The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What to look for at this year’s Memorial Day sales

Planning to hit the stores on Memorial Day weekend to look for great bargains?

Many times, holiday sales are a lot of hype with savings just average.

However, dealnews.com is reporting that Memorial Day is different for a few product categories.

For the past two years, dealnews.com has seen many retailers offer respectable sales that feature sizable stacking coupons. In many cases, these extra discounts were the best dealnews.com had seen so far that year. In fact, 50 percent of Memorial Day branded discounts from 2010 and 2011 were the best it had seen since that February, if not earlier.

What makes up the bulk of those "best of the year" offers?

Sales from apparel retailers and a few home goods stores top the list. The hottest sales from last year, for example, included discounts from Perry Ellis, Last Call Neiman Marcus, ShopEcko, Designer Living, Pottery Barn, and West Elm.

Memorial Day weekend sales are timed well if you're looking for clothes, as spring apparel is already starting to see late-season discounts. A large stacking coupon will make for some good bargains. Expect to see promotion codes that take up to an extra 50 percent off, but more regularly an additional 30 percent to 40 percent off.

However, despite the good news within the apparel category, that doesn't mean all Memorial Day weekend sales are great. It's always an awkward period for electronics and summer-specific items such as patio furniture and grills will see better discounts the longer you wait in the season.

So, as you prepare to shop at one of the many Memorial Day weekend sales, first consider what you're looking to buy. Apparel is more likely to see the best discounts. But, in order to know whether that sale or coupon is something special or about average, check the comparison information that dealnews.com offers.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Watch out for Memorial Day schemes that target members of the military and their families and supporters

Memorial Day is a time to honor those who serve and remember those who have died in war. But, it’s also become a time for scammers to target those who are serving or have served their nation, especially elderly veterans.

The Better Business Bureau is urging consumers and donors to be on the lookout for deals that seem too good to be true and for disreputable charities.

“Military personnel are targeted for a few reasons: they get a steady paycheck, they tend to be young, they move around a lot, if they’re deployed they may not be watching their finances/personal info closely, everything in the military revolves around their social security number, so it’s easy for them to have their identity stolen,” Coleen Smith, executive director of the BBB Education Foundation, said in a statement.

To avoid problems, visit www.give.org to verify a charity before donating and be on the lookout for these common scams:

Scams that target military personnel:

• Fraudulent investors try to convince veterans to transfer their assets into an irrevocable trust.
• Callers pose as the Veterans Administration and request military personnel to update credit card, bank, or other financial records with the VA.
• Scammers pose as government contractors recruiting veterans and ask for a copy of the job applicants’ passport.
• Companies specifically target military for services they could get for free or less expensively elsewhere.
• Ads offer “instant approval” military loans – “no credit check,” “all ranks approved” – that can have high interest rates and hidden fees.
• Ads offer military discounts and incentives online on housing and then cheat service personnel out of their security deposit.

Scams that target military supporters

• Scammers try to sell services such as security systems to spouses of deployed military personnel by saying the service member ordered it to protect his or her family.
• People sell stolen vehicles at a low price and claim to be soldiers who need to sell quickly because they’ve been deployed.
• Individuals pose on online dating services as a lonely service member in a remote part of Iraq or Afghanistan, and ask for money to be wired to a third party for some emergency.

The BBB advises service members, veterans, and all consumers never to give personal identification information – Social Security, bank account, military identification, or credit card numbers – to anyone who contacts you by phone or e-mail, and to be wary of any solicitations that involve purchasing something or transferring money.

Consumers can check out businesses and charities at www.bbb.org.

For more information, visit www.bbb.org/us/military-line.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Better Business Bureau: Check out firms before you buy your Mother’s Day gifts from them

Flowers, candy, gift baskets, jewelry, and spa treatments may be at the top of the Mother’s Day shopping list, but consumers need to be careful.

“Mother’s Day shoppers should be thinking about ‘when’ and ‘where’ to buy, especially with online orders and last-minute purchases,” Robert W.G. Andrew, CEO of Better Business Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington, said in a statement. “Whether it is days or months in advance – or even after the holiday – BBB can help buyers screen sellers.”

The BBB has had the following inquiries in the last 36 months:

• 6,609 on “Florists – Retail”
• 5,362 on “Candy & Confectionery – Retail”
• 7,785 on “Gift Baskets & Parcels”
• 71,335 on “Jewelers – Retail”
• 9,537 on “Day Spas”

Smart start: Search retailers, shops, and other services on bbb.org.

Online orders: Review guarantees, shipping policies, delivery dates, and charges on “rushed” orders. Provide contact information so companies can confirm shipping status.

Store shopping: Inspect products thoroughly and keep track of all purchase paperwork – including gift receipts.

Payment protections: Collect customer service information, save receipts, and pay by credit card when possible.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Boomer consumer journalist wins awards from state organization

By Rita R. Robison

It was fun yesterday to go to the awards luncheon for the Washington Press Association.

I received the following awards:

• First Place for Consumer Affairs – “FDA Misses the Mark on New Sunscreen Requirements”
  

• Second Place for Consumer Affairs – “FDA Action on Sunscreen Too Little, Too Late” 

• Second Place for Sports – “Super Bowl 2011: Another Round of Violent, Sexist, and Ageist Ads”
  

•  Second Place for Food – “What’s a Gluten-Free Diet?”

• Second Place for Agriculture/Environment – “Ways to Help the Planet on Earth Day”
  

That’s me in the photo with John Lesow, a WPA member and Bellingham writer, who helped present the awards.

I enjoyed visiting with my journalist colleagues. It was interesting to learn about their work and tell people how much I enjoy blogging about baby boomer consumer issues.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Grocery shoppers rate Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Publix, and Fareway highly, while giving low marks to Wal-Mart, survey shows

Consumer Reports subscribers rated Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Publix, and Fareway tops among 52 of the nation’s major grocery stores.

While most respondents were quite satisfied with their experiences, the survey also showed even some of the high-rated chains gave many shoppers something to complain about.

One-third of subscribers surveyed said they’d stopped shopping at a nearby grocery store. Forty-three percent changed in search of lower prices; about 25 percent, poor selection, long lines, or lousy food; 17 percent, employee rudeness; 14 percent, crowds.

Of the 24,203 readers interviewed, more than half had at least one complaint about their current store; almost a third cited two or more.

The biggest complaint overall: Not enough open checkouts, cited by 27 percent of shoppers, followed by congested or cluttered aisles and advertised specials that were out of stock. Other complaints included inept bagging, missing prices, and scanner overcharges

Wal-Mart, Pathmark in the Northeast, and Pick ’n Save in Wisconsin had the most complaints with about three-fourths of shoppers having one or more problems.

Consumers who shopped at Wal-Mart were most likely to be upset about the lack of open checkouts, out-of-stock regular items, indifferent employees, spotty pricing, and confusing store layout.

On the other hand, those interviewed said Costco and Trader Joe’s, along with Fareway Stores in the Midwest and Wegmans, offer quality meat and produce, clean stores, and very good or exceptional prices.

All but Costco also earned the highest possible marks for service, defined as employee courtesy and checkout speed. Service is minimal at warehouse clubs such as Costco, and lengthy lines are a trade-off for deals.

For details, see Consumer Reports May issue or visit www.ConsumerReports.org.

Smart shoppers can slash bills by 60 percent

Also in the report, Consumer Reports found you can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year by doing homework and adjusting shopping habits.

Consumer Reports’ shopping expert Tod Marks cut his bill by about 60 percent using different shopping strategies.

Super Bowl 2012: More violent, sexist ads

By Rita R. Robison

Ads during Sunday’s Super Bowl cost $3.5 million for a 30-second spot, up from last year's $2.7 million.

Although the 2012 offerings seemed to have fewer ads where people were slapped or knocked down, the display again was marred by violent images.

Do advertisers and public relations firms think it’s acceptable to show ads depicting violence and sexism, where people head butted and bikini-clad women are shown because mostly men watch football?

Here are my awards for the worst ads airing during this year’s Super Bowl:

Unnecessary violence:

Dannon thinks it will sell yogurt by having a woman head butt a man, knocking him to the floor, after he won’t share the container of yogurt. In a Doritos ad, a man suspects his dog of killing and burying the family cat. The dog gives him a bag of Doritos to keep it quiet. The Voice stars think by fighting, breaking things, blasting out a wall, and having Betty White say a few words, you’ll watch their TV show. A sexy woman slaps a man, speaks in Spanish, whispers in his ear, dabs foam from a latte on a his lips, then it all melts away into the first time sensations of buying a Fiat 500.

Silliest:

Cars.com showed us a man so confident about researching cars on Cars.com that he’s grown an appendage with his head on it that comes out of his back. It’s his “confidence,” singing happily about the car in a high voice. Coke’s polar bear ads, one featuring a bear trying to keep the Coke away from the other bears, seemed silly. You have the best minds in the country working on these ads. Couldn’t they have come up with something meaningful? I also thought the Chevy Sonic ad was silly, with a car skydiving and bungee jumping. Bud Light focused on the silly again this year, with a dog fetching beer from the refrigerator and other places, attracting women along the way.

Instead of violent Snickers ads showing Betty White being tackled in a backyard football game during or Roseanne Barr being downed by a huge log, Mars made a big deal this year about introducing a new M&M with a chocolate colored shell, Ms. Brown. A partygoer accused her of being naked, and Mr. Red whipped off his shell.

Most sexist:  

Teleflora may have hit an all time low with a sexy woman getting dressed, then saying through red-pursed lips, “Give and you shall receive.” Go Daddy.com takes two guys to the “cloud” populated with scantily clad women. The McLendon Hardware offering shows a father giving advice to his son before his wedding. It sounds like it’s going to be sexual information about what he should learn to do to please his wife, but instead it’s about getting good tools. In “A Dream Car for Life,” Kia uses a scantily clad flag girl and fills the stands bikini clad women. H&M spent 30 seconds slowly moving over David Beckham’s tattooed body, and briefly, his briefs.

Most irritating:

GE’s offered several ads to pump up the company’s image. If GE was going to spend that kind of money, they should have thought of something interesting.

Unfortunately, the Super Bowl featured ad after ad for violent movies, which along with the violent ads and player clashes, added to the overemphasis on violence. Among the movies advertised were “John Carter,” “Star Wars – Episode 1 in 3-D,” “The Avengers,” “G.I. Joe,” and “Act of Valor.”

For more information on the best and worse Super Bowl ads, see The Wall Street Journal’s “Super Bowl Ads 2012.” To vote for your favorite ads, go to NBC Sports Network’s “Super Bowl Admeter.”

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Boomer Project predicts baby boomers will continue to transform America in 2012

By Rita R. Robison

In its recent newsletter, the Boomer Project, a consulting firm focusing on marketing to boomers, predicts that baby boomers will continue to transform American culture, pursuing their own vitality through their midlife years and on into old age.

John Martin, on the left in the photo, and Matt Thornhill, co-founders of the Boomer Project, offer these top 10 predictions for 2012 for boomers:

1. Boomers will remain at the head of the table, heading more households than any other generation, including more multigenerational households.

2. More boomers will embrace city living, attracted by the variety of activities, energy, and hassle-free lifestyle advantages offered by the center city and new urban villages.

3. More boomers will get religion, since the median age in America increases every year as boomers grow older, and older people are more likely to attend church than younger ones.

4. Boomers will become even more wired to stay connected to their kids and grandkids.

5. Health and well-care will be everywhere, with boomer spending on wellness, fitness, and physical appearance increasing in 2012.

6. Boomers will volunteer even more, with boomers projected to swell the ranks of volunteering by almost 50 percent over the next 10 years. 

7. Boomers will drive green innovations that matter, because boomer consumers want to be responsible in their consumption, striving for sustainability, not planned obsolescence. 

8. Boomers will lead the age of responsible consumerism, because the Great Recession – timed with the green movement, volatility of retirement accounts, and anticipated governmental cuts – has helped usher in more responsible consumerism.

9. Boomers will create the "longevity economy," a growing portion of the American economy that will be based on the behaviors, needs, and desires of the 50-plus market.

10. Boomers will support a thoughtful plan for America's future, because boomers are transformational and have led or supported many societal shifts – from women's rights to gay rights.

Martin and Thornhill close their 2012 predictions by saying:

These predictions may paint an optimistic view of 2012, but we have never been fervent believers in the Mayan prediction that the world ends on December 21, 2012. For boomers, 2012 marks the first year of the rest of their lives. Another year when they can make a difference.

See the January 2012 issue of Jumpin' Jack Flash, the Boomer Project's newsletter, for more information on these 10 predictions.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Free Shipping Day is Dec. 16

By Rita R. Robison

If you find it’s mid-December and you still have some gifts you’d like to order from the Internet, check out Free Shipping Day on Dec. 16.

More than 2,000 merchants, such as JCPenney, Macy’s, Dell, Neiman Marcus, Disney Store, DSW, and Kohl’s, will provide free shipping with the promise that your gift will arrive by Dec. 24.

Be careful, however, that you don’t pay too much. Do research on the Internet first with other companies to make sure you’re not being overcharged.

Luke Knowles created free Shipping Day in 2008.

With nearly $1 billion in Internet sales in 2010, Free Shipping Day was the third largest online spending day in U.S. history, beating Black Friday for Internet sales. More than 1,750 merchants participated last year, double from the previous year.

“Free Shipping Day encourages consumers to continue buying online late into December,” Knowles said in a statement. “It's a money-saving measure for consumers and a way to extend the online holiday shopping season for retailers. Everyone benefits.”

Visit freeshippingday.com to find out which merchants are participating in Free Shipping Day. Offers and coupon codes will be posted on Friday, Dec. 16.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

By Rita R. Robison

Which consumer happenings cheered you this week and which ones made you want to scream or weep? 

Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:

My best: 8 x 10 inch prints at Ritz Camera

Last Sunday, Ritz Camera offered a free 8 x 10 print if you went to one of its stores and placed an order. I copied one of my favorite photos on a disk and headed over to the store.

When I was there, the manager of the store pointed out that Ritz was having a sale the next day: 8 x 10 inch prints for a $1 each. There was no limit on the number of prints.

I was excited. I’ve been waiting for months for this sale. I put 45 of my best photos on a disk.

When I arrived at the store, the manager told me that Ritz had pulled the sale that morning. They offered a larger size instead, he said, because they had just had the one 8 x 10 deal for free and wanted to offer a different size. However, the manager said he’d honor the $1 price for me because he had pointed out the sale to me.

The photos are wonderful. I’ve already given some of them for Christmas gifts.

My worse: Renting a medical device gone awry

At the recommendation of my physical therapist, I rented a medical device. It didn’t do the job it was supposed to do. I followed the directions for sending it back.

The company charged my first insurance company $695 for the device I’d returned. I complained loudly.

Now the company has charged my second insurance company $695. The amount of this that I’m supposed to pay is $231. I’m incensed. This is fraud, in my opinion.

I’ve spent so much time trying to get this straightened out. I hope I can get this second outrageous charge canceled, too.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Which stores are opening first for Black Friday sales?

Retail stores are racing to see who can open earliest for this year’s Black Friday sales, with some opening on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.

Kmart is taking the lead this year, opening at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving Day. Toys R Us is in second place with a start time of 9 p.m., one hour earlier than 2010. Wal-Mart takes third, opening at 10 p.m. on the big Turkey Day.

Here is a list of opening hours for 15 major merchants from CouponSherpa.com, along with a special deal each is offering. Remember that hours are subject to change and some states don't allow stores to open on Thanksgiving Day. For a detailed guide to Black Friday store openings and hours, check out CouponSherpa.com.

Ace Hardware - Midnight Friday

Enter to win a Craftsman 5-drawer Tool Center.

A.C. Moore - 5 a.m. Friday

Free $10 gift card to the first 50 customers.

Bealls - Midnight Friday

First 100 customers per store have a chance to win an iPad2, $250 gift card or $5 Bealls Bucks.

Best Buy - Midnight Friday

Best Buy will distribute entry tickets up to two hours before midnight.

Half Price Books - 7 a.m. Friday

First 100 people per store receive a tote bag and $5 gift card.

JCPenney - 4 a.m. Friday

Free collectible Disney snow globe, while supplies last.

Kmart - 6 a.m. Thanksgiving

Earn 20 bonus points for every $1 spent, twice the normal amount.

Macy's - 4 a.m. Friday

Shop online all day Thanksgiving.

Office Max - 6 a.m. Friday

Save $15 on a $100 VISA or MasterCard gift card.

Kohl's - Midnight Friday

Receive $15 Kohl's cash for every $50 you spend, through Nov. 27, with coupon from Black Friday flier.

Old Navy - 9 a.m. Thanksgiving and midnight Friday

Free Kodak Easyshare Sport waterproof digital camera bundle with $40 purchase (while supplies last).

Rite Aid - 7 a.m. Thanksgiving at select stores through 11:59 p.m. Friday

$10 reward when you buy a $50 Home Improvement gift card.

Sears - 4 a.m. Friday

Pick up a Real Deal Coupon Book with over $3,000 in savings that start Nov. 27 (while quantities last).

Sports Authority - 5 a.m. Friday

First 80 people in line at each Sports Authority receive Bonus Bucks valued between $10 and $500.

Target - Midnight to 11 p.m. Friday

Learn about unadvertised deals by texting "MORE TVs" to "Target."

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist