Blowing Up Hoverboards on Purpose
Northbrook, Ill. — The sign on the reinforced door read “Projectile Testing” and the crowd gathered in the corridor outside had been warned to expect a small explosion. But when the hoverboard battery blew up with an almighty BANG and a flash of yellow flame, Barbara Guthrie flinched all the same. “Huh!,” UL’s chief public safety officer said with a nervous laugh as she adjusted her safety glasses. “Would you say that’s something you...
Consumer Confidential: Why Is a Group of Lawmakers Working to Undermine Tighter Rules for the Payday Loan Industry?
In a bizarre display of bipartisan cooperation, a handful of Democratic lawmakers have joined Republicans in trying to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The question is: Why? Most notably, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who also serves as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, is co-sponsoring the deceptively titled Consumer Protection and Choice Act, which would undermine the watchdog agency’s...
Consumer Confidential: Government May Soon Begin Putting an End to Forced Arbitration Clauses
If you’ve got a credit card, you’ve been forced to kiss away your constitutional right to sue the card issuer. But it’s looking increasingly likely that this is about to change. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is examining so-called arbitration clauses in terms and conditions for financial products. Earlier the month, the head of the bureau, Richard Cordray, sent the strongest signal yet that the regulatory whip soon will...
Consumer Confidential: Is the Apple iPhone Really Any Different From Other Consumer Products?
Apple lawyer Ted Olson said last week that the tech heavyweight has good reason not to help federal investigators hack an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters. The company, he said, “has to draw the line at re-creating code” and “changing” its product. To which there’s a two-word response: seat belts. And here’s two more: air bags. In both those cases, the auto industry said federal officials had no right to make...
Consumer Confidential: When Collectors Call, Demand Proof of Your Debt
Suzanne Husted went through a rough patch about a decade ago and had to take out a pair of $300 payday loans to get by. She said she paid each back within a couple of months. Now she’s getting calls from two different debt collectors insisting that $2,400 in principal and interest is owed and that she better come across with some scratch or she’ll be dragged into court. “When I ask when I took out the loans, they say it was in 2010...
