The boomer blog roundup is a collection of like-minded blogs
cooperating to share their best stories of interest to the Baby Boomer
Generation.
As the Ides of March, the day Caesar was assassinated,
approaches the subjects for the Best of Boomer Blogs seem to be turning toward
more serious.
Boomer bloggers are writing about the search for meaning in
midlife, menopausal mood swings, how to tap into the sacred feminine spirit for
wisdom and healing, and ways to be a more effective shopper.
Be sure to check back next week to see what baby
boomer bloggers are thinking and writing about.
Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Learn more
about the biggest scams of 2011 –
Did Facebook try to give you $1 million? Did you see the video of Osama bin
Laden’s death? Did you get a middle-of-the-night call from the hotel front
desk? These all were on the BBB’s Top Ten Scams of 2011 list.
Scammers
also were at work on tricking consumers about job offers, sweepstakes and
lotteries, social media and dating, home improvements, check cashing, e-mail
offers, sales, mortgages, and investments.
Government agencies, consumer
organizations, and advocacy groups are joining forces March 3 to 9 with
shopping strategies and consumer tips to empower you to make better buying
decisions and protect your rights in the marketplace.
Sales pitches and financial advice come
at you from every direction – by phone, by mail, and every time you read an ad,
go online, or turn on your TV.
Here are six tips from the USA.gov
blog to help you sort through all the pitches:
A free
mobile app can help you check any product or vehicle, new or used, to see if it’s
been recalled or has safety complaints. Keep up with recent recalls of things
you may have around the house or check on that great thrift shop bargain before
you buy. Use the Recalls.gov
app and mobile site to search by product type and brand name
When
your wallet is lost or stolen, there are eight steps you
need to take right away. A thief won’t waste time trying to cash in on your
loss. Learn now so you’ll be ready to protect your identity and your credit as
soon as your wallet goes missing.
A new
federal agency is working to eliminate deceptive and unfair lending practices.
Established in 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau works to make
sure providers of mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and banking services
market their products honestly, clearly, and legally. Learn more about their
work, and their simple tips
for protecting yourself.
Scammers
see tough economic times as an opportunity. Job scams
are abundant, as swindlers “guarantee” you an unadvertised job, try to get you
to pay for their placement services, or tell you that you can get rich by
working from home. Learn more about financial scams and saving money at the
Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer.gov.
There’s
a formula for complaining effectively. If you’re not satisfied with a product
or service, use the Consumer Action Handbook’s sample
complaint letter to let the company know where they went wrong and how you
want them to fix it. To get the free Handbook or its Spanish counterpart, la Guía
del Consumidor, visit the consumer protection sections of USA.gov or GobiernoUSA.gov.
You can get consumer questions answered
during a special National Consumer Protection Week online Q&A session.
USA.gov will connect you with
government resources to answer your questions during a live event on Wednesday,
March 6 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. You can find out about the latest scams, how
to protect your family from identity theft, and more.
To participate, submit your questions
during the event on Twitter using the hashtag #NCPW.
Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
My sister, who hasn’t had a computer before, decided to buy
an iPad. She selected Comcast to provide her Internet service.
She was quoted several different prices for the service,
with the first customer service representative saying it would cost $19.99 a
month for six months. Others said $34.
Then she got different stories about whether Comcast would
provide a router with her modem. I called and was told, “No,” Comcast doesn’t
provide routers. She called again and was told that Comcast does offer a
modem-router device.
The appointment is tomorrow. We’ll see what the service technician
brings.
I asked on one of my calls where the service representative
was located. The Philippines was the answer.
When I looked at my Comcast bill, I saw a charge for $5.95 a month
for Signature Service, support for wireless home services and connecting devices.
Since I never asked for the service, which began Sept. 17, I had it canceled.
Comcast’s billing department is in Mexico. I asked a service
representative to connect me. I waited on the phone a half hour. I finally hung
up.
Amazingly, when I called again, my call was taken right
away. When I asked the service representative about it, he said calls that are
transferred from America are always very slow to be answered.
What a frustrating system for consumers.
Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Ads during Sunday’s Super Bowl cost an
average of $3.8 million for a 30-second spot, up from last year's $3.5 million.
The 2013 offerings, like last year, showed scantily clad women and people being
slapped and knocked down.
Adding to the violence of the ads and the
game of football itself were ads for movies, such as “Ironman 3,” and TV shows, such
as “How I Met Your Mother,” which showed hitting, punching, slapping, and
explosions.
At halftime, Beyoncé wore a skimpy costume,
as did the couple of dozen of women who performed with her. Then she writhed
around on the floor of the stage. The performance added to the sexist
atmosphere of the Super Bowl.
I did like one
ad: Dodge, in advertising its Ram
pickup, offered an ad about the importance of farmers, narrated by Paul Harvey.
Here are my awards for the worst ads airing
during this year’s Super Bowl:
Unnecessary violence:
Two guys in a library whisper,
then fight about what’s best in an Oreo cookie, the cookie or the cream.
The fight spreads throughout the entire library, and the police drive through
the wall to break up the fights.
In an ad for SABMiller Redd’s Apple Ale, a guy
can’t decide what to order, so an apple is thrown at him, knocking him down.
Then he knows he should order Redd’s Apple Ale.
In Audi’s
ad, a teen gets the keys to the Audi to drive to the prom. He marches in and
steals a kiss from the queen and gets punched by the king.
Silliest:
Budweiser’s ad, with the man who
trained a Clydesdale that later broke away from his team of horses during a
Chicago parade to hunt the man down, ranks as silly, in my opinion.
Also silly was Tide’s ad
featuring a salsa stain on a shirt that looked like a football player. Dozens of people came to look at the “miracle,” with the man’s wife
washing the shirt and saying “Go, Ravens.”
A man who loves Doritos
buys a goat who loves them, too. By the end of the ad after the goat has eaten
hundreds of packages of the chips, the guy’s hoarding them and making a
for-sale sign for the goat.
Stretchers, a tennis shoe, shows a man
outrunning a cheetah and tying him up, thus saving an antelope.
Most sexist:
Last year, Go Daddy.com showed two guys
in the “cloud” populated with scantily clad women. This year, it grossed out a
lot of people by showing a sexy model kissing a nerd with awful sloppy sounding
kissing.
In another Go Daddy.com ad, also sexist, wives around the world are harping to
their husbands for not putting their big idea online.
Fiat’s ad slowly panned over a woman lying on the
beach in a bikini was bad enough, but having a scorpion crawl over her? Yuck.
Then, when she sees the car, she stands up and throws off her bikini top. The
scorpion drags it away.
Motorola's cell phone ad features actress Megan Fox in
a bathtub. Two men slap each other and another falls off a ladder looking at
the phone.
A Doritos
ad shows a little girl bribing her dad to play her with a bag of chips. He
dresses up and puts on makeup, as do four of his friends.
Gliden, t-shirt maker, produced an ad showing a man
trying to sneak out after a one-night stand, which included fuzzy handcuffs,
only the woman is sleeping in his favorite t-shirt.
Century 21’s ads don’t show women in a good light either.
A woman is so taken with her new wealth that she doesn’t see that her husband is
choking, a woman in labor demands a new kitchen, and a mother-in-law is so
awful that a groom faints at the altar when he thinks about living with her.
Calvin
Klein’s ad showed a male model in
nothing but underwear for most of the ad. Objectifying men isn’t any better than
objectifying women.
Best Buy’s ad showed Amy Poehler asking dozens of
questions, and making suggestive comments to the sales associate.
In a Coke
ad, a bus full of chorus girls chases toward a giant bottle of Coke, with other
characters. One of the girls shoots a cannon full of something that sounds bad
but floats down lightly at the cowboys. And, a biker, gets thrown up on the
window of the bus.
Kia’s scantily clad women “robots” put this ad in
the sexist category. One of the robots kicked a man, earning it violent points,
too.
While SodaStream
made environmental points showing its machine that carbonates beverages, thus
avoiding using cans and bottles, it wasn’t necessary to have a woman in a
bikini operate the machine.
Most irritating:
Since there
isn’t any drama when you buy a car from Cars.com,
for the commercial, the sales representative gives the two consumers a wolf
cub, then the jealous wolf-mom walks in. Ha, ha.
In an ad for
milk, The Rock races out to the
street in his pajamas to pick up milk. He dodges bank robbers, angry lions, and
traffic jams and ignores a kitten stuck in a tree.
Ageist:
In the Taco Bell ad, a group of seniors leave
the retirement home for a night on the town. While some people thought their
partying was funny, I thought it made older people look ridiculous.
Racist:
In a Volkswagen ad, a white man’s car makes
him so happy he speaks with a Jamaican accent. When the ad was released early,
many people wondered if it was racist.
Dark and creepy:
Anheuser-Busch
announced its new beer, Budweiser Black Crown, with two ads that were dark and
creepy, featuring young, upscale people in dark clothing.
Bud Lite’s ads featured characters
trying to get luck through voodoo. One man carried his living room chair to the
voodoo master, Stevie Wonder.
In the Mercedes-Benz
ad, an actor is going to sell his soul in exchange for a new Mercedes CLA as
well as a rich lifestyle, which includes dating Kate Upton and dancing with
Usher. However, the actor sees on a billboard stating that the price starts
under $30,000, so he saves himself.
It’s likely AAA's 2011 estimate, about 91 million people
traveling at least 50 miles during the holidays, will be topped this year.
The Better Business
Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington is reminding consumers who are traveling to watch out for common scams:
ATM skimming: When
paying at the pump for gasoline, keep an eye out for unusual-looking card readers, false keypads, and suspicious
cameras.
E-mail
chain letters: Inboxes are flooded with free or cheap offers
for five-star accommodations, airline tickets, or cruise passes, but clicking
links may install malware or viruses. Avoid unsolicited too-good-to-be-true
offers.
Front
desk calls: Hotel guests receive calls from “the front desk”
asking them to verify payment information, but the callers are actually scammers.
Sketchy
cab drivers: Be wary if drivers claim that certain hotels or
motels are closed and “suggest” other locations. There may be incentives for
drivers to create business for less-than-ethical companies. Check bbb.org
to find reliable taxi services.
Social engineering:
Swindlers use social media to obtain personal information about travel plans.
Avoid posting specifics that entice thieves to loot temporarily vacant homes.
Also, be wary of sudden calls or e-mails regarding flights or vacation
packages. Never provide personal information or credit card numbers to
unsolicited inquirers.
Best wishes for your holiday travels.
Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Who’s your
cell phone provider? Are you satisfied with the service?
I know
friends and family members who have AT&T for their iPhones. One has calls
dropped so frequently she tells people to call her on the landline.
I have
Verizon because I’ve read past Consumer Reports ratings that it has the best
coverage nationwide.
Top national provider
Again this
year, Verizon Wireless was the highest-rated major carrier in Consumer Reports’
annual cell-phone service ratings, based on a survey of more than 63,000
subscribers.
Of the four
major U.S. national cell-phone service providers, Verizon Wireless led the
pack, receiving favorable scores for voice and data service quality, and also
for support such as staff knowledge and resolution of issues.
Carriers with middle to low ratings
Sprint,
T-Mobile, and AT&T each received mostly middle to low marks, especially for
voice and text service quality.
AT&T was
among the lower-scoring providers, but its 4G LTE network was rated the most
favorably of any carrier. Its users reported the fewest problems with that
higher-speed service, which most new smart phones now use.
Providers with monthly billing and no contract
Consumer
Cellular, a national carrier that uses AT&T’s network, received high marks
in Consumer Reports’ Ratings of standard or monthly bill carriers. The
no-frills carrier serves users with the simplest wireless needs and offers
monthly billing without a contract.
The report
found that no-contract plans can save money. Two-thirds of those in the survey
who switched to “prepaid plans,” which usually lack a contract commitment and
bill each month in advance, saved more than $20 a month by switching. Those
savings can allow wireless customers to recover the cost of the phone, which
can be higher if they don’t sign a contract.
TracFone was
among the top-Rated prepaid providers, receiving high marks for value, voice,
and text. Like Consumer Cellular, it specializes in providing service to those
who seek simple, low-cost phone service.
Even consumers
whose phone needs are less than basic can save by going prepaid, according to Consumer Reports.
“Some
smaller carriers that scored respectably in our ratings and offer low-priced
plans, such as Straight Talk and Virgin Mobile, now offer fairly sophisticated
smart phones,” Paul Reynolds, electronics editor for Consumer Reports, said in
a statement. “And, you can even save by switching a phone from a major carrier
that’s coming off contract to a prepaid plan.”
Survey reports
A report summary
can be found online at ConsumerReports.org.
The full report is available online for subscribers and in the January 2013
issue of Consumer Reports, which is on newsstands now. Many libraries also
carry copies of the magazine.
The full report
includes:
Detailed
ratings of cell-phone service providers in 23 metropolitan markets.
Ratings of
smart phones and cell-phone retailers.
Data-hogging
phone habits to avoid
Advice on
choosing the right phone and plan.
A comparison
of the Google Android vs. Apple iOS vs. Windows Phone operating systems.
Tips on how
consumers save money on their cell-phone bills.
Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Be sure to compare prices. While Black Friday often offers
the lowest deals of the year, you might not be able to get one of the
doorbuster items. Gift sets, holiday products, private label merchandise, and
specially-created bundles can be filler items, merchandise that is fluff
compared to the real deals. See dealnews.com’s “Watch Out for Black Friday
Filler Deals” for more information.
Black Friday precautions
Bring coupons and ads to the store with you, read the fine
print about limitations, be sure the deal doesn’t change at the cash register,
and ask about the refund policy. If you have problems, ask to talk with the
manager. Visit the Better Business Bureau's “Black Friday Bargains: Good Buy or Bust?” for details
Winter car tips
If you’re taking a trip, you might want to get a new pair of
wiper blades and carry jumper cables with you. See shopautoweek.com’s “Prep
Your Car for Winter Weather” for details.
Cyber Monday scams
Watch out for extremely low prices, blurry photos, little
product information, no contact information, unsecured web pages, and bad
reviews from consumers and the Better Business Bureau. Go to the BBB’s “Cyber
Monday: Counterfeit Sites and Sales” to learn more about computer shopping
traps.
Best wishes on Thanksgiving. I hope you have a good day.
Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Most of the week, I've been at home recovering from a cold. However, I still made a few consumer transactions.
My best consumer experience: Working with a new investment
company
My financial planner suggested I roll my IRA over to a new
investment company so I’d have a wider range of investments to choose from.
I told him I wanted no load funds this time instead of
loaded ones. That meant I had to make the buys from various funds myself on the
computer.
The local representative said I could call the company if I
had any questions. I decided to call them and have them show me how to do it.
That worked well. A customer service person walked me
through the steps. It was easy with help. If I had to figure it out myself, I
think it would have been one of those “several-hours-of-computer-frustration”
experiences.
My worst consumer experience: Amazon shipping charges
Today, I placed an order on Amazon.com for three books on
acupressure – two for friends and one for myself.
I picked the cheaper new books for $8.50 each. I thought I
was going to get the Amazon standard shipping of three to five days.
Instead, the books are going to arrive Nov. 27 to Dec. 12.
That’s one week to three weeks and four days.
It was irritating because when you click on the shipping
information to try to figure out what you’re going to get, Amazon’s three to
five day standard shipping menu comes up.
The books are coming from a separate company. Also, no
explanation was given for why the shipping charge was $11.97. Again, Amazon’s
shipping rates came up which didn’t apply to my order.
Sigh. And, so the holidays begin.
Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Con artists
are using new channels and technology that didn’t exist 15 years ago including
social media, pop-up ads on your computer, and text-message “smishing” scams,
according to a Consumer Reports’ investigation.
Here are
some of the latest high-tech scams the consumer organization found:
We’ll remove the virus we found for $100.
You could win an iPad. Start bidding.
Buy a gourmet dog-food coupon worth $61 – for just $16.
OMG. Now you really can see who views your Facebook profile.
