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Posted
Jul 31 2008, 11:40 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. In the face of high gas prices, stagnant wages and a moribund housing market, Americans are using credit cards less and less. A new study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that all ages of Americans, across all income levels, are cutting back on discretionary spending with cards, buying only necessary items, and often having trouble with the balances they maintain. "The sharp decline in credit card spending challenges the popular belief that more Americans are charging basic goods in order to sustain their quality of life," said Javelin president James Van ***. "Consumers are making deliberate cutbacks like shopping at superstores, eating out less and watching what they charge."
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Posted
Jul 01 2008, 11:46 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. When large corporations face tough times, they often hire "efficiency experts" who come in and tell them how to save money. Households, struggling under the strain of higher gasoline prices, could use the same kind of service right about now. Playing the role of an efficiency expert, Consumer Reports magazine says it has looked for and found ways for the average consumer household to trim up to $500 a month from its budget. Even at $4 a gallon, that buys a lot of gas.
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Posted
Apr 04 2008, 02:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. The National Collegiate Athletics Association has implemented a ticketing practice that requires consumers to pay money just for the opportunity enter a lottery for the much-coveted men's and women's basketball tournament tickets. The NCAA charges consumers a nonrefundable "service charge" that goes as high as $9 per ticket just to enter a competitive lottery, according to application forms for the 2009 men's and women's tournaments. Ticket applications for the early rounds for next year's men's basketball tournaments were due March 1 and required the consumer to pay about $200 plus a $9 service charge for each ticket. Consumers can apply for as many as eight tickets. The NCAA will sit on all that money before finally drawing applications in June. If a consumer's application is drawn, he or she will receive the tickets they paid for back in March. If not, they will receive a refund for the tickets while the NCAA keeps the service charge -- as much as $72 total -- and presumably all the interest earned in the meantime.
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Posted
Mar 28 2008, 11:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Mark Huffman at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Unauthorized charges and negative-option marketing traps continue to plague consumers, judging by the number of complaints received at ConsumerAffairs.com. One company in particular, Columbia House, seems to get under consumers' skin, producing 41 complaints in the last 30 days. Will, of Locust Grove, Ga., says he has no idea how he became a member of Columbia House, but now says he is receiving a steady stream of DVDs -- and bills. "I canceled my account, but nothing happens," he told us. "You can't call and talk to anyone. I fear they are going to ruin my good credit for something I never signed up for." Columbia House is one of the oldest "record of the month" clubs in the U.S., offering its members inexpensive CDs or DVDs in exchange for an ongoing commitment to keep buying its products. Book and record clubs like Columbia House pioneered "negative-option" marketing, where a lack of response from a consumer is taken as implied consent. But while some negative- option plans are well-run, many others are questionable.
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Posted
Mar 13 2008, 11:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Even a consumer reporter can get ripped off. Just ask me. I've waged a lengthy battle against a furniture store that repeatedly pushed back the delivery date for a loft bed my husband and I ordered for our son. More than six months have passed since we placed that order. The bed hasn't arrived. And now, the furniture store is closing its doors. How, you may wonder, did a supposedly savvy consumer reporter get into this predicament? That's a question I keep asking myself. After all, I thought I followed all the consumer protection rules.
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Posted
Jan 15 2008, 06:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Mark Huffman at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. At the beginning of a new year, many consumers check their credit reports, taking advantage of a federal law that allows them once a year to access reports from all three credit-reporting agencies at no charge, using www.AnnualCreditReport.com. However, it's not always that easy. Many consumers seeking their free credit report apparently go instead to a commercial service -- FreeCreditReport.com -- which is advertising on TV with youth-oriented commercials. Despite its name, the credit-monitoring service that comes with the credit report is not actually free, as Martin, of Hollywood, Fla., discovered late last year. "I went to check out the FreeCreditReport.com site," Martin told ConsumerAffairs.com. "There was supposed to be no charge; I am still being charged by FreeCreditReport. My bank account is totally screwed up and overdrawn."
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Posted
Jan 10 2008, 10:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. While junk e-mail keeps us busy hitting the delete button, unsolicited advertisements and offers through old-fashioned snail mail also can sow the seeds of confusion. Not many do this better than a Nevada-based credit offer called First National Card. First National Card -- offered by both Consumer Credit Services Inc. and Capital Credit Alliance Inc. -- is one of the most confusing and complained-about credit offers anywhere. The two companies -- CCS and CCA -- reside in the same Las Vegas office building and offer the same products, but are owned by two different people. They generate numerous consumer complaints annually to consumer protection agencies, Web sites and just about anyone else willing to listen.
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