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A ConsumerAffairs.com Investigation

Three Years Later: Pyrex Dishes Still Go Boom

Government safety agency mum, company blames victims for cuts, burns

Injury to a baker's knee.

Three years later, not much has changed. Many consumers still rely on Pyrex bakeware for everyday cooking chores, trusting that the baking dishes can safely go from the oven to the countertop to the freezer.

But more than 300 complaints filed by ConsumerAffairs.com readers detail frightening stories of these dishes spontaneously shattering during temperature changes, propelling scalding glass shards and food 15 feet or more, sending some consumers to the hospital with tendon and nerve damage and serious burns and leaving others with property damage and, at the very least, a ruined dinner and a huge mess in their kitchen.

Who's to blame? The manufacturer blames the victims, federal safety regulators are, as usual, incommunicado, and plaintiff's attorneys say the cases don't have enough common elements to justify a class action. So where's that leave you? Read more of Joe Enoch's exclusive investigative report here.

They're Sorry They Mentioned It

Direct marketers were hoping for a better result when they asked the Federal Trade Commission to amend its Telemarketing Rule concerning pre-recorded telemarketing calls. The telemarketers themselves proposed a rule change, to allow calls that deliver prerecorded messages to consumers with whom a seller had an established business relationship. But the nearly 14,000 comments elicited by that proposal overwhelmingly opposed. So the FTC actually toughened the law for telemarketers. Among the tougher new provisions of the rule, a ban on telemarketing sales calls that deliver prerecorded messages, whether answered in person by a consumer or by an answering machine or voicemail service, unless the seller has previously obtained the recipient's signed, written agreement to receive such calls. Read more ...

Employee Benefits

Now is a pretty good time to buy a car. The end of the summer is traditionally when car dealers try to move their unsold inventory, and this year especially, there is a lot of it. General Motors' sales are off 18 percent so far this year, leading it to reprise its "employee discount" promotion, first offered in 2005. The automaker will offer prices usually reserved for company employees along with cash discounts of as much as $4,000 on most 2008 and some 2009 models. Read more ...

A Good Time To Fly?

Digital Confusion

The Federal Communications Commission is increasingly worried that the public is still largely oblivious to broadcast television's switch to digital transmission in five months. Once the switch is made, you won't be able to receive over the air broadcasts unless you have a digital TV, or have installed a digital converter box. The government is issuing coupons for free converter boxes, but that program has not been without a few kinks, to put it mildly. Members of the FCC and top staff plan to pack their bags and travel in a number of U.S. metropolitan areas to help spread the word. Read more ...

Apple's Catch-22

J.C., of Las Vegas, bought his iPhone for $500 last year when they came out, and one year and three days later, his screen went dark. After calling Apple, he was told there was a good chance they could repair it, but he would have to pay a $200 non-refundable service charge. "But a new iPhone is only $200," he said. "Why should I pay $200 to repair my old one," he asked. Good question, he was told. Read more ...

Who's Looking Over Your Shoulder?

Advertisers will pay big bucks to learn what Web sites you visit and, surprise, Internet Service Providers have begun gathering that data, either on a "trial" basis or as a matter of policy. The practice is more widespread than you may have thought. Several members of Congress sent off a letter to more than 30 Internet Service Providers, large and small, and inquired about their monitoring. A significant number confessed to doing it, but insist they aren't invading your privacy. Its simply so advertisers can better target you as a consumer. Read more ...

The Cookie Crumbles

The Hershey Company has announced price hikes for its chocolate candies, reacting to the rising cost of cocoa and other ingredients, along with surging transportation costs. Another food company, Mrs. Fields Cookies, apparently didn't react quickly enough. The company, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it would be unable to make an interest payment next month and would seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is not shutting down, however. Mrs. Fields will keep baking the way she has since 1977. Read more ...

Probably Not The Last Word

We expect the argument is only going to deepen over the chemical bisphenol A, and whether it belongs in consumer products for children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has once again found that the chemical is safe, but that may not end the discussion. Parents and consumer groups have raised an alarm over BPA, which is widely used as a hardening agent in plastics. Concern about BPA began to grow after a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that trace amounts of the chemical could be found in 93 percent of Americans. But the FDA insists that the trace amounts are thousands of times below dangerous levels. Some retailers have already banned plastic baby bottles and other children's items that contain BPA. Read more ...

The Return Of The Bulls?

There's an old Wall Street adage that advises "never try to catch a falling knife." That said, lots of investors will be keeping an eye on the stock market this week to see if it indeed is about to switch direction. While there's plenty of gloomy economic news, other indicators point to an improving outlook. The price of oil keeps going down and the much-battered dollar keeps going up. Are there bargains to be had among the blue chips or is the knife still falling? This week may provide more clues. Read more ...

Looking A Little Better

Not even the Russian dust-up in Georgia, which disabled a pipeline or two, could slow the downward trend in oil prices this week. At the same time, the geo-political uncertainties and new questions about worldwide economic growth, have made the U.S. dollar stronger. It rose Friday for the eleventh straight day. Foreign investors see the U.S. as the safest place to stash cash right now, which may tell you just how shaky the rest of the world is. All in all, it's giving U.S. consumers a little much-needed relief, especially at the gas pump. Read more ...

Help Wanted

One of our favorite TV commercials is for Ladders.com, the Internet job site that only offers jobs that pay $100,000 a year or more. The unabashed elitism is breathtaking, as a tennis court is mobbed by a gaggle of clumsy, overweight players and an off-screen announcer complains about ordinary job sites, where "the best people" can't get noticed because they're surrounded by too many average schlubs. Internet job sites are proliferating and many occupy a specialized, if not quite so overtly elitist, niche. It's to the point now that some employment experts think the sheer number of Web sites makes job hunting even harder. Read more ...

Breaking News That Can Break Your Computer

Spam scammers have come upon a clever way to pass around their computer viruses. They disguise their malware as an email from a trusted news source. Last week we reported on an alert from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Spam Data Mine, which warned these sinister emails looked like a message from CNN. Now, the UAB techies say the scammers have switched tactics, or changed channels, so to speak. The new emails look like news alerts from MSNBC. If you click on the link in the email, you can unleash a nasty virus. Read more ...

Take My House, Please

You may have read this week where a house in Detroit recently sold for $1. Things are bad, but that may be a little extreme. Even so, the National Association of Realtors reports home sales http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/home_sales07.html hit a 10-year low in the second quarter of 2008, while the median price of a single family home fell another 7.6 percent, to $206,500. Sales were down 16 percent over the second quarter of 2007, while prices declined in 115 of the 150 markets surveyed. And, in another sign that the housing slump isn't ending anytime soon, foreclosure activity was up 55 percent in July. Read more ...

Out In The Cold

There's a simple way to reduce your chances of becoming an identity theft victim, and more states are beginning to embrace it. Iowa is among the latest to pass a law allowing consumers to freeze their credit reports. That means even if someone steals your social security number and other sensitive information, they probably won't be able to take out a loan in your name. When they try the lender will not be able to access your credit report because it's frozen.

While that reduces a lot of identity theft risk, a credit freeze is not without its downside. It means you won't be able to take out a loan or establish a new account either, without specifically "unfreezing" your credit report. There are three credit reporting agencies involved and all three charge fees on both ends of the transaction. Still, it might make sense for some consumers. Read more ...

7 Rip-Off Tip-Offs

Its not just criminals who are ripping consumers off every day. Seemingly legitimate businesses are among those doing their best to pull the wool over consumers' eyes, to get them to part with money needlessly. Reader's Digest, in its August issue, counts down the ways you can spot the seven biggest rip-offs. They talked to our David Wood, who says cell phone replacement insurance is a prime way for consumers to waste their money. David has reported extensively on the issue, fielding a number of complaints from our readers. Read more ...

Glug Glug

We all know a lot of homeowners are treading water, but a report this week from Zillow.com shows many could be going down for the third time. Nearly one third of the people who bought homes in the last five years owe their lenders more than the homes are worth. That means if they can't come up with the difference, they can't sell their homes. It puts these homeowners among the most vulnerable to foreclosure. Not surprisingly, the markets where the most homeowners are underwater are also the same markets where foreclosures are high. Zillow.com, an online real estate value tracker, says the median U.S. home value stands at $206,919 -- it's lowest point since the fourth quarter of 2004. Read more ...

Graphics by Marisa Lisante. Photos, unless otherwise noted, by iStock.

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