As part of their multi-pronged effort to fight the financial Godzilla besieging the world economy, the European Commission today proposed a 14-day no-questions-asked return period for any online purchases made within the European Union. The “two-week cooling-off period” is designed to give consumers a chance to shop across borders for the best prices without worrying about return policies. The practically adorable European decision to respond to a financial crisis with consumer protections made us want to look inwards at some of the onerous return policies Americans face.
europe
A Blacker Monday
By 10.6.08
The Dow is down over 800 points, and the day isn’t even over. This beats last week’s all-time record of 777 points. A global credit crisis is in full swing, with versions of what just decimated Wall Street repeating itself across Europe as governments swoop in with bailouts of high-profile banks. Verily, blood is in the streets. Hm, what’s that old saw? Oh. Right. Buy when there’s blood in the streets.
Airlines Have Bumped 343,000 Passengers This Year
By 8.23.08
Over a quarter-million passengers were bumped from flights in the past eight months, a number that is set to grow as airlines try to boost anemic profits by slashing fleets. The Department of Transportation requires airlines to compensate bumped passengers with cash or vouchers, but savvy passengers can leverage their situation to negotiate heftier payments…
Bank Says It Has Lost $7 Billion, Blames "Rogue Trader"
By 1.24.08
The French bank Societe Generale has announced that a trader “concealed massive trading positions built up over 2007 and 2008 through ‘a scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions,'” which ended up losing the bank 7.1 billion dollars. That’s as much damage by a single employee as the subprime-related losses the bank reported in the past two months. Oops.
Pickled Mouse Foot Is A "Special Additive," Enjoy!
By 1.21.08
A woman in Slovenia who found a preserved mouse foot in her jar of pickles complained to the Health Ministry. A ministry official wrote back with a summary of how mice parts end up in factory-made food products, and then concluded, “A mice-foot therefore could be classified as a special additive to the pickles.”
Icelandair Overbooks Flight, Delays Return By 43 Hours, Forgets To Compensate Passengers
By 12.21.07
A reader just sent us a description of her flight back from London to Minneapolis that reads like a synopsis of a particularly unpleasant episode of “The Amazing Race.” The return flight, on Iceland air, was supposed to go from Heathrow in London to Keflavik in Reykjavik, then from there to Minneapolis. The initial flight is delayed for 2 1/2 hours—but not to worry, Icelandair tells the passengers, because the other flight is being held. When they arrive in Iceland, however, there’s no plane waiting for them—it’s been overbooked, so the airline has sent it ahead and left the passengers stranded overnight.
Mattel Announces Recall Of 155,000 Toys
By 11.6.07
Today Mattel announced a recall of 155,000 Mexican-made toys being sold in countries throughout Europe and the United States. There’s no lead contamination this time around; the recall was announced “due to concerns that small pieces could detach from the toys and cause children to choke.” The product is the Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen Toy, part of the Fisher-Price range.
EU May Ban Chinese Toys After October
By 9.17.07
China’s toy imports make up more than half the toy market in the EU, and apparently their lax safety record hasn’t escaped the grim, existential gaze of Europe. Meglena Kuneva, an EU commissioner, put it quite bluntly in front of the EU’s internal market and consumer protection committee last week: “This is the last warning. If there’s an unsatisfactory report in October we will [impose] the next layer of measures. Among them is a ban on products,” which the Associated Press reports could include toys.
By 9.13.07
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After an 18-month-long investigation, German police have arrested 10 Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans who they think were involved in phishing scams that bilked users out of “hundreds of thousands of euros.” The suspects targeted customers of eBay and Deutsche Telekom, among other companies, and lived “luxurious lifestyles involving expensive jewelry, cars and travel.” [Reuters]
Avoid US Airways' Trans-Atlantic Flights
By 8.27.07
Even your ever-skeptical columnist was shocked at what I found: a near-collapse of the day-to-day operations of US Airways’ Philadelphia-based trans-Atlantic service. Even by this summer’s reduced standards, the operation that US Airways runs between Philadelphia and Europe is shocking.
Open Skies Agreement Means TransAtlantic Airways Cleared For Competition
By 5.1.07
Transatlantic travelers should be treated to lower costs and increased offerings, thanks to the “Open Skies” agreement signed yesterday between the US and the EU.
How To: Use Your Cellphone Abroad
By 3.15.07
People often write in and ask us how to use a cellphone abroad without roaming. Roaming can be insanely expensive. We don’t recommend you do it. But what should you do? The answer depends on what type of cellphone you have.
Hooray, Hipsters! The Smart Car Is Coming!
By 7.5.06
Perhaps more resembling the foot of Voltron (the vehicle one, not the lions) than an actual car, I love the Smart. It can zoom right into the space between two SUVs nearly touching bumpers. It’s designed by Swatch, a company best known for making cheap plastic watches. And you can actually switch lanes on a freeway by driving under the carriage of a passing semi-trailer.
Europe On Track to Pay Too Much for American Imperialist Pap (Still)
By 1.19.06
Poor Europe. Our friends in the Old Countries are constantly being squeezed by American technology companies, with prices for items like electronics and software at a huge premium to their American equivalents.
