ConsumerAffairs.com

Sagittarius Sporting Goods of China is recalling about 10,000 Master Forge five-burner gas grills sold at Lowe's Stores. The flexible rubber hose on the LP gas tank can come into contact with burner box, causing the hose to melt and rupture when the grill is lit. This poses a fire and burn hazard to consumers. The firm is aware of two complaints of the hose melting and rupturing. No injuries or property damage have been reported. This recall involves Master Forge five-burner... Read Full Story

U.S. Marshals today seized more than $1 million worth of food and produce from a Tennessee company previously cited for a widespread rodent infestation and other filthy conditions. Marshals seized all FDA-regulated foods and products from the Won Feng Trading company, a food processor and warehouse in Nashville, Tennessee. Those products included 44-pound bags of rice, fresh produce, and frozen food products that could easily be contamination by rodents and insects. The U.S. Food and Drug... Read Full Story

After credit cards and unauthorized charges, nothing seems to get consumers more worked-up than a rebate runaround. But as has beenpreviously reported here, frustration has been designed into the rebate transaction. Michael, of Caldwell, Idaho, was attracted to Staples' paper rebate. Just buy two reams of paper and one ream is just $1.00, after the rebate, he was told. "However, you had to pay the full price of $10.60 and then go online and find out how to apply for their silly... Read Full Story

Washington D.C. is suing AT&T for the unused minutes on consumers' old calling cards -- a novel approach to generating revenue that, if successful, could catch on in other cities and states. The suit, filed last week by D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, says that the balance of cards older than three years is essentially abandoned property that should be turned over to the city. Nickles told the Washington Post that, under the current system, any unused balance (or "breakage") "is pure... Read Full Story

The people you hire to prepare your federal income tax return will get new scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service. The tax collection agency kicked off the 2010 tax filing season today by proposing new registration, testing and continuing education of tax return preparers. With more than 80 percent of American households using a tax preparer or tax software to help them prepare and file their taxes, higher standards for the tax preparer community will significantly enhance protections... Read Full Story

If you've found the customer service from the Internal Revenue Service lacking lately, you aren't alone. In a report to Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson warned increased demands on the IRS have eroded the agency's ability to meet taxpayer service needs. But more than poor customer service is at stake. Olson expresses concern that IRS collection practices are harming financially struggling taxpayers without producing significant revenue gains. The report designates the... Read Full Story

RockYou, a developer of widgets and applications for Facebook and MySpace, was hit with a class action alleging that the company's poor security allowed a hacker to gain access to 32 million e-mail addresses and passwords. The complaint, filed this week in federal court in San Francisco, says that RockYou kept confidential user information in an unencrypted “plain text” file – making it incredibly easy to hack. The suit alleges that “RockYou recklessly and knowingly failed to take even... Read Full Story

LG Electronics is recalling about 98,000 portable dehumidifiers. The power connector for the dehumidifier’s compressor can short circuit, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers. LG has received 11 reports of property damage incidents involving arcing, heat, smoke, including four fires that spread to the building structure and involved significant smoke/water damage. No injuries have been reported. This recall involves 30-pint portable dehumidifiers sold under the brand names in the... Read Full Story

What could be more relaxing than a cruise? Pretty much anything, according to consumers who have written of their woes to ConsumerAffairs.com. Lucinda of Statesville, NC, tells of a cruise on Carnival's Sensation ship that featured "bad food, lots of drunks everywhere, pre-teen children running around everywhere playing on the elevators, horrible stench in our bathroom, rude employees." She says it all started upon finding at check-in "our bathroom had a stench so bad we could not even go... Read Full Story

A coalition of consumer groups asked the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and Congress to investigate Comcast's "TV Everywhere" online video initiative today, claiming it could block competition in the burgeoning Internet TV market. The new platform, called "Fancast Xfinity," allows Comcast subscribers to watch various TV shows and content online, but only if they have already subscribed to traditional cable television service. In their petition, the coalition said such a... Read Full Story