Consumer Catch-up: Amazon charger recall, mattress settlement, student loan worries

Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Consumer Catch-up: Amazon charger recall, student loan worries
Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side have consumer stories you should know about for Tuesday, March 13, 2018.

Amazon recalls portable chargers



Amazon is recalling six models of its company-branded portable power banks. The devices can overheat and catch fire.



The recall impacts about 260,000 AmazonBasics portable lithium-ion battery chargers purchased December 2014 - July 2017. They are black and rectangular, and have the AmazonBasics logo on the front.



Amazon had 53 reports of the chargers overheating, including one person who had chemical burns from the battery acid.



Recalled models include product ID numbers:


B00LRK8EVO


B00LRK8HJ8


B00LRK8I7O


B00LRK8IV0


B00LRK8JDC


B00ZQ4JQAA



If you have one of the recalled charges, unplug it and stop using immediately. Contact Amazon for a return and refund.




Palo Alto mattress company settles with FTC



A Bay Area mattress company settled with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations it falsely used "Made in America" claims on its products.



Palo Alto-based Nectar Brand LLC agreed to stop making the claims about its Chinese-made products. The FTC said Nectar, which also uses the names Nectar Sleep and DreamCloud, said its products were "designed and assembled in USA."



In fact, the FTC said the mattresses were completely assembled and imported from China.




Women more worried about student debt



Women are more likely to feel worried about their finances than men - especially when it comes to student debt. That's according to a recent study by Student Loan Hero.



The website found women were twice as likely to report their student loan debt as "not at all manageable" - 28% thought so, compared to 13% of men who participated in the survey. That is the case even though women have, on average, more than $18,000 less in student loans than men.



Women were also more likely to say they regret taking out loans for education, and that they feel less prepared for retirement.




Click here for a look at more stories by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.



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