Where Are The Best Deals On College Textbooks? Generally, Amazon

http://ift.tt/1zwMSDm

(Ben Balter)

Our power-shopping colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports wondered: which of the used-textbook services have the best prices on popular course materials? You can usually get the best prices by bypassing the campus bookstore, but which of the many sites now available offer the best deals?

Their survey wasn’t perfect, namely because they went book shopping in July. Shopping for books in July doesn’t give you perfect insight into what prices are like during the beginning-of-the-semester rush, but summer classes are a thing, and the sites’ inventory and prices did vary between visits.

What they found was that the site that had the consistently best prices was Amazon. At any given time, a different site might have a slightly lower price, but Amazon’s prices were the best consistently over time. Barnes & Noble was consistently the highest, which isn’t surprising given that the company owns a huge number of college bookstores.

New books were trickier: there wasn’t much variation in price, but the very freshest texts weren’t always in stock at all sites.

The overall lesson from this experiment: give yourself some time to shop for books and find the best deals, and also be sure to shop around for the best prices.

College-textbook shopping test: Amazon’s prices for used books are consistently low [Consumer Reports]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Used Car Dealer Accused Of Rolling Back Odometers, Selling Cars And Lies

http://ift.tt/1oZMISL

(Sarah)

A couple in California who ran a used car dealership embody consumers’ worst fears about buying used cars. They now face almost 80 criminal charges of grand theft by false pretenses, perjury, filing false documents with the DMV, and twenty counts of unlawfully rolling back a car odometer.

The investigation started in April of this year, when a customer of the used car dealership brought her car to a mechanic with a functioning brain, who noticed that the car appeared to have traveled at least twice as many miles as the odometer indicated.

Department of Motor Vehicles investigators looked into cars that the dealership had sold in the past, noticing discrepancies between auction records for those cars and the current odometer readings.

Wait, though: how do you roll back an odometer when most cars have digital displays now? Despite what my imagination tells me, rolling back the odometer on a used car is not done by driving it for hundreds of thousands of miles in reverse. No, you can’t even apply for that job.

Instead, it’s done by swapping out that part of the dashboard for one with fewer miles from a car in a junkyard. This is not legal, at least not if you plan to sell the car to someone else. It’s also possible to tamper with digital odometers by hacking the software, which investigators say is a more common method.

Court documents say that both members of the couple played roles in the deception: the husband bought the cars at auction and replaced the odometers with parts sourced from junkyards and elsewhere, and the wife was in charge of typing up price sheets based on the cars’ Kelley Blue Book values using the faked mileage.

Antioch Used Car Dealer, His Wife Facing Nearly 80 Charges In Alleged Odometer Tampering Scheme [CBS San Francisco]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Initial Questions Offer Hope That FCC Isn’t Going Easy On Comcast/TWC Merger

http://ift.tt/1vE8D5u

Knight725

While the FCC’s public comment period for the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger remain open through Monday, the commission has already sent off its first round of questions to the companies involved. And judging by both the quantity and quality of the things being asked, it looks like the FCC isn’t ready to rubber-stamp the deal.

The FCC has sent lengthy requests for information to Comcast and TWC. It has also sent request to Charter, as the carrier is slated to swap several markets with the combined company if the merger is completed.

While it’s no surprise for the FCC to ask for precise data on customers and markets covered by these companies, there are some unexpected questions. For example, the Comcast information request [PDF] asks for very detailed data about Netflix traffic and info on Comcast’s pay-for-access deal with the streaming video giant.

The request also seeks information about companies’ agreements with and connections to the Internet’s so-called “backbone” providers, who do much of the heavy lifting of carrying data to and from cable companies’ networks.

Then there are questions about things like set-top box design and deployment that industry insiders tell Consumerist don’t usually come up at this stage. A number of the matters brought up in these requests are things that often get asked in later rounds of questioning, and frequently only at the urging of merger opponents.

One expert who has looked at the requests describes the overall tone of the inquiry as one of “deep skepticism” compared to the happy story Comcast has tried to tell. Had the FCC already made up its mind to approve the merger, the questions would likely be fairly broad and generic, much like they were during the regulatory review of the Comcast acquisition of NBC Universal.

Insiders say this depth of questioning at such an early stage is closer to the FCC’s handing of the AT&T merger with T-Mobile, which ultimately collapsed after it became clear that regulators would not sign off on it.

Before anyone opposed to the merger gets too hopeful, there is nothing in the questions to indicate that the Commission is looking to block the deal. What it does offer is a sliver of hope that the FCC is at least willing to listen to the concerns of those who think this merger would harm consumers.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

5 Best Lines From Review Of Entire Taco Bell Dollar Menu

http://ift.tt/1qxMKN2

He ate all this stuff so you wouldn’t have to. [via AdWeek]

This week, Taco Bell took a break from its 172-year tradition of selling handcraftd, top-of-the-line, high-priced authentic Mexican cuisine to launch a dollar menu. Since even that is too expensive to convince me to eat at the Bell, I have to rely on some brave canaries willing to test the air of this fast food coal mine to see if this stuff is safe.

Thankfully, AdWeek’s David Griner was willing to put his stomach on the line for the sake of humanity, taste-testing each of the 11 items on the new bargain-basement menu and living long enough to write up his thoughts.

After investing his $12.99 in science, Griner headed home with, “two satisfyingly hefty sacks of warm, damp, processed food.”

Oh yum.

Feel free to read his entire story — sure to be a James Beard award nominee — but we’ve got the highlights here:

On the Spicy Potato Soft Taco:

“It tastes like breakfast, but with lettuce.”

On the Cheese Roll-Up:

“It’s the kind of thing my 2-year-old would order, unroll out of curiosity and then slowly push toward the center of the table… This is the toast sandwich of Taco Bell cuisine.”

On the Cinnamon Twists:

“I’ve always liked these more in theory than in practice, and sure enough, they’re basically just packing peanuts dusted with sweetness.”

On the Caramel Apple Empanada:

“[Y]ou’d get more for your money with a fruit pie from a nearby gas station. (That might be the saddest sentence I’ve ever written.)”

On forcing himself to eat the Spicy Tostada despite being full:

“It’s earnestly good, but I’m officially in pain.”

It’s worth noting that Griner did not get the chance to test the one thing that vaguely interests me on the cheapo menu — the Cinnabon Delights 2-Pack, which he paid for but which mysteriously never made it home.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Staples Will Keep Closing Stores, Nobody Is Surprised

http://ift.tt/1ln7GIA

(Morton Fox)

Earlier this year, Staples announced plans to close 225 underperforming store due to poor performance. Almost six months later, the office supply retailer hasn’t managed to turn things around, mostly because consumers are looking elsewhere for most of the things they would buy at Staples. Especially electronics. Turning things around will be a difficult task, since the chain plans aggressive discounts to lure customers back in.

One of the most aggressive of those discounts is their price-matching plan, which is Staples’ plan to get some electronics business back from other big-box retailers and Amazon. Notably, the only website they will match is Amazon. For this back-to-school season, Staples is doing a 110% price match: matching prices, then discounting 10%.

Will it work? Maybe. Reuters reports that the company’s overall sales continue to fall, and were down 6% in the second quarter of 2014. Sales of electronics were down even more in the last quarter, and

Aggressive discounts like the 110% price match may get customers in the doors, but will they come back to buy items that can’t be matched to sales elsewhere? Will they at least show up to buy some ink cartridges and resume paper?

Competitors Office Depot and OfficeMax merged last year to better compete against Staples, and they report that revenues are down as well. Will paperless offices and online ordering doom the big-box office supply store chains? We’ll find out in the coming years.

Staples closing 140 stores this year amid poor sales [Reuters]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

52 Ill-Informed Mayors Agree: The Comcast/TWC Merger Is Greatest Thing Ever

http://ift.tt/1ttaJ43

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter may not be in a position to objectively evaluate Comcast.

The gleaming USB drive that is Comcast HQ towers above the rest of the skyline here in Philadelphia, and the company is set to build another gleaming spire as a monument to its greatness right across the street. Just a few blocks away from the nation’s largest cable and Internet provider sits Mayor Michael “Why do people always laugh at my last name?” Nutter, who recently rounded up a bunch of other mayors to tell the FCC how awesome Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable would be. Of course, missing from that list of mayors were the leaders of New York City and Los Angeles, the two cities that would be most affected by the deal.

The letter [nutterlovescomcast], signed by Nutter and 51 other mayors around the country, praises the merger as a way for current Time Warner Cable markets to benefit from “increased network investment, faster Internet speeds, improved video options and leading community development programs.”

What the mayors fail to acknowledge is that there is absolutely no reason that Time Warner Cable couldn’t make these improvements on its own; it is the largest operator in the nation’s two biggest markets (NYC and L.A.) and has millions of subscribers who pay huge bills every month. TWC is not some scrappy startup that needs a deep-pocketed investor or some rickety old dinosaur that needs saving. It has merely profited by charging top dollar for bottom-dollar service.

And the reason TWC has been able to get away with offering cruddy cable and Internet to customers is because there has been no competition in these markets. If you live in Manhattan and want Internet service, you’ll likely need TWC. And even those that don’t generally have to get Cablevision service, but the two don’t overlap.

But these mayors all think that Comcast — the only cable and Internet operator that competes with TWC for last place in national customer satisfaction surveys — will somehow swoop in and make everything better.

The mayors also are operating under the delusion that a Comcast/TWC merger will create jobs. Perhaps that’s true in Philadelphia and some other places might pick up a few staffers as redundant positions get shifted around, but there is no way a consolidated TWC/Comcast will see a net gain in employees nationwide. These two companies might not have a geographical overlap, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t staffing overlap.

Notably left out of the letter from the mayors are New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio, who has openly questioned the validity of the merger, and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who recently asked for an extension on the deadline to file comments regarding the deal.

The best part of the mayors’ letter is where they credit Comcast with being the sole impetus behind recent gigabit broadband expansion plans from Google and AT&T.

Yes, because apparently Google — that little Internet company that hates to expand — had only been planning on bringing Google Fiber to the Kansas City area, and tiny telecom titan AT&T bought miles and miles of fiber cable just so it could make cool-looking jump ropes for the company fitness center.

Thank you Comcast for showing these companies the way to roll out fiber networks that were already the result of years of planning and billions of dollars!

The folks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance say we shouldn’t stop with just thanking Comcast for its apparent role in other companies’ gigabit expansion plans.

• Since Comcast announced the merger, the Large Hardon Collider has not created a black hole large enough to destroy the Earth. #thankyouComcast

• Since Comcast announced the merger, millions of kittens have been adopted #thankyouComcast

• Since Comcast announced the merger, we have a potential Ebola vaccine #thankyouComcast

• Since Comcast announced the merger, Bruce Willis has not had to blow up an asteroid to save our planet. #thankyouComcast

Well, we don’t know about that last one. Bruce isn’t always very public about his asteroid-destroying activities.

Back to the matter at hand… Instead of praising Comcast for its valiant effort to expand by purchasing another huge company, these mayors should be urging Comcast to spend these billions improving its speeds and building out a gigabit network of its own that would offer more choice to consumers.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Two Big Reasons CNN Money Is Only Half Right About Gigabit Broadband Expansion

http://ift.tt/1v6gK9V

CNN Money’s colorful but misleading map shows both real and imaginary private gigabit expansion but misses public gigabit networks.

Broadband internet coverage in the United States is still pretty uneven. While some, mainly rural, communities are scrambling to connect to the 21st century using slow, old, and unreliable tech, some urban areas are dashing forward at over 1000 Mbps. The list of lucky cities with gigabit connections is growing, as CNN Money reports, but it’s not growing in the way that CNN indicates.

The article is right that gigabit connections are, slowly, starting to meander their way into a number of cities around the United States. But the map is misleading in a couple of big ways: it overplays the current contributions of big telecom businesses, and misses a chance to highlight smaller success stories.

1.) Promises Aren’t Connections

There sure are a lot of dots for AT&T and for CenturyLink on that map! They must be expanding like mad!

Well, yes and no. Both companies have plans for expansion in several cities, but haven’t built out all their networks or connected many subscribers yet.

Currently, AT&T “U-verse with GigaPower” service is available in three cities, all in Texas. They are “confirmed” to be installing service in another 11 cities sometime in the hopefully not-too-distant future. The intent to connect some of those cities was just announced as recently as this week. Plan information, pricing, and availability won’t be available to potential subscribers for some time.

Additionally, in the three cities — Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth — where AT&T does currently operate ultra-high-speed GigaPower networks, not all customers are yet seeing actual gigabit speeds, although the company does plan to reach that level during 2014.

The CenturyLink dots are a little more accurate than the AT&T dots. Just this month, the company announced that they were immediately launching residential fiber in eight cities and expanding it in their existing three. Another six cities are getting business-only access. However, even in the 11 cities where CenturyLink now provides fast fiber access, the service is new and still only available in certain areas.

2.) Municipal Broadband

The article says that, “AT&T, Google, and CenturyLink, have been the main drivers of ultra-fast Internet for home customers.” And as far as private investment goes, that’s true. But big telecom, cable, and internet companies aren’t the only game in town.

The CNN map has exactly one purple dot, representing publicly-owned networks, on their map and it’s splatted right in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Chattanooga has indeed had tremendous success with their citywide, publicly-owned fiber network. The chairman of the FCC has held the city up as a shining example of why municipal broadband networks should be allowed to thrive despite state-level laws currently blocking them.

But laws in 20 states haven’t blocked all public fiber networks. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which tracks and advocates for the expansion of municipal broadband networks, there are roughly 90 communities out there where fiber-to-the-home is available for “most or all” of the residents. And of those, over 40 communities in 13 states offer gigabit connections.

Granted, localities cluster together on a national-level map so asking for 40+ purple dots is really a bit much. But at least 12 other states around the country should have an indicator in them somewhere and don’t.

Where you can get blazing-fast Internet speeds [CNN Money]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

It Just Got More Expensive For Older Youths To Fly Solo With American Airlines

http://ift.tt/1sbnuhP

(David Transier)

Older tweens flying solo on American Airlines and hoping for a bit more independence can kiss those dreams goodbye. The latest American/US Airways merger-related policy update for the airline involves increasing the age for which unaccompanied minors must pay to be supervised.

According to the Dallas Morning New’s Aviation Blog, starting on Sept. 3 American Airlines expands its current $150 each way unaccompanied minor (UMNR) fee, which covers children ages 5 to 11, to include young teens ages 12 to 14.

Passengers who purchased tickets for unaccompanied passengers ages 12 to 14 prior to Sept. 3 with flight dates after the expanded fee goes into effect, the UMNR service will be provided free of charge.

The Airline also announced inane employee email that it is currently working to merge its UMNR requirements with that of US Airways.

Currently US Airways does not allow UMNRs to travel on connecting flights, while American does. Eventually, officials say that passengers 8 to 14 will be able to travel on connecting flights with US Airways.

American is by no means the only U.S. carrier to charge UMNR fees.

• Delta charges $100 each way for minors ages 5 to 14. The airline also offers the service for those ages 15 to 17.

• Southwest charges $50 each way for unaccompanied minors ages 5 to 11.

• United Airlines charges $150 each way for children ages 5 to 11.

• JetBlue charges $100 each way for unaccompanied minors ages 5 to 13.

• Alaska Airlines charges just $25 each way for non-stop or same-plane flights for children ages 5 to 7. Kids 8 to 12 can take connecting flights, the fee increases by $50 each way.

• Spirit Airlines charges $100 each way for children ages 5 to 14 to fly alone, but only on nonstop and same-plan flights.

American Airlines to charge for older youths flying alone [Dallas Morning News]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Appeals Court Won’t Hear Aereo’s “We’re A Cable Company” Argument

http://ift.tt/1AEB1Uq

Following its crushing defeat before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this summer, streaming video startup Aereo tried to stay alive by arguing that since the court said it was acting like a cable company, it should then be considered a cable company. Alas, a federal appeals court has decided not to hear this debate, possibly hammering the final nail into Aereo’s coffin.

Aereo had originally claimed that its service — which uses arrays of tiny antennae to capture freely available over-the-air broadcast signals and then transmit the live feeds over the Internet to paying users — didn’t violate broadcasters’ copyright because the setup was really just a high-tech rooftop antenna, connecting one user with a single wee antenna.

But a divided SCOTUS disagreed, with the majority ruling that what Aereo was doing was not substantially different from the way in which pay-TV operators collect and retransmit over-the-air network feeds to cable customers. Thing is, those pay-TV companies fork over heft fees for that access while Aereo did not.

And so, when the Aereo case was sent back to the lower court, the company tried to make the argument that it should be allowed to operate if it agrees to pay reasonable retrans fees to the broadcasters.

“If Aereo is a ‘cable system’ as that term is defined in the Copyright Act,” wrote the company’s lawyers in a letter to the court, “it is eligible for a statutory license, and its transmissions may not be enjoined.”

However, in July the U.S. Copyright Office said it could not grant Aereo’s request to be licensed similarly to a cable company, explaining that it had yet to be determined if had the authority to grant such a license to an Internet video streaming service. The Aereo filing was accepted, but only provisionally, “depending upon further regulatory or judicial developments.”

But then on Thursday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit filed a document showing that it had denied Aereo’s request to make its “we’re a cable company” argument, sending the case back to the District Court and vacating that lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against Aereo.

Not that the injunction matters, as Aereo ceased streaming video and began issuing refunds only days after the SCOTUS ruling in June.

Aereo could still take the case with broadcasters to trial and make the cable company argument there, but that seems unlikely at this point.

[via Washington Post]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Here’s Another Near-Invisible Card Skimmer Found On A European ATM

http://ift.tt/1qxos5Z

On the right of this photo is a 1-euro coin, which is more or less the size of a U.S. dollar coin. On the left is a super-thin skimmer recovered from the card-reader slot of an ATM in Europe. Powered by a watch battery, it was only found when the ATM displayed a “fatal error” message and a technician came by to figure out what was wrong.

(Krebs on Security)

The bank that showed this skimmer to Krebs on Security wants to stay anonymous, but is somewhere in Europe. While credit and bank cards in Europe in theory use EMV (computer chip) instead of magnetic strips, they still often have magnetic strips in order to be backwards-compatible in countries that still use magnetic card readers.

When it comes to skimmers, there are a few very basic precautions that you can take to prevent having your bank account drained by a skimmer.

1. Cover your hand while inputting your PIN. Imagine that there’s a camera somewhere above the screen pointing down at your hand, because sometimes there is.

This method is not foolproof: some skimmers use a false PIN pad to capture numbers instead, so shielding your hand wouldn’t work. Most skimmers recovered recently use separate data capture devices and cameras, though, so it’s a helpful tactic. This might mean using walk-up instead of drive-up ATMs if, like me, you’re too short to reach the machine with two hands while sitting in a car.

2. Use a credit card to reduce your fraud liability at a gas pump or kiosk. This one might be a little too obvious, but fraudsters can’t drain your bank account if they don’t have access to it. Yes, you will eventually get the money back, but an empty bank account can lead to a very unpleasant week.

Stealthy, Razor Thin ATM Insert Skimmers [Krebs on Security]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Following Deaths Of 2 Children, 2.2 Million Bean Bags Recalled

http://ift.tt/1q1KX6p

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary recall of 2.2 million Ace Bayou Corporation bean bag chairs after two children opened them, crawled inside and tragically suffocated to death.

The voluntary industry standard requires non-refillable bean bag chairs to have closed and permanently disabled zippers. However, the recalled chairs have two zippers that can be opened, providing enough space for a child to enter. The child can then become trapped and suffocate or choke on the bag’s foam beads.

A 13-year-old boy from Texas and a 3-year-old girl from Kentucky died inside the Ace Bayou chairs after suffocating and inhaling the beads, CPSC reports.

Affected chairs include both round or L-shaped, vinyl or fabric, and are filled with polystyrene foam beads. The chairs were sold in a variety of colors, including purple, violet, blue, red, pink, yellow, Kelly green, black, port, navy, lime, royal blue, turquoise, tangerine and multi-color.

Round bean bag chairs were sold in three sizes, 30, 32 and 40 inches in diameter, while L-shaped bean bag chairs measure 18 inches wide by 30 inches deep by 30 inches high. “ACE BAYOU CORP” is printed on a tag sewn into the bean bag chair’s cover seam.

The chairs, which retailed for between $30 and $100, were sold at Bon-Ton, Meijer, Pamida, School Specialty, Wayfair, Walmart and Amazon.com before July 2013.

The CPSC urges consumers to check their bean bag chairs for any zippers that can open and take those that can open away from children immediately.

Owners should contact New Orleans-based Ace Bayou for a free repair kit to permanently disable the zippers so that they cannot be opened.

Two Deaths Reported with Ace Bayou Bean Bag Chairs; Recall Announced Due to Suffocation and Choking Hazards [U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Creator Of “Your Baby Can Read” Program Settles False Advertising Charges

http://ift.tt/1BKrfBz

Almost exactly two years after the Federal Trade Commission accused the people behind the popular “Your Baby Can Read” training program of making deceptive advertising claims, the product’s creator has finally reached a deal to settle charges that he and his company made baseless pronouncements about the effectiveness of the program and that they misrepresented scientific studies to prove these bogus statements.

Your Baby Can Read, created by Dr. Robert Titzer, raked in more than $185 million from the sales of its $200 kits. The program made claims in ads, infomercials, and on social media that it could teach babies to read as early as nine months out of the womb, and that kids who used YBCR could handle reading something as complicated as a Harry Potter book by the age of three or four.

In 2013, the FTC’s complaint was amended to allege that the makers of YBCR lacked competent and reliable scientific evidence to show that the program could actually teach babies to read, or that the program helped very young children reach advanced levels of reading at a preschool age.

The amended complaint also charged Dr. Titzer with making deceptive expert endorsements for YBCR.

Titzer touted the program, even after the initial FTC complaint, by making supportive statements about YBCR, including that it “gives infants and children an early start on academic learning, allowing them to perform better in school and later in life than children who did not use the program,” or that “Scientific studies prove that Your Baby Can Read! teaches infants and children to read.” However, the FTC alleged that the research Titzer used to support these claims was not sufficient.

According to the 2013 complaing, Titzer “did not exercise his purported expertise in infant research in the form of an examination or testing of the Your Baby Can Read! program, at least as extensive as an expert in infant research would normally conduct, in order to support the conclusions presented in his endorsement.”

As part of the deal with the FTC Titzer and his company are prohibited from making unsubstantiated claims about the performance or efficacy of any product that teaches reading, and neither defendant can use the statement “Your Baby Can Read.”

Dr. Titzer is barred from endorsing any product unless he has a reasonable basis for the claims made. He must also pay a penalty of $300,000.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

DEA To Change Classification of Some Frequently-Abused Painkillers Like Vicodin

http://ift.tt/VLdpxE

(Sarah Braun)

As a country, we sure do like our prescription painkillers. In fact, we like them a bit too much: Americans consume 99% of all hydrocodone drugs manufactured in the world. Prescription drug abuse — and deaths from overdose — are rampant. The DEA is hoping to stem the tide of abuse and overdose with a new rule that changes the way some painkillers are classified, and will make them harder for individuals to get.

The L.A. Times reports that the DEA today is announcing a new rule that will tighten regulations on drugs containing hydrocodone, like Vicodin. The new rule, which classifies them as Schedule II drugs, places them in the same category as other frequently-abused drugs like OxyContin.

The drugs are currently classified as Schedule III. Schedule II classification, which goes into effect in 45 days, will make them more difficult to obtain. Patients will be able to get fewer pills at a time and will have to obtain new prescriptions from their doctors more often.

The FDA recommended reclassifying vicodin and other hydrocodone drugs as Schedule II last October, after several years of resisting the change because the new classification will make it more burdensome for patients with legitimate needs for the drugs to obtain them. However, the Times reports, after the DEA showed that hydrocodone-containing drugs are all over the black market, the FDA reconsidered their position.

Almost 7 million Americans are estimated to abuse prescription painkillers, a representative for the DEA told the Times. Overuse and abuse of hydrocodone drugs contributes to about 16,000 deaths per year — more than heroin and cocaine combined, the Times reports.

Many of the fatal overdoes do result from illegally obtained drugs. However, plenty don’t. A Times investigation looking at records from four California counties found in half of prescription drug-related deaths, the medications were directly prescribed by doctors and presumably legally purchased.

DEA tightens controls on hydrocodone painkiller drugs [L.A. Times]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

AirBNB Squatter Brothers Quietly Leave Their Ill-Gotten Condo

http://ift.tt/1ubRyPD

(Jonathan Coffey)

The AirBNB squatter nightmare is over…as far as we know. The owner of the property filed an unlawful detainer notice, which is part of the legal eviction process. While the squatters didn’t respond to that notice before their Monday deadline, instead they quietly left the condo, leaving surprisingly little damage.

The owner of the condo says that she plans to sell, since her vacation home has been tainted by the whole experience. She has walked through the place after the brothers left, but stayed in a hotel while she sorted condo-related business out. She had a number of eyes on the condo, including everyone from neighbors to an actual surveillance team put in place by AirBNB to watch the brothers.

The squatter saga began when an AirBNB “guest” rented a condo in Palm Springs, California for 44 days, but stopped paying for the residence after only 30 days. That’s the point when a guest gains renter’s rights in California, and he took advantage of this rule to avoid eviction. Reporters on the scene in Palm Springs were able to figure out the identity of the renter, a game developer who had raised $39,739 on Kickstarter for a project, Confederate Express, and then hadn’t produced anything before starting another Kickstarter project under his company’s name instead of his own. Kickstarter later suspended that still-unfunded project.

The homeowner thinks that the media attention that her situation received was ultimately helpful in booting the squatters. “As crazy and stressful as the media attention was, I’m happy the story went viral,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Airbnb squatters leave Palm Springs condo [San Francisco Chronicle]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Are Mozzarella Sticks The Next McDonald’s Dollar Menu Item?

http://ift.tt/1tspEM3

Photo courtesy of (@melarenass)

When you think of McDonald’s you probably think of burgers and fries. But could the fast-food joint be the next big thing for Mozzarella sticks? Probably not, but that’s not stopping at least one location from serving the cheesy sticks.

According to a report from FoodBeast, a northern New Jersey McDonald’s is offering a box of three-piece mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce for a dollar.

It’s not clear whether this is a rogue McDonald’s or if the company as a whole is truly considering adding the option to it’s already self-described overcomplicated menu.

FoodBeast reports that the cheese sticks are already available on McDonald’s menus in the UK.

Mozzarella sticks, a food staple of happy hours and endless appetizer menus, aren’t a completely unheard of fast-food offering.

Previously, Burger King added mozz sticks to the menu, however, the cheesy logs didn’t garner enough love from customers to make it a permanent menu fixture in the U.S.

McDonald’s Testing McMozzarella Sticks with McMarinara Sauce [FoodBeast]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Washington State Just Says No To Mobile Weed-Smoking Wagons

http://ift.tt/1tspHax

A handful of companies, including the Weed Bus Club, have popped up in Washington to provide visitors with a place to smoke while touring Seattle.

In the wake of Washington state’s recent legalization of recreational marijuana, some businesses have popped up to cater to weed tourists who want to see the sites while also enjoying the cannabis they have purchased. But state regulators have now made it clear that smoking pot on buses — even chartered ones — is a no-no.

The idea for these weed wagons apparently arose out of a response to laws against smoking pot in public. One company, the Weed Bus Club, markets itself as providing an easy way to check out Seattle’s licensed marijuana retailers while also enjoying their products.

“We save you the effort of researching the shops by driving you straight there, and then you can smoke right on the bus!” reads the company’s site.

But the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is making its stance very clear on this issue, notifying the charter and excursion bus operators in the state that “the consumption or use of marijuana products on their vehicles by passengers or drivers is prohibited by state law.”

The commission also reminded these charter operators that “failure to comply with the law will result in the cancellation of their state-issued operating permit.”

[via SeattlePI.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

http://ift.tt/1niEEXE

Here are nine of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

(Freaktography)

(Chris Goldberg)

(Renee Rendler-Kaplan)

(Karen Chappell)

(Nicholas Eckhart)

(Sébastien Barré)

(George)

(pjpink)

(Andrés Nieto Porras)

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Want to see your pictures on our site? Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Delta Hands Over 7-Year-Old Passenger To Wrong Person

http://ift.tt/1plGThG

(frankieleon)

Delta has got some explaining to do. Not only did the airline hand over a 7-year-old unaccompanied traveler to the wrong person when she arrived at her destination, but that wrong person happened to the mother who recently got out of jail for kidnapping and beating the girl back in 2008.

The young girl, who has been in her father’s custody in Ohio since her mom was convicted six years ago, was flying to Houston to visit other relatives. These family members were the ones Delta was supposed to hand the youngster over to. Instead, it was the mom who picked up her daughter at the airport.

The dad says he didn’t even know that his the girl’s mom had been released from prison.

“Delta has pretty much admitted that their policy has been, has not been followed,” his attorney tells WCPO-TV. He also says the local police are investigating whether or not the mom violated the terms of her parole.

Delta says it is “conducting its own investigation” and that “Delta’s unaccompanied minor handling protocols are thorough and we will be looking to see if procedures were properly followed in this instance.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Marketers Think It’s Time To Prepare Your Batches Of Halloween Cards

http://ift.tt/1lk3Odv

How early is “too early” for a store Halloween display? It used to be that seeing Halloween candy and merchandise on the shelves in July shocked us, but it no longer does. Are retailers wearing us down? Will they begin to stock costumes and pumpkin spice flavored foods even earlier, pairing Fourth of July and Halloween items as Halloween and Christmas are inevitably paired now?

Meanwhile, here are two lovely displays of Halloween merchandise out in store before anyone could possibly want them.

Reader Dave sent along this picture from Walgreens: those nests look tasty, but still, it’s too early.

How about some greeting cards? Randy took these pictures at CVS. Not only are marketers still trying to make Halloween cards into a thing, but you can buy them more than two months in advance.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

4 Reasons Consumers Union Has Asked The FCC To Block The Comcast/TWC Merger

http://ift.tt/1oIOwdl

(Consumerist)

The full regulatory approval process for the Comcast/TWC merger has months left to go, but we’re getting down to the wire on one part of it: the deadline for public comments is Monday. Our colleagues down the hall at Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, have now officially asked the FCC to block this thing, and with good reason.

In their petition (PDF), Consumers Union sets out their arguments for why allowing Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable would hurt consumers. In a word, it’s all about competition, and the near-complete absence of it.

1.) Making Comcast bigger reduces other pay TV companies’ ability to compete. Sure, sure, Comcast and TWC don’t comepete geographically — but that doesn’t mean anyone else does, either. The lack of competition, combined with Comcast’s sheer size, gives them both the ability and the incentive to mess with other pay TV providers’ access to the content they own.

2.) A post-merger Comcast will have enough leverage to stifle online competition. Call this the Netflix problem. Content isn’t just for cable and broadcast networks anymore; it’s from online services, too. And by letting traffic bottleneck or trying to keep subscribers using their set-top tech, Comcast can keep consumers in their ecosystem… and lock the new tech guys out.

3.) The bigger Comcast gets, the more it controls what content viewers can see — and can lock out diverse content. It’s not just cloud-based, online, or streaming services that Comcast can control access to. It’s good old TV, too. Post-merger, Comcast would be the cable provider for 16 of the top 20 media markets in the country. They would have power to carry or to decline to carry programming to over 30 million consumers. Spanish-language channels in your city not willing or able to pay skyrocketing carriage fees? Too bad for viewers.

4.) When there’s no competition, consumers get rotten service. Everyone hates their cable companies’ customer service, but they put up with it because there’s nowhere else to go. Just this month, we’ve heard and seen several recordings that show just how bad bad can be. But if Comcast is the only internet provider in town, they have no reason to get better.

Delara Derakhshani, policy counsel for Consumers Union, said, “This mega merger would give Comcast unprecedented power to raise prices, limit choices, and stifle competition, which would seriously hurt consumers.” She continued, “If this deal goes through, we can expect to be hit with more skyrocketing bills and worse service as Comcast gains even more control over what we see online and on TV. The two companies have failed to demonstrate how the merger would serve the public interest. The benefits they claim are overstated, or elusive, or don’t depend on a merger, and they are far outweighed by the harms.”

If you want to file your own comment with the FCC, they’re taking them through August 25.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Nestle Implements Tougher Animal Welfare Standards For Thousands Of Suppliers

http://ift.tt/1oVTaKB

(Adam Fagen)

Several months after workers at one of its dairy suppliers were charged with animal cruelty after being caught on camera abusing cows, Nestle says that it is taking steps to ensure that the animals in its supply chain are treated properly.

The world’s largest food and beverage company unveiled a number of new animal welfare standards that its 7,300 suppliers – and their suppliers – must meet, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Under the new guidelines, Nestle’s suppliers of dairy, meat, poultry and eggs are required, among other things, to provide more space for farm animals, minimize pain in veterinary practices and welcome independent auditors.

Officials with Nestle say the Responsible Sourcing Guidelines extend to the companies that suppliers buy from, as well; meaning the new standards will reach “hundreds of thousands of farms around the world.”

“We know that our consumers care about the welfare of farm animals and we, as a company, are committed to ensuring the highest possible levels of farm animal welfare across our global supply chain,” Benjamin Ware, the company’s Manager of Responsible Sourcing, said in a news release.

In order to ensure that new standards are being met, Nestle commissioned an independent auditor to visit suppliers.

If a violation is found the company will work with suppliers to improve the treatment of animals and ensure standards are implemented correctly. If the supplier can not meet the requirements despite Nestle’s assistance they will no longer provide goods to the beverage and food maker.

Nestle teamed up with the World Animal Protection NGO to craft the tighter requirements.

Over the past several years, several companies, including Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Safeway, have pledged to take animal welfare seriously. In most cases, the commitment came in the form of vowing to phase out pork suppliers that use gestation crates.

Nestle announces new animal welfare standards [The Los Angeles Times]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist