Bill, whose small business checking account had been inappropriately drafted $1500, sent us the following email late last night:
fines
Customer Gets Slapped With "Excessive Activity" Fee For Messing With Savings Account Too Much
By 5.9.08
Wachovia To Pay $144 Million For Bilking "Gullible" Seniors
By 4.27.08
Wachovia will pay $144 million for helping telemarketers prey upon the elderly. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency spanked the morally bankrupt institution with one of the largest fines ever levied—but before seeing a penny of settlement money, seniors will need to fill out detailed claim forms and navigate a complex bureaucracy.
Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence
By 4.10.08
The FCC handed out a whole basketful of fines to electronics retailers today: $1.1 million for Sears and Kmart; $992,000 for Wal-Mart; $712,000 for Circuit City; and amounts between $168,000-384,000 for Target, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Fry’s Electronics. What made Christmas come so early? They were all failing to warn consumers that analog-only TVs and tuners will stop working on their own when the digital switchover comes next year.
"Free iPod" Claims Cost Spammer $2.9 Million
By 3.21.08
The FTC slammed nuisance advertiser ValueClick with a record-breaking $2.9 million fine for littering the internet with deceptive ads for free iPods, PS3s, and plasma TVs. Instead of providing freebies, ValueClick tricked people into signing up for useless services and then failed to safeguard their personal information.
Senate Votes For Safer Products, Approves Consumer Product Safety Commission Overhaul
By 3.8.08
The Senate finally voted last week to send the ailing Consumer Product Safety Commission desperately needed funds, staff, and powers. The overdue reform bill passed with bipartisan support on a 79-13 vote.
Violating A Hotel's No Smoking Policy Could Cost You $250
By 2.23.08
Hotels are starting to to hit smokers with hefty fines for violating their no smoking policies. Take Dan Cole. He didn’t light up in his non-smoking Marriott room, honest. Those butts in his garbage can? Um, he smoked them somewhere else and threw them out in the room?
Senate CPSC Reform Compromise Leaves Everyone Bitter, Unsatisfied
By 2.21.08
Nobody likes the compromise reached by Senators to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Industry thinks the revised plan goes too far, while consumer groups want more. For now, the compromise would allow the CPSC to operate without a quorum, inject needed cash into the Commission, and provide for several other nifty provisions.
Blue Cross Wants Your Doctor To Help Them Cancel Your Health Insurance
By 2.12.08
The LA Times says that doctors are objecting to a letter sent by Blue Cross of California requesting that the docs help “indentify members who have failed to disclose medical conditions on their application that may be considered pre-existing.”
By 2.4.08
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Former electric heater company Vornado will pay the government a civil penalty of $500,000 and deny any wrongdoing for failing to report incidents of heater fires from 1993 to 2004, says the CPSC.
Comcast Fined $12,000 For Having Crappy Customer Service
By 1.30.08
Comcast has been fined $12,000 for having crappy customer service by Montgomery County, Maryland..
FCC Probably Powerless To Fine ABC Over Diane Keaton's "Fucking Personality"
By 1.16.08
Diane Keaton, while appearing live on “Good Morning America,” told Diane Sawyer that she’s admired her looks, particularly her lips, saying “that if she had lips like that she wouldn’t have had to work on her ‘fucking personality’ and would be married by now.” Obviously, Diane Keaton is awesome, but FCC chairman Kevin Martin is notoriously fond of attempting to punish stations that allow free spirited celebrities to slip in a few “shits” and “fucks” into their live television appearances.
Home Shopping Network Agrees To Pay $800k Civil Penalty
By 12.28.07
HSN has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $875,000, according to a CPSC press release, settling allegations that HSN “failed to report in a timely manner, as required by federal law, serious injuries and hazards with the Welbilt Electronic Pressure Cookers.” The CPSC alleged that from 2001 to 2004, HSN received “at least 25 reports” from consumers that the cooking appliance was potentially unsafe. (In 2005 the cookers were recalled.)
American Airlines Avoids Fines For Chronically Late Flights
By 12.10.07
The Associated Press is taking the Transportation Department to task over data that seems to contradict its own findings. American Airlines operated two flights that have been late over 70% of the time for 3 consecutive quarters, making AA eligible for a total of $50,000 in fines, says the AP, but the DOT has failed to act.
Homeowners Fined $347,000 For Trimming Trees Without A Permit
By 11.28.07
The Glendale Fire Department sent Ann and Mike Collard a notice informing them that the branches on some of their trees were too close to their home. The notice ordered the couple to maintain 5 feet of “vertical clearance between roof surfaces and overhanging portions of trees.”
Walmart Fined $89,705 For Overcharging Wisconsin Customers
By 11.10.07
Walmart received an $89,705 fine after the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection found 280 weights and measures violations at nine Walmart stores. The gargantuan retailer failed to subtract the weight of packaging materials, or “tare weight,” when pricing bulk items like coffee, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.
By 10.14.07
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California slapped a $95,571 fine on the grocery chain Mi Pueblo after the Department of Weights and Measures accused the chain of selling meat, poultry and fish by the piece, rather than by weight. [The Mercury News]
