uT-Mobile Claims $.20/Minute Coverage In “All” Of Europe, But What About Andorra? What About Andorra??r

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  T-Mobile’s Simple Global option covers “all of Europe,” except for the glorious 181 square miles that is Andorra.

  Today, T-Mobile brashly announced — using italics to stress how big a deal it is — that its Simple Choice plans can be used to make “low flat-rate calls for just $0.20 a minute in a total of 145 countries and destinations worldwide—including all of Europe,” but for some reason the magenta-infused wireless provider apparently missed the five minutes in high school European History class where their teacher offhandedly mentioned something about Andorra.

  That’s right, while T-Mobile’s list of countries and territories covered by the Simple Global option gets so granular as to include little-known places like the autonomous Åland Islands region of Finland, and Svalbard, an unincorporated Norwegian archipelago with population of around 2,600, that list leaves off lovely, landlocked Andorra.

  In spite of its tiny size, Andorra — situated along the border of France and Spain in the eastern Pyrenees mountains — is still a pretty significant tourist destination, with millions of people popping by for the scenery… and most likely to buy “I went to Andorra and you didn’t” T-shirts.

  Unfortunately, if T-Mobile customers want to call their friends back home and brag about their rad new Andorran souvenir, they’ll have to go to either France or Spain to make an affordable call. Or go to any of the smaller sovereign states — like Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, or Lichtenstein — that are covered by Simple Global.

  Thinking the omission of Andorra from T-Mobile’s list may just be a typo, we checked with the company and were dismayed to find out that no, the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is not currently covered — in spite of T-Mobile’s “all of Europe” claim.

  “Our apologies to the Andorran people,” a rep for T-Mobile tells Consumerist, as if we have the heart to break the bad news to the 85,000 citizens of this glorious nation.

  If, like us, you believe this is an egregious slight that should not be allowed to continue, let T-Mobile and its CEO John Legere know where you stand with the hashtag #whataboutandorra

  Or you can just go on with your life and pretend this never happened.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uMcDonald’s All-Day Breakfast Menu Spotted In The Wild Ahead Of Nationwide Rolloutr

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• Despite the fact that McDonald’s new all-day breakfast menus are slated to roll out across the country on Oct. 6, it seems there could be a few locations who couldn’t wait: Consumerist reader Victor spotted an all-day breakfast menu at the drive-thru of his local Mickey D’s in Northern California this week, and sent in the evidence.

  As we reported before, each McDonald’s location will be able to pick which breakfast items they want to offer all day long, depending on that restaurant’s equipment or perhaps based on customer demand in that area.

  In this case, McMuffins rule the roost, with the option for an Egg McMuffin (which comes with Canadian bacon), a Sausage McMuffin or a Sausage McMuffin with cheese. Sausage burritos, oatmeal, a parfait, hash browns and hot cakes have also made the cut. Each entree can be ordered as part of a combo as well, which comes with a small coffee and hash browns.

  There is a chance that this particular McDonald’s was involved in previous tests of the all-day breakfast menu, though previous reports indicated that the San Diego area, Nashville and some locations in Mississippi were the only markets included in menu trials. We reached out to McDonald’s to see if that’s the case or if this location just went rogue and decided to break out the all-day breakfast menu a few weeks early.

  If you notice an all-day menu popping up in your area — one that definitely wasn’t included in earlier tests, let us know in the tipline: tips@consumerist.com.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uCheap Gas Makes Car-Buyers Lose Their Short-Term Memoryr

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  (Freaktography)

  It wasn’t that long ago that Americans were sneering at SUVs and clamoring for compact, hybrid, and compact hybrid cars. That was years ago, though, and you can’t expect adults to remember things that happened during the period that they’ve owned their current car. That’s why shoppers now aren’t giving much thought to fuel economy.

  Today’s SUVs use less fuel than my 11-year-old sedan, and they definitely consume less gas than the SUVs of decades past, but do you know what’s even more efficient? Smaller cars. One car dealer group CEO mused to Boston station WBZ that it’s as if car buyers don’t think long-term.

  “We couldn’t give away SUVs,” he said. “And everyone was trading in their Chevy Suburban for a Toyota Camry or Toyota Corolla or a Toyota Prius, and they were worth nothing.” Maybe they don’t have to think long-term if they’re looking into a three-year lease instead of purchasing a vehicle, but changing trends mean that even prices for used SUVs are high right now.

  On the other hand, you can probably get a great price on a used Prius. The important thing is to think long-term: calculate how much you’d be paying for gas with your current driving habits if prices doubled tomorrow. If the amount would break your budget or just frustrate you, consider a lighter vehicle.

  Car Buyers Rethinking Choices As Gas Prices Drop [WBZ]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uOlive Garden Pasta Passes Sell Out In Under A Second — Were You Able To Score One?r

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  Michael says he never had a chance at unlimited pasta.

  There are only 2,000 people who were able to score one of Olive Garden’s Pasta Passes today, and it sounds like they must have the ability to click must faster than everyone else who tried — and failed — to get one: Olive Garden says all 2,000 passes sold out in under a second.

  There were 1,000 Pasta Passes up for grabs for individual diners at $100 a pop and 1,000 more “family” passes for $300 each that allow bearers to bring up to three people along for unlimited pasta during the seven-week promotional window. And they were all gone in under a second.

  “Never had a chance to buy a pass,” Consumerist reader Michael writes, saying he watched the countdown clock until 11 a.m. PDT and “immediately” received the message that the passes were sold out.

  We confirmed with Olive Garden that the passes sold out lickety-split, with a spokeswoman telling us that at sale time, the “system allowed in the first 2,000 guests to purchase the available Pasta Passes, which occurred in less than a second.”

  Those who were left bereft did get a coupon for 10% off any adult entrée at Olive Garden, the rep added, noting that there’s still hope — if you feel like engaging with the brand on social media: “Guests can follow Olive Garden’s social media channels where we’ll be giving away Pasta Passes.”

  Were you one of the 2,000? Let us know: tips@consumerist.com. Just don’t go power mad and try to make the Consumerist team your vassals. That’s already been tried and it didn’t work.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGM CEO Mary Barra: “People Were Hurt And Died In Our Cars”r

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  (Paul Pica)

  Following this morning’s news that General Motors had reached a $900 million deal with the Department of Justice to settle criminal charges tied to a long-delayed ignition recall that killed more than 100 people, the car maker’s CEO Mary Barra spoke to her employees openly about the culture of incompetence that brought the company to this place.

  “People were hurt and people died in our cars,” said Barra, a longtime GM vet who ascended to the CEO spot in early 2014, only weeks before GM announced the ignition recall that should have happened a decade earlier. “That’s why we are here today.”

  Some at GM knew of the defective ignition switches — which could be inadvertently turned off by a bump from a knee or a heavy keychain, leaving the airbags without power and making the car more difficult to control — before they were ever put into the Chevy Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other vehicles.

  As accidents piled up and people died because their cars turned off and the airbags failed to inflate, both GM and federal regulators did nothing to issue a recall. Quietly, GM engineers worked with the switch’s vendor to tweak the design to prevent the accidental shutoff.

  But since no recall occurred, only new vehicles received the safer ignition switches while older models still presented a danger to drivers and others on the road. Making matters worse, the revised switch had the exact same part number as the defective one, so dealerships and other garages that stocked GM parts commingled old and new switches.

  “We didn’t do our job and as part of our apology to the victims we promise to take responsibility for our actions,” said Barra, who said the company is putting the tragedy in the rearview mirror, “but we will always see it back there.”

  She says that GM is now a “fundamentally different company” now and that, where previous leadership appeared to encourage workers to sweep problems under the rug, “We are seriously encouraging employees to raise issues.”

  In addition to the $900 million DOJ settlement, which is smaller than the $1.2 billion deferred prosecution deal the government made with Toyota over its sudden unintended acceleration issue, Barra says that the company’s independent victim compensation fund is paying out around $600 million to people who were seriously injured and the survivors of victims who died because of ignition switch failures.

  The compensation fund received thousands of applications and ultimately made financial offers related to 257 injuries and 124 fatalities — that’s nearly 10 times the number of deaths GM would admit to when it first issued the recall in 2014.

  Barra has maintained that no senior level executives at the company were ever made aware of the problem with the switch, but an e-mail turned up as part of a federal grand jury investigation into the recall shows that at least one current GM vice president was told about the issue in 2005.

  According to Barra, there will be no further firings tied to the ignition defect, calling last year’s dismissal of a handful of employees as “comprehensive.”

  [via Detroit News]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uAnother Computer Glitch Grounds American Airlines Flightsr

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  For the second time this year, American Airlines is blaming a computer glitch for grounding dozens of flights in several airports across the U.S.

  The Federal Aviation Administration announced in a real-time status notice today that American Airlines requested that planes traveling to or from Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago’s O’Hare and Miami International airports be grounded due to “computer issues.”

  According to the notice, traffic in and out of the airports are expected to be on hold until at least 1:30 p.m. central time.

  FAA Air Traffic Alert: @AmericanAir requested a ground stop for all of their traffic in and out of DFW/ORD/MIA due to their computer issue.

  — The FAA (@FAANews) September 17, 2015

  American Airlines posted a system alert on its website noting: “We are currently experiencing issues with our systems which may impact your ability to login, perform flight searches and complete a reservation request. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try back later or for immediate assistance contact us.”

  The carrier also address the glitch in replies to consumer complaints on Twitter, saying the carrier was working on the issue.

  @stefania_kaz We’re working to resolve technical issues and apologize for the inconvenience

  — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) September 17, 2015

  @abeisgreat We’re working to resolve technical issues and apologize for the inconvenience

  — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) September 17, 2015

  @Jeff_Nelson13 We’re working to resolve technical issues and apologize for the inconvenience

  — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) September 17, 2015

  [via Mashable]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uComcast CEO Says “You Can’t Keep Raising The Price Forever,” But Does It Anywayr

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  (Kevin Burkett)

  What’s a $145 billion cable company to do when it keeps losing pay-TV subscribers? Judging by Comcast’s recent actions, the answer would be “raise prices,” but the company’s CEO admits that this isn’t exactly a tenable business model… except he’s not talking about cable TV rates.

  No, when Comcast CEO Brian “My Dad Gave Me The Company” Roberts said yesterday that “You can’t keep raising the price forever,” he was referring to the content providers who sell their bundles of channels to Comcast and other pay-TV companies.

  The cable networks often try to force cable companies to buy a whole slate of channels — many of them smaller, niche offerings — in order to get the rights to carry the one or two most popular channels. This is why there are countless ESPNs and enough Nickelodeons to fill up a school bus.

  Of course, Comcast’s own NBCUniversal division is just as guilty of this behavior as the others. We’ve all heard of NBCU’s USA Network, E!, and Bravo, but when was the last time you heard any watercooler talk about Cloo or Chiller? [NOTE: This question does not apply to employees of those two channels, though we have a hunch even they have a hard time remembering where to find them in their local cable listings.]

  As the cost of these bundles has gone up, Comcast has been sure to pass the added expense on to its shrinking pay-TV customer base and its growing number of broadband subscribers who may now be subsidizing cable channels they don’t even have access to.

  Earlier this week, the Albuquerque Journal noted that Comcast’s Internet prices are going up 4.5% in that market. The hike is even more dramatic (7.6%) for customers who subscribe to Internet and pay-TV service from Comcast. Nationwide, a company rep says Comcast’s prices are going up an average of 3.4%.

  “We continue making investments in our network and technology to give customers more for their money, including more video across platforms, better experiences like X1 and faster Internet service,” the rep explained to the Journal. “We periodically need to adjust prices due to increases we incur in programming, business costs and new technology.”

  This statement and the nationwide price hike reveal the depressing truth that Comcast’s recent decision to upgrade some customers’ broadband speeds for “free” was really just “free until the next price increase.”

  At the same time, Comcast is continuing to expand its test of data caps as a revenue source. The company recently began offering an “Unlimited” option for customers who live in markets where 300GB monthly caps are being tested. For an additional $30/month, subscribers can avoid being hit with overage fees, though in some cases it would be less expensive to pay the overage than it would to pay for the Unlimited option.

  This is effectively a way of charging customers more for using the same amount of data — in spite of the fact that Comcast’s broadband customer base is growing and the costs associated with delivering data to end-users is decreasing.

  Comcast may now be the #2 pay-TV provider in the country behind the combined audience of DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse, but it certainly has the leverage to try to break up these pricey bundles of cable channels.

  But as indicated above, it also has a bit of a conflict of interest because those NBCU bundles that it foists on other pay-TV providers brought in more than $9.5 billion for Comcast in 2014. And while Comcast is griping about paying more to carry other channels, last year it saw a 4.6% increase in revenue from distribution of its cable networks.

  Verizon is currently involved in a legal battle over its attempt to shake up the cable bundle system. Earlier this year, it announced so-called “Skinny Bundles,” where FiOS subscribers only have to pay for a small core number of channels and then buy additional bundles of 10-15 channels (usually grouped together in a common theme).

  By not including ESPN — the most expensive single basic cable channel for pay-TV companies to carry, at around $6/month — in the required core stations, Verizon wakened the beast that is the legal team of ESPN parent company Disney. They claim Verizon is violating its contract by not making all subscribers get the sports network, but Verizon maintains that it’s done nothing wrong.

  For more:
  Comcast raises prices just as CEO says “you can’t raise the price forever” [Ars Technica]
  Comcast CEO: ‘You Can’t Keep Raising Prices Forever’ [DSLreports.com]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist