Blogger Spawns Car Seat Investigation, Changes at Car Rental Company

From Consumerist:

When mother Debbie rented a car from Advantage Rent-A-Car she was surprised to have to paw through rows of shoddy, dirty, car seats, some missing parts, to find one that worked. When she complained to the manager, he insisted that the car seats were thoroughly cleaned and inspected after each use. Her blog post about the issue caught the eye of the local news station, who did an investigative report on the matter. Following the report, Advantage-Rent-A-Car conducted a company-wide inspection and cleanout of its seats, and instituted new policies to make sure they rent only clean and safe car seats.

Consumerist goes on to share ten great tips from the blogger about investigating consumer issues and getting the mainstream media involved. They are great for both bloggers and non-bloggers who want to get consumer issues addressed.

On the car seat issue, we do typically travel with our own car seat, a Sunshine Kids Radian 80, which folds up fairly compactly into a (separately-purchased) $20 travel bag. We install the seat on the airplane so that Z has a cozy, safe place to sit and because she isn't allowed to run around in the car, it helps her understand that planes are not places for running around either. Car seats are invaluable for taxis, the vehicles of friends and family, and so on. You'll get a few looks, but why would someone not use a car seat just because they're on vacation, or because a country they've traveled to doesn't require it?