Changes To TurboTax Lead To Consumer Revolt, Opportunity For Competitors

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(rayovolks)

It’s the opening weekend of tax season! If you work an hourly or salaried job, the W-2 form summarizing how much you earned and how much tax you’ve paid is already in your mailbox or will be soon, since the deadline to mail them out is February 2nd. If you plan use the Windows or Mac version of TurboTax, though, there’s something that you should know before you get started.

As soon as the 2014 version of TurboTax hit real-life and virtual shelves, customers noticed that something was different. There are different versions of the software for different audiences: Basic, Deluxe, Premier, and Home and Business. There are also versions for incorporated businesses and for tax preparers, but those the four consumer desktop software versions are the source of this conflict.

Customers who purchase directly from TurboTax see this polite note pointing out that they might need to check the features of what they’re getting.

What Intuit did for tax year 2014 is change which services come with each tier, shifting some of the forms to the more expensive versions. They made the same changes to the pricing tiers on their Web-based service for 2013, so the change is not entirely unexpected.

The first rumblings came as soon as the software was released last year, and some true early birds got a head start on their returns. They noticed that something was missing: some pretty common forms that had always been part of TurboTax Deluxe. These included:

• Schedule C (self-employment expenses and income)


• Schedule D (capital gains and losses––stock sales)


• Schedule E (supplemental income like royalties or rental income)


• Schedule F (farm income)

Those are forms that most people don’t file. For people who do file them, though, those forms are an essential part of their tax return. When TurboTax customers discovered that forms they expected to have as part of the TurboTax “interview” interface weren’t there, the 1099-MISC hit the fan.

While some can be filled out in “forms mode,” that defeats the point of using a program like TurboTax. If people wanted to fill out forms, they would download PDFs from the IRS web site.

Here’s a screen grab of the in-program upsell from Mouse Print’s Edwin Dworsky:

We contacted Intuit about this situation, and in their explanations to the media of this change, they emphasize two points. First, they say, most customers don’t use the desktop version of the software anymore. That might have been the case in 1991, but most of their customers now fill out their taxes on the Web or use a mobile app. According to the company, only 20% of their customers now purchase and use the desktop versions.

An Intuit representative told Consumerist that the basic versions of the software (the ones that mostly compete with the IRS’s free e-filing program) are cheaper than in previous years, and that customers who pay for the upgrade will find it super easy to file. “We recognize change isn’t always welcome,” she explained. But we think believe our customers will find that if they do need to use a different product this year, they’ll be truly delighted with the extra guidance, additional insights into deductions and credits for which they may qualify and the increased confidence from knowing they left nothing on the table.”

It’s true that the upgraded versions offer access to TurboTax support staff, which you may or may not need, but encountering an upsell in the middle Angry customers are fighting back in the way people do in 2015: well, they’re also burning up the TurboTax brand Facebook page, but there’s a campaign of negative Amazon reviews meant to attract the attention of potential buyers before they spend $40 on the Deluxe version.

Intuit is taking this campaign very seriously. TurboTax representatives, including the brand’s vice-president, have stepped in on Amazon to comment on some of the poor reviews.

One reviewer who says that he has used TurboTax since 1995 explains why he thinks it’s time to move on:

I have no interest at all in experimenting with the various “flavors” of TurboTax to make sure I’m buying the right one. I have a couple of shares of stock purchased from “OneShare.com” that were given to me as gag gifts that occasionally report dividend income. Will “Deluxe” handle this? I’m selling a home for which I may or may not need to report capital gains income. Will this require a $30 upgrade? I have no idea, and I’m not interested in taking a chance and finding out I was wrong the hard way.

I’m off to a competitor, most likely H&R Block, because it’s cheaper, and quite clear what it will allow me to do. Farewell, old friend TurboTax. It was great while it lasted, but it’s time to move on.

Another customer explained the options for people who need to file a full Schedule C or who put anything on Schedule D.

I hate what Intuit has done with Turbotax. I especially hate the disingenuous comment added by the Turbotax VP. Sure, you can manually file the Schedule D, but what the heck did I pay for? The Deluxe version clearly says you can file your Fed return electronically–except the actual software says you can’t.

So, the real answer is if you need to file Schedule D you’ll have to pay $30 more as stated in other comments. Alternatively, you can do what I did–which was uninstalled the software, submitted a request for a refund (6-8 weeks!), and started using other software….after using Turbotax for over 20 years. Good job Intuit–you just lost another loyal customer–for life.

Intuit has offered $25 rebates to returning TurboTax customers who bought the wrong product. Competitor H&R Block has also joined the party. They sell tax preparation software in addition to preparation services, and are offering free copies of their program to disgruntled TurboTax customers.

It’s important to step back and look at the big picture, too. Intuit has spent millions of dollars lobbying the federal government to make sure that American taxpayers still have to file tax returns, even though for most people the IRS could simply pre-populate the form with the information they have and cut us a refund check or send us a bill. The state of California already does this for state income tax returns, and other countries do it. People would be welcome to do their own math and file a return, but they wouldn’t have to.

In its ads and sales materials, TurboTax brands itself as an “interview,” like dealing with a tax preparer but without the human interaction. Intuit doesn’t want the federal government to make filing our tax returns easier, because they want us to buy TurboTax to make filing taxes easier for us.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Egg Company Locally Laid Turns Complaint Letter Into Lesson About Sustainable Agriculture

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Having received our fair share of complaint letters over the years, we know how tempting it can be to fire back at critics with negativity — but because that doesn’t solve anything, we’ve learned it’s always better to catch those flies with honey when possible. And in that vein, egg company Locally Laid took a shopper’s complaint about its high prices and sexual innuendos and turned the whole thing into a positive lesson about sustainable agriculture, while offering up an apology for causing offense.

We’ve written about the cheeky egg company in the past for its feat of pulling off sassy puns with style, so it’s no surprise that it’s now taking advantage of a disgruntled customer’s handwritten letter to explain not only its innuendos, but why its eggs cost more than others in the grocery aisle.

“I find your name on your egg carton extremely offensive and your sexual innuendos in advertising them vulgar,” he writes. “Not only were they the highest price in the store but also worst in advertising.”

He adds that he’s going to share his concerns with the grocery store and his friends, writing that there’s “enough crudeness in the world without egg advertising adding to it.”

Locally Laid replied in an open letter this week that should serve as an example to every other company faced with a displeased customer, taking the time to explain first of all, why those eggs are so pricey.

After acknowledging the customer’s right to complain and thanking him for taking the time to handwrite his letter, Locally Laid’s “marketing chick” Lucie Amundsen goes on to outline the company’s reasons for its name and prices.

She starts with the most basic reason it’s called Locally Laid — the pasture-raised eggs are indeed, “laid locally” — and goes on to explain why that matters in the grand scheme of things.

“The average food product in this country travels some 1,500 -2,000 miles from farmer to processor to distributor to your plate,” Amundsen writes. “That’s a lot of diesel burned and C02 pumped in the air. Our cartons travel a fraction of those miles. We’ve turned down lucrative contracts that would have taken our eggs out of the area because of our environmental stance.”

As for the price, which Locally Laid claims isn’t the highest priced brand out there, the eggs cost more because the company “practices sustainable agriculture, a sector that does not enjoy large government subsidizes like commodity products do,” the open letter explains.

“We move fences all spring, summer and fall, and fill waterers and feeders; it’s incredibly demanding work to get birds out of doors. And it all costs more,” Amundsen explains.

She then goes into great detail about the company’s efforts in “Middle Agriculture” and the state of farming in the U.S. today. Which, agree with all the information provided (and there’s a lot of it, in a long yet worthwhile read) or not, but explaining it all after a customer complaint is an admirable effort.

And yes, there’s some cheekiness involved in Locally Laid’s punning, Amundsen admits.

“And I truly am sorry, we offended you. (I’d offer you one of our American-made “Local Chicks are Better “ t-shirts, but I don’t think you’d wear it.),” she adds.

But it’s worth it, Amundsen explains, if it gives the company a chance to explain itself to consumers who notice its products because of that same cheekiness.

“With that second look from a consumer, we educate about animal welfare, eating local, Real Food and the economics of our broken food system,” Amundsen writes.

Again, whether you buy your eggs from the farm next door or the factory farm miles away, that’s not the point. We just like when a company could ignore or pass off a consumer complaint and chalk it up to a loss, it instead takes the time to lay it all out there. Pun intended.

*Thanks to Consumerist reader Amy for the tip!

Open Letter to the Man offended by Locally Laid [Locally Laid]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

UPS: We Tried Too Hard To Deliver Your Holiday Packages On Time

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(Misfit Photographer)

Today we have to ask ourselves the important questions like, “is there such a thing as being too prepared?” If you happen to be the United Parcel Service and we’re talking about the 2014 holiday shipping season then you’d probably say yes.

Bloomberg reports that UPS is blaming the costly extra measures it took to ensure on-time delivery leading up to the 2014 holiday season for its lower than anticipated earnings and for a possible increase to shipping costs.

Coming off a disastrous 2013 holiday shipping season where many consumers’ gifts didn’t make it under the tree in time, UPS announced early last year that it would do things differently in 2014.

In all, the company hired 95,000 extra workers and spent nearly $675 million on improvements to software, driver aids temporary sorting facilities and extra staff.

Those added maneuvers – along with reasonably cooperative weather – paid off in a 98% on-time delivery rate for express packages, Consumerist reported earlier this month.

However, the company’s total volume package for most days between Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday) and December 22 (the peak shipping day before Christmas Eve) fell far below projections. That means, as Bloomberg reports, that much of the company’s new workers and trucks were left idling.

Officials with the company say the drop in productivity, coupled with the extra expenses for training and overtime resulted in UPS’s 2014 preliminary earnings falling far below expectations.

“UPS invested heavily to ensure we would provide excellent service during peak when deliveries more than double,” said David Abney, UPS chief executive officer. “Though customers enjoyed high quality service, it came at a cost to UPS. Going forward, we will reduce operating costs and implement new pricing strategies during peak season.”

Translation: We probably won’t hire as many seasonal workers and will likely charge more for holiday shipping next year.

UPS Prepared Too Well for Holiday Rush and Paid the Price [Bloomberg]

UPS slammed by a different holiday season mess-up [Fortune]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Sprint Offers $350 For T-Mobile Customers To Switch. But There’s A Catch

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Today, Sprint got tired of trying to win over customers from bigger wireless players like AT&T and Verizon, and decided to take a swing at T-Mobile, offering up to $350 for T-Mo subscribers willing to switch and trade in their phones. But there’s something off about the math Sprint is using to compare its plans to T-Mobile’s.

In making the case for customers to jump ship from T-Mobile, Sprint uses the following comparison of monthly costs for having a Samsung Galaxy S5 on the two providers:

Seems pretty straightforward, until you ask why the installment price for the phone is so different ($20/month for Sprint; $27/month for T-Mobile).

Then you notice that the Sprint price is actually for leasing the phone for 24 months. That means at the end of that two years, you have to either trade-in your leased phone and start leasing another device or pay off the remaining balance for the original full price of the phone. That means you’d be on the hook for $170 if you want to keep your phone.

So you either get stuck in a leasing carousel and can never enjoy the financial benefit of not having to make monthly payments on your phone — even if it’s only a few months — or you end up paying the same as you would via T-Mobile, except you’re slammed with paying a lump sum of $170 to hold on to a 2-year-old phone.

This is why Sprint doesn’t use it’s own Easy Pay installment numbers for the comparison in this chart, as those monthly payments come out to — you guessed it — $27/month for the Galaxy S5.

Which is odd, because you’d think the $20/month difference between the two providers’ unlimited data plans would be sufficient reason for customers to consider switching.

However, recent tests have shown that Sprint’s current LTE speeds are woefully behind the competition, while T-Mobile’s are now competitive — and in some cases faster — than AT&T and Verizon. So while you might, in theory, have access to unlimited Sprint data, you might not be able to actually enjoy all those gigabytes of data.

Meanwhile, for the same $60/month as the Sprint unlimited plan, T-Mobile offers 3GB of data. Since many people don’t use that much per month, 3GB may suffice. Additionally, T-Mo recently began rolling over unused data in “Data Stashes” that remain available for use for 12 months.

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t consider switching to Sprint, but that Sprint should be more transparent about exactly what customers should expect.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Brewers Of Gandhi-Bot Beer Agree To Change Its Name After Complaints From Indian-American Community

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(New England Brewing Company)

A few weeks after New England Brewing Company apologized for slapping a Gandhi robot on its Gandhi-Bot India Pale Ale beer, the company says now it’s going to do more than just apologize and will instead rename the brew altogether.

After meeting with Indian-American business owners in its home state of Connecticut as well as state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, the brewery issued a statement today saying it will start the process of picking a new name, which could take up to three months.

“We learned of their support for our small business as well as some of their concerns regarding our Gandhi-Bot beer name and label. After careful consideration we feel that renaming Gandhi-Bot is the right move (the beer will remain the same),” the company says.

The company says doing this will allow it express support for the Indian-American community while limiting any economic losses it might have in changing the beer’s labels.

“We are grateful to have State Representative Srinivasan’s support in the continued success of our small CT business. We thank our supporters for standing by us through this transition,” the statement reads.

Srinivasan posted the statement on his website, adding that he’s glad New England Brewing Co. listened to the community’s concerns.

“Our sensitivity on this important issue has been addressed and I am looking forward to the early release of their renamed and re-branded product,” he writes.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Dear Verizon Customers: Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting For Rollover Data Plans

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(Mike Mozart)

While T-Mobile and AT&T have each recently started allowing smartphone users to carry over unused data from one month to the next, customers of the nation’s largest wireless provider shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for Verizon to announce something similar.

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran “ShamWow” Shammo tells CNET that rollover data isn’t in the cards for Big V.

“We’re a leader, not a follower,” said Shammo in apparent disregard of every hubris-filled industry leader who dismissed market trends to their own peril.

“We did not go to places where we did not financially want to go to save a customer,” continued Shammo, whose name is really fun to say. “And there’s going to be certain customers who leave us for price, and we are just not going to compete with that because it doesn’t make financial sense for us to do that.”

As CNET points out, while Verizon has seen subscriber growth, it’s also seeing increased turnover due to what little competition remains in the wireless market. Turnover cuts into profit as you spend more to acquire customers who don’t stick around as long.

Verizon has thus far been able to hang on to its leadership position through a reliable and vast LTE network, though some tests have found that Verizon LTE service is the same or slower than the competition from AT&T and T-Mobile.

While there are some questions about T-Mo’s ability to continue disrupting the status quo of the U.S. wireless market, AT&T’s deeper coffers may allow that company to launch an all-out effort to siphon off Verizon customers. And if Sprint can ever get its LTE network up to par with the rest of the field, its overseas owners at Softbank may be poised for a prolonged pricing war.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Burst In Brisket’s Popularity During Nationwide Beef Shortage Means Higher Prices At The Table

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(jeffreyw)

While brisket lovers may be rejoicing to see Texas-style barbecue restaurants popping up around the nation and fast food chains like Arby’s sticking the tender meat on the menu, its newfound popularity is coming with a higher price.

Because of draughts in states like Texas and California, ranchers have had to thin their herds to the lowest levels in 60 years, reports CBS News, prompting a 60% uptick in brisket prices in the last year.

With a pound of brisket going for $3.52, up from $2.21 per pound, restaurants have been forced to pass those increased costs on to customers.

“The choices we have to make — because to maintain the quality, you are going to have to raise your price or you go out of business,” one barbecue restaurant owner told CBS.

It’s the worst time too, as brisket is suddenly the darling of meat lovers around the country. Arby’s alone eats up 300,000 pounds of brisket a week, which amounts to about 5% of the country’s stock and further limits supply.

“Today in the brisket market, it is the perfect storm going the wrong way,” Texas A&M University meat science professor Jeff Savell said. “There are fewer briskets today than in the past. But there is a greater demand for briskets.”

Brisket shortage has Texas​ barbecue lovers facing rising costs [CBS News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Starbucks’ Delivery Service Might Bring Green-Aproned Baristas To Your House

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(jpmarth)

Starting later this year you might not have to traipse into your local Starbucks to chat up your favorite barista. Instead, the coffee slinger might be coming to you as part of Starbucks’ upcoming delivery service.

Business Insider reports that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced Thursday that the company was marking items off its list of things to do before launching the delivery service later this year.

Chief among that list is determining just who will be in charge of delivering the hot (or cold) java to customers.

Schultz says the company is in the process of finalizing “two distinct delivery models.”

In one model the company will utilize their own employees for deliveries, while the other will use a third-party service.

“We will have more to share with you on our plans for delivery in the months ahead, but rest assure that delivery like Mobile Order and Pay will drive incrementality and increase customer loyalty,” Shultz tells analysts.

Starbucks first announced that it would launch a food and delivery service in select areas of the U.S. back in October.

The service will only be available to Starbucks loyalty program members as part of its mobile order and pay app.

“Imagine the ability to create a standing order that Starbucks delivered hot or iced to your desk daily,” Schultz said at the time.

Starbucks Baristas Will Soon Deliver Coffee To Your Door [Business Insider]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

IRS Says Thousands Have Been Scammed Into Paying Bogus Back Taxes

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(Jimmybionic)

Let’s be honest for a moment and acknowledge that not everyone is 100% honest or accurate when filing their tax returns. There are lots of people out there who wouldn’t be shocked to hear from the IRS that they owe more or didn’t pay enough, which is why thousands of Americans have been scammed out of millions of dollars by con artists pretending to represent the IRS.

According to the IRS, in only the last 15 months, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (or, if you prefer, TIGTA) has received an astounding 290,000 reports of scammy phone calls from people falsely claiming they were IRS employees.

The scammers would do things like spoof their phone numbers to appear like they were calling from the IRS. They would even provide fake names and IRS badge numbers, leaving urgent callback requests. Some callers claimed to be agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation unit to add extra urgency.

“These criminals try to scare and shock you into providing personal financial information on the spot while you are off guard,” explains IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Don’t be taken in and don’t engage these people over the phone.”

And it works, especially for those unfamiliar with how to deal with the IRS. According to TIGTA, nearly 3,000 people have fallen victim to these sorts of calls, resulting in scammers profiting to the tune of more than $14 million.

Koskinen says that the IRS will usually first contact a consumer through the mail about any issues with their taxes.

“If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with aggressive threats if you don’t pay immediately, it’s a scam artist calling,” he explains.

The IRS is also reminding people to be on the lookout for tax-related e-mail scams.

“The IRS won’t send you an email about a bill or refund out of the blue. Don’t click on one claiming to be from the IRS that takes you by surprise,” says Koskinen. “I urge taxpayers to be wary of clicking on strange emails and websites. They may be scams to steal your personal information.”

The IRS says that recipients of unsolicited e-mails that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, like the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Package With $4,000 Worth Of Electronics No Match For USPS Carrier’s Chucking Abilities

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The other day we asked readers if they’d pay money to choose which carrier delivers their Amazon packages, and found that about 63% of you would be willing to pay some amount for that right. And it’s no wonder people want a choice, when the United States Postal Service has carriers chucking packages filled with delicate, expensive electronics inside onto porches like it’s a box filled with feathers.

A Texas man expecting a package from Amazon containing $4,000 worth of electronic equipment from Japan was checking out his home surveillance camera footage to see if the USPS had delivered it yet, reports WFAA.com.

When he went through the tapes, he saw a mail carrier chucking the package underhand onto his porch and watching it roll to a stop before walking away.

“This was a $4,000 piece of electronics, which was just shattered when I opened the box,” he said. “She could have walked one or two seconds more and set the package down, but instead she just threw it. This is a U.S. mail postal carrier.”

He posted the clip to YouTube, asking Amazon if that’s how the company wanted its packages to be delivered. Amazon is accepting his return, but it’s not about the money. It’s about not having your stuff tossed around.

“If you go to someone’s house and take the mail out of their house — that’s a federal crime,” he said. “Well, it’s also a federal crime to destroy U.S. mail.”

The post office issued a statement to WFAA apologizing, saying that postal employees have a lot of pride in their work. Sure, and also their athletic prowess, it seems.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this customer experienced in Carrollton, TX. Postal employees take great pride in their work delivering for the American public. The Postal Service invests in training all employees to ensure the proper handling of all packages entrusted to us. If we discover an incident of a package being thrown or mishandled, we investigate and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation with the customer and to prevent future incidents by the carrier or clerk involved.

A thrown or mishandled package is unacceptable and does not reflect our commitment to our customers and the careful efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers and clerks in our workforce.”

It’s not all the USPS, however — from UPS to FedEx, we’ve seen packages chucked, tossed and otherwise heaved by a variety of delivery carriers in the past.

Carrollton man steamed after USPS carrier throws package [WFAA.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

New York Stock Exchange Sends Warning Letter To Radio Shack

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(Penn Cann Mall)

The New York Stock Exchange has standards for the stocks that it lists, including minimum corporate income or how much all shares of a company can be worth. As RadioShack slides toward bankruptcy, the NYSE has warned the company that it’s about to slide off the stock exchange, too.

Experts expect that The Shack will declare bankruptcy sometime in February, which will free up the chain to close more stores and shrink its excessive retail footprint. Since it costs money to close a store, the company’s creditors currently only allow it to close 200 stores per year. RadioShack has around 4,300 stores right now.

That’s why the chain may not even pay attention to the notice from the NYSE, which arrived because The Shack’s market capitalization (that’s to say, the value of all of its outstanding shares of stock) is under $50 million. It’s now $30 million, to be precise, as the stock’s value has fallen significantly due to the company’s eleven quarters in a year of losing money, and all those news reports that it’s about to declare bankruptcy.

The first warning came in July 2014 when shares first fell under $1, and now the company is worth only about $30 million.

The NYSE has asked The Shack to produce a business plan explaining how it will improve its stock price and not go out of business in the coming weeks.

RadioShack gets another delisting warning from the NYSE [Reuters]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

North Carolina May Be Next To Get Google Fiber

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(Ken Fager)

It’s been nearly a year since Google announced plans to expand its Google Fiber broadband and pay-TV service to new markets around the U.S., but the company has yet to say which of the 34 eligible cities would be the next to benefit from much-needed competition, but there are some indicators that folks in North Carolina may be getting on the Google fiberwagon.

According to DSLreports.com, invites have been sent out to Charlotte city officials and various groups for some sort of Google-related reception next Wednesday, Jan. 28.

A couple hours away in Raleigh, there will apparently be a simultaneous event also involving Google, followed the next day by one in nearby Durham.

Charlotte, and multiple towns in the Raleigh-Durham area — including Cary and Chapel Hill — were on the list of Google Fiber hopefuls announced in early 2014.

One group invited to the Google event tells DSLreports that “There was no agenda or topic listed, and the location details were ‘to follow’,” adding that the RSVP form just asked for basic contact info and whether or not you were a city official.

It’s possible these may just be parties to celebrate how much fun Google is, or maybe the company is bringing some other new business to the area, though that would make more sense if it was just relegated to either Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham; the inclusion of both metro areas seems to indicate news of some import.

Broadband service for both metro areas is currently dominated by Time Warner Cable, which presumably would pass to Comcast if that merger is ultimately approved.

TWC was instrumental in backing a 2011 state law that put heavy restrictions on cities looking to provide broadband services that compete with existing providers.

In July, one city whose broadband service was grandfathered in petitioned the FCC for the ability to offer its service outside of its home municipality to other towns and cities that request it, much like it provides electricity to multiple neighboring communities.

The FCC is currently mulling over whether it has the authority to override state laws restricting municipal broadband, and whether it should use that authority to do so.

Let’s just hope the mere rumor of Google Fiber will improve service for TWC customers, as it’s done for Cox broadband subscribers in Phoenix, one of the other possible places Google Fiber might go next.

Similarly, shortly after Google began its expansion of Fiber to include Austin, TX — and right around the time that Comcast and TWC announced their merger plans, TWC suddenly decided to upgrade the broadband of subscribers in that tech-friendly city.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Lawsuit Against Honda, Takata Claims Civic’s Exploding Airbag Left Woman Paralyzed

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(Jackie Vance-Kuss)

The ripples of last year’s massive Takata airbag recalls continue to spread, with a new lawsuit this week against Takata and Honda Motor Company claiming that an exploding replacement airbag paralyzed a Florida woman from the neck down after her Honda Civic was involved in a collision.

The lawsuit filed this week on behalf of a 76-year-old Florida woman seeks millions of dollars in damages, claiming that the two companies hid the potentially dangerous defects in Takata airbag systems for more than a decade, reports the Los Angeles Times.

According to the lawsuit, both Honda and Takata, along with several of their subsidiary companies, were aware of the grave safety dangers associated with the defective airbags through consumer complaints, claims, and lawsuits, the law firm representing the woman says in a press release.

But despite that, executives allegedly concealed the full extent of the defects from consumers and decided instead to quickly settle claims and lawsuits rather than reveal the airbag defect to the public. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants broke the law by failing to report, under reporting, or omitting important report information regarding the defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

On June 15, the woman ran a red light going 20 mph in June in her 2001 Honda Civic, colliding with an SUV.The driver’s side airbag inflated too forcefully, the suit alleges, paralyzing her from the neck down.

The airbag was a replacement installed in her car in 2009 as part of an initial recall, her lawyer says.

“We want to make sure this kind of conduct — of hiding information and defects — never happens again,” he said.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages for medical care, mental anguish, pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages against Honda and Takata.

Honda said in a statement that it inspected the airbag after the crash and found “no indication of any defect.”

“Honda’s ongoing investigation into this crash thus far has uncovered no facts or substantiating evidence in the police investigation to support the defect allegations made by the plaintiff,” the company said.

So far, around 6 million Honda vehicles in the U.S. have been affected by Takata airbags, with about 2.8 million having been officially recalled. The company agreed early this year to pay NHTSA a $70 million fine for failing to report over 1700 injuries and deaths over a period of 11 years.

The issue isn’t isolated in Honda vehicles — 11 million vehicles in the U.S. have been affected, including cars made by Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chrysler, Ford, and BMW.

Honda and Takata sued by woman claiming airbag paralyzed her [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

3 Mistakes To Avoid When Making A Credit Card Balance Transfer

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(frankieleon)

If, like a lot of people, you’re slowly chiseling away at the debt on a credit card with an interest rate of 15% or more, it’s so tempting to take advantage of a competing card’s offer for promotions like 0% APR balance transfers. And while that may be the way to go, there are common mistakes people make that end up negating the benefits of transferring their credit card balance.

Over at Credit.com, writer Jason Steele has a rundown of several of these mistakes. Here are the ones we think are the most relevant:

1. Not Picking The Best Offer

Sure, it would be so easy to take advantage of that promotional offer you just received offering 0% APR for 6 months on credit card balance transfers. But six months is now the absolute minimum for such offers. If you look around and do some comparison shopping, you’ll find cards offering that 0% APR deal for 12, 15, or maybe even 18 months, giving you a longer time to pay down the debt.

Just be careful and don’t use that extended 0% APR period as an excuse to rack up more debt. That’s exactly what the card company is hoping you’ll do.

You should find out what interest this account would charge for new purchases. Some will also offer promotional APR savings on new purchases for a few months, but still be aware of the eventual interest rate as it may be so high that you don’t want to risk using that card for anything other than saving money on the balance transfer.

2. Performing a Balance Transfer When You Can Pay Off Your Debt Quickly

The idea of switching all that 15% APR debt over to 0% APR may sound like a no-brainer, but most balance transfers charge a fee of 3% of the balance being transferred. So it may actually be less expensive to pay down that debt in a few months than it would be to transfer the balance.

Say you’ve got $1,000 on a credit card with 15% APR. Assuming you don’t rack up any more debt on that card, if you pay off your balance in full after three months, you’ll have paid around $26 in interest. But if you transfer that balance, you’ll pay $30 in fees.

That fee may be worth it if you need more time to pay down that debt or attend to other bills, but if you are just trying to spread out the cost of a hefty purchase over a few months you should do the math before assuming that a balance transfer is the right way to go.

3. Not Paying Off Your Debt Before the Offer Expires

In addition to racking up new debt on your new card, the bank is really hoping that you’ll make the mistake of failing to pay off that transferred balance in time.

When you make a balance transfer, it should be with the goal of getting rid of that debt, not as a way to just defer paying it off.

We suggest that you set up regular payments to that new account in an amount that will guarantee the transferred balance is paid off at least a few months before the actual APR kicks in. That way, in case you have a month where things are tight, you have some wiggle room and won’t end up paying interest on the transferred balance.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com Sells For $85,000 Now That Hype Is Over

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(frankieleon)

The site ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com is an interesting case study in online marketing and being careful what you wish for. After accepting about $20,000 in very profitable orders, the site went up for auction, and has sold. The site’s owner is now free from the oppression of having to stick glitter in envelopes and mail it to people. [Flippa] [The Guardian]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

TSA: 2,212 Firearms Found In Carry-Ons Last Year, And Most Were Loaded

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TSA collage showing some of the guns discovered in 2014. (TSA.gov)

Although the average traveler should know by now that flying with guns in your carry-on bag is not going to fly with the Transportation Security Administration, the number of people trying to bring firearms through airport security is going up every year, the agency says in a report today.

In 2014, a record 2,212 firearms were seized at the nation’s airports while screening screening more than 653 million passengers, the TSA’s reports says. Of those more than 2,000 firearms, 83% of those were loaded.

That’s a 22% increase over 2013, when 1,813 firearms were taken from travelers’ carry-ons. The TSA says the number of firearms seized at airport security has been going up almost every year since 2005.

Airports with the most gun activity include:

1.Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): 120

2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 109

3. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX): 78

4. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): 77

5. Denver International Airport (DEN): 70

“In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items,” the TSA said in its blog reviewing the report’s results.

Beyond just small firearms, a grenade and an unloaded assault rifle with three loaded magazines were discovered last year, along with a long list of other prohibited items.

Previously in notable TSA finds: TSA Finds Large Knife Ruining A Batch Of Perfectly Good Enchiladas At California Airport; Reminder: TSA Has Magic Machines That Will Find Gun Parts Hidden In A PlayStation 2

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Expedia Buys Rival Travel Site Travelocity For $280M

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Expedia Inc. and Travelocity, two of the most prominent online travel agencies, have decided to take their relationship to the next level by way of a $280 million acquisition that paves the way for continued battles with travel site behemoth Priceline.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Expedia has agreed to purchase Travelocity from Sabre Corp.

However, the deal doesn’t exactly come as a surprise as the two companies have been working together since 2013.

At that time, the sites entered into a long-term agreement in which Expedia handled a majority of Travelocity’s operations. The deal gave Travelocity access to Expeida’s hotel supply and customer service programs.

The WSJ reports the new acquisition will be relatively unnoticeable to users.

The latest acquisition by Expedia adds to the company’s already brimming portfolio which includes Hotels.com, Trivago, and Hotwire.

Expedia To Buy Travelocity For $280 Million [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

SkyMall Files For Bankruptcy Because You’re Not Buying Enough Inflatable Movie Screens

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(Paxton Holley)

The SkyMall catalog has always been good for a chuckle when you have absolutely nothing else to read during a flight and you just can’t sleep. Some people have presumably even bought stuff through the publication, as it’s difficult to sustain a business for 25 years if the only revenue is punchlines. But apparently not enough of us are doing our inflight shopping through SkyMall, as the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The petition [PDF] was filed on Thursday in a federal bankruptcy court in Arizona, with the company acknowledging that its assets are in the $1 million to $10 million range, while its liabilities are somewhere north of $10 million but below $50 million.

According to the company’s listing of its 20 largest unsecured creditors [PDF], those businesses alone are owed nearly $8 million.

While Delta Air Lines tops the list of creditors, with SkyMall owing the carrier $1.455 million, the second- and third-largest creditors are American Airlines and U.S. Airways, who recently merged. Together, SkyMall owes more than $1.6 million to the airlines. Then there are hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to UPS, product suppliers, paper companies, and the other major airlines.

The company is blaming the rapidly increasing use of electronic devices on airplanes for the precipitous drop in sales. More people watching movies on iPads means fewer people biding their time perusing SkyMall.

In 2013, the company brought in nearly $34 million, but will likely fall far short of that when 2014 numbers are tallied, as it only made $15.8 million during the first nine months of the year.

SkyMall’s parent company, Xhibit Corp., is seeking a court-supervised sale of assets. However, it believes that a new owner could keep the SkyMall operation going with a scaled-down business.

[via WSJ.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Guy Who Bought Lottery Tickets To Break $100 Bill Wins $10M

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(Lisa Brewster)

When’s the last time you went out to grab lunch and ended up a millionaire? It’s been at least a few years for me, but only a few days for a Massachusetts man who bought a couple lottery tickets to break a $100 bill so he could get some sandwiches.

Lottery officials announced Thursday that a man who bought two $20 “Platinum Millions” instant tickets at a grocery in East Boston wound up snagging a $10 million haul, reports the Associated Press.

He only stopped in the store so he could break a $100 bill, he says, as he was on the way to get lunch at a sandwich shop.

He and his wife opted to claim a one-time payment of $6.5 million after taxes, which will buy plenty of sandwiches, among other things. He says he also wants to buy a house, invest some money and takes hi granddaughter to Disney World.

Man who bought lottery tickets to break $100 bill wins $10M [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Washington Could Become First State To Raise Smoking Age To 21

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(NoNo Joe)

The era of walking into a store and buying that first nudie magazine and pack of cigarettes upon turning 18 might soon be a thing of the past for presidents of Washington State, as legislators there are proposing a new age threshold for those who want to light up.

Teens would be legally shut out of the tobacco industry until they aged up to 21 under a proposal put forward this week by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, reports The Spokesman-Review.

It’d make the state the first in the country to raise the age to 21, after both Utah and Colorado tried and failed in 2014. There are a few cities and counties scattered across the nation where it’s 21 — including New York City — and in Alabama, Alaska, Utah and New Jersey it’s 19.

“We must do more to protect our youth from tobacco’s grip, and this bill is an important step toward keeping nicotine out of the hands of kids and young adults,” Ferguson says.

His bill says more than 90% of smokers start as teenagers, calling the years between ages 18 and 21 a “critical period” where casual tobacco users move into daily use.

The law would include cigarettes and all tobacco products, as well as vaporizers and e-cigarettes. Possession of such items under 21 would also be illegal, which means no getting older friends to nab you a pack on the sly.

Ferguson says the state would be partially compensated for a potential $20 million loss in tax revenue through 2017 if the legislature passes the governor’s proposed tobacco tax hikes.

Washington smoking age could jump from 18 to 21 [The Spokesman-Review]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

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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.

(吉姆 Jim Hofman)

(Karen Chappell)

(Freaktography)

(photographynatalia)

(Jason Cook)

(Eric BEAUME)

(Carbon Arc)

(Trish P.)

(Audrey Brevet)

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. 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