When Kat and her husband traded in their old Ford Focus, the dealership told them that they would be able to pay off the loan faster than the couple could. This was true, if by “faster” they meant “not at all.” See, Kat’s husband was wounded while serving in Afghanistan, and is due a $19,000 grant from the Veterans Administration to buy a vehicle. This grant is a check cut directly to the dealership. Two months later, the VA, acting with all of the swiftness and efficiency that government agencies are known for, hasn’t sent the check yet. Naturally, instead of actually contacting the couple about the issue, the dealership just went ahead and didn’t pay off the loan as promised. They won’t until the check from the VA shows up. This is affecting Kat’s husband’s credit, and is just generally rude. [More]
government
Anxious To Get Your Tax Refund? IRS Says 'Go Get Another Job'
Emily is a law student, and she spent last summer doing lawyer-type work and earning lawyer-type money. She mistakenly set up her withholding as if she were earning that much money year-round, though, so the government owes her a pretty sweet refund now that she’s returned to the poor, ascetic life of a student. She even filed her taxes super early so she can get that money back. Only the IRS has flagged her for extra-special review, delaying her refund, and no one she can get in touch with seems to care. “You should just get another job,” one helpful representative told her. [More]
Car Receives $44,500 Ticket For 1,800 Years Of Illegal Parking
Accurate data entry is important. Need proof? Just ask the woman in Italy who was taken to the hospital for a dizzy spell after receiving a €32,000 ($44,500) parking ticket. How long does a car have to be parked to receive that kind of fine? About 1,800 years. Wait, what? [More]
US Economy Grew 2.5% In Third Quarter, Department of Commerce Report Says
Buoyed by brisker consumer and business spending, The American economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.5% in the third quarter, according to a report released this morning by the U.S. Department of Commerce, [More]
TSA Finds Your Vibrator In Checked Suitcase, Leaves Creepy Note
Bad: Having the TSA pawing through your checked luggage. Worse: The suitcase they chose to open includes a sex toy. Worse still: the person who went through your bags leaves a leering note. Specifically, they scrawl “GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL” on the notice of inspection.
The New Consumer Bill Of Rights
The folks over at Fearless Revolution have made several iterative amendments to JFK’s 1964 Consumer Bill of Rights to update it for the modern age. [More]
Credit Card Marketer Uses Clever Way To Circumvent New Regs
Looks like at least one credit card marketer has cooked up a clever way around regulations that forbid unsolicited credit cards from being issued and showing up in your mailbox. [More]
Obama's Debt Reduction Plan Includes Letting Debt Collectors Robo-Call Cellphones To Collect On Federal Student Loans
One part of the debt-reduction bill Obama sent to Congress is a provision that would let debt collectors robo-call cellphones to collect on what’s owed to the government, like federal student loans. [More]
Bill Introduced To Let Robots Call Your Cellphone
Since ’91, it’s been illegal for telemarketers to use autodialers and other robot-like devices to call your cellphone. Last week, a bill was introduced to change that. While in the past email hoaxes have gone around saying that your cellphone could be opened up to telemarketers, HR 3035 seeks to let businesses contact your cellphone “for informational purposes.” [More]
Govt. Paid Over $600 Million In Benefits To Dead Workers
A new report by the Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general say the federal government has paid out over $600 million in benefits in the past five years to dead people. The money was meant to go to retired or disabled federal workers. [More]
Berliner Suckered Into Paying $680 For Free Government Forms
A woman from Berlin Googled for US citizenship application info and thought the site she landed on was an all-in-one place for taking care of all her forms. She forked over $680, and what she got back were forms she could have gotten from the government for free. [More]
Landlord Refuses To Rent To Single Mother Because There's No Man "To Shovel The Snow"
A Wisconsin landlord has been sued by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development after refusing to rent a property to a single mother. The landlord, who is a woman, said it was because the renter didn’t have a man “to shovel the snow.” [More]
Government's Customer Service Ratings Improve, Still Not Great
Did you know that President Barack Obama signed an executive order in April that requires federal agencies to improve their customer service? Yeah, me either. But maybe fewer people will want to nominate the federal government as the Worst Company in America in 2012, because a recent survey by federal IT network MeriTalk indicates that the quality of customer service from the government is going up. A little. 31% of respondents said that they were satisfied with government services, up from 24% last year. The highest-rated agencies? The Social Security Administration and the IRS. [More]
Govt. Rips Up $535 Ticket Mom Got After Daughter Saved Woodpecker
The US Fish and Wildlife Service says that the mother who got mailed a $535 fine after her daughter saved a woodpecker and transported it, a potential violation of federal law meant to protect migratory birds, wasn’t supposed to have gotten ticketed. Here is their statement they mailed to us this afternoon: [More]
Mom Fined $535 After Daughter Saves Woodpecker
A mother faces a $535 fine and possible jail time because her 11-year old daughter saved a baby woodpecker from the family cat. [More]
What The Debt Ceiling Bill Means For Your Wallet
You need a flowchart and a spreadsheet to understand all the different stages of the debt ceiling bill that passed the House yesterday and is likely to pass the Senate today. But let’s not get hung up on who does what to whom at what point, and when that super-awesome “sudden death mode” of spending cuts kicks in. Instead, let’s look at what the debt-ceiling bill means to you and your wallet. [More]
What If Food Labels Looked Like This?
Maybe the real reason Americans are so fat is because our food labels are so ugly. If they were easier on the eye to read, maybe more people would read them and make better eating choices. That was the idea in mind behind a recent design contest at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Journalism aiming to give the standard government-mandated food label a much-needed makeover. The winning entry uses colored boxes for each ingredient that are sized in proportion to how much of each is inside the package. [More]
Hours Left Before Debt Ceiling Vote Deadline, So Read The Bill
There’s just a few hours to go before the deadline to vote on raising the debt ceiling and steer clear of a federal default. Late Sunday a deal was worked out and the House and Senate are expected to vote on it. Broadly, the deal raises the debt ceiling, reduces the deficit, and avoids a credit default. More specifically… everyone should read the 74 pages of the bill before making a comment about it. If you don’t have time for that, the White House has also released a 1,465 word fact sheet, a “TL;DR” document of sorts for the nation. [More]
