uConsumerist Friday Flickr Findsr

4 4 4 9

• Here are ten 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.

  

  (andy briggs)

  

  (Jason Cook)

  

  (pjpink)

  

  (Patrick)

  

  (Great Beyond)

  

  (Jack Deem)

  

  (Adam Fagen)

  

  (Gilbert Mercier)

  

  (Jason)

  

  (andy briggs)

  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.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uOur Nightmare Is Over: Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip Frosting Is Back In Storesr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Betty Crocker)

  If you’re a food company and there’s a Facebook group where more than 16,000 people ask you to bring back a discontinued product, you should probably pay attention. Betty Crocker’s rainbow chip frosting disappeared from stores last year, and we heard from heartbroken and chip-less readers. Now the frosting is back on store shelves, and they have been vindicated.

  Rainbow chips vs. rainbow sprinkles might seem like a minor distinction, but the flavor and texture is very different, and the chips version looks much cooler.

  “General Mills/Betty Crocker have discontinued Rainbow Chip Frosting and are trying to substitute some Rainbow Sprinkle inferior frosting to consumers,” Kristi wrote to us back in February of 2014, with sprinkle scorn leaking out between her words.

  “Even if you don’t bake, I bet if you ask anyone you know –– what is their favorite store bought, canned icing/frosting for cakes? –– the rainbow chip icing would be in the top two,” Beth wrote to us last fall.

  Activism from these readers and from many, many other fans of the product finally paid off: it’s back in stores. Technically, its return was announced back in May, but it’s finally appearing in stores. The company even honored the creator of the biggest Change.org petition about the frosting with a do-over of his birthday party because he had to suffer without Rainbow Chip frosting. We are not making any of this up.

  In what’s sure to be a fascinating case study for marketing students someday, members are showing their status as frosting-owners and showing their support by…posting selfies where they hold frosting cans, or just pictures of the cans as evidence.

  Congratulations, Rainbow Chip fans. Enjoy your colorful treats, and savor your victory.

  Bring Back Rainbow Chip Frosting [Facebook]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uDiscover Shrink Rays Credit Card Benefitsr

4 4 4 9

• Sure, we’ve all heard of the Grocery Shrink Ray, but gradually shrinking consumer products doesn’t just apply to physical items. Warranties can shrink, and the services that you receive as part of an account or a subscription can shrink too. Readers are reporting that their Discover card benefits will shrink as of next week, so we have bad news if you were very attached to Discover’s travel insurance, baggage delay insurance, and roadside assistance.

  If you’ve never used any of these benefits, then it won’t make much of a difference in your life. Tipster David is kind of bemused at the e-mail that the company sent out to announce the changes, though.

  He points out that there’s a strange disconnect between the message opening of “At Discover, we want you to be happy,” and removing some benefits.

  Member Benefits [Discover]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uFormer Corinthian College Students Seek To File $2.5B Claim Against Bankrupt For-Profit Operatorr

4 4 4 9

• 

  She did it. You can do it to…

  Former students of now-defunct for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges continued their fight to recoup the money they spent on classes at the company’s Heald College, WyoTech or Everest University campuses, filing a $2.5 billion claim against the bankrupt educator.
  

  The claim, which represents expenses, fees and lost wages for about 500,000 students, would cover any individual who attended one of the company’s campuses between 2000 and 2015, the Wall Street Journal reports.

  Lawyers estimate that individual losses for the students range between $10,000 and $100,000.

  If the bankruptcy court allows the joint claim to move forward, lawyers say it would alleviate concerns that some individuals had not received proper notification about their right to file a claim in the pending bankruptcy case.

  According to the WSJ, the deadline for filing a claim was July 20, and at that time just 2,150 students had filed individual claims.

  The claim is based on students’ allegations that they were misled by CCI and deceived into paying costly tuition for what equates to be a worthless education. The company has previously denied any wrongdoing.

  California-based CCI, once one of the largest for-profit college chains in the country, has been at the center of numerous federal and state investigations and lawsuits and began its downward spiral last summer after agreeing to sell or close a majority of its campuses in a deal with the Department of Education.

  The company completed the sale of some 56 campuses to Education Credit Management Corporation in early February. In order to close that deal, ECMC agreed to provide $480 million in forgiveness for current and former students who took out CCI’s high-cost private student loans.

  Since that time, CCI has faced several other issues including being delisted from Nasdaq and notice from the California Student Aid Commission that it would halt grants to CCI students. Both of those moves came after the company failed to submit required financial statements to both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the student aid commission.

  The company’s downward spiral concluded in April when it announced it would close its remaining campuses. The next month the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving hundreds of thousands of student holding hundreds of thousands of dollars in worthless student loan debt.

  Former Corinthian Students Seek $2.5 Billion Bankruptcy Claim [The Wall Street Journal]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uCarnival Must Upgrade Ships, Pay $350K After Disability Violationsr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Adam Fagen)

  Ships operated by the world’s largest cruise provider are about to become more easily accessible for passengers with disabilities, as Carnival Corp. and the Department of Justice reached an agreement to resolve an investigation into complaints that the cruise line failed to adequately provide accommodations for those with disabilities. 

  The Dept. of Justice announced today that Carnival would increase accessibility access for people with disabilities on 62 of its ships, as well as provide $350,000 in damages to individuals harmed by the company’s past discrimination.

  Under the settlement, Carnival must survey 42 of its existing ships, plus another seven under-construction vessels, to ensure they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The company must guarantee that 3% of the ship’s cabins are accessible according to three levels: fully accessible cabins, fully accessible cabins with a single side approach to the bed, and ambulatory accessible cabins.

  Thirteen Carnival ships are not immediately impacted by the agreement, but they could each be subject to remediation if they are still servicing U.S. ports in four years.

  As part of the settlement, Carnival is required to revamp its reservation systems to make it easier for people with disabilities to reserve accessible cabins and suites with specific amenities.

  The company must also provide specific ADA training to employees and managers and pay a $55,000 civil penalty to the government.

  According to the Dept. of Justice, the settlement is the result of an investigation of complaints filed against Carnival that included allegations that the company failed to properly provide and reserve accessible cabins for individuals with mobility disabilities; reasonably modify policies, practices and procedures to accommodate individuals with disabilities; afford individuals with disabilities the same opportunities to participate in programs and services, including embarkation and disembarkation; and provide effective communication during muster and emergency drills.

  Justice Department Reaches Agreement with Carnival Corp. Over ADA Violations by Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises [Dept. of Justice]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uUber Driver Claims Dog Urinated In Car, Sends Pictures Of Different Carr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (CBS Chicago)

  It’s not news that someone did something inappropriate in a hired car: that, unfortunately, has been happening for as long as taxis have existed. No, but one woman in Chicago disputed Uber’s claim that her dog relieved himself on the floor of an UberX vehicle and that she owed $200.

  UberX, as you may or may not recall, is the company’s lower-cost service that depends on ordinary drivers with standard non-commercial licenses and newer passenger cars.

  If you don’t really care whether it’s a Prius or a limo taking you and your dog to the airport, it’s a good money-saving option. Unless the driver reports your dog to Uber for making a mess, and you’re charged a $200 cleanup fee.

  That’s what happened to one woman during her trip to the airport. Maybe 10 hours after her uneventful trip to the airport, she learned that Uber had imposed that charge because of a mess her dog made on the floor. The thing is, her dog had stayed in his travel carrier the whole time, and there was no urine in his carrier.

  She couldn’t prove it, though, which would make this a perfect scam if not for one thing…the photos that the driver sent of the mess. (You can click here to view them, if you want to.) The problem was that the passenger remembered the car as a black car with a black leather interior, and that’s what the photo on the right shows. The photo on the left shows a gray seat, though. The dog only rode in one car.

  The good news is that Uber has given her a refund…but only after she took her case to a local TV station, which in turn took her case to Uber. The company issued a refund because, they explained, their “protocol wasn’t followed” in this case.

  It might seem excessive to take a photo when you get out of a vehicle, but apparently it might be helpful if you’re traveling with a pet.

  Did Doggie Do? Or Did Uber Try To Pull A Fast One? [CBS Chicago]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uPostal Worker Accused Of Delivering 22,000 Pieces Of Mail Straight To His Garager

4 4 4 9

• 

  (stirwise)

  Tempting though it may be for a postal worker to swipe any of the millions of pieces of mail flying around the country, most refrain, and our packages and letters get where they’re supposed to go. But every once in a while, we have the misfortune to hear about a mail carrier gone rogue. Like a Philadelphia postal worker who authorities say squirreled away tens of thousands of pieces of mail.

  Officials say a 48-year-old mail carrier didn’t deliver more than 22,000 letters and packages between May 2014 and January of this year, reports CBS Philadelphia.

  Instead, authorities say they found all that mail stashed in trash bags in his car and his garage.

  The mail in his haul contained about 7,100 first class letters, 200 certified letters, 11,700 standard letters, five treasury checks, hundreds of pieces of political mail and more than 2,500 non-profit letters.

  If convicted of obstructing the mail, he could get up to six months in jail and face a fine. He’ll also join a long list of USPS workers with sticky fingers we’ve heard about in the past. Some of them stole for money (even charities aren’t safe), Netflix DVDs or drugs — whether illicit or prescription. Heck, some even stole from children. Others simply got bored. It’s not just mail carriers either — a postal inspector was once in hot water for stealing passports, pills and Playboy magazines from packages.

  Philadelphia Postal Worker Charged With Obstruction Of Over 22,000 Pieces Of Mail [CBS Philadelphia]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist