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Automobile Lemons A "lemon law" obligates a car manufacturer or a car seller to repair or replace a defective automobile or refund your money. If you suspect you have a "lemon", check out these Web pages to see how you can be recompensed. These sites have information about consumer strategies and the applicable laws for lemons. Web:
Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) promotes good business/consumer relations. At the BBB site, you can find local bureaus, read consumer warnings and related news, file a complaint online, read consumer buying guides, or obtain a report on a company or charity. Find out what the Better Business Bureau can do for you. Web: Consumer Information Catalog When it's late at night and you need a little something to read, check out the Consumer Information Center, which was established in 1970 to help federal agencies and departments develop, promote and distribute consumer information to the masses. Four times a year, the Consumer Information Catalog is published. This jewel has descriptive listings of hundreds of booklets from all sorts of federal agencies covering topics like buying a car, building a career, federal benefits and housing information. You can order a free copy of the Consumer Information Catalog by filling out this handy-dandy Web form. Web: Consumer Law Find out your rights as a consumer. This Web site offers information on various consumer pitfalls such as insurance fraud, product liability, toxic chemicals, bodily injury, and more. You will also find links to consumer law resources and information on how to file consumer complaints. There is lots and lots of information here, making it a good place to browse when you have a few spare moments. Web:
Consumer Line The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection has an online service called "Consumer Line". This service offers lots and lots and lots of online brochures relating to consumer protection. These brochures can inform you about art fraud, repossessions, financing scams, product purchases, and much, much more. Increase your consumer savvy by visiting this site. Web:
Consumer News Real news about real products bought by real consumers (you). Find out what is happening before the Joneses do. Web:
Consumer Product Safety Commission If you think you are safe because you stay home all the time and play on the Internet, think again. There are all sorts of dangers lurking around your house, just waiting to get you. That's why people in America have the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): an independent federal regulatory agency whose mission is to keep citizens safe from harmful products such as badly designed cribs, toy boxes or television remote controls. Here's the CPSC official site where you can find their latest news or report an unsafe product. Web: Consumer Ratings When it comes time to buy that brand new something-or-other, how do you know which brand of new something-or-other to buy? Easy. Check with the Net, where you'll find reviews and ratings on any consumer item or pastime you can imagine: household products, cars, computers, video games, electronics, sports equipment, books, movies, restaurants, and much, much more. Every now and then, someone telephones me and asks something like, "Harley, do you have any idea what type of kitchen knives I should buy?" I say, "Hold on a second, I have to make some tuna tea for my cat." It is the work of a moment for me to put my friend on hold, check one of these Web sites and learn all about kitchen knives. I then pick up the phone and say, "Okay, I'm back. Now what did you want to know about? Kitchen knives?" And then I sound like an expert (and you can too). Web:
Consumer Resources I think the word "consumer" is dumb. You read about consumer-this or consumer-that, as if a consumer is a special type of person with special problems that don't affect anyone else. ("Consumers to pay more for gasoline this summer.") The reality is that we are all consumers, and anything that has to do with buying and selling can affect us all. If you're like me, you love finding ways to beat the system. Wouldn't it be nice to save money and protect your privacy while you are consuming? I just found out how to keep the credit agencies from selling my personal information (which they are allowed to do in the U.S.). Web:
Consumer Talk and General Discussion Here are Usenet's general consumer forums. Send in your questions, share your answers, read the reviews, opinions, and general bad-mouthing of the bad guys. Before you spend your next dime, check with the world at large. Usenet:
Credit We're in a fast-moving world, and it is a rare person who is not hard-pressed to keep up with the popular culture. One crucial area of modern life is money and how it affects your credit. A good way to make sure you are capable of minding your financial Ps and Qs is to read the credit information on the Net, and prepare yourself to face the brave new financial world with confidence and style. Web:
Frauds, Scams and Rips-offs There is a massive amount of fraud in the world, and the best way to avoid it is to be able to recognize it. Before you lose your money, take some time to read about chain letters, "free" prizes, "free" vacations, 900-numbers, foreign lotteries, personal finance-related schemes, multilevel marketing, work-at-home schemes, telephone solicitations, and much more. If you think you have been the victim of fraud, you may be able to find help on the Net. Most fraud is perpetuated by dishonest swindlers, but you can protect yourself by not allowing yourself to be a victim. There is something about the thought of free money that makes people so greedy that they are willing to throw their judgment out the window. Please remember, if someone is offering you a deal that sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Web:
Free Stuff There is free stuff out there in the world, just waiting for you to ask for it. You can get all kinds of cool things for free -- phone calls, food, clothes, recipes, tickets and endless samples of miscellany -- just for asking. All the information is here, so clean out the garage in order to make room for more stuff. Web:
Usenet:
Funeral Planning Don't let the cost of dying ruin your day. When someone dies, the last thing you feel like doing is attending to all the details of arranging a funeral. So do yourself a favor and let the Net help. Use these resources to answer your questions and to give you the information you need. (Personally, I'd rather be caught dead than to be the guest of honor at a poorly planned, disorganized funeral.) Web:
Internet Fraud In May 2000, the United States FBI and NW3C (National White Collar Crime Center) established the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC). According to the IFCC, the most important types of Internet fraud are in the areas of online auctions (65%), non-delivered merchandise (22%), and credit cards (5%). It is important to understand that there is no Internet police force and no one to help you if you get into trouble. (The IFCC's job is to gather statistics and help the FBI track down criminals.) I cover Internet fraud and how to avoid it, in detail, in my book Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity (published by Prentice Hall PTR). In case you don't have the book, here is the best advice I can give you. Repeat after me: "If I get scammed on the Internet, no one is going to help me." Web:
Junk Mail Perhaps somewhere in the universe (say, on the planet Pluto), there is someone who actually likes junk mail, but I don't. I don't like the idea of my address being sold and resold by junk mailers, and I don't like my mailbox being filled with, well, junk. It's not just the inconvenience; after all, it's not hard to throw away junk mail. It's an emotional thing. I like to have control over my life, and I don't like junk mailers (or telemarketers or spammers) buying and selling personal information about me. If you are like me, you will appreciate learning how to remove yourself from the lists used by the junk mailers and other such direct marketing scum. Web:
National Institute for Consumer Education Do you know anyone who needs to learn about consumer issues? The National Institute for Consumer Education (a NICE organization) has information about fraud, credit, finance, bankruptcy, credit cards, car leasing, and much more. I say, if you're going to consume, do it knowledgeably. Web: Recalls As we enjoy our excellent adventure of living in the twenty-first century, let us take a moment to appreciate how much stuff we have. Yes, stuff is good, and stuff is important, but sometimes stuff doesn't work right. In such cases, there may be an official product recall, telling you that a particular item is unsafe or defective, and you can return it for an exchange or refund. My advice is to spend a few moments checking out these resources, where you will find the latest scoop on product recalls. After all, good stuff is good, but bad stuff is bad (and you can quote me). Web:
Tipping The thing about tipping is, if you don't do it right, you won't be a welcome customer. And if you aren't a welcome customer, a lot of strange things are going to happen to your food you would rather not know about. So learn about tipping: when, why and how much. Nothing is more suave than a man who nonchalantly offers exactly the right tip without even thinking about it (unless it is a woman who offers exactly t r t w e t a i). Web:
Unclaimed Property Wow! Free money! There are a variety of ways in which you might be entitled to money you don't even know about. For example, you may have left money in a bank account a long time ago. Or you may have an unclaimed utility deposit, insurance benefit, stock certificate or safety deposit box. In the United States, each state has rules as to how such property must be handled. In general, the state keeps track of it all and allows people to reclaim their lost treasures. The trick is, of course, to find your unclaimed property. Some people pay money to commercial services, some of which are scams. Even if they are legitimate, such services will take 10%-50% of the total amount. It is not necessary for you to pay for such information, as you can search on the Net for free. As I was researching this item, it happened that a friend of mine was sitting next to me watching me work. "Let's try your name," I suggested, so we did and -- Wow! Free money! -- in less time than it is taking you to read this sentence right now, we found money that she had left in an abandoned bank account. All she had to do is file a claim (which is free) and the money was hers. Web:
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