airlines Ditching Confusing 24-Hour Hold Policy For 24-Hour Cancellation Option
By 4.1.16
Federal airline regulations require that carriers must either give most passengers a 24-hour window to cancel tickets without penalty, or allow travelers to put tickets on hold for 24 hours before being charged the airfare. Of all major U.S. carriers, American Airlines is the only one that doesn’t offer the cancellation option, resulting in costly confusion for some travelers. But AA says it is ditching that policy and will begin offering the 24-hour cancellation window instead. [More]
Tesla Says It Already Has Reservations For 115,000 $35K Model 3 Electric Vehicles
By 4.1.16
It’s been nearly two years since Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the development of the Model 3, the high-end electric vehicle maker’s first venture into more affordable automobiles. Aside from that price point and claims about being able to get around 200 miles to a single charge, not much else has been disclosed until tonight’s long-awaited press/sales event. [More]
Facebook, Reddit, Wells Fargo, Bank Of America CEOs Among Those Urging North Carolina To Repeal New Anti-LGBT Law
By 3.31.16
Earlier this month, in a hurried legislative process, North Carolina lawmakers passed HB2, a bill that overrides and prevents local governments from establishing anti-discrimination rules against gay and transgender people. This morning, advocacy groups delivered a letter to NC Gov. Pat McCrory signed by top executives from more than 100 companies, all calling for the state to repeal the law. [More]
Uber Ditching Email Support In Favor Of In-App Help Options
By 3.30.16
Uber customers and drivers will no longer be able to reach the company by way of a support email address — a system many customers were frustrated with in the first place — as the company is switching to an in-app tool for troubleshooting and reporting issues. [More]
Lyft Launching Carpool Service In San Francisco Area
By 3.29.16
If you live in a big city, you might dream of a slightly faster, less crowded commute to work via the carpool lane. While some consumer have gotten creative in their mission to use said lane — and subsequently been caught — the idea of actually carpooling to and from work can be an awkward and stressful endeavor when it comes to scheduling. Lyft’s latest service hopes to alleviate some of that pain. [More]
Feds Sue Volkswagen For Deceptive “Clean Diesel” Advertising
By 3.29.16
We all know by now that Volkswagen’s “Clean Diesel” vehicles were anything but, and that the carmaker deliberately used so-called “defeat devices” to cheat on emissions tests. Now, in an effort to get compensation for people who purchased one of these dirty diesels, the Federal Trade Commission has sued VW, accusing the company of deceptive advertising. [More]
Harris Teeter Launches Pilot Delivery Program Through Uber
By 3.28.16
Harris Teeter, the grocery chain with the name most likely to make people of all ages giggle hysterically, is currently testing a delivery partnership with car-hailing service Uber. Yes, instead of ordering a ride to bring you home with your groceries, you can simply order a ride for your groceries, combining the store’s existing order-picking service with drivers who are already cruising around looking for fares. [More]
BMW Gets Extension To Come Up With Takata Replacement Parts
By 3.25.16
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]
Judge Questions Size Of Lyft California Class Action
By 3.25.16
The proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit against ride-hailing app Lyft is quite modest compared to what the drivers initially sought: they’re getting about fifty bucks each, and Lyft has agreed to not remove drivers from the platform with no warning and without cause. Now the judge in that case is questioning the settlement, mostly because Lyft has grown significantly in California just in the time that the case has been going through the courts. [More]
VW, Porsche Recall 800,477 SUVs Because Pedals Shouldn’t Be Loose
By 3.25.16
When preparing to hit your car’s brake pedal, the last thing you want is for the control to be broken. Unfortunately, that could be the case for more than 800,000 Volkswagen and Porsche SUVs. [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]
VW Gets Another Month To Come Up With Plan For Vehicles With “Defeat Devices”
By 3.24.16
Today was the day, the deadline for Volkswagen to come up with a fix for some 500,000 diesel-engine vehicles that contain “defeat devices” to skirt federal emissions standards, only that didn’t happen. Instead, a judge is giving the company one more month. [More]
Toyota’s New Plug-In Prius Has Twice The Battery Range Of Previous Model
By 3.23.16
Toyota is doubling the battery range on its newest plug-in hybrid: the Prius Prime will be able to go 22 miles just on its battery, the company announced today, which is twice as far as the most recent model. [More]
