uPayPal Tweaking User Agreement To Remove Mandatory Robocallsr

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  (André-Pierre du Plessis)

  PayPal’s new user agreement — the one that gives the company even more latitude to make obnoxious prerecorded marketing calls to “any telephone number that you have provided us or that we have otherwise obtained” — is set to kick in this week, but following an FCC warning that this policy might be in violation of federal law, and a letter from multiple senators asking PayPal to rethink its new terms, the company has agreed to make changes that “clear up any confusion.”

  In a new blog post, PayPal’s general counsel acknowledges that company “used language that did not clearly communicate how we intend to contact them. Unfortunately, this language caused confusion and concern with some of our customers.”

  The company says its intention in granting itself the ability to call or text any number it might be able to locate for you (an apparent violation of federal rules that say robocalls can only be made to specific numbers that a customer has agreed to receive them on), was to better reach users in case of emergency — and of course to collect a debt.

  PayPal says the newly revised terms will clarify that customers do not have to consent to robocalls as a condition of continuing to be a customer of the payment platform. Forcing a consumer to accept prerecorded messages is also a violation of the law.

  “We respect our customers’ communications preferences and recognize that their consent is required for certain autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts,” reads the blog post. “Customers may revoke consent to receive these communications by contacting PayPal customer support and informing us of their preferences.”

  PayPal customers should be on the lookout for an e-mail explaining these changes.

  In a statement to Consumerist, FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc, who sent the warning letter to PayPal, commends the company for making these tweaks.

  “The changes to PayPal’s user agreement recognize that its customers are not required to consent to unwanted robocalls or robotexts,” says LeBlanc. “It clarifies, rightly, that its customers must provide prior express written consent before the company can call or text them with marketing, and that these customers have a right to revoke their consent to receive robocalls or robotexts at any time. These changes, along with PayPal’s commitments to improve its disclosures and make it easier for consumers to express their calling preferences, are significant and welcome improvements.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uSenator Pushes FAA To Require That Airlines Drop Seat Change Fees For Parentsr

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  (frankieleon)

  Nowadays, airlines charge a fee for just about everything – even when it comes to travelers trying to ensure they’re seated next to their children. But that extra cost could be a thing of the past if one legislator has anything to do about it.

  In a letter to Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael Huerta, Sen. Bob Casey urged the agency to step in and require airlines drop seat change fees for parents traveling with their children, The Hill reports.

  The Pennsylvania senator expressed concern over what he believes is a lack of policies that would ensure airlines are taking “appropriate steps to guarantee that young children can sit with their parents during a flight without paying extra fees.”

  While reassigning seats may be inconvenient, Casey says there is no reason to separate a child from a parent during a flight.

  “In recent years, consumers have grown increasingly frustrated by the growing use of varying fees associated with air travel,” Casey wrote. “For a family that has already paid full fare to have to pay an additional fee so that parents and children can sit together is financially burdensome and stressful to families.”

  Casey contends that airline policies that allow parents to be charged for changing seats to be near their children even when an open seat is available are unfair.

  “Making those with children pay an extra fee to sit next to their children puts a burden on parents and guardians and disadvantages middle class families that may struggle just to afford the basic fare and for whom an additional fee would be a significant hardship,” Casey continued. “Prior to boarding the flight, reservation agents should make every effort to secure appropriate seating for young children and their guardian without additional fees.”

  Some airlines have taken steps to alleviate inconvenience when it comes to seating parents and children together. Earlier this month, Southwest – which doesn’t offer assigned seats – announced it would revamp its boarding process to cut back on the time passengers spend moving back and forth between seats to accommodate traveling families on crowded flights.

  Southwest’s current process allow families to board together after the “A” group as long as the children in their party are four years old or younger. Additionally, families can pay extra to board earlier. Now on select flights the airline is expanding the ages of those covered by the early boarding process to include children up to 6, 8 or 11 years of age.

  Dem senator to airlines: Drop seat change fees for parents [The Hill]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uComcast’s New Remote Control Now Advertises Comcast-Distributed Kids Movier

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• Hey kids, isn’t vertical integration awesome? Thanks to Comcast’s acquisition of NBC/Universal, the cable giant can now use its latest high-tech remote control to advertise its feature films directly to your living room! Let’s all cheer for cross-promotional, cross-platform, market-targeted, gibberish-spouting synergy!!

  Last week, Comcast boasted on its corporate blog that users of its new voice-enabled remote controls could speak “Minionese,” the hilariously family friendly and profitable language spoken by the Minions in the upcoming film release The Minions, distributed by Universal.

  Say something in Minionese into the remote and it speaks back to you in Minionese, along with taking you to various pieces of content curated by Comcast to promote The Minions, opening July 10 in a theater full of kids you’ll want to avoid if you enjoy your sanity.

  The idea of turning your remote control — for which Comcast customers pay a pretty penny each month — into a de facto toy that is then being used to advertise a movie with a kid-centric audience didn’t exactly win over Josh Golin, Associate Director at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

  “It’s extremely disappointing that Comcast is already using its voice-enabled remotes to manipulate kids,” Golin tells Consumerist. “Young children, the film’s target audience, won’t understand that this is just a ploy to get them to want to see the movie and buy Minions merchandise. It’s bad enough to target young children with clearly delineated commercials, but to use technology to wow kids and mask the fact that you are, in fact, advertising is deceptive, unfair, and unethical.”

  [via IBtimes.com]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uBurger Chain Turns Its Cricket Milkshake April Fool’s Joke Into Real Menu Itemr

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• Most of the time when we hear about bugs and food, it’s an unfortunate and unintended event that leads to disgust, repulsion and often, an apology from any business involved. This time it’s different: a burger chain is putting insects on the menu on purpose, after an April Fool’s joke proved to be popular with customers.

  It’s not like the little critters will be staring back at you when you go to take a sip, however: Wayback Burgers is introducing an Oreo mud pie cricket protein milkshake made with Peruvian chocolate-flavored cricket powder on July 1 for a limited time, reports CNBC.

  The bug shake was just a prank Wayback pulled on customers to get them talking about the chain, but because the response was so positive during a brief test of the item on Long Island, the company decided to go forward and make the insect treat an official menu item.

  “We had it for two hours. There were people lined up to try it,” John Eucalitto, president at Wayback Burgers said.

  The chain tested somewhere between 20 and 30 different variations on the recipe, trying five flavors of cricket powder before coming up with its final product. As for the taste, Eucalitto said the cricket powder isn’t strong, and that he thinks the shake tastes “great.”

  Right now the shakes are slated to stay on menus from July through the end of September, if they prove successful enough they may get a permanent slot. If, of course, customers can stomach the idea.

  “People think maybe we’re grinding up crickets in the back room,” which isn’t the case, Eucalitto said, noting that the insects are all farm-raised domestically.

  Burger chain adds bugs to the menu…on purpose [CNBC]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uCharter Promises TWC, Bright House Merger Will Not Include Data Caps… For A Few Years, Anywayr

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• Nobody likes home data caps. And nobody really likes their cable companies. So how can Charter and TWC look like good guys and maybe gain a little favor while planning out their merger? By promising to skip the data caps once they’re joined. At least, for a while.

  Ars Technica points to a filing in which the would-be cable giant promises that for at least three years after their many-way merger, they would not impose wired broadband caps on residential customers.

  The promise is part of Charter’s Public Interest Statement (PDF). That’s the formal filing for a company to explain to the FCC why its transaction plans are not only not-harmful, but in fact actively beneficial to the public interest.

  Charter says its plan to buy up Time Warner Cable and smaller company Bright House would be great for everyone because not only would they not impose data caps (which neither Charter nor TWC currently use), but also not having data caps means they won’t have any zero-rating deals — those agreements where companies can pay to have their data not count against a customer’s data cap.

  Had Comcast succeeded in its now-defunct plans to purchase Time Warner Cable, the resulting entity would likely have brought broadband caps to more than three-quarters of American households. That merger, of course, did not end up happening.

  The political winds may be starting to blow against data caps. Government reports have repeatedly found that home broadband data caps are cash cows for cable companies but leave consumers — who probably don’t have competitive options to switch to — annoyed and confused.

  The FCC has generally left broadband data caps alone, but the rumor mill says that the commission may well start scrutinizing them if or when Comcast finally takes their multi-year “pilot” program nationwide.

  Charter: We won’t impose data caps after buying Time Warner Cable [Ars Technica]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

uReport Finds 100+ Walmart.com Products Labeled “Made In U.S.A.” That Were Made Elsewherer

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• While there is no official review process required for labeling a product as “Made in the U.S.A.,” a company can get into legal trouble for misusing that label, as doing so may constitute false advertising. A new report from an advertising watchdog group claims that Walmart’s website has more than 100 examples of products incorrectly marketed as made in America.

  According to a letter [PDF] recently sent by the group Truth In Advertising to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, “Walmart’s website is mired in USA labeling errors.”

  Among the items singled out in the letter are Walmart’s Equate store-brand makeup sponges in the image at the top of this story. TINA says these were given the Made in the U.S.A. label on Walmart.com even though the products own packaging clearly states that they were “Made in China.”

  Another Equate-brand product called out by TINA are these teeth-whitening strips that the company simultaneously lists as made in America while declaring in the product details that they are imported form outside the country:
  

  In response to the TINA letter, Walmart told the group that manufacturing for both of these products was recently moved to the U.S. but that some stores may still contain versions made overseas and not all the information on the website is correct. Regardless, both items no longer carry the patriotic marketing message.

  It wasn’t just store-brand items that got the false “Made in U.S.A.” labels, according to the report. TINA’s letter gives the example of an Almay eyeliner that states the product is made and assembled here in the U.S., even though the packaging declares that it is “Made in Germany.” Walmart says that the country of origin information comes from the supplier.

  “False made in USA labeling on Walmart’s website has misled consumers looking to purchase American-made products,’’ said TINA.org Executive Director Bonnie Patten. “The largest retailer in the world should have made sure its American-made claims were accurate before affixing made in USA labels on the products. Until Walmart cleans up this mess, consumers cannot rely on Walmart with regard to where a product is really made when shopping on the site.”

  We’ve reached out to Walmart HQ for comment and will update if we hear back from the retailer.

  A more detailed report [PDF] commissioned by TINA looked at the actual “Made in the U.S.A.” labeling on Walmart.com and found a number of issues.

  This report noted that Walmart does little to differentiate its “Made in the U.S.A.” label from its “Assembled in the U.S.A.” label, even though the two labels have very different standards in the eyes of the Federal Trade Commission.

  

  “The legibility of the text at the top of the label, which can be either ‘Made in the’ or ‘Assembled in the’, is marginal even for people with excellent or corrected vision, due both to the text’s small size and the low contrast of light blue text on a white background,” writes the report’s author, Dr. Jeff Johnson, who notes that the problem is exacerbated for farsighted people or those looking at the site on a small-format screen. “If such people have not seen it earlier in larger format (e.g., on a product page), they would be unable to determine what it says. Even consumers who have seen that text already in larger format would, in search results, have trouble distinguishing ‘Made in the USA’ from ‘Assembled in the USA’.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uSprint Expands “Direct 2 You” House Call Service To Four More Citiesr

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• After launching a program that brings Sprint-trained experts to customers’ homes to help them with the switch to a new device in April, the company says it’s expanding the Direct 2 You service to four more cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.

  At the time of the program’s launch in April in Kansas City, Sprint claimed its house call program would eventually amount to having 5,000 new stores around the country.

  Originally offered only to existing Sprint customers, new customers ready to switch carriers can now use Direct 2 You as well.

  Today’s expansion makes for 28 cities where customers can set up appointments with Sprint experts, the company says, with four more slated to join the list in early July: Detroit, Washington, D.C., Tampa and Dallas. The company says it has plans for a nationwide rollout in the future.

  So what’s it actually like to have Sprint come to your house — or meet you at the beach, a soccer game or anywhere else you designate? CNET went on a ride-along with one Sprint expert making his rounds recently, and he says the reaction has been good.

  “People have been surprised by how nice we are,” he said. “People are really loving it.”

  One customer on his rounds certainly seemed pleased, after the Sprint pro helped her through the set-up process for her new phone — walking her through the process of signing into her accounts and making sure her key video apps were loaded onto the new device, something that was very important to her as she basically uses her phone as a TV these days.

  When all was said and done and her new phone was activated, CNET said she “beamed” as she held up her new Galaxy S5.

  “I am happy now,” she said. “I like that magic touch.”

  Of course, not every house call will have a reporter along to watch the process, so as with any customer service situation, there are bound to be hiccups.

  Sprint’s mission to fix its image, one house call at a time [CNET]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist