The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

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: Enjoying an updated waterside walkway

On Thursday, I joined 300 others in the Olympia, Wash., area to attend the rededication of Percival Landing after a $3 million renovation.

The newly refurbished waterfront walkway on Budd Inlet is wonderful. The boardwalk area is expanded, and a meeting place called Harbor House and two shelters have been added.

Irene Christy, a friend of mine and fellow member of the Thurston County League of Women Voters, got the idea for a way to have public access at the end of Budd Inlet, the southern most tip of Puget Sound.

Irene convinced then Olympia City Commissioner Tom Allen to consider the project if state funding could be obtained. She also encouraged Washington State Land Commissioner Bert Cole to have the state buy waterfront properties with aging warehouses at the site and allow the City of Olympia to build the walkway.

It’s great when different levels of government and citizens can work together to create such an excellent public facility. We don’t have much waterfront access in our state, so this project is appreciated.

My worst: Dealing with Comcast about my monthly charges

Without notice, my Comcast bill went up substantially. I have been paying $99 a month, a bundled charge; $33 for my landline phone service, $33 for Internet access, and $33 for cable television.

The last time Comcast jacked up the price, I signed a two-year so I could get the bundled service again.

I had to call twice before I could get the monthly charge reduced. And, I had to “sign” another two-year contract, which I did over the phone. Strange.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Safety agency urges consumers not to use phil&teds USA clip-on-table top chairs due to serious dangers to children

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumers shouldn’t use some "metoo" clip-on table top chairs imported by phil&teds USA, because they put young children at risk of serious injury due to several safety hazards, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warns in a statement. The commission is urging consumers to stop using some metoo clip-on chairs immediately.

 
Rubber clamp pads on undersides of metal clamps 

The infant/toddler chair, with a nylon fabric seat and a metal frame, clamps onto tables using two metal vise clamps. The upper part of each clamp rests on the table top and has either a rubber clamp pad on its underside or a rubber boot covering it. The chairs are sold in red, black, and navy.

 

Rubber boots covering tops of metal clamps

The clip-on chairs affected by this warning don’t have plastic spacers between the table clamps and the front horizontal metal bar. The clip-on chairs that have plastic spacers between the table clamps and the front horizontal metal bar are under evaluation by the commission.

 

Spacer between front horizoltal bar and metal clamp

The company has refused to agree to a national recall of their hazardous product that is acceptable to the commission. It has offered a repair kit consisting of rubber boots to place on the upper clamp grips of the chairs. Consumers should be aware that the commission hasn’t approved a repair kit for this product, despite the firm’s prior statement that it was conducting a recall "in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission."

The commission is urging consumers to stop using the affected metoo chairs to prevent the risk of injury to children.

The metoo chairs without plastic spacers pose serious fall and amputation hazards to children. Children can suffer impact and head injuries when the chair detaches from the table and falls. The commission staff is aware of numerous incidents involving the metoo chairs.

The commission staff has determined that the clamps can detach from different table surfaces. In addition, the chairs can detach when children move around or use their feet to push against other objects. Staff also found that the lack of adequate space between the horizontal metal bar at the front of the chair and the clamps can cause children’s fingers to be severely pinched, lacerated, crushed, or amputated if caught between the bar and the clamp when the chair detaches.

In addition to hazards with clip-on chairs without plastic spacers, the product packaging and instructions provide conflicting information, the commission said. The product’s packaging and marketing information show the product being used in ways that may lead to the chair detaching from the table. However, the product’s instructions don’t adequately warn against this type of use.

Tens of thousands of the metoo chairs without spacers may have been distributed since May 2006 for about $50 through philandteds.com, Amazon.com, Buy Buy Baby, Target, Toys R Us, other online retailers, and other independent juvenile specialty stores.

For more information on recalls by the commission, see www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 April Fools’ Day posts

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Looking for inspiration for April Fools’ Day? Try these gems of wisdom.

1. “The Top 100 April Fools’ Day Hoaxes of All Time” – Museum of Hoaxes

2. “Google April Fools' Day Gags from 2000 to 2010: a History” – eWeek.com

3. “10 Office Pranks Perfect for April Fools’ Day” – Mashable

4. “April Fools’ Day Pranks: The Biggest and Best (Pictures)" – The Huffington Post

5. “April Fools’ Day Mystery: How Did It Originate?” – National Geographic

6. “April Fools’ Day Dinner” – allrecipes.com

7. “April Fools’ Day” – Chicago Tribune

8. “15 April Fools’ Day Pranks” – Parenting

9. “Deceiving April Fools’ Day Foods” – CBS News.com

10. “April Fools’ Day Fun to Prank the Entire Family in 2011” – examiner.com

Have fun with your jokes, but remember, the idea is to laugh and have a good time, not to unduly embarrass someone or hurt them.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumers targeted by e-mail scam related to events in Egypt

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection is warning consumers about a new version of the foreign e-mail scam.

See my WalletPop-Consumer Ally article, “Scammers Take Advantage of Middle East Crisis With E-mail Cons,” for details.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumer tips for Valentine's Day

For consumers who are searching for love or already in a relationship, the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, has information that may be helpful around Valentine’s Day.

Looking for love online?

Millions of Americans use online dating and social networking sites to meet people. But scammers also use these sites. They look for targets of any age and in any location, whom they can convince to send money in the name of love. The FTC encourages people active on dating sites to use their heads as well as their hearts, and to learn more about how to spot the signs of an online dating scam.

Sending flowers?

Flowers can say "I’m thinking of you" on Valentine's Day, and your local florist is likely just a phone call away. Or so you might think. But some unscrupulous telemarketing firms pose as local florists, charging unsuspecting customers higher fees and taking business away from legitimate local businesses. Consumers shopping for flowers around February 14 – or any time – should consider the consequences of dealing with a business in an undisclosed location and beware of hidden costs.

Checking your financial compatibility?

In a new relationship? It may be helpful to find out if you and your partner have a compatible approach to managing your finances. Couples can test their "fiscal attraction" with this quiz.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Watch out for these top 10 scams of 2010 this year

 

ConsumerAffairs.com, one of my favorite websites, offers this list of the worst scams of 2010:

1. Foreclosure rescue scams

2. Uncharitable charities

3. Phony debt collector

4. Work-at-home scams

5. Facebook scams

6. Gold scams

7. Debt settlement scams

8. Ponzi schemes

9. Unauthorized charge scams

10. Timeshare sales scams

See ConsumerAffairs.com's "Top 10 Scams of 2010" for details on each of these frauds.

Dishonorable mention

ConsumerAffairs.com’s article also said many other scams were operating during the year that cost consumers problems. Making its dishonorable mention list this year are the many scams related to the BP oil spill, this year's one-time $250 payment to Medicare Part D participants, and the growing number of cyber scams. In that last category, "tabnabbing" could be one to keep an eye on in the New Year.

So be aware of the scams on this list and watch out for them, and other frauds old and new, during 2011.

            Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist 

Top 12 holiday season scams

If you want to have a merry, merry holiday season, be sure to be on the lookout for scam artists.

Just because it’s the time of year for good cheer doesn’t mean that fraudsters are going to take a vacation from ripping off consumers.

Here are the 12 scams of Christmas as offered by the software security company McAfee.

1. “Help! I’ve been robbed” phony distress messages from “family members” or “friends.”

2. Fake gift cards promoted on social media.

Holiday job offers for “high-paying,” work-at-home schemes that ask for your personal information, including your Social Security number.

3. “Smishing,” SMS texts that appear to come from your bank or online retailer saying something is wrong with an account.

4. Suspicious holiday rentals that ask for down payments on properties by credit card or wire transfer.

5. Recession scams such as pay-in-advance offers where consumers pay a processing fee for a supposedly low-interest loan or credit card.

6. Fake greeting cards that load computer viruses onto your computer.

7. Low price traps such as auction sites and fake websites that offer too-good-to-be-true deals to get your money and personal information.

8. Fraudulent charities that ask you to donate.

9. Dangerous holiday downloads – such as screensavers, jingles, and animations – that spread viruses.

10. Free hotel and airport Wi-Fi, which thieves use to hack into networks.

11. E-mail banking scams in which scam artists trick consumers into giving their bank details by sending official-looking e-mails.

12. Password stealing scams where hackers get control of your computer and hijack files.

So happy holidays, and beware of the bad guys and gals interested in separating you from your money.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

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: Getting new garden tools

While I was on vacation, the weeds really grew. When I started weeding, I found something had happened to my garden tools. When I looked for my trowel and fishtail weeder, I couldn’t find them.

I started pulling dandelions using my new dandelion puller; you stomp on the handle and it pulls up a plug of dirt with the dandelion in it. I thought I’d find my tools lying around somewhere as I worked.

However, they didn’t turn up. I found the dandelion weeder couldn’t get under trees, near fences and fence posts, and other tight spots. Also, it seemed that the dandelions had grown back where I’d pulled them out with the weeder in the spring.

I went to the hardware store and bought another trowel and fishtail weeder.

Maybe I accidentally threw my others away with the weeds in the yard waste.

My worst: Signing up for Skype

When I was visiting my daughter in Florida, I signed up for Skype on my PC laptop and didn’t have any problems.

Now that I’m home, I tried to put Skype on my Apple desktop. I couldn’t get it to work.

I made a mistake and clicked on the option to have my Address Book searched for phone numbers. Now, I’m in the phone numbers part of Skype and can’t get back to the free video-calls option.

I sent the Skype Helpdesk an e-mail. I received a confirmation. It said they’d get back to me within 12 hours. Oh, boy.

In the meantime, I’m unSkyped. Darn.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

US Search settles agency charges privacy pledges were deceptive

An online data broker that charged consumers $10 based on the promise that it could “lock their records,” so others couldn’t see or buy them, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its claims were deceptive and violated federal law.

The settlement requires that US Search refund the fees it charged to nearly 5,000 consumers and bars misrepresentations about the effectiveness of any service that claims to remove information about consumers from the broker’s website.

US Search is an online data broker that compiles public records and sells data about consumers to the public. The records may contain names, addresses and phone numbers, but also information such as aliases, marriages and divorces, bankruptcies, neighbors, associates, criminal records, and home values.

Since June 2009, US Search sold consumers its “PrivacyLock” Service, which it claimed would allow them to “lock their records” and prevent their names and other information from appearing on the company’s website, its search results, or advertisements for a year.

The claims were false, according to a FTC lawsuit. The agency alleged the PrivacyLock Service didn’t:

• Block consumers’ names from showing up as an associate of someone else in a search for the other person’s name.

• Lock consumers’ information from appearing in a “reverse search” of their phone number or address, or in a search of their address in real estate records.

• Work if the consumer changed addresses and generated new records that wouldn’t be subject to the PrivacyLock.

• Work if the consumer had multiple records – for example, “John Smith” and “John T. Smith.”

The settlement bars US Search from misrepresenting the effectiveness of its PrivacyLock Service or other services it offers that will allow consumers to remove information about themselves from search results, websites, and advertisements.

The settlement order also requires that US Search disclose any limitations on its services and provide refunds to consumers who paid for the service.

The public can comment on the settlement until Oct. 22. Then the commission will decide whether to make the settlement final.

To file a public comment, click here. Written comments should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

Consent agreements are for settlement purposes only and don’t constitute an admission by the defendants of a law violation, the commission said in its announcement about the US Search settlement.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How can you tell if modeling agency is a scam?

If someone from a modeling agency tells you or one of your children that you’ve got “the look,” be careful. It may be a scam that will empty your bank account.

In the last three years, more than 2,000 complaints have been filed with the U.S Better Business Bureau from people who thought they were misled by an agency into paying large upfront fees – often for headshots and portfolios – and received little or no modeling or acting work in return.

Before signing up with a modeling or talent agency, the BBB advises:

• Do your research – Always check the company out with your area BBB. Some states may require a talent agency or modeling school to be licensed and bonded; confirm the company meets those requirements.

• Beware of big promises and high-pressure sales pitches – In the modeling world, income is never guaranteed and jobs can be sporadic. Consider it a red flag if the sales pitch promises a lot of jobs and big earnings or uses high-pressure tactics to get you to sign up without thinking it through first.

• Read the fine print and get everything in writing – Take your time and read the agreement or contract carefully, paying close attention to details regarding refunds and your recourse if you are dissatisfied. Make sure that all verbal promises are in the agreement.

• Get references – Ask for references from other satisfied clients who have a similar background and qualifications.

• Complain if you’ve been ripped off – If you think a talent or modeling agency has misled you, file a complaint with the BBB, state Attorney General, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist