9-In-10 Big Banks Strip Customers Of Their Right To Jury Trial
by Chris Morran, Consumerist
Researchers at the Pew Charitable Trusts … looked at the customer contracts for checking accounts at 44 of the nation’s largest banks and found that 91% of them include jury trial waivers. Read More ›
U.S. Said to Uncover Evidence of Criminal Acts in VW Probe
by Mike Spector and Aruna Viswanatha, Wall Street Journal
U.S. prosecutors and Volkswagen AG are negotiating a settlement that could result in significant financial penalties after Justice Department officials found evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the car company’s diesel-emissions cheating, said people familiar with the matter. Read More ›
Hotels In 10 States And DC May Have Been Hit By Hackers
by Associated Press, The Big Story
The affected California hotels, it said, are the Westin Pasadena, Renaissance San Diego Downtown Hotel, San Diego Marriott La Jolla, Hyatt Centric Santa Barbara and Le Meridien San Francisco. Read More ›
Cable And Telecom Firms Score A Huge Win In Their War To Kill Municipal Broadband
by Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
“ISPs, especially Comcast and AT&T, have lobbied for these restrictions all over the country,” says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a veteran telecommunications consumer advocate. Read More ›
What You Need To Know About New Rules Allowing Debt Collection Robocalls From Feds
by Chris Morran, The Consumerist
An initial draft of the rules released in May showed that the FCC was going to try to place limits on these calls in order to minimize their annoyance. Read More ›
PG&E Convicted Of Obstructing Blast Probe, Breaking Safety Laws
by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
Prosecutors in the criminal case initially sought a fine of up to $562 million, which they said was twice the amount PG&E saved by illegally cutting safety programs. Read More ›
PG&E, In Deal With Consumer Groups, Asks For Smaller Rate Hikes
by David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
If state regulators approve, PG&E’s average monthly bill for residential customers will rise 50 cents in 2017. The utility initially proposed a monthly increase of $4. Read More ›
New Rules Aim To Protect Widowed Homeowners From Foreclosure
by Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times
The rules, which expand and clarify existing guidance from the agency, were long awaited by consumer groups that are pushing similar regulations in a pending California Senate bill. Read More ›
From Credit Cards To Mail-Order Steaks: 87 Companies That Are Taking Away Your Right To Sue
by Chris Morran, Consumerist
A recent study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that even though most Americans have at least one financial product — checking accounts, credit cards, loans, investment accounts — that use forced arbitration clauses to strip the account-holder of their right to sue, very few of us know about these restrictions or understand what they mean. Read More ›
Prosecutors In PG&E Case Abruptly Reduce Potential Fines
by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
Abruptly and without explanation, federal prosecutors slashed potential criminal penalties for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from $562 million to $6 million Tuesday while a jury was considering whether the company violated safety laws both before and after the lethal 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno. Read More ›
PG&E Customers Face Triple Whammy In Gas And Electric Bills
by George Avalos, East Bay Times
Before Monday’s hike, total monthly bills for residential customers averaged $145.36. Once all the approved and proposed increases are in effect, monthly power bills could jump to $158.21. Read More ›
Judge Shreds Uber; Says Company Can’t Prove Riders Are Giving Up Right To Sue
by Chris Morran, Consumerist
With regard to the Uber app, [U.S. District Court Judge Ned] Rakoff notes that there is no requirement for the new user to even check off a box that they read the terms of service; one could easily finalize their registration without reading, or even knowing about, these terms — let alone the restrictive arbitration clause. Read More ›
Glow Pregnancy App Exposed Women to Privacy Threats, Consumer Reports Finds
by Jerry Beilinson, Consumer Reports
It would be easy for stalkers, online bullies, or identity thieves to use the information they gathered to harm Glow’s users. “We were troubled by the nature and depth of the security problems we discovered,” says Maria Rerecich, Consumer Reports’ director of electronics testing. Read More ›