Matt at SteadFastFinances tipped me off to a possible loan-modification scam running ads on network TV.
BBB Will Now Give You An "F" Just Like Your Algebra Teacher Used To
By January 8, 2009
Gone are the days of “unsatisfactory” ratings by the BBB — they’ve switched over to a letter grading system designed to provide consumers with “more detailed insight into a business’s track record.”
Scams 101: Do Not Buy Things From The Internet Using A Wire Transfer!
By December 9, 2008
The BBB has given us a heads up about a new scam that targets holiday shoppers — pop-up internet electronics stores that only accept payments via wire transfer.
Credit Cards Scammers Pretend To Be From BBB
By October 22, 2008
Robo-scammers are ringing up consumers and pretending to the Better Business Bureau, saying, “We’re from BBB – Because of bailout, we can offer you a low-rate credit card.” In this iteration, we see several three common scam characteristics combined: *Unexpected communication * Automated communication * Mention of topical event * Use of recognizable institution’s name * Money-saving opportunity. Investigators were unable to tell the exact nature of the scam. It could be been to steal your account numbers, or it might have just been a marketing affiliate’s sleazy way of generating leads for a credit card company trying to get people to transfer their balances. Complaints have been received about the scam at a BBBs serving Washington, West Oregon and Northern Idaho, as well as Midland,Texas.
Fun With Scammers: Golden Retriever Receives Check For $150,000
By October 16, 2008
Congratulations! Your dog is rich! Oh wait, no. It’s a scam. Meet Bruce Gadansky of the Louisville BBB. He got an email from some internet scammers and decided to reply — as his dog. The email was from a “company” looking for help cashing a check.
By September 19, 2008
This Saturday (September 20th) is the Better Business Bureau’s “Secure Your ID” day: in select cities, “bring up to three boxes or bags of paper documents that contain your personal information and we’ll shred them.” Or, you know, just do it yourself all year long. [BBB]
BBB Warns Consumers: Stay Away From TicketsMyWay
By September 9, 2008
[Parent company] Event Tickets LLC has an unsatisfactory rating from BBB due to its performance, which includes nearly 100 instances of non-delivery of tickets, nearly another 100 complaints involving refunds and exchanges, and on about 200 occasions, the company has failed to even respond to BBB or consumers to resolve issues.
First Air Conditioner Guy Says Replace It For $5,000, Second Air Conditioner Guy Fixes It For $250
By August 4, 2008
Reader F.’s air conditioner was broken, so he called the company that installed it when the house was built. They came out, charged him $100, and told him that he could repair the unit for $3,000 or replace it for $5,000. It’s a good thing he got a second opinion, because the second repair guy fixed the problem for $250.
Beware The "Fannie Mae" Prize Draw Scam
By July 30, 2008
Scammers love to tap into national trends to put a new face on an old scam, and the “Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Equity Prize Draw” scam spotted by the Louisville, KY BBB is no exception.
Careful, That Red Lobster Coupon Could Cost You $7,500
By July 25, 2008
How do you define a scam? Does your definition include anything where you have to put down money upfront in order to get discounts later? Maybe it should. Meet Stephen and Jean Liang of Kansas City, Missouri. They went to a presentation for a travel club, and ended up joining for $7,500– with the condition that they could cancel after 3 days. Before they left, they were offered a discount for Red Lobster. They thought it was a bonus for joining the club. It wasn’t.
UPDATE: MyGallons Refunding Membership Fees?
By July 15, 2008
Consumerist commenter doireallyneedausername forwarded us an email he got from MyGallons.com, claiming that his membership fee will be refunded because MyGallons.com cannot find a credit card processor. The email, signed by CEO Steve Verona, says that current members will get a free year of MyGallons.com when (if?) they are ever able to process transactions. Read the email inside.
BBB Says: "Anything With 'Gas' And 'Deal' Should Set Off Alarm Bells"
By July 11, 2008
The BBB says the consumers should be wary of advertisements claiming to offer cheap gas for visiting a website. Paying $2.49 a gallon just for “clicking” sounds too good to be true– and it probably is.
UPDATE: MyGallons.com Suspends Accepting Membership Fees
By July 11, 2008
After acknowledging that it did not have a contract in place to process transactions, gasoline-hedging service MyGallons.com has suspended accepting membership fees and placed the current fees in a non-interest bearing escrow account, says the BBB. Read the BBB’s findings inside.
BBB Says MyGallons.com "Omitted Fact" In Advertising, Has No Contract To Process Transactions
By July 3, 2008
The BBB says its concerned about gasoline-hedging company MyGallons.com and its ability to live up to the advertising claims on its website. A spokesperson for the BBB tells us that the biggest “red flag” they’ve discovered is that MyGallons claimed (in their press release) to have partnered with US Bank. However, when the BBB called US Bank to confirm this, they found out that it wasn’t true. US Bank had discussed the opportunity with MyGallons, but had declined. According to the BBB, despite the fact that they have no contractual agreements in place to process transactions, MyGallons is still signing up new customers.
BBB Complaint Gets LA Fitness To Refund $5620 They Stole From You 3 Years Ago
By June 9, 2008
I was ripped off to the tune of $5620. They refused for 3 years to refund my money. Then they told me I have I have no recourse. It was electronic funds transfer for personal training that I never authorized. The people who did it were fired shortly after. It had happened to several other members, and most of the cases were settled. Except mine.
BBB Works Against Sprint
By May 28, 2008
Some people think the BBB doesn’t work. They do, but only if the company cares about keeping a clean record. See when you look up a company in the BBB database it shows you how many complaints have been filed against the company, how many were answered, how many did the consumer report as being satisfactorily resolved, etc. So if you have a valid complaint, file it with the BBB, and the company cares about its BBB record, you have a decent chance of getting a solution. You might not believe it, but it turns out Sprint is one of those companies. Here’s Kevin’s story of how the BBB got his erroneous text message charges refunded and let him leave contract early without early termination fee…
