Learn from kind woman who lost $150K in scam
I got a call from a dear, compassionate lady who lost more than $150,000 in a scam allegedly benefitting Syrian children caught in the horrible fighting in that part of the world. She fell victim to a ruthless scammer and her own naive trust.
When you feel like you want to donate money, please do it through a recognized charity. Prior to sending anything — talk to your friends, relatives and adult children. The only good that may come out of this is that it provides a perfect example of what not to do.
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CARELESS LAWN CARE: Eight different consumers have called me reporting a certain lawn care company has been performing unauthorized, unwanted spraying of lawns, trees and shrubs, and then sending customers the bill. Sometimes customers have unknowingly signed agreements that call for periodic treatments to their landscaping. Sometimes, no such agreements exist, or have expired. When a consumer calls to complain, they are told they need to pay for the service or they will be sent to collections. Usually when the consumer persists, the charge is removed.
If you have problems like this, please call me, but before you call, be sure to call the company first. Write down the name and position of the person you talked to, the date of the service and your invoice number. Having that information will help me help you.
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BILL’S RANT: I get so tired of doctors being late for appointments. I was a hospital administrator for many years. With the exception of true emergencies, there is no excuse for doctors to be more than 10 or so minutes late for an appointment. I know doctors are busy and their time is valuable, but my time is valuable and I’m busy too! In college we were told we needed to wait 15 minutes for a full professor before we could leave a class because of a no-show, or we would be counted as absent. I would suggest the same rule for doctors. What if we were late for our appointments? I doubt that would go down very well. Just a thought.
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SUCCESS STORIES: Finally got the job done for two seniors who contracted with a patio refinisher. He charged them a total of almost $9,000 to do a simple job of refinishing two patios. They made the mistake of falling for his hard-luck story and paid him for the entire project in advance. You guessed it — once the check was cashed, the contractor disappeared. After a number of contacts by the seniors and a couple of severe calls from me, the project was completed! Lesson: Never give more than a 50 percent deposit (with the final balance paid AFTER the work is done to your satisfaction), and always have a written contract.
The second case involves Amazon. Usually when you order something from this company, it’s fairly easy to effect a return. Not so for a reader who thought she was getting a high-end camera but instead got a low-grade lemon. Many of Amazon’s products are sold through Amazon, but the merchant is not actually Amazon. In this case, the merchant was located in the center of New York City. Even though the camera never worked correctly, the seller wanted to try to “refurbish” the camera. The consumer didn’t pay for a refurbished camera, she paid for a new, fully functioning camera. After several unsuccessful attempts to resolve this matter with clerks at Amazon and the company in New York, she called me. I recommended she take the matter a little higher; write a personal letter to Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon. She did and voila, problem solved!
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GOOD GUY AWARD: A consumer brought an ongoing problem to the attention of Fred’s Appliance and they made it right — immediately! That’s why I recommend we do business with our local merchants!
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STUDENT LOAN SCAM: Be on the lookout for calls from companies that want to “help” you with your student loan debt. Readers who, like me, are looking at college and student loan debt in the rearview mirror should help counsel their children and grandchildren to avoid this kind of scam. The fees are recurring and outrageous. The “solution” they offer will likely ruin their credit rating. If you have questions — as usual — call me, please.
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IRMA and HARVEY CHARITIES: The people of Florida are probably about to get slapped with a major hurricane hit. Irma looks like it could be the worst in well over a decade. The poor people of Texas are just getting up from being knocked down. If you are in a position to donate, please do. When thinking about donating, NEVER donate to someone calling or emailing you. ALWAYS go to the website www.charitynavigator.com and find a worthy charity. If you don’t have a computer or access to the web — call me. I don’t mind. I’d rather get your call BEFORE you donate, instead of getting your call after you’ve been scammed.
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HERE’S AN IDEA: A reader called me to complain about getting a traffic ticket for passing a school bus on a multi-lane road. I did some research on the subject and found school bus traffic laws vary widely from state-to-state. The problem with this is, in addition to putting drivers at risk of getting some very expensive tickets, it also puts at risk the very kids the laws are supposed to protect. Drivers coming from other states, either permanently or on a temporary basis, can easily find themselves in violation of the laws.
How about instead of passing more federal laws, we develop a national template for traffic laws regarding school buses? There are many such “templates” when it comes to other issues that lawmakers face, especially as they regard business. That way each legislature could tweak the template so as to best fit with the states’ existing laws, but adopt the proposal on a non-partisan (maybe even unanimous?) basis. While we’re at it, the weeds growing up around many bus stops need to be cut down. They obscure drivers’ view of kids waiting at the stops. Let’s fix the problem BEFORE we have a tragedy!
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I have many more interesting cases that I’m working on as The CDA Press Consumer Guy. Call me at (208) 699-0506, email me at CDAPressConsumerGuy @gmail.com or fax me at (866) 362-9266. Also include your full name and a phone number. I am available to speak about consumerism to schools, and local and civic groups.
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Bill Brooks is the CDA Press Consumer Guy and an active Associate Real Estate Associate Broker for Tomlinson-Sotheby’s International Realty in Coeur d’Alene.