Consumerist
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small claims court
Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy
Taking a big company to small claims court sounds like a big hassle but reader Bill has done it successfully three times. He says the time and effort spent on taking a company to small claims court is far less then how it long it takes to get companies to fix above-average in complexity problems.
Here's his typical expenditure for a small claims suit: $24 and 45 minutes. The $24 is the cost to file a claim. The 45 minutes includes his total time of driving to and from court to file, as well as the time spent on the phone with the company when they call to settle.
See, in all cases, he hasn't even had to go to court: the company calls him up the day before the court date and gives him a settlement. It seems they prefer to do that then pay to fly a company representative who isn't fully versed on all the facts to court. Here's his true story of how he got what he deserved from Tmobile and Washington Mutual, without breaking a sweat. More »
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how to
Dispute An Airline's So-Called "Weather Delay"
Unless it's due to the weather, if there's a flight delay or cancellation, passengers are entitled to some kind of refund, unless of course it's due to the weather, but are flight delays as due to the weather as often as airlines say they are? And how would you go about proving otherwise? Well, as a fascinating interview posted over at airline blog Elliot.org informs us, you could always hire the services of a forensic meteorologist. More »
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customer service
It's Time To Call The Credit Card Company When...
No Credit Needed reminds us that we can call the credit card company and ask them to do nice things for us, like:
If you have a high interest rate, you can ask them to charge you a lower rate...
More »
If you have been charged a late fee, you can ask them to waive it...
If you are over your limit, you can ask them to increase it...
If you want to consolidate balances, you can ask them to waive balance transfer fees... -
how to
Get 100 Gallons Of Heating Oil For Free
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants to give you 100 gallons of free heating oil to help survive the cold cruel capitalist winter. The hogshead of liquid warmth is available to anyone enduring a financial hardship who fills out a handy online form. More » -
get to human
How To Never Wait On Hold With Your Credit Card Company
Reader Jamie shares a neat workaround so that he never has to wait on hold with his credit card company. He says that whenever he calls, "I do not use the 800-number on the back of the card. Instead, I use their outside-the-US instructions on the back of the card and call them collect at their regular phone number. When the credit card thinks that they are paying international collect call charges, they do NOT put you on hold - they take your call right away!"
Sorry if this makes you sad, companies, but this what your interminable queue times have driven us to. We're not going to sit in your cattle chutes anymore. You've wasted enough of our time, now we're going to waste your money.
(Photo: JCardinal18)
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taxes
Which Tax Records You Should Keep
Now is a good time to clean out your folders and files of unneeded paperwork, while still making sure you're holding on to the tax records that you need to. Real Simple has a great chart that will tell you exactly what to keep and what to toss, split into whether you should toss an item every month, after one year, seven years, or keep forever. In addition, this Kiplinger article goes into the reasons why it's important to keep some records for the specified period of time. The exercise will also help you get your papers in order for the upcoming tax season, which, as we've started seeing ads for tax prep software, is now upon us.
Deciding Which Financial Records to Keep [Real Simple]
(Photo: megan_soh) -
money management
Finance Website Buxfer Lets You Store Sensitive Data On Your Own Computer
With its new Google Gears functionality, Buxfer might finally be the answer for people who want the bells and whistles of an online personal finance website (hello Mint!)—charts, pretty colors, and general infoporn goodness—without having to blindly trust an unknown company with sensitive data such as bank account or credit card numbers (goodbye Mint!). The service uses Google Gears to store account login information and credentials on your own computer, then syncs the data collected with the Buxfer servers, writes VentureBeat. More » -
cars
7 Things To Regularly Check On Your Car To Save Money
They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and the adage applies very well to keeping your car running right. Here's 7 common sense things you need to be checking on your car on a regular basis to save yourself a lot of money in the long run. We found the tips in the summer 2007 issue of our USAA member magazine. They're all pretty obvious, which is why you'll be smacking yourself in the head if you don't do them, so read up and make sure you're on schedule. More » -
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If you're serious about keeping your personal information safe, then make sure you wipe your computer's hard drive with something like Eraser or Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) (both free) before handing it off to a friend, family member, or random stranger. [New York Times]
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personal finance
Confess Your Money Sins
Personal finance management site Geezeo is running a neat little section where people can leave their "money confessions." Here's some of the best so far:
- "Sometimes I have nightmares about being homeless. I wake up determined to save more money. And then don't do it."
- "I just paid for a pay-per-view movie that I know I have but just didn't feel like looking for it."
- "Just ignored 5 "unknown" callers. Oh I know who they are...Chase, Citi, WAMU. They'll have to wait another week."
- "My six year old daughter this morning: "why can't I have a credit card like moms?" yikes! "
- "If I bounce my mortgage check before the 30 day late limit - they will not report to credit agencies... $35 fee gets me 30 more days."
What things are you doing with your money that make you feel guilty? Leave your confessions in the comments.
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awards
The Consumerist's Top 10 Products Of 2007!
2007 was an amazing year for consumer products and we covered them all! From the hype of the iPhone to death-flavored pet food, if you buy it, we've probably got an opinion about it. More » -
tools
FeeDisclosure.com Analyzes Mortgage Fees
One of the dangers to watch out for when buying a home are the various kinds of fees that can crop up, and comparison shopping these fees is not always easy. Now there's a new site that gives you a reasonable baseline you can expect, specific to your area and property deal. Input your transaction, property and occupancy type, purchase price, and zipcode, and FeeDisclosure.com will tell what various fees you can expect in getting your mortgage. Much-needed transparency for a notoriously murky and shark-infested industry.
FeeDisclosure [Official Site]
Clicking the Way to Mortgage Savings [NYT via ConsumerWorldBlog] -
diy
Remove Pen Marks From Dolls With Acne Medications
Dirty dolls? Acne medication + sunlight = awesomely removing pen marks from dolls, blogs Baby Toolkit. Acne meds are diluted benzoyl peroxide. This reacts with the UVs in sunlight to release oxidizing agents that dissolve the pen marks, without bleaching the doll or removing paint. Instead of tossing out that dirty doll, you can clean it up.
Clear Unsightly Blemishes: the Case of the Ballpoint Baby Doll [Baby Toolkit via BoingBoing]
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travel
Get Around Delays By Bringing Airline's Timetable To The Airport
Upgrade: Travel Better has five awesome flying tips that could come in handy during the busy holiday travel season, or really, any time. We like this one in particular:
Carry the airline's timetable, or a list of alternate flights to your destination, which can be downloaded or printed from any airline's website. This is useful when you try for a rebooking or want to go standby. Let's say flights are delayed two hours across the board. The previous flight might still be waiting to push back from the gate. Check the timetable you brought with you and make a beeline for that earlier flight. Try to stand by and get out early, instead of waiting for hours for your scheduled itinerary.
What a good idea! Mark says that with this tip you should also keep alternate routes in mind, so if you're scheduled to go to LA through Chicago, it doesn't mean you can't get to LA by passing through Dallas. With the rise in airline delays and cancellations and overbookings, this is a tip definitely worth remembering.Five ways to get an edge over other air travelers [Upgrade: Travel Better]
(Photo: Getty) -
class action lawsuits
Get $25 From The Credit Card Companies
You may be entitled to a cash prize if you had a Visa, MasterCard, or Diner's Club Cards during any time between February 1 1996 and November 8 2006. A successful class action lawsuit contended that credit card companies overcharged customers for foreign transactions and didn't disclose the fees well enough. You can apply for a straight $25 refund, 1% of estimated foreign transactions, or annual estimation refund of 1-3% of foreign transactions for which you have records . Claim your moneys by filling out forms that were mailed to you, going to ccfsettlement.com, or calling 1-800-945-9890. It
is notis necessary to have actually conducted foreign transactions to claim the money.CCFsettlement [via Snopes] (Thanks to Takkun!)
Credit Card Settlement [NYT]
(Photo: mariachily) -
shopping
9 Better, Cheaper Ways To Search Amazon
The Amazon home page has somewhere around 16 different sales pitches, and more unnecessary graphics than a MySpace page. Here are 9 money-saving ways to shop the site without waiting for another customized ad to render.
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airlines
1(877)FLYERS6 - Stranded Holiday Traveler Help Line
If you're stranded or heavily delayed at the airport this holiday season, you may want to have 1(877)FLYERS6 saved in your cellphone contacts. That's a special free flyer hotline set up by the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights. They offer a variety of services, like emailing your family or business associates and let them know where you are, offering real-time weather and flight status information, and let you know about hotel or rental options, as well as help you deal with refund situations. If you're stuck on the tarmac and not being let off the plane, they will pass the info on and try to get media out to the airport.
Who's Been Naughty and Nice With the Airlines [Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights via Rick Seaney]
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taxes
Find Out What Your IRS Refund Will Be
What's your tax refund for 2007 going to look like? Go to this withholding calculator at the IRS website with your paycheck at your side, answer the questions, and they'll give you a good estimate of what your refund will be. They will also give you suggestions for changing your withholdings.
You only have a couple of weeks to use estimate your refund for this year, usually in mid-December they switch it over to 2008.
IRS Withholding Calculator [IRS] (Thanks to Anthony!)
(Photo: saramarie)
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