WASHINGTON 鈥� While you鈥檙e deciding where聽to spend your holiday shopping dollars, Consumer Reports (CR) thinks you should be aware聽of this year’s聽 of companies providing common goods and services.
Consumer Reports wants to make clear that聽it聽isn’t rating the firms themselves, but is聽praising or condemning聽specific policies聽or practices that might聽impact consumers.
Some companies on the Nice List include:
- Target, for expanding its price-match policy to allow adjustments within 14 days based on prices found at dozens of additional in-store and online retailers, including聽even Amazon, Walmart and warehouse clubs.
- , for helping to create a聽healthier food system by supporting the elimination聽of unnecessary use of antibiotics. A majority of the聽meat and poultry聽used at the chains is raised聽without the routine use of antibiotics.
- CVS, in part for providing professional optical services to include exams, contacts, and glasses at select locations in the D.C. and Baltimore areas. There鈥檚 a one-year guarantee of free replacements for glasses that are lost, damaged or broken for kids 14 and younger.
- Southwest Airlines, for having an unusually friendly frequent-flier award program with few restrictions. Even the last available seat聽on the day before Thanksgiving can be booked using聽frequent-flier miles.
Other companies praised by CR for having specific policies or practices friendly to consumers聽are Dish Network,聽Dr. Martens,聽the California Health Insurance exchange, JetBlue,聽Nomorobo,聽Procter & Gamble, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Brinkmann and Home Depot.
Some companies on the Naughty List include:
- Whole Foods,聽for getting caught聽routinely overcharging聽customers by misstating聽weights of prepackaged foods and聽for failing聽to deduct the weight of containers for purchases of聽self-serve foods at the salad bar and hot bar.
- allowing third-party charges for text messaging services while聽keeping 30 percent or more of each unauthorized third-party charge聽billed, typically $9.99 a聽month.
- 聽FedEx and UPS, for聽imposing fuel surcharges despite relatively low diesel聽prices while also charging residential home delivery聽surcharges.
- 聽Citibank, for聽charging customers for benefits they never received, enrolling customers聽in services without their knowledge聽and misrepresenting costs, fees and benefits of some products.
Other companies castigated by CR for specific policies or practices unfriendly to consumers are Allegiant Air, Citizens Bank,聽Costco, LifeLock,聽Tom鈥檚 of Maine,聽Turing Pharmaceuticals and聽Volkswagen.
鈥淲hether we鈥檙e flying or buying, banking or borrowing, there鈥檚 no more important time than the high-octane holiday season to be vigilant about how and with whom we spend our shopping dollars,鈥� Consumer Reports senior projects editor Tod Marks said in a news release.
