Stress-free gift returns – National Consumers League

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Lining up for post-holiday sales and returns? To help ease the burden of returns, the National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer group, offers advice for increasing the chances of successful — and painless — holiday gift returns.

As surely as people buy holiday gifts, they also return holiday gifts. Returning merchandise successfully — and getting a refund you’re satisfied with — can pose a few challenges any time of year, but there are a number of things consumers can do before the return, or even before the purchase, to reduce stress, ease the process, and increase the odds of a successful transaction.

Know a store’s return policy before you buy. When you buy, know what you’re getting into — whether the return will be in the form of cash or store credit, at full price, the price that was paid by the purchaser, or some more recent marked-down price. Know whether having the receipt factors into this so you can decide whether politely going back to the gift giver to ask for the receipt is warranted.

Keep a paper trail. Go to the trouble of saving receipts from the beginning and keeping them handy in case there’s a need for a return. Having a receipt dramatically increases the chances of an outcome that’s to your liking.

As a gift-giver, give items in their full packaging. And as a recipient, don’t open the packaging of anything you know you don’t want to keep, particularly electronics. Policies that don’t allow returns for opened electronics items are common. If they do take it back, they may withhold a certain percentage of the return price and call it a “restocking fee.”

Spend your gift cards. They may lose value over time, so look at the fine print and spend them before they expire.

Prepare yourself for the worst. Stores have been tracking customers’ return habits for years. Some retailers subscribe to services that keep track of what consumers are purchasing and bringing back in an attempt to curb consumer return fraud — the returning of stolen goods. For honest consumers, this can cause problems, as some stores limit the amount of return activity to a certain number or value of annual merchandise returns. There’s a possibility if you’ve returned a lot of merchandise, you’ll be denied.

Be smart. Don’t wear it. Don’t damage it. Increase the chance of having a successful return by taking care of the item on its way back to the store and being a pleasant, polite customer. The post-holidays are stressful enough. Don’t contribute with a less-likely-to-be-helped attitude.

Check out the return policy of an online purchase. You may be able to bring it in-person to the brick-and-mortar store. You may have to pay to send it back, or the vendor may have provided you with a pre-paid postage slip. Or you may not be able to return it at all. Read the delivery information and return instructions for anything you purchase online, particularly if it’s meant to be a gift.

How American consumers can help stop the poisoning of children in Mali, Africa – National Consumers League

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By Reid Maki, Director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards

Did you happen to see Brian Williams’ news show Rock Center last week? It featured a chilling report about child gold miners in Mali, Africa. As many as 20,000 kids are estimated to work in Mali’s artisanal mines, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which released a report, “A Poisonous Mix: Child Labor, Mercury, and Artisanal Gold Mining in Mali.”

HRW, a member of the Child Labor Coalition, which is co-chaired by NCL, found that kids as young as six years old “dig mining shafts, work underground, pull up heavy weights of ore, and carry, crush and pan ore.” As if this backbreaking labor wasn’t bad enough, “many children also work with mercury, a toxic substance, to separate the gold from the ore.” Mercury, as HRW notes, attacks the central nervous system and is particularly harmful to children.

“These children literally risk life and limb,” said Juliane Kippenberg, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They carry loads heavier than their own weight, climb into unstable shafts, and touch and inhale mercury, one of the most toxic substances on earth.”

Many of the child workers and adult workers have no idea that Mercury is poisonous. The children described the horrible aches and pains that the work leaves them with; one child commented, “Everything hurts.” Apparently, the gold shafts collapse with some regularity. NBC reporter Richard Engel talked to miners who told him a shaft had collapsed the previous day, killing one miner. Many children are not paid wages for their labor. Some receive bags of dirt which may or may not have any gold dust in them. NBC found that many children work instead of going to school.

Unfortunately, American consumers who buy gold are unwittingly abetting the problem. The Malian gold passes through several middlemen and ends up in jewelry and other items around the world, including the U.S.

In Britain, a fair trade activist and jeweler named Greg Valerio  worked with the Fairtrade Foundation to help consumers be sure that the gold they are purchasing is free from child labor and the most egregious labor abuses. Valerio is now trying to replicate the system in the U.S. but he needs our help. The next time you go into a jewelry store, ask if the gold is “fair trade” gold and where it came from.

“One of the biggest problems we have now is that the consumer doesn’t go into a jewelry store and ask, ‘Can you trace this gold?’  If the consumer would do that, we would see a shift in the sector,” said Marc Choyt, a New Mexico jeweler who makes jewelry out of recycled precious metals.

“Absolutely dirty gold is making it into the United States and jewelers who don’t have a traceable supply chain can’t tell you where it’s coming from,” Choyt said.

For more information, check out HRW’s press release here.

NCL statement on Senate vote on nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – National Consumers League

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December 6, 2011

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League:

“The National Consumers League urges the U.S. Senate to vote in favor of confirmation of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Senate is expected to vote on the Cordray nomination as early as this Thursday, December 8.

The effort to confirm Cordray has been held up in Congress by a group of Senators who have pledged to oppose any nominee to head the new consumer watchdog. The Senators opposing the Cordray nomination are seeking changes to the CFPB that NCL believes would weaken its ability to protect consumers.

The lack of consensus to confirm Richard Cordray to head the CFPB is leaving seniors, students, members of the armed forces, veterans, and other consumers at risk of tricks and traps in the fine print of contracts. Families in the United States need an empowered CFPB to protect their interests and save them from the kind of past abuses that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression.

As Attorney General of Ohio, Cordray recovered over $2 billion for consumers and communities who lost money and their financial security from shady Wall Street investments, deceptive financial products, and wrongful foreclosures. Recently, 37 state Attorneys General on a bi-partisan basis sent a letter to the Senate urging his confirmation.

The CFPB was created by the Dodd Frank reform law passed by Congress last year and is working to make sure financial companies play it straight with consumers. It has been charged with identifying and stopping unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices and keeping the rules governing financial service products up-to-date.

The CFPB needs a director. Without a leader at the helm, the agency is not able to exercise its full authority to oversee non-bank financial institutions like payday lenders, debt collectors, check cashers and certain mortgage lenders who target vulnerable consumers. NCL asks the U.S. Senate to do right by consumers and approve this nominee to head the CFPB.”

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

 

Oh, what a difference a new administration can make! – National Consumers League

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By Michell K. McIntyre, Director of NCL’s Special Project on Wage Theft

With every new presidential administration comes a change in leadership, priorities, and budgets at various federal agencies.  For the Obama administration, significant changes were made to the Department of Labor (DOL) and protecting America’s workers from wage theft became a top priority. With former Congresswoman Hilda Solis at the helm, DOL has expanded its efforts to protect workers and the middle class from unethical and illegal labor practices.

The Wage and Hour Division of DOL has seen dramatic changes with the new administration – including the hiring of 300 new investigators to help ease the load of backed up cases the understaffed agency was swimming in. The new staff will significantly enhance the agency’s ability to enforce compliance laws while maintaining the current labor laws that have come under attack from big business, industry and those in Congress who seek to limit the Department’s enforcement reach.

DOL announced recently that they have collected more than $1 million for 295 New Jersey gas station workers for back wages on the non-compliance of the minimum wage, overtime and recording keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  More generally, after two years of major organizational and operational changes, the Wage & Hour Division has collected $224,844,870 in back wages for American workers in the fiscal year of 2011 (Sept. 1, 2010-Oct. 31, 2011) – the largest amount collected in a single fiscal year in the division’s history.  The Wage & Hour Division registered 27,112 complaints and obtained back pay for 275,472 workers who were victims of wage theft. These accomplishments speak for themselves and demonstrate that the division has become a stronger, more effective law enforcement agency and protector of America’s workers.

The nearly $225 million in back wages represent the hard earned pay that workers were cheated out of through wage theft, including: unpaid overtime, below minimum wage pay rates, being misclassified as an independent contractor instead of an employee, and not being paid for the time it takes to don and doff a uniform or protective gear. DOL’s crackdown on wage theft not only protects workers, but also helps cash strapped states and local governments who have been cheated out of income taxes and levels the playing field for ethical businesses who have been losing out to dishonest competitors who cheat their employees.

DOL is off to a great pace to combat the ever-growing problem of wage theft. American workers should start to feel safer voicing complaints, standing up for their rights at work, and demanding to get paid fairly. With the 300 new investigators fresh off a two-year training program, DOL will hopefully be able to surpass their historic results and protect more of America’s workforce.

NCL teams up to fight back against cramming – National Consumers League

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By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

Did you know that your telephone number is also a credit card? Neither do most consumers, but that’s exactly how it can be used by unscrupulous scam artists intent on defrauding consumers.

To most consumers, the monthly telephone bill is a multi-page monstrosity chock-full of confusing terms and charges. Many simply throw their hands up and just pay their bills every month without examining the bill in detail. The increasing use of online bill pay makes it even less likely that many consumers will pay close attention to their bills. Scam artists depend on this frustration and are making a killing because of it through a fraud known as cramming.

Cramming occurs when scam artists get telephone companies to bill their subscribers for charges they never authorized. Often, the scammers simply obtain lists of telephone numbers, create fake consumer “authorizations” and begin billing thousands of consumers for bogus “services” like e-faxing, enhanced voice mail, technical support and identity theft protection, to name just a few of the more common ruses. The dollar amounts of these charges are typically small, and are designed to go unnoticed on consumers’ bills. Consumers, small businesses and government agencies often report that they have unknowingly paid these charges for months before discovering the scam.

While the charges on any particular bill may be small, when multiplied over thousands of bills, this scam nets fraudsters big bucks. An investigation by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee found that cramming could be costing Americans $2 billion per year. In one case, the Federal Trade Commission found that a single cramming operation netted more than $37 million over 6 years.

What’s worse, according to the Commerce Committee’s report, a significant portion of the $1 billion the nation’s telephone companies have earned from so-called third-party billing over the past decade is likely fraudulent.

The telecommunications industry has been aware of the problem of cramming for nearly two decades. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the industry – under pressure from consumer advocates and regulators – adopted a series of self-regulatory measures designed fix the problem. While these efforts showed some initial promise, the scammers have learned to circumvent these protections and are again making huge profits on the backs of consumers.

Yesterday, NCL joined with four other national and state consumer groups to say, “enough is enough.” In reply comments filed at the FCC (and in initial comments filed earlier this year), NCL urged the Commission to prohibit third-party billing on wireline telephone bills (with certain exceptions) and to enhance anti-cramming protections on wireless bills. NCL is not alone in this fight. Nearly 20 state Attorneys General, the Federal Trade Commission and various state regulatory agencies have called on the FCC to fix cramming once and for all by getting the third-party billing system under control.

The FCC will now consider the comments received in its proceeding as it weighs new rules designed to make it harder for crammers to get away with their scams. Going forward, NCL will continue to be vigilant to make sure that this scam is ended once and for all.

Celebrate the season safely – National Consumers League

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Whatever your family’s holiday traditions, they are sure to involve large quantities of food. With all that food come safety risks. Here are a few tips to make sure your family has a safe Thanksgiving and holiday season.

Turkey safety

While it may make the process move more quickly, it is not safe to leave your bird out of the refrigerator to defrost overnight. Plan to defrost in the refrigerator, allowing 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of bird. Alternately, defrost your bird in a cold water bath. Change the water every 30 minutes and allow for 30 minutes for every pound. Turkeys, especially large ones, can take a long time to cook so make sure you allow plenty of time for your bird to be fully and completely cooked. To find out of the turkey is done, use a meat thermometer to check the thickest part of bird, at the thigh, wing and breast. The internal temperature should be 165۫. If you have stuffed your bird, check it to make sure the stuffing has reached 165۫ as well. If your turkey comes with a popup thermometer, double check it’s done by using a meat thermometer.

Stuffing

While it is traditional to cook stuffing inside the bird, this can create a dangerous situation.  Food safety experts recommend cooking the stuffing in a separate container to avoid cross contamination that may cause foodborne illnesses common in poultry, like salmonella and campylobacter.

Side Dishes

Because Thanksgiving Day celebrations can stretch throughout the day, it is important to make sure to store side dishes appropriately.  Dishes should not be left out for more than two hours.  Warm sides should be kept heated over the stove or in the oven.  Cool dishes can be kept in the refrigerator until service time.  When the meal is done, all leftover food should be put into the refrigerator within two hours and stored in Tupperware containers.

From everyone here at NCL, we hope you have a happy holiday season free from foodborne illness!

Caller ID spoofing threatening cell phone privacy – National Consumers League

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

Recently the New York Times reported on the explosion in spoofing caller ID’s by debt collectors or marketers. It turns out that anyone basically can get access to a consumer’s cell phone and spoof the caller ID number—pretend to be a friend, a relative, or a nonprofit like the Humane Society to get you to answer the call.

Ironically, after reading the Times story, I searched the paper’s Web site and found two sites that promise “legal spoofing” so that you can pretend to be someone else when make calls. Spoof Card sells credits—$4.95 is the cheapest—and anyone can buy the credits and use them to spoof any other number but their own.

The other site sounds more sinister, and its name is fitting. “Phone Gangster” makes the following claims and says its spoofing is legal in the USA and Canada:

Upon calling a person, you will get to choose what number you want to appear as. Best of all, there is no way the party can find out what phone number the call originated from because their phone records will display the altered number. Our service is not only fun and useful, but it is legal as well. We have tested and confirmed our caller id spoofing service works in the USA and Canada. Purchase an instant phone card from us today!

In September, the Federal Trade Commission received 140,000 complaints about pre-recorded robocalls, more than double the 61,000 complaints in the same month a year ago, the agency said.

Under the Truth in Caller ID Act, passed last year and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, it is illegal to transmit inaccurate or misleading caller ID information “with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.”

In addition to potentially violating the law, what’s wrong with being able to call someone using a phony caller ID? Because this would be a heyday for telemarketers, debt collectors, and scammers who already prey on consumers using landlines. Cell phones are the last bastion of privacy, where friends, family, and business associates—in other words, only those you choose to share your number with—get access to your cell phone. If that falls victim to spoofers, consumers will lose the trust they have in their cell phones and their cell phone providers.

Enforcement of the FCC and FTC protections are important, but state attorneys general offices should also stay involved, and no legislation should preempt their ability to protect consumers from the mischief of the explosion of fake caller IDs.

National Labor Relations Board held hostage – National Consumers League

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By Michell K McIntyre, Director of NCL’s Special Project on Wage Theft

Once again, the strength and safety of the American workforce is at the mercy of politicians and bureaucrats determined to diminish worker’s rights.  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a independent federal agency whose role is to enforce the National Labor Relations Act (a 76-year-old law that sets the rules for unionization efforts and collective bargaining in the private sector), and America’s workers are being held hostage by two forces: the minority in the Senate have vowed to block any and all nominations, and Brian E. Hayes, the NLRB’s sole Republican appointee.

According to other NLRB board members, Hayes has threatened to resign from the NLRB, thus denying it the three-person quorum it needs to make decisions. Hayes has made his threat to expressly block the NLRB from adopting new rules to speed up unionization elections, which were scheduled to pass yesterday.  Yesterday, the NLRB board met in a tension filled session and voted to adopt the new union election rules 2-1, with Hayes in the minority.   Hayes did not resign however everyone’s holding their breath to see what happens next.

Even without Hayes’ threat of resignation, the NLRB will no longer have a quorum in 2012, due to board member Craig Becker’s recess appointment expiring.  Senate Republicans have vowed to block any and all replacement nominees. , With only two out of the five board members the Board is meant to have, the NLRB will not be able to issue any decisions or rulings.  This watchdog of Americans’ rights in the workplace will be rendered unable to function, , making it easier for unscrupulous businesses to mistreat their workers and more difficult for workers to hold union elections and bargain collectively.

It’s time to stop using brass knuckle politics to hold American workers and the NLRB hostage.  The NLRB has a very noble purpose – to promote collective bargaining between workers and employers and oversee the process to make sure both sides are playing fair. For the sake of America’s workers and the middle class, we need true bipartisan cooperation to ensure that this vital independent federal board is kept operational and can continue to protect our workers.

Buyer beware: seven tips for giving tickets as a holiday gift – National Consumers League

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Tis the season for gift giving, and for that special sports or music fan in your life, the right tickets to the right event can make the perfect holiday gift. But shady resale sites, scammers, and restrictive tickets can put a damper on your holiday cheer, resulting in the purchase of fraudulent tickets, or even genuine tickets that make terrible gifts because they cannot be transferred to your family and friends.

These restrictions can be a major hassle. Just ask Veronica, who purchased concert tickets for her nephew, and then had to drive seven hours to New York to wait in line and get him in.

NCL has teamed up with the Fan Freedom Project to bring you six helpful tips to avoid scams, non-transferrable tickets, and other hassles that could turn your thoughtful gift into a nightmare.

1. Know what type of ticket you are buying: Just because you bought a ticket doesn’t mean you can easily give it as a present. Some events have restricted “paperless tickets, which require the buyer to show up at the venue and present the purchasing credit card and photo ID.  This means you still have to go to the event with them – or they will not be able to get in. This can be inconvenient at the very least, or even impossible if you plan to give tickets to someone who lives far away.

2. Be prepared to pay additional fees: Unlike airline fares, now required by law to include all taxes and additional fees in the advertised price of a ticket, concert and sporting events tickets are not required to include fees upfront, leaving many consumers shocked at the final price of a ticket.

3. Use Reliable sellers: Beware of fly-by-night ticket sellers. If you’re unsure about a company, check with the Better Business Bureau. If you’re buying from a ticket broker, make sure they are members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections.

4. Pay Attention to URLs: Check any website’s URL to ensure that you don’t get duped by an imposter. Remember, even if a website looks like the official site, it may be bogus.

5. Check Your Ticket Vendor’s Guarantee Policy: For example, websites like Stub Hub, TicketsNow, Ace Tickets and All-Shows guarantee every ticket sold on their sites and will replace them or refund money to consumers if they receive wrong or invalid tickets, or if an event is cancelled. Craigslist and other online classifieds sites do not offer such guarantees; it’s “buyer beware” when shopping there.

6. Buy with a Credit Card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of the website address. This means the site is encrypted and safer for use.

7. Know the Rules: Some venues limit the number of tickets you can buy.

Tips for gifting tickets for the holidays – National Consumers League

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December 5, 2011

 

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington,DC – Fan Freedom Project (FFP) and National Consumers League (NCL) today released a consumer guide for buying friends and family concert or sports tickets this holiday season. The “Gifting Tickets for the Holidays” guide will educate consumers on the often-confusing landscape of live event ticketing, and help them make better, more informed decisions.

“Tickets make great gifts this time of year, but consumers need to watch closely and make sure they know exactly what they are purchasing and from whom,” said FFP Consumer Advocate Elizabeth Owen.

John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at NCL added, “Too often consumers are confused and frustrated when they buy and share concert and sports tickets. This holiday guide will give them a chance to better understand the process and make the best choices possible.”

The Guide advises fans to:

1. Use reliable sellers: Beware of fly-by-night ticket sellers. If you’re unsure whether a company is legitimate, check its ratings with the Better Business Bureau and on consumer review sites such as Yelp! If purchasing from a ticket broker, check to see if they are members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections.

2. Check guarantees: Check your ticket vendor’s guarantee policy. For example, Web sites like Stub Hub, TicketsNow, Ace Tickets and All-Shows guarantee every ticket sold on their sites, and will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid or an event is cancelled. Craigslist and other online classifieds sites do not offer such guarantees; it’s “buyer beware” when shopping this way.

3. Pay attention to URLs: When buying tickets directly from a venue, check the Web site’s URL to ensure that you don’t get duped by an imposter. For example, Katy Perry fans were recently tricked by a Web site that sold tickets to a free concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Remember, even if a Web site looks like the official site, it may be bogus.

4. Read the fine print: Just because you bought the ticket doesn’t mean you can give it away. Some concerts and sporting events sell restricted tickets, like Ticketmaster Paperless Tickets (see below). These events require buyers to show up at the venue and present your purchasing credit card and photo ID to gain admittance. With these events, you often do not receive a physical ticket, or the ticket is worthless unless you have the matching credit card and photo ID. Ticketmaster recommends that you buy gift tickets with the recipient’s credit card and reimburse them. Some ticketing companies charge additional fees to transfer restricted tickets; others do not allow them to be transferred at all.

For a list of artists and sports teams that use restricted tickets, please visit the Fan Freedom Project’s FAQ.

5. Know the rules: Some venues limit the number of tickets you can buy. A Radiohead fan recently reported purchasing a block of tickets to share with friends. She ordered more tickets as a wedding gift, but found herself over the four-ticket max that the venue set for the show. She is now fighting with the ticket company and venue as they are threatening to cancel her tickets.

6. Buy with a credit card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of the Web site address. This means the site is encrypted and safer for use.

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About The Fan Freedom Project

Fan Freedom Project is an independent consumer education and advocacy organization that promotes and defends the rights and interests of live event fans. Launched in February 2011, FFP is supported by over 40,000 live event fans, and is backed by leading consumer and business organizations such as the National Consumers League, Consumer Action, the League of Fans, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and Net Choice. Initial funding was provided by Stub Hub, a division of eBay.

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.