Consumers Union

WASHINGTON -- About one in five consumers considered moving their checking account to another bank in the past year, largely because of increased fees, but more than half said they didn't switch because of the hassle and complications, according to a poll released Tuesday by Consumers Union. The findings show that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should make it easier for people to move their money by enacting changes, such as requiring banks to transfer all automatic payments and direct deposits to the customers' new bank within two weeks, the group said.

WorldCom Inc. should not be allowed to merge with MCI Communications Corp. unless federal regulators receive assurances that the new company will serve residential telephone customers, the Consumers Union said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC clearance is the last major regulatory hurdle to the completion of the $37-billion takeover, one of the U.S.' biggest mergers.

Of the six largest U.S. mobile telephone carriers, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. had the most complaints from customers last year, advocacy group Consumers Union said, citing federal government data. Redmond, Wash.-based AT&T Wireless was the subject of 7,441 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission, or 3.39 per 10,000 customers, according to data obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, Consumers Union said.

Sales of the Suzuki Samurai plunged 70.6% in June from a year earlier, the auto maker said in its first sales report since Consumers Union charged that the jeep-like vehicle tips over too easily. American Suzuki Motor Corp. said it sold 2,199 Samurais in June, down from 7,479 in June of 1987. Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, said on June 2 that the Samurai tends to roll over when the driver swerves to avoid an accident.

Sales of the Suzuki Samurai plunged 70.6% in June from a year earlier, the auto maker said Wednesday in its first sales report since Consumers Union charged that the jeep-like vehicle tips over too easily. American Suzuki Motor Corp. said it sold 2,199 Samurais in June, down from 7,479 in June, 1987. June's sales were the lowest since December, 1985, the month after the car's U.S. introduction. Sales had been running at more than 6,000 a month from March through May.

Dexter Masters, a pioneer in consumer protection who initiated the monitoring of nuclear radiation in milk, died Wednesday of bronchial pneumonia. He was 80, Consumers Union announced Thursday. A writer and editor, Masters from 1958 to 1963 headed Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. Under his leadership, the magazine examined concerns ranging from the health hazards of smoking to nuclear fallout in milk.