CONSUMER CATCH-UP: House passes cable fee transparency bill, CVS fined for not accepting recyclables, and Southwest is having a winter travel sale

BySimone Chavoor KGO logo
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
CONSUMER CATCH-UP: House passes cable fee transparency bill, CVS fined for not accepting recyclables, and Southwest is having a winter travel sale
CONSUMER CATCH-UP: The House passes a cable free transparency bill, CVS is being fined for not accepting recyclables, and Southwest is having a winter travel sale.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- House passes bill that requires cable billing transparency

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require cable providers be more transparent about their fees.

H.R. 5035, otherwise known as the Television Viewer Protection Act, requires companies such as Comcast and The Dish Network to disclose the full monthly charge for their services, including taxes and fees. Customers will also have a 24-hour window to cancel their service without penalty after receiving the full breakdown of costs. The bill also requires companies to include information about the termination dates of their contracts as well as any promotional discounts. Companies also may not charge customers for using their own equipment, such as modems and routers.

CVS handed $3.6 million penalty for not redeeming recyclable deposits in California

CVS is being served with a $3.6 million fine for not following California recycling laws.

The action penalizes CVS for refusing to redeem recyclables at 81 of its 848 California stores, and for failing to pay the daily fee required for stores that are unwilling or unable to accept the recyclables. The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires stores in places without a recycling center to either redeem beverage containers or pay a $100 per day fee.

Since the sudden closure of California's largest recycling centers in August, many stores were left to bear that obligation. CalRecycle, which conducted the investigation into CVS, said it has increased its enforcement efforts against retailers, resulting in an additional 2,180 inspections statewide. CVS has said that it is looking over the action.

RELATED: Is it time to scrap California's bottle deposit law?

Wanna get away... for cheap? Southwest Airlines' Winter Travel sale ends tomorrow

Southwest Airlines is having another one of its famous airfare sales.

The Winter Travel Sale ends on Wednesday, December 11 at 11:59 p.m., so you'll have to act fast to get these crazy-cheap tickets. One-way trips within California, say, from Oakland to Long Beach or San Diego, are only $29. Oakland to Las Vegas is only $71 one way, and Oakland to Washington D.C. is $189 one way. SFO to Vegas is slightly cheaper at $69 one way, although getting to D.C. will cost $234 each way.

There are restrictions, of course. Travel must be on a Tuesday or Wednesday in each direction, and you must fly between January 7 and March 4, 2020.

If Southwest isn't your airline of choice, several other airlines, such as American, Alaska and Delta, are offering price-matching deals, so be sure to shop around -- but quickly.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

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