|
|
DO:
· Reduce credit card debt. If you already carry a credit card balance, consider not using your credit cards this holiday season.
· If you can pay the bill in full when it arrives, use your credit card when:
· It is a large purchase
· You have to pay before delivery, or
· Your purchase requires installation.
Paying by credit card gives you more leverage in a dispute with
the seller. The federal Fair Credit Billing Act allows you to defend
against payment of a valid credit card charge if you show that the
merchant failed to resolve a problem with the goods or services.
This "charge back" right applies if the item costs more than $50 and
you bought it in your home state, within 100 miles of your home, or
from the credit card issuer.
DON'T:
· Don't accept offers of "no payments, no interest for six months." These offers can be costly because if you don't pay in full before the end of the no payments period, you can owe interest from the date of the initial purchase.
· Don't sign anything you don't understand.
· Decline offers to skip a payment on your credit card or loan. Interest may continue to build up during the skipped period.
· Don't take cash advances on your credit card. This is an even more expensive way to borrow than ordinary credit card use.
· You don't need a store credit card. They usually have higher interest rates than other credit cards.
· Don't sign a loan application that looks like a check and arrives in your mailbox. Tear up these checks before you throw them out.
· Don't use a home equity loan for holiday bills or credit card debts. Home equity loans should be used for specific, planned expenditures, such as tuition or home improvement. Taking a home equity loan to consolidate your debts can worsen your financial problems. If you can't pay back the home equity loan, you could lose your house.
· If you have too many debts, get help. If you have trouble with your debts, contact the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service in your area to help you budget and to negotiate a payment plan with your creditors. Call 1-800-777-7526 (777-PLAN) for a local listing.
Checks and debit cards
· You can't stop payment on a debit card payment.
· If your debit card is lost or stolen, report it immediately by phone and follow up in writing. Keep your debit card receipts and compare them with your checking account statements. Promptly report any errors. Issuers of debit cards have put caps on your liability for a lost or stolen card - from zero to $50, depending on when you report the card lost or stolen. You have to work with your bank to get the money returned to your account.
· Don't postdate your check. Banks don't check the dates before cashing your checks.
Don't buy the extended warranty
Extended warranties are a high commission, high profit item.
Resist the hard sell. Fewer than 20% of products covered by an
extended warranty are ever brought in for repair. Estimates of
profit margins on service contracts range from 40% to 77%.
Consumer Reports reported in May 1998 that readers surveyed
who bought extended warranties had paid about as much for those
warranties as the average repair cost for the item. Buy products
with a solid record of reliability. The annual Consumer Reports
Buying Guide contains repair histories for major brands of home
appliances, VCRs, TVs, and some other home electronic equipment.
Special Tips on E-Shopping from Consumer
Reports Online
· Check out the merchant. When shopping with a cybermerchant for the first time, get in the habit of reading the company's privacy and security policies before you buy. Log on to Consumer Reports Online for e-Ratings of online shopping sites, at www.Consumerreports.org <http://www.consumerreports.org>. Look for the Trust-e <http://www.truste.org> symbol or a Better Business Bureau Online <http://www.bbbonline.org> seal, both indicating that the merchant's business practices have been independently audited as consumer friendly. And log on to the BizRate.com site evaluations, at <http://www.bizrate.com/>, where you'll find compilations of other consumers' shopping experiences.
· Be organized. Before you go cybershopping, have a few backup gift ideas in case you cannot easily find your first choice. The more information you have, such as a model number, the easier it will be to find sites that sell your selection.
· Set a budget. You may be on a virtual shopping trip, but you're spending real money. Decide what you're prepared to spend before you log on.
· Give yourself enough time. Even if you know precisely what you want and where to buy it, you still need to factor in ample time for delivery and for dealing with problems that may arise, such as the belated discovery that an item has been back-ordered.
· Use "bookmarks" to compare products. If you've found an item you like but you're not sure you want to buy it, place it in the site's virtual shopping basket. Then bookmark the page so you can easily return after you've considered other possibilities, or open a new window on your browser to continue your shopping on other sites.
· Know when to cut your losses. When shopping online, it's easy to get sucked into a time warp. If you're having trouble finding a particular item, it may be better to log off and try again later--or perhaps head for the mall.
More advice for shopping online
· Find and read the site's policies on shipping fees, returns, refunds, and legal terms.
· Print out the terms and the description of the product. Compare this material to what is sent to you to be sure you received the product that you paid for
· Inspect your purchase. If you send a gift and don't hear from the recipient, call to see if it arrived and was in good condition.
· If you have a problem with an online purchase, contact the merchant promptly and in writing. If you paid by credit card, you may have a right to charge back in the event of a dispute about the goods.
· If you order products by mail, phone, fax, or computer, a federal rule protects you if the seller can't make delivery within the promised time. The seller must notify you and allow you to cancel the order if a shipment cannot be delivered in the time stated in the catalog or advertisement (or within 30 days, if no time is stated). This rule applies to catalog buying and to online shopping.
Returns
· Always save your receipts.
· If you pay for a gift by credit card, some stores won't give your recipient a cash refund. They will only give an exchange or a credit to the same credit card that was used to pay for the gift.
· California retailers must post a notice stating their refund or no-refund policy. If there is no notice, then the retailer must allow you to return goods for a refund or exchange with a receipt for seven days after purchase. Items marked "as-is," "no returns accepted," "all sales final," or similar words are exempt from this rule.
· If the product doesn't work as advertised, promptly take it back to the retail seller and ask for a refund or replacement. If you are still dissatisfied, write to both the seller and the manufacturer. Describe the problem and ask for specific action by the company (such as replacement). Be polite but persistent in pursuing your complaint. If you are not satisfied, complain in writing to the local District Attorney's office or consumer affairs office, or to the state Attorney General.
Get off those mailing lists
· To avoid getting on new mailing lists, pay cash. To get off mailing lists, write: DMA Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, New York 11735-9008. This is a service run by a trade organization for direct mailers. Include all the variations in the spelling of your name that appears on your junk mail labels.
· To remove your name from lists for credit card offers prepared through the major credit reporting bureaus, call (888) 567-8688. You can choose to have your name removed from these lists for two years, or permanently.
Prepared by:
Gail Hillebrand
West Coast Regional Office <../aboutcu/contact.htm>
Consumers Union
1535 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 431-6747
Rob Schneider
Southwest Regional Office <../aboutcu/contact.htm>
Consumers Union
1300 Guadalupe, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78701-1643
(512) 477-4431
