Are consumers getting the short end of the stick?
It seems there are many things consumers are paying for these days that they aren’t and may never see the benefit of. Another bill that consumers are expected to pay and not get the service for is their cable or streaming TV services with sports content.
All popular sports content has been either canceled or postponed during the last three months because of the coronavirus pandemic. But in the process, most consumers have continued to pay for some sort of sports content that has not been delivered.
So a fair question is are refunds in order? The short answer is it depends on how you are subscribing. You are either paying for sports content as part of an overall television or live-streaming package, or you are paying an additional fee for premium sports content.
If you are paying for regional sports networks as part of your streaming or cable subscription, you’re unlikely to see any refunds. The reason is because the television provider isn’t getting paid either and technically they are still providing the channels you paid for with your subscription there just isn’t any content to view.
If you are paying for premium service like sport-specific subscriptions that are solely for broadcasting games, you’re in a much better position to get a refund for games that don’t happen. Service providers, like subscribers, are also customers of broadcasters. So if the leagues aren’t giving credits to the networks then the networks aren’t offering credit to subscribers. In fact, most service providers are silent about refunds hoping that if subscribers don’t ask then they won’t have to respond.
But football season is right around the corner and many fans prepay for premium services like the NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL RedZone channels. The bottom line is customers should complain and seek refunds for services that aren’t provided. Failure on the part of these networks and broadcasters to figure out how to either provide content or offer credits/refunds may have a long-term impact on their revenue stream.
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Online chain letter games go by many names but here’s a few: “The Circle Game,” “Blessing Loom,” “Giving Circle” or “Money Board.” The game can seem harmless, making it tempting to play because it offers you the chance for a big return with only a small investment.
But don’t fall for this old trick, because you are probably going to just lose your money and pull your friends into the “game,” where they will lose their money too. These scams are really chain letter pyramid schemes.
This version promises that you will collect $800 for an investment of $100 and, at the same time, you will be bringing good fortune to someone else by recruiting them to join. Social media is the most likely way scammers contact their target. They invite you to join the Circle or Loom by sending $100 through PayPal or some other payment service to the person who is named at the center of an octagonal shaped playing board.
Your name goes on one of eight spots on the outer ring but you can move toward the center and ideally the inevitable payout by recruiting other people to join. So as you recruit more people, your board changes and the number of playing boards expand. Eventually, you are supposed to land in the center spot on the board and collect $100 from each of eight new recruits on the outer ring of the board. At that point, you leave the game or start all over with another $100 payment that lands you an outer ring spot.
The problem is these games only work if you keep recruiting new people and they keep playing and paying. Since there are no products sold and no real investment creating the profits, once players run out of new recruits to bring into the game, the money dries up and those waiting to get into the center circle will be left empty handed.
If you get an offer to join one of these online games, best to steer clear. You can report it to the www.ftc.gov/complaint to help protect others from this scam.
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The IRS has reminded us that deposits for the economic impact payment checks come without action. I’ve continued to receive some calls and emails from readers who are letting me know that checks are still trickling in.
According to the IRS timeline, paper checks will be issued at a rate of about five million per week, which could take up to 20 weeks to get all the checks out. So if you haven’t received your check yet, the IRS has a warning to be careful of calls with offers to expedite your check for a fee because this service does not exist. Also be aware that scammers refer to these payments as “stimulus check” or “stimulus payment” but this is not the official term. Instead the official term is economic impact payment.
If you are a non-filing taxpayer you might be eligible to receive a payment. You can get information on the IRS website, which explains under what scenarios you can use the non-filers tool on the website.
The IRS is encouraging people to visit its website at www.irs.gov to check for payment status and find other information about the economic programs for tax relief and loan information due to COVID-19. You can find payment status under “get my economic impact payment.” The IRS is encouraging people to use the website but has recently added a phone number to call at 800-919-9835 for status information and general questions.
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Remember: I’m on your side.
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If you have encountered a consumer issue that you have questions about or think our readers should know about, please send me an email at terridickersonadvocate@gmail.com or call me at 208-274-4458. As The CDA Press Consumer Gal, I’m here to help. I’m a copywriter working with businesses on marketing strategy, a columnist, a veterans and consumer advocate living in Coeur d’Alene.