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Posted
Apr 30 2008, 10:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Consumers who buy professional hair-care products at major retailers -- or at grocery stores and drugstores -- are not getting the bargains they may think they are. They're also fueling a grey-market industry that deals in counterfeit, stolen or outdated merchandise. That's the warning issued by hair-care giants like Paul Mitchell, Redken and Matrix, which are trying to crack down on an industrywide problem known as diversion.
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Posted
Apr 21 2008, 10:09 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner bog ConsumerAffairs.com. Consumers around the country are complaining that Afni Inc., a debt-collection agency, has been calling and mailing, demanding that consumers pay old Verizon telephone debts, some of them as much as 10 years old.
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Posted
Apr 10 2008, 11:56 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Undocumented workers in Nebraska are the latest targets of a driver's license scheme that falsely promises immigrants they can legally drive, buy and sell cars, and buy insurance with these documents. Nebraska officials warned this week that a company called Centro de Identificaciones Inc. placed newspaper ads in Lincoln, Omaha and Grand Rapids for these so-called international licenses, which sold for $225 each. The company also distributed fliers in Latino businesses throughout those cities. "These people are paying for something that is worthless," said Angel Freytez, public information officer for the Mexican-American Commission. That agency serves as a voice for Hispanics in Nebraska. "The premise behind this is you pay for these documents and you can rent an apartment, buy and sell a car, register a car, and get insurance," he said, adding that the company also claims the licenses can be used as photo identification in the United States.
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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 31 2008, 04:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Five years after the Federal Trade Commission barred a magazine-subscription company from fraudulently signing up consumers for pricey magazine bundles, a collection agency is trying to collect on those debts and those from other magazine peddlers. In 2003, the FTC essentially closed the door on Consolidated Media Services and the network of companies under the Cross Media Marketing name after they settled for $350,000 and agreed to end the myriad of alleged deceptive sales tactics they were accused of. Although CMS appears to have dissolved, consumers write that a collection agency -- Luebke Baker and Associates of Peoria, Ill. -- has been trying to collect on CMS debts, some as old as 11 years. "Back in November 1997 I received a phone call from Consolidated Media Services asking to purchase magazines," wrote Darla of Catasauqua, Pa. "I cannot remember the deal they had offered, but agreed to one year. One to two years later I received a phone call from Consolidated Media stating the balance was past due. I apologized and paid my account in full with a check by phone. "Now 11 years later I receive a call from Luebke Baker and Associates stating that I owe $140 and that they would be more than happy to take money over the phone."
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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 25 2008, 10:53 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. "Protect your home, save money, and avoid the hassles of home repair now!" began the junk e-mail I received about American Home Shield, one of the largest providers of home warranties. Not to be confused with a builder's warranty, a so-called home warranty -- actually a service contract -- is typically purchased for existing homes, especially homes sold by real estate agents. These service contracts generally cost $300 to $600 for a yearly basic-coverage plan that includes items like ceiling fans, water heaters and furnaces. Here's how a home warranty is advertised to work: Instead of calling a repair company when something breaks down, you call the warranty company, which sends out a local contractor to diagnose the problem. You'll pay the contractor a service-call fee, typically $50 to $100, and the contractor informs the warranty company about what needs to be done to fix the problem. Once the OK is given, the contractor repairs or replaces the problem item, and you don't pay a cent more. Or so the ads promise.
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Posted
Mar 18 2008, 10:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Consumers complain that Chase and Citibank are routinely changing the due dates on their credit card statements from month to month, often making customers with automatic payments late -- saddling them with late fees and higher interest rates. "(Citibank) moved my due date to cause me to be late and give them the ability to charge a late fee and move my rate from 3.99% (for the life of the balance) to 24.44%," wrote Jeff of Noblesville, Ind. "I have always paid electronically on the 24th. ... It sent my monthly bill for Citibank from $211 to $495.” While exact numbers are difficult to quantify, ConsumerAffairs.com has found numerous complaints, some going back as far as 2001. Consumer advocates say the banks' tactics are greedy, unnecessary and more than coincidence.
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Posted
Mar 13 2008, 11:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
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
Feb 28 2008, 11:22 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Here's a scam that's guaranteed to get your attention: an e-mail from a hit man who says he's been hired to kill you. Police in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax County, Va., say the scammer is primarily interested in getting bank account numbers. So far, no one has been shot for refusing to comply, at least as far as we know.
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