The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Consumer groups ask for review of FCC ruling that would allow millions more text messages and calls to cellphones

Consumer groups filed an appeal on behalf of low-income consumers with the Federal Communications Commission Friday of a ruling by the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau that federal protections against unwanted text messages don’t apply to peer-to-peer text messaging systems, systems where the text message is sent by a person.

The calling industry is already citing the ruling as a basis to exempt all text messages and autodialed voice calls from the federal prohibition against making these calls without the consumer’s consent.  

“Such an interpretation would lead to an exponential growth in unsolicited calls and text messages from both telemarketers and political campaigns,” said Margot Saunders, senior counsel with the National Consumer Law Center. “Now more than ever, as consumers face mounting pressures from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and as we’re entering the peak election season, the FCC must protect consumers from unwanted and harassing text messages rather than bowing to political pressure to allow these unwanted texts without consent.”

What to buy and not buy in March

March can be a slow shopping month, especially if you compare it to February, with its Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Days sales. However, March isn't totally blank when it comes to sales.

Look for sales on television sets, cruises, luggage, winter sports gear, and seasonal fruit, according to DealNews.com.

On the what not to buy list are android phones, spring apparel, gym memberships, and lingerie.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Federal judge approves merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, but states may appeal

 

A federal judge approved the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint Tuesday, ignoring complaints from 14 government agencies and consumer advocates that the merger will harm competition and result in higher prices.

The decision removes the last big stumbling block for the $26 billion merger, proposed more than a year ago.

On June 11, 2019, 13 states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit to stop the deal from going through, saying the merger of two of the four national wireless carriers would harm consumers nationwide by reducing competition in the market and putting access to affordable, reliable wireless service at risk.

AT&T to pay $60 million to settle FTC charges it ‘throttled’ customers with ‘unlimited’ data plans

Photo: Luismt94

AT&T will pay $60 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over allegations that the wireless provider misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds.

In a lawsuit filed in 2014, the FTC alleged that AT&T failed to tell its unlimited data plan customers that, if they reach a certain amount of data use in a billing cycle, AT&T would reduce – or “throttle” – their data speeds. As a result, many mobile phone applications, such as web browsing and video streaming, became difficult or nearly impossible to use.

“AT&T promised unlimited data – without qualification – and failed to deliver on that promise,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “While it seems obvious, it bears repeating that Internet providers must tell people about any restrictions on the speed or amount of data promised.”

Developers of ‘stalking’ app settle with FTC

Under a settlement, the Federal Trade Commission has barred the developers of three “stalking” apps from selling apps that monitor consumers’ mobile devices unless they take steps to ensure the apps will only be used for legitimate purposes.

The FTC’s settlement with Retina-X Studios is the agency’s first case against “stalking apps” or “stalkerware.”

Retina-X developed and sold MobileSpy, PhoneSheriff, and TeenShield. These apps shared detailed information about a person’s smartphone activities – such as call history, text messages, photos, GPS locations, and browser history – without the smartphone owner’s knowledge. They were marketed for monitoring children and employees, but if misused, they let abusers track people’s physical movements and online activities.

What to look for in Columbus Day-Indigenous Peoples Day sales

Before Black Friday, Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day sales are occurring, and some of them are worth shopping.

However, the last couple of years, DealNews, a comparison shopping website, has seen a downturn in Columbus Day-Indigenous Peoples Day sales. In 2018, it listed only 22 Columbus-Indigenous-branded sales between October 1 and October 13. However, within that same time frame, DealNews listed 161 sales total. Aside from the Columbus-Indigenous branding, it saw many clearance, friends and family, fall, and harvest events, and even a "Rediscover America" sale.

These alternate names could be due to the controversy surrounding Columbus Day, according to DealNews. However, it's also possible that many retailers don't want to add another sale to their lineup so close to Black Friday.

DealNews offers these tips for Columbus Day-Indigenous Peoples Day sales:

Match.com used fake ads that tricked consumers into paying for subscriptions, FTC charges

The Federal Trade Commission is suing online dating service Match Group, the owner of Match.com, Tinder, OKCupid, and other dating sites, alleging that the company used fake love interest ads to trick hundreds of thousands of consumers into buying subscriptions on Match.com.

The FTC also alleges that Match exposed consumers to fraud. In addition, the agency alleges Match offered false promises of “guarantees,” failed to provide services to consumers who weren’t successful in disputes, and made it difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions.

“We believe that Match.com conned people into paying for subscriptions via messages the company knew were from scammers,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Online dating services obviously shouldn’t be using romance scammers as a way to fatten their bottom line.”

What to look for in Labor Day 2019 sales

With summer coming to an end and the back-to-school shopping keeping people busy, it’s helpful to have information about Labor Day sales so you can get the best deals possible. During the Labor Day sales, you'll find lots of bargains. Look for reduced prices on clothing, appliances, computers, phones, electronics, and furniture.

WalletHub, a personal-finance website, has analyzed the Labor Day sales this year and offers information on the top deals:

Best labor day deals and sales

Dishwashers are the best items to buy in September, compared to the rest of the year.
 

2019’s 10 best Labor Day deals

1. Invicta Women's Watch – 50 percent off	6. Sealy Queen Mattress – 63.09 percent off
2. Kenmore Washer – 46.15 percent off	7. HP OfficeJet Printer – 33.34 percent off
3. Abbyson Giorgio Sofa Set – 50 percent off	8. Samsung Refrigerator – 33.34 percent off
4. Nikon D3500 DSLR Camera - 41.22 percent off	9. NordicTrack Elite Elliptical – 59.38 percent off
5. Women's Laguna Bike – 33.33 percent off	10. Samsung 65" Smart TV – 31.25 percent off

See WalletHub's report the “Best Labor Day Deals & Sales” for more information. The report has a listing of the amount of discounts dozens of stores are offering on clothing, appliances, computers and phones, electronics, packaged goods, furniture, toys, and other categories.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Attorneys general and telecommunications companies join to stop robocalls

Fifty-one attorneys general announced an agreement Thursday with 12 telecommunications providers on a set of principles intended to limit and prevent robocalls. The providers have agreed to incorporate these principles into their business practices.

This agreement comes from the work of a group of attorneys general who in 2018 formed the Robocall Technologies Working Group. The group collaborated with telecommunication providers to make it more difficult for scammers to use robocall technologies to intrude on and defraud consumers.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have joined this agreement with the following telecommunication companies: AT&T, Bandwidth, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Consolidated, Frontier, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, and Windstream.

Are you ready to go back to cable?

It's August, so I guess my Comcast TV contract has run out. How do I know? I got a bill for $185.65 instead of the usual $145.25.

When I first signed up for Comcast in 2008, I chose to get the $99 bundle: $33 for television, $33 for internet, and $33 for a landline phone. Every year or two since then when my contract runs out, I've had to beg, plead, and yell to get Comcast to offer me the $99 bundle again. I have to ask for the supervisor and/or call back another day to try. It's so frustrating. The price for the services should be the price for the services. Having hidden prices is unfair to all customers.

I haven't "cut the cable" because I don't watch much TV. In addition, there isn't a company in my area that's going to be any better than Comcast for providing internet services.