Consumerist

consumers

Cellphone Jammers Are Effective, Illegal

By consumeristcarey 11.5.07

The power to silence the annoying schmo yabbering away on their cellphone rests within a small black box the size of a cigarette pack. Selling for as little as $50, cellphone jammers can spew radio signals powerful enough to disrupt all nearby cell signals. The downside? It’s illegal.

The Federal Communication Commission says people who use cellphone jammers could be fined up to $11,000 for a first offense. Its enforcement bureau has prosecuted a handful of American companies for distributing the gadgets — and it also pursues their users.

california

California Police Seize 375 Pounds Of Bathtub Cheese

By consumeristcarey 10.27.07

Meet Floribel Hernandez Cuenca and Manuel Martin. California police arrested the pair on “felony cheese making charges” after they tried to sell 375 pounds of bathtub cheese at an open-air market in San Bernardino. Bathtub cheese, otherwise known as “illegal soft cheese,” can cause a range of maladies including listeria, salmonella, and everybody’s favorite gut goblin, E. coli.

The 375 pounds of seized illegal cheese included panela, queso fresco and queso oxaca varieties, the [California Department of Food and Agriculture] says. It was a significant find, the department says.

coffee beanery

Liveblogging The House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On The Arbitration Fairness Act

By consumeristcarey 10.25.07

Consumers may finally escape from the clutches of mandatory binding arbitration if the House Judiciary Committee smiles favorably today upon the Arbitration Fairness Act. Arbitrators rule against consumers in more than 98% of all disputes; the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is currently meeting to consider H.R. 3010, which would restore consumers’ rights to resolve disputes fairly and openly.

motorists

1/3 Of South Florida Gas Pumps Failed State Accuracy Tests

By consumeristcarey 10.21.07

More than a third South Florida’s gas station pumps have failed the state’s accuracy test in the past three years. An analysis of state inspections reveals that slightly more than half of the broken pumps err in favor of the consumer. The state inspects all pumps every 12-18 months.

The Sun-Sentinel analyzed state inspection reports from 2004 to 2006. The analysis found 580 of more than 2,500 stations in South Florida had at least one pump dispensing more gas than customers paid to purchase, while 477 provided less fuel than they should.

lawsuits

Organic Principles, Regulations Ignored By Nation's Largest Organic Dairy

By consumeristcarey 10.21.07

Consumers in twenty-seven states are suing Aurora Dairy, the nation’s largest organic dairy for selling milk that failed to meet basic organic standards. The suit is bolstered by findings from USDA inspectors, who found that between December 2003 and April 2007, Aurora: “labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations.”

cellphones

Liveblogging The Senate Commerce Committee Hearing: Cellphone Companies And The Customers They Hate

By consumeristcarey 10.17.07

Today at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will pry through bone and muscle to see if cellphone companies really do have hearts of pure stone. The Committee will question the industry’s most egregious practices: junk fees, illegal contract extensions, and early termination fees. The industry is working overtime to cast itself as the consumer’s best friend, with AT&T recently agreeing to prorate ETFs as part of a desperate attempt to show that federal regulation is unnecessary.

taxes

13,000 People Are Getting A Surprise Audit!

By consumeristcarey 10.14.07

13,000 lucky Americans will soon receive letters from the IRS explaining that they’ve been selected for a random audit. The hapless participants are rounded up as part of the IRS’ National Research Program, which seeks to explain why the Treasury receives $300 billion less than we Americans collectively owe. A random audit is nothing to fear unless you are a tax cheating yutz.

consumers

Man Who Discovered Tainted Toothpaste Located, Interviewed

By cwalters 10.2.07

Sometimes being a conscientious shopper really does matter. The man who realized that tubes of discount toothpaste were tainted with diethylene glycol last May has been found and interviewed by the New York Times. Eduardo Arias, a 51-year-old government worker in Panama City, was shopping in a discount store one Saturday when he saw the toothpaste—he said he could read the ingredients list clearly without even picking up a tube, and when he saw “diethylene glycol” as an ingredient, alarms went off.

evil

Google: "Online Advertising Benefits Consumers"

By Meg Marco 9.29.07

“The online advertising business is complex, but my message to you today is simple: Online advertising benefits consumers, promotes free speech, and helps small businesses succeed. Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick will help advance these goals while protecting consumer privacy and enabling greater innovation, competition, and growth.”

advertising

New Consumer Types To Define You

By cwalters 9.28.07

Are you a karma queen or a geek god? A couple of fancy New York branding types have released a new book that suggests several new consumer “types,” including those two as well as the “innerpreneur,” the “denim dad,” and the “parentocrat.”

cellphones

Introducing The Most Impressive Cell Phone Bill Of The 110th Congress

By consumeristcarey 9.8.07

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) recently announced plans to introduce our wet dream of a cellphone bill. The bill realizes our wildest legislative fantasies: a world where cellphone companies stop inventing official-sounding fees and levying harsh ETFs, and instead allow their customers to take unlocked phones to the company with the best reception according to precise coverage maps provided free of charge.

retail

Walmart CEO: "Customers Are Running Out Of Money."

By Meg Marco 8.15.07

(Photo:adrock38)

netflix

Blockbuster Tries To Thwart Netflix, Gobbles Up Movie Download Service

By consumeristcarey 8.10.07

Blockbuster has purchased Movielink, an ailing movie download service cobbled together by film studios to combat online piracy. The deal will give Blockbuster access to movies from Sony, Universal, Paramount, MGM, and Warner Brothers. Netflix’s download service, by contrast, offers a limited selection of mostly older movies. The deal is the latest salvo fired in the consumer-friendly war of the movie rental services. No word yet on how long hackers might take to crack the new download service.

shopping

Ethical Shopping Is Pointless: An Interview With Consumer Activist George Monbiot

By cwalters 8.7.07

Sure, being a more conscientious shopper is gratifying; we’ve gotten in the habit of refusing bags at the store whenever we can manage to carry the goods some other way, and although it’s a small step, it feels good. But Monbiot, a British journalist and political activist who was interviewed this week on the website of newconsumer magazine, would laugh in our stupid faces at how ineffectual we’re being as consumers: “In the absence of political action it is a form of passivity.”

I am very sceptical of consumer power. I believe better consumption by itself is an entirely useless means of achieving political change. Those who have the most votes – the vote being the money you have to spend as consumers – are generally inclined to use them the least.

lawsuits

The Chinese Poison Train Is Impervious To Lawsuits

By consumeristcarey 7.30.07

Don’t try to sue the Chinese Poison Train. It won’t work. American victims of tainted Chinese products have found it nearly impossible to litigate against companies based in China. There are roadblocks at every step in the process: Americans can only sue Chinese companies that do business in the U.S.; phantom companies that exist only on paper refuse to hand over key documents; and, even if a consumer can win a default judgment, no treaty compels China to respect rulings from U.S. courts. From the Washington Post:

netflix

Netflix Sticks It To Blockbuster, Cuts Prices Again

By consumeristcarey 7.24.07

The consumer-friendly price war between Netflix and Blockbuster rages on this week as Netflix cuts the price of its two most popular subscription plans by $1. The cost of Netflix’s 3-DVD plan will drop to $16.99, while the 1-DVD plan will fall to $8.99. The price drops will make Netflix plans $1 cheaper than comparable Blockbuster plans featuring Total Access. Both retailers slashed the price of their 2-DVD options last month to $13.99. The latest move from Netflix is meant to drain much-needed cash from Blockbuster. From the Chicago Tribune:

Stepping up its attack on Netflix also has been hurting Blockbuster, which has had to spend more heavily on DVDs to ensure sure its stores have enough discs to keep up with the additional demand from its roughly 3 million online subscribers. The company lost $49 million in the first quarter.

china

U.S. Companies Start Testing, Screening Chinese Products

By consumeristcarey 7.1.07

U.S. companies are developing new safety measures in response to the continued rumbling of the Chinese Poison Train. The measures, along with renewed federal interest in food safety, suggest that we may be in the midst of a food safety revolution similar to the one that reformed the meatpacking industry after the publication of Upton Sinclaire’s “The Jungle.”

For the companies, the problem is two-fold: figuring out exactly what to test for and maintaining control over their network of suppliers, even as they turn to China for vast quantities of imports at lower prices.

Three companies are trying three different strategies to cope with the uncertain quality of China’s exports:

consumers

Supreme Court Allows Manufacturers To Dictate Minimum Prices, Screws Consumers

By consumeristcarey 6.28.07

The Supreme Court ruled today in Leegin v. PSKS that manufacturers can collude with retailers to set the minimum prices of products, arguing that such a decision was good for competition. Succumbing to the court’s recent bender of conservatism is a 96 year-old precedent from Dr. Miles v Park that held minimum price accords as intrinsically – or in legalese, “per se” – illegal. Writing for the majority, swing-Justice Anthony Kennedy showed kiddies the dangers of taking crazy pills:

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