Is A $362 Charge For A 20-Minute Uber Ride Ever Acceptable?

On the one hand, paying almost $400 for a 20-minute ride home sounds a bit absurd, even on Halloween. But if you know ahead of time that a car service’s rates have rocketed and accept the ride anyway, can you justify complaining about the price later?

That’s the situation one Baltimore woman says she found herself in upon waking on Saturday morning after celebrating her birthday out the night before, Halloween, reports Buzzfeed News. Apparently Uber prices had been at a surge rate of 9X the usual price when she hired a car, dinging her bank account for $362 to cover the approximately 20-minute ride.

As she reportedly wrote in the description of a GoFundMe campaign that has since been removed, titled “Uber Stole My 26th Birthday”:

When I awoke this morning, I heard a friend talking about how outrageous Uber rates were the night before (9x original rate). I checked my bank account when, unbeknowst to me, I see a charge for $362. Not only is it my 26th birthday, it is rent day. My rent is $450 and I can no longer pay it today due to this completely outrageous charge.

She says the “misunderstanding” equates to about 80% of the funds she has right now, and that she feels “taken advantage of and cheated by the Uber name.”

The waitress reportedly added that “$367 for a 20 minute ride should never be justified, even on Halloween,” before asking folks to donate “if you think this is utter and complete bullshit and also hilarious and very, very depressing at the same time.”

From there, she reportedly managed to raise almost $600, before the campaign was taken down.

But there are those who might say hey, it’s her fault — after all, no one made her take an Uber, and just because she didn’t remember the surge rate the next morning, that’s not Uber’s responsibility. However on the other side, 9X the normal rate seems a tad bit excessive.

To that end, an Uber Maryland spokeswoman told Buzzfeed News that the woman chose Uber Black, which is the higher-end offering, and she would’ve had to type in the surge rate to confirm she was accepting it, adding:

Uber ensures a safe, reliable ride, wherever and whenever, and dynamic pricing allows us to remain the reliable choice, even on the busiest nights of the year. Our in-app features ensure dynamic pricing is repeatedly communicated and approved before any trip is confirmed.

We reached out to GoFundMe to see if the woman removed the listing herself, or if it was taken down by the site. It seems she must have removed it herself, as a spokeswoman tells Consumerist:

On GoFundMe, campaign organizers have full control over their accounts, and are able to remove their own campaigns whenever they choose. GoFundMe did not remove the campaign in question.

In the meantime, what do you think?

A 26-Year-Old Woman Crowdfunded Her $362 Halloween Uber Ride [Buzzfeed News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Hyundai And Kia To Pay $100M For Misleading MPG, Gas Emission Figures

(Van Swearington)

In vehicle manufacturer news that doesn’t have to do with recalls, Hyundai and Kia will pay a record $100 million penalty to the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board for not being completely truthful about their vehicles’ fuel economy estimates.

According to an announcement from the EPA, the South Korean automakers will pay the hefty civil fine in addition to the previously announced $395 million in reimbursements to consumers.

The EPA charged that the automakers overstated fuel economy figures by an average of six miles per gallon for the Hyundai Accent, Elantra, Velostar and Sante Fe, as well as the Kia Rio and Soul.

The complaint filed jointly by the United States and the California Air Resources Board alleges that Hyundai and Kia sold close to 1.2 million cars and SUVs whose design did not conform to the specifications the companies certified with the agency.

By selling nonconforming cars the companies also perpetrated misstatements about greenhouse gas emissions, a violation of the Clean Air Act. As a result, the EPA vehicles sold will emit approximately 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in excess of what the automakers certified to the EPA.

In addition to paying the civil penalty, the manufacturers will spend approximately $50 million on measures to prevent future violations and must forefeet 4.75 million greenhouse gas emission credits valued at more than $200 million.

Greenhouse gas emission credits are issued to manufacturers for building vehicles with lower emissions than required by law. The credits can be used to offset emissions from less fuel-efficient vehicle models or sold or traded to other automakers for the same purpose.

The EPA first discovered Hyundai and Kia’s alleged violations during audit testing in 2012. A subsequent investigation revealed that Hyundai’s and Kia’s testing protocol included numerous elements that led to inaccurately higher fuel economy ratings. In processing test data, Hyundai and Kia allegedly chose favorable results rather than average results from a large number of tests.

According to the EPA, in November 2012 Hyundai and Kia responded to the agency’s findings by correcting the fuel economy ratings for many of their 2011, 2012 and 2013 model year vehicles and establishing a reimbursement program to compensate owners for increased fuel costs due to overstated fuel economy.

In an effort to provide more accurate mileage information to consumers, the Environmental Protection Agency announced earlier this year that it wants car companies to do their mpg testing on the road instead of in the lab.

United States Reaches Settlement with Hyundai and Kia in Historic Greenhouse Gas Enforcement Case [EPA]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

More Former iPhone Users Suing Apple, Claiming iMessage “Intercepts” Texts Meant For Android Phones

(afagen)

Although Apple has since claimed to have fixed an issue afflicting many former iPhone users, who claimed they failed to receive messages meant for them from friends once they switched to Android phones, yet another group of customers are suing the company, claiming iMessage intercepted their messages.

The newest lawsuit, brought by three former iPhone users who switched to Android phones, follows an earlier suit filed last spring against the company.

This time around, the three customers allege in a federal lawsuit that problems with iMessage basically make it into a wiretapping situation, because it “intercepts and retains messages that should be delivered to Android users,” according to the complaint [PDF] (via Business Insider).

Those users had switched from iPhones to Android devices and found that in some cases, they didn’t get texts from iPhone users after changing over.

The suit claims that iPhone texts are “illegally intercepted and interned by Apple” when they’re on the way to Android phones.

Because the “intercepted” messages are stuck indefinitely, the lawsuit says that counts as “unauthorized access” to a computer system and a violation of both the Stored Communications Act and the Federal Wiretap Act.

According to the plaintiffs:

Apple continues to access, intercept, collect, and not deliver the text messages sent to the now non-iPhone user. The result is not some minor “inconvenience” (as Apple seeks to portray it), but the continued unlawful accessing, interception, and non-delivery of text messages …

Some former iPhone users have gone so far as to spin a conspiracy theory that Apple is punishing them for making the move to Android, and by keeping their messages from another company.

One of the plaintiffs said he switched to an HTC One from an iPhone 5, and found his wife couldn’t text him.

… After [the plaintiff] realized that he was not receiving his text messages because they were being intercepted by Apple, [he] attempted to remove his phone number from the iMessage system but was unsuccessful. Apple continued to intercept text messages intended for him from his wife, business associates, and anyone else who was an iPhone/iMessage User.

Other plaintiffs paint similar scenarios, claiming Apple has known about the issue since January 2012 but still “has failed to correct the problem.”

Apple has denied the claims in both lawsuits. In this case, the company says:

Neither [one plaintiff 1] nor [the other plaintiff] alleges that he took any steps to disassociate his telephone number from iMessage, or to notify Apple in any way, prior to switching to a non-Apple device. Each alleges that he “attempted to remove his phone number from the iMessage system” after switching to his non-Apple device, but neither describes what he claims to have done.

In addition, Apple says it’s not intercepting the text messages on purpose, and as such, lacks the required intent to be guilty of wiretapping. It also says that because iMessages are stored in its own system “in the ordinary course of its business,” which is allowed under the Wiretap Act.

Apple Has Been Accused Of ‘Intercepting’ iPhone Texts In Violation Of The Federal Wiretap Act [Business Insider]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

For Sale: One Cemetery Plot. Slightly Used

(Corey Templeton)

When you move away or need cash, it’s a good idea to get rid of any local property that you no longer need or want. For some families, that includes the deeds to unused cemetery plots in faraway graveyards. Or slightly used cemetery plots.

By “slightly used,” we mean a three-person plot with two spaces vacant, or, in the case of one site offered for sale on Craigslist, a plot where a toddler buried decades ago has long since decomposed. Most sellers who cite a reason say that they’re selling plots because they have moved away and want to be buried closer to their new homes. Like much New York real estate, some transactions pass through brokers.

“I don’t feel that [my family members] are actually there,” one woman selling two plots at a Long Island cemetery told the Atlantic . “All it is to me is a concrete vault with a name on it. The cheapest and easiest thing is to cremate me and throw me over the ocean.” Plus, those two graves are part of a larger family plot, and she doesn’t want to spend time with everyone buried there.

The problem is that buying and selling graves isn’t always, strictly speaking, legal. The Atlantic looked into the market for buying and selling cemetery plots in and around New York City, where eternal real estate can be predictably pricey. In New York state, the law says that plots in for-profit cemeteries can only be sold by the cemetery itself. In theory. People who want to get rid of their plots for any reason can sell them to another party if they first offered to sell them back to the corporation running the cemetery, and it declined. However, the state officials who oversee such transactions say that they don’t recall any recent prosecutions for illicit grave-flipping.

Shopping for Secondhand Graves on Craigslist [Atlantic]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Man Accused Of Robbing 4 Subway Restaurants: “Jared Diet” Didn’t Work

(Mandy_Jansen)

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but no one ever said anything about cold cuts specifically being involved: An Alabama man accused of robbing four Subway restaurants reportedly said he did it because he tried “the Jared diet” and wasn’t pleased with the results.

Police say the suspect wanted to get his money bad after eating all those sandwiches and not getting the physique of his dreams, reports WJBF.com. He blamed Subway spokesman Jared Fogle, who gave the chain’s sandwiches credit after losing about 245 pounds in a year.

“He stated to the detective he had attempted the ‘Jared Diet’ and it didn’t work,” the police chief said, according to Good Morning America. “He felt like he should get his money back.”

The 18-year-old man was caught on a surveillance video that law enforcement put on Facebook after a robbery at one local restaurant, and was recognized by someone shopping at Walmart. That person called the police and followed him around until they arrived.

When cops detained him, they say he admitted to the robbery. He was arrested, and police believe he’s responsible for robberies at three other local Subways.

Subway robber told authorities ‘Jared diet’ didn’t work for him [WJBF.com]

Alabama Man Accused of Robbing Subways Because ‘Jared Diet’ Failed [GMA]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Massive Comcast Outage Appears To Be Striking Nationwide

(Consumerist)

It seems like today is a bad day for Comcast subscribers who are fans of daytime TV, as the company appears to be in the midst of a large-scale television outage.

According to the incredibly handy site DownDetector.com, Comcast Xfinity customers all over the nation, but especially concentrated in the northeast corridor between Boston and Washington, DC, are seeing outages.

Several hours ago, the @ComcastCares twitter account posted, “We are aware of the service issue affecting X1 customers. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

That tweet would seem to imply that the affected customers are all using Comcast’s newer, cloud-based, X1 platform.

We have asked Comcast for further information about the outage and will update when we hear more.

Angry tweets calling out Comcast for failing to communicate clearly with customers about their #comcastoutage began overnight, and users began to take to sites like Reddit at about the same time.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Tribes Suing New York For Restricting Payday Lending Businesses Drop Federal Suit

(frankieleon)

Despite having some of the toughest regulations prohibiting high-interest, short-term loans, New York has continued to face issues in the form of illegal online payday lenders who claim to have affiliation with Native American tribes. But those issues came a step closer to being resolved late last week when two American Indian tribes with online lending operations abandoned an effort to block the sate from restricting their businesses.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Oklahoma-based Otoe Missouria Tribe and Michigan-based Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians dropped their federal lawsuit against New York that claimed the state’s campaign against payday lenders was in violation of their rights as sovereign tribes.

Last year, New York banking regulators urged banks to stop processing payments for lenders that violate the state’s 25% cap on interest rates. That November, New York sent cease and desist orders to dozens of online payday lenders to make them stop pursuing residents through advertisements in the state.

Shortly after that, the tribes filed the lawsuit saying their operations were located on reservation land and not subject to oversight by any state.

But the tribes’ argument suffered a devastating blow in October when a federal appeals court denied a temporary injunction that would have barred New York from restricting tribal lending while the case was litigated, the WSJ reports.

The two tribes issued a statement on their decision to drop the case, saying their fight has “consumed considerable resources.”

“While we hoped when we first pursued this action that we would be able to quickly undo the damage caused and avoid a prolonged and material interruption to our businesses, the fact of the matter is the state’s unjust interference in the businesses of the tribes have caused irreparable harm that further legal proceedings would simply be unable to remedy,” a spokesperson for the tribes said.

Payday lending businesses that align themselves with American Indian tribes have come under greater scrutiny by federal regulators in recent years.

Back in May, consumer advocates say a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in regards to a Michigan Native American tribe’s alleged illegal casino could prove to be a game changer for the often predatory payday loan industry.

The court’s decision, while it didn’t appear to have much to do with payday lending, made it clear that states have options when a tribe conducts activity off-reservation.

Officials with the National Consumer Law Center said at the time that the decision makes a clear statement that states can “shutter, quickly and permanently, an illegal casino” and that the same is true for illegal payday loans that claim tribal affiliation.

In March, a U.S. District Court judge upheld a magistrate judge’s 2013 ruling that the Federal Trade Commission has authority to regulate certain companies associated with Native American tribes.

That ruling revolved around Colorado-based AMG Services’ claim that it was exempt from FTC enforcement because of its affiliation with American Indian tribes.

In August 2013, Western Sky Financial, a payday lender operating out of a tribal reservation in South Dakota, announced it would discontinue offering loans after facing lawsuits from around the country over three-digit interest rates for its loans. The company had perviously claimed they were not bound by state law because of their tribal affiliation.

Tribes Drop Payday-Loan Suit Against New York State [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist