Home / consumerist.com rss archive / September-23-2007


Mea Culpa: The Unpleasant Truth Behind Mattel's Unexpected Apology
Mattel Executive Vice President for Worldwide Operations Thomas Debrowski recently surprised consumers and policy makers alike by offering an unexceptional and expansive apology to Li Changjiang, the head of China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine:Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys. It is important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of these products that we recalled were the result of a flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers.For months, Mattel has blamed rogue Chinese subcontractors for endangering American children by violating Mattel's strict safety standards in pursuit of profit. The truth revealed hiding in plain sight by Debrowski's apology is slightly more complex.Time best explains the discrepancy between Debrowski's apology and Mattel's public position:Of...

California: Utilities With Successful Conservation Campaigns To Collect Government Cash
California utilities may soon unveil new conservation campaigns thanks to an innovative plan unveiled last week by regulators. Under the plan, the Public Utilities Commission will set three-year efficiency targets. Utilities that meet at least 85% of the targets stand to collect rewards of up to $323 million. Utilities that fail to meet 65% of the targets could face penalties worth $500 million.The PUC forecasts that the program would result in $2.4 billion in energy savings before 2008 and would cut about 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide from California's air.Proponents, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, describe the plan as bold and precedent-setting.The plan "is a common-sense approach that rewards utilities if they do a good job helping consumers save energy," Audrey Chang, an NRDC staff scientist, said in a statement.Utilities now have meaty incentives to help residents lower their energy use, and by extension, their energy bills. For ways to save energy,...

Photos: This Geek Squad Parking Spot Is Really A Fire Lane
[September 22. Image thanks to Roche!]It is also, um, a sidewalk.

Inquiries: Does Anyone At Dell Handle Busted Hard Drives?
Nobody at Dell can help Kevin return two broken hard drives. Kevin's Seagate 320GB FreeAgent drive refuses to power on, and his 160GB Western Digital won't boot. Kevin sent Dell a note after wrangling with eleven CSRs over five hours:I called tonight due to 2 harddrives I purchased 26 days ago. Both drives have completely failed. One is knocking and the other won't power on at all. I called Dell and have been transferred to 11 people and 3 different calls:1st Call - 48 Minutes (Disconnected during transfer)2nd Call - 91 Minutes (Disconnected trying to transfer me)3rd Call: 138 Minutes - Disconnected during transfer.I am fed up and it is absolutely ridiculous. They have no idea what department to send me to. So far I have talked to:"Customer Care""Dell Care""Business Sales""Hardware support""Desktop Support""Technical Support"I have 4 different case numbers they have assigned me and still nothing to show for it. They can't even tell me who I need to talk to or what I need to...

Privacy: The TSA Has Your Reading List
According to the Washington Post, the TSA is compiling extensive traveler records that can track passenger reading preferences. The Automated Targeting System is ostensibly designed to help officials ferret out terrorists; citizens who recently asked the government for records of their travel found that the databases also contains: "a description of a book on marijuana that one of them carried and small flashlights bearing the symbol of a marijuana leaf." Our government's long maw even reaches abroad to gather information on flights that don't brush against U.S. airspace.Ann Harrison, the communications director for a technology firm in Silicon Valley who was among those who obtained their personal files and provided them to The Post, said she was taken aback to see that her dossier contained data on her race and on a European flight that did not begin or end in the United States or connect to a U.S.-bound flight."It was surprising that they were gathering so much information...

Your Government: How To Write To Congress
Writing to Congress is the single best way to express your view on public policy. The average consumer has a surprising ability to influence legislation by crafting a well written missive and avoiding several common mistakes.Why Personal Letters Beat Form LettersDon't get suckered in by the quick and easy "Write to Congress!" form letters littering the internet. Form letters are not an expression of values; they are a show of organizational strength. If the NRA convinces five million people to send letters opposing gun control, it shows that the NRA can muster five million people to action, not that five million people necessarily care about gun laws. Congressional offices know this and generally disregard form letters. So what happens when you send a letter? Every office has its own procedures for tabulating constituent correspondence, but most will produce a report at the end of week breaking down how many letters were received by issue area, separating out form letters from...