Samsung Says My New TV From Groupon Is Secretly Mexican

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(Eric Hauser)

Rob bought a TV from Groupon Goods, and found himself in a weird dilemma where Groupon promised that his new TV would have a manufacturer’s warranty. He had no reason not to believe them until something actually went wrong with the TV. Samsung told him a few different things: that they don’t warranty items bought online, or that his television came from Mexico or Canada. What?

None of those things make any sense. Now, it can be a problem when buying electronics online that the vendor you’re buying from isn’t an authorized seller, which voids your warranty. You might encounter this problem when shopping on Amazon: while Amazon itself might be an authorized seller, its Marketplace sellers mostly aren’t. Yes, even if the item ships from an Amazon warehouse: outside sellers can use “Fulfilled by Amazon” warehouse services and your un-warrantied widget might even ship alongside items that are purchased from Amazon itself. Then there’s the whole matter of gray market electronics, which aren’t specifically banned in this country but don’t have a valid warranty, either.

Of course, Rob wasn’t thinking about any of this. Rob bought a television, and Groupon said that it had a warranty. He had no reason not to believe Groupon, but things got very strange when he tried to get it repaired.

The set had a stuck pixel, which sounds minor until you’ve tried to ignore one on your own screen. He called Samsung, and after some troubleshooting, they made him an appointment with a technician. The technician never showed. When Rob called, Samsung representatives explained that the model number indicated that he shouldn’t have this TV: the television was a Mexican model, so Samsung U.S.A. didn’t have parts for it.

“I got bounced around between their call centers for a while, talking to Samsung Mexico, several Samsung US centers, and even Samsung Canada,” he wrote to Consumerist. “At one point it was even suggested I talk to Samsung Panama. When Canada tried to direct me back to Samsung US, I gave up.” We don’t blame him.

This is when you turn to Executive Customer Service, right? Rob wrote to Samsung’s Office of the President, and that’s when things started to make even less sense. Yes, that is possible. Rob explains, “They then said that because it was purchased on the web, it is not considered a US purchase and they can’t help me.”

What?

We’re pretty sure that Samsung electronics purchased online usually have a warranty. He must have misunderstood, right? Nope. That’s what Samsung says.

We tried contacting them about Rob’s case, and they didn’t respond. We turned to Groupon. They responded and were super nice, finding someone over at Samsung to help Rob. After some promising interactions with an “After Sales Support Team Leader,” that contact person disappeared, and Rob didn’t hear from that person anymore.

Sure, one stuck pixel in a high-end television isn’t a complete disaster. It’s still usable. That’s not what Rob paid for, though. He paid for a television that comes with a manufacturer’s warranty. Why should he have to call Samsung in four different countries to get it?

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Kickstarter: Project Backers Must Get Rewards (But Leave Us Out Of It)

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When you pledge your money to a Kickstarter project, you do so knowing that you won’t actually be charged unless the project reaches its funding goal. While that protects against an unfundable project from running off with your money, what about those projects that reached their goal but still don’t deliver the promised rewards?

The current Terms of Use for Kickstarter state that “Project Creators agree to make a good faith attempt to fulfill each reward by its Estimated Delivery Date.”

It also says that Project Creators are “required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill,” but that the Creators are “not required to grant a Backer’s request for a refund unless the Project Creator is unable or unwilling to fulfill the reward.”

This has led to numerous instances of successfully funded projects where the backers wait much longer than expected for their promised rewards, and where the project creators stop responding to queries and refund requests.

And as the Terms clearly spell out, “Kickstarter does not offer refunds,” and it doesn’t get involved in these disputes.

In just the last few months, we’ve told you about Ping Wallet, a project that raised $59,000 — almost double its funding goal — a year ago, with the promise of delivering rewards by Dec. 2013. After disgruntled backers brought their story to the media’s attention, the creators re-emerged, promising to deliver rewards by the end of 2014.

And earlier this year, Washington state’s attorney general sued the creators of a Kickstarter project that raised $25,000 in the fall of 2012, but has yet to deliver rewards to backers.

Today, Kickstarter announced that it has revised its Terms to make them more readable and to include an entire section that spells out creators’ obligations to their backers.

The section, entitled “How Projects Work,” puts this duty in language that leaves less room for interpretation.

“When a project is successfully funded, the creator must complete the project and fulfill each reward,” reads the updated Terms (bolding in original text). “Once a creator has done so, they’ve satisfied their obligation to their backers.”

The revised terms, which go into effect on Oct. 19, also clarifies that creators “owe their backers a high standard of effort, honest communication, and a dedication to bringing the project to life,” while asking backers to have some patience, as “they’re helping to create something new — not ordering something that already exists,” which might mean delays, and — in the worst cases — the inability to make good on the project.

For example, while a Kickstarter project might get its full funding goal, it’s possible the creator could have grossly underestimated the costs to actually produce the finished product. Even with all the money from backers, it may not be enough to finish.

“If a creator is unable to complete their project and fulfill rewards, they’ve failed to live up to the basic obligations of this agreement,” read the new Terms. “To right this, they must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to the best possible conclusion for backers.”

Ways in which this can be done, says Kickstarter, include creators posting an update on the site that “explains what work has been done, how funds were used, and what prevents them from finishing the project as planned.”

Creators should be able to demonstrate that they’ve worked “diligently and in good faith” to make the project a reality, and that funds were used appropriately.

If there is any crowdfunded money remaining, Kickstarter also advises (but does not require) creators of funded-but-failed projects offer to return any remaining funds to backers who have not received their reward.

For all of its tougher talk and helpful guidance, Kickstarter, which collects a 5% fee on fully funded projects, still does not provide refunds to backers or get involved in rewards disputes after a project is funded.

“The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project,” cautions the new Terms. “If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers.”

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when deciding whether to fund a Kickstarter project:

1. Am I willing to lose my full investment?

Remember, in spite of its rewards-based funding process, Kickstarter is not a store. You are providing funds to completely new ventures and you run the risk that nothing will ever come of your investment.

2. Is the funding goal sufficient to complete the project?

If someone sets a funding goal that looks too low for what they’re trying to do, you have to wonder if the creator has underestimated the actual costs of completion or if they are just setting a goal that is reachable so they can get the funds and disappear. In some cases, the goal may be low relative to the overall costs of a project because the creator already has some money and just needs to get over the hump.

3. Is the timeline for the rewards realistic?

Manufacturing takes time, shipping takes time, sourcing materials takes time. Many project creators over-promise when it comes to delivery times on rewards. If a creator is promising turnaround of a new, manufactured product in only a couple months, you probably shouldn’t expect it to arrive when promised.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

GM Must Turn Over Documents Regarding Ignition Switch Defect

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(frankieleon)

Since the General Motors ignition switch defect came to light in February there has been no shortage of lawsuits filed against the car manufacturer. While the company hopes that its compensation plan, and previous bankruptcy, will help to shield it from these claims, plaintiffs in these suits received some good news Friday: The company must hand over all documents pertaining to the defect.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a federal judge directed GM to turn over all documentation, including information already submitted to Congress and an internal investigation, to attorneys for the plaintiffs in multiple suits.

The plaintiffs allege, among other things, that GM’s failure to acknowledge the ignition issues have led to and will lead to economic losses, personal injury and deaths.

In a minor victory for GM, the order only pertains to accidents that occurred after the carmaker emerged from bankruptcy as the “New GM” in July 2009. As part of GM’s bankruptcy restructuring, the New GM is not supposed to be liable for any non-fatal accidents that occurred before the bankruptcy.

But even the bankruptcy protection may not always shield GM from liability. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber has been asked to determine whether the company committed fraud during its bankruptcy.

If he rules that GM deliberately chose not to disclose information about the ignition-switch defect, which was first discovered during pre-production testing of the Saturn Ion in 2001, at the bankruptcy, then the shield of protection would be voided, the WSJ reports.

Officials with GM contend that the bankruptcy effectively shields the current company against any litigation connected to accidents or products that occurred before 2009, because executives never knew about the issue.

However, the company has said it would not hide behind the bankruptcy shield when it comes to considering compensation for victims and their families under the Victims’ Compensation Fund.

Judge Tells GM to Open Defect Files [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Former Peanut Butter Moguls Found Guilty Of Knowingly Shipping Contaminated Food

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(Great Beyond)

Remember the massive outbreak of salmonella in peanut butter? No, not the one earlier this year, or the one in 2012, or the one in 2007. We mean the one in 2008, where peanut butter shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America was linked to more than 700 illnesses and nine known deaths. Five years after the company’s cartoonish terribleness was revealed, three executives were put on trial for knowingly distributing contaminated food to the American public.

And when we say “contaminated,” we mean “scooping up peanuts from the floor” contaminated. Back in January of 2009, it was easier for us to share a list of all of the peanut butter products that were known to not contain any potentially contaminated peanut butter.

Accidentally distributing a bunch of contaminated food isn’t a crime, but that’s not what the Peanut Corporation of America was accused of. Three executives were charged with actual federal crimes: the former owner, Stewart Parnell; his brother and the company’s food broker, Michael Parnell; and the plant’s former quality control manager, Mary Wilkerson. The Parnell brothers were both found guilty on multiple counts; Wilkerson was found guilty on one count of obstruction of justice. Other high-level PCA employees traded testimony against the Parnells for immunity.

If you’re interested in an incredible level of detail about what went down in the trial, one of my favorite extremely specialized news sites, Food Safety News, had reporters there for all seven weeks of the trial. The site’s publisher, food safety attorney Bill Marler, represented some victims of the salmonella outbreak in their lawsuits against PCA.

The illnesses and deaths weren’t part of this federal trial: the Parnells were charged with conspiring to ship out contaminated peanut butter even though they knew it could potentially harm consumers. Knowingly shipping contaminated food is a crime.

Peanut company owner found guilty in deadly salmonella outbreak [CNN]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

California Lays Down New Requirements For Olive Oil Labels

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(Michael W. May)

Sure, the label says California olive oil — but how do you know something else hasn’t crept in along the way, an oil of another sort? California is trying to prevent that adulteration from happening by instituting new standards for olive oil makers in the state.

The state’s Department of Food and Agriculture adopted new quality standards for olive oil yesterday, including most of the rules proposed by the Olive Oil Commission of California, reports the Los Angeles Times.

That group of local growers and millers had pushed of new testing and labeling requirements for any products bearing the “Made in California” label.

“California agriculture has an enviable reputation for high-quality products sought by consumers here and around the world,” said Karen Ross, secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. “We believe the time has come to designate a ‘California-grown’ olive oil, and these standards are an excellent way to do it.”

The new standards are only for olive oil makers producing at least 5,000 gallons per year, which is about 100 olive growers and a dozen millers in California.

The rules lay out new enforcement and require testing to look for adulteration or other defects like rancidity in the oil, because who wants to open up a fresh bottle of olive oil and smell that kind of stank? No one.

It also ditches marketing terms like “light,” which only means the oil has been refined with additives and isn’t, as the name suggests, lower in calories; and “pure,” which means a combination of virgin and refined olive oils. Instead, they’d both have to have labels including the fact that they’re refined.

The rules take effect Sept. 26.

California adopts new olive oil standards [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

$400M Loan From Its Own CEO Is Only 1/10 Of What Sears Needs To Stay Alive

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(Scott Miller)

I don’t know about you, but if someone loaned me $400 million, it would just about cover all my debts. But I’m not a sagging national retail operation that hasn’t been relevant in decades. If I were, then I’d probably need a much, much, much bigger loan to get out of hock.

Yes, as we told you earlier this week, Sears Holdings Corp., which includes the equally irrelevant Kmart, borrowed $400 million from ESL Investments, a hedge fund entirely owned by Sears CEO Eddie “What’s a few hundred million between coworkers?” Lampert.

And while that substantial loan will help Sears pay down older debts and possibly get the company through the end of the year, BusinessWeek reports it’s a small fraction of the $4 billion in capital the retailer needs to make it to 2016.

Sears can’t just keep borrowing money to stay open, as every lender will eventually need to be repaid, and the company’s cash flow is heading in the wrong direction.

Presumably taking a break from e-mailing his buddies at other companies about job openings, a rep for Sears told BusinessWeek that “We have many assets at our disposal to continue to fund our transformation,” and that Sears has “multiple financial resources available” to generate additional liquidity.

Sears has already spun off the Land’s End retail operation and is reportedly considering doing the same with its automotive business.

In recent years, it has tried to capitalize on formerly exclusive brands by allowing Costco to sell Craftsman tools, and Meijer to sell DieHard car batteries.

One place where Sears could raise significant chunks of money is through real estate. As we discovered in June, nearly every Sears and Kmart location in the country is potentially available to rent right now.

Of course, if Sears sells off or leases out a store, it has to weigh the benefit of a short-term cash injection against any long-term loss in sales from closing that business. And the stores that would bring in the most money to cash-strapped Sears on the real estate market are likely among the ones with the best retail sales figures.

“The company has significant assets to raise additional liquidity,” says one analyst, who cautions that Sears still needs to turn itself around. “Ultimately the trend for the business will need to improve relative to recent performance.”

Another analyst isn’t hopeful that the retailer can make it work in the long-term.

“I don’t see a turning point for them to make this a profitable business anytime soon,” he tells BusinessWeek. “The only way to keep it going is to continue to carve out pieces of the business and monetize it. At some point the music stops, and that’s when they get stuck.”

Speaking of music, a Credit Suisse analyst says he’s been hearing The Doors’ “The End” whenever he thins of Sears.

“Let’s face facts. Sears is generating negative operating cash flow of between $1 billion and $2 billion [closer to upper end, it looks like] in 2014,” he wrote in a note to investors. “Unless it sells off real assets while somehow maintaining the cash flow from those assets, this story is not likely to have a happy ending, and that ending continues to depend on suppliers.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Failed Stowaway Tries To Hide In Plane’s Wheel Well For Free Ride From Orlando To NYC

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(kevindean)

Just because one person survived flying miles above the ground in the wheel well of an airplane doesn’t mean everyone should try it. Luckily for a shirtless, barefoot man who police say tried to stowaway in a JetBlue plane’s wheel, he never left the ground.

Police in Orlando say a 32-year-old man climbed under a fence to gain access to a restricted area at the Orlando International Airport, before climbing into the wheel well of a plane headed to New York City, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

He’d apparently walked eight miles to get to the airport, and managed to rest from that journey for a few hours in the wheel well before climbing out again. That’s when a JetBlue employee spotted him on the tarmac.

He then reportedly told the worker he was an airline mechanic, but that his ID badge had been stolen. Seeing as he was half-dressed, this seemed unlikely.

When police got there he changed his tune, and confessed he was looking for a free ride. Officials with the police as well as the FBI questioned him for hours, during which he showed them how he’d dug a hole under the fence to get in.

Officials rescued his T-shirt and socks, as well as a lighter, from the wheel well.

He was arrested on charges of trespassing, burglary and loitering.

OPD: Shirtless, greasy, barefoot man tried to stow away on JetBlue plane [Orlando Sentinel]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Recreated Pan Am Plane Transports Guests To 1970s – All For The Price Of Real Airline Ticket

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An airline themed film studio is offering consumers the chance to travel back to the ’70s.

What if I said you didn’t need a speeding Delorean and 1.21 gigawatts to revisit the past? No, you just need a few hundred dollars and the willingness to spend that money to sit on a movie set and pretend you’re flying in a Pan Am jet from a bygone era.

The Pan Am Experience, which is really just a set at aviation-themed film studio Air Hollywood, aims to take guests on a trip back to the 1970s when travelers enjoyed five-star dinners and unlimited cocktails in the lap of luxury – all without actually going airborne.

The supposed blast from the past starts on the main deck of a re-created Pan Am 747 with cocktail and beverage service provided by those famous polyester-clad flight attendants. From there guests can choose from a variety of video and audio selections while reclining in the classic Pan Am Sleeperette seats.

When it’s time for dinner, guests can climb the staircase for cocktails and a gourmet meal is served. Don’t worry, the food is reportedly freshly made, not an actual holdover from the ’70s.

“Everything from the china to the glassware is authentic with careful attention to the exquisite service delivery of the era and menu offerings of Pan Am,” officials with Pan Am Experience say.

To end the evening customers are invited to look at airline memorabilia and other film production sets at Air Hollywood.

While most everything is authentic to the ’70s, the cost of admission isn’t. For the approximate price of a modern airplane ticket – you know, one that actually takes you from one place to another – consumers can purchase either a first-class ticket for $297 or the equivalent of today’s economy class ticket for $197.

The Pan Am Experience, A Real-World Simulation of a 1970s Flight on a Pan Am 747 Jumbo Jet [Laughing Squid]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Judge Hits Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme With $40.7 Million Penalty

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(Duncan Rawlinson)

If someone convinces you to invest with him by promising returns of 7% weekly, and that he’s never lost money and there’s no risk, you should be incredibly concerned about giving him your money, regardless of whether it’s a dollar or a Bitcoin. But the operator of a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme in Texas was able to rake in millions based on completely empty promises — and now has to pay it all back.

In July 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit [PDF] in federal court against Trendon T. Shavers, the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST).

According to the complaint, Shaver managed to raise around 732,000 Bitcoin (which is worth around $290 million today, though the exchange rate changes wildly) between Feb. 2011 and Aug. 2012, by convincing people in Bitcoin forums that he was some sort of hotshot investor in the virtual currency who sold to individuals looking to buy Bitcoin “off the radar” quickly and/or large quantities.

STILL NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT BITCOINS ARE OR HOW THEY WORK? CATCH UP WITH CONSUMERIST’S BITCOIN 101

But BTCST turned out to be an illusion, with Shavers using new investors’ Bitcoin to make payments to other investors, while also taking some for himself to invest and play with.

And like all Ponzi schemes, it had to come crashing to the ground eventually. Some investors did manage to make money, but many others lost their investments.

Earlier this week, Reuters reports that the District Court judge in the case determined that “The collective loss to BTCST investors who suffered net losses.. was 265,678 Bitcoins.” At today’s exchange rate, that’s more than $106 million.

The court also calculated that Shavers’ operation brought in $38.6 million in illegally gained profits. With interest, she came up with the total penalty of $40.7 million for the scammer.

As a result of this case, the SEC issued a warning [PDF] to investors to be on the lookout for Ponzi schemes trying to take advantage of interest in, and ignorance of, virtual currencies. However, much of the advice given by the Commission is no different from what it, or common sense, would tell you to be mindful of — guaranteed high returns, promises of no or little risk, difficulty in cashing out of your investment, complex or secretive strategies and fee structures, and the use of word-of-mouth from other investors to attract new investors.

These are all red flags that, if people had been aware of them in 1920, we wouldn’t all know the name of one Charles Ponzi.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

At Marriott, Going To Hawaii Means Standing In A Warm, Misty Booth Wearing Goggles

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Teleporters be teleportin’. Sort of. (Marriott)

You know how when you go to Hawaii, you sort of stand very still one, warm spot wearing weird goggles while the ocean breeze mists your face? That’s what it’s like, right? At least, at certain Marriott hotels, where guests can stand inside a phonebooth wearing virtual reality glasses and “travel” to Hawaii or London.

The hotel company will install the new “Teleporters,” which include Oculus Rift technology inside and sensory elements like wind, heat and mist, reports CNBC.com.

So what’s the point? Clearly standing in an immobile structure is not the same as traveling to a place (unless that place is Narnia) — this is just a way for Marriott to explore VR technology, and use it to check out different places they might like to go before they actually book a trip.

Or hey, maybe you’re sick of wherever you are and want to be anywhere but standing at that Marriott.

“It can inspire their decision of where they want to go and it could also be used to enhance their stay,” Michael Dail, vice president of brand marketing for Marriott Hotels told CNBC.

The first location to get a Teleporter is in New York City, but the booths will travel around the country, Dail said. But physically, not by stepping inside another booth. Inception. Whoa.

Marriott’s leaps into virtual-reality vacations [CNBC.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Let’s Celebrate Christmas In October 1989 With Kay-Bee Toys

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We’ve been cataloging the spread of Christmas Creep, the debut of Christmas merchandise and decorations earlier in the season, for some years now, but it’s important to remember that aggressive Christmas marketing before Thanksgiving and even before Halloween is not a new phenomenon. Don’t believe us? Let’s take a trip back in time to 1989, when video game consoles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, and Transformers ruled the line drawings of the Kay-Bee Toys ad. Wait, this is really 25 years old?

Of course, much of what you see here is now defunct: you never see line drawings in newspaper ad circulars anymore, and Kay-Bee (later known as KB) Toys is no longer in business. Toys themselves don’t change all that much, though. Compare this flyer to Walmart’s 2014 “hot toys” list: both have dolls, cars, games, cuddly toys, and dinosaurs.

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

I was never really into board games, but I had no recollection of what “Tuba-Ruba” was. I found this ad, and have never quite recovered.

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

(tOkKie-Pokie ..puddin’ n pie..)

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Hyatt Sells 38 Hotels For $590 Million, Plans To Franchise Them As Lower-Cost Brands

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(Steve)

The Hyatt Hotels Corp. just got a bit smaller. The Chicago-based company plans to sell off some of its select-service hotels as franchises. The first sale includes 38 hotels for the nice price of $590 million.

According to Reuters, the 38 hotels, operated under the names Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, were sold to Lone Star Funds.

The properties, which total about 4,950 rooms, offer services at lower prices than the full-service hotels associated with Hyatt.

The new franchises will be targeted in markets outside of the United States, including India, China and the Middle East.

Officials with Hyatt say the first deal is expected to close in November. The company plans to market six additional select service hotel franchises in the coming months.

Hyatt Hotels to sell 38 hotels as franchises for about $590 million [Reuters]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Crest Confirms It’s Distancing Itself From Scandalized NFL

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(m01229)

Earlier today, we told you that Procter & Gamble’s Crest toothpaste brand had reportedly backed out of its deal to sponsor the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiative with the NFL because of the recent domestic violence scandals that have rocked the league. Now, the folks at Crest have confirmed they will not be part of this year’s campaign with the NFL.

A rep for P&G sent the following statement to Consumerist:

“Crest believes Breast Cancer Awareness is a critically important program to support women and their health, and, as planned, is making a $100,000 donation to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer awareness and will participate in media and retailer activities to help drive attention to the cause. The brand has decided to cancel on-field activation with NFL teams.”

This makes Procter & Gamble, the largest single buyer of TV advertising in the U.S., the first major company to officially distance itself from the league.

Nike has suspended its endorsement deal with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson following his indictment on child abuse charges, and companies like beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo, and Marriott have all stated they have expressed their concerns to the league about its heretofore lax policies on off-the-field violence by its players.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Yelp Swears It Doesn’t Manipulate Reviews, Even Though It’s Allowed To

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Earlier this month, a federal appeals court held that Yelp is free to shuffle positive and negative reviews around at will, and can even use that freedom as a way to urge businesses to advertise on the site. But even in light of this ruling, Yelp maintains that buying ads on the site does not determine which reviews show up for your business.

Eater.com points to an entire page on Yelp that has been created to try to allay concerns and counter the allegations that the site promotes good reviews for businesses that buy ads and hides good reviews for businesses that don’t.

“Advertisers get ads. Period,” reads the Advertiser FAQ from Yelp. “There’s no amount of money a business can pay to manipulate their reviews or rating and Yelp doesn’t skew things in favor of advertisers or against businesses that don’t.”

The page also links to a 2013 study PDF] about fraudulent Yelp reviews from researchers at Harvard and Boston University.

As part of that study, the researchers looked at allegations that Yelp’s review-filtering algorithm — intended to detect and hide bogus reviews — was benefiting advertisers.

After comparing filtered reviews for both paying and non-paying businesses, the researchers concluded that “Yelp’s current implementation of the filtering algorithm does not treat advertisers’ reviews in a manner different to non-advertisers’ reviews.”

The study does acknowledge that researchers have no insight into the actual inner-workings of the algorithm, but explains that they could find no apparent bias in favor of advertisers.

Yelp invites users who doubt the site’s integrity to check out reviews for sites that advertise, claiming that you would find a wide range of star ratings represented. Similarly, Yelp points out that there are plenty of businesses who don’t advertise but have 5-star reviews regardless.

It remains to be seen whether or not Yelp’s more public position on this topic will do anything to change the opinions of those who believe the site “extorts” advertising money from businesses.

Some small businesses have claimed they were told in no uncertain terms by Yelp ad sales reps that their reviews could be improved with the purchase of ads on the site. The company has repeatedly denied these allegations and has been successful in getting a number of lawsuits dismissed. Even if it were true, the recent appeals court ruling effectively confirmed that Yelp is under no obligation to present user-generated reviews in any particular format.

“The business owners may deem the posting or order of user reviews as a threat of economic harm, but it is not unlawful for Yelp to post and sequence the reviews,” wrote the court in its opinion. “As Yelp has the right to charge for legitimate advertising services, the threat of economic harm that Yelp leveraged is, at most, hard bargaining.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Power Mad Pasta Pass Owner Attempts To Make Us His Vassals

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It was a day like any other day. In fact, it was, and is today. The sky was bright, the sun was high in the sky and nothing was wr– oh HOLD UP. One of our readers got a neverending Pasta Pass from Olive Garden and thinks that we should be in thrall to him? Uh uh. This is a Consumeristocracy, pal.

Power mad Cory wrote in with photographic evidence and a subject line that immediately made his intention to crush the world under his pasta-eating boot heel like he would a lowly ant who has no free pasta completely clear.

“Prepare for jealousy, Consumerist…,” Cory taunted us, before fulfilling the inherent threat in that subject line with his aggressively concise challenge to side with him, or suffer the consequences.

“I now possess an artifact of terrifying power. Become my vassals and perhaps you may share in my Coke products.”

It is madness to utter such things, Cory. MADNESS. We take no freebies, accept no ads and we certainly cannot be bribed with bottomless cups of soda and unending access to bread sticks.

That being said, your email made us laugh and your use of “vassals” is much appreciated.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

American Airlines Betting Travelers Will Pay $8K To Sleep Awkwardly In A Cubicle

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It looks like she fell asleep at the world’s tiniest dental practice.

The most expensive airline ticket for domestic travel right now will cost you around $8,000 to fly first class on American Airlines from New York City to Los Angeles. And for all that extra cash, you apparently get some better food and the opportunity to nap in the equivalent of a tiny office cubicle.

The airline has tricked out some of its Airbus NV A321 to each include 10 First Class seats that are intended to provide the ultimate in privacy during the six-hour flight.

The costly cubicles mean you get the privilege of not having to sit next to anyone (though that other lottery winner across the aisle from you might be a loudmouth jerk).

It also includes a three-course meal, which apparently includes shrimp scampi. So basically you’re getting a meal that countless college sophomores make every weekend when trying to impress someone on a dinner date.

Oh, and you get cucumber-infused water. Yes, dropping a couple slices of a food item you can buy at the supermarket for a few cents into cold tap water really makes the difference, and is really worth paying about 10 times the economy fare and double what competitors charge for First Class.

But wait, there’s more — you also get noise-canceling headphones, which you could have purchased for significantly less money than what your ticket costs, even if you paid top-dollar at some airport electronics kiosk right before boarding.

As much as we understand the desire to fly in comfort, we also know that it’s only six hours out our lives, and that we’d rather spend those several thousand dollars on something other than a lay-flat seat on a flying tube.

After all, flying First Class doesn’t immunize you from delays, emergency landings, rude staff, lost luggage, or missed connections.

And yet we know that $8,000 is pocket change to some people, and that these people might pay that extra money to be less uncomfortable during the flight (and to be gawked at by the rest of us as we make our way to steerage).

Why yes, I am remarkably wealthy. Thank you for noticing, but I thought I paid extra so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.

[via Bloomberg]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Happy Friday, Here’s A Video Of A Guy Dancing His Butt Off At A Sam’s Club In Mexico

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Go Edgar, go Edgar, go!

Look, everyone! Outside! Can you see it? It’s Friday. It’s here. You know how we can tell? Because a video of the happiest guy in a Sam’s Club in dancing his butt off to the delight of customers just came across my desk, which is an Internet desk and looks like something from the future. Anyway, Friday!

A fellow going by the name of Edgar was hired by a cell phone company to do his thing and attract customers at the store, reports El Universal Veracruz.

His in-store shenanigans have earned him the nickname of “The Saw,” a moniker which has pretty evident origins if you watch a few minutes of Edgar twisting, shaking and making a cutting motion with his hands as he rhythmically humps the air around him.

Every store needs an Edgar.

Congratulations on your inevitable spot on the Dancing With the Stars roster, Mr. Saw!

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

ITT Educational Services Under Increased Scrutiny From SEC, Department Of Education

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Could ITT Educational Services be the next large for-profit company facing collapse? Things might not be that dire for the parent company of ITT Technical Institute, but the institution recently revealed it’s under increased government examination that could result in the loss of federal funds.

According to the Wall Street Journal, ITT received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that the regulator may pursue a cease-and-desist order and fines against the education company.

ITT’s latest regulatory filing [PDF] sheds more like on just what’s brewing between the regulator and the company.

The company admits it has been under investigation by the SEC concerning two private education loan programs for students. In early August the company received a Wells Notice from the SEC telling ITT that regulators had made preliminary determinations to recommend that regulators file an enforcement action against the company.

According to the ITT filing, the recommended enforcement action could include a civil injunctive action, public administrative proceedings or civil monetary penalties.

A Wells Notice isn’t a formal allegation or a finding of wrongdoing, instead it indicates that the SEC staff has determined it may bring a civil action against a person or firm, and provides the person or firm with the opportunity to provide information as to why the enforcement action should not be brought.

Officials with ITT say they intend to “defend itself vigorously against any legal action taken by the SEC.”

The company also revealed in its filing that the Department of Education placed ITT under heightened cash monitoring earlier this summer. The action means that before ITT can request or draw federal funds it must make disbursements to students and parents for the amount of Title IV funds that those students and parents are eligible for and must compile borrower-level records with respect to the funds disbursed to each student or parent.

The latest move by the Dept. of Education came after ITT failed to submit financial statements for 2013 and compliance audits of its administration of federal financial aid.

The Dept. of Education has given the company until November 4 to submit a letter of credit for a term of five years. If the company fails to do so it could lose eligibility to participate in Title IV programs, which the company says would “have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.”

While these actions don’t spell the end for ITT-operated schools, they do mark another issue for the for-profit company that is already under government scrutiny.

Back in February, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued ITT for allegedly pressuring students into predatory loans and mislead students on future job prospects and salaries.

Struggling ITT Educational Faces Scrutiny on Multiple Fronts [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Mississippi Small Town Has The Bacon Bowl Blues

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Looks nice.

It’s easy to seek out and mock infomercial products that solve a need that consumers never knew they had. What jerks like us may not realize, though, is that behind every silly direct-response ad are the hopes of thousands of people. In one case, the future of an entire town in Mississippi could have changed thanks to a single laughable kitchen product: the Bacon Bowl.

We pointed at the fad, laughed, and then turned our attention to other things. For a short time, though, the Bacon Bowl seemed like it could be the salvation of a small town in Mississippi where work is scarce and manufacturing had disappeared. Until the coming of the Bacon Bowl.

The last factory in Port Gibson, Mississippi is U.S. Dinnerware, a company that makes, well, plastic dinnerware. This past fall, they received an order for one million microwaveable plastic Bacon Bowls, and the order gave people in town a few tiny, grease-soaked crumbles of hope.

Yet two factors worked against U.S. Dinnerware. The company that marketed the bowls was Allstar Products Group, the company behind the hottest direct-response product of 2009, the Snuggie. How busy do you think Snuggie factories are now? Allstar had Perfect Bacon Bowls made in China and in Mississippi, then pushed U.S. Dinnerware to get the prices down. No more orders for bowls came, though: Allstar told the Wall Street Journal that it has plenty of inventory to cover future demand for the plastic bowls. Of course it does: the initial marketing push is over.

U.S. Dinnerware hired 60 new workers. That seems tiny unless you know that it previously only employed 15 people. They had 500 applicants for those jobs, since many people in town had been unemployed for years. The new workers have now been laid off, and things are back to the way they were. Except for the tens of thousands of Perfect Bacon Bowls stacked up in the U.S. Dinnerware factory.

How the ‘Bacon Bowl’ Gave Hope to a Tiny Town—Then Left for China [Wall Street Journal]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Some iOS 8 Privacy Settings You Might Want To Tweak

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If you got a new iPhone today, or you’re one of the many millions of people with older iPhones and iPads that have now been updated to iOS 8, here are some new privacy settings that you should probably check out sooner rather than later.

ZDnet’s Zack Whittaker looks at these settings in more depth, complete with screen shots, but here is the quickie overview:

1. Allowing apps to track your location in the background

Some apps will be able to track your location even while the app isn’t currently running. If this sounds highly unpleasant and overly invasive to you, the good news is that these apps should have a pop-up window that requires you to pick between allowing or not allowing this background location tracking.

2. Blocking apps from uploading your personal data

iOS 8 now allows you to decide whether personal info from your device — like your Contacts list — can be accessed by specific apps. If you go to Settings > Privacy you can toggle on-and-off which info certain apps have access to. But as Whittaker points out, turning these permissions off now does not mean that you’re removing any data that has already been accessed by the app previously.

3. Putting an expiration date on your messages

Apple’s iMessage now allows users to send voice and video messages to other users. It also gives you the ability to determine how long you want to have these stored on your device. Go to Settings > Messages and tweak the settings for Keep Messages, Audio Messages, and Video Messages to your liking.

4. Limiting location-based services

In addition to those apps that can track your location in the background, there are some native iOS 8 services that keep track of where you are for everything from advertising to improving phone service to finding lost devices. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services to select which services can track your location and which can’t. Whittaker advises, and we’d agree, that regardless of your other choices, you’d probably want to keep Find My iPhone on, so you can… ya know, find your iPhone. That service also needs to be turned on under Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone.

5. Limit advertisers’ tracking of your location and browsing info

Safari now lets you minimize the amount of info advertisers can track your Web-browsing habits and location, but oddly it’s not in the setting for Safari. Instead, go to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and enable “Limit Ad Tracking.” Then be sure to choose the Reset Advertising Identifier option, and follow the prompts.

In addition to these tips, Whittaker has a slew of additional privacy settings you might want to look into.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Court Shuts Down $11 Million High School Diploma Mill

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(bluwmongoose)

Not everyone graduates from high school, but for nearly a decade, a company in Florida has been offering what it claims are “official” diplomas from “accredited” schools to consumers who took an online test (and paid betweeen $200 to $300). Except federal authorities say these diplomas are as bogus as they sound, and this company has allegedly scammed consumers for at least $11.1 million.

According to a complaint [PDF] filed in a U.S. District Court by the Federal Trade Commission, starting in 2006, a pair of companies named Diversified Educational Resources and Motivational Management & Development Services began selling online diplomas under multiple bogus high school names, including “Jefferson High School Online” and “Enterprise High School Online.” The defendants even claimed in some cases that these schools were accredited.

These programs claimed that customers could “become… high school graduate[s]” and obtain “official” high school diplomas by enrolling in one of these programs. Additionally, the FTC says the defendants claimed that consumers could successfully use these diplomas as valid high school equivalency credentials to enroll in college, apply for jobs, and “receive the recognition [they] aspire for in life.”

The websites for these diploma mills stated that the “schools” were run by “administrative and academic professionals” who “are very confident that completing our program can benefit your needs.”

Another message explained that even “[i]f you never finished or never started high school, its [sic] not too late. Take classes and earn your high school diploma all online with a program that works around your busy schedule.”

The companies stated that their “mission” was to “[p]rovide a respected and recognized high school diploma equivalency program.”

Customers were told that these diplomas were basically the same as a General Education Development (GED) exam that many people use to demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills to graduate high school, and that the diplomas would be valid for enrolling in college and that the programs’ “exam scores and interface are designed to the rigors of a private high school graduation exam diploma program.”

But in no way was this like taking an actual high school equivalency exam, claims the FTC.

“Consumers are only required to pay a fee and pass an online test in order to obtain a so-called ‘diploma,'” reads the complaints. “Defendants require no coursework or preparation before taking the online test, and even offer consumers hints to help them select the correct answers.”

When customers later tried to use these diplomas to enroll in college, get jobs or join the military, only to be told they were worthless, some attempted to get their money back. But the FTC says these requests were denied.

In response to the FTC complaint the court has imposed a temporary restraining order against the defendants and frozen their assets.

“A high school diploma is necessary for entry into college, the military, and many jobs,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “These defendants took students’ money but only provided a worthless credential that won’t help their future plans.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist