Consumer Affairs
Watching out for Chicago consumers and their money with product news, spending trends, and recall updates.
Creating an online Social Security account helps prevent someone from doing it without your knowledge.
Legislation is being proposed in Springfield that would require the total price of goods and services, especially extra fees, to be disclosed before customers try to pay.
The average credit card late fee has ballooned to $32 in 2022 from $23 at the end of 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.
Insurance companies consider some personal characteristics in pricing auto insurance, such as age, marital status, gender and credit score, because these factors provide a more accurate assessment of risk.
If consumers are disappointed in a lower-than-expected score or a significant drop, it’s helpful to understand what factors into that number, according to an expert.
Car insurance premiums should be based on one’s driving record, not socioeconomic factors.
It’s unclear whether Wendy’s backtracked or the fast-food chain’s CEO didn’t fully understand what “dynamic pricing” meant when he used the term. But surge pricing has no place in any restaurant, let alone fast-food establishments.
Executives for the nation’s two largest supermarket chains have admitted that they now offer lower prices, better products, better pay and more benefits because of — you guessed it — competition, according to the lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.
More than 58,000 AT&T customers were without cellular service around midday Thursday in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago, according to data from Downdetector.
Customers of AT&T, the country’s largest wireless provider, are reporting widespread outages.
The public deserves to know much more about the potential impact of the deal between the nation’s largest supermarket chains.
Honda’s intended plan to correct the defect is better than nothing but it does not go far enough as an official safety recall.
Hundreds of drivers in Illinois and throughout the country describe incidents in which their back windows “shattered” or “exploded” as they were on the road or after they were parked.
As Illinois seeks to pass its own online privacy law, it should avoid copying the inadequate laws passed in 14 states that were weakened by tech-industry lobbying, a consumer advocate group said in a report Thursday.
The Federal Trade Commission ruled that Intuit engaged in deceptive practices by running ads claiming consumers could file their taxes for free using TurboTax — when in fact many taxpayers did not qualify for such free offerings.
The five additives, including red dye No. 3, would be banned from retail sales of foods and beverages in Illinois by 2027.
Premium increases for new and renewing customers during 2023 totaled $1.25 billion, a consumer group found, with State Farm and Allstate raising rates by the largest amount.
Biden rolls out new round of student debt cancellation — and 244,700 Illinois borrowers are eligible
Here are the requirements for debt forgiveness open to borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, or SAVE.
The popularity of shopping online and remote work influenced the year’s biggest scams, according to the Better Business Bureau.