uUnited Airlines Apologizes To Couple Who Found Full Barf Bag In Seat-Back Pocketr

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  Perhaps the only thing worse than actually having to use a barf bag on a flight is finding out that someone else used it before you got to your seat… and it’s still sitting in the seat-back pocket. What’s a totally grossed out passenger to do? One couple turned to the media after a recent United Airlines flight that found them dealing with another traveler’s leftovers.

  A couple on their anniversary trip to Hawaii said they found a full barf bag in a blanket in the seat-back pocket in front of them, reports CBS Sacramento, and naturally, they weren’t pleased to have to deal with someone’s bodily fluids.

  The woman said when she handed the bag over to a United Airlines flight attendant, the contents spilled on both her and her husband’s clothes. Though the attendant offered them new seats, it was too late, she says — the smell was already on their clothes and they had to endure it for the rest of the flight.

  “Smelling that smell on us and around us was just totally, totally disgusting,” she recalls.

  After the couple hit a few brick walls when reporting the issue to United, they turned to Call Kurtis, who was able to get them a $300 credit toward a future flight. A company rep apologized, admitting that “our cleaners apparently failed to clean all of the seat-back pockets.”

  That flight credit might go unused, however.

  “I’ve lost a lot of faith and trust with the airline,” the woman said.

  Call Kurtis: I Found a Filled Barf Bag In the Seatback Pocket On My Flight [CBS Sacramento]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uOusted Volkswagen CEO Might Still Get $67M Payday, Plus Company Carr

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  If I got fired — sorry, had to resign — from a CEO job because my company’s stock value had tanked in the middle of a worldwide product recall scandal, the most I’d expect to walk away with is my fancy CEO nameplate and the framed picture of my teacup basset hound “Drooly” that I keep on my desk. But the recently exiled CEO of Volkswagen could be wiping away his tears with a payout worth upwards of $67 million.

  The Wall Street Journal reports that Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down from his gig atop the German automaker yesterday, already had about $33 million in his VW pension at the end of 2014. And according to the company’s annual report, there’s a severance payout rule that pays up to two years worth of their total annual remuneration.

  That could mean another $34 million for Winterkorn, that is if the VW board says so. There is also the promise of a company car. We have some suggestions for some “clean diesel” models he should consider.

  See, the only way Winterkorn — or any VW exec at the top level — can get that two-year severance deal is if it’s determined he left the job through no fault of his own. But as the Journal points out, the annual report doesn’t spell out exactly how the board determines issues of fault in these matters.

  Of course, $67 million is a dust particle compared to the $18 billion smog cloud that VW could have to inhale if the Environmental Protection Agency chooses to pursue the maximum penalty for each car VW sold in the U.S. with software designed to cheat on emissions tests.

  And then there are the growing number of class action suits being filed, state-level investigations, and possible criminal prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uStarbucks Faces Another Lawsuit Over Drinks Tainted With Chemicalsr

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  For the second time in three months, Starbucks has been accused in a lawsuit of serving up a drink with some unwanted extra ingredients. This time,  a customer says she suffered months of medical problems after Starbucks sold her a hot chocolate containing industrial-strength cleaner — and that the coffee giant offered her a free drink as an apology.

  A Seattle woman claims in the lawsuit that she stopped by her local Starbucks just before closing time on June 13, 2014 and ordered a grande hot chocolate, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

  After receiving her drink and leaving the store, she says a Starbucks employee rushed over to her, telling the customer that the drink — which was the plaintiff claims was mostly consumed by this point — contained “cleaning tablets.” The woman says she returned to the inside of the store, but worker wouldn’t tell her exactly what had made its way into the beverage she’d been drinking.

  “Instead, (the worker) simply provided [the woman] with a beverage coupon and sent her on her way,” her attorneys said in the civil complaint.

  After feeling ill later that evening, the woman sought medical assistance. According to the lawsuit, she suffered severe injuries to her throat and digestive tract that caused “extreme discomfort and emotional distress.”

  A spokesperson for Starbucks tells Seattle PI that the company is reviewing the allegations.

  “The safety of our customers is our highest priority,” a spokesperson said. “We take this obligation seriously and are investigating [the plaintiff’s] claims.”

  A Utah woman filed a similar lawsuit against Starbucks in July.

  According to that lawsuit, which seeks $2 million in damage, the customer claims she experienced severe nerve damage and chronic burning mouth pain after ingesting Urnex, a speciality cleaning product for coffee and espresso equipment.

  Woman says Starbucks served her tainted drink, then offered her a freebie [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uHow Wireless Carriers Are Prepping To Handle Texts, Tweets & Data Of 1M Pope Watchersr

uKids These Days Would Rather Play Video Games On Mobile Devices Than On PCs, Consolesr

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  Are the days of fighting over the best video game controller over? Perhaps, says a new report: though consoles and computers used to be the most popular for gaming, smartphones and tablets now rule the roost among the younger set.

  Mobile devices are the most popular way to game for children between the ages of two and 17, with 63% of kids saying they play games on phones or tablets, according to NPD Group in a report called “Kids and Gaming 2015.”

  Of that age group, 45% use a home PC for playing video games, a big drop of 22 percentage since 2013. That decline is even more marked among kids ages two to five, probably as parents are handing over kid-proofed tablets instead of risking their desktop computers and laptops.

  Video game consoles are also slipping in popularity, as they’re used by 60% of kids in this survey, compared to 67% in 2013.

  “The largest and most surprising shift in the 2015 gaming ecosystem was kids’ move away from the computer,” NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan said in a press release. “In the past, the computer was considered the entry point for gaming for most kids, but the game has changed now that mobile has moved into that position. This may be related to a change in the behavior of parents that are likely utilizing mobile devices for tasks that were once reserved for computers.”

  Kids Move Away From Home Computers For Gaming In Droves [NPD Group]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uFake Apple Stores Have Returned To China, Try To Quench Thirst For iPhone 6Sr

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  Like humans worldwide, people in China love iPhones and have an irrational need to own the newest model on the day that it’s released to the public. One unique thing that has popped up in China, though, is fake Apple Store that sell real Apple products. They proliferated four years ago, and are back, significantly outnumbering stores run by Apple.

  The fake Apple Stores sell genuine products, though you can also pick up a counterfeit iPhone 6S for under $100 on the streets of commercial zone Shenzen if that’s what you’re into. Reuters counted 30 of the unauthorized stores in the city. For some perspective, there’s only one official Apple-run store there, and five authorized third-party dealers of the company’s products.

  There are probably more of the stores now, one day ahead of the new model’s launch, since they don’t need to wait around for things like “authorization.” What differentiates a fake Apple Store from a real one isn’t just the presence of Apple products sourced from the gray market: they outfit their employees in t-shirts and lanyards and do their best to make the store look like the real thing. Reuters even reports that there are Apple Store stores in Shenzen, where you can buy the t-shirts, lanyards, and other items needed to create an authentic experience.

  China’s ‘fake’ Apple stores thrive ahead of new iPhone launch [Reuters]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uWedding Venue Fined $305K For Taking Deposits For Events It Couldn’t Possibly Hostr

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  Imagine you’re about to get married and then find out that the venue you booked for your reception is not only closed, but that the venue operators knew it be shutting down and took your deposit anyway. This is exactly what happened to nearly 60 people who were tricked into making deposits with a Seattle gallery for weddings and other events that could never have possibly been held there.

  Earlier this week, Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson announced that his office had been granted a $304,995 default judgment [PDF] against the former operators of EM Fine Art, a gallery that closed without advance notice in June 2014.

  The gallery’s operators sent out e-mails to customers who had already booked the venue, breaking the bad news to them that (A) their event could not be held there, and (B) there would be no refunds of deposits.

  That might all be understandable if the venue had truly been hit out of nowhere with the news that it had to shut down. In fact, one of the e-mails sent to reservation-holders explained that the gallery had been destroyed in a fire.

  The fire explanation was bogus, and so was any statement that the owners didn’t know a shutdown was pending.

  According to Ferguson’s office, the gallery operators began receiving notices, from their landlord and the city, in Nov. 2013 about various violations of local land use ordinances.

  Then in mid-April 2014, the landlord said their lease would be terminated on May 21, 2014, meaning that was the last day they could possibly play host to any events.

  And yet, up until the day the venue declared its own demise, it was still allowing customers to make reservations and pay deposits.

  In Feb. 2015, the attorney general’s office sued the gallery operators, who never showed up to defend themselves in court or properly respond to the lawsuit. They have tried to argue that they never received any notice of the suit because they never check the mailbox to which it was sent, but Ferguson says his investigation found the couple is not only still checking that box, but that it did so 27 times in the month after the complaint was sent.

  And so last week the King County Superior Court Commissioner granted the default judgment, which requires the gallery operators to repay a total of $50,000 to at least 59 customers bilked by EM, plus pay another $19,000 in costs and fees, and $236,000 in civil penalties.

  One scammed customer, who lost her $700 deposit when the gallery shuttered, tells the Seattle Times that she’s not holding out much hope for getting that money back — but that wasn’t really her reason for telling Ferguson’s office about the scam.

  “We filed our claims, not thinking anything would come of it,” she explains to the Seattle Times. “Seeing the judge ruled in our favor is vindication.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist