The Honesty Factor
Most people would be dishonest if they knew they could get away with it. According to an AP release on November 30, 64% of students have cheated on tests. That is dishonesty. Add to that 30% of high school students have admitted shoplifting. Most likely there are others who will not admit it.
Is it only society’s morality checks that keep more people from being crooks? If not for the fear of being caught, of the social stigma associated with it, the consequences both through the criminal justice system and through the loss of “face,” would more people act dishonestly? In many social circles, dishonesty is admired. Many teenagers look up to those who beat the system, even when they do so in ways that are contrary to their upbringing and their religion
Are these people reacting to the examples they see around them – sports figures and popular singers carrying guns around, abusing drugs, ignoring sexual morality, and generally flaunting their ability to do improper things and get away with insignificant punishments? Does our society now look up to the CEOs who make millions while driving their companies into bankruptcy? Then, after their business tanks, they are hired to run another company.
Honesty seems to have several meanings. People want others to be honest in their dealings, but they do not always seem to think that they need to be honest with others. We see people, public figures, accused of crimes, refusing to accept any blame, decrying any thought that they may have done something wrong, only to plead guilty a few weeks later.
Perhaps it is this jaded attitude that has opened the door to so many scammers, thieves, white-collar criminals, and other crooks. From President Clinton’s denial of sexual wrongdoing, to Vice President Gore’s supposed invention of the Internet, to president Bush’s many twists of truth in order to convince Congress and the American people that we needed to go to war in Iraq, from the top down honesty is no longer policy.
Alaska’s recently convicted Senator, Ted Stevens, totally denied any wrong-doing. He was convicted of seven counts of failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations. Yet he refuses to believe he did anything wrong. He admits to having all these things done for him, yet states that since he did not formally accept the gifts, that he was just keeping them temporarily, he was not guilty of any impropriety.
Humans have been raised for thousands of years to accept the honesty of our religious leaders. In fact, since faith is the cornerstone of religion, and those who set church policy also set morality standards, how can our society maintain an appreciation of honesty when so many religious leaders have lied, stolen, ignored their vows, and committed horrendous crimes?
We also accept society’s ills as an excuse when a crime is committed. The accused did commit the crime, but it was not her fault because she was pregnant, or had just given birth, or because he had a poor childhood, or because he saw the same thing done on television. We scoff at some of the trials that result in huge settlements for seemingly little things, yet “we” are the people who are on those juries who determine the outcome. We wonder why a minor violation can result in a huge jail sentence when major criminals get off with probation or less.
All this opens the door to scammers. These people, who have purposefully set out to rob, whether through overt act or deception, rarely see any harm in their acts. It is their job. The marks or pigeons are simply there as aspects of their work.
Next week we will examine why scams work. Just how is it that such people can stay in business, in fact rack up billions each year?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Consumer Safety & Awareness Part 1
Thieves All Around Us
My wife and I love penguins. We once traveled a few hundred miles, during a vacation, to visit a rookery. One of the most interesting facts about these creatures is that Adélie penguins, which use rocks for nests, have no hesitation stealing the rocks of other penguins. This behavior is not limited to penguins. Grosbeak, Sparrows, and Starlings have been known to steal the entire nest of other birds, occasionally taking parts and at other times just laying their eggs in nests made by others and moving right on in.
Anyone who has a flower or vegetable garden is quite familiar with animals that steal what we work hard to produce. Deer, raccoons, chipmunks all like to eat our favorite flowers. Animals also take from each other. Monkeys do not hesitate taking whatever they want, no matter who or what it belongs to. Squirrels and crows love to carry away things that would surprise you.
Although this may come as a shock, humans also steal. Yes, they do. In fact theft predates human history, that is, before we learned to write our ideas down. It is simply a human trait. When it is easier to take from someone else than to get something ourselves, our ancestors did not hesitate doing so. Morality and social attitudes towards stealing is a relatively recent addition to human behavior.
Today, throughout the world, human societies have taboos on thievery, especially from one’s own group. It has long been believed that Gypsies had no qualms about taking from others, yet there is no actual proof this is a trait of these Romanian people. Due to the need to stay alive, all creatures will steal when their survival or those of their families depend on it.
Yet some humans make an art of stealing from others, whether they need it or not. People do this to obtain things they simply want, or to deny others from having material goods. People steal works of art and other treasures simply for the pleasure of having such objects. Rich people have been known to steal simply to become richer. Many people take what is not theirs because they know they can get away with it. More than 70% of shoplifters can afford the objects they take.
In this new series, we will be looking at organized planned thievery. Although theft of opportunity probably accounts for a large portion of stolen goods and money, theft by design probably accounts for over 90% of the value of property stolen. It take only a moment, and little thought, to take a candy bar, a pair of socks, or a bottle of perfume from a store or to lift a valuable from a house you are visiting or living in. But a lot of planning must go into art heists, bank robberies, and embezzlement.
It is doubtful if anyone reading this has a Monet or a Ming vase. If you do, you probably have all sorts of alarms and insurance policies. Most thieves are not sophisticated enough to get away with super-heists. But by taking $100 or $2,000, or $15,000, organized groups and knowledgeable individuals can do just as much harm to us as those people who get millions in museum robberies. Most of these small thefts are the result of scams.
A scam is theft by design. It is planned, practiced, perfected. It uses trickery, the skill of a magician, and deception. It works because the scammers study human nature, can predict how people will react in certain situations, and they take advantage of people’s trust. They target older people who are usually in need of someone to believe in. They target religious people who have an interest in sharing
There are many types of scams. The most common, which we will be writing about in this blog, include, but are not limited to:
> Bait & Switch
> Pyramid Scams
> Advanced Fee
> Theft of Services
> Robbery
> Counterfeiting
> Theft by Design
> Blackmail
> Deceitful Advertising
By knowing how the scammers operate, and examining the types of people and situations that make their work easy, you can learn to protect yourself, your family, and your valuables.
My wife and I love penguins. We once traveled a few hundred miles, during a vacation, to visit a rookery. One of the most interesting facts about these creatures is that Adélie penguins, which use rocks for nests, have no hesitation stealing the rocks of other penguins. This behavior is not limited to penguins. Grosbeak, Sparrows, and Starlings have been known to steal the entire nest of other birds, occasionally taking parts and at other times just laying their eggs in nests made by others and moving right on in.
Anyone who has a flower or vegetable garden is quite familiar with animals that steal what we work hard to produce. Deer, raccoons, chipmunks all like to eat our favorite flowers. Animals also take from each other. Monkeys do not hesitate taking whatever they want, no matter who or what it belongs to. Squirrels and crows love to carry away things that would surprise you.
Although this may come as a shock, humans also steal. Yes, they do. In fact theft predates human history, that is, before we learned to write our ideas down. It is simply a human trait. When it is easier to take from someone else than to get something ourselves, our ancestors did not hesitate doing so. Morality and social attitudes towards stealing is a relatively recent addition to human behavior.
Today, throughout the world, human societies have taboos on thievery, especially from one’s own group. It has long been believed that Gypsies had no qualms about taking from others, yet there is no actual proof this is a trait of these Romanian people. Due to the need to stay alive, all creatures will steal when their survival or those of their families depend on it.
Yet some humans make an art of stealing from others, whether they need it or not. People do this to obtain things they simply want, or to deny others from having material goods. People steal works of art and other treasures simply for the pleasure of having such objects. Rich people have been known to steal simply to become richer. Many people take what is not theirs because they know they can get away with it. More than 70% of shoplifters can afford the objects they take.
In this new series, we will be looking at organized planned thievery. Although theft of opportunity probably accounts for a large portion of stolen goods and money, theft by design probably accounts for over 90% of the value of property stolen. It take only a moment, and little thought, to take a candy bar, a pair of socks, or a bottle of perfume from a store or to lift a valuable from a house you are visiting or living in. But a lot of planning must go into art heists, bank robberies, and embezzlement.
It is doubtful if anyone reading this has a Monet or a Ming vase. If you do, you probably have all sorts of alarms and insurance policies. Most thieves are not sophisticated enough to get away with super-heists. But by taking $100 or $2,000, or $15,000, organized groups and knowledgeable individuals can do just as much harm to us as those people who get millions in museum robberies. Most of these small thefts are the result of scams.
A scam is theft by design. It is planned, practiced, perfected. It uses trickery, the skill of a magician, and deception. It works because the scammers study human nature, can predict how people will react in certain situations, and they take advantage of people’s trust. They target older people who are usually in need of someone to believe in. They target religious people who have an interest in sharing
There are many types of scams. The most common, which we will be writing about in this blog, include, but are not limited to:
> Bait & Switch
> Pyramid Scams
> Advanced Fee
> Theft of Services
> Robbery
> Counterfeiting
> Theft by Design
> Blackmail
> Deceitful Advertising
By knowing how the scammers operate, and examining the types of people and situations that make their work easy, you can learn to protect yourself, your family, and your valuables.
Monday, December 15, 2008
“Seeing is not Believing” part 18
Christmas Sales Dangers
For the last five months, Slightly Creaky’s blog has been running a series called “Seeing is Not Believing,” explaining the ways that advertisers, manufacturers, and stores manipulate your senses in an attempt to get far more than they deserve. This week we wrap up that series and prepare for a new one.
As we close in on Christmas, all around us are advertisements for sales. Every year, November is the month or getting ready for Christmas sales, December is when we get zonked with “Buy, Buy, Buy,” and January sales are when stores get rid of the leftovers. Most of these sales are based on percentages – 10% off, 20%, 30%… even as much as 80% off. We must ask – 50% off what?
You have to wonder, if stores can take so much off their prices, and not only stay in business but expand and give the bosses and stockholders huge bonuses, then just how much of a mark-up is there? In “Seeing is not Believing” we have spoken about pre-sale markups, the concept of list price, and the manipulation of sales terms to befuddle and mystify the public. During the last four weeks, we have been carefully studying ads and sales prices and have noticed one simple trend: no matter how great the percentage discount, the prices have hardly changed.
Remember what we have previously discussed: stores can set whatever price they want on an item. We have no way of knowing how much they cost to manufacture, ship, store, and how much these businesses mark up the products. We have seen the same item, same size sell for a huge range of prices. Here in the northeast, the same can of Campbell’s 10.5 ounce gravy was selling in ShopRite for 3/$1.00, it was on sale the same week at Price Chopper for $1.00 a can, and elsewhere we have found it for as high as $2.49 a can.
If a store sets the “list price” of an item, say a lady’s blouse that cost them $10 wholesale, at $80, then that is its value. They only need to sell it at that price once. That is the value they put on it, and that value is not set in your mind. They can then sell it for any amount and call it a sale. Yet each time you see it, it’s listed as an $80 value. They can take 10% off at $72, or 30% off at $56 and still make a huge profit.
Then comes Christmas and their huge “More than 50% off” sale. This blouse, selling now for $39.95 is still bringing them a huge profit. In three months the leftovers will be at $19.95 at Marshall’s and they’ll do just fine. Even when they reduce it 30%, they are making money.
There is no law that prevents any store from removing a price tag and substituting one at a different amount. It is a general rule that stores that are holding “out-of-business” sales raise their previous prices 20 to 40% prior to putting “Everything on Sale at 30% off.” Thus the items may be selling for even more than they originally were.
At the holidays, many stores use the same ploy: raising their price tags, then discounting the items based on the higher price. Any percentage-off sale is meaningless unless you can compare the new price to what that item typically sells for. ‘Tis the season for giving; yet businesses believe this is the season for taking. Be careful, be knowledgeable, and do not believe all that you see.
Happy Holidays everyone.
Consumer Safety & Awareness
In November, I offered my services to teach a class on “Consumer Safety and Awareness” at a college near where I live. If all goes well, this offering, at their Center for Community and Educational Services, will be available to those in New York’s Hudson Valley area. This is not a college level course, rather an “adult education” presentation open to everyone.
As is my habit, when I get involved in a project I dive in, doing research, writing out ideas. Totally unanticipated, I already have far more information than I can possibly use for that 5-session offering. And my research has shown me that there’s a lot more information out there.
Therefore, as a service to the public and as an extension for those who take the class, starting next week the Slightly Creaky blog will be offering a new series “Consumer Safety & Awareness.” It is my hope to extend this to at least 50 weekly articles covering scams, fraud, household and automotive safety, Internet, mail and telephone fraud, and much more.
If you have been taken by anyone, by a scammer, a store, or a service company, we’d like to hear about it. Feel free to post your comments on this blog, on the Slightly Creaky message board, or simply write to us at info@slightlycreaky.com.
For the last five months, Slightly Creaky’s blog has been running a series called “Seeing is Not Believing,” explaining the ways that advertisers, manufacturers, and stores manipulate your senses in an attempt to get far more than they deserve. This week we wrap up that series and prepare for a new one.
As we close in on Christmas, all around us are advertisements for sales. Every year, November is the month or getting ready for Christmas sales, December is when we get zonked with “Buy, Buy, Buy,” and January sales are when stores get rid of the leftovers. Most of these sales are based on percentages – 10% off, 20%, 30%… even as much as 80% off. We must ask – 50% off what?
You have to wonder, if stores can take so much off their prices, and not only stay in business but expand and give the bosses and stockholders huge bonuses, then just how much of a mark-up is there? In “Seeing is not Believing” we have spoken about pre-sale markups, the concept of list price, and the manipulation of sales terms to befuddle and mystify the public. During the last four weeks, we have been carefully studying ads and sales prices and have noticed one simple trend: no matter how great the percentage discount, the prices have hardly changed.
Remember what we have previously discussed: stores can set whatever price they want on an item. We have no way of knowing how much they cost to manufacture, ship, store, and how much these businesses mark up the products. We have seen the same item, same size sell for a huge range of prices. Here in the northeast, the same can of Campbell’s 10.5 ounce gravy was selling in ShopRite for 3/$1.00, it was on sale the same week at Price Chopper for $1.00 a can, and elsewhere we have found it for as high as $2.49 a can.
If a store sets the “list price” of an item, say a lady’s blouse that cost them $10 wholesale, at $80, then that is its value. They only need to sell it at that price once. That is the value they put on it, and that value is not set in your mind. They can then sell it for any amount and call it a sale. Yet each time you see it, it’s listed as an $80 value. They can take 10% off at $72, or 30% off at $56 and still make a huge profit.
Then comes Christmas and their huge “More than 50% off” sale. This blouse, selling now for $39.95 is still bringing them a huge profit. In three months the leftovers will be at $19.95 at Marshall’s and they’ll do just fine. Even when they reduce it 30%, they are making money.
There is no law that prevents any store from removing a price tag and substituting one at a different amount. It is a general rule that stores that are holding “out-of-business” sales raise their previous prices 20 to 40% prior to putting “Everything on Sale at 30% off.” Thus the items may be selling for even more than they originally were.
At the holidays, many stores use the same ploy: raising their price tags, then discounting the items based on the higher price. Any percentage-off sale is meaningless unless you can compare the new price to what that item typically sells for. ‘Tis the season for giving; yet businesses believe this is the season for taking. Be careful, be knowledgeable, and do not believe all that you see.
Happy Holidays everyone.
Consumer Safety & Awareness
In November, I offered my services to teach a class on “Consumer Safety and Awareness” at a college near where I live. If all goes well, this offering, at their Center for Community and Educational Services, will be available to those in New York’s Hudson Valley area. This is not a college level course, rather an “adult education” presentation open to everyone.
As is my habit, when I get involved in a project I dive in, doing research, writing out ideas. Totally unanticipated, I already have far more information than I can possibly use for that 5-session offering. And my research has shown me that there’s a lot more information out there.
Therefore, as a service to the public and as an extension for those who take the class, starting next week the Slightly Creaky blog will be offering a new series “Consumer Safety & Awareness.” It is my hope to extend this to at least 50 weekly articles covering scams, fraud, household and automotive safety, Internet, mail and telephone fraud, and much more.
If you have been taken by anyone, by a scammer, a store, or a service company, we’d like to hear about it. Feel free to post your comments on this blog, on the Slightly Creaky message board, or simply write to us at info@slightlycreaky.com.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Seeing is Not Believing Part 17
Call in the Next Five Minutes
Who can resist a special deal? When people are offered things for a deep discount or possibly free, they rush to buy. Perhaps it is human nature, perhaps greed.
We knew a person who used to look for such sales and went far out of her way to get them. If a place offered something with a rebate that saved a dollar or two, she would buy it, even if it meant spending an extra $5 on gas and tolls and take an hour round trip. A few years ago, when she was visiting and saw we had something that was not working properly, she offered to give us one from her stock of more than a dozen that she had gotten for free.
During a visit to her house we noticed a bag among her garbage containing quite a few food items in closed packages. Thinking she had placed them there by mistake, we asked whether they were food pantry donations. She stated they were all items she had bought at a discount but were now out of date. She may have saved half price on them, but threw half out.
Companies take advantage of this trait to get us to buy things that we really don’t need, and may not even want. In print ads they are called “loss-leaders,” an item the company sells at cost or even at a small loss, to get you into the store. Milk used to be a common item that headlined advertisements. Buy your milk for half what it sells for elsewhere and while you’re in the store you may get cigarettes, snacks, and other high profit items. Now you see movie DVDs used the same way.
Restaurants use soda as a loss-leader. You may think you are getting a great deal when you get a free fountain soda, or even a 12-ounce can, but the cost to the store is negligible. Consider that supermarkets make a profit when they sell 12-packs of soda for $2. Thus a can of soda can not cost them much more than eight cents each (and possibly a 5-cent deposit). If they can get you to buy a $5 sandwich (which is $4.50 profit) and throw in a can of soda for free, who wins?
Television advertisements give away “free” items frequently. Purchase the acne cure (cure?) for $20 and get six items that other companies could not sell because no one really wanted them. Remember the extra shipping and handling charges we mentioned in last week’s blog?
Cruise ships use the same technique. Most of them over-inflate the prices so they can offer $200 off each room (not each person) and $100 room credits that must be spent on their amazingly high prices. Free water, coffee, tea, and ice tea, but soda, which costs them less than coffee, is $2.00 a glass or all-you-can-drink for $40 a week. Consider that – you need to drink 20 glasses of soda in seven days to break even. Twenty 12-ounce cans at the supermarket would cost you under $4.
Taking a cruise means more than being on a ship. At each port you get a chance to visit significant destinations such as historic sites, scenic locations, wineries, or other highly publicized must-see tourist traps. If you take the cruise ship’s planned tour you are guaranteed to get back before the ship leaves port, and you will also pay twice or more than if you take a similar tour purchased locally.
We’ve taken six cruises in the last dozen years and have only taken two tours: a penguin rookery and a swim tour in the South Pacific. They were wonderful, and well worth the cost. But we balk at spending $300 a person for a one hour hard seat no-shocks bus ride to some obscure location, ten minutes touring the place, a free 3 ounce glass of grape juice, and another hour back.
In one of our previous blogs we discussed high-pressure sales (Part 7, September 13, 2008). This is where you are told you can get a substantial discount if you purchase NOW. The offer will never be available again. Radio and television ads use the same technique, but with a twist. Purchase within five minutes and you get a discount, or a free item, or free shipping…. The implication is that if you wait six minutes you will not get the special offer. Twenty minutes later you hear the same ad, possibly on a different channel, again giving you just five minutes to call in. And tomorrow it’s on again, and next week, and next month…
NOTE: There is only one more article in this series. Started on December 22 we begin a new series entitled "Consumer Safety and Awareness"
Who can resist a special deal? When people are offered things for a deep discount or possibly free, they rush to buy. Perhaps it is human nature, perhaps greed.
We knew a person who used to look for such sales and went far out of her way to get them. If a place offered something with a rebate that saved a dollar or two, she would buy it, even if it meant spending an extra $5 on gas and tolls and take an hour round trip. A few years ago, when she was visiting and saw we had something that was not working properly, she offered to give us one from her stock of more than a dozen that she had gotten for free.
During a visit to her house we noticed a bag among her garbage containing quite a few food items in closed packages. Thinking she had placed them there by mistake, we asked whether they were food pantry donations. She stated they were all items she had bought at a discount but were now out of date. She may have saved half price on them, but threw half out.
Companies take advantage of this trait to get us to buy things that we really don’t need, and may not even want. In print ads they are called “loss-leaders,” an item the company sells at cost or even at a small loss, to get you into the store. Milk used to be a common item that headlined advertisements. Buy your milk for half what it sells for elsewhere and while you’re in the store you may get cigarettes, snacks, and other high profit items. Now you see movie DVDs used the same way.
Restaurants use soda as a loss-leader. You may think you are getting a great deal when you get a free fountain soda, or even a 12-ounce can, but the cost to the store is negligible. Consider that supermarkets make a profit when they sell 12-packs of soda for $2. Thus a can of soda can not cost them much more than eight cents each (and possibly a 5-cent deposit). If they can get you to buy a $5 sandwich (which is $4.50 profit) and throw in a can of soda for free, who wins?
Television advertisements give away “free” items frequently. Purchase the acne cure (cure?) for $20 and get six items that other companies could not sell because no one really wanted them. Remember the extra shipping and handling charges we mentioned in last week’s blog?
Cruise ships use the same technique. Most of them over-inflate the prices so they can offer $200 off each room (not each person) and $100 room credits that must be spent on their amazingly high prices. Free water, coffee, tea, and ice tea, but soda, which costs them less than coffee, is $2.00 a glass or all-you-can-drink for $40 a week. Consider that – you need to drink 20 glasses of soda in seven days to break even. Twenty 12-ounce cans at the supermarket would cost you under $4.
Taking a cruise means more than being on a ship. At each port you get a chance to visit significant destinations such as historic sites, scenic locations, wineries, or other highly publicized must-see tourist traps. If you take the cruise ship’s planned tour you are guaranteed to get back before the ship leaves port, and you will also pay twice or more than if you take a similar tour purchased locally.
We’ve taken six cruises in the last dozen years and have only taken two tours: a penguin rookery and a swim tour in the South Pacific. They were wonderful, and well worth the cost. But we balk at spending $300 a person for a one hour hard seat no-shocks bus ride to some obscure location, ten minutes touring the place, a free 3 ounce glass of grape juice, and another hour back.
In one of our previous blogs we discussed high-pressure sales (Part 7, September 13, 2008). This is where you are told you can get a substantial discount if you purchase NOW. The offer will never be available again. Radio and television ads use the same technique, but with a twist. Purchase within five minutes and you get a discount, or a free item, or free shipping…. The implication is that if you wait six minutes you will not get the special offer. Twenty minutes later you hear the same ad, possibly on a different channel, again giving you just five minutes to call in. And tomorrow it’s on again, and next week, and next month…
NOTE: There is only one more article in this series. Started on December 22 we begin a new series entitled "Consumer Safety and Awareness"
Monday, December 1, 2008
Seeing is Not Believing Part 16
Hidden Fees
Have you taken a good look at your telephone or cable bill recently? The details may be shocking. While many companies advertise “low” rates for such services, by the time they add on extra fees for things you have never heard of, your bill can be twice or even three times the advertised rate.
One television advertisement for multi-line cell phones has a large $49.95 in their ad and you might think that’s the cost. Actually that is what they charge for each extra line. The monthly rate is around $100; add two lines and you are paying double. Include the service fees, subscriber charges, recovery costs, and other usually unexplained add-ons and you’re up to $240 before state, Federal, and local taxes. Plan on it going around $300 a month.
Add to that the cost of the telephone. Oh, they are giving the phone away for free? Wow. It now costs less than $10 to make a cell phone, even with all the extras. They make up for it with an “activation fee,” whatever that is, of only $49.95. Per line.
Now telephone companies are charging for each text message sent and received. There was a recent story of a California teen who did not realize there was a surcharge for texting from Canada while on vacation and the next month’s bill exceeded $20,000.
Frequently when a new service is provided, such as text messaging, walkie-talkie calling, or e-mail delivery to your cell phone, initially it is offered for no extra cost. A year later, once you are hooked, the fees kick in. In many cases there is no advanced warning that what was once free is now costing you a hefty sum. Or, if there is notice, it is in small print mixed in with five pages of similar small print that you read the first time you got the bill, but have since ignored.
Television used to be free. You put an antenna on the roof, or, if you live in a city, rabbit-ears on top of the set. Then came cable offering better reception to rural areas. Cable also offers more than 12 channels. With some cable companies you had to pay extra for local stations until Congress stepped in to end that extra hidden cost.
Now you can get cable, as part of a package, for $29.99 a month. You also needed to add telephone for a similar price, and Internet service. Actually that is not a bad combination if you need all three. Although if you want more than the “basic” package of 80 channels (74 of which you’d never watch), your cost doubles, triples, or exceeds $200 a month.
Get a free home alarm. Sounds great until you look at the hidden fees. The “free” package may only cover four windows and one door. Not many of us have four windows and one door. We had five of these “free” alarm companies visit us and the actual cost for our house (9 windows and three doors) came to just over $1,200 from a local independent company (which did not insist that we sign a long term monitoring contract) to more than $3,000. The four national companies, all of which advertise ”free” alarms, also wanted two year or longer monitoring fees of $33 or more a month. For 24 months that comes to $800, which is not so free.
After 40 years of listening to infomercials, I recently saw a product on television that I thought of purchasing. It may not have been worth $19.95, but it was something I could use and had never seen in the store. But wait… if I ordered now they would triple the order and I’d get three for the same price. Plus a shipping and handling charge of only $8.99 (why can’t they say $9?). Each. Yes, you had to purchase three, and the cost was $20, plus three $9 fees for $47.
The newest gimmicks are shipping surcharges. Some companies add on a “cost of shipping surcharge” due to the high gasoline prices. We did not see such surcharges when gasoline was going for $4.30 a gallon, only once they fell below $3.00 again. The company may not be able to tell you in advance what this surcharge is, as it is based on many factors including the cost of gas, the shipping company they use, the time of delivery, the shipping distance, and the number of box seats the boss needs for next week’s football game.
Have you taken a good look at your telephone or cable bill recently? The details may be shocking. While many companies advertise “low” rates for such services, by the time they add on extra fees for things you have never heard of, your bill can be twice or even three times the advertised rate.
One television advertisement for multi-line cell phones has a large $49.95 in their ad and you might think that’s the cost. Actually that is what they charge for each extra line. The monthly rate is around $100; add two lines and you are paying double. Include the service fees, subscriber charges, recovery costs, and other usually unexplained add-ons and you’re up to $240 before state, Federal, and local taxes. Plan on it going around $300 a month.
Add to that the cost of the telephone. Oh, they are giving the phone away for free? Wow. It now costs less than $10 to make a cell phone, even with all the extras. They make up for it with an “activation fee,” whatever that is, of only $49.95. Per line.
Now telephone companies are charging for each text message sent and received. There was a recent story of a California teen who did not realize there was a surcharge for texting from Canada while on vacation and the next month’s bill exceeded $20,000.
Frequently when a new service is provided, such as text messaging, walkie-talkie calling, or e-mail delivery to your cell phone, initially it is offered for no extra cost. A year later, once you are hooked, the fees kick in. In many cases there is no advanced warning that what was once free is now costing you a hefty sum. Or, if there is notice, it is in small print mixed in with five pages of similar small print that you read the first time you got the bill, but have since ignored.
Television used to be free. You put an antenna on the roof, or, if you live in a city, rabbit-ears on top of the set. Then came cable offering better reception to rural areas. Cable also offers more than 12 channels. With some cable companies you had to pay extra for local stations until Congress stepped in to end that extra hidden cost.
Now you can get cable, as part of a package, for $29.99 a month. You also needed to add telephone for a similar price, and Internet service. Actually that is not a bad combination if you need all three. Although if you want more than the “basic” package of 80 channels (74 of which you’d never watch), your cost doubles, triples, or exceeds $200 a month.
Get a free home alarm. Sounds great until you look at the hidden fees. The “free” package may only cover four windows and one door. Not many of us have four windows and one door. We had five of these “free” alarm companies visit us and the actual cost for our house (9 windows and three doors) came to just over $1,200 from a local independent company (which did not insist that we sign a long term monitoring contract) to more than $3,000. The four national companies, all of which advertise ”free” alarms, also wanted two year or longer monitoring fees of $33 or more a month. For 24 months that comes to $800, which is not so free.
After 40 years of listening to infomercials, I recently saw a product on television that I thought of purchasing. It may not have been worth $19.95, but it was something I could use and had never seen in the store. But wait… if I ordered now they would triple the order and I’d get three for the same price. Plus a shipping and handling charge of only $8.99 (why can’t they say $9?). Each. Yes, you had to purchase three, and the cost was $20, plus three $9 fees for $47.
The newest gimmicks are shipping surcharges. Some companies add on a “cost of shipping surcharge” due to the high gasoline prices. We did not see such surcharges when gasoline was going for $4.30 a gallon, only once they fell below $3.00 again. The company may not be able to tell you in advance what this surcharge is, as it is based on many factors including the cost of gas, the shipping company they use, the time of delivery, the shipping distance, and the number of box seats the boss needs for next week’s football game.
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