uWest Virginia Sues VW Over Deceptive Advertising For Vehicles Equipped With “Defeat Devices”r

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  Since the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that Volkswagen had rigged its “clean diesel” to cheat on emissions tests, a number of consumers and cities have sued the carmaker. Now West Virginia becomes the first state to join the list of those alleging the company tricked car-buyers into paying thousands of dollars more for supposedly environmentally-friendly vehicles.

  The state’s Attorney General, Patrick Morrisey, filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing the company of violating state consumer protection laws by deceiving consumers with advertisements touting clean diesel vehicles that were better for the environment, even through the company knew that wasn’t the case.

  According to the lawsuit [PDF], West Virginia consumers purchased roughly 2,684 model year 2009 to 2015 VW vehicles for a premium of between $1,000 to $6,855 as a result of VW’s allegedly unfair and deceptive advertisements.

  “Beginning in 2008, in order to entice consumers to purchase their TDI clean diesel vehicles, Volkswagen advertised the TDI line of vehicles as environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient and high performance,” the suit states. “In fact, Volkswagen marketed the TDI clean diesel vehicles as the ‘most clean diesel vehicles in the U.S.,’ and advertised that their engines were EPA certified in all 50 states.”

  In reality, the automobiles were equipped with “defeat devices” that tricked emissions tests and spewed harmful pollutants at 40-times the allowable standards during normal driving conditions.

  “Those West Virginia consumers who purchased Volkswagen and Audi TDI clean diesel vehicles did not receive vehicles that would perform as represented to them by Volkswagen,” the lawsuit claims. “Specifically, the TDI clean diesel vehicles are not environmentally friendly, and gain performance, fuel efficiency, and EPA certification only by circumventing required environmental controls.”

  The lawsuit, which seeks a $5,000 penalty for each violation of West Virginia’s consumer protection laws and a refund for consumers who bought the vehicles, states that even if VW can fix the affected vehicles to meet EPA emissions standards, the “reduced performance and fuel efficiency, together with a stigmatization of the vehicles, will cause a diminution in the value” of the cars.

  Bloomberg points out that the West Virginia lawsuit is just one of 229 filed against the carmaker so far, but it represents the first from one of the at least 45 states investigating the company and its vehicles.

  In a way, it makes sense that West Virginia is the first state to file a legal challenge against the car manufacturer, as it was a 2014 independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University that first uncovered VW’s use of defeat devices in its TDI clean diesel vehicles.

  The researchers, working with the International Council on Clean Transportation, a non-governmental organization, raised questions about emissions levels, and the EPA, along with the California Air Resources Board, began further investigations into the issue.

  [via Bloomberg]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uHow My Credit Card Company Helped Save My Broken PS4 When Sony Wouldn’tr

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• It’s been 11 months since Michael’s brother PS4 failed, months he’s spent trying to get Sony to fix what should have been covered by the gaming console’s one-year warranty. But because there was no proof of his efforts to have the PlayStation 4 repaired under warranty, prompting Sony to basically shrug and wipe its hands of the situation, Michael had to take another route to victory.

  Michael’s brother “Brian” purchased his PS4 in Dec. 2013, and when the device broke 11 months later in Nov. 2014, he contacted Sony right away because the console was still under warranty.

  Looking For Help From Sony

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  When he first called Sony support to report that his PS4 wasn’t powering on, Brian says he was told that a faulty power cable was the problem. The rep told him a new cord would be on its way in the next couple weeks, and that should fix things.

  Brian waited two weeks and no power cord showed up. He called Sony again and was told that there was no record of his previous call. If he would just wait another two weeks, the customer service representative said, Sony would send him another power cord.

  Guess what? No power cord, and by this time, the thumb stick son his controller began peeling as well. By the time he called Sony support a third time, it was December, and the company refused to help, as he was now out of warranty. It had expired while he was waiting for a power cord the second time around.

  Soon after, Brian was in the midst of a serious health situation. He gave it one last effort in January, reaching out to Sony’s Twitter support, with no results.

  In the meantime, his brother Michael used another power cord with the PS4, and says it still didn’t work, so that wasn’t the issue. He took up the mantle for his brother and tried repeatedly to get someone at Sony to help out — on Twitter in April and May, multiple times, before sending an Executive Email Carpet Bomb at the end of May.

  A Glimmer Of Hope

  That got Sony’s attention, at least for a little while, as an investigator pledged to investigate the issue and Michael answered a bunch of questions.

  “When I spoke with him, he eventually confirmed that their records show that my brother’s PS4 has not been used at all since the time period in which it broke (surprising, I know),” Michael wrote. But because Sony couldn’t locate records for his brother’s original phone calls, they initially refused to do anything about it, “even though we have the broken PS4, with the serial number matching the one linked to his account, in our possession.”

  Michael never heard from the investigator after June 10, when the Sony staffer said he would file a report and make a recommendation to their executive team, who would then make a decision and maybe contact Michael if they decided to help.

  Dealing With A Dead End

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  Finally, Michael reached out to Consumerist, and we in turn got in touch with Sony. A spokeswoman confirmed Sony’s side of the story, saying there was no record of Brian’s initial calls to Sony support while the product was still within warranty, only the January social media effort, which meant there was nothing Sony was going to do.

  “We strive to provide our customers with the best service possible at PlayStation, and we carefully review every request we receive,” the spokeswoman told Consumerist, adding that Sony “offered every opportunity” for Brian to provide information regarding his warranty request.

  “Unfortunately, based on the information provided, we were unable to verify a warranty request during the warranty period,” Sony said.

  Unfortunately, Brian is unable to prove that he made the call in Nov. 2014. He was in the process of switching carriers at the time and says he used the phone of someone he was dating at the time.

  Regardless, why would Sony’s records of these support calls only be traceable via a customer’s phone number? Surely there were other instances where a customer might have to call using another phone number, and give verifiable information during that call that would identify them. Sony didn’t answer that question when we asked. Should Brian have asked for a confirmation number or reference number at the end of those support calls? Yes, that’s always a good idea.

  But good ideas don’t result in a working PS4, and Michael didn’t know what else to do.

  “I don’t know what kind of bizarre, Kafkaesque scam Sony thinks we’re running, but the way they have treated my brother and me over very simple warranty service is unreal,” he wrote.

  The Solution, At Last

  Because Sony wasn’t being helpful, we asked Michael if his brother’s PS4 had been purchased with a credit card. Often, even if a consumer doesn’t know their credit card comes with extended warranty protection for electronics, it might — and therefore, it never hurts to ask.

  Michael said early on when we asked that he didn’t think the credit card used to buy the console had carried any extended warranty protection, but when we’d finally hit the brick wall with Sony, we asked him to check it out one more time… just in case.

  That did the trick, as Michael reported happily that though the information was hard to find, the MasterCard involved did include warranty protection. Michael submitted the request to the credit card issuer and waited for a few more weeks.

  Then, late late last week, more than three months into our back-and-forth with Sony and almost a year after Brian’s PS4 failed, Michael wrote to tell Consumerist the good news — they’d received a check from MasterCard for $218 — the amount quoted in the independent repair estimate Michael had to send — which he says should be just enough to get his brother a working PS4 and controller.

  “While this still leaves things between us and Sony very much unresolved, I’m thrilled to get my brother the service he deserves,” Michael wrote.

  The lesson here: If it first the company making your product fails you, claiming it has no record of your attempts to get something fixed — it can pay off to check with your credit card company and find out what added protections you might not even know you have.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uFedEx & UPS Sticking With High Fuel Surcharges Even As Gas Prices Dropr

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  Even as prices for both diesel gasoline and jet fuel have dropped, the country’s two largest parcel shippers have remained steadfast in maintaining surcharges that will make it more expensive for businesses to fulfill online orders this holiday season.

  The Wall Street Journal notes that FedEx’s upcoming increase — its second this year — could have a significant impact on e-commerce retailers. It gives the example of a company shipping 100 shoeboxes overnight from New York City to Atlanta. Currently, the FedEx surcharge on that shipment is $67. After Nov. 2, that same delivery will hit the shipper with a $170 surcharge.

  That’s still less expensive than the UPS surcharge on those 100 boxes. The Journal reports that the shipper would face a $200 charge on that shipment via UPS.

  Meanwhile, the price of diesel gasoline — which powers many delivery vehicles — has dropped by about one-third during the last year. And spot prices for jet fuel — needed to get those planes in the air — are about half of what they were a year ago.

  In recent quarterly earnings reports, the companies acknowledged that their overall fuel costs were down about 35%, but FedEx says that surcharge is needed because it’s carrying more heavy packages and making more residential deliveries. Even though gas is cheaper, the company says these shipments use up more fuel.

  UPS defends its fuel surcharge as a necessary evil to “to reduce price volatility and ensure that revenue is properly aligned with our cost of service.”

  “There’s no justification for it, because there’s just no explaining it, other than they’re paying a whole heck of a lot less for fuel, and they don’t want to pass any fuel savings along to their customers,” said John Haber, CEO of supply chain management firm Spend Management Experts tells the Journal.

  The companies may be trying to make up for the loss of revenue from all the light documents that once dominated the express-shipping business. Since most documents can be transmitted, edited, and signed online, businesses no longer need to overnight anywhere near as much paperwork as before.

  At the same time, e-commerce retailers are doing more and more business with FedEx and UPS. But even a small parcel — like the aforementioned shoebox — is still bulkier and heavier than a flat envelope containing a contract or purchase order.

  For smaller e-commerce companies, part of the problem is that they lack the size to negotiate significant discounts on shipping and aren’t as deep-pocketed as bigger e-tailers like Amazon who can eat some of the shipping costs.

  “Shipping is one of our biggest line items, and is hard to pass on to the customer,” the co-founder of eCreamery explains to the Journal.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uMicrosoft Shows Off “Wearable” Holograms With HoloLensr

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  While Sony, Samsung, Valve, the Facebook-owned Oculus, and many others are readying to unleash virtual reality headsets in the coming months, Microsoft is continuing to bank on HoloLens, an augmented reality device that brings holograms into your personal space.

  At this morning’s press event to show off new Microsoft-developed devices, the company led with the latest demo of its highly anticipated HoloLens, which it believes has applications from everything from engineering through entertainment.

  Of course, since looking at 3D holograms of prototype engine parts isn’t exactly thrilling for a 10 a.m. audience, Microsoft chose instead to demo something it calls Project XRAY, a game that the company says turns any room into an alien invasion site and creates a “wearable” hologram around the user’s arm that moves with the user and which can be interacted with.

  In the game demo, invaders crack through the room’s existing walls and try to attack the user. It’s a pretty simple idea, but Microsoft says the HoloLens maps your room completely so that it knows where the walls and furniture are.

  

  So not only do the holographic attackers interact with the layout of the room, it means that each room results in a different, customized experience for the user.

  One issue that both VR and HoloLens share is that you may look like a complete fool to those who can’t see the same things you’re seeing:
  

  Perhaps the most promising aspect of HoloLens is that Microsoft says it is totally un-tethered to other devices. No need to attach a phone or computer. That’s very different from virtually reality headsets like the Samsung Gear VR, which requires specific Samsung phones to work, or the PlayStation VR that will need a PS4 to function (but will reportedly cost about as much as a new console), or other headsets that will need high-powered PCs to fully enjoy.

  While this is all pretty interesting, the HoloLens is still some time off from being available for consumers. The good news is that Microsoft announced today that it will soon begin accepting applications for HoloLens development kits that will cost $3,000 and ship out in the first quarter of 2016.

  

  Still no word on when consumers will be able to purchase the HoloLens or what sort of price Microsoft will charge for the device.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uMasterCard Rolling Out Payment Verification Technology That Uses Facial Recognition, Fingerprint Scansr

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• 

  With consumers’ shopping habits continually evolving – making more purchases online through smartphones and tablets – more retailers have revamped the way in which they allow such transactions to be made (“Buy” buttons, anyone?). So it should come as no surprise then that the businesses handling such transactions – your credit card company and bank – would also seek to evolve their methods to make payment verification simple and secure. That’s apparently the idea behind MasterCard Identity Check. 

  MasterCard announced today that it would begin the rollout of a suite of technology solutions aimed at proving a customer’s identity quickly and securely while shopping with mobile devices.

  Instead of memorizing a password – or spending 10 minutes to reset a forgotten password – MasterCard Identity Check uses biometrics – facial and fingerprint scans – and one-time use texted passwords in order to complete transactions.

  MasterCard Identity Check – first rumored to be in the works back in July – enables customers to more quickly complete online shopping transactions by simply scanning their finger or blinking into a camera.

  “Today, people shop on all sorts of devices, and they expect technology to simplify and secure the transaction,” Ajay Bhalla, president of Enterprise Security Solutions, MasterCard, said in a statement. “This is exactly what Identity Check delivers.”

  The company says the system is a response to the changing online shopping environment. While customers once relied on passwords, they’ve now shifted reliance to technology and personal identification such as fingerprints and facial scans.

  The program – also referred to as “Selfie Pay” – was first piloted in conjunction with First Tech Federal Credit Union. MasterCard says that U.S.-based retailer will be able to start using the verification technology starting in 2016, while the rest of the world will have access to the program starting in 2017.

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uGameStop To Sell Steam Hardware Even Though It Can’t Sell You Games To Play On Itr

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• 
  Why would a store want to sell you something that could mean you will not need to walk through its doors again? We don’t know, but GameStop is doing it anyway: the brick-and-mortar retailer will be selling Steam hardware next month — game consoles that are designed for digital video games purchased on the Steam marketplace… the exact kind of games you won’t find at GameStop.

  The Verge reports that starting in November, GameStop stores in the US, GAME in the UK and EB Games in Canada will have in-store sections dedicated to Steam hardware and gift cards.

  If you aren’t familiar with Steam, it’s an online PC video game distribution service, which, until now, functioned solely as a way for customers to buy games to play on their computers. With the release of Steam Machines, Steam Link and Steam Controller, the company is hoping to streamline the gaming experience. That’s what makes this somewhat of a head-scratcher for GameStop — once a customer has their Steam hardware, they won’t need to step foot into a physical store for games.

  And while being the exclusive seller of the hardware could be a perk for traditional game retailers, GameStop’s real bread and butter is most definitely the money it makes through reselling video games, which is not something Steam allows with its digital downloads.

  We remain confused, but customers can pre-order Steam hardware now, with a scheduled release date of Nov. 10.

  GameStop stores will sell you Steam hardware that makes GameStop irrelevant [The Verge]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uPayPal Very Quietly Admits That It’s Aware Of Random Payment Delaysr

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• 
  Recently, a growing number of PayPal users have noticed that payments that had historically shown up instantly were now being delayed hours. The company finally acknowledged the problem yesterday, but it’s not being as upfront about the issue as some users would like.

  One Consumerist reader tells that she’s been having problems with PayPal delays for a couple of weeks now, with payments sometimes taking several hours to show up in her account.

  “These are not e-check payments but ones that normally go through instantly,” she clarifies, adding that “It doesn’t happen with every single payment, but rather randomly.”

  She searched online to see if others were complaining, and lo and behold, she found multiple complaints from other PayPal users about similar delays.

  Then yesterday morning, PayPal posted this notice in one of its support forums, acknowledging the problem and saying that “Our engineers are aware of an issue right now where payments are not immediately appearing in the account activity for both senders and recipients.”

  While it’s comforting to know that their complaints aren’t being ignored, some users want to know why PayPal is burying this info in the forums and has not posted any sort of general notice on PayPal.com. It hasn’t even shared this information via its Facebook or Twitter social channels.

  One user responded that they are very dissatisfied with the way that PayPal has handled the situation.

  “You’ve known about it most of the day, but didn’t place any warning on the transaction screen,” writes the user, “and when I contacted Paypal Support about a duplicate transaction, they not only gave me conflicting, incorrect information but essentially told me that it was Paypal’s fault, but that they could not help me in any way.”

  “I think you guys really need to post something about this on our account pages before we try to send any money until you get the issue fixed,” writes another. “It’ll help prevent anyone from sending money multiple times or confusion about the status of their payments.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist