uReport: TSA Paid Out $3M In The Last 5 Years For Lost, Stolen And Damaged Baggager

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  (afagen)

  If you’ve ever wondered had your checked luggage stolen, damaged, lost or otherwise mishandled while flying, you probably know you’re not alone. But what you might not know is how often the Transportation Security Administration actually admits wrongdoing and compensated unhappy travelers in those cases. Enlightenment is here: A new report says the TSA has forked over about $3 million in the last five years for such claims.

  Whether their luggage grew legs and walked off on its own or was otherwise misplaced, or had pieces missing by the time they got it back, USAToday (warning: link has video that auto-plays) reports that TSA first investigated to determine whether its security screeners were responsible.

  The agency then approved or settled with passengers in around 15,000 cases, which amounts to almost one out of three claims filed between 2010 and 2014. Some travelers walked away with a couple dollars for missing food (yes, people steal food out of bags, apparently) or medicine, while others received thousands of dollars for jewelry, electronics or other pricy items passengers said were damaged or vanished while in TSA care.

  John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York had the most paid claims at 857, with Los Angeles International following close behind with 791. Those numbers are higher than others due to the millions of passengers who are screened by the TSA there.

  Passengers who filed claims and got paid the most went through Dulles International in Washington and Orlando International in that time period.

  Smaller airports weren’t necessarily any better at not mucking things up: TSA approved 120 passengers’ claims in five years just at Reno/Tahoe International, which ranked around the same level at larger airports like Chicago Midway.

  TSA says approved claims are only a small part of a bigger picture, with 2.5 million pieces of baggage getting screened by its agents daily. The agency has a zero-tolerance to theft, it says, and has tightened hiring requirements for screeners to curb claims. As anyone who reads this site knows, there have been many cases of thieving TSA agents, but USAToday’s investigation found that claims filed and paid are down about 35% from 2010 to 2014.

  “TSA aggressively investigates all allegations of misconduct and, when infractions are discovered, moves swiftly to hold the offenders accountable,” said Bruce Anderson, a TSA spokesman. “TSA holds its security officers to the highest professional and ethical standards and has a zero-tolerance policy for theft in the workplace.”

  Still, critics say $3 million is a lot of money to settle claims, claims that shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

  “Congress has been having problems getting straight answers about abuses at the TSA,” U.S. Rep. John Mica told USAToday. “Orlando, my major home airport in Florida… has startling statistics. It warrants further review, even a subpoena for the information if that’s what it takes.”

  If you notice damage or find something missing, and think it happened while in TSA hands, the best thing to do is file a claim form online. Be prepared to provide proof of the damage, the cost of that damage or theft, and TSA’s negligence.

  You can also file claims with airlines or airports as well, if you can’t figure out exactly who might’ve caused the damage or caused your baggage to disappear into the ether.

  USAToday has more information on how TSA is trying to step up its game, as well as a handy interactive lookup tool for travelers to check how many claims the agency paid out at their airports.

  Lost, stolen, broken: TSA pays millions for bag claims, USA TODAY investigation finds [USAToday]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uPayPal Buys Online Money Transfer Company Xoom For $890Mr

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  (Liz Wise)

  PayPal appears to be preparing for its upcoming separation from parent company eBay later this month by buying an online money-transfer company to increase its international and online presence.

  The Wall Street Journal reports that PayPal will buy Xoom Corp. for $890 million, giving it an entryway into the remittance market.

  Xoom Corp. specializes in allowing people to send money internationally, generally through mobile phone transactions.

  The company typically collects a fee of $5 to $10 depending on the transaction size, while also keeping the difference in exchange rates.

  PayPal’s move to purchase the San Francisco-based Xoom is just the company’s latest push to capture more mobile business. In the past, PayPal has heavily publicized its peer-to-peer money transfer division Venmo, the WSJ reports.

  The company says it plans to keep all 300 current Xoom employees and executives.

  The proposed acquisition comes as PayPal prepares to spin off from parent company eBay after 13 years on July 17. eBay acquired PayPal in 2002. The payment processing service represented about 41% of eBay’s net revenue in 2013.

  PayPal to Buy Online Money-Transfer Company for $890 Million [The Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uWhole Foods CEOs Admit To “Unintentional” Overchargingr

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• In 2014, California regulators caught Whole Foods overcharging customers, and things have only gotten worse for the upscale grocery store chain, which is currently under investigation for similar allegations in New York (where it also faces a civil suit from customers). That’s why Whole Foods’ co-CEOs issued a joint, heavily qualified, mea culpa about the situation.

  Company founder John Mackey and his co-CEO Walter Robb released the above video on Wednesday, where they acknowledge that Whole Foods did indeed overcharge customers on its packaged food items.

  “Straight up, we made some mistakes,” says Robb in the video. “We wanna own that and tell you what we’re doing about it.”

  Mackey admits that “a very, very small percentage” of pre-packaged food items like sandwiches, fresh-squeezed juices, and cut fruit may have had weighing errors, but Robb contends these that these were “unintentional because the mistakes are both in the customers’ favor and sometimes not in the customers’ favor.”

  “It’s understandable that sometimes mistakes are made,” says Robb. “They’re inadvertent, they do happen, because it’s a hands-on approach to bringing you the fresh food.”

  New York City inspectors have reportedly found more than 800 violations at Whole Foods stores in the city since 2010, with overcharges ranging from $.80 to nearly $15.

  “We’re going to increase our training in our New York stores and around the country because we want to be perfect in this area,” says Mackey. “We don’t there to ever be any mistakes.”

  The company says it is implementing a third-party auditing system to track the progress of its efforts to curb weighing errors and will begin issuing progress reports in 45 days.

  “We want to give a 100% guarantee to our customers,” concludes Mackey. “If you think there is a mistake in any of our fresh products, ask the cashier to check on it. And if there’s a mistake that’s not in your favor, we promise to give you that item for free.”

  Both Mackey and Robb say they will personally read all of the e-mails sent to feedback@wholefoodsmarket.com. That should make for interesting chatter around the co-CEO water cooler.

  Among the California overcharging allegations, which Whole Foods agreed to pay $800,000 to settle, were claims that stores failed to deduct the weight of product containers when calculating the price for pre-packaged foods, in violation of state law.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uCredit Card Data Breach Confirmed At Trump Hotelsr

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  The Trump Hotel Collection operates luxury properties in a dozen cities around the world.

  Hotel properties owned by Donald Trump’s Trump Organization are the latest consumer-facing businesses to become the subject of a cybercrime, with the company acknowledging that a data breach has occurred at locations run by the Trump Hotel Collection.

  KrebsOnSecurity.com first reported, and subsequently confirmed, news of the data breach at Trump hotel locations in multiple cities, including New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Miami.

  In a statement to the site, Eric Trump, an executive VP with the company, explained that, “Like virtually every other company these days, we have been alerted to potential suspicious credit card activity and are in the midst of a thorough investigation to determine whether it involves any of our properties.”

  The statement does not indicate how long the breach had gone on for or how long the Trump organization had known about it. According to Krebs’ sources, it looks like the theft extends at least as far back as Feb. 2015, though there is still no mention of the number of compromised accounts or how many fraudulent transactions were made before banks caught on.

  Bank sources told the site that financial institutions had been investigating a rash of fraudulent credit card purchases and found that the accounts in question had all previously been used at a Trump location.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uWhat You Should Know About Rent-To-Own Retail Models: Extra Costs, High Interest Ratesr

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• Rent-to-own stores offer cash-strapped consumers the ability to take home a new refrigerator, living room furniture set and hundred of other items by allowing them to pay a little each month. But, as we’ve reported in the past, what seems like a convenient years-long payment plan often adds hundreds – even thousands – of dollars to the price tag of a product. To ensure potential customers of rent-to-own stores know what they’re getting into, our colleagues at Consumer Reports put together a helpful video spelling out the potential dangers of such retail models.

  The video warning is the result of CR’s review of several offers from the nation’s two largest rent-to-own stores – Aaron’s and Rent-A-Center – that found some of the monthly payment plans could cost customers hundreds of dollars more than they would spend purchasing the product outright.

  “If these were loans, the equivalent interest rate would be between 50% and 150%,” Mandy Walker, money editor for Consumer Reports says in the video. “There’s lots of fine print in the ads and in contracts, and many consumers just don’t realize the full cost.”

  That was the case for a Georgia woman who purchased a washer and dryer set from a local Aaron’s store.

  The woman says she signed a 24-month lease that included an option to buy the appliances at the listed cash price within 120 days.

  She tells CR that she had the funds available, but when she went to the store to pay, an employee told her she’d missed the deadline.

  That left her on the hook for the entire 24-month lease, which would total $3,671 – twice the amount she would pay at a big box store, CR reports.

  A representative for the industry’s Association of Progressive Rental Organizations tells CR that such companies offer the “only debt-free transaction that allows the customer to return the product at any time for any reason without legal penalty and affecting the consumer’s credit.”

  But returning the washer and dryer set wasn’t an option for the Aaron’s customer, as she’d already paid more than $2,000 for the appliances.

  CR advises potential rent-to-own customers to read contracts carefully and make sure they can afford to make on-time payments.

  “Better yet, save up your money and pay up front,” Walker says.

  CR reports that the Georgia woman’s story ends on a bit of a happier note. After the organization publicized her ordeal, Aaron’s forgave her the last four months of the lease and sent a letter telling her she owned the appliances outright.

  The company even sent along a coupon for 50% off the first payment of her next purchase at the store, a deal she says she won’t be using.

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

u7-Eleven Testing Delivery Service Because Fetching Your Own Microwaved Burritos Is So 2014r

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  (JeepersMedia)

  Sometimes the Slurpee machine is just… too… far… away. Am I right? Sure, because otherwise why would 7-Eleven be testing a delivery service? Yes, that is a thing that is happening, as we have become a people who can’t even be bothered to microwave our own burritos.

  The company announced the news today in a press release, saying the new service is a partnership with Postmates, a technology business out of San Francisco that also teamed up with Chipotle recently to offer delivery in some cities.

  Select stores in San Francisco and Oakland, CA will have the on-demand delivery service starting now through Postmate’s app for iOS devices or online, with a variety of 7-Eleven products available. From the sound of it, that could include Slurpees and burritos (though it’s unclear), as an assortment of items “from hot foods and snacks to cold beverages and other convenience items” are on the table.

  Deliveries will arrive in an hour or less, 7-Eleven says.

  “7‑Eleven’s founder, Joe C. Thompson Jr., used to say 7‑Eleven’s mission was to ‘give customers what they want, when and where they want it’,” said Raja Doddala, 7‑Eleven’s vice president of innovation and omnichannel strategy in the press release. “Through the modern-day technology that Postmates provides, we can fulfill that promise in a way we haven’t done before.”

  Doddala adds that the company plans to expand delivery later this year to other areas with a high density of 7-Eleven stores, including Austin, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

  You might just never leave your couch again. Well, if you have a butler. Because someone’s got to answer the door or the Slurpees will melt.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uChicago Residents Now Stuck With A New 9% “Cloud Tax” On Netflix And Other Streaming Servicesr

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  (Mike Matney)

  
  There used to be a whole world of brick-and-mortar retail stores and transactions a city could gather some sales tax from and build into a revenue stream. As more and more goods instead become online services, though, those streams have dried up. Now one city wants to go back to gathering its cash… from your transactions in the cloud.

  The Verge reports that residents of the Windy City are about to have to start paying a premium on Netflix and their other streaming services, as a new “cloud tax” takes effect in Chicago today.

  The logic goes something like this: In the long-gone ancient era of “twenty whole years ago,” when you went down to your corner video store for some rentals and some popcorn, you’d leave a few cents of sales tax behind with your purchase. Those nickels and pennies added up, and your town, city, or county got some revenue out of it.

  But now, you’re streaming all your media, not buying it, and as a result there’s no sales tax going anywhere. Worse: record stores, video stores, and bookstores are in large part going the way of the dodo, and cities can’t collect business or property taxes on businesses that don’t exist. So this, then, is Chicago’s attempt to recoup some of those losses.

  As The Verge explains, the new tax is actually a pair of rules put together. One covers “electronically delivered amusements” and the other, “nonpossessory computer leases.” The former targets your streaming video and radio sites, and the latter is meant to cover remote computing platforms like Amazon Web Services.

  The rules take existing tax law and extend them to add another 9% onto the cost of using those services from a Chicago address — so that $8.99 Netflix subscription is $9.80 for an unfortunate Chicagoan.

  The web services businesses, of course, can avoid this tax entirely (and probably get lower rents) by moving out of the city limits entirely. Consumers subscribing to streaming services have fewer ways out, since the tax could be based both on their billing address and also on the IP addresses to which content is streamed.

  At least one lawyer is already arguing that Chicago’s new rules violate federal statutes, including the Communications Act and the Internet Tax Freedom Act. For the time being, however, the rules are in place and Chicagoans must pay.

  Chicago’s ‘cloud tax’ makes Netflix and other streaming services more expensive [The Verge]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist