Consumerist
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how to
Avoid An IRS Audit
How can you avoid an IRS audit? There's a .58% chance if you make 20-50k that you'll be audited by the IRS, but that still adds up to 259,794 unlucky people. Here's some strategies on how you can avoid becoming one of them: More »
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travel
What Do You Do If You Have Tickets On A Bankrupt Airline?
What do you do if you have a flight planned on one of the three airlines, ATA, Champion and Aloha, that filed for bankruptcy and terminated all flights this week? First thing to do is if you paid with a credit card company, call them up and ask for a refund. An ATA insider tells us, "When an airline bills you for your ticket, they don't receive payment—the money's escrowed until you fly or the terms of the contract are met, i.e. one year validity limit, so the bankruptcy doesn't affect those customers." Elliot.org has the run-down of other options: On the press release level, United Airlines has agreed to take on Aloha Airlines passengers, but anecdotal evidence suggests the ground-level customer service reps are bungling the hand-off. Southwest has agreed to rebook ATA passengers, but the language suggests this deal is only good for flights that were codeshares between the two airlines. Lastly, if you bought your ticket with ATA by check or cash, you can claim a refund, for probably a fraction of its value, after the airline is liquidated.
My airline is grounded — now what? [Elliot]
(Photo: $arah Murray) -
retail
Haggle With Chain Stores
The Times is reporting that recession-fearing chain stores like Best Buy, Home Depot, and Circuit City are increasingly more desperate to clinch sales by negotiating prices. Hit the jump to see how ordinary shoppers are wielding research and charisma to knock added savings out of retailers. More » -
how to
Fight Fraudulent Credit Card Charges
A thief charged over $1,600 to my credit card at Bed Bath & Beyond. Here's how I responded:
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photos
Inside The Consumer Reports Testing Facility
Ever wonder how Consumer Reports figures out which products to recommend? For one, it takes mad science, like this echo-free room that sits on a different foundation from the rest of the building. I was up at the Consumer Reports HQ yesterday for a planning meeting related to a blogger's conference they're planning for June, and they were nice enough to give me a quick tour of their testing facilities. I snapped some 33 pictures with my cellphone camera. Check them out in the interactive photo essay gallery, inside... More »
2:10 PM on Wed Mar 19 2008
By Ben Popken
11,087 views, 29 commentsLatest by larry_y: I find CR useful. I go there as a starting point for washers, dryers, lawn mowers, cordless drills, elliptical more »
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features
Interview With Ron Burley, Customer Service Avenger
"There's only one leverage any consumer has with a company. And that's financial." So says Ron Burley, author of UNSCREWED: The Consumer's Guide To Getting What You Paid For. I got to interview Ron Burley to plumb his brain about his customer satisfaction hacks, and the current state of affairs of customer service. His techniques are bold and make no apologies. We're not talking letters, and forms, and complaint departments. These are real methods for real people that work real fast. He also goes into the mindset that you need to develop if you're going to get results. Bookmark this post, it's an epic barnburner. Transcript, inside...
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12:00 PM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Ben Popken
15,606 views, 41 commentsLatest by Cliff_Donner: OK, I have not read this book, only this blog and its accompanying posts. Burley's advice does not seem more »
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how to
Choose A Qualified Tax Preparer
A qualified tax preparer can be the difference between a meaty refund and a soul-crushing audit. The Washington Attorney General has several excellent pointers to help you find the right professional to prepare your return. More » -
identity theft
Go Buy A Shredder Right Now
A shredder is an indispensable tool for keeping your identity safe and secure. If you receive credit card offers or have old bank statements littering your files, then you can't do without a cross-cutting shredder to slice and dice your personal information into an indecipherable medley of confetti. Frugal For Life points out a few of the many reasons we all should be devout shredders. More » -
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credit reports
Know Where To Fix Your Credit Score By Getting Your Reason Codes
If you want to improve your credit score, a score from 300-850 that lenders use to determine whether you qualify for a loan and how much interest to charge you if you do, you'll want to know your "reason codes." These are 2-digit numbers that come with you credit score when you purchase it. Each bureau usually gives you four reason codes with their report, so get your score from each one for a total of 12. One wiki tutorial says that reason codes are listed in order of importance. Armed with that, The Mechanics Of Credit site decodes all the reason codes and prescribes solutions for each one. With this info and tactics, you should be able to boost your score a couple of points and save a bundle.
(Photo: KUTV)
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taxes
I-CAN! Files Your State And Federal Tax Returns For Free
I-CAN! is a web-based tax preparation tool that will file your tax return completely free of charge. I-CAN has no eligibility criteria or income restrictions and will eFile your state return for free if you live in California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania or Montana. It almost sounds too good to be true. So why isn't I-CAN! a member of the IRS' Free File Alliance? More » -
leaks
Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups
Ever wonder why gadget store employees push Monster cables like they're crack? Bitchin' markups, just like you suspected (or knew) all along. That's what we found when a Radio Shack employee sent us his store's entire inventory list, which included the wholesale and retail price of every item in stock.
UPDATE: Monster Responds To "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff" Story More »
10:16 PM on Thu Feb 7 2008
By Ben Popken
213,454 views, 236 commentsMost discussed mike: But...but...Monster cables are gold plated. That makes the digital signal supercharged so that it can go into speakers and more »
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tools
Easily Compare Wholesale Mortgage Rates Online
Mortgage Professor has a great no-frills online tool for tracking the wholesale mortgage rates. Just go here, Select your geographic area, and time period to look at. Choose whether you want your data in chart or table format (I suggest table, as the chart data isn't as up to date), and what kind of mortgage you want to look at. You can further sort the results by FICO, loan purpose, loan size, type of documentation, or size of down payment. The data comes from Amerisave. A great way to check out mortgage rates, and how strong you have to be to get them. Plus, you can use it to compare how much of a markup your broker is charging.
Mortgage Wholesale Rates [The Mortgage Professor]
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isps
Tired Of Your Entrenched Service Provider? Consider A Local Alternative
Few consumers realize they can ditch their monopolistic service providers in favor of local, independent telecoms that often offer similar services at competitive rates. These smaller outfits depend on service, not size, as reader Sharpstick recently discovered:In the Charleston SC area we are fortunate to have local a internet / phone / cable provider called Knology that has made customer service an art form.
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diy
13 Ways To Make Your Own Swiffer Pads
Swiffers are awesome but it sucks to keep buying those pads for $1 a piece. Here are 13 ways to make your own Swiffer pads. Save money or save the planet. Your choice. More » -
scams
How Your 401(k) Is Ripping You Off
Another chapter in Bob Sullivan's excellent book Gotcha Capitalism explores how Wall Street quietly devours your retirement plan through an array of hidden fees. Bob quotes a Wall Street money manager as saying, "If we had to disclose fees, half the people in this room wouldn't have jobs." More »
1:00 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Ben Popken
22,534 views, 61 commentsLatest by WayneProculus: Why not just completely ditch a risky and high cost 401k plan and set up a 7702 Private Plan instead? more »
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jobs
How To Recession-Proof Your Career
With the economy on the brink of recession, many folks are concerned about their jobs. Will the company downsize or have temporary layoffs? Will employees be asked to forego raises or (gasp!) take pay cuts? The Wall Street Journal addresses this issue head-on and lists eight tips for recession-proofing your career. They offer some good suggestions, but here are two we especially like: More » -
taxes
2007 Federal Tax Law Changes
Every year, as way to make itself feel important and useful, the federal government makes modifications to the tax code. Here's a detailed breakdown of all the changes for 2007 and how they affect your wallet, from AMT exemption amounts, to deductions for business-related mileage. More »
1:00 PM on Wed Jan 30 2008
By Ben Popken
16,957 views, 54 commentsLatest by friendlynerd: @rhombopteryx: Nah. bought it in 2005, been paying ever since. But thanks for thinking of me :) more »
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personal finance
Get Tax Advice Over The Phone With FreeTaxQuestion.com
If you're uncertain about something on your taxes, you can get free tax advice over the phone until Jan. 31, thanks to a special TurboTax promotion at FreeTaxQuestion.com. Just enter your question and name, phone, email, and best time to reach you, and an IRS enrolled tax pro will call you and help you out. If you're worried that this is just a lead generation ploy, use a disposable email address and disposable phone number. The FiLife blog tried it and had to submit their question twice, but they got it answered and answered good. They said that TurboTax was casually mentioned among the array of options one could use to finish filing, but there was otherwise no overt product pushing.
FreeTaxQuestion [Official Site]
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New York, 6:37 PM
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