Home / consumerist.com rss archive / September-07-2007


Net Neutrality: UK Broadband Providers Show US What Real "Competition" Looks Like
Even our readers can't agree on whether net neutrality is a good or a bad thing, so we thought we'd stoke the fire with a nice side-by-side comparison of sample broadband options for consumers in two "free markets," the US and the UK. Art Brodsky of the Huffington Post (oops, we probably already lost half of you) writes that a British man he met while traveling showed him a spreadsheet he'd put together that compared 59 different broadband providers, so he'd know which one to do business with. This fairy-tale like story of consumer choice prompted Brodsky to look for comparison charts of services. What he found—a mag's list of 25 common UK broadband companies versus what we presume to be his own local set of offerings—can't be used for true side-by-side measurement, but it's still a striking illustration of the stunted state of "innovation" and competition in the US market. Click the links for more details on pricing and plan details, if you dare.US Broadband...

Drm: Ready To Give Up Paper Books Yet? Amazon & Google Hope So
The "promise" of e-books is so old it's got hair on it, but now two online giants are stepping up to the plate with their own spin on how best to sell books digitally. Next month, Amazon will finally release its long-rumored Kindle, an e-ink reader which will wirelessly connect to Amazon via EVDO, so you can purchase books even more easily than new iPod Touch owners can buy songs while they're at Starbucks. And before the end of the year, Google will start charging for full online access to some digital copies of books in its database.The Kindle, in particular, may provide some competition for Sony's year-old e-ink Reader, a small device about the size of a very thin tradecover, that can display e-books bought from Sony's own online store. An analyst with Jupiter Research is doubtful either device will be very disruptive:"Books represent a pretty good value for consumers. They can display them and pass them to friends, and they understand the business model. We have had dedicated...

Mouseprint: Macy's Issues Worst Coupon Ever
Reader David sends us what might be the worst coupon we've ever seen. Not because it's a bad deal, ($10 bucks off regular, sale and clearance is cool; we're not complaining) but because we broke our brain in two reading the exclusions and conditions.First of all, the coupon can only be used from Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, 2007 until 1pm only. And then it only gets worse:"VALID ON REGULAR, SALE & CLEARANCE PRICES IN STORE ONLY. COUPON CAN ONLY BE USED ONCE AND IS LIMITED TO ONE PER CUSTOMER. COUPON IS NOT VALID ON MORNING SPECIALS AND MUST BE SURRENDERED AT TIME OF PURCHASE.*Valid Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, 2007 until 1pm only. Cannot be combined with any savings pass, extra discount, or credit offer, except opening a new Macy's account. Excludes Prior Purchases; Special Orders; Specials; Super Buys; Everyday Values; Cosmetics; Fragrances; Watches; Sunglasses; Optical; American Rag; I.N.C; Levi's; Dockers; Lauren; Ralph Lauren; Michael Kors Shoes...

Power To The People: Ohio's legislature passed the Product Liability ...
Ohio's legislature passed the Product Liability Act in 2006, which capped certain court damages at $5,000 and created special protections for companies that once sold paint containing lead. Gov. Ted Strickland vetoed it, but the Ohio Supreme Court overturned the veteo last month on a technicality. Today, a group of consumer advocates in Ohio turned in 1,800 signatures in an attempt to bring the issue to a public vote in November '08. [Business Week]

Greenwashing: Home Depot's Eco Options Program Fails To Impress Consumer Reports
Home Depot really wants you to think of their much ballyhoo'd "Eco Options" program as a quick, easy and painless way to be an environmentalist. The program is certainly better than, you know, not having one at all, but does it impress Consumer Reports?Nah. Kristi Wiedemann, Science and Policy Analyst for GreenerChoices.org, Consumer Reports' eco-riffic website, went shopping at Home Depot to see if the program lived up to its hype. It didn't.She found misplaced signs, disorganized displays, labels that didn't really mean much of anything and products that were "green" because they met current environmental standards that really aren't that high in the first place.Kristi also makes a good point about buying products that last. If you can use it longer and repair it when it breaks there's less of a chance it will end up in a landfill. Eco Options sort of leaves that part out. When all has been said and done, Eco Options is better than nothing, but not as good as doing the research...

Net Neutrality: Department of Justice Says No To Net Neutrality
The U.S. Department of Justice officially spoke out against net neutrality this week, in a filing with the FCC that says such regulations would "prevent, rather than promote, optimal investment and innovation in the Internet, with significant negative effects for the economy and consumers." The department says the free market has done just fine so far, and that "precluding broadband providers from charging [content providers] directly for faster or more reliable service" could shift the burden of cost directly onto consumers.The Assistant Attorney General in charge of the department's Antitrust Division added, "Consumers and the economy are benefiting from the innovative and dynamic nature of the Internet." The department also said that its antitrust enforcers will take action when necessary to allow broadband competition, which removes the need for net neutrality regulation."DoJ Opposes Net Neutrality Rules" [InformationWeek]

Hazards: First Consumer With Popcorn Lung Speaks Out
Wayne Watson, the man who loved microwave popcorn so much he ate it twice a day for 10 years is speaking out about his condition for the first time. He's telling America to learn from his example and practice moderation.From the Associated Press:In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, the 53-year-old furniture salesman had a message to convey: "America: Read the labels, and just be careful about what we put into our bodies and always practice moderation," Watson said. "Don't go crazy."Popcorn flavoring contains the chemical diacetyl, which has been linked to lung damage in factory workers testing hundreds of bags of microwave popcorn per day and inhaling its fumes. The chemical is a naturally occurring compound that gives butter its flavor and is also found in cheese and even wine, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.It's been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a flavor ingredient, but hundreds of workers have sued...

Whose Numbers Are Those Other 11 Percent Using?: A new Consumer Reports survey says that ...
A new Consumer Reports survey says that 89% of Americans want the government to implement better safeguards on their social security numbers, and that 87% "claim to have been asked in the past year to provide their Social Security number, in whole or in part." [MSN](Photo: Getty)

Airlines: United Airlines Says It Will Deliver Your Luggage Within 25 Minutes
United is already one of our more entertaining airlines when it comes to stories—they've rerouted direct flights without telling ticket holders, given us duct tape heroics, and hire Disney executives to improve customer service (we hope that means pilots dressed up as giant huggable pilots). Now comes news that they're pledging to reduce waiting times for baggage from nigh-infinity to 25 minutes, as part of a comprehensive new "Customer Commitment" pledge to improve customer service and avoid Federal intervention.Before you get too excited, the commitment isn't binding in any way, cautions a United bigwig:"While we may not be achieving this delivery time consistently, we are setting the standard to ensure our customers know they should be able to expect it from us," [United CEO Glenn Tilton] said.Not everyone (anyone?) is convinced this amounts to little more than empty promises in lieu of last week's Federal report that "complaints over airline service reached a...

Animal Cruelty: Like Horses? Don't Ride NYC Carriages
The next time you visit the Big Apple, you might want to steer clear of those romantic carriage rides through Central Park if you're an animal lover. According to WCBS TV, "A New York City report says the horses that take passengers on carriage rides in Central Park and around Manhattan work without enough water, shade or veterinary exams." The report, the first of its kind by the city, was prompted after a carriage horse collapsed and died last summer in front of onlookers.New York City Comptroller William Thompson said the horses never received any veterinary examinations between July 2005 and March 2007, and that the carriages were only inspected twice a year instead of the required three.The director of operations at one of the stables countered, ""Our horses have a better health care plan than most people," as he pushed a horse into a furnace. We're kidding. But he did say that.Audit: Bad Work Conditions For NYC Carriage Horses [WCBS TV (text and video options)](Photo: Getty)

No Plastic? No Snack Box: American Airlines announced that beginning ...
American Airlines announced that beginning next week, they will begin testing credit card only flights out of San Francisco. Jet Blue has said that it will stop accepting cash on flights next quarter. Other airlines that already don't accept cash: AirTran, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Midwest, ATA Airlines, Virgin America and Hawaiian Airlines. [Kansas City Star](Photo: Getty)

Class Action: Comcast's Class Action Waiver Ruled "Unconscionable"
Comcast can't use their mandatory arbitration clause to keep its Georgia customers from obtaining class-action status in a lawsuit that alleges Comcast inappropriately collected too many franchise fees. The amount that was improperly collected (about $11 a subscriber) isn't enough to warrant a bunch of individual lawsuits, so Comcast thought it could get away with it by citing its mandatory arbitration clause forbidding class-action lawsuits. It worked at first, but now the 11th Circuit Court is having none of it.The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the class-action prohibition is "unconscionable," and therefore it cannot be enforced. From the CL&P Blog:The court held that as applied to a claim such as the one in this case, the prohibition on class actions is unconscionable because "[w]ithout the benefit of a class action mechanism, the subscribers would effectively be precluded from suing Comcast" for the violations at issue. As the court explained, "[t]he...

Subprime Meltdown: Mortgage Industry Lays Off More Workers
The mortgage industry isn't just hemorrhaging money anymore, it's hemorrhaging jobs. Two more mortgage lenders (Lehman Brothers Holdings and the National City Corporation) announced that they would be laying off 2,000 employees. From the NYT:The bank is cutting back on issuing home loans it cannot sell to government agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The bank will also suspend issuing home equity loans through brokers. The home equity unit and mortgage unit will be combined into one subsidiary.Because there is so little demand among investors for home loans, National City said it might have to keep some of its mortgage debt instead of sell it. When a bank elects to keep a loan, it must record the market value of this loan on its books. National City said it would probably record a $30 million accounting charge to reflect the lower value of loans on its books. And, hell, it's not even October yet. More Layoffs in Mortgage Industry [NYT](Photo:Getty)

Hardballs: Get Your Complaint Resolved By Posting It To The Company's Stock Forums
Another of Ron Burley's techniques for getting large businesses to fix his complaints is to post it in the message boards devoted to discussing that company and its stock price.Most major companies have at least one person whose job it is to monitor these forums. Go to a place like CBS MarketWatch or Yahoo! Finance, and make a post containing the following:You are a longtime customerThe company has treated you poorly recently and it would so simple for the company to solve you if they weren't adhering to dunderheaded policiesSay you're taking your dollars elsewhere and you know of other longtime customers who are doing the same.Include your contact number or email. This way they know you're for real instead of trying to nudge the stock price.Investors, writes Burley, "all have their fingers to the wind, looking for trends. A potential decline in consumer confidence in a company is a strong wind indeed. The company watchers know this and will respond quickly to stifle a cool...

Update: Too Sexy For Southwest Airlines Woman Appears On The Today Show
The woman who was too sexy for Southwest Airlines appeared on the Today Show this morning in the outfit she was wearing on the flight. It's just really not offensive at all. Tacky, yes, but white denim isn't illegal. Neither is flashing a little bit of your underwear as you sit down. Kyla assured Matt Lauer that she had her legs crossed and wasn't showing off her... you know. If this outfit is enough to get you a public lecture from a flight attendant we must have missed the part where they constantly publicly humiliate men for rampant exposed butt crack. Does that take place during the safety lecture? We never pay attention.Southwest gave the Today Show a statement:"Southwest Airlines was responding to a concern about Ms. Ebbert's revealing attire on the flight that day. As a compromise, we asked her to adjust her clothing to be less revealing, she complied, and she traveled as scheduled. When a concern is brought to our Employees' attention, we address that situation directly...

Consider The Taco: Mark Dery wonders how Taco Bell continues ...
Mark Dery wonders how Taco Bell continues to survive in a country whose citizens have access to real Mexican food. We posit that it has something to do with Pizza Hut surviving in a country that has real pizza. [Salon]

Sub-prime Meltdown: A mortgage maker that positioned itself as ...
A mortgage maker that positioned itself as a "Christian" lender wasn't immune to secular market forces and fired employees are learning to turn the other cheek when it comes to their severance pay: a $20 supermarket gift card. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

Cars: Here's a sample email one man used to gather ...
Here's a sample email one man used to gather quotes from multiple dealerships. He ended up getting a 2007 Odyssey EX minivan for $25,780 before TTL, $630 under invoice, no trade, no accessories and the dealer beat his e-loan rate. [dbattery]

Show Us Your Verizon Face: Verizon Installs FiOS, Won't Tell You Your Account Number, Keep Charging An Unauthorized Credit Card
Dan ordered Verizon FiOS and used a credit card to pay for the installation. He told the CSR specifically he didn't want his monthly bill to be debited from this credit card. Guess what Verizon is doing?Dear Consumerist,I have a problem with Verizon's customer service (shocking, I know). I'll give a brief run-down of what went on:--I ordered FiOS internet and TV through Verizon at the beginning of July. --I paid for installation with a credit card that has a very low limit that I keep for situations such as this. They were instructed to not bill that card for the monthly bill, and just send me paper bills.--No bills ever appeared.--Of course, charges for FiOS began appearing on my credit card bill. They eventually pushed it over the aforementioned low credit limit.--I called Verizon, but since I never actually got a bill, I don't know my account number. And since I don't have a phone with Verizon, they aren't able to "look up" my information.--I finally got a supervisor...

Readers: Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds
It's great that so many talented photographers participate in our Flickr pool, we luv 'em. The Consumerist Flickr pool is the first place we look when we're searching for a photo for a story. Here are the photos you uploaded that caught our eye this week. (Photo: Artnchicken)(Photo: unleashedlive)(Photo: C.Barr)(Photo: morsteen)(Photo: emilybean)Check out our Flickr pool! Dive in and just swim around, or even add a few shots of your own.

You're So Complicated: Zen Habits has 72 ways to simplify your life. ...
Zen Habits has 72 ways to simplify your life. Chances are good that your life is too complicated and it's probably costing you money one way or another. Simplify and be happier. [Zen Habits]

Happy Endings: Lego Says They're Going To Do Something, Then They Do It
It always amuses us when we get letters from happy consumers who requested something simple from a company and are shocked that the company did it. The state of customer service in the world is such that people write happy letters if a company manages to function at all. Take M's letter for example:Dear Consumerist:Kudos to Lego for prompt, satisfactory customer service!I was a Lego kid -- and now buy bricks for my son. Recently, I bought a set on clearance (50 percent off) from a major toy store; an attached note said that there were parts missing.In fact, no parts were missing. One piece, out of hundreds, had been made incorrectly. I emailed Lego to explain the problem and received an auto-reply saying "Sorry about that! We'll replace that piece in three weeks."Sure enough, the right part showed up three weeks later. Happy parent, happy child and complete set. This is the kind of experience that encourages me to buy Lego products, even though their prices tend to be a bit...

Iphone Backlash: Thanks All The Same, Steve Jobs, But We'd Rather Have The Cash
iPhone backlash continues this morning: Matt writes in to share his displeasure at being offered $100 gift certificate by Steve Jobs. He'd rather just have his money back, since his phone is only a month old:In response to the announcement issued yesterday by Mr. Jobs, I would like to know how is it even reasonable to expect that pissed off customers WANT $100 towards more Apple gear? What good does $100 towards new stuff do, if I never plan to shop at Apple again as a result of this greedy stunt? I'm in the tech industry--one could reasonably expect that a new version and a lower price would happen around December, given the holidays and the fact that it's 6 months after the launch. But this week, and a 33% cut? That's outrageous, especially when the standard return policies for most smart retailers are 30, 60 or 90 days...not 14. Apple has just destroyed their brand in my eyes.I would like to know how this company plans to legitimately address my (and others') concerns--not...

Class Actions: British Airways Sued For Chronically Losing Luggage
Three travelers claim British Airways acted recklessly in losing their luggage, and have filed a class action lawsuit against the airline, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.If approved, they can expect many others to join. British Airways lost one bag for every 36 passengers this spring.BA travelers passing through London's Heathrow airport complain their luggage often doesn't arrive with them at their final destination. When it's finally delivered, it's often soaked and mildewy, owing to it being left outside the overflowing terminal for days, exposed to the elements.Lost luggage prompts lawsuit [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]PREVIOUSLY: British Airways Leaves Luggage To Rot Outside Heathrow(Photo: Bennetontalk)

Debts: New Hampshire Bankruptcy Receivers Forced To Use Credit Cards
The main parking garage for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Hampshire only accepts credit cards, reports Credit Slips.Consumer debtors receiving a bankruptcy have to attend various meetings in the building. Also, to get a bankruptcy discharge, they may need a credit card. Of the debtor's interviewed as part of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, over 92 percent said they received a credit card offer in the mail afterwards.The problem is that the only creditors who are going to give someone with a bankruptcy on their record are going to set usurious terms, owing to their bad credit history.We're all for personal financial responsibility, but to expect a bankruptcy receiver to have the discipline to resist using a bad card smacks of out and out victimization.Writes Credit Slips, "Should Chapter 7 debtors accept one of the dozens of credit card offers they get in the first month of their bankruptcy or should they walk, bike, snowmobile, etc to the bankruptcy court?"Bankruptcy Court...

Polls: Most Of Our Readers Self-Identify More As Citizens Than Consumers
Happily, most of our poll's respondents say they are citizens before they are consumers. Perhaps there is hope yet.

Roundups: Top Posts Of The Week
Southwest Airlines Thinks Your Outfit Is Inappropriate"Maybe we're missing something, but this is America and if a girl wants to board an airplane wearing a mini skirt, a bikini top and a football helmet, she should be able."13 Step Method For Buying A Car While Controlling The Sale And The Price"12. If at any time they give you attitude or BS, walk out. They will chase you down. Tell them they have only one chance left because they gave you attitude. Now they will deal."1,300 Unopened Rebate Applications Found In Dumpster"When confronted, the company's owner blamed it on a lazy employee who no longer works for them..."Customer Videotapes What She Says Is Escape From "Spot Delivery" Car Dealership Scam"In this setup, a dealership lets you drive away before signing a contract, saying the "banks are closed." Then when you come back, surprise surprise, the financing terms have changed, costing you thousands more."Circuit City Customer Arrested After Refusing To Show Receipt"I've...

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