Consumer Reports is an American ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language magazine Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three. Magazines can be distributed through the mail; through sales by newsstands, bookstores or other vendors; published monthly by Consumers Union Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers.". It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories. These notably include:. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides. It has approximately 7.3 million subscribers^[1] and an annual testing budget of approximately US$21 million.^[2] The annual Consumer Reports new car issue, released every April, is typically the magazine's best-selling issue and is thought to influence millions of automobile purchases.^{[citation needed]}

Objectivity

Consumer Reports does not print outside advertising, accept free product samples, or permit the commercial use of its reviews for selling products. Its publisher states that this policy allows the magazine to "maintain our independence and impartiality... [so that] CU has no agenda other than the interests of consumers."^[3]

Consumer Reports states that all tested products are purchased at retail prices by its staff, that no free samples are accepted from manufacturers, and that this avoids the possibility of bias from bribery or from being given "better than average" samples.

Ancillary publications

ConsumerReports.org, the related website, claims more paid subscribers than any other publication-based website.^{[citation needed]} Most of its information is available only to paid subscribers.

ConsumerReports.org provides updates on product availability, and adds new products to previously published test results. In addition, the online data includes coverage that is not published in the magazine; for example, vehicle reliability (frequency of repair) tables online extend over the full 10 model years reported in the Annual Questionnaires, whereas the magazine has only a six-year history of each model.

Magazine copies distributed in Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three include a small four-page supplement called "Canada Extra," explaining how the magazine's findings apply to that country and lists the examined items available there.

In 2002, Consumers Union launched the grant-funded project Consumer Reports WebWatch, which aims to improve the credibility of Web sites through investigative reporting, publicizing best-practices standards, and publishing a list of sites that comply with the standards. WebWatch has worked with the Stanford Web Credibility Project, Harvard University's Berkman Center The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues, but as of May 15, 2008 the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of Harvard University as a whole, The Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, and others. WebWatch is a member of ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to be able to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the U.S. government by, the W3C The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or W3) and the Internet Society The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, nonprofit organization founded during 1992 to provide direction in Internet related standards, education, and policy. It states that its mission is "to assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world". Its content is free. As of July 31, 2009, WebWatch has been shut down, though the site is still available.

Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs is available free on Consumer Reports Health.org. It compares prescription drugs in over 20 major categories, such as heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes, and gives comparative ratings of effectiveness and costs, in reports and tables, in web pages and PDF documents, in summary and detailed form.^[4]

Also in 2005 Consumers Union launched the service Greener Choices, which is meant to "inform, engage, and empower consumers about environmentally-friendly products and practices." It contains information about conservation, electronics recycling and conservation with the goal or providing an "accessible, reliable, and practical source of information on buying “greener” products that have minimal environmental impact and meet personal needs."

From 1980 up until sometime in the late 1990s, Consumers Union published a kids' version of Consumer Reports called Penny Power, later changed to Zillions.^[5] This publication was similar to Consumer Reports but served a younger audience. It gave children financial advice for budgeting their allowances and saving for a big purchase, reviewed kid-oriented consumer products (e.g., toys, clothes, electronics, food, videogames, etc.), and generally promoted smart consumerism in kids and teens; testing of products came from kids of the age range a product was targeted toward.

Product changes after Consumer Reports tests

In the July 1978 issue, Consumer Reports rated the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon automobile "not acceptable", the first car it had judged such since the AMC Ambassador The Ambassador was the top-line automobile produced by the American Motors Corporation from 1958 until 1974. The vehicle was known as the AMC Ambassador, Ambassador V-8 by Rambler, and Rambler Ambassador at various times during its tenure in production. Previously, the name Ambassador had applied to Nash's "senior" full-size cars. The in 1968. In its testing they found the possibility of these models developing an oscillatory yaw These angles are called Tait-Bryan angles in mathematics. They can be statically defined using a line of nodes constructed by the intersection of two non-homologous planes , unlike proper Euler angles which use homologous planes (for example XZ and xz) as a result of a sudden violent input to the steering; the manufacturer claimed that "Some do, some don't" show this behavior, but it has no "validity in the real world of driving".^[6] Nevertheless, the next year, these models included a lighter weight steering wheel rim and a steering damper Car handling and vehicle handling is a description of the way wheeled vehicles perform transverse to their direction of motion, particularly during cornering and swerving. It also includes their stability when moving in a straight line. Handling and braking are the major components of a vehicle's "active" safety. The maximum lateral; Consumer Reports reported that the previous instability was no longer present.

In a 2003 issue of CR, the magazine tested the Nissan Murano The Nissan Murano is a mid-size crossover SUV first manufactured by Nissan in December 2002 and sold as a 2003 model. Nissan introduced the Murano as its first crossover SUV for the United States and Canada. Designed at Nissan Design America in La Jolla, California, the first generation Murano was based on the Nissan FF-L platform first used by crossover utility vehicle. Consumer Reports did not recommend the vehicle because of a problem with its power steering, even though the vehicle had above-average reliability. The specific problem was that the steering would stiffen substantially on hard turning. Consumer Reports recommended the 2005 model, which addressed this problem.^{[citation needed]}

Lawsuits against Consumers Union

Consumers Union has been sued several times by companies unhappy with reviews of their products in Consumer Reports. Consumers Union has fought these cases vigorously.

Bose

In 1981 Bose Corporation Bose Corporation is a privately-held, American company, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, that specializes in audio equipment. Bose products can be found in Olympics stadiums, The Broadway Theatre, the Sistine Chapel and the Space Shuttle. Bose operates 5 plants, 151 retail stores (as of October 20, 2006) and an automotive subsidiary at Stow, sued Consumer Reports (CR) magazine for libel after CR reported in a review that the sound from the system that they reviewed "tended to wander about the room". The case eventually reached the United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. Once appointed, Justices effectively, which affirmed in Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. a lower court's finding that CR's statement was made without actual malice, which was the standard in cases where the First Amendment The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble was involved; and therefore was not libelous.^[7][8][9]

Suzuki

In 1988, Consumer Reports announced during a press conference that the Suzuki Samurai The Suzuki SJ-Series began production in 1982 in Hamamatsu, Japan. In Japan, the SJ-Series was sold as the Suzuki Jimny and was a kei car. It was produced with both 550 cc and 660 cc 3-cylinder engines for domestic use. The SJ-Series was lengthened and widened for export purposes and had many names worldwide: Suzuki Samurai, Suzuki Sierra, Suzuki had demonstrated a tendency to roll and deemed it "not acceptable." Suzuki sued in 1996 after the Samurai was again mentioned in a CR anniversary issue. In July 2004, after eight years in court, the suit was settled and dismissed with no money changing hands nor a retraction issued, but Consumers Union did agree no longer to refer to the 16-year-old test results of the 1988 Samurai in its advertising or promotional materials.^[10] and also released a statement that said its published description of the Samurai's performance "was limited to the severe turns" in its test, and "may have been misconstrued and misunderstood." Suzuki also retreated from earlier accusations, recognizing "C.U.'s stated commitment for objective and unbiased testing and reporting".^[10]

Rivera Isuzu

In December 1997, the Isuzu Trooper distributor in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: "Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" — literally Associated Free State of Puerto Rico), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands sued CU, alleging that it had lost sales as a result of CU's disparagement of the Trooper. A trial court granted CU's motion for summary judgment In law, a summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the favorable judgment, on the grounds that CU had mentioned only Isuzu and the Trooper, not the distributor specifically.^[11]

Sharper Image

In 2003, Sharper Image sued CR in California California's geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most for product disparagement, over negative reviews of its Ionic Breeze Quadra air purifier An air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. These devices are commonly marketed as being beneficial to allergy sufferers and asthmatics, and at reducing or eliminating second-hand tobacco smoke. Commercial grade air purifiers are manufactured as either small stand-alone units or larger units that can be affixed to an air. CR moved for dismissal on October 31, 2003, and the case was dismissed in November 2004, on the grounds that the Sharper Image "has not shown that the test protocol used by Consumers Union was scientifically, or otherwise, invalid," and had not "demonstrated a reasonable probability that any of the challenged statements were false." The decision also awarded CU $525,000 in legal fees and costs.^[12][13]

Controversy over child safety seats

The February 2007 issue of Consumer Reports stated that only two of the child safety seats it tested for that issue passed the magazine's side impact tests. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as “Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes.”, which subsequently retested the seats, found that all those seats passed the corresponding NHTSA tests at the speeds described in the magazine report. The CR article reported that the tests simulated the effects of collisions at 38.5 mph. However, the tests that were completed in fact simulated collisions at 70 mph.^[14] CR stated in a letter from its president Jim Guest to its subscribers that it would retest the seats. The magazine issue with erroneous findings has not been recalled, but the letter states that after the seats are retested, the results of that test will be published. The article was removed from the CR website, and on January 18, 2007 the organization posted a note on its home page about the misleading tests. Subscribers were also sent a postcard apologizing for the error.

On January 28, 2007, Joan Claybrook Joan Claybrook is an American lawyer who served as President of Public Citizen from 1982 until she announced her resignation on December 9, 2008. Previously, she was head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1981, who served on the board of CU from 1982 to 2006 (and was the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as “Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes.” from 1977 to 1981), discussed the sequence of events leading to the publishing of the erroneous information. The magazine contracted with Calspan to do the actual testing; due to miscommunication, the tests were conducted (using test sleds A sled is a sliding vehicle designed to transport passengers and/or cargo by using a running mechanism and smooth undersides instead of wheels. Most sleds are used on surfaces with low friction , but, in some cases, mud, grass, or even smooth stones make a good surface for sleds) at an actual speed of 38 miles per hour. In fact, since automobiles in a crash continue to move after the crash—rather than absorbing all the energy of impact as a test sled does—a test sled impact of 38 miles per hour is considered equivalent to an automobile crash of 70 miles per hour; to replicate an automobile crash of 38 miles per hour, as was intended, the test sled crash should have been carried out at 20 miles per hour.

Claybrook admitted that the magazine should have been motivated to double-check the surprising results; however, she also pointed out that CR was attempting to execute what should have been NHTSA's work. "Consumer Reports does not conduct crash tests save for low-speed bumper-impact tests," she stated. "It has limited expertise in designing such [crash] tests." She further noted that in 2000 Congress had mandated NHTSA to define a set of tests and issue a set of safety standards for child restraints within two years, but that NHTSA still had not yet done so, "though it took less than ten days to evaluate Consumer Reports’ testing and find the error." ^[15]

Other errors or issues

In 2006, Consumer Reports said six hybrid vehicles A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors would probably not save owners money. The magazine later discovered that they had miscalculated depreciation Depreciation is a term used in accounting, economics and finance to spread the cost of an asset over the span of several years, and released an update stating that four of the seven vehicles would save the buyer money if the vehicles were kept for five years (including the federal tax credit Within the Australian, Canadian, United Kingdom, and United States tax systems, a tax credit is a recognition of partial payment already made towards taxes due. A similar concept exists in the French tax system, for example in the Credit Impot Recherche. This situation arises, for example, when standard rate tax has been deducted at source (" for hybrid vehicles, which expires after each manufacturer sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles). ^[16]

In February 1998, the magazine tested pet food Pet food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for non-human animals is a by-product of the human food industry, and is not regarded as "human grade." and claimed that Iams dog food was nutritionally deficient. They later retracted the report claiming that there had been "a systemic error in the measurements of various minerals we tested – potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (Latin: kalium, from Arabic: القَلْيَه‎ al-qalyah "plant ashes" cf. Alkali from the same root, more commonly known in Modern Standard Arabic as بوتاسيوم ‹bwtasywm›), atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash. Elemental, calcium Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth most abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, and magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12 and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, where it constitutes about 2% by mass, and ninth in the known Universe as a whole. This preponderance of magnesium is related to the fact that it is easily." ^[17]

In July 2010, Consumer Reports said that they could not recommend the IPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone designed and developed by Apple. It is the fourth generation of iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling, and consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games; and for general web and e-mail access. It was announced on June 7, 2010 at the WWDC 201, because of what they believe to be an inherent fault with the phone - the signal dropping substantially when part of the phone is covered up.^[18] On July 16 2010 Apple held a press conference admitting there was a problem and offered a free "bumper" as a solution.^[19]

Graphs

Consumer Reports graphs use a modified form of Harvey Balls for qualitative comparison;^[20] indeed, the first 'o' in the logo is one of the ideograms An ideogram or ideograph is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms used for ratings.

See also

• Good Housekeeping Institute
• Stiftung Warentest
• Underwriters Laboratories Underwriters Laboratories Inc. is an independent product safety certification organization that was established in 1894. Based in Northbrook, Illinois, UL develops standards and test procedures for products, materials, components, assemblies, tools and equipment, chiefly dealing with product safety. UL also evaluates and certifies the efficiency
• Which? Which? is a product-testing and campaigning charity with a magazine and website run by Which? Ltd . Based in the United Kingdom, it engages in advocacy campaigns on various consumer protection issues and aims to promote informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services, by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services,

References

1. ^ Bounds, Gwendolyn (May 5, 2010). "Meet the Sticklers". The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, in New York City, with Asian and European editions: p. D1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575224093017379202.html#mod=todays_us_personal_journal. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
2. ^ "Consumers Union shopping and testing". Consumer Reports. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/shoppingtesting/index.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-20.
3. ^ ConsumerReports.org - Our mission
4. ^ Drug Reports
5. ^ Ibiblio.org
6. ^ "Storm over the Omni Horizon", Time Time is an American news magazine. A European edition (Time Europe, formerly known as Time Atlantic) is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition (Time Asia) is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition. The South Pacific edition,, 26 June 1978.
7. ^ Commentary on libel cases in general giving a specific example of Bose Corp. v. Consumer's Union of United States.
8. ^ Opinion of the United States Supreme Court
9. ^ NY Times editorial on the Supreme Court's ruling
10. ^ ^{a b} Hakim, Danny. "Suzuki Resolves a Dispute With a Consumer Magazine", The New York Times, 9 July 2004.
11. ^ Legal Watch Defamation Claim Arising from Consumer Report Dismissed
12. ^ Quackwatch article
13. ^ InfomercialWatch article
14. ^ Detroit News
15. ^ "Crash Test Dummies". The New York Times The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. Although it remains both the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States as well as third largest overall behind The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, the weekday circulation of the paper has fallen precipitously in. 2007-01-28. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/opinion/28claybrook.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fContributors&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2007-01-29. "How the testing mistake was made is instructive not only for Consumer Reports but for everyone who cares about public safety."
16. ^ "Update: This is a revised report on "The dollars and sense of hybrids"". Consumers Union. September 2006. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/high-cost-of-hybrid-vehicles-406/a-note-about-this-report/index.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
17. ^ "Consumer Reports' good reputation takes hit from flawed car seats report". San Diego Union Tribune. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20070120-1028-infantseats.html. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
18. ^ http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/07/apple-iphone-4-antenna-issue-iphone4-problems-dropped-calls-lab-test-confirmed-problem-issues-signal-strength-att-network-gsm.html
19. ^ http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/iphone-4/
20. ^ http://supportanalytics.com/blog/2007/12/qualitative-comparison/

• "Our Mission". Retrieved July 9, 2005.
• "Consumers Union Shopping and Testing". Retrieved July 9, 2005.

External links

• ConsumerReports.org - official site
• Consumers Union
• Consumer Reports Web Watch
• Consumer Reports GreenerChoices
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• Drug Reports Best Buy Drugs

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