Mike asks:

What's the typical mortgagee's point of contact to find out how all this bailout stuff affects them? If I have a challenging mortgage situation and want to see if I qualify for relief, what do I do? Call my mortgager? Write my congressman?

It sounds like you need some professional guidance. The FTC recommends contacting a housing counseling agency. Here is how they recommend finding one:

Call the local office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov) or the housing authority in your state, city, or county for help in finding a legitimate housing counseling agency nearby. Or consider contacting the NeighborWorks® Center for Foreclosure Solutions at 888-995-HOPE or www.nw.org. The Center is an initiative of NeighborWorks America.

Here's NeighborWorks America's Foreclosure Resource page, and here's a Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure from HUD.

We hope that helps you, Mike. Good luck.

Mortgage Payments Sending You Reeling? Here’s What to Do [FTC]
Foreclosure Resources [NeighborWorks America]
Guide To Avoiding Foreclosure [HUD]
(Photo: Groovnick )

Mike asks:

Even though the RIAA and the MPAA try to screw customers at every turn, I wanted to support my favorite show of all time by purchasing the new Futurama Movie: Bender's Game. Target.com had the cheapest price I could find at $14.99 and I have a Target right across the street from work. I went to buy the DVD and it rang up as $19.99. I pulled up the website on my iPhone and showed the cashier that it was $14.99. She told me that Target stores don't match Target.com prices. I told her to void the sale because I felt cheated. I went to the customer services desk and they told me the same thing.

How can a store not match the prices on their own website? Is this legal? Didn't Best Buy get in trouble for doing something similar?

The simple answer — yes, it's perfectly legal and lots of stores do it. It's a lot more common than you think. If you don't like it, you should do exactly what you did — take your business elsewhere.

As far as your second question about Best Buy — no, they did not get into trouble for refusing to price match their own website — they got in trouble for making a second "fake" website that showed in-store prices. The argument was that Best Buy was misleading customers into thinking that the website prices were the same as the in-store ones. Consumers reported that Best Buy employees would tell them that the "sale ended while they were in the car" and would use the "fake" website to prove it. This is clearly uncool, and it let to a lawsuit by the Attorney General of Connecticut.

Here's Target's official price matching policy. In short, they do not price match.

Pricing for products on Target.com may vary from Target stores and from the Target Weekly Ad. We do not match the price of our online merchandise with the price offered by Target stores or another company, and Target stores do not match the price of our online merchandise. However, if you see a lower price listed in one of our Target Weekly Ads, we may be able to adjust the price of your online order to match the advertised price.

Personally, we like our technology and will only give it up when they pry it from our cold, dead hands. Then again, we do admit we can be obsessive. There is also something to be said for how you use a device. A tool is just a tool. You can use scissors to make delightful paper dolls, or you can run with them. That said, Blackberry users do tend to develop addictive and dependent behavior around the device. It's much rarer for people to complaint about how they can't stop using scissors.

What's your take on the issue? Are Blackberries and products like them a positive for users and those around them or are they more likely to be a hindrance?

No BlackBerry for Obama: Setting "CrackBerry" Limits [Wall Street Journal]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)

P&G told Consumer Reports that they had two choices, charging more for the "value-added" bleach or fabric softenter, or do what they did and vary the amount of loads while keeping the price the same. What they opted is more economical for them and easier for retailers (they didn't specify how but I imagine it makes managing inventory easier if the price is the same across the board).

However, Consumer Reports notes that you can't do effective comparison shopping by unit price on detergents. Instead, do some mental math or if your brain has atrophied, bust out the calculator on your cellphone and compare cost per load, total cost divided by loads.

Mystery solved: The "load-down" on Tide detergent [Consumer Reports] (Thanks to James!)
PREVIOUSLY: Tide: Different Loads For Different Scents?

My grandfather, Steve, is being scammed out of his money by a group of women including his gardener. Steve is in his mid 80's and lives in Florida. He is retired and recently hired a new gardener. She introduced him to her supposedly wealthy friend who soon thereafter was "injured" in Maine. The gardener has convinced him to "loan" the women money, in cash, to pay for upkeep on her home, groceries, cable, bodyguards to protect her from her ex-husband and son who want to kill her, and many other things.

It is at the point where he is giving these women over $10k a month out of the only account that my parents have access to (so it could be a lot more from his other accounts).

When my parents tried to talk to Steve he says they are trying to put him in a nursing home and steal his money.

He insists that he knows what he is doing and he does not need anyone's help. We tried calling the Florida Abuse Hotline. Their response was that he can give his money away if he wants to. We recently spoke to his doctor who said that one of Steve's neighbors was also worried about him, the gardener had been coming around quite a bit.

Apparently another investigation has begun since we spoke to the doctor but nothing has come of it yet. Is there anything else we can do? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Sounds like a con to me. I wonder if a call to the police or FBI would help. Do any Consumerists have any advice on how the family can intervene? Or is it the old guy's right to do whatever he wants with his money? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Now, she can't pay $260 a month and doesn't want to sign this document, but is looking for advice about whether she should or not. I haven't heard about this kind of affidavit so I'm just going to throw that part out to the readers, but I do know that collection agencies are not allowed to just keep calling you at your home and work to get you to pay. That's a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Inside, Sarah's story and what she can say to NCO to get them to stop calling.

Sarah writes:

I'm 27 and graduated with about $40k in student debt. Around the time my loans went into repayment, I got very sick and had to pay a lot of medical bills and ended up going into default on my student loans. Since then I've been trying to dig my way out of the hole. I recently rehabilitated my Sallie Mae loan. I'm in a rehabilitation program with collection agency Windham Professionals— I'm paying $335 a month for nine months, not a small amount on $38k a year. I've got one other loan with a collection agency, NCO Financial.

I've been making payments on time to NCO for 27 months, long enough that my debt should have been rehabilitated months ago. Here's the thing. They want me to sign a statement that says I am able to afford to pay $260 a month should my loans be rehabilitated, triple my current payment. I can't afford that. I sent them a letter three months ago explaining that I have a chronic medical condition that requires me to pay hundreds of dollars in prescription copays each month, and therefore I cannot afford another $260 a month. It's on record. Now they're telling me that if I don't sign this (false) legal document, they will never rehabilitate my loan. In fact, they told me that if I keep paying the amount I'm currently paying, they'll place me back into collections and step up their harassment. Repeat: I've been making my payments on time for 27 months! One representative told me that they're doing this to all of their victims— er, customers— because the company is in trouble. Guess they took on too many toxic debts... seems to be an epidemic!

I'm concerned that if I sign the document, I'll be held liable for the $260. Furthermore, I'll be signing a legal document that is (a) false, and (b) contradicts a statement I've already put on record. If I don't sign the document, though, I'll continue to be in default and may be subject to further penalties. Meanwhile, NCO is harassing me with daily phone calls to my work and home numbers.

My questions for you and your readers:

1. Is this legal? If not, do I have any recourse?
2. What happens if the company goes out of business?
3. What should I do? I could:
(a) sign the document, pay the triple amount, and stop taking my medicine and paying my rent;
(b) continue to pay the current amount, in the hopes that external circumstances (the election, the company going under) intervene; or
(c) stop paying anything, since they're telling me that the consequences will be the same whether I pay the current amount or nothing at all.

I'm at a loss here... has anyone faced a similar situation?

Next time they call, say this:

"I am requesting that you not contact me by phone in the future. I do not want to receive any more calls from you at home or at work and am asking you to communicate with me only in writing."

If they give you static, say this:

"The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that you stop phoning me at home and at work once I request that you do so. I intend to send you a certified letter tomorrow putting my no contact request in writing. If you continue to phone me, then I will file a complaint with the FTC and the attorney general."

Then send them this letter by certified mail:

Date

Your Name
Address
City, State Zip

Debt Collector’s Name
Address
City, State Zip

Re: Account Number

Dear Debt Collector:

Pursuant to my rights under federal debt collection laws, I am requesting that you cease and desist communication with me, as well as my family and friends, in relation to this and all other alleged debts you claim I owe.

You are hereby notified that if you do not comply with this request, I will immediately file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the [your state here] Attorney General’s office. Civil and criminal claims will be pursued.
Sincerely,

Your Name

Any advice about the affidavit?

(Photo: Getty)

Rebekah asks:

I was wondering about Credit Cards. Specifically having to do with keeping multiple with no balance vs. none at all. How much does your credit rating get hit when you open a credit card, even if it is a store card? My husband & I pay off our credit cards every month but put everything on them for points reasons & to track our spending. We like to take advantage of the credit card offers with points attached to them since its an actual reward you can use, but is it really worth it?

Would we better off in the long run paying for the reward to ourselves?

First of all, congratulations on paying off your balances every month! Now, as far as having multiple credit cards open with no balance, I'll assume that we're talking about a few credit cards — and not some crazy high amount. Sound fair? Ok.

There are several factors that go into your credit score. You're asking about two of them: Recent credit inquiries, and total available credit.

Credit inquiries fall in a section of your credit score called "New Credit." This section makes up 10% of your total score. When you apply for new credit, (like a store card, or a credit card) a note is made on your credit report and it is figured into the "New Credit" portion of your score. Everyone's credit is different. Here's how Fair Isaac, the company that issues FICO scores, explains the situation:

Inquiries are a subset of the "new credit" category shown above, which accounts for 10% of the total FICO score. Their importance depends on the overall information in your credit report. For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history.
...
For many people, one additional credit inquiry (voluntary and initiated by an application for credit) may not affect their FICO score at all. For most people, a credit inquiry will only decrease their FICO score by a few points.

Inquiries can have a greater impact, however, if you have few accounts or a short credit history. Large numbers of inquiries also mean greater risk: People with six inquiries or more on their credit reports are eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with no inquiries on their reports.

So unless you've applied for six credit cards in the last few months, you should be OK, which is why for the sake of this answer we're assuming that you're not a compulsive credit card collector.

Now, on to the second part of your question. Is it OK to have multiple credit cards with no balances? Yep, that's just fine. Having multiple cards affects your "credit utilization ratio." Only you know how many cards we're talking about here, but the basic idea is that your credit score is affected by how much of your total available credit you've used.

Think of all of your credit cards as a big pizza. When you borrow money, that's like eating a slice of the pizza. The FICO score reflects how much pizza you have left. When you close an account — you're starting with a smaller pizza!

Now, this doesn't mean you should go out and apply for 90 million credit cards, but it also means that you shouldn't worry about having more than one card.

Here's how Fair Isaac explains it:

Say you have 3 credit cards. Credit card 1 has a $500 balance and a $2000 credit limit. Credit card 2 is an unused card with a zero balance and a $3000 limit. Credit card 3 has a $1,500 balance and a $1,500 limit. In this scenario your credit utilization ratio looks like this:

Total balances = $2,000 ($500 + $1,500)
Total available credit = $6,500 ($2,000 + $3,000 + $1,500)
Credit utilization ratio = 30% (2,000 divided by 6,500)

Now, if you decide to close credit card 2 because it's an old card that you never use, your credit utilization ratio looks like this:

Total balances = $2,000 ($500 + $1,500)
Total available credit = $3,500 ($2,000 + $1,500)
Credit utilization ratio = 57% (2,000 divided by 3,500)

You can see that your utilization ratio rose from 30% to 57% by closing the unused credit card.

And finally, are credit card reward points worth it?

If you follow a budget and are not spending more in order to "earn" points — then yes. There's nothing wrong with using a credit card to collect points on things you would have bought anyway. The trouble is that many people don't actually do this.

Reward points are there to get you to spend more, and if you're worrying about it enough that you're writing in to us, perhaps you should take a look at your budget and decide if you're really getting a good deal.

Will closing a credit card account help my FICO score? [MyFICO]
Credit Inquires [MyFICO]
(Photo: ChrisB in SEA )

In the wake of the Credit Freeze, I’m a student who needs some private loans for my schooling starting in the Spring. I’m an older student with established credit. I’ve seen a lot of student loan organizations close their doors lately and now that I’m in a position to apply, I need to know where to turn…Is there a list of who’s still lending privately and who is “frozen”? Any suggestions?

According to a recent AP article, there is some cause for concern. A survey by the National Association of Independent Colleges shows that students are being forced to drop out — and one in five colleges reported a smaller incoming class than expected, despite the largest crop of 18-year-olds since the Baby Boom.

According to the website FinAid.org, 36 lenders have stopped providing private student loans, says the AP, and the rest have upped their standards. This is actually good news for you — because the article says that the number one barrier to obtaining a loan in this environment is a lack of a credit history or a poor credit history.

John E. Dean, special counsel to the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents for-profit student lenders, told the AP:

"The easiest step... is to bring in a creditworthy co-signer," he said. "That will make a difference on the availability of loans and the price."

If your credit history is established, it's time to shop around for the best deal. FinAid.org provides a list of lenders (in alphabetical order) that you may want to start with.

Before you even consider a private loan, however, you should make sure you read up on how they are different from federal loans. Here's some information from the Student Borrowers Assistance Project, which is program of the National Consumer Law Center.

Anyone else looking for student loans in this market? Do you have advice for Michael?

(Photo: rmgustaf )

Some friends and I are going to Las Vegas in December and have found a house to rent for the week we are there. We're getting a shocking good deal, hundreds of dollars cheaper than what was listed in the original posting. When I was Googling the address, I found out that the property is listed as a foreclosure.

They've asked for a $400 deposit and then the payment in full 30 days prior to check in. I've countered by telling them I saw that the property may be in foreclosure and is it okay to pay the full amount when we get the keys. It's kind of an awkward situation. I want to help them out, but don't want to get burnt and have a horrible holiday.

What can we do to protect ourselves against the house being repossessed before our vacation in December? Is that even a possibility? Will putting it on a credit card make a difference if we need to fight it? Does this situation stink worse than Las Vegas casino that's been smoked in for 50 years and should I run far far away?

Thank you,

Kelly from Canada

PS: In a side note, they've also asked for a 2.3% "credit card processing fee". I thought this wasn't allowed; is it best to take it up with the property owners or our credit card company?

We think you've made an excellent case for not going ahead with this rental. How much is your peace of mind worth? And you're correct, the processing fee is not allowed for companies that take credit cards as a part of their normal business activities.

We're going to toss this one out to the crowd. What should Kelly do?

(Photo: kevin dean )

PREVIOUSLY: Woot Customer Demands Non-Existent Black iPod Headphones
(Photo: bbatsell)

• A NYT article today talks about how the FBI is understaffed to investigate financial crime because it shifted almost 1/3 of its force to anti-terrorism duties.
• A UK bank group says phishing attacks rose 186% from January to June 2008 over the same period last year.
• According to this phone-survey study, both the frequency and dollar amount involved in identity theft has gone down over the past three years.
• The FTC is a great resource, but the most recent, relevant, report I found was from 2007

F.B.I. Struggles to Handle Wave of Financial Fraud Cases [NYT]
Bank turmoil fuels phishing boom [BBC]
2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report [Javelin Strategy]
FTC Releases Consumer Fraud Survey [FTC]

...acquiring old customer data from online payday loan companies. Then they call up the customers, who have already paid off the loan years ago, and use all sorts of threatening talk to get them to pay off the loans again. They call you up at work and harass the crap out of you.

Normally what you would do with these people is report them for harassing phone calls and get an injunction filed against them. You could also sue them for violating the FDCPA, or send them a debt validation letter. But these jokers work overseas, probably from India, and they don't care that they're breaking American law. They use caller-ID spoofing to make it look like their calls originate from the US and never give out an address, making it nigh-impossible for law enforcement to do anything. From what I've read on debtconsolidationcare forums, which has been helping its members deal with this scam for some time, the only way to fight back is to get hardball. Options include:

• Hanging up
• Laughing and hanging up
• Saying "Fine, I'll see you in court" and hanging up
• Telling them you're recording the call for your attorney. This makes them hang up.

PREVIOUSLY: Fake Debt Collectors Are Trying To Intimidate You Out Of Your Money

Millard does not care that Apple only makes white ones (unless you're getting special U2 iPods, which this wasn't). Now he wants Woot to pay for the black headphones he was "forced" to buy so they would match. It was very important to both him and his daughter, for whom the iPod was a birthday gift, that the headphones and iPod matched.

Woot.com was actually the ones who forwarded over the email exchange to us. They're hoping that Consumerist readers can offer advice on how they should react to the situation. At the bottom of the exchange posted below is a poll where you can write your tips and vote on other others'. Woot has promised to take them under advisement.

"From: MillardR
To: Service; Woot Member Services
Subject: Error in color ....
Hello,

I received the item I ordered, but the ear piece was shipped to me in "white" rather than in "black" to match my black iPod.

Can you help?

Millard R

—
Woot Member Services wrote:

Millard,

Apparently the people at Apple are not fashion-sensitive because those ear pieces only come in white. We apologize for this but unfortunately there isn't much we can do for you in this case.

-Rutherford

—
From: MillardR
To: Service; Woot Member Services
Subject: Re: Error in color ....

Hello Rutherford,

I never knew that this piece was going to come this way, and if you ask me (your customer) I fell that Woot should inform their customers of this type of detail issue. Well ... it now cost me an additional $29.00 to purchase a black set of ear plugs (that are for sale) to match the IPOD that I purchased from Woot in Black. How is this fair
to me .... the customer that feels he was mislead?

I hope you can do something to off-set my additional expense.

Best regards,

Millard R

—
Woot Member Services wrote:

I'm not sure how you felt mislead. The picture shows white earbuds. As a matter of fact, I looked back at other iPods that we sold and ALL the earbuds were white.

Rutherford

—
From: Millard R
To: Woot : Service

Hello Rutherford,

I'm really surprised to see that you're (WOOT) is taking this stance against one if its customers. The reason I felt mislead is because I was asked to select between "White" or "Black", and I was under the assumption that, again "White" meant totally "White" and that "Black meant totally Black". It never mentioned that only to IPOD itself
would be affected by the color, and that the other accessories would be shipped in a standard White color.

That's like purchasing a new car in the color of your choice (Blue) and when you finally take it home and you open the hood or truck ... its pink in color. Well when you call your sales person and report your finding, the customer support person states that it only comes in that color. Well if you were never told this information, would you feel mislead just because you never opened these areas to check for your self. Well ... I feel mislead, and so did my little daughter that received it item from us for her birthday!!!

Please review your customer satisfaction policy to see if there is any language within that takes care of your customer ... under this type of circumstance.

Please advise,

Millard R."

(Photo: bbatsell)

RELATED: The Worst Tip We Have Ever Received

Two come to mind: Brookstone and American Apparel.

Brookstone's return policy is simple:

If a product purchased at Brookstone does not meet your expectations, you may return it with receipt within 30 days of purchase for a refund, merchandise credit or exchange. We will not accept any returns without a receipt.

Sounds fair, until you consider that there aren't any provisions for gifts. Without the receipt, you're stuck holding a potentially unwanted gift. Even if you bring the unopened mint-condition item to the store, point to the exact same item on the shelf, and ask to perform an exchange, they will refuse. You have only one option: ask the gift-giver for the receipt, an obviously impossible request no half-decent person would make.

American Apparel can't even settle on a return policy. If you buy from their online store, they offer a full refund, but if you visit their brick and mortar locations, you can only receive store credit. So if you do your friend a favor and pick up a few shirts, and it turns out you were sold the wrong ones, you're entirely out of luck and stuck with an unwanted store credit.

Is either policy unique? No. We know there are companies with vastly more farcical policies we want to hear about them. Fill the comments with the worst return policies you've seen. And no, "all sales final" doesn't count.

EU to expand e-shoppers' rights [BBC]
(Photo: theogeo)

Science tells us there is almost no correlation between tips and good service, but surveys show that Americans relish the power to tip because we falsely believe it provides an incentive to provide good service.

Let's consider a situation: you go out to one of your regular dinner spots for a snack with friends. The place isn't too busy, and you're not too hungry, so you only order a salad and a side dish. Your friends don't get their food for almost 40 minutes. You get nothing. After repeatedly flagging down the waitstaff, you still can't get your salad. Another 30 minutes goes by before your food finally arrives, around the time your friends are finishing their meal.

Obviously, it's not the end of the world and there are far more disturbing stories littering the internet. Before asking what kind of tip this service merits, let's travel with the New York Times to San Diego to visit a small restaurant called the Linkery. The Linkery's waitstaff doesn't accept tips. Instead, they levy an 18% service charge on all sit-down meals, which is split 3-1 between the waitstaff and the kitchen. If customers want to tip more, they are invited to donate to the restaurant's charity of the month.

...every so often diners at the Linkery take offense. “I’ll go over to the table and ask if there is a problem with the service,” McGuan, the general manager, says. “If there is, then I offer to remove the service charge. Almost always, the customers’ issue isn’t about the service but about not being able to handle their loss of control.”

In some instances, this restaurant with a uniform charge completely removes the service fee, resulting in no tip.

Keeping that in mind:

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Why Tip? [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

1) They won't let you charge anything on the account the whole time
2) They decrease your credit limit.

Specifically, they decrease your credit limit by the amount you pay over the minimum, plus the 10% they toss you.

Assuming you could get one, seems like doing a 0% balance transfer to another card would be a better option. But if you can't get that and you've got a balance on your Citicard you need help with, it could work for you.

Have you tried the Citi Payment Program? Let us know how it went for you in the comments.

Full scan of the mailer below.

ELSEWHERE:
Citi Cards Payment Partner Program Gives One More Reason To Try 0% APR Balance Transfer [PFblogs]
Super Deal !! Citi cards Payment partner program Get back up to $550 [Fat Wallet]

(Thanks to Santos!)

NEWMAN: (peering at bottle label) What is this 'MI, ten cents'?
KRAMER: That's Michigan. In Michigan you get ten cents.
NEWMAN: Ten cents!?
KRAMER: Yeah.
NEWMAN: Wait a minute. You mean you get five cents here, and ten cents there. You could round up bottles here and run 'em out to Michigan for the difference.

KRAMER: No, it doesn't work.

NEWMAN: What d'you mean it doesn't work? You get enough bottles together...

KRAMER: Yeah, you overload your inventory and you blow your margins on gasoline. Trust me, it doesn't work.

S 3055 [NYT] (PDF)
Text version [Open Congress]
(Photo: Getty)

(Photo: Ben Popken)

Zack in Wilkes-Barre, PA would like to know why each of these three kinds of Tide laundry detergent gives you a different amount of loads - 48, 52 and 64. They all weigh and cost the same, they're all "2X Ultra" formulation. The only difference is they have different scents, Clean Breeze, Mountain Spring, and Original. Can anyone crack this detergent dilemma?

A number of readers chimed in on the Best Buy-branded wishlist browser add-on post with the alternatives they prefer instead. They were: 1) Amazon's Universal Wishlist, 2) Del.icio.us, 3) Wishlist.com, 4) Wishlistr.com. Got any others? As far as what most Consumerist's thought of the Best Buy add-on, commenter dragonfire81 probably captured it best...

(Photo: heyu1021)

Certainly time and inflation have eroded the value of what one grand can buy, but Kiplinger's says there are still several useful things $1,000 can do. Their list supposedly contains 37 "new" tips on what to do with $1k, but they read like a who's who of tried-and-true tips: invest it, save in a 529, give to charity, yada, yada, yada. In other words, we started yawning on tip #3.

That said, maybe some of the "best" ways to use $1,000 are the most basic — saving it, investing it, using the money to pay down debt, and so on. If pressed to recommend what someone should do with an extra $1,000, these suggestions would probably be among the first we'd offer up.

But what would you do with $1,000? Anyone for something a bit more exciting or unusual like taking a unique trip, splurging, or starting a pretzel business?

What $1,000 Can Still Do [Kiplinger's]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: Earth2Kim)

1) It can unconsciously rationalize spending. Some part of your brain is going, "It's ok, I'm saving."

2) Personally, I only use my debit card to withdraw money from the ATM. I don't want my account number getting stolen off some insecure store PIN pad, and paying only in cash encourages wiser spending.

3) If you're going to do this program, at least once a month move the money from the savings to an online savings account. Interest rates at brick and mortar banks are like .0crap, online you can get upwards of 3% right now.

One neat thing is that for the first 3 months, they will match everything you save 100%. After that, 5% of your purchases up to $250.

The deal has been around for a while, we wrote about it in 2005, but a new smarmy ad campaign (the one that goes, "This is America. Do we let the sun just shine or the wind just blow? No, we put them to work.") and recent events, made me think we could revisit it. What do you think? Is this a handy program, or the Diet Coke of savings plans? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Keep The Change [Bank of America] (Photo: atbartlett)

"One Dallas reader took me to task for spending so much on my dog and then daring to write about it in a column called 'Cheapskate.' He wrote, 'Basically, my 'frugal' belief (I do not consider myself a cheapskate) is that I paid $110 for our family cocker spaniel from a rescue organization six years ago, and I will pay no more than $110 to keep her alive.' "

On the other hand, some are willing to pay almost anything:

"A Massachusetts reader put it eloquently as he described his efforts to stretch out the life of his 14-year-old 'best friend,' afflicted with pneumonia, an impacted colon and cancer. 'There are many who think burning 18 grand to keep a dog around for six or 12 extra months is madness,' he wrote. 'Sometimes I think so, too. But my wife died from lymphoma two years ago, and I have no children. What am I going to do, buy a bigger television set?'"

Have you decided how much you'd spend to save your pet? If so, what financial steps have you taken (like adding more to your emergency fund) to support such a plan of action?

How Far Would You Go To Keep Your Dog Alive? [The Wall Street Journal]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE
(Photo: fantasysage)

Over the past two weeks, I have ended up with two gallons of milk, purchased at different stores from different dairies, that went bad before their expiration date. When we asked for a refund at the second store, the manager noted that they had gotten several complaints about sour milk lately, which was unusual for the store. The manager wondered whether truck drivers were turning up the thermometer on their refrigerator system or skipping it altogether to save gas...

I live in Brooklyn and a few months ago, even before the summer, I myself started to notice my milk was spoiling a lot faster too. As in, a matter of days. I thought our corner store was just being cheap. I've since switched to organic milk because it lasts for weeks. Has anyone else noticed this? If so, what part of the country are you in, what brand do you buy, and from what store?

(Illustration: wedgienet)

Leave your venue suggestions in the comments.

I looked around the site and didn't see any handy guide for a situation that I, and I'm sure many others, are in. We have an older car that still runs, but occasionally needs work. At what point do you begin experiencing diminishing returns on your investment? I know there is no hard and fast rule but there has to be reasonable guide lines when it comes down to how much to put into an old car before its just not worth it anymore. I don't meant to make a request (especially since Consumerist helped me out before) but I think an article on this might not go unappreciated.

Brenden,

Essentially, what you have here is a math problem. There are several factors that you'll want to consider when making your calculations.

1) How much money have you been pouring in to the car? Grab all of your receipts and total them up. Then ask yourself this question: "What is the current state of my car?" If you've just fixed it up and it's going to be running great for some time, you might want to keep it for awhile. If you're barely keeping up as one thing after another breaks... it might be time to say goodbye. If you're unsure about this part of the process, call your mechanic or a trusted friend who knows something about cars. Ask if parts for your car are getting expensive, and if it is going to be worth maintaining.

2) Do you own this car? Your relationship with your car depends a lot on whether or not you actually own it. Everyone's situation is going to be different. What is the actual value of your car? Can you get anything for it if you sell it? If you're not used to paying a car payment, are you going to want to start? Run the numbers and see what this car means to you financially.

3) Does this car get good gas mileage, and what does it cost to insure? Calculate the operating expenses of your car. A newer car may save you money on gas, or it may not. It's probably going to cost more to insure. Once you know what your current car costs you, you can compare it to the numbers for your potential new(er) cars.

Now that you have an idea of what your car is actually costing you, you can start comparing it to what a different car might cost. You might find that your old car is very cost effective, despite the repairs. Or you might not. Generally speaking, however, a car you own is better than a car your bank owns. Personally, we enjoy buying slightly used cars (that we can afford) with cash. Good luck!

Anything we missed? Share your tips for Brenden in the comments.
(Photo: The Joy Of The Mundane )

What are we looking for?

For example, in this AmbienCR commercial, the announcer says:

"Sleepwalking and eating or driving while not fully awake with amnesia for the event have been reported."

Driving while not awake? With amnesia? Neat!

If you've noticed a disturbing side-effect in a tv drug ad, watch the ad again and write down exactly what the announcer says and the name of the drug, and email it to us at tips@consumerist.com. Put "Disturbing Side Effect" in the subject of your email. If you can find a clip of the advertisement on the internet, please include a link. If you have a commenter account, feel free to leave your suggestion in the comments.

We'll pick the top 10 and feature them in a Consumerist post. Thanks!

Love your site, and need some advice (or courage) to get a couch and chair I ordered from Crate & Barrel. I placed the order May 18 and it was supposed to be delivered last Saturday (May 31). I got a call to confirm my date and delivery time. Then I got a call on Saturday that my couch somehow didn't make it from the warehouse (then why did they confirm delivery?) and could not be delivered that day, but they could deliver my chair. I said not to bother, but to deliver the items together. I didn't complain at all, said I understand it was not the fault of the person calling, and I think that was my downfall. I was told I would get a phone call on Monday to reschedule a delivery. To be honest, I forgot about it until yesterday (Wednesday). When I called "my rep" (the girl that sold me the sofa and chair,) she acted surprised that a new delivery date had not been set up. I told her I NEEDED the couch and chair this weekend as I have relatives coming to stay with me. She made it seem like that would be nearly impossible, but she would check into it and call me back on my cell phone. Then the power went out across the area, and the Crate & Barrel phone stopped working.

So now it's Thursday, and I need the couch and chair in 3 days. I feel like if I had been rude and thrown a fit on Saturday that someone would have tried really hard to get my delivery rescheduled. But since I was nice and didn't press it, that I will get the runaround. I really want and need these furniture pieces, so I wont try to cancel my order...but what should I do now? Should I give my rep another chance, or just call and start bitching right away? What if the phone at the local store still isn't working; should I call corporate? Thanks for any help!

We find that "bitching" doesn't get results, but you're right... you shouldn't just let people walk all over you either. Thankfully, there's another way.

We suggest you read this post called "How To Mind Control Customer Service Reps."

The most important step for you will be this one:

Before you call, outline the situation for yourself, and decide how you want it solved
Write down several options you would be willing to accept, and keep the page in front of you when you call.

Now take a deep breath, find some self-confidence, and give Crate & Barrel corporate a call. Escalate your complaint immediately, you've waited around for long enough! Be polite, but firm, and never rude. Don't ever be afraid to cancel your order if you can't come to a solution that's agreeable to you. After all, it's your money.

Do any commenters have suggestions for Brittney? How do you get good results without being "bitchy"?

(Photo: Jeff Sandquist )

I decided recently that I'm spending too much money and decided to cut back on some discretionary items. Here are a few things I reduced, or changes I've made in my spending habits:

Monthly Reductions
—-—-—-
Took off text message packet from cellphone (I only had added it for a now defunct text/cellphone pic heavy project). Savings: $10/month
Cut piano lessons from weekly to bi-weekly.
Savings: $100/month
Reduced Netflix plan from four-at-a-time to two-at-a-time.
Savings: $13/month
Eating out less, cooking more.
Savings: ~$100/month

One-offs
—-—
Fought harder for Commerce Bank fees than I might have normally.
Savings: $45
Had to replace broken cellphone. Opted for cheap model on eBay instead of getting the same semi-nice one.
Savings: $140
Going to hit up WaMu for their one per year courtesy fee waiver.
Savings: $35

TOTAL
—--
One-time savings total: $215
Monthly savings: $223
Yearly savings: $2,891

Going to hold a tag sale this Sunday as well. Have you adjusted your spending habits lately? What are you doing to save more or spend less money?

(Photo: Getty)

I have a question about the Stimulus Checks that we will all be receiving. If we owe money to the IRS from our 2007 tax year, will it be deducted from the stimulus check and the remainder passed on to me? In a normal situation, I would say yes. Considering that the IRS wants you to spend it all to boost the economy and not pay off debt with it, it also makes sense to give it all to me. Do you know what the correct answer is? Thank you for your time.

Well, Adam, the answer is "maybe you will get it and maybe you won't." The IRS has the right to withhold payments if you have certain kinds of debts. Student loans in default or unpaid child support, in addition to unpaid tax obligations, are cause for the IRS to confiscate your money and they are generally not too shy about doing so. Whether they are set up to withhold this special payment is anyone's guess. The IRS initially addressed this issue on their stimulus payment FAQ, but that question has been mysteriously deleted.

Phoung Cat Le at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a great tax rebate FAQ, for those of you who have more questions.

Answers to tax rebate questions [Seattle P-I]

Hey everybody, I know Netflix is usually pretty cool about problems but today I received a couple discs and for the fourth time now- they're copies. Not even good ones. I called them once again and was 'personally' assured that 'human eyes check every disc that comes back' and that they could not be fakes. Its easy to spot them, the labels are wrong, usually obviously home-made, the menus work incorrectly, etc.. they're shoddy

Here's the brief history of the 4 incidents:
"Bleach" discs 6 & 7 -Early Feb- Netflix apologized, sent me a bonus disc. That's right, ONE bonus disc for two horked ones.

"Full Metal Alchemist" discs 2, 3, 4- End of Feb - Netflix guy questions how i could know if a disc is fake. I offer to send pictures, he says that's not possible. Apologizes and sends bonus disc.

"Full Metal Alchemist" disc 6 - Mid March - This one is from the same batch of fakes as the last. Netflix again questions how I could possibly know its fake. Offer to send pictures of this one, again told no and offered replacement disc.

"Bones" discs 3 & 4 - 4/26/08 - I'm willing to admit i might be wrong on these. If i'm right, these fakes are less obvious but the episodes don't match up. Says 7-10 but its actually 6-9. Even better, Netflix has taken the actual Bones discs which are two-sided, and given me maybe-bootlegs that are one-sided. So, for example, the real disc 2 has episodes 7-10 on side A & 11-12 on side B. But these are one-siders they sent me, so (even if they are not "fakes") i still had to waste a disc just to get the WHOLE one. Shady at best, Netflix.!

Here is a genuine "Bones" disc 2 from Blockbuster. Note the only writing is in the center of the disc. (below)

Left: A genuine "Full Metal Alchemist" disc 3. Right: Suspected fake "Full Metal Alchemist" disc 2. Both are from Netflix. (below)

Muffinman also says the play surfaces look normal and silver to him, not purple colored. We aren't familiar with Netflix' policy on splitting out double discs and whether they should be marked with a Netflix logo is unclear. We have never heard of paper labels being used in any professional application. What say you, Consumerists? Are these discs legit?

Netflix sending bootlegs? [Consumerist Forums]

I live in a 750 square foot apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Per the lease agreement, my roommate and I signed to pay the heat separate from the rent. The first gas bill we received was $750, and the following gas bill was roughly the same amount. We knew that the price of gas was expensive, but for two people who make great pains to use the heat only when absolutely necessary, and occasionally use the stove to boil a pot of water, this seemed ridiculous. For all of 2007, we owe roughly $2000 in gas costs.

The gas company inspected our boiler; we were told that it was inefficient and outdated, and that our boiler, though supposedly hooked up to meters separate from the rest of the building, used to heat the entire building. We brought the matter to our landlord, even showing him the graph provided by the gas company that demonstrates that we are paying triple that of the average customer in our area. When we asked him to compensate us for half of what we owe, he laughed in our face and refused. Does Consumerist or any of its readers know - do we have any form of recourse? Are there rules and regulations concerning the standards by which a boiler must run at? Are there rules and regulations concerning the repairs a landlord must make on a utility that is paid for by the tenant? Also, my advice to anyone considering entering a rental agreement where the cost of heat is not included in the rent - don't do it. Thank You for Reading, Marcie

Tiffany writes:

I'm writing to you in hopes (just like Dustin at the military base, but possibly a little more desperate) that some day in the near future I can get my Xbox360 back.

I sent it to Microsoft to fix on January 5, 2008 and shipped it back to me on February 2, 2008; however, FedEx shipped it to my home address and I unfortunately couldn't sign for it because I was stuck at work. I requested that FedEx change the delivery address to my work address, but they said they couldn't without Microsoft's permission. I asked FedEx to hold it at the shipping center but it accidentally got returned to Microsoft's service center.

At that point, Microsoft had done no wrong, but this is where it starts to get frustratingly nightmarish. I contacted Microsoft who assured me that they would send the package back, this time to my work address where the package could be signed for during normal work hours; however, somewhere along the line, Microsoft decided I had stolen the Xbox from the original owner since it was suspicious that I was "opening two repair orders" in such a short time. Countless (I lost track after 10ish) phone calls were made to Microsoft customer support about my case in a fruitless battle to get them to send me my console back, but they kept dancing around the reason(s) they were refusing to send it back to me. Eventually, a customer service representative admitted that all along they were unauthorized and had no means to actually help me, so all the times they claimed a supervisor assigned to my case would contact me about my case were lies. They eventually coughed up an address to the Microsoft Legal Department and said if I sent a letter their way, they would help me out. She hinted that the reason corporate had put a hold on my console may be because they didn't believe I was the original owner, despite the fact that I sent them a copy of my receipt and credit card statement as bona fide proof of purchase.

My coworker had suffered similar bad luck with his console repair and also had to write the legal department several letters before finally receiving his console back, so I felt like I finally had a chance to get my missing console returned to me. I sent a letter to the Microsoft Legal Department and CC'd a copy to the Vice President of Consumer Affairs at Microsoft 22 days ago begging for at least a response to my letter. Thus far, my e-mail inbox has remained vacant and my phone has not rung with news from Microsoft.

At this point, I'm quite at the end of my line and know that contacting customer support would just wring what little humanity I have left out of my soul. I noticed last week you posted about Dustin's grief with Microsoft not sending him a box to ship his Xbox in for repairs and also provided some links to file a small claim and contact my attorney general. I'm wondering if you can assist me further in any way, or know of someone who can since you've mentioned that multitudes of people of submitted similar complaints. Being completely left in the dark as to why they won't send my Xbox back to me after four months is making me more than a little crazy.

Thanks,

Tiffany

You can try going even higher, straight to the top, and emailing big billg@microsoft.com, but reason apparently has no home at Microsoft.

Our advice to reader Dustin, who, after three months, still hadn't received a shipping box, was to speak with his credit card company, consider small claims court, and to launch the mighty Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Tiffany wants even more, a customer service weapon so powerful, so effective, that it hides beyond our conception. For that, we're going to turn this one over to you, our beloved and infallible Consumerists. Tiffany has reasoned, waited, begged, all without results. What should she do next?

PREVIOUSLY: It's Been 3 Months And 12 Days Since My XBOX Broke And Microsoft Still Won't Send Me A Box
(Photo: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com)