A bill to allow consumers to refinance their student loans to the rate currently being issued on new federal and private student loans succumbed to a painful death on the Senate floor Wednesday despite being championed by consumer advocates. [More]
bills
Advocates: Bill Requiring IRS To Use Private Debt Collectors Would Harm Consumers
By 5.7.14
It makes sense that the federal government would want to collect owed taxes and a proposed law would require the IRS to push that duty off to private debt collectors. However, a history of abusive practices by debt collectors and the failure of similar programs in the past has consumer advocates warning that the provision will only hurt consumers and the government in the long run. [More]
Man Claims He Rang Up $135K Strip Club Bill Because He Was Drugged — 4 Different Nights
By 4.23.14
It’s one thing to have a wild and crazy night where you wake up and think, “Hmm, maybe some things happened last night that I don’t remember,” but to ring up over $100,000 at the same strip club and then claim you were drugged — four nights out of 10? That might be a tougher tale to tell convincingly. [More]
You Have To Pay Suddenlink Whether They Bill You Or Not
By 2.6.13
You have to pay your bills, whether you’ve received a bill or not. That’s not much of a newsflash to most adults, but it’s kind of a problem for Ted. While he was deployed overseas, Suddenlink decided to stop sending e-bills to his bank. He could deal with those bills easily online, but it’s harder to pay a bill if you don’t receive one. They tried to sell him on autopay services. “Nice try,” said Ted. [More]
AT&T Shuts Off Our Phones For Not Paying Bill They Can’t Explain
By 11.6.12
It’s a truly blessed event when a couple decides to truly commit to each other and… join their mobile phone plans together. Kelly and her husband made this true commitment after they were already married, intending to save some money. Instead, they got a series of seemingly random four-figure bills from AT&T. The carrier insisted that Kelly and Mr. Kelly needed to put down deposits…despite being AT&T customers in good standing of a decade or so. They remain confused. By “they” we mean “pretty much everyone involved in this mess.” [More]
Letter About 7-Cent Student Loan Bill Seems Like Efficient Use Of Government Resources
By 7.30.12
It was really thoughtful of the U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Loans program to let Puck know that his student loan payments, which he starts making in August, are too low to cover interest payments, and that some of that interest was about to be capitalized and become part of the loan’s total. It wasn’t all that thoughtful toward the environment or the program’s bottom line, though, because they printed and mailed a letter inviting him to use a forty-four cent stamp to pay off seven cents in accrued interest. [More]
I Paid My Bill In Person, Suddenlink Doesn’t Believe Me
By 6.27.12
E. knows that he paid his Suddenlink (ISP/cable) bill, but Suddenlink doesn’t. Which is interesting, because he physically went to one of their offices, wrote a check that left a carbon copy, and paid the bill. You would think that this would be a sufficient evidence trail for Suddenlink. It was not. [More]
Man Claims His $800 Water Bill Is An Error Since He Hasn't Used 80,000 Gallons Of Water In The Last Month
By 1.3.12
Rod lives a quiet life as a 90-year-old retiree and World War II vet on a fixed income. He doesn’t run a water park out of his house and didn’t set up a gaudy fountain in his back yard. Which makes an $800 water bill for one month of usage pretty odd. [More]
Mother Somehow Runs Up $1500 Verizon Bill
By 10.12.11
Despite not knowing how to use her phone for anything other than making calls, Michelle’s mother somehow racked up a $1500 bill for 2,888 MB worth of “music or video streaming.” It certainly wasn’t the latest Justin Bieber video on loop. Michelle is trying to negotiate with Verizon but all they’ve done so far is offer a 50% discount. That’s still about $600 more than Michelle wants to pay. [More]
Credit Card Bills So Bad I Avoided The Mailbox
By 9.12.11
Young, dumb, and full of debt, Beverly was dealing with it in the worst possible way: not dealing with it. Things got so bad that her plan for coping with all the angry letters from creditors filling her mailbox was to simply not get her mail anymore. [More]
Debt Collector Evaporates At First Sign Of Resistance
By 5.16.11
Ryan shares with us his consumer kicking booty story of how he got a debt collector to run off with their tail between their legs. It sounded like an amazing deal. He got a letter from a debt collector telling him that they represented AT&T and would cut him a special break and settle for only $69.30 instead of $693.30. Wowzers! Problem was, he didn’t owe AT&T any money at all. [More]
I Don't See How My Wife Ran Up 20GB Of Data Charges In A Month
By 12.20.10
Tony says his wife got a T-Mobile bill that said she vacuumed up 20 gigabytes of data in a month. He questions whether using that much data on a phone is even possible, and says T-Mobile has been unresponsive. [More]
Overcome Personal Finance Procrastination
By 11.30.10
The number one cause of personal finance ruin is procrastination, and the number one cause of procrastination is fear of failure. So if you find yourself watching Brideplasty instead of balancing your checkbook, deciding which expenses to cut, or updating your retirement savings plan, here are some tips for making those tasks less daunting. [More]
I Refuse To Bow To The Altar Of Holy Envelopes
By 10.20.10
Lani is doing what it takes to guard as much as possible against identity-swiping mail thieves. Time Warner Cable sends Lani return envelopes with unprotected holes to show the address, but this is one customer who refuses to play the game, modifying the envelopes until they’re secure enough to send: [More]
Hyatt Charges Asthmatic Woman $250 For Smoking, Says It Has Secret Photos
By 9.8.10
A woman who stayed at a Hyatt in Milwaukee last month was hit with an extra $250 charge for smoking in her room. The problem, she says, is that she has severe asthma–she offered to show Hyatt her prescriptions–and is not a smoker. When she complained to Hyatt, the hotel’s director of operations told her “the Hyatt had photographic evidence of smoking in the room and would absolutely not refund her money.” [More]
American Express Says You're Over 30 Days Late When You're Only 7
By 9.7.10
If you pay your American Express bill 7 days after the due date, the credit card company says you’re over 30 days past due. Every other issuer only says you’re 7 days late. What gives? [More]
AT&T Customer Service Rep Says Store Employees Are Commission-Chasing Liars
By 9.7.10
One of our readers just switched over from T-Mobile to AT&T, but he discovered that pretty much everything the salesperson promised him at the retail store turned out to be a lie. At least, that’s what the angry AT&T customer service rep told his wife when she called in to dispute her first bill. [More]
Watch For Mysterious Data Usage On Your iPhone
By 9.1.10
If you’re on one of AT&T’s limited data plans, you’d better start carefully monitoring the data usage, because some customers are noticing unexplainable daily hits on their accounts. The support forums at Apple are filled with pages of theories and complaints from frustrated customers, but our tipster David got the following admission directly from an AT&T rep: “She told me that most, if not all, 3g-capable iPhones were being charged erroneously like I had been experiencing. She told me AT&T was unaware of why the data was being charged, and where it was coming from.” [More]
