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Posted
Feb 19 2008, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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 25 2008, 04:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Waiting in line at the grocery store is a guaranteed way to see the covers of magazines targeting women. It's a real challenge to find a checkout tabloid that doesn't have blaring headlines about weight loss or the most recent diet sensation. "Better than gastric bypass!" "Kim lost 200 lbs in 11 months!" "Christin lost 100 lbs in 5 months!" Those very comments appeared on the cover of the June 12, 2007, issue of Woman's World magazine. The story was a fascinating look at a weight-loss diet known as Kimkins, created by Kim Drake, also known as "Kimmer." The Woman's World story begins by saying the magazine sent out spies to gather intelligence about Kimkins. The Kimkins Web site included numerous before-and-after pictures of not only Kimmer, but also happy members who had shed massive amounts of weight. Woman's World describes Kim as "smiling" when responding to questions. This implies that the Woman's World interviewer was personally watching the response of Drake. So, you would think that Woman's World would have noticed that "Kim" was in fact a 300-pound woman.
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Posted
Jul 23 2009, 10:13 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Are you familiar with those companies that get paid to enforce traffic lights? Their cameras snap a picture as you drive through a red light, and a ticket arrives in the mail.
Now one of them, American Traffic Solutions, has ventured into another type of enforcement in Baton Rouge, La., TheNewspaper.com reports:
Under first-of-its-kind initiative, city workers will drive around photographing neighborhoods with special cameras hooked into a global positioning system (GPS) satellite tracking device. The workers will be looking to capture homes that might have litter, weeds or trash on their lawn so that a hefty fine can be imposed.
Wait! There's even more: "Residents will also be ticketed for putting out garbage cans before 4 p.m. or failing to retrieve them before 6 a.m."
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 08:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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
May 08 2009, 12:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Lisa Wade McCormick at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
It's that time of year when consumers need to be wary of deceptive door-to-door magazine salespeople, who often claim they're raising money for college, charity or class trips.
The Better Business Bureau says it has received 1,100 complaints in the past year from consumers nationwide who say they lost money in fraudulent door-to-door magazine sales schemes.
The companies behind these schemes often hire high school- or college-age students and send them to neighborhoods nationwide to peddle magazines. In many cases, the salespeople do not have the licenses required to sell products door-to-door. Some use high-pressure sales tactics or make misleading statements to convince consumers to buy the magazines.
According to the BBB, some salespeople claim they're raising money to get their lives back in order. Others say the money from the magazine subscriptions will help a charity, pay for a school trip, or support the troops in Iraq.
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Posted
Jan 10 2008, 10:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
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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Posted
Sep 30 2009, 10:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Has a charity ever pushed and annoyed you to the point that you've cut them off?
When do you draw the line at giving? When they've hired a telemarketing company that pesters you, or if they send you too much mail?
"FMF" of Free Money Finance raised the question in a recent post called "Off my giving list." He stopped giving to a group he had generously supported because a telemarketer who called his house wouldn't take no for an answer.
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Posted
Dec 04 2007, 09:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. After numerous complaints about Video Professor's sales tactics, ConsumerAffairs.com decided to try the lessons ourselves. For 20 years, John Scherer, otherwise known as the Video Professor, has advertised on cable TV the wonders of his educational software. "I am so confident that I'm going to give you one free disc," he says in his "limited-time- offer" advertisements. In actuality, it appears impossible to get just one free disc. Instead, it is a packaged bundle of three discs that costs $6.95 for shipping and handling. If the customer doesn't return one of the discs, at the customer's expense, within 10 days, that person will be enrolled in an automatic-renewal service that sends new three-disc bundles every month for $79.95.
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Posted
Jan 03 2008, 05:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread. I couldn't believe that my 3M microfiber mop had cracked -- again. It was the third time in six months, and the thing wasn't exactly cheap. I was ready to cry. Not because the dumb thing broke, but because I had company coming over in a few hours, and I was now reduced to scrubbing on my hands and knees the way my mother did in the '80s. Days went by before I decided to e-mail the company to give it a rundown on what had happened with the mop. I wasn't expecting anything in return, but I needed to vent. I drafted a polite account of all the times the mop head broke, and how I was disappointed to the point of considering a lifetime ban of the company's cleaning products. The e-mail was sent; I felt better. I had almost let it go. A week later the postman came to my door with a large package containing a new mop, two replacement mop heads, coupons for a few free products, and a letter of apology. 3M had redeemed itself, and I was cleaning my floors again. What did I gain from this experience? At first glance it would seem a few free products. It really went deeper than that. 3M went on to redesign its mop head. I haven't had the problem of a breakage since. I may have been influential in changing the way a product was made, and it was simple to do.
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Posted
Jan 13 2009, 09:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.
Veronica Kennedy spends her days as an information technology consultant in Virginia, but she also has a passion for making clothes and products out of fiber. "I knit, crochet and sew," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. "I have been starting to get items together to set up an (online) shop. Additionally, I do a lot of commissioned work for baby clothes and personal gifts and whatnot."
Thus she was shocked to hear that she might not be able to continue her side business after Feb. 10. According to reports from other toymakers and craftspeople, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act -- scheduled to take effect that day -- would force people like her to pay thousands of dollars to test every children's product they make for lead content.
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