Customers Failing To Fling Themselves At Limited Broadband Usage Cap, TWC CEO Admits

(Photo Nut 2011)

Back in 2012, Time Warner Cable unveiled an optional metered broadband plan: the current iteration gives customers a $5 monthly discount, but caps their usage at 30 GB. It’s not really surprising that customers aren’t exactly throwing themselves at such limited broadband access. What might be a little more surprising is that even the TWC CEO admits it’s a total dud.

As LightReading relates, this week (at the same conference where he called the Comcast/TWC merger a “dream combination“) TWC CEO Rob Marcus acknowledged the very low opt-in rate to “Internet Essentials.”

The number is “in the thousands,” Marcus said. As Time Warner Cable has roughly 11 million current subscribers, some quick math says that even at best that works out to less than 1% of their consumers taking the plan.

Marcus insisted that more consumers than have signed up would be just fine with Essentials, saying that median broadband use among their subscribers is in the “high twenties” monthly. And yet faced with the potential for fees likely outstripping the amount of discount offered for going over an optional data cap very close to their average monthly use, customers balk. Imagine that.

Despite the Essentials plan flopping magnificently, Marcus stands by the principle of the thing: the more bandwidth customers use, the more they should pay, he said.

Meanwhile, even without data caps for most customers TWC has found plenty of other ways to increase the bills their subscribers pay.

TWC started the plan early in 2012, and rolled it out nationwide later that year. At the time, it didn’t seem like a deal that made any sense for the overwhelming majority of TWC’s customers, and two years later it appears that said overwhelming majority agrees. The company’s 2009 attempt to come up with a metered broadband pricing plan also failed.

Of course, all the Time Warner Cable rate plans in the world probably won’t make a difference to consumers by year’s end anyway, if the company’s planned merger with Comcast meets with regulator approval.

TWC Subs Say No to Data Caps [LightReading via DSL Reports]

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Americans Might Get Flowers And Beer By Drone After All

Great news for people who were looking forward to a future of receiving small deliveries on their doorsteps by unmanned drone. A federal judge’s decision last week means that a Michigan-based florist can go ahead and continue their tests of flower delivery by unmanned aerial vehicle.

It’s big companies like Amazon that get most of the attention when it comes to commercial applications of drones, but the florist is ready to get started with its tests as soon as possible. They had planned some rose deliveries as a Valentine’s Day publicity stunt before the FAA put a stop to the festivities.

Now the company can resume its tests. That’s great news for people who enjoy receiving flowers but hate interacting with strangers, we suppose. Perhaps now the planned drone deliveries of beer to ice fishermen can continue as well.

As we explained last week, the judge’s decision was really about a photographer fined for using a drone to take pictures. While the world is still waiting for official regulations of unmanned aircraft use for commercial purposes, the decision states that small drones that fly below 400 feet are really just glorified model aircraft, and there should be no difference between a flower-dropping or photo-snapping drone and a toy helicopter.

Federal Judge Clears Detroit Florist’s Delivery By Drone [WWJ]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Online State Sales Tax Solution Remains Elusive After Congress Declares ‘Fundamental Defects’ In Senate Bill

(C x 2)

After years of attempts to craft a federal law that would affirm states’ rights to tax online purchases, the issue may still be far from being resolved. The House Judiciary Committee has put the brakes on the Marketplace Fairness Act passed by the Senate in May.

On Wednesday, prospects for federal action to resolve the long-standing issue of whether states should be able to collect sales tax on Internet purchases faded after members of Congress said more debate was needed before legislation could move forward, Reuters reports.

The Marketplace Fairness Act would have granted each state the ability to decide whether online businesses need to collect the tax.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.) says the Senate bill “suffers from fundamental defects” and he worries that online businesses could be targeted by state auditors and aggressive tax agents.

While Goodlatte didn’t specify if the House Judiciary Committee would create its own version of online sales tax legislation, other members of the committee say the bill shouldn’t be delayed further.

The issue has caused strife between brick-and-mortar retailers and their online competitors for years, with traditional retailers claiming the lack of internet state sales taxes creates a pricing edge for businesses that exist entirely online.

Currently, online businesses without a physical presence in a state are not obliged to collect tax from customers — even though consumers have a duty to pay this usage tax when they file their annual tax returns. However, almost no one does, or even realizes there’s a law requiring them to pay.

State governments estimate they lose $23 billion a year in uncollected sales taxes. However, 12 states now have their own Internet sales tax laws, something that complicates online purchases for retailers like Amazon.

The company has publicly opposed the collection of state sales taxes in the past, even cutting ties with physical businesses in Minnesota after the state passed a law last year requiring such businesses to collect sales taxes.

Outlook for online state sales tax fix dims in U.S. Congress [Chicago Tribune]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

T-Mobile To Finally Transition Entire 2G Edge Network To LTE; Issues Cease-And-Desist To Verizon

T-Mobile has issued a cease-and-desist to Verizon Wireless over ads that use 4G LTE coverage maps of the four major carriers. T-Mobile alleges this map understate’s the company’s actual level of coverage.

T-Mobile may offer competitive pricing and be an important disruptive factor in a wireless market otherwise dominated by two much larger players, but the company’s network doesn’t yet provide the level of LTE coverage offered by AT&T and Verizon. But T-Mobile is now promising to rid itself of its sludge-like 2G Edge network in favor of LTE by mid-2015.

In an announcement this morning, T-Mo said that it expects to finish half of the LTE upgrade in 2014, with a goal to be “substantially complete” within 18 months.

T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere takes issue with the perception of his company’s network as second-tier to the bigger providers.

“Our competitors want you to believe our network doesn’t measure up. But that just isn’t true,” claims Legere in a statement. “And American consumers are going to see right through the spin and half-truths when given the facts.”

T-Mobile is inarguably in a much better position, network-wise, than it was after the collapse of its plan to merge with AT&T. At that point, the company wasn’t offering any LTE service, but it was able to begin building out its current network, thanks in no small part to the $4 billion in cash and spectrum it received from AT&T when the deal failed.

The company says it is has issued a cease-and-desist to Verizon Wireless regarding its current series of ads comparing coverage maps of the various providers. Legere claims these commercials “massively understate our coverage.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

20 herramientas libres para realizar videoconferencias

via Educación tecnológica http://ift.tt/Pxb1Za www.bscformacion.com

IKEA Apologizes After Manager Allegedly Calls Breastfeeding Mom “Disgusting”

(cookedphotos)

IKEA is having to do the apology song-and-dance after a mom in Ottawa claimed that she was treated rudely by a manager who told her she was “being disgusting” by nursing in the store and to “take it to the bathroom.”

In a post on the IKEA Canada Facebook page on Monday, the mom says she was at the store with her 9-month-old daughter when she asked to speak to a manager about a pricing question.

The mom says the manager got off on the wrong foot by engaging in a protracted conversation with a co-worker rather than talk to her. Meanwhile, her baby daughter needed to be fed, so the mom did what mothers have been doing for millennia — she fed her. This apparently didn’t go over well with the manager.

From the mom’s Facebook post:

“The manager glared at me and said (and I quote), ‘When you’re done being disgusting, we can resume our discussion. In the meantime, take it to the bathroom because you’re holding up the line.’”

Oops.

The retailer responded to her message, saying “This is not the experience we wish for our customers,” and asking her for her contact information so they could look into the matter.

A rep for the company tells HuffPo Canada that IKEA has apologized to the mom and is investigating the incident.

“We do not accept anyone saying something negative to a mother breastfeeding. This is not consistent with our culture and values,” reads the statement to HuffPo. “IKEA supports mothers’ rights to breastfeed openly. We do provide private rooms for anyone who is interested in a quiet moment, but welcome mothers to breastfeed anywhere in our stores. We are a family friendly company who strives to provide a comfortable environment for all of our customers.”

Longtime readers of Consumerist may remember a similar story from 2009, in which a nursing mom at the IKEA store in Brooklyn was directed to do her breastfeeding in the bathroom by a store employee.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Surprise! Here’s Your New US Bank Debit Card

(gumbyliberation)

A blank envelope arrived on Amanda’s doorstep. She almost tossed it aside, since it didn’t say “HEY! I’M IMPORTANT!” on it. She happened to feel a plastic card inside, though, so she opened it up. Inside was her new debit card. That’s good, isn’t it? Amanda doesn’t think so.

The letter from her bank said that they were issuing customers new cards as a pre-emptive measure becacuse of all of the large recent data breaches, even though Amanda’s card number hadn’t turned up in any of the stolen data sets and she hadn’t used it at any retailers that have reported data breaches (yet.)

“The kicker? I had two business days lead time to activate my new card before my current one would stop working,” Amanda wrote to Consumerist. “A little irksome, to say the least.” What if she had been on vacation or out of town, away from her mailbox but dependent on that debit card to get around?

She wrote to us in order to warn other U.S. Bank customers that a new card might be coming, if it hasn’t already. Watch out, especially if you plan to be out of town for more than a few days. “If I’d been gone for a long weekend or accidentally destroyed the new card, my current card would have been canceled and I would have no idea why!” notes Amanda.

We contacted U.S. Bank and asked why they’re automatically deactivating customers’ cards without notifying them first. We’ll update this post if we find out.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Another 403,000 Graco Car Seats Added To Recall

The Argos 70 Elite is one of the seats that have been added to the massive Graco recall.

Last month, Graco and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled 3.7 million of the company’s car seats for faulty buckles. Today comes news that an additional 403,000 seats have been added to the recall.

The initial recall had been for seats produced and sold between 2009 and 2013. In a notice [PDF] dated March 7, the company explains that some of the additional 403,222 seats were manufactured before 2009.

Seats added to the recall, from model years 2006 through 2014:

Argos 70 Elite,

Ready Ride,

Step 2,

My Ride 65 with Safety Surround,

My Size 70,

Head Wise 70 with Safety Surround,

Nautilus 3-in-1,

Nautilus Plus,

Smart Seat with Safety Surround.

The problem with these seats is that the buckle can become gummed up if food or liquid gets into the mechanism. Some parents have been unable to unlatch the buckle under such conditions and have had to cut the harness in order to get their child free.

Graco is offering to replace the buckle with a new design, free of charge. Registered owners will be notified beginning around early April 2014, and offered the free replacement buckle. All other owners may contact Graco at 1-800-345-4109 (toll-free) or 1-330-869-7225.

In addition to the recalled seats, Graco has previously said it will allow owners of an additional 1.8 million car seats not yet involved in the recall to get replacement buckles.

Recall Notice [NHTSA]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Feds Investigating That MoneyMutual Company With The Montel Williams Ads

If you’ve caught any daytime or late-night TV in the last few years, you’ve probably noticed talk show host Montel Williams shilling for a service called MoneyMutual that connects needy borrowers with Payday lenders. Newly released documents show that the company’s lead-generation process is under investigation by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Yesterday, the CFPB posted MoneyMutual’s petition [PDF] to set aside the Bureau’s Civil Investigate Demand.

The document, first spotted by Reuters, reveals that the CFPB is investigating lead-generating companies like MoneyMutual to determine if they “have engaged or are engaging in unlawful acts or practices in connection with the marketing, selling or collection of payday loans.”

The Bureau has asked MoneyMutual and its parent company for a large amount of information, including the names of all of MoneyMutual’s “parents, subsidiaries, unincorporated divisions, joint ventures, and affiliates.” It also asks the company to “identify all persons from whom the Company has purchased Leads on behalf of Internet Lenders.”

The specifics and full scope of the CFPB investigation aren’t clear, but some payday lenders have been accused of using the Internet and lead-generation services to connect potential borrowers with lenders, even if payday loans are illegal in the borrower’s state. Additionally, some members of the armed forces — to whom traditional payday loans can not be made — have been able to get around the laws with the involvement of third parties.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Amazon Jacks Up Rate On Prime Memberships To $99/Year

(thecollegefreshman)

Amazon said in January that it was considering increasing the annual subscription rate on its Amazon Prime program — which includes free two-day shipping on many purchases and access to the site’s library of streaming videos — by twenty to forty dollars. This morning, the e-tailer began notifying customers that it is indeed jacking up that rate from $79/year to $99/year.

Reads the e-mail being sent to Prime members:

We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews…

Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Some consumers have reacted negatively to speculation that the annual rate could increase so dramatically at once. As we’ve argued in the past, Amazon would be facing less of a backlash if it charged a monthly rate, as the prospect of going from $6.58/month ($79/year) to $8.25/month ($99/year) may not have seemed as drastic to some consumers.

What remains to be seen is whether those angry customers will ditch their Prime subscriptions when it comes time to renew.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist