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Money
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 00:00 |
 Save a few trees and maybe your identity. Nothing is more annoying than a mailbox full of unsolicited credit card offers and other miscellaneous junk mail. I have one credit card and I've opted out of receiving additional offers from the institution that provides it and every other financial services firm I do business with.
The problem however is with the lists sold by Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. If you have a decent credit rating there is a glut of unwanted mail headed for your mailbox. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation. Combine a little research with an unlocked mailbox and a credit offer and you've got a lot of big headaches for the victims. Not too mention it's pretty easy to amass more debt. As Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., observed during a congressional hearing, credit cards have turned into 'nothing less than wallet-sized predatory loans." Well,I don't know if I would go that far but it does truly make you think about "what's in your wallet'"
One way to combat the glut of mail and unwanted offers is to opt out of receiving them. This can be done over the phone or online. If you want to remove your name from lists for pre-approved offers of credit or insurance obtained from the four major consumer credit reporting companies, you will need to provide your personal information.
Yes, that might feel a bit uncomfortable but the truth is these companies already have this information and need to confirm it's really you opting out. The phone option only offers an option to Opt-out for 5 years while the online route offers a permanent Opt-out option.
The number to call is 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688). Or simply visit the Opt-out web site for more information. |
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Money
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Thursday, 08 August 2002 00:00 |
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The phone tree has killed customer service. It's gotten so bad that if it weren't such a waste of time it would be funny. How ridiculous is this? It makes you chuckle in a sad, pathetic way but mostly it's just frustrating as hell. Comcast took over AT&T's high-speed Internet access business last year and they're making the transition with all the seasoned aplomb of a freshman high school quarterback with a hangover and icy hot in his jock. They're cocky and everyone's waiting for them to get they're ass kicked. Yet the other prospects don't look so promising. In the meantime Comcast keeps jacking up the prices to pay for its marketing campaign that depicts dedicated employees doing whatever it takes. In reality, every person that has come to my house lately has been a contractor. I'm not sure how many dedicated employees are left at Comcast. DirectTV is no better. Sure the signal is better if everything is installed properly and the signal path from the dish to the box is clean, but trying to get someone on the phone that can actually help you out when things go wrong is a joke. If you have intermittent problems, forget it. Customer on phone "Well it's been going on and off." DirectTV "Well is it working now'" Customer "Well yeah, but it wasn't last night and," DirectTV "Well sir, call us when you have a problem and we'll get someone out to check it." What the hell' A friend of mine had this exact problem and it wasn't fixed until he wrote a letter to the president of the company. It was an installation issue and he was not crazy. If Cable were any better he simply would've switched services. It's like the choices are bad and worse.
Even MCI has gotten worse, if that's possible. They have this groovy all you can eat Neighborhood calling plan right. Well it sounds good in theory, as long as you are willing to choke down whatever additional services they tack on without your permission. I never asked for the fricking MCI voice mail or three way calling. I got it and couldn't get rid of it. I attempted for six months two have the voice mail turned off and the bill reduced. It never happened. I contacted MCI over the phone and online. I'm convinced they simply disregarded my request. Meanwhile I missed a few calls because my friends ended up in that voice mail wasteland which is far from convenient to dial into. It's not like a cell phone where you hit a couple of numbers and you're in. Anyway, now it's backed to SBC who's been spending so much money touting their trendy new name that I wonder how much money has been siphoned from customer service. And get this; the buffoons at MCI did finally call. However it was to collect for all the months of voice mail service I deducted from my payment. Again it took about an hour on the phone and talking to someone in management to get it cleared up. I'm looking forward to the phone call when they ask me to "switch back." Switch this! unless you give me free phone service for a year. I'm stuck with Comcast because I'm addicted to high-speed Internet access. The quality of digital cable is actually worse than the analog signal for many of the stations in the lineup. That's another over hyped and under delivered technology. Well, basically anything with the word "digital" in it. The quality of the signal is worse than direct TV. The performance of the box is slow and clunky. The remote is weak. All in all the quality is sub par. The good news is the analog signal is still available and can be routed to all rooms in the house. Direct TV requires a box for every TV and that can be cumbersome. Plus they charge you a nominal fee for everybox. And you are locked into a 1 or 2-year deal. So yeah, I hope Comcast gets its act together. But for now the new cocky kid in town is just good enough to get away with all this bad behavior. And don't think they don't know it. |
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Money
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Friday, 08 June 2001 00:00 |
 Gather 'round, children, and let me tell you of the olden times. Way back when, if you wanted to buy something, you had to reach into your pocket or purse and make sure you had enough cash. Or perhaps, you'd whip out the checkbook and see if enough funds lingered in your account to cover the purchase you were about to make.
Now--fuhgeddaboutit. The future is in technology-fueled cashless transactions-and the REAL future is in the mind shift that encourages mindless spending.
From iTunes to ringtones, from PayPal to ATM charges, we're spending huge gobs of cash we never actually see. The trend is unmistakable. Here's one data point: ten years ago, Visa International was a credit card company, with debit card transactions making up only 8% of its business. Now, debit cards are used in 60% of all Visa transactions. At the same time, people are using non-cash options for more and more of their payments--the average credit card transaction has dropped from $73 to $68 in just five years. Since things aren't generally getting any cheaper, we can conclude that people are buying smaller things more often with plastic.
So what' So this: when you disconnect people from cash, you seem to disconnect a basic control mechanism. I know of two teenagers, typical in every way, with typical wants and needs, who must be making the banking industry very happy. One of them has, in the past two weeks, overdrawn his checking account three times by using his ATM card to buy fast-food lunches. Each such overdraft triggered a $10 fee, which means this young man will have to put in 6 hours at his minimum-wage job just to pay the bank fees. Expensive hamburgers, those.
The other young person, similarly, swiped plastic to make a quick purchase: a Starbucks beverage. List price: about 3 bucks. Her price: $73, after her purchase knocked her into overdraft-land and an incredible $70 worth of bank fees was applied. It became a joke in her family--the $73 latte--and as a high school graduation gift she received a $146 Starbucks gift card with a suggestion that she "take a friend and buy two lattes".
Funny, but not so. Both kids come from families where financial responsibility is preached and practiced, but they are entering a world where the linkage between what you have in your pocket and what you want to buy is getting muddier every day. Want that new Beyonce' song to play on your mobile phone when your boyfriend calls' Download it. It's only a couple of bucks. Can't wait to hear the latest from U2' 99 cents, and it only takes seconds. Nobody to tell you your pocket's empty when your pocket's not even involved. |
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