Consumer Complaints

Maybe you've picked up the phone recently to hear the following recording or something like it:

"Are you more than $10,000 in debt? We can help! Press #1 now to get connected with one of our agents and they can help cut you're debt in half for only a quarter of the cost."

Well, unfortunately a lot of these debt reduction agencies are nowhere near who they claim to be and most end up costing you money instead of waiving your debts. This is why The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has issued a consumer warning against those telemarketing calls and advertisements claiming to come from debt reduction agencies or anyone who claims to provide "debt reduction," "debt relief," "debt settlement" or "debt renegotiation."

"Unfortunately, people do not always see the benefits that debt reduction companies lead them to expect-and some people wind up even deeper in debt than they were before," says FCAC Commissioner Ursula Menke. "If an offer to reduce your debts seems too good to be true, it probably is."

The usual setup promises that the company can work out a deal with your creditors so that you're able to pay back only a small percentage of what you actually owe for "pennies on the dollar." It's quite the offer, but it may actually turn into a Faustian bargain.

Related Links:

• Debt Settlement or Credit Counseling?
• What is Debt Settlement?
• It's Never Too Late to Get On Top of Your Debt
• Debt Reduction: Five Steps to Freedom

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Be on the lookout for a few items that may have been brought by Santa in this week's recall report:

Health Canada has issued a recall for Little Tricky multi-purpose helmets that can be used as bicycle helmets. The helmets do not meet the safety requirements for collision testing.

The recall includes the Triple Eight S/M EPS helmet in black, white, bone, blue and green and Sector 9 S/M EPS helmet in gray, white, black, blue and green, both with the logo on both sides of the helmet and can be used for kids or youth.

Almost 1000 helmets were sold from August 2006 until December 2011, and consumers are asked to contact Triple Eight Distribution for a full refund at 1-888-548-8518.

Can you imagine, for example, a strange structure right beside a church, tall, adorned with a cross and looking perfectly innocuous? Guess what: it's a cellular telephony antenna under cover.

Unbelievable? If you enter an address of any place anywhere in the neighbourhood of the structure at this cell phone antenna locator, you will find out not only if it actually is a cellular phone antenna, but even which company it belongs to.

In fact, you will be able to locate all cellular telephone and paging installation anywhere in the country.

And this is a serious matter: there have been studies linking exposure to electromagnetic fields emanating from such towers, to a variety of complaints, some of them fatal. Incidence of cancer from using cell phones themselves, compared to these numbers, are perfectly laughable.

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Swipebids.com promised almost unheard of discounts on iPods, TVs, kitchen appliances, computers and gift cards, but all it ended up doing was swiping bidders' money.

They were an Alberta-based penny auction site investigated and subsequently shutdown by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission amid evidence of fraud. Like other penny auction destinations, Swipe Bids invited customers to buy bids in multiples of ten or more for between $0.50 and a $1.00 each. Those bids are typically used to try and win the auction item and each one brings the item's price up by a penny. On legitimate penny auction sites, like Quibids.com, any unused bids are banked on your account until you use them for the next auction.

Related Links:

• Banned: Stuff You Can't Sell on Ebay
• Senate Suggests Nixing the Penny
• Could This Be the End of Our Penny?

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I bet you didn't even know this.

Thanks to the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code, when the scanner price of a non-stickered item is higher than the shelf price, or any other displayed price, shoppers receive that item for free (up to $10). When a price is affixed to the item, the lowest price between the scanner price and the sticker price is applied and when two items are incorrectly priced, the first item will be free up to a maximum of $10, while the second item will be sold at the correct price.

Pretty sweet, huh? More than 10,000 retail outlets and grocery stores across Canada offer this little-known freebie that applies to all UPC code and price look-up merchandise, with the exception of prescription drugs, as long as the store is a participating member of the code. Unfortunately, liquor stores are not and I wanted to find out why.

Related Links:

• The QR Code Question: The Coolest Things Available by Barcode
• Secrets to Save More Money Now - Part Two
• 10 Ways to Save on Groceries

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If you're like any number of other people out there (this writer included), you have debt. If you have enough of it you may have noticed the growing number of advertising campaigns out there which have you, my dear target audience, locked squarely in their sights.

It's hard NOT to notice some of these campaigns – they're pretty aggressive. On Facebook: Ads promise to help you get out of debt in 36 months. The radio spots I've heard claim there's a "new government program" (Note: It turns out this is complete balderdash), and even though I'm signed up for the CRTC's Do Not Call list, I've received fair number of automated machine phone calls, again saying there's a new government program to help Canadians get out of debt: "Just press 1 now to be connected to a representative to see if you qualify."

Not only are the ads aggressive, their promise is oddly compelling, even if they do seem too good to be true.

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It makes perfect sense to try to save on your energy bills. Just as with any other bills.

Besides, you might feel you're helping to save the planet.

But some ways to save are safer than others. Same goes for the so-called Power Savers. Some might make sense to you (and your energy bill), but most make sense only to the bank accounts of companies that offer them.

Of course, it would have made perfect sense if you paid attention during your science classes. Classes debating physics would have been of particular interest. Anyone who tells you they are going to "stabilize" voltages and reduce currents on your power supplies and appliances should be dragged to the nearest law enforcement station.

Huh? They'll help cut your energy consumption by a quarter? By half, even? Next thing you know they'll be telling you they've got access to devices that use perpetual motion.

Does it come as a major surprise that most of such products don't work? It does to those who send complaints to their various power companies and to the Competition Bureau of Canada.

But calling the police would be logical, too.

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By Rita R. Robison

If you're ready to commit to going a gym to get fit, be careful.

Complaints against gyms and health clubs are increasing, reports the Better Business Bureau. In 2009, the BBB received more than 7,780 complaints, up 21% from the previous year.

Six California consumers, all of whom filed complaints with the BBB, told Consumer Ally their stories to help others avoid the pitfalls that they experienced."In Northeast California, complaints against health clubs rose 67.5% from 2009 to 2010," Katie Robison, spokeswoman for the Northeast California BBB, told Consumer Ally.

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Instant gratification is not all that it's cracked up to be. In fact, as British consumer research company Intersperience found out, more and more customers have become irritable when asked about the level of services they've been getting from the suppliers of goods or services they think they require for basic survival.

But does it mean that level of service has fallen beyond acceptable standards? Not necessarily.

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by Chris Owen, RSS feed

Arthur Berkowitz, a passenger on US Airways Flight 901 from Anchorage to Philadelphia, had no other choice but to stand up during his seven hour flight. It seems the next seat over was occupied by a passenger so overweight that it was impossible for Berkowitz to stay in his seat. Now, Berkowitz is speaking out about the ordeal.