The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Watch your wallet on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

"Black Friday is soooo close. It’s my favorite holiday!!!"

"Debating whether or not to enjoy Black Friday shopping. Nothing really needed, just enjoy the thrill of the hunt."

"Old Navy started their Black Friday sales this morning [Tuesday]!"

That’s what three consumers writing on Twitter said about Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving that got its name because it was the day that retailers started making money after being in the "red."

Black Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will attract up to 134 million shoppers this year, up from 128 million last year. According to the National Retail Federation, 57 million people say they will definitely hit the stores while another 77 million are waiting to see what retailers are planning before heading out the door.

Cyber Monday is a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, when retailers noticed a large increase of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

But don’t be stampeded into spending a lot of money this weekend or on Cyber Monday just because of all the news in the media about Black Friday and "how important it is to give the economy a much-needed boost."

The article "Dirty Secrets of Black Friday" describes these problems shoppers may run into on the big shopping day:

• Limited quantities.

• Derivatives offered, models that have a few less features than a standard model in that product line.

• No information on what Black Friday sales are offered online.

• Online deals that don’t get shipped.

• Rain checks that don’t result in the cheap Black Friday deal.

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, urges consumers to not get wound up in the hype about Black Friday:

So let me get this straight. One year after the financial sector took our economy to the brink of collapse, we’re rooting for Wall Street’s success, which depends on the willingness of consumers to spend as much as they can – most likely more than they can afford, since that’s how the financial sector makes its money– during the worst economy in 26 years and while 10.2 percent are unemployed? Sounds like some seriously misplaced priorities.

So make a plan for your holiday gift giving and spend only what you can afford. It will reduce your holiday stress and make for a happier new year.

Copyright 2009, 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 consumer experience: Balancing my checkbook

My paycheck came in this week and so did my mortgage payment. I balanced my checkbook.

I sat down and paid my bills. Then I balanced my checkbook again.

There wasn’t much money left. A good thing to know to keep from getting overdraft charges.

I belong to a credit union and have an overdraft protection plan. The fee for checks is only $2, but I still want to avoid a series of those charges.

Many banks are hiking overdraft fees along with other fees and interest rates.

Some banks charge as much as $39 when customers overdraw their bank account by even a few dollars.

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My worst consumer experience: Trying to figure out Verizon’s cell phone offers

When I learned that my cell phone is on the high end of the scale in terms of the radiation it emits, I decided it’s time for a new cell phone. See the article “Are You Using a Cell Phone That Emits High Levels of Radiation?” for information about cell phone ratings by the Environmental Working Group.

I checked out the iPhones, and disappointedly, they’re also on the high end of the scale. Beside, if I bought an iPhone, I’d have to deal with AT&T.

Verizon has given me good service, so I’d like to stay with them.

When I saw I could get a Blackberry for free if I signed up a two-year Verizon contract, I was excited. And, more importantly, the BlackBerry in the ad was on the low end of the radiation emissions scale.

When I called Verizon, my hopes were dashed. You have to pay a $30 monthly charge for a data package if you get a BlackBerry. That would make my cell phone costs about $75 a month, which is too costly.

Verizon should certainly put this information in its ads. It felt like “bait and switch” advertising.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Journalist

What’s in the House health care bill?

This summer, a number of consumers complained to me they didn’t know what was being proposed in health care reform.

I suggested they read the bills that were beginning to come out of House committees. I also offered a list of consumer organizations that are working on health care and providing information.

Now things are getting exciting. A bill has passed the House of Representatives.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, includes these measures, reports The Washington Post article “What’s in the House Bill”:

• An individual mandate that would require people to buy health insurance. An employer mandate that would require companies to cover their employees, though small businesses would be exempted.

• Funding to create insurance exchanges to serve people who don't have employer coverage.

• A government insurance option to compete with private plans on the exchange.

• Subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.

• A historic Medicaid expansion that would provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

• Up to $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts, including to a Medicare Advantage managed-care program that serves nearly 11 million seniors.

• A surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families.

• A crackdown on the insurance industry, including bans on lifetime limits, premium disparity based on health status and sex, and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill also would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected firms from federal investigations.

Be sure to let your senators know your view on health care reform and whether the above provisions meet your needs. You can also work with the groups listed in my post.

Although an important first step has been taken with the passage of House bill, there are two more steps: (1) passage of a bill by the Senate and (2) a conference committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of health care bills.

Here are other articles analyzing the House bill:

“House Health Care Vote: Breaking Updates” – The Huffington Post

“Health Care Reform Bill Passes House – What’s in It?" – The Consumerist

“Health Care Reform and You” – AARP

If you want to read HR 3962, go to thomas.loc.gov. Be sure to read the amendments, too, which are included in a separate file.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

MoneyGram to pay $18 millions to settle fraud charges

MoneyGram International Inc., the second-largest money transfer service in the United States, will pay $18 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company allowed its money transfer system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers to bilk U.S. consumers out of tens of millions of dollars.

MoneyGram also will be required to carry out an anti-fraud and agent-monitoring program.

The commission charged that between 2004 and 2008, MoneyGram agents helped fraudulent telemarketers and other con artists who tricked U.S. consumers into wiring more than $84 million within the U.S. and to Canada. These consumers were falsely told they had won a lottery, were hired for a secret shopper program, or were guaranteed loans.

The $84 million in losses is based on consumer complaints to MoneyGram – actual consumer losses likely are much higher, reports the commission.

The commission charged that MoneyGram knew that its system was being used to defraud people but did very little about it, and that in some cases its agents in Canada actually participated in these schemes.

“Money transfer services have a responsibility to make sure their systems don’t become conduits to rip people off,” said David C. Vladeck, director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in an announcement about the settlement. “In this case, MoneyGram not only ducked this responsibility, but also looked the other way while its agents took part in the scams.”

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In many of the scams, the con artists used counterfeit checks to induce consumers to send money back by wire transfer. Most often these scams were lottery or prize schemes in which consumers were told they had won thousands of dollars and just had to pay a fee for “taxes,” “customs,” or “insurance” to a third-party to collect their winnings, reports the commission.

Consumers paid the fee using MoneyGram, but received nothing.

In another scheme, telemarketers told consumers they were guaranteed loans, regardless of their credit score. All they had to do was pay “insurance,” “paperwork,” or “processing” fees to complete the transaction.

Consumers who sent funds using a money transfer service received nothing in return.

In mystery shopping scams, the con artists called U.S. consumers or sent them a piece of direct mail in which they claimed to be hiring consumers to visit stores such as Wal-Mart to evaluate MoneyGram money transfer operations. The con artists sent consumers a cashier’s check, telling them to deposit it in their checking account and then send most of the money back using a money transfer at Wal-Mart.

When the counterfeit checks bounced, consumers realized they had lost the money they transferred. By this time, however, the money transfer agents had already received and paid out the money, often either without checking IDs or by using fake drivers license information.

The agreed-on court order settling the commission’s charges bars MoneyGram from knowingly providing help or support to any sellers or telemarketers that are violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and requires it to carry out an anti-fraud program.

Under the program, MoneyGram must conduct background checks on prospective agents; educate and train its employees about consumer fraud; institute agent monitoring; and discipline agents who don’t comply with the rules.

The order also requires MoneyGram to provide a clear and conspicuous fraud warning on the front of all its money transfer forms.

The order contains monitoring and discipline provisions that will ensure MoneyGram is properly training, monitoring, and taking actions to address problems related to its agents.

In addition, MoneyGram will pay the commission $18 million, which will be used to provide payments to consumers who lost money.

Consumers interested in finding out about recovering funds should call 202-326-3755.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were the best and worst consumer experiences you had this week?

Recently, I launched a best and worst consumer experience feature on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

I think looking weekly at these experiences helps us learn from our successes and mistakes.

Here are my most and least successful consumer transactions for this week:

My best consumer experience: Ordering a birthday present through my new blog ad

My daughter’s birthday is coming up, so I worked hard to figure out how to post ads in the right hand column of my blog. I was successful before the deadline to mail the package.

It worked out well. My daughter sent gift ideas from REI, and I had just been approved as an affiliate for REI.

My worst consumer experience: Low-quality customer service from American Airlines

When I was traveling recently, American Airlines didn’t do a good job at Miami International Airport of managing their lines of customers.

There were two agents at the desk and three lines. In the center line, a large group of about a dozen people were slowing down the progress of the line to the left, the line I was in. The line to the right moved along steadily, even serving customers who had just walked up.

The agent said in a nonchalant voice that we could go across the room where other agent’s didn’t have any lines. I looked over my shoulder, and the lines there looked about the same length. People standing behind me went up to the agent to ask her what she’d said because they couldn’t hear her.

Finally, after waiting 15 minutes, I left to stand in another line. I complained to an agent who was directing passengers around the area. She apologized and helped me check in. She said it was noon and staffing was low. New staff would be coming shortly to help passengers, she added.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were the best and worst consumer experiences you had this week?

Recently, I launched a best and worst consumer experience feature on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

I think looking weekly at these experiences helps us learn from our successes and mistakes.

Here are my most and least successful consumer transactions for this week:

My best consumer experience: Getting a good price on a new blazer

 

When I went shopping at the Gap with my daughter, I didn’t expect to buy anything for myself. However, I need some new blazers. So when I saw one I liked, I slipped it on. It fit, but the price was too much – $99.

My daughter mentioned she had a special card from the Gap that gave her 30 percent off for items not on sale and an additional 15 per cent off for sale items. That would make the blazer $70. That sounded better.

We found out when the blazer was rung up that it was on sale. With the additional 15 percent off, the price was $45. A real deal. I was happy.

My worst consumer experience: Confusion at the movie theater

My daughter and I arrived right on time for the movie at 10:45 a.m. However, no one was available to take the money for our tickets. An employee was fooling around with the design of the straps on post that show people where to line up.

After about five minutes, six people went inside to the customer service desk to buy tickets. I followed them. After a few minutes, my daughter came in, too. Then the employee who has been unhurriedly messing around went to open a ticket window. The family behind us in line at customer service dashed ahead of my daughter before she could get back to the ticket window.

Then as we approached the ticket taker inside, the first in a group of about a dozen kids got ahead of us. 

We skipped the popcorn, so we made it in time to see most of the previews and the opening of the movie.

It certainly was a strange experience to not have an employee ready to take your money at movie time.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were the best and worst consumer experiences you had this week?

Recently, I launched a best and worst consumer experience feature on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

I think looking weekly at these experiences helps us learn from our successes and mistakes.

Here are my most and least successful consumer transactions for this week:

My best consumer experience: Spending a $25 gift card

When I was at Ace Hardware recently, I signed up to listen to a presentation by Evans Glass for new windows. An incentive was a $25 gift card.

This week the gift card arrived in the mail. I spent it on a long-handled garden tool to pull dandelions.

My worst consumer experience: Problems with camcorder batteries

Several weeks ago I went to Batteries Plus to check out two batteries for my camcorder. The sales associate said my camcorder remote had a short because it drained two new batteries. He said I’d need to order a new remote.

This turned out to not be correct. Later, I was able to get the remote to work by pointing it more directly at the sensor on the front of the camera.

I also asked the sales associate about my five-hour battery. It wasn’t holding a charge as well as it should. He suggested I leave the battery, and he’d test it.

Not feeling hopeful, I decided to buy a new two-hour battery for $85. A $5 rebate was available.

When I returned home, I found the sales associate had forgotten to give me the rebate slip. I called, and another sales associate said I could stop by and pick it up. I asked to have the rebate slip mailed to me. The sales associate was hesitant, but he finally agreed.

About a week later, I received the rebate information. A few days later, I mailed it in. This week, I received my rebate envelope back with a big black X across the address and a note that said: “This offer closed.”

Meanwhile, Batteries Plus had called me about my five-hour battery. The sales associate said it only had 80 percent of capacity left. He said that meant it wasn’t any good, and he’d recycle it for me. I said 80 percent sounded to me like it was still usable. I’d come and pick it up.

This week I went back to Batteries Plus to buy a new battery for my watch and to pick up my five-hour battery.

I started by telling the sales associate I was disappointed about not being given the rebate slip when I was in the store. I told him it was a factor in my decision to buy the battery. The sales associate shrugged off my complaint.

Two sales associates look for my battery. They couldn’t find it. They had gotten rid of it, even though I wanted it back.

One of the associates said my battery capacity was actually 80 percent of 80 percent, which is 64 percent. That’s not what I was told in the phone call.

The manager decided not to charge me for my watch battery since I’d had so many problems. While that was nice, I was still disappointed about not getting my rebate and my battery back.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were the best and worst consumer experiences you had this week?

Recently, I launched a best and worst consumer experience feature on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

I think looking weekly at our best and worse experiences as consumers helps us learn from our successes and mistakes.

Each week, we have dozens of consumer happenings, some good and some bad. By working to improve these, we can get more for our money and achieve higher consumer satisfaction.

Here are my most and least successful consumer transactions for this week:

My best consumer experience: A great luncheon with friends

Yesterday, I got together with 10 of my friends for lunch at Mercato Ristorante, an Italian restaurant across from the Olympia Farmers’ Market.

The food and conversation were great. I had a sandwich wrap with spinach that was nicely prepared.

I enjoyed myself tremendously. It was fun to get out, and go to the farmers’ market after lunch and buy organic blueberries.

My worst consumer experience: Shopping at IKEA



My daughter asked me to go to the IKEA store and buy replacement bed slats for a youth bed.

When I arrived, I went to the youth bed department. No sales associates were in anywhere in sight. I finally found a cashier or customer service person. She gave me a map and told me I needed to go to the self-service section of the store.

I was confused. I thought she meant I had to get in my car and drive to a place where an attendant would load my order. Not so. She said self-service was in the store. She finally gave me a map.
I went to self-service. Then I wanted to have lunch, so I hiked back through the maze again.

It was time to check out. I got lucky. I saw a young couple, who looked like experienced IKEA shoppers. I followed them to checkout, another significant maze experience.

I asked the cashier why IKEA created such a maze. She said other people have complained about it, but she didn’t know.

Could it be as simple as you have to wind your way through more merchandise? Maybe. I bought a folding clothes dryer and a round hanger with 16 hooks. Both were impulse items.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Consumers urge congressman to support a public insurance option at Olympia, Wash., town hall meeting

Yesterday, Congressman Brian Baird, D-Wash., faced an audience of about 1,000 people, many of whom said they favored the adoption of a public option as part of health care reform.

The town meeting was held at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia.

Here’s a summary of some of the questions that were posed and Baird’s responses:

Q. As a cancer survivor married to a longshoreman, what will we do if my husband loses his job or retires and I have a reoccurrence? Also, my son will graduate in a year and he won’t be covered.

A. Baird said HB 3200, the House of Representatives’ main health care bill developed by the House Education and Labor Committee, prohibits denying medical coverage due to preexisting conditions. If workers lose their jobs, they can buy into a private or public option. Low-income people will have the amount they pay adjusted under either option.

Q. As an optometrist with two employees, how can I find coverage for my two employees?

A. Baird said small businesses could buy into large nationwide pools under HB 3200. Tax credits also would be given to small businesses to help subsidize the cost of health care for them. Mental health is covered under the bill, but better dental coverage is needed in it, he added.

Q. Do you support the public option?

A. Baird said he hasn’t made up his mind yet on HB 3200 or the public option. The House wants the public option, he said, but the Senate doesn’t. Coming up with a compromise is the challenge Congress faces, he added.

Q. I want Dudley Do-Right’s plan [referring to the Canadian cartoon character]. Why can’t we have single payer or something close to it?

A. Baird said the Senate doesn’t want single payer. Congress is trying to craft a bill it can agree on, and that is a very difficult task.

Q. What’s going to be provided for women’s reproductive health, including medication and birth control?

A. Baird said federal money wouldn’t be used for abortions.

Q. As a family doctor who’s worked in New Zealand and Australia, I’ve seen that the solution for health care comes when there is a commitment for universal care. I don’t see that commitment from Congress.

A. Baird said he is personally committed to universal health care. He said he believes the commitment to it is stronger on the Democratic side. Some Republicans believe in a different way to get there, Baird said, adding President Obama is committed to universal health care.

Q. How close will the public option be to health care coverage that is offered in Europe and is provided by Group Health Cooperative? Will the new groups own hospitals?

A. Baird said it would vary. The Senate is leaning toward cooperatives; regional coops not a single national one. In Europe, their single payer systems are nationwide. Under the public option, there won’t be cooperatives where you vote for a board of directors to run the group. The people who manage a group would work for the government, and their salaries would be paid by consumer premiums. In the beginning, public option groups would probably contract with existing hospitals.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Tips for baby boomers on how to buy auto insurance, carpet, or bicycles and select a kennel, housecleaner, or appliance repairer

One of the best consumer resources available for baby boomers is Checkbook magazine. It provides ratings of local businesses in seven areas of the country: Boston, Chicago, Delaware Valley, Puget Sound, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C.

The new Winter/Spring 2009 issue covers these topics:

• Supermarkets: Which stores have the best prices based on a 152-item shopping list.

• Auto Insurance companies: Steps that will help consumers save hundreds of dollars a year, and ratings of companies selling auto insurance.

• Kennels: Local kennels ratings, and a price comparison showing that some of the higher-rated facilities have below-average prices.

• Carpet stores: Stores named that rate best for quality of advice, ease of shopping, reliability of delivery, and quality of installation and that have the best prices.

• Housecleaners: Information on how to decide whether to hire a housecleaning company or an individual housecleaner, a listing of how companies rate for quality and price, and how to avoid a mess with any cleaner.

• Bike shops: A listing of the top shops in the areas for purchases and repairs, and a discussion of online bicycle shopping.

• Major appliance repair: A rating of appliance repair shops, those that receive praise and some that arrive late, miss appointments, overcharge, and fail to get the appliance operating properly after many tries.

Other topics include ratings of upholsterers, window washers, and shoe repair shops.

Checkbook magazine is available for $10 at Barnes & Noble and Borders. Or become a subscriber at www.checkbook.org/ for $30 for two years.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist