Consumer Affairs

Consumer Affairs with Sheryl Harris - cleveland.com

• FTC wants to bar telemarketers from taking Green Dot MoneyPaks, MoneyGrams
  The Federal Trade Commission today said it wants to ban telemarketers from accepting four of their favorite payment methods, including Green Dot MoneyPaks and wired funds.
  
  
• More credit myths that can trip you up: Plain Dealing
  Why credit scores aren't "debt scores." Why you can't hide credit card debt by shuffling it between low-interest cards. And other burning credit questions.
  
  
• CallFire to pay $75,000 to settle FTC robocall charges: Plain Dealing
  Skyy Consulting Inc., which does business as CallFire, had a "don't ask, don't know" policy about asking clients about the prerecorded calls they wanted to blast to consumers, according to the FTC's suit against the company.
  
  
• Does chasing the best credit card deals ding your score? Plain Dealing
  Yes, the traditional wisdom is that closing and opening accounts can ding your score -- but there are reasons you may want to do it anyway. Weighing the pros and cons.
  
  
• Land scam ringleader sentenced to 6 years: Plain Dealing
  Telemarketers contacted owners of vacant land with assurances the land was worth more than they realized and a buyer was willing to pay top dollar. Victims were lured to pay up to $16,000 to help the nonexistent sale go through.
  
  
• Reservation vanishes when hotel swaps brand names: Plain Dealing
  A confirmed reservation is supposed to mean you're a guaranteed room. But a consumer who booked a room far in advance discovers her reservation disappeared when a hotel switched its brands.
  
  
• Medical-related telemarketing calls target seniors: Plain Dealing
  Two medical-related telemarketing calls are still going strong. Tell older relatives about these.
  
  
• Free Android offer has a hidden catch: Plain Dealing
  Fill out a survey and get a free Android tablet? It's not quite that simple. The BBB warns this mailed offer is used to lure consumers into sales presentations for travel clubs or travel vouchers -- and even then, some consumers say, they can't get the tablet.
  
  
• Return without receipt locks up prepaid card: Plain Dealing
  Don't send one of these unless you tuck in the receipt.Associated Press  Q. I returned a $250 designer sweatshirt with all the tags attached. It was a gift, and I didn't have the receipt, so I asked the store...
  
  
• Six reasons to keep receipts: Plain Dealing
  If you tend to throw away receipts, stop it. Here are six good reasons to keep receipts where you can find them.
  
  
• Ohio attorney general sues Parma contractor J & M Roofing
  The attorney general's office said it received three complaints against the company since August 2012. Two consumers complained they paid J & M about $4,000 for work that was never completed.
  
  
• Ohio Supreme Court agrees to hear payday loan appeal
  The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a payday lending case that caps interest rates on payday-style loans at 8 percent for lenders who aren't licensed under the state's Short Term Lending Act. In other words, all payday lenders.
  
  
• Consumer bureau study zeroes in on payday lending by banks and stores: Plain Dealing
  The CFPB's study, drawn from payday store and bank data, shows consumers struggle to pay off the loans. "For too many consumers, payday and deposit-advance loans are debt traps," said Director Richard Cordray.
  
  
• Scam alert - Watch for bogus e-ticket confirmations: Plain Dealing
  Once in your computer, these seemingly neutral bits of code activate. They reach across the internet to draw additional malicious code to them, literally building themselves into bigger, nastier malware.
  
  
• Ohio legislators get it wrong on payday lending - again: Plain Dealing
  What's good for a database company is good for Ohioans? Not so fast. Legislators set aside plan to track payday borrowers - but only temporarily.
  
  
• Struggling with saving? America Saves will text you tips: Plain Dealing
  Sign up for the text program before the end of the month and you'll be eligible for a drawing for $500 to put toward your savings goal.
  
  
• Auto Marketing Systems' 'guaranteed' refund stalls: Plain Dealing
  Auto Marketing Systems is, for lack of a better word, an ad sniper who hunts customers by monitoring online classifieds at better-known, higher-traffic websites nationwide. (Plain Dealer classifieds run online at cleveland.com.). Auto Marketing solicits car sellers to buy a pricey 90-day placement for online ads and soothes the sting of the cost with the offer of a "money back guarantee."
  
  
• Database that tracks payday loans tucked into Ohio's budget
  The entity pushing hardest for creation of a statewide database to track payday loans: Veritec Solutions, a Florida company that operates payday loan-tracking databases. The costs would be passed on to borrowers.
  
  
• Stand up for consumers: Easy ways to tell Congress to confirm Cordray for CFPB
  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - the federal agency's whose job is to protect consumers from financial fraud -- can't do its job without a director. And it can't get a director without your help. If you haven't weighed in, do. If you don't know how, Consumers Union created a template to help you get started.
  
  
• Foreclosed homeowners to begin receiving settlement checks: Plain Dealing
  Homeowners should watch for scams as the government begins sending out the latest settlement checks from the foreclosure fiasco.
  
  
• Directory scams trick consumers into costly listings: Plain Dealing
  Gardner said he knew there were dozens of companies that use the “Yellow Pages” name, which is no longer trademarked. He was sure he would have verified he was dealing with the AT&T Yellow Pages, where the church preferred to advertise, before he agreed to a listing.