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Posted
Aug 12 2008, 03:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Joe Benton at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. The owners of millions of Ford cars and trucks could be driving vehicles still equipped with a faulty cruise-control switch that can start a fire under the hood even when the vehicle is parked and the ignition is turned off. As of July 31, in its most recent report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford Motor Co. said about 4.8 million of the more than 10 million recalled vehicles are now repaired. Some vehicles were included in more than one recall, making it hard to calculate precise numbers.
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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 15 2008, 08:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Less than a year after the Federal Trade Commission settled with Craftmatic for breaking telemarketing rules, the agency may now be investigating the adjustable-bed manufacturer for its door-to-door sales tactics. ConsumerAffairs.com has received 134 complaints dating back to 2000 about Craftmatic beds -- many regarding what consumers say are pushy sales tactics that prey on the elderly.
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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
Jun 12 2008, 12:28 PM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. The digital-television transition took center stage at a House Commerce subcommittee hearing this week, just as the Government Accountability Office released a new report indicating mixed progress in preparing households for the change. The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet used its fifth DTV hearing to focus on the results of the $40 coupon vouchers offered through the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The coupon program has been criticized for issuing vouchers that expire within 90 days, without opportunity for replacement or renewal.
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Posted
Apr 30 2008, 10:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
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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
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
Feb 19 2008, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Mark Huffman of partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Master marketer and infomercial maven Kevin Trudeau has a new book out, but he hasn't strayed far from his successful diet and health book formula, which critics say panders to consumer paranoia. His new book, coincidentally introduced during the current credit crisis, is "Debt Cures They Don't Want You To Know About." Consumers who called an 800 number to order a copy are reporting experiences similar to those relayed to ConsumerAffairs.com by people who called to order "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About." They're finding it very hard to buy just the book. "I only wanted to order the book, but the young lady kept telling me about a trial for 30 days, and I kept telling her 'the book only, please,'" Cynthia, of Mexia, Texas, told ConsumerAffairs.com.
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Posted
Feb 17 2008, 10:54 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch of partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.  What do presidents have to do with mattresses? Whatever the answer, each year consumers are bombarded with Presidents Day weekend mattress sales. Those who heed the call often find themselves subjected to confusing, high-pressure, fast-close sales techniques seldom seen outside a used-car lot. While larger department and furniture stores sometimes take a sedate, hands-off approach to mattress sales, mattress discount chains -- like Mattress Discounters, Mattress Warehouse, Sleepy's and others -- are more likely to tout their "sales blowouts" with insistent commercials and overwrought print ads. In the Mid-Atlantic region, Mattress Warehouse has a knack for generating consumer grousing, accounting for about 10% of all mattress-related complaints to ConsumerAffairs.com. The complaints cover the gamut, including bait-and-switch tactics, disputed charges, poor service, delivery delays and deceptive sales tactics.
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