When I take my car in to the dealership where I bought it, I expect the service department to let me know if a needed repair is covered under my extended warranty. Recently, someone shared with me an experience which makes me wonder whether, along with the paperwork evidencing my warranty coverage, I've also misplaced my trust. This individual took his car in for a major repair and was given an estimate of $1,500 and told that his warranty did not cover the repair because his vehicle mileage exceeded the maximum warranty mileage. Later, thinking back to the time of purchase, he recalled that the very same dealer had sold him an extended warranty that covered repairs for a much longer period of time. In fact, he was "persuaded" to purchase an extended warranty for almost $2,000 when his credit report proved to be less than stellar. Along with a higher interest rate, financing was made contingent upon his purchasing the extended warranty. I can understand the higher interest rate, since that arguably relates to the greater risk assumed by the financing company. However, I don't understand how the purchase of a supposedly optional warranty reasonably relates to a customer's credit rating. In my opinion, requiring a customer who is already required to pay a higher interest rate to purchase a warranty as a condition of financing is equivalent to charging a double penalty. My question: Is this practice permitted by law?
Of course, the dealership's failure to recognize the extended warranty a couple of years later, despite its sophisticated computer records, only added insult to injury. It's hard for me to believe that a dealership that would coerce a customer to purchase an extended warranty in the first place would then innocently forget about its existence later on.
Like everyone else I know, I hardly have time to read my important mail, much less junk mail. Usually, I ignore awards certificates from credit card companies offering me free gadgets I don't need or magazines I'll never read. My sister showed me something yesterday that looked to me like a typical magazine subscription award certificate. This is what it says:
As a valued Cardmember, you are entitled to claim Awards worth up to
$101.00 from the choices on the back. Simply select your favorite
magazines and redeem your Awards Certificates right away for fifteen
months, which includes three extra months at no cost, for the annual
price.
Sounded like a good deal to me -- a year plus three months for free. But then I thought, wait a minute, what's this about the "annual price?" So, I looked all over the form, and in microscopic print is the statement that by redeeming the award, you authorize the credit card company to charge your account for the annual price. So, what they're offering for free is just the three extra months. Someone is paid to come up with ambiguous language to fool people into believing, at first glance (which is about where it ends with alot of people, myself included), that the subscriptions are free.
Which leads me to wonder (1) how small can print be before it's legally too small? (there must be some regulation that governs this), and (2) what kind of dehumanizing training do you have to undergo to become a writer of awards certificates like this?
Doing business on eBay can be risky, despite safeguards and complaint procedures put in place to protect users. Because you can transact business with relative anonymity in this marketplace, it invites unsavory characters to use it as a vehicle for stealing from the unwary. One story I heard recently is of a saavy individual who suspected that an interested buyer of his laptop computer was using a fake escrow service. The seller pretended to go along with the sale, exchanging many emails with the buyer regarding details of the transaction, which the seller then chronicled on a discussion board at Something Awful Forums. Ultimately, the seller sent the laptop computer to the designated location -- the real one replaced with one made clumsily of cardboard pieces -- which the buyer paid hundreds of dollars in duty charges to pick up in London. Apparently, there's been no word from the buyer since the pick-up. The entire story can be read in one piece here -- thepowerbook.pdf.
I went to the FTC website and filed a complaint about the travel service subscription that my father was automatically signed up to because he neglected to send back an offer from American Express with the "decline" box checked. Here is the initial response I received by e:mail:
Thank you for visiting the FTC's web page and for using our NEW electronic Talk To Us form. Here's what happened to your information after you sent it to us:
One of our consumer counselors reviewed the information you sent us. If it was related to the FTC's law enforcement responsibilities, we entered it into our shared law enforcement data system. We share this data system with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Attached is your electronic response, which includes your reference number. Any enclosures can be found at www.FTC.GOV under the News Releases, Publications, Speeches option.
Information from consumers like you helps Federal, State and Local authorities investigate possible illegal practices and enforce our laws. Someone from the Federal Trade Commission or another law enforcement agency may contact you if they need additional information to help them in an investigation.
Thank you for using our Talk To Us form, and please continue to use the FTC's web page, www.ftc.gov, to get free information to help you avoid costly consumer problems.
Who knows if I'lll get any follow-up response, but I think it's important to file these sorts of complaints. If a significant number of complaints are filed regarding the same scam, it's more likely that the FTC will take action to stop it. It's a slow process at best. The only power consumers have is the sheer force of the great number of us out who are out there making the economy look rosy and sweet and keeping those in the credit industry solvent.
This morning, my mother showed me this notice of outstanding debt that was sent to my father from T&L Elite Traveler. She was about to throw it out because she thought it was junk mail. It said that my father had a past due payment of $79.00 owing to this company. He never signed up for this service, doesn't even know what it is. So, I called the number on the bill and demanded that this service or whatever it is be cancelled immediately. When I asked how in the world my father came to be registered with Elite Traveler, the customer service representative nonchalantly explained that "oh, he probably just neglected to check the 'decline' box on the American Express offer he received in the mail." So, now we have to read every piece of junkmail in case there's an offer that becomes effective immediately if we don't check the "decline" box and send it back? What is this? Now, I'm wondering about all the magazines I never subscribed to that keep coming to me in the mail. Did I simply neglect to check the "decline" box? Which of my credit cards is is being billed for these subscriptions?