Current Events in September 2014

IKEA North America Services of Conshohocken, Pa., is recalling about 2,300 GUNGGUNG children’s swings in the U.S. and Canada.

The suspension fittings can break causing a child to fall from the swing, posing a risk of serious injury.

There have been four reports worldwide including one in Germany, two in Austria and one in Canada of the suspension fittings breaking in use. In one incident a child fell and sustained a fractured leg. No incidents have been reported in the US.

This recall involves the IKEA GUNGGUNG Swing. GUNGGUNG is intended for indoor and outdoor use by children ages 3-7. It is made of green polyester fabric and hangs from a plastic suspension fitting attached to steel hooks. The full length of the suspension strap, including the sling seat, is 17 feet and the width of the seat is 0.8 feet.

A permanent label is attached to one of the suspension straps, showing age recommendation (3-7), IKEA logo, Design and Quality IKEA of Sweden, GUNGGUNG article number 302.439.74, supplier number 17915 and Made in Vietnam.

The swings, manufactured in Vietnam, were sold exclusively at IKEA stores nationwide and online at www.ikea-usa.com in August 2014 for $20.

Consumers should immediately take down the swing to prevent use by children and return it to any IKEA store for a full refund. Proof of purchase is not required to receive a full refund for the return.

Consumers may contact IKEA toll-free at (888) 966-4532 anytime.

Taylor Farms Pacific of Tracy, Calif., is recalling specific lots of “Expo Fresh” Roma tomatoes.

The tomatoes may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported.

The tomatoes were used in the following products made by Taylor Farms Pacific for Costco and Safeway. Only the specific “use by” and “packed on” codes are affected.

Costco

Tomatoes Roma Whole 1/25# (packed on 9/5 & 9/6 only)

Shipped to Costco B2B Locations in:

• Hawthorne, Calif.
• Los Angeles, Calif.
• Las Vegas, Nev.
• Lynwood, Wash.
• Tacoma, Wash.

Safeway

Sicilian Vegetable Salad Kit- (use by 9/20 & 9/21 only)

Shipped to:

• Vons El Monte, Calif.
• Safeway Warehouse, Tracy Calif.
• Safeway Warehouse ,Tempe Ariz.

The product was sold as “Sicilian Vegetable Salad” at deli counters in Safeway, Vons and Pavilions stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

These products should not be eaten. Customers may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Taylor Farms Pacific at 209-835-6300 ext 186 between 8am - 5pm PST, Monday through Friday.

Earlier this month normally arid Arizona experienced record-setting rainfall, triggering flash floodsand claiming at least two lives. Lately, it seems, rain has been falling with a vengeance.

In August, heavy rains caused widespread flooding in metro Detroit. The rising water caused extensive property damage.

At the same time over a foot of rainfall caused flooding in parts of Long Island, N.Y. The town of Islip set a new 24-hour rainfall record for the state.

When flooding occurs anywhere in the U.S., it can pose a threat to used car buyers. Because among the damage caused by the rushing flood waters are flooded cars that get dried out, cleaned up, and sold to unsuspecting buyers.

Avoiding a flooded car

With the recent rash of flooding all across the country, it would seem used car buyers face an increased risk of unknowingly buying one.

How can consumers avoid buying a car that has been salvaged from a flood? Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, says it starts with pulling a vehicle history report on any car or truck you are thinking about buying.

“While this is somewhat of a no-brainer, it will really only help when a previous owner has actually gone through their insurance company to report that their vehicle has been damaged in a flood,” he told ConsumerAffairs.

If you are in an area recently impacted by a flood you know you must be on guard against being stuck with a car that's been underwater. But even if your area has been high and dry for months, be aware that unscrupulous dealers can import these vehicles from hundreds of miles away.

What to look for

For that reason Gutierrez says just about any inspection of a used car should look for telltale signs. Start by checking the car's electronics – things like lights on the dash and the radio – to make sure everything is working properly.

If a car has been submerged, the water will probably leave a mark. It might have been removed from the interior but look for traces of a line in the trunk.

Look for signs of moisture in places where a detailer may have trouble reaching, like under the seats.

Finally, give it the smell test. If the car's interior or trunk area has a musty or moldy smell, it's a bad sign.

“While this isn’t a perfect method, it should help to spot the obvious indicators of previous flood damage,” Gutierrez said.

Damage

Submerging an automobile in water, even for a short time, can cause extensive damage. Water can affect electrical and computer systems, leading to serious safety issues. For example, it can make airbags and anti-lock brakes unreliable.

The sad fact is that flooded vehicles make their way out of the flooded area and onto the lots of unscrupulous dealers all the time. According to Carfax, the number of cars damaged in floods gets larger every year.

Texas leads the nation with more than 30,000 flood-damaged cars. New Jersey is second with 28,600 and Pennsylvania is third at 13,160.

Reputable dealers tend to do a pretty good job of screening flooded cars. You mostly find them in the classifieds and on lots of small, fly-by-night dealers.

It isn't against the law to sell a flood damaged car – only to hide the fact. A car that has been “totaled” by an insurance company can still be sold, but only with a “salvage” title.

A program to compensate victims of General Motors' defective ignition switches has approved claims for 19 deaths out of about 125 death claims submitted so far.

Payment amounts have not yet been set for the accepted claims, which also include four claims of catastrophic injury, Automotive News reported.

About 29 million cars, including many Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions, were recalled because of the problem and GM CEO Mary Barra said last week that the recall effort was "largely complete."

Recall rumblings

Many consumers, however, have said that they own one of the recalled models but have never been notified by GM or their dealer. Others say the recall was performed but their cars continue to lose power unexpectedly.

Cynthia of Oceanside, N.Y., said she had experienced numerous instances of the engine shutting down in her 2007 Saturn Ion prior to the recall and had hoped the problems would stop after the ignition switch was replaced.

"My car was repaired under the ... recall, I picked it up from the dealership yesterday evening (May 1). This morning I was driving with my kids in the car, when the same exact issue happened. All power in the car stopped, I was almost sideswiped and rear ended," Cynthia said in a ConsumerAffairs review, one of more than 500 dealing with Saturn ignition issues. "I am at the end of my rope. I fear for my life and for my children's lives."

"I did not receive a recall notice as of April and when I called the dealer they could care less," said Joe, who said he has been a GM customer since 1979. "Attempted to contact customer care and it is like dealing with the government. I guess that is expected with the bail-out. Good riddance to the General."

125 death claims 

The victim compensation effort is being overseen by attorney and victim compensation expert Kenneth Feingold, who ran a similar program for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The 19 approved claims are a small percentage of the 125 death claims submitted so far. A Feinberg aide said the process has been slowed by lack of documentation in many cases.

Lawyers have complained that documentation is often difficult to produce since many of the accidents happened years ago, before GM admitted the switches were defective. In most cases, the cars involved have been destroyed and other vital evidence may also have been lost. 

Claims are being accepted through the end of the year. GM has set aside $400 to $600 million to pay claims but has said more money will be made available if needed.

Once again, Yahoo has decided to “improve” its email system by taking some of the least-popular features of Google's Gmail and adopting them for itself.

Last October, you may recall, Yahoo Mail underwent a complete revision that basically turned it into a Gmail knockoff, emphasizing Gmail's most annoying (from a customer's perspective) traits: if different emails have the same subject heading, don't keep them separate; combine them all into a single unbreakable thread! And for Zod's sake, do not let customers organize individual emails into different folders as they see fit; replace that with a modern, streamlined, one-size-fits-all approach.

(The new, improved Gmail-knockoff Yahoo email was so bad, even Yahoo's own employees didn't want to use it. Yahoo executives responded by releasing an internal memo that basically insulted all the employees who were too hidebound or narrow-minded to appreciate the wonderful awesomeness of the new Gmail-knockoff Yahoo email.)

Content-scanning

But that was almost a year ago. Now Yahoo has decided to adopt another unpopular Gmail feature: content-scanning, specifically to promote various apps.

If you use Yahoo Email to buy apps, whether from Apple or Google, Yahoo knows about it already, since Apple and Google both emailed you a receipt. So it's no surprise that Yahoo intends to start scanning to contents of those app-receipt emails, and plans to suggest you make new app purchases based on previous ones.

Not that Yahoo is in any way unique; almost every website and Internet-based service funded by advertising uses targeted advertising to do it. You already see targeted ads on Amazon (“If you bought this book, you might like that book too”). Google ads (in Gmail and on blogs and websites) focus on target words and have for years.

Twitter and Facebook both advertise targeted apps, too. (Facebook's app advertising, based on previous app purchases, is presumably more lucrative than its standard keyword advertising, which pushes ads and recommended links based on words you typed with no consideration of context: if you post or “like” a statement such as “I think Congressman Dungheap is the most incompetent and awful politician in American history,” there's a strong chance Facebook's ads will suggest you “Like” Dungheap's public page or donate to Dungheap's re-election campaign.)

The fact that Yahoo is trying another way to make money off its free-to-end-user email shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the old (by Internet standards) maxim: “If you're not paying anything, you're not the customer; you're what they're selling.”

Who's watching the kids? Good question. With so many dual wage-earner families and single-parent households and everyone overwhelmed by the demands of their job -- or jobs -- many parents are outsourcing child-rearing.

It's not just a babysitter anymore -- it's such things as Booty Day Camp. Nope, this is not a fitness class for toddlers, it's potty training at its finest. Registered Nurse Wendy Sweeny, a Chicago mother of 6, created the Booty Camp potty training method and program.

It's no seat-of-the-pants operation. Sweeny has been in business for over 12 years, promoting her training method that is easily implemented in personal sessions with Sweeny or in the privacy of your own home with her DVD package. She also works with kids with special needs. You can find more information on her website. 

Then there's babyproofing. If you have had a toddler, you know what a task this is. Well, you can now hire someone to do that as well. For a fee, a babyproofer will come to your house and recommend the changes that are needed — from covering outlets to figuring out how to make a fireplace safe. You can find a pro in your area by going to the International Association for Child Safety's website. 

A baby planner will help moms-to-be sort out the must-haves from the don't-needs, plus plan showers and design nurseries. The price? About $50 to $150 an hour.

Perhaps you would like to get that thumb out of your child's mouth 

Chicago-based thumb-sucking guru Shari E. Green claims she can kick your kid’s habit in two sessions. Her fee includes travel expenses from Chicago and follow-up phone consultation. Total: $4,300

And those are just the beginning. There are many more -- from teaching your child to ride a bike to taking them fishing and even how to say "please" and "thank you." 

Protecting parenthood

At first glance, you might think all this outsourcing would make parents feel guilty. But according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, conducted by University of Wisconsin researchers Amber M. Epp and Sunaina R. Velagaleti, that's not the case.

By outsourcing traditional parental duties, modern-day parents feel they are ultimately protecting parenthood, they found.

"Parents seem to be ok turning to the marketplace for help as long as they still have a pulse on how care is given so they can still have the connection as a parent  and are valued as the primary caregiver. Achieving this balance helps parents maintain their feelings of responsibility, control, and intimacy," the researchers wrote.

When you take a deeper look at it, outsourcing has been going on for a while. Neighbors used to be the go-to person when you needed help to watch your kids and they even watched your kids when you didn't ask them to.

Many families had grandparents living with them. Grandma would always know what to do when things went awry, or if you needed parenting advice or help. Grandma usually offered her advice for free, but for many of today's parents, Grandma is also a role that needs to be outsourced, as today's Grandmas may still be working or may have retired and moved to Florida.

Facebook scams have been around for as long as there's been Facebook, and in more varieties than you can count.

This website's been warning readers about it for years: “Beware of Facebook gift card scams” headlined a story we published in April 2010.

A partial listing of scam-warning articles we ran the following year include “'Reporter has stroke on TV' turns into Facebook scam” (from February 2011), “Beware the 'Your Facebook password is not safe' scam” (April), “Today's Facebook scam: Bogus Google+ invitation” (July) and “Facebook scams snare victims with freebies” (November).

Granted, you might think “Well, back in 2010 and 2011 Facebook was still relatively new, and Facebook users were all relatively inexperienced, so it's understandable some of them would fall for scams. But now, everyone knows better than to fall for it, right?”

Not at all; the number of scams (and victims who fall for them) has only grown.

If you wonder who keeps falling for these scams (some of which are more obvious than others), you're not the only one.

Suckers for scams?

Rsearchers studied the question and published the results in the latest issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication; though the publication's press release about it was titled “Habitual Facebook users: Suckers for social media scams?”, the actual article had the drier and more diplomatic title “Habitual Facebook use and its impact on getting deceived on social media.”

The study's abstract says:

There are a billion Facebook users worldwide with some individuals spending 8 hours each day on the platform. Limited research has, however, explored the consequences of such overuse. Even less research has examined the misuse of social media by criminals who are increasingly using social media to defraud individuals through phishing-type attacks. The current study focuses on Facebook habits and its determinants and the extent to which they ultimately influence individual susceptibility to social media phishing attacks. The results suggest that habitual Facebook use, founded on the individual frequently using Facebook, maintaining a large social network, and being deficient in their ability to regulate such behaviors, is the single biggest predictor of individual victimization in social media attacks.

In other words: not every Facebook user is likely to fall for scams, but those Facebook users who do repeatedly fall for scams tend to all share certain traits.

The study also mentions some potentially disturbing statistics:

Recently, bloggers who were scrutinizing Facebook's SEC filings prior to its initial public offering discovered that close to one in ten or approximately 100 million Facebook profile pages were duplicates or fake accounts (Cluley, 2012). Although Facebook declined to comment on the duplicate accounts, anecdotal evidence from news reports suggests that many of these accounts are being used for phishing-type attacks.

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence for that, including our own articles warning Facebook users against such practices as “like-farming” or “clickbait.”

Though the study also discusses another, more basic, Facebook scam proble: accepting “friend” requests from people you don't know. Once a scammer with a fake profile can convince you to “friend” that profile, your chances of falling for whatever clickbait or malware scam your dishonest new “friend” is promoting increases considerably.

For that reason, an Internet-based operation that finds potential borrowers for mortgage refinancing lenders will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceived consumers.

“An ad that says you can refinance your mortgage for free is clearly deceptive if you have to pay money at some point before you sign on the dotted line,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Lead generators need to understand that federal laws governing truth in advertising apply to them as well as everybody else.”

According to the FTC , Colorado-based Intermundo Media, LLC -- using the name “Delta Prime Refinance” -- designed and distributed the deceptive refinancing ads as a part of its lead-generation service. The agency's complaint said the company ran these ads on Google, Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, as well as on its own websites. When consumers clicked on the ads, they were sent to a landing page where they provided contact information, which was ultimately passed on to providers of mortgage refinancing.

Claims were “deceptive”

Delta Prime Refinance made deceptive and unsupported claims in its ads that overstated how much consumers could reduce their payments if they refinanced their mortgages, how low their annual percentage rate would be, and how easy it would be for them to qualify for refinancing, according to the complaint.

Some ads falsely claimed there were no hidden fees, and that the mortgage refinancing was “free,” according to the FTC. Others claimed that fixed interest rates were available, when in fact the rates and the amount consumers spent on interest were variable.

The complaint charges Delta Prime Refinance with violating the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule, or “MAP” Rule and Regulation N, and the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.

Settlement terms

Under the terms of the settlement -- in addition to paying the $500,000 civil penalty -- Intermundo Media is prohibited from:

• misrepresenting the terms and conditions of any financial product or service, and any term or condition of a mortgage credit product;
• disclosing, selling, or transferring the consumer data obtained through the Delta Prime Refinance lead generation service; and
• violating the FTC Act; the MAP Rule and Regulation N; and the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.

Chrysler Group is recalling 8 model year 2015 Chrysler 200 vehicles manufactured May 19, 2014, to June 21, 2014.

The recalled vehicles may have been built with a driver side door wiring harness of an insufficient wire gauge, resulting in excessive heat which may melt the wiring insulation. The resulting electrical short, could increase the risk of a fire.

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the door wiring harness, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in September 2014.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is P43.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling 20,000 model year 2008-2014 FJ Cruiser and Tacoma vehicles equipped with accessory wheels and tires installed by Toyota or dealers prior to the vehicle's first sale.

The affected vehicles may list incorrect spare tire size and/or cold tire inflation information on the tire placard. If the spare tire is inflated to the incorrect pressure provided on the placard, tire failure may occur while the vehicle is being driven on, increasing the risk of a crash.

Overlay stickers to correct the tire placard will either be mailed to owners of the recalled vehicles or provided to dealers for placement over the incorrect information on the placard. The recall is expected to begin in September 2014.

Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331.

Interbay Food Company of Woodinville, Wash., is recalling approximately 4,820 pounds of pork Banger-style sausage products.

The product contains milk, a known allergen, which is not declared on the products’ label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following products are being recalled:

• 1-lb. (5 links per package) Refrigerated packages of “The British Pantry Ltd., British Style Bangers”
• 1-lb. (16 links per package) Refrigerated packages of “The British Pantry Ltd., British Style Bangers”
• 5-lb. Logs of “The British Pantry Ltd., British Style Bangers”

The products, cooked in a Redmond, Wash., restaurant and sold to the general public, were produced using bread crumbs that came from a vendor who listed wheat, soy and milk on the label. Although the label for the bangers listed wheat and soy, it did not list milk as an ingredient.

The products were produced on March 17, 2014, March 24, 2014, May 5, 2014, June 2, 2014, June 30, 2014, July 15, 2014, July 29, 2014, August 26, 2014 and September 8, 2014. The products’ package codes are also its production dates. The products bear the establishment number “Est. 6267” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and have a 6-month shelf life.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Robert Petschl at (206) 612-7559 or by email at rob.petschl@interbayfoods.com.

If America has two competing obsessions, it may be food and losing weight. But no matter what kind of food you eat, whether you lose or gain weight, in most cases, comes down to how many calories you consume and burn on a daily basis.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally puts the average adults calorie budget at 2,000 calories. While that's a guideline, your actual calorie consumption may vary, depending on a variety of factors.

If you have a sedentary lifestyle, working at a desk 8 hours a day and going home for an evening of television watching, you might not burn 2,000 calories. If you have an active lifestyle, you might burn more.

Calculators

There are online calorie calculators, like this one from the American Cancer Society, that can help you find your calorie budget, but first you need to answer some questions.

At work do you sit in front of a computer all day or do you walk a lot? Do you have an intensely physical job, like construction worker or bicycle messenger?

What do you do when you get home at night? Are you in front of a screen or moving around, maybe going to a civic meeting or getting together with a community group several nights a week?

After finding out how many calories you burn each day, the next step is to choose food and drink that meet that amount, or if you need to lose weight, slightly less. That isn't always as easy to do.

Calorie awareness

The Department of Agriculture says you need to keep calorie awareness in mind when you decide what to eat or drink. For example, if your calorie limit is 1,800 calories per day, think about how those calories can be split up among meals, snacks, and beverages over the course of a day.

Your diet doesn't have to be rigid. If you eat a larger lunch one day, think about eating a smaller meal at dinner.

Be careful with snacks. That's where extra calories can quickly add up. A snack with 200 calories is usually a better option than another with 500 calories. Use your daily calorie limit to help you decide which foods and drinks to choose.

To learn how many calories are in the food and beverages you're consuming you usually have to rely on the nutrition label. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health point out the nutrition labels' recommended servings are based on the 2,000 calorie limit, so if your budget is less than that, you have to adjust.

Translating the label

The key to translating nutrition labels and using them to make healthy food choices, researchers say, may be an understanding of this basic fact.

In a study, published online in Health Promotion Practice, the researchers surveyed 246 consumers eating in the Johns Hopkins Hospital cafeteria, measuring what they knew and didn't know about their calorie limits and how they impacted food choices.

At the beginning, 58% of participants didn't know about the 2,000 calorie value used to measure servings. But those who received weekly reminders, either by text or email, were twice as likely to understand the connection as those who received no weekly information.

“While daily energy needs vary, the 2,000 calorie value provides a general frame of reference that can make menu and product nutrition labels more meaningful,” said study leader Lawrence J. Cheskin. “When people know their calorie ‘budget’ for the day, they have context for making healthier meal and snack choices.”

The FDA has proposed new menu-labeling regulations that will soon require chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post calories on menus, menu boards, and drive-through displays. But how helpful is that really going to be, the researchers ask?

Cheskin says knowing that a triple bacon cheeseburger has 1,200 calories might not be helpful information unless you know that eating it will use more than half your allotted calories for the day.

One of the many potential problems with online or mail-order shopping is that, obviously, you can't personally inspect the quality of an item before you buy it; you must hope that the seller is honest, and not misrepresenting whatever is for sale.

That's one of the reasons sellers of shoddy and/or counterfeit goods find it easier to peddle their wares online than in brick-and-mortar stores. Another reason is that, from the perspective of a criminal hoping not to get caught, operating a hard-to-trace website, possibly from overseas, is much safer than working from a well-known, fixed location within U.S. jurisdiction.

Consider: this week, the New Jersey attorney general's office and Division of Consumer Affairs put out a press release warning consumers (specifically, brides-to-be) to “beware of websites offering poor-quality counterfeit dresses.”

No doubt, the attorney general would much prefer to announce “We've arrested and shut down all these counterfeit sellers; no need for consumers to worry.” Unfortunately, that isn't possible, so giving consuemrs the tools necessary to recognize a scam is doubly important.

When shopping for a wedding gown, consumers should be aware that what you see online may not even be close to what you get. With the arrival of the fall wedding season, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs today reminds consumers to beware of websites that appear to offer genuine designer wedding dresses at low prices – but actually deliver poorly made counterfeits.

Last year, U.S. buyers purchased approximately 600,000 to 700,000 counterfeit dresses from overseas retailers who advertised them online, according [to] industry sources. Online consumer complaints reveal that a significant number of consumers were severely disappointed with dresses that did not match their online photos and descriptions, but instead were made with inferior fabric and sub-par workmanship.

Of course, the problem of counterfeit online merchandise isn't remotely limited to wedding gowns.

Ugg counterfeits

Last November, for example, we shared the story of a reader who found a website claiming to offer Ugg boots (and nothing but Ugg boots) for only half the regular retail price. Unsurprisingly, what she actually received was a pair of poorly made, counterfeit Ugg boots that weren't even the size or color she'd ordered.

The day after our story ran, the website went down, replaced by a legal notice saying that since it sold counterfeit Ugg products, Ugg's lawyers got a temporary court order transferring the domain name to them. Which might sound like a pro-consumer victory, except the website's actual operators were never caught or even identified, and probably opened a new website selling counterfeit Uggs within five minutes of Ugg's attorneys shutting down their previous one.

And in the near future, when the attorney general of New Jersey or some other state inevitably announces the arrest and prosecution (or at least shutdown) of various scammers in their jurisdiction, more scammers will arise to take their place. So you, as a savvy consumer, must always be on guard against these scams — and remember that when a bargain seems to good to be true, that's almost always because it is.

The telcos are headed for Hollywood again. Back in the 1990s, when Congress sort of deregulated telecommunications, AT&T, the then-Baby Bells and everybody else who could generate a dial tone saw themselves replacing cable TV and over-the-air television.

Pasty East Coast telco executives bought gold Rolexes and headed West, setting up operations poolside at the Beverly Hilton. But things didn't quite work out as planned.

Cable, though nearly as unpopular as Congress, proved just as difficult to dislodge and cable companies even had the nerve to start offering telephone service themselves, setting off a decadelongs struggle that often seemed more like a merger contest than an epic battle for customers. It didn't help that the cable packages the telcos put together were indistiguinshable from the ones cable had lashed together earlier.   

Now that the players are merged down to a workable number -- AT&T and Verizon on the telco side, Comcast and, uh, Comcast on the cable side -- upstarts like Netflix and, for a little while, Aereo are proving disruptive, delivering movies and TV shows over the Internet. To make matters more confusing, just as the big guys have managed to get workable circuits into most American homes, consumers are abandoning not only cable TV but even their landline telephone.

What's a monopoly to do?

Well, AT&T is buying DirecTV and says it will be offering a vast menu of satellite video to urban dwellers and actual high-speed satellite broadband to rural dwellers.

Verizon, meanwhile, is plotting to offer what's being called a "TV-like service" over the Internet. Sony and Dish Network are doing the same, although the general wisdom is that they are seriously outgunned by Verizon.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam lifted the veil a bit this week at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, saying the service will include "the Big 4 for sure" (meaning ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, presumably) as well as customized services from the likes of DreamWorks Animation.

The selling point, apparently, is that the content will be at least somewhat unbundled. “No one wants to have 300 channels on your wireless. Everyone understands it will go to a la carte. The question is what does that transition look like,” McAdam said, according to Deadline.

Did he say wireless? Yes, he did. Verizon apparently sees this TV-like service as something that's delivered wirelessly to your smartphone, iPad, etc., which is thought to be how Millennials prefer to consume their content, while the old folks are hunkered down in the den fiddling with FiOS and staring at their giant-screen TVs.

Keep in mind that wireless today (unlike the bad old broadcast days) is two-way and Verizon is increasingly offering upload speeds that rival download speeds, which McAdam says will make it easy for consumers not only to assemble their own packages of downloaded content but also create and upload content they create themselves. Sort of like, you know, the Internet. 

It just could be that, soon, consumers will be able to put together their own bundles and pay only for what they want. While this is probably bad news for the hundreds of cable channels hardly anyone watches, it could turn out to be at least mildly good news for consumers.

Stay tuned.

The problem with introducing any new form of currency or payment system is finding buyers and sellers willing to accept it.

This week, when Apple unveiled its new iPhone6 and iWatch, one of the new features it particularly highlighted was the mobile pay option: instead of paying for things with a credit card, you could use your mobile device instead.

Problem is, how many businesses are willing to accept Apple Pay? In addition to Apple itself, the list of merchants accepting this option includes CVS, Walgreens, McDonald's, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Whole Foods, among others. And credit-card companies and other financial institutions are happy to work with Apple Pay, too. Now, how many other merchants will climb on board?

The Wall Street Journal reports that Walmart and Best Buy will not be accepting Apple Pay. Instead, those stores are working with “a retailer-owned mobile technology group called Merchant Customer Exchange, which also counts Target Corp. among its members.” Other stores working with MCE include 7-Eleven, Southwest Airlines, Shell and the Gap.

In 2015, Merchant Customer Exchange is expected to release its own mobile-phone payment option, in the form of a downloadable app called CurrentC. Unlike Apple Pay, it will be usable on any Android or iPhone, not just the newest Apple products. Nor will it require specialized checkout scanners, as Apple Pay does.

One thing seems certain: the era of widespread mobile payment options will soon be here. The only question is, which technology company will be the first to dominate the market? 

The recall of millions of General Motors cars with defective ignition switches is "substantially complete" to hear GM CEO Mary Barra tell it. She told reporters at a conference in India that the automaker is shifting its focus to "being industry leaders."

GM recalled 29 million cars, mostly Chevrolets and Saturns, because a potentially faulty ignition switch could cause the engine to shut down, cutting power to air bags, power brakes and steering.

GM says it knows of 13 deaths related to the problem but the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington, D.C., non-profit, says it has counted 22 deaths so far, most of them in Chevy Cobalts and Saturn Ions.

Barra says GM won't hesitate to recall more vehicles if it finds defects. She said the company is modeling itself on the aerospace and nuclear industries, "the industries that require a true zero-defect mentality," according to Automotive News. 

Lawsuit avoidance

Besides a zero-defect mentality, GM has also developed a lawsuit avoidance mentality, seeking broadened immunity from lawsuits growing out of the recalls. It faces numerous suits on behalf of killed and injured drivers and passengers as well as suits on behalf of consumers who say the value of their vehicle has been reduced by the recalls and the publicity surrounding them.

Many of the cases are being decided by the bankruptcy judge who oversaw GM's bankruptcy and government bailout in 2009, since the cars in question were largely built by "old GM" rather than today's incarnation of the company.

The company has set aside $400 million to settle claims but has said it may have to increase that to as much as $600 million. Informal estimates of lawsuits pending against the company go as high as $10 billion.

GM has set up a Web page where consumers can apply for restitution for losses resulting from the ignition issues. Claims must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2014.

The foreclosure tsunami that began building in 2007 crashed the housing market and very nearly brought down the world's financial system.

Since then, the housing market has slowly regained its health while foreclosures worked their way through the system and finally began to decline.

But lately there have been signs the housing market that began to heat up in 2013 has slowed considerably this year. Now there's a report that foreclosures have begun to rise again.

Is this something to worry about? Maybe not.

Mixed news

In its monthly report for August, RealtyTrac, which markets foreclosure data, reveals foreclosure filings rose 7% from July to August. However, filings were 9% lower than August 2013.

Foreclosure filings are everything from default notices to scheduled auctions to when the bank steps in and repossess the property.

Some people think of that last step, where the homeowners actually lose their house, as real foreclosure activity. There, the numbers are not very alarming.

During August 51,192 U.S. properties were scheduled to be sold at auction. That's down 1% from July and up only 1% from August 2013. In other words, that indicator is virtually unchanged.

But an increase in foreclosure activity could be a sign of trouble in the housing market if it were caused by more people losing their jobs or other factors that made them unable to afford their house payments.

Still cleaning up the mess

That doesn't seem to be the case. Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, says the increase is likely the result of loan servicers finally cleaning up the mess from years earlier.

“The annual increase in foreclosure auctions — the first since the robo-signing controversy rocked the foreclosure industry back in late 2010 — indicates mortgage servicers are finally adjusting to the new paradigms for proper foreclosure that have been implemented in many states, whether by legislation or litigation or both,” he said.

The settlement of charges linked to the massive “robo-signing” scandal required many servicers to make significant changes in the way they process foreclosures, and making these changes has taken years.

Market fallout

But there may be market fallout, and it might not be good for homeowners in states where the pent-up foreclosure activity has surged. Just look at what's about to happen in a handful of states.

Homes scheduled for foreclosure auction in August were up 160% in Colorado, 117% in Oregon, 81% each in New York and Connecticut, 72% in Oklahoma, 71% in New Jersey and up 25% in Illinois.

When homes go on the auction block, it is usually the loan servicer that steps in and purchases the property for the amount of the mortgage, so that the investors who purchased the mortgage get their money back.

The lender then turns around and puts the home on the market, usually at a significant discount to the market. That has a negative effect on nearby home values, since they are often based on what other homes are selling for. A couple of foreclosures in one block can bring down home values all along the street.

While the latest foreclosure numbers might not suggest foreclosures are becoming a problem again, the damage they cause isn't quite over yet.