Current Events in February 2022

As winter storm Landon begins its 2,000-mile journey from Texas through the Northeast, it’s causing thousands of flight cancellations for most of the major airlines.

On Thursday, FlightAware had logged over 5,000 cancellations within, into, or out of the U.S., a statistic that is likely to hold its own as Landon continues its trek over the weekend.

Carriers like Southwest and American are canceling more flights than others because many of their flights start in Texas. Carriers like Delta and Allegiant have fewer canceled flights because many of their flights start from Atlanta, where the temperature is currently in the 50s and appears to be out of the storm’s path. Many of Allegiant's flights are also below the storm line.

What you need to know if your flight is canceled

Ever since the pandemic entered our lives, the question of consumer rights when flights are canceled has become a hot topic. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says there are certain things travelers need to know when a flight is delayed or canceled.

The agency notes that if a flight is “delayed," then a traveler is not entitled to money or other compensation from the airline.

“There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed,” the FAA stated. “Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers.  If your flight is experiencing a long delay, ask airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.”

If a flight is “significantly" delayed, then things start to change a bit. Unfortunately, the Department of Transportation has not put a time limit on how “significantly” is defined. However, the FAA says you may be entitled to a refund in some situations, including a refund for all optional fees associated with the purchase of your ticket (such as baggage fees, seat upgrades, etc.). 

As far as a complete flight “cancellation” goes, things are a bit better for travelers. Here are the things the FAA says you need to know if your flight is canceled:

• Most airlines will rebook you for free on their next flight to your destination as long as that flight has seats available.

• If your flight is canceled and you – not the airline – choose to cancel your trip as a result, you are entitled to a refund for the unused transportation – even for non-refundable tickets. You are also entitled to a refund for any bag fee that you paid and any extras you may have purchased, such as a seat assignment.  

• Some airlines may prefer you to accept a voucher instead of a refund so that they can keep your money. If that happens and you accept the voucher, ask questions about any restrictions that may apply, such as blackout and expiration dates, advanced booking requirements, and limits on the number of seats.

• What about putting you up in a hotel and giving you money for food or cab fare? The FAA says airlines are not required to provide these things when a flight is canceled. “If your flight is canceled, ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers,” the FAA said.

• Lastly, an airline “can” put you on another airline’s flight to where you’re going. It’s not a requirement, but if the airline prides itself on good customer service, it doesn’t hurt to politely ask the airline if it will transfer your ticket to another airline that has a flight with available seats. 

The last 23 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a game-changer for many brands. Some lost ground while some, such as delivery services and online retailers, strengthened their bonds with consumers.

With most full-service restaurants closed during the early days of the pandemic, consumers relied more on fast-food establishments. In the just-released MBLM Brand Intimacy COVID Study, which analyzes brands based on emotional connections during the pandemic, the fast-food industry maintained its sixth-place ranking, increasing its performance by 8% over 2020.

Consumers are backing that sentiment with their wallets, the study found. When asked if they are willing to pay 20% more for their favorite fast food, 43% more respondents than last year replied that they would.

Chick-fil-A leads for a second year

Within the category, the study found that consumers have bonded with some brands more than others. For the second year in a row, Chick-fil-A held the top spot as the fast-food company with the strongest levels of “brand intimacy,” which is defined as the emotional science behind the bonds consumers form with the brands they use and love. 

Jillian, a Chick-Fil-A fan from Cypress, Texas, tells us there are many aspects of the brand that make it unique.

“The incredibly fast drive-thru, the service, the respect their employees have for their customers, and the fact that they are closed on Sundays as a day to rest and worship,” Jillian wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “They are consistently respectful to their customers and always make everyone feel welcomed. Their food is always warm and ready to eat and they have a lot of options.” 

‘Drawn consumers closer’

Starbucks and Dunkin' – two brands competing for coffee supremacy – ranked second and third, respectively. The other fast-food brands in the top 10 are McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Wendy's, and Subway.

"Despite having to shut down at some points and weather significant supply chain challenges recently, the fast-food industry has drawn consumers closer and created stronger emotional bonds over the last year," said Mario Natarelli, managing partner at MBLM.

The study found that fast-food restaurants were quick to adapt to the pandemic by capitalizing on mobile ordering and digital drive-through lanes. 

“This has created a new reality within which fast-food brands provide even more comfort and convenience to stressed consumers – a position they can effectively continue to reference as we increasingly return to 'normal life' in the year ahead," Natarelli said.

It’s February, a time when snow and freezing rain in many parts of the nation produce an outbreak of potholes.

QuoteWizard, an online insurance marketplace, has compiled a list of what it says are the worst states for potholes, many of which lead to insurance claims. According to the report, the five worst states for potholes are:

1. Washington

2. Indiana

3. Michigan

4. Nebraska

5. Ohio

Michael, of Indianapolis, agrees that Indiana belongs on the list.

“I hit a pothole and the rim got a little bent,” Michael wrote in a review of Zurich Insurance. “That was the third incident I've had to go in and get a tire fixed because of potholes here in Indianapolis where the streets are terrible.”

Catie, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Orange Beach, Ala., makes a case for her state to make the list while expressing satisfaction with the way her Cooper tires handle these bumps in the road.

“The roads in a city not too far from where I live that I travel daily, are very rough with potholes!” Catie wrote in a review. “I try to avoid these holes but when I hit one, I cringe! But for as many holes as I hit, Cooper hits back!!”

Costly road hazard

According to QuoteWizard, tire and wheel damage from potholes costs consumers $3 billion a year. To compile the report, researchers looked at Google search statistics going back to 2004. They found that Washington has more searches for pothole-related complaints than any other state. Based on that metric, Arkansas, Nevada, and Wyoming have the least potholes.

Potholes mainly form during winter and early in the spring when temperatures vary widely. First, snow and ice melt and seep into the pavement. Then, when the temperature drops again, the water refreezes and expands, cracking the road and opening up a pothole.

Even a seemingly small pothole can produce a surprisingly large amount of damage. 

QuoteWizard says potholes cause damage in several different ways, including popping tires, damaging wheel rims, and throwing off alignment. They can even cause more significant damage, such as ruining the engine or exhaust system and damaging shocks and struts.

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of California Davis explored how many businesses are falling short on compensating their hourly employees.

According to their findings, several states have a law in place that is designed to compensate employees when they show up for work and their shifts are cut short; however, the study revealed that many employees aren’t receiving these funds and are unaware these laws are in place. 

“Shift cuts undermine the well-being of workers and their families,” said researcher Savannah Hunter. “The law may not be enforced consistently. We really need better support of labor in this country, generally.” 

Employees are missing pay

To better understand how well these laws are being implemented, the researchers surveyed over 1,000 hourly workers from across the country. Participants were asked if they knew about the laws regarding shift cut compensation, in addition to their general work experience, how often their shifts were cut short, and general awareness of local wages. 

Currently, the states with this mandate in effect are: New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, California, Rhode Island, and Washington D.C.

Ultimately, just 4% of the participants were aware that there were laws in place in their states that required them to be paid when their shifts were shortened. However, nearly 40% of the participants reported experiencing shortened shifts. Of those who knew of the law, just 25% said they were compensated for shortened shifts most of the time. Additionally, just 17% of employers reported being aware of such laws. 

“Places like San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Oregon recently implemented similar policies to improve the predictability and regularity of workers’ schedules,” said researcher Ryan Finnigan. “But we found that the enforcement process for these kinds of policies really needs to improve for them to be effective.” 

The researchers explained that when employees aren’t given these funds after shortened work shifts, it’s their responsibility to report it. While each state handles the specifics of the law differently, most are required to pay employees their full hourly wage for each hour of work they missed. 

Hourly workers are losing money when their shifts are cut short, while also missing out on the opportunity to be fairly compensated because they are unaware these laws exist and their employers aren’t carrying them out. Moving forward, the researchers hope that these findings bring awareness to this nationwide concern. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on and mask mandates are still in effect, it’s been difficult for consumers to find masks that fit properly and also keep them protected from infection. As a result, many consumers have tried different fitting hacks with their face masks. 

In a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, the team put these fitting hacks to the test. Ultimately, they learned that while many of them are effective at getting consumers a better fit, they may lack comfort. 

“In order to provide the advertised protection, a mask needs to be fit tightly to the face – there should be no visible gaps around the edge of the mask,” said researcher Eugenia O’Kelly. “We’ve seen lots of anecdotal evidence of people hacking their masks to better fit the shape of their face, but we wanted to validate whether any of these hacks actually work, as very little research has been done in this area.”  

Finding the right mask fit

For the study, the researchers put six fitting hacks to the test on four participants wearing KN95 masks and surgical masks: knotting the ear loops, sealing the edges with tape, pressing the mask to the face with tights, binding the mask to the face with gauze, using rubber bands to create a brace, stuffing the gaps with first aid gauze. The team also conducted one trial with no adjustments to the mask. Each of the fitting hacks were subjected to two assessments: the first involved spraying a flavored substance and seeing if the participants tasted it while wearing the mask; the second measured the level of particles both inside and outside the mask. 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that comfort was the biggest detriment to these different mask-fitting hacks. From a safety perspective, the tights proved to have the biggest effect on improving the fit of the mask, for both the KN95 mask and the surgical mask. However, they also created the tightest fit, which, while protective, proved to be uncomfortable for the participants. 

“For most of the hacks, comfort was a big issue,” O’Kelly said. “The rubber bands, for example, tended to put painful pressure on the ears and face, to the point where they hindered circulation to the ears. However, using an effective but uncomfortable hack may make good sense in some high-risk situations, where the discomfort is worth it for the added protection, but it would be harder to wear these hacks day in and day out.” 

The study showed that sealing the edges of the mask with cloth tape was effective at improving the overall fit of the mask; however, the participants expressed extreme discomfort when having to remove the tape. While the other interventions were mildly effective at improving the fit, none did so as well as using the tights or the cloth tape. 

The researchers explained that many face mask fitting issues come from the fact that everyone has a different face shape, but masks are developed with few variations. Moving forward, they hope these findings are used to improve the development of face masks. 

“We hope that these results can be used in the design of future masks in order to ensure that they are as tight to the face as possible, for as many wearers as possible, without making them uncomfortable,” said O’Kelly. 

More than 50,000 Tesla owners woke up on Wednesday to find that their vehicle is being recalled over concerns about its self-driving feature.

It took nearly a year for the proverbial shoe to drop for the automaker after federal regulators began a probe into the feature’s safety. Only months ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asked why the company failed to initiate a recall in response to its vehicles' tendency to hit vehicles that have flashing lights or are near scenes with flares, road cones, and illuminated arrow boards.

The recall affects four Tesla models – the S (2016-2022), X (2016-2022), 3 (2017-2022), and Y (2020-2022) – that have the beta version of the "full self-driving" software turned on. The specific feature pinpointed in the recall is the "rolling stop," which permits a vehicle that is in Full Self-Driving Beta mode to drive through a four-way-stop at up to 5.6 mph. The NHTSA stated that "entering an all-way-stop intersection without coming to a complete stop may increase the risk of collision."

In a perfect world, Tesla’s Autopilot is supposed to perform operations like changing lanes, assisting with parking, preventing crashes, and recognizing street signs and emergency warning lights. Tesla has tried to warn owners that Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use only with a fully attentive driver – one who has their hands on the wheel and is ready to take over at any moment – but that warning has not always been heeded.

What Tesla owners can expect from the recall

The 53,822 Tesla owners who take part in the recall won’t need to go to an actual dealer. Rather, the automaker will facilitate the recall electronically via software released over the internet.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on March 28, 2022. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-22-00-001.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov for more information.

COVID-19 ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 75,355,265 (74,943,050)

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 890,939 (886,691)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 382,621,812 (378,888,710)

Total ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 5,691,323 (5,675,902)‌

Vaccine makers seek approval for vaccinating kids under five

Pfizer and BioNTech, makers of the first approved COVID-19 vaccine, are asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to administer their vaccine to children under the age of five. If approved, tiny doses of the vaccine could be administered to children as young as six months by next month.

"Since the start of the pandemic, more than 10.6 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S., with children under four accounting for more than 1.6 million of those cases,” the companies said. COVID-19 cases and related hospitalization among children have spiked dramatically across the United States during the Omicron variant surge. 

The companies said their request to amend the emergency use authorization (EUA) is based on the totality of data on the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, and available efficacy of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. 

Lockdowns failed to halt COVID-19 deaths, study finds

In a new study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed the early pandemic lockdowns in the U.S. and Europe and concluded that they had little or no effect on the virus’ mortality rate.

The researchers defined lockdowns as “ any government mandate that directly restrict peoples’ possibilities, such as policies that limit internal movement, close schools and businesses, and ban international travel.” The study used a systematic search and screening procedure in which 18,590 studies were identified that could potentially address the belief posed.

“We find no evidence that lockdowns, school closures, border closures, and limiting gatherings have had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality,” the researchers concluded.

About those free masks…

President Biden announced early last month that the U.S. government would purchase 500 million N95 masks and give them away at pharmacies and retail locations across the country. But according to various media reports, the masks are hard to find.

WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla., reports that many area stores have posted signs telling consumers the masks are not yet available. Walmart has told shoppers that its stores may not have masks until the middle of this month.

Stores around the country that have received limited quantities of the masks report that there are long lines of consumers waiting to get one. Medical experts say people should continue using any kind of mask while they wait to receive an N95 mask.

Around the nation

• California: State officials are seeking an agreement to reactivate California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law that would cover January 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. Legal analysts say California employers should assume this agreement will become law in some form.

• Minnesota: Minnesota is the latest state to report a drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Tuesday's report from state health officials showed 1,370 patients in the hospital for COVID-19, down from 1,455 in the previous daily report.

• Connecticut: Connecticut reached a grim COVID-19 milestone this week after recording 10,000 total deaths from the virus. According to federal data, the state currently has a positive test rate of 8.6% and 995 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

• Pennsylvania: The surge in cases of COVID-19 that strained hospitals across the state last month appears to be easing. Health officials say cases of the virus dropped by more than 26% last week. However, that’s slightly behind the national average of 30% fewer cases.

• Nevada: Some states are loosening COVID-19 restrictions, but Nevada isn’t one of them. Nevada Health Response reports that all counties in the state have a high transmission rate and, therefore, will maintain a statewide mandate to wear a mask in indoor settings.

In the what goes up must go down world of cryptocurrency, the digital coin market is getting a good grilling over why its most recent fall from grace happened. Is a lack of regulation starting to scare investors? Is the concept of a digital currency too goofy to be viable? Is it bad for the environment?

Coinbase – the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in the U.S. – sent out an email in January that tried to explain the latest cryptocurrency selloff. It floated theories of its own: from the growing possibility of conflict between Russia and Ukraine fueling global market whiplash to the economy being put on edge by the Federal Reserve’s plan to address inflation rates.

“Nobody can predict the future, and we can’t tell you whether this is a momentary blip or the beginning of a true bear market,” Coinbase stated. is how Coinbase left things

To shed more light on the subject, ConsumerAffairs decided to see what other cryptocurrency market experts had to say about the state of digital currencies.

Experts weigh in on cryptocurrency market

To get a broader view of the situation, ConsumerAffairs asked a group of financial experts to weigh in on Coinbase’s email, focusing on what they would tell a wannabe cryptocurrency investor who is nervous about what’s going on. 

Here’s what they had to say…

The recent plunge might be simply another dip happening before a climb. “The correlations between traditional finance and crypto are not clear yet. We do know traditional markets are a little uneasy right now. There’s a lot of instability with the inflation rate over 7% while growth is at 3%. It wouldn’t be accurate to assume that this doesn’t affect the crypto market,” Ron Levy, CEO and co-founder of The Crypto Company, told ConsumerAffairs.

“The question is exactly how it affects the crypto market. While Bitcoin is significantly down from its peak in November, it is still up 7% for the year. From a traditional standpoint, fluctuations like this are very nerve-wracking. For those that have been in the crypto space for a number of years, we think of it as just another dip on the way to higher highs.”

One cannot invest in the wide array of cryptocurrencies, one can only speculate. “There is no rational way to determine the value of bitcoin or any of the other various cryptocurrencies as one can’t apply the tools of traditional finance to arrive at the intrinsic value (or true value) of the supposed asset. "Investing" in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is pure, unadulterated speculation,” commented Robert R. Johnson, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA, and professor of finance at Creighton University.

“I put investing in parentheses because this is not investing, it is speculating. There is no way to value cryptocurrencies other than the greater fool theory -- the hope that some greater fool will pay you more than you paid.” 

Johnson warns investors that cryptocurrency is the consummate bubble and that they should stay far away from it. “Cryptocurrencies are the ‘Tulipmania’ of the 21st century and many market participants are increasingly becoming aware of that reality.”

It’s brought on by the wealthy trying to cover their losses elsewhere in the market. Bob Bilbruck, founder and CEO of B2 Group and Captjur, thinks the cryptocurrency selloff is actually pretty simple. 

“Seventy percent of all cryptocurrencies are owned by the top 1% of the wealthy in the world right now. These people also own a lot of stocks and with all of the down days recently in the stock market these wealthy people are selling their Crypto holdings (some have very big profits in crypto) to cover some of their stock losses,” he said.

“I predict in 3 months we will see a huge rally in crypto's as the fed raises rates and stocks are less attractive - by this time most of these people will be completely moved out of stocks.”

There are better places to put your money. "The critics of crypto blame it to be little more than a casino of virtual assets,” warns Jawad Nayyar, the co-founder and chief vision officer of DAO PropTech. He blames cryptocurrency volatility on investors who put too much stock in digital currencies, calling the situation shaky at best. 

“The price volatility is unlike any other asset class with 50 percent of total value erased within the three months. Lack of intrinsic value resulting in speculative investments is the main reason attributed to this high volatility. Cryptos are little different in this regard to the modern fiat money issued at the whims of the central banks without any asset backing,” Nayyar said.

When ConsumerAffairs asked him where he would tell an investor to put their money, he went straight to real estate. “Real estate assets have been one of the biggest stores of global wealth forever. Current global real estate assets are valued at above $280 trillion (more than 75% of global wealth).”

Cryptocurrencies may mirror the market or only experience a short-term dip.Finder.com's cryptocurrency panel is split on the situation. One half thinks that the current cryptocurrency trend is simply mirroring global financial markets as it has in the past. However, the other half of the panel doesn’t think Bitcoin’s price will drop as interest rates rise. If they do, some think that it’ll only cause a short-term dip in prices.

“Despite a lot of global uncertainty, we expect Bitcoin to peak at $93,717 this year before ending the year at around $76,000,” James Edwards, Finder.com's Cryptocurrency Specialist, told ConsumerAffairs. “Bitcoin remains an appealing store of value and many consumers and institutions take a long-term approach as opposed to day trading which may insulate Bitcoin’s price.”

Edwards cautions investors to stay far away from peripheral cryptocurrencies – what he calls “altcoins” – because he doubts they will fare as well as Bitcoin. “There is a massive sell-off across DeFi tokens in particular, as several flagship projects like Olympus Dao (OHM), Wonderland (TIME), and Magic Internet Money (MIM) are falling apart,” he said, “It is rare for altcoins to survive more than one market cycle, so we are likely to see additional projects collapse as the market continues downwards."

How to survive a cryptocurrency crash

Coinbase reports that there is a way to minimize your cryptocurrency losses (and even make savvy moves) during a falling market. Some of its tips include:

• Don’t fall prey to FOMO and FUD – “fear of missing out” and “fear, uncertainty, and doubt,” respectively.

• Set clear goals, diversify, and only trade within your means.

• HODLing (hold on for dear life) and long-term thinking.

• Be ready to ride out the dip or take profits.

• See the opportunities.

“Remember, it’s very easy to get carried away while holding volatile assets like cryptocurrencies,” Coinbase reminds investors. “Trading can be a very high-risk activity, and especially in a bear market, and investors should aim to set goals that balance minimizing potential losses with achieving potential gains.”

If you’re looking for a job right now, you just might be in the minority. New data from the Labor Department shows that there were 4.6 million more job openings in December than people seeking to fill them.

There were fewer people quitting jobs at the end of the year, but employers increased their search for workers as the economy continued to bounce back from early lows during the pandemic. There were 10.9 million job openings on the last business day of December, the government reported.

In December, the number of hires decreased to 6.3 million, a decline of 330,000. The hiring rate was little changed at 4.2%.

The situation has apparently been building for several months. In August, Tyler, of Cedar Park, Texas, told us that he has seen the difference when using Ziprecruiter to find employees.

“Last year I had 50 job openings posted and in 5 days got over 350 applicants,” he wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “The same jobs posted for the same time period this year and I have 37 applicants, 1/10th of what they did last year. Eighteen of the ads have been viewed by no one!”

Tyler’s review suggested the fault lay with Ziprecruiter. However, in light of millions of people quitting jobs and not seeking new ones, there may be other reasons for his lack of response.

More jobs, fewer applicants

As businesses fight for fewer and fewer people looking for work, job security is increasing. The Labor Department report shows that layoffs and firings plunged to 1.17 million, a nearly 11% decline from November. It’s a decline of nearly 36% from December 2020, a record low.

“Given the trouble that businesses are having in finding and attracting new hires, employers are hanging onto the workers they’ve got,” Sinem Buber, the lead economist at ZipRecruiter, told CNBC.

The only good news for businesses appeared to be a slowdown in the “Great Resignation” in December. The number of people turning in their resignation declined by 161,000 to 4.3 million.

Even so, millions of jobs remained unfilled. Job openings increased in several industries, with the largest increases at hotels and restaurants that were seeking a combined 133,000 new employees.

That latte at Starbucks you enjoy each day may soon cost a little more. The coffee retailer reported quarterly earnings Tuesday that fell short of expectations, citing higher costs.

As a result, company executives told investors and analysts that they will be forced to raise prices on some products to preserve profit margins. The company did not disclose what items on its menu would be going up in price.

Like many businesses, Starbucks is dealing with supply constraints that have increased costs. It is also dealing with staff shortages and a growing unionization effort among employees.

"When the Omicron surge began, inflationary costs and staffing shortages were amplified, well in excess of our expectations," CEO Kevin Johnson said during the earnings call. 

One customer is going DIY

The company hiked prices on some items in October and again in January, so this would be the third price hike in less than a year. Brenda, a Starbucks customer from Scappoose, Ore., tells us prices have risen enough as far as she’s concerned.

“The location where I go, the employees are great and they always seem to make my drink right, so no complaints there,” Brenda wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review last month. “The complaint is just the price increase at this time, it is unnecessary since you can not distribute the products and keep single locations in stock ever. It is a toss-up if what you want will be available that day or not.” 

Brenda says she can make her own Starbucks Frappuccino at home for about half the cost of buying one at a Starbucks location.

Starbucks’ pivot to a takeout model during the pandemic may have served it well, but its profits could be at risk if more customers like Brenda decide they are better off making a coffee drink at home rather than waiting in line at the drive-thru and paying more.

The fast-spreading union push among employees, which began last year in Buffalo, is another big unknown for the company. Industry publication Restaurant Dive reported on Monday that employees at 14 more Starbucks stores have announced plans to hold a union election, pushing the nationwide total to 60.

With one month of 2022 in the books, many consumers are evaluating the success of their New Year’s resolutions. Now, researchers from the University of East Anglia are exploring whether or not consumers are looking to get a push to stick to their resolutions. 

The researchers explained that sticking to resolutions comes down to a decision between self-control and spontaneity. Their findings showed that many consumers identify equally with both of these parts of their identity. Because of this, nudges to abide by resolutions – even if they’re geared toward healthier living – may not always be helpful. 

“Our key message is not about whether nudges towards healthy lifestyles are good for people’s long-term health or happiness,” said researcher Robert Sugden. “It is about whether such nudges can be justified on the grounds that they help individuals overcome what they themselves acknowledge as self-control problems. 

“If that idea is to be used as a guide for public policy, we need to be assured that individuals want to be helped in this way. Our findings suggest that people often may not want this.”   

Self-control versus spontaneity 

The researchers’ study was based on the idea that abiding by New Year’s resolutions, or other health-based goals, comes down to a conflict between two parts of our personalities: self-control and spontaneity. When it comes to resolutions, particularly those that are geared towards adopting a healthier lifestyle, there are often public health policies geared towards getting consumers to stick it out and make healthy choices. 

The team put this idea to the test in an online survey of 240 participants. The group was asked to recall specific memories from their lives – some having to do with achieving health-based goals and some about times they leaned into desires that may have violated their goals. They then ranked how closely they aligned with statements related to self-control and lapses in self-control. 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that participants related equally to messages about self-control and messages about spontaneity. This shows that while sticking to resolutions is valuable, it’s not always what consumers want. Participants felt that it was important to create and maintain long-term goals while also being flexible.

“We conclude that identifying when and where individuals want to be helped to avoid self-control failures is not as straightforward as many behavioral economists seem to think,” said researcher Andrea Isoni. “We believe our findings point to the importance of treating desires for spontaneity as equally deserving of attention as desires for self-control, and as suggesting interesting lines of further research.” 

When looking at how public policies can best support consumers through their New Year’s resolutions and beyond, the researchers believe that flexibility is key. 

“One idea it would be useful to investigate is whether some kinds of deviation from long-term goals are viewed as more spontaneity-affirming than others,” Isoni said. “For example, we found a contrast between our respondents’ spontaneity-favoring attitudes to sugary drinks and restaurant desserts and their self-control-favoring attitudes to exercise. Breaking a health-oriented resolution by ordering a crème brûlée is perhaps more of a positive way of expressing spontaneity than not taking one’s daily run on a wet day.” 

Exercise has been found to benefit consumers’ well-being as they age, and a new study conducted by researchers from the University of California at San Diego explored the brain benefits of regular exercise. According to their findings, exercising daily was associated with a boost in brain function for middle-aged and older consumers. 

“It was a very linear relationship,” said researcher Raeanne Moore, Ph.D. “We hypothesized that we would find this, but we couldn’t be sure because we weren’t telling people to increase their physical activity. They just did what they do every day.” 

Staying active has brain benefits

The researchers had 90 middle-aged adults participate in the two-week study. The group wore accelerometers to track their physical activity over the course of the study, and they also completed ecological momentary cognitive tests (EMCTs) twice daily on a smartphone app to assess their brain function. 

The researchers learned that there was a clear link between physical activity and improved brain function. The participants performed far better on the cognitive assessments on days that they exercised when compared to days when they didn't exercise. These results held up for the participants regardless of other health complications, age, or ethnicity.  

Moving forward, the researchers plan to see how these findings hold up long-term.  

“We don’t know yet if there’s a cumulative, long-term effect to these small daily fluctuations in cognition,” said researcher Zvinka Zlatar, Ph.D. “That’s something we plan to study next – to see if performing physical activity at different intensities over time, in unsupervised settings, can produce long-term improvements in brain health and sustained behavior change.” 

Nissan North America is recalling 688,946 model year 2014-2016 Rogues.

The electrical connector for the under dash harness may corrode due to water and salt intrusion from the driver's side footwell.

Corrosion in the electrical connector can result in power window/seat failure, all-wheel-drive warning light illumination, battery drainage, and electrical connector damage that increases the risk of a fire.

What to do

A remedy for this issue is currently under development.

Interim owner notification letters informing owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed on March 2, 2022. A second notice will be mailed once the remedy becomes available.

Owners may contact Nissan customer service at (800) 867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R21B9.

The price consumers are paying for beef will likely continue to go up. The Department of Agriculture says it’s not because grocery stores are raising prices to add to their coffers; it's because the U.S. has the fewest beef cows since 2015.

Rather than keeping cows around to reproduce and bolster availability from 2021 to 2022, ranchers opted to send their cows to slaughter last year. Making matters worse, two other factors have come into play.

Beef processing plants had to deal with workers’ fears over the pandemic, which led to labor shortages and a reduction in the number of beef products produced. In the past, the U.S. could count on Central and South America to supply beef, but that pipeline is drying up too.

Don’t expect relief anytime soon. Rich Nelson, chief strategist for brokerage Allendale, told FoodMarket that the availability of beef is likely to tighten in the second half of 2022. 

The White House wants to tackle meat prices

A few weeks ago, President Biden made it known that his administration is concerned about price hikes, particularly in the consumer meat category.  Calling the meat industry a textbook example when it comes to consumer prices, he put much of the problem on a lack of competition.

“Four big corporations control more than half the markets in beef, pork, and poultry,"  he said in a virtual meeting to discuss boosting competition and reducing prices in the meat-processing industry.

Without meaningful competition, Biden feels farmers and ranchers are essentially shut out of choosing who they sell to.

“Our farmers and ranchers have to pay whatever these four big companies say they have to pay. But that’s only half of it,” Biden stated. “These companies can use their position as middlemen to overcharge grocery stores and, ultimately, families.”

Can government officials turn this around to help consumers? Biden thinks it’s possible. Working with governors, the Attorney General, and the USDA, he says his administration will try to create fairer markets to bring down prices in grocery stores.

To get there, his four-point plan goes like this:

• Invest $1 billion in new and expanded meat and poultry processing capacity to bring in more competition from farmers and ranchers.

• Rewrite the 100-year-old Packers and Stockyards Act so farmers and ranchers are protected from abuse by processors. 

• Enforce existing competition laws vigorously and fairly.

• Bring greater transparency to the industry. “A free market isn’t truly free without transparency around prices,” Biden said.

“Strengthening competition is good for all of us: farmers and ranchers who deserve a fair shake; American families facing high prices at grocery stores who deserve a fair price to put food on the table; rural communities, which see more good jobs when there’s more competition; and our economy as a whole as we make our food supply chains more resilient,” Biden concluded.

COVID-19 ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 74,943,410 (73,429,392)

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 887,408 (884,265)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 379,460,051 (375,465,073)

Total ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 5,677,734 (5,665,888)‌

FDA fully approves Moderna vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after reviewing data, has granted full approval to Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. It joins the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech as the two FDA-approved vaccines.

Previously, both vaccines were administered under the FDA’s emergency use authorization (EAU). The Moderna vaccine will be marketed under the brand name Spikevax.

“The FDA’s approval of Spikevax is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the second vaccine approved to prevent COVID-19,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock. “The public can be assured that Spikevax meets the FDA’s high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved for use in the United States.” 

COVID-19 shows up at the Winter Olympics

The coronavirus had an impact on last summer’s Olympic Games in Japan and promises to do the same at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. A third member of the U.S. bobsled team has tested positive for COVID-19.

Elana Meyers Taylor announced on Twitter that she tested positive for COVID-19 two days after arriving in the Chinese capital. Josh Williamson, another U.S. bobsledder, announced that he also tested positive for the virus last week.

A spokesperson for the team said one other unidentified team member has also tested positive, but team officials expect all three will be able to compete during the games when they get underway later this week.

Former CDC chief optimistic about pandemic’s end

January was a rough month for COVID-19, mainly because of the easily spread Omicron variant. But the wave appears to have peaked at the start of February. Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says he is increasingly optimistic that the end is in sight.

“Despite growing pandemic fatigue and rough weeks ahead as the Omicron tsunami recedes, we're better defended against COVID than ever,” Frieden wrote in an editorial on CNN.com. “Vaccines and prior infection have steadily strengthened our collective immune defenses. We have now built up a wall of immunity -- although we have lost far, far too many people along the way to get here.”

Frieden says an analysis of blood donations in November showed that about 94% of donors had at least some immunity against the virus. He also notes that the rate of coronavirus-associated hospitalization was 16 times higher in unvaccinated adults than among adults who were up to date on vaccination in December.

Around the nation

• Louisiana: New Orleans will be the nation’s first major school district to require COVID-19 vaccinations. The regulations mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for children age five and up, but they also make it easy for parents to opt out.

• Nebraska: Hospitals in Lincoln recorded six deaths on Monday. The deaths include two men in their 60s who were vaccinated, one man in his 60s who was unvaccinated, one man in his 70s who was unvaccinated, and two men in their 80s who were unvaccinated. 

• Massachusetts: State health and education officials are urging colleges in the state to consider loosening COVID-19 restrictions. After two years of social isolation, the officials say there is greater concern now about students’ mental health than their exposure to the virus.

• Colorado: After being battered by the Omicron variant, Colorado health officials say the state is seeing new cases rapidly decline. Hospitalizations of confirmed coronavirus patients fell to 1,300 on Monday. That's the lowest number in almost a month, officials say.

• New Jersey: State health officials say they saw the most COVID-19 deaths since the early weeks of the pandemic in January. The state recorded 2,380 confirmed deaths last month, the most since May 2020.

Reports are circulating that Pfizer and BioNTech are on the verge of seeking emergency use authorization (EUA) for their COVID-19 vaccine so that it can be used on children younger than five years old.

If those reports are accurate, the companies will ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant EUA for a two-dose regimen of their vaccine as it continues testing three doses in that age group.

The reason why the company is taking two separate steps, the sources said, was because federal regulators might be more likely to approve authorization for two doses sometime this month. However, going for a three-dose regimen approval might push the authorization back until March.

Why a three-shot regimen

The company’s reason for pursuing a three-shot regimen likely stems from a trial it performed on younger children in December. In that trial, two child-sized doses of the vaccine failed to produce the expected immunity in the 2- to 5-year-old age group. However, it did meet expectations for babies up to two years old. At the time, the company said it would "amend" the clinical trial to add a third dose two months after the second one. 

Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” former FDA commissioner and current Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Pfizer would have better luck going for a two-dose authorization rather than a three-dose authorization. 

"I'm hopeful that you could see some movement on trying to entertain that application earlier," Gottlieb said, "Ultimately the decision resides with the FDA, but there is some indication that there may be an earlier action on that application.”

Gottleib said if the goal of the vaccine is to give 2- to 5-year olds baseline immunity and “prevent really bad outcomes," then two doses would do the trick.

"I think that may be why federal health officials are rethinking this. If in fact, they decide to authorize this on the basis of two doses, it could be out much sooner, perhaps as early as early March," he stated.

Moderna has vaccine news of its own

Moderna also announced Tuesday that the FDA has approved its application for SPIKEVAX, another COVID-19 vaccine designed to prevent the disease in individuals 18 years of age and older.

The vaccine’s proof of performance is impressive. Beginning two weeks after the second dose, clinical trials in Canada showed that SPIKEVAX was 94.1% effective in protecting trial participants aged 18 and above against COVID-19. It was also 100% effective in trial participants 12 to 17 years old.

FedEx has suspended its express freight service in the U.S., according to a report by Reuters.

The report says FedEx is facing a staff shortage because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. As a result, it is temporarily halting economy domestic FedEx express freight, including FedEx two-day freight and FedEx three-day freight services.

Some consumers recently posting reviews at ConsumerAffairs have noticed the problem and complained about what they called excessive delays.

“Our order for business materials, which we desperately need, was supposed to be delivered on 1/20/22,” IIan, of Mt. Airy, Md., wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “By 1/24/22, we were starting to get concerned, so we called. FedEx promised that the package would be delivered that day. Nope. Every day thereafter, we called, everyday they promised it would be delivered. It is now 1/31/22, no package.”

Alan, of Marengo, Ohio, reports a similar experience. He told us he has two orders somewhere in the FedEx system.

“One was supposed to be here Thursday, the other one Friday,” he wrote in his post. “Supposedly weather delays, but the last 2 days have been sunny and bright. Heck of a way to run a business isn't it?”

Supply chain ripple effect

In January, FedEx warned customers that the surge of Omicron cases among its staff was causing staff shortages that result in delays. Compounding the problem, the company said air transport firms were also facing staff shortages and severe weather in many parts of the country.

FedEx is an international company, so what happens in other countries can have a ripple effect on its U.S. operations. Parash Jain, global head of shipping and ports equity research at HSBC, says China’s crackdown on the latest COVID-19 outbreak is making it harder for the global supply chain to recover.

“The sheer importance of China when it comes to global trade means that any small disruption in China, will have a ripple effect across the supply chain,” Jain told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” this week.

The internet has not only become a primary channel for commerce, entertainment, and communication in the 21st century, it is increasingly inhabited by scammers hoping to enrich themselves by stealing from others.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning people who use social media about a new scam that has recently surfaced. It seems innocent enough – a post encourages the user to participate in a book exchange. 

All you have to do is provide your name, email, and the names and contact information of a few friends who also enjoy reading. You send one book to a stranger and get 36 books from people all over the world.

In reality, the BBB says it's an illegal pyramid scheme. Eventually, the books stop coming and your contact information, and the contact information of friends in family, have been given to a stranger.

Scammers on other platforms

Dominic Chorafakis, a cybersecurity expert at Akouto, says internet scams have surged in recent years. 

“There are definitely indicators on the tech side of things that show an increase in nefarious activity on the Internet over the years,” Chorafakis told ConsumerAffairs. “Cybersecurity vendors offering products like anti-virus routinely publish trends and statistics that show an increase in the number and complexity of Internet-based threats. These reports are backed up by independent research organizations, but also by our own experience at Akouto where we see the effects firsthand through our monitored network intrusion prevention program.”

Chorafakis says the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies has made it easier for online criminals to generate huge profits from their scams and access the funds with virtually no possibility of being identified by authorities.

Consumers encounter scams nearly everywhere

In addition to social media, scams are now widespread on many types of platforms. In a ConsumerAffairs review, Danielia, of Portland, Ore., tells us that she listed her car for sale on Autotrader for a week and received about 50 emails and about half as many texts.

“Not a single one was a real human trying to buy a car,” Danielia reported in her ConsumerAffairs review. “I went through dozens of longer conversations, wasting hours of my time, with scammers who ended up trying to scam me into buying fake VIN reports from specific sites, wanting all my personal info to send me fake certified or cashier checks to have me ship the car to them, people who started non-stop text messaging me trying to get me to mail them the title, changing phone numbers as soon as I could block them.”

Danielia also said she was unable to find a way on the Autotrader website to report the scams. 

Richard, of Malibu, Calif., says he has even encountered scam projects on Kickstarter, a platform seeking donations for worthy causes. He says some of the causes are fake.

“After taking your money they simply disappear,” Richard wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “Apparently, Kickstarter has no recourse or any way to filter out these scams.”

The lesson for internet users these days is to be extremely careful online, especially when it comes to divulging information. The advice from the BBB is to never give your name, address, email, or other sensitive information to a stranger. Doing so will make you vulnerable to other scams and identity theft.

A new position paper written by experts from the European Society of Cardiology explored some of the health risks associated with natural supplements. According to their findings, supplements geared towards athletes that are designed to boost performance may actually increase the risk for serious heart concerns. 

“Caffeine is a prime example of a natural substance that is considered safe,” said researcher Dr. Paolo Emilio Adami. “While caffeine improves performance, particularly aerobic capacity in endurance athletes, its abuse may lead to fast heart rate (tachycardia), heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias), high blood pressure, and in some cases sudden cardiac death.” 

Being mindful of supplements 

For the paper, the experts looked into various substances that are marketed to athletes to help them improve their overall athletic performance. While many supplements are marketed to be natural and beneficial for health and wellness, the team found that there may be adverse health effects linked with many of these products. 

“Nutritional supplements are commonly viewed as risk-free substances that may improve performance,” the researchers wrote. “Some nutritional supplements, including various plant and ‘natural’ extracts, may pose a serious health risk and athletes may even risk contravening anti-doping rules.” 

The researchers explained that athletes often combine supplements -- like caffeine, creatine, multivitamins, or other vitamin supplements -- but don't realize that they're putting their health at risk. If athletes take incorrect dosages or mix supplements that can have adverse effects, there is a higher likelihood of heart health concerns. 

Substances like peptides or anabolic steroids have been linked with significant health concerns. The researchers' work showed that peptides are likely to have long-term health risks, while anabolic steroids have been linked with cardiovascular-related deaths. 

“In many cases, sportspeople use a mix or cocktail of substances to improve their performance and the interaction between them can also be extremely dangerous,” Dr. Adami said.

“All doping substances are risky and their use as medications should only be allowed when prescribed by a physician to treat a medical condition, when no therapeutic alternatives are available, and following the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) requirements. Based on the dose, the duration of use, and the interaction with other substances, the health consequences can vary and in some cases be lethal. From a cardiovascular perspective, they can cause sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias, atherosclerosis and heart attack, high blood pressure, heart failure, and blood clots.”

Use quality products and be careful

Moving forward, the researchers hope athletes seriously consider the supplements they’re taking, including the dosage and how the different products might interact with each other. 

“Athletes should be aware that nutritional supplements and substances are not necessarily safe and should only be used if recommended by professional nutritionists,” Dr. Adami said. “It is fundamental to use products from well-established manufacturers with known and internationally approved good quality standards.”