Tag Archives: Deceptive
Auto Insurance Company GEICO Pays Out Multi-Million Dollar Settlement
by Tom Vacar, Fox 2 (KTVU Oakland)
The Consumer Federation of California charges that GEICO tried to discourage less preferable customers. Those include those not college-educated, not professional, not executive, a woman, an unmarried person, or those not currently insured. They would not be offered those lowest legal minimum [rates]. Read More ›
Geico Pays $6M To Settle Insurance Discrimination Claim
by Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle
Geico will pay $6 million to settle a complaint alleging it illegally discriminated against women, unmarried people, blue-collar workers and those without four-year college degrees by showing them costlier auto insurance policies on its Web site than it showed other potential customers. “We believe the primary intent was to drive these folks away from Geico to someone else’s Web site or at least make sure they were paying a lot more money if they didn’t drive them away,” said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, the nonprofit advocacy group that filed the complaint. Read More ›
Geico Agrees To $6-Million Settlement In Discriminatory Pricing Case
by Nick Shively, Los Angeles Times
The agreement stems from a petition filed by the Consumer Federation of California asking the department to take action against the Chevy Chase, Md.-based insurer on the grounds that it was discriminating based on occupation, education level and other personal characteristics. The federation had tested Geico’s website and found the insurer misrepresented information for customers who were unmarried, unemployed or employed in a low-wage occupation, had not obtained a four-year college degree and had gaps in insurance coverage, according to the petition documents. Read More ›
GEICO Pays $6 Million To Settle CFC Civil Rights, Deceptive Rate Quote Complaints
GEICO agreed to pay $6 million to settle a Consumer Federation of California complaint alleging the insurance giant violated civil rights and insurance laws by targeting low- and moderate-income women and unmarried motorists with deceptive and inflated automobile insurance rate quotes. “This is an important win for all California motorists,” said CFC Executive Director Richard Holober. “GEICO is paying a price for its unfair practices, and the settlement assures that all good drivers are treated equally, whether rich, poor, or in between. It sets a new industry standard for rate quotes that are accurate and transparent.” Read More ›
For-Profit Colleges Recruit Vets For Cash
by Chris Kirkham and Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times
For-profit colleges have collected $8.2 billion from the latest GI Bill since it went into effect in 2009, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of government data. … That money for years helped prop up some of the industry’s most distressed institutions — including ITT Educational Services Inc. and bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc. … Together, ITT and Corinthian have collected more than $1 billion in GI Bill benefits since 2009, the Times analysis shows. That’s more than double the University of California, California State University, University of Texas and Arizona State University systems combined. Read More ›
Citibank Must Pay $700M Over Illegal Marketing, Collection Practices
by Ashlee Kieler, Consumerist
In all, the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] estimates seven million consumer accounts were affected by Citibank’s deceptive marketing, billing, and administration of debt protection and credit monitoring add-on products. … In addition to consumer relief, Citibank must pay a $35 million penalty to the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund, as well as end its unfair billing practices and cease engaging in the deceptive marketing of add-on products. … The CFPB contends Citibank and its subsidiaries relied on illegal billing practices, ultimately affecting nearly 2.2 million customer accounts … Read More ›
Out-Of-Network Costs Lurk Even At In-Network Hospitals
by Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times
A recent report by Consumers Union found that nearly 1 in 4 Californians say they were charged out-of-network rates when they thought that a provider was in-network. Most of these people — more than 6 in 10 — assume that doctors at an in-network hospital are also in-network, yet that’s often not the case. Federal law doesn’t protect patients from surprise bills. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover out-of-network emergency services at in-network rates, but it doesn’t stop doctors from balance billing. … As it stands today, the healthcare system has consumers over a barrel. Read More ›
Con Artist Exploits A Grandmother’s Love Of Family
by Nancy Peverini, commentary in The Sacramento Bee
Even though the plot was foiled, it destroyed my mother’s sense of independence. She felt guilty and embarrassed – a common reaction that allows these scams to continue because many of our elderly do not want others to know that they fell for a scam. … We need to ring the bell more so our parents will be protected. According to some estimates, seniors account for 30 percent of all financial fraud. Consumer groups have tips to avoid getting ripped off. …Definitely don’t provide your credit card information. Read More ›
Report Calls For CPUC Reforms
by Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune
The California Public Utilities Commission for years has based multibillion-dollar decisions not on public debate or evidentiary records but rather on secret meetings and influences by the companies it regulates, an independent report has found. … Consumer advocates said the Strumwasser & Woocher report highlighted the need for legislative reform of commission practices. “Backdoor deals have completely corrupted the commission’s process,” said Thomas Long, senior attorney at The Utility Reform Network. “In private meetings that have become the norm at the commission, utility claims go unchallenged.” Read More ›
Uber Data Collection Changes Should Be Barred, Privacy Group Urges
by Natasha Singer and Mike Isaac, The New York Times
A leading privacy rights group wants the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit Uber from instituting changes to its privacy policy that the group says will allow the ride-hailing app to collect more detailed data about customers’ whereabouts and use their contact lists to send their friends promotional pitches. … Uber’s reputation is still recovering from public censure last year after allegations surfaced that company employees had mishandled trip data about individual consumers to track their locations, and inappropriately shared an internal tool — colloquially known as “God view” — that showed users taking trips in real time. Read More ›
California’s Largest Nursing Home Owner Under Fire From Government Regulators
Since 2006, [Shlomo] Rechnitz and his primary company, Brius Healthcare Services, have acquired 81 nursing homes up and down the state, many of them through bankruptcy court. His chain has grown so quickly that he now controls about 1 in every 14 nursing home beds in California, giving him an outsized influence on quality of care in the state. … Between October and January, three of Rechnitz’s facilities, including South Pasadena, were decertified by the federal government, an economic kiss of death that is extremely rare. The punishment strips a nursing home of its crucial Medicare funding until it can demonstrate improvement, or is closed or sold. Read More ›
California Groups Say CarMax Sells Unsafe Used Vehicles
by Mark Glover, The Sacramento Bee
“CarMax is playing recalled car roulette with its customers’ lives and endangering the safety of others who share the roads,” said Rosemary Shahan, [Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety president]. … The report released Wednesday said “approximately 9 percent of all cars recently offered for sale at that location had an unrepaired federal safety recall.” The report said 34 of 386 vehicles for sale at a local CarMax on May 26-27 were subject to safety recalls. The report listed defects including engines that could stall, possible air bag failure, worn parts, key systems failures and bad electrical connections. Read More ›
More Auto Title Lenders Are Snagging Unwary Borrowers In Cycle Of Debt
by Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
“I look at title lending as legalized car thievery,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a Sacramento advocacy group. “What they want to do is get you into a loan where you just keep paying, paying, paying, and at the end of the day, they take your car.” … In California, the number of auto title loans jumped to 91,505 in 2013, the latest data available, from 64,585 in the previous year and 38,148 in the first year, 2011, that was tracked by the state Department of Business Oversight. Read More ›