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Home Depot Sued for Letting Google Secretly Listen to Customer Calls

The Home DepotA California consumer recently sued The Home Depot and Google for wiretapping and privacy law violations. See complaint. What did these companies allegedly do? Something you would never expect!

Apparently, sine 2021, The Home Depot has been utilizing a Google service called Cloud Contact Center AI. It monitors and analyzes customer service calls in real time, and based on the information being talked about in the call, Google provides suggestions to the live Home Depot agent of what to say to the consumer next.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The consumer says:

23. Plaintiff was not aware, and had no reason to believe, that his communications were simultaneously being disclosed to a third party: Google. Plaintiff was not informed at the beginning of his calls that Google would be monitoring and recording the calls.

24. When Plaintiff spoke with human Home Depot customer service representatives, he had a reasonable expectation that the conversation was only between himself and Home Depot.

It is unclear, if like most companies, The Home Depot announces that calls are being recorded. Even if it does, such a statement clearly does not disclose, that another company, Google, is also listening in.

Under the California Invasion of Privacy Act it is illegal for anyone without authorization who “reads, or attempts to read, or learn the contents or meaning of any message, report, or communication while the same is in transit or passing over any wire, line, or cable…”

The consumer’s lawyers are asking the court to grant injunctive relief to have the companies immediately stop the practices complained of unless all parties to the conversation have been informed of and agreed to the practice.

How do you feel about a company secretly using AI (artificial intelligence) to analyze customer service conversations?

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Fish Fillets Plumped Up With Water

MrConsumer was always suspicious that store brand frozen, unbreaded fish fillets were somehow plumped up with water to add to the package weight because after pan frying they would shrink to a fraction of their original size.

Now, in a lawsuit just filed by consumers from three states, food giant, Conagra, is accused of doing just that to two big brands of breaded fish fillets — Van de Kamp’s and Mrs. Paul’s.

fish fillets

While the package says “100% whole fish filtets,” the ingredients statement tells a different story.

*MOUSE PRINT:

ingredients

According to the lawsuit:

The truth is, Defendant pumps up those fish with an industrial filler called sodium tripolyphosphate (“STPP”) and extra water to artificially add weight, which may then ooze out as a white goo when the fish is cooked. STPP, a suspected neurotoxin, is typically used to manufacture things like rubber, paint, and antifreeze. STPP also is used by unscrupulous businesses in the seafood industry to engage in short weighting.

The disclosure in tiny print on the back of the products’ labels about the presence of STPP does not dispel or disclaim to reasonable consumers the bold, prominent statements on the front and back of the products suggesting that the products are composed of ‘100% whole fish

The consumers’ lawyers say the fish is soaked in a solution of STPP which encourages the absorption of water. On average, they say, this adds 13-percent of extra weight to the fish.

Here is a video demonstration of how much a fish fillet shrinks when pan fried by exuding the water it had been plumped up with.

In the lawsuit, the lawyers allege a variety of unfair and deceptive practices under various consumer laws and seek a stop to the practices charged. Conagra has not commented on the pending litigation. And a consumer lawyer told MrConsumer that using STPP may be legal.

What do you think of the practice of bulking up the weight of fish products with water and chemicals?

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Did 7-Eleven Reduce Coffee Cup Sizes?

Last month we reported on a national movie chain seemingly shortchanging customers on beer purchases because the cups could not hold the advertised number of ounces. Now, some people have complained that 7-Eleven coffee cups are shrinking too.

According to their website, the chain of convenience stores sells regular coffee in four sizes: 12-oz. (small), 16-oz. (medium), 20-oz. (large), and 24-oz. (extra large).

*MOUSE PRINT:

7-11 coffee cup sizes

But one consumer noticed a very large indent in the bottom of the extra-large cup and wondered if he was really getting 24-ounces of coffee.

7-11 indent

CBS 8 San Diego reporter Anna Laurel decided to put all the sizes of 7-Eleven coffee cups to the test.

The test revealed that to get the stated amount of coffee, the cups had to be filled right to the brim. And in the case of the extra large 24-ounce cup, it appeared not to be able to hold a full 24 ounces.

We wrote to 7-Eleven’s PR folks to ask their reaction to the video test, and whether they had changed their cup sizes. The company did not respond to either the TV station or to us.

It is not clear to MrConsumer when a company advertises sizes of coffee such as 16 ounces, whether the customer should be getting 16 ounces of black coffee to which they can add milk or cream if desired, or whether it is customary to fill these cups with less than 16 ounces to allow room for that addition. Either way, it seems that having to fill the 7-Eleven cups right to the brim with hot coffee is something most people don’t do and thus they are probably getting less than they paid for. Your thoughts are welcome in the comments.

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