The commercial says you can win a free Craftmatic bed, but all you’re likely to win is a salesman worming his way into your home. An Inside Edition investigation revealed some shady high-pressure tactics by Craftmatic bed salesmen targeting the elderly. Typical sales tactics involve starting with a high price, $5,000 and then using a series of phony price drops to get the person to buy today. The salespeople say the bed is so great that it will solve acid reflux and heart disease! And at a seminar where you learn to be a better Craftmatic bed salesperson, a hidden camera showed instructor Carolyn Nilson talking about the lengths she would go to to close a deal, saying “I’ve done it all. Dug checks out of the garbage that they didn’t shred…reactivated credit cards, gone to the bank.” Most contests are just “lead-generation” opportunities for the businesses. Warn elderly friends and family about the sleazy tactics of the Crapmatic sales force.
INVESTIGATIONS
FBI Said To Be Investigating Countrywide
The FBI has opened an investigation into Countrywide for suspected securities fraud, reports the New York Times. The Justice Department and FBI “are looking at whether officials at Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, misrepresented its financial condition and the soundness of its loans in security filings.” So far everything is unofficial because nobody has been authorized to discuss the case, and a Countrywide spokeswoman says, “”We are not aware of any such investigation.”
AP: 41 Million Americans Drink Water Contaminated With Antibiotics, Anti-Convulsants, Mood Stabilizers, And Sex Hormones
A soup of pharmaceutical waste spews from the faucets supplying drinking water to 41 million Americans, according to a disturbing study from the Associated Press. At least 24 major cities are affected, including New York, Washington, Boston Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
Did FAA Allow Southwest To Fly Unsafe Planes To Avoid Flight Disruptions?
Yesterday the FAA sought $10.2 million in civil damages from Southwest Airlines for neglecting to inspect the fuselages of 46 of its planes.
Is Your Vet Ripping You Off?
KNBC went undercover and found a bunch of vets are more sales people than pet doctors, using fear to sell more treatment than is necessary. They took pets with minor ailments, checked out by a vet, to several different vets. Instead of getting the minor fixes they should have been recommended, these vets advised expensive extra tests, procedures, and medicines geared more towards lining their pockets than healing the pets. One dog had an upset stomach but was recommended a $300 “eyelid scraping,” despite his eyes being perfect. When confronted, the vet said she had done nothing wrong, and “eyelid scraping is not done in the states, but she used to do it in Austria.” She also admitted there was nothing the matter with the dog’s eyes. The report says that if you get recommended an expensive procedure, get a second opinion.
Is HSBC Straining Under An "Unprecedented" Wave Of Fraud Activity?
If you’re an HSBC customer, check your account, as there may be a wave of fraudulent activity hitting your bank. Two days ago we wrote about the guy in the U.S. who discovered his account had been drained by someone in Bulgaria. Later that day we received an email from Emily in NYC who was having similar problems, only her fraud-buddy was in California and Canada making withdrawals on her account.
Emily’s fiancé wrote back to us today with an update, and according to Emily, the HBSC Fraud Investigator who spoke to her “said that their fraud department was so overwhelmed, it was ‘still in the developing stage of how we’re going to handle’ it. I asked if she knew how many customers were affected and she stated ‘We don’t even know.'”
National Energy Rebate Fund Scam
Some window installers are offering what sounds like a great deal, a 50% off rebate, but just try to collect it, like the unlucky people in this KUTV investigation video (transcript inside).
Computer Techs Caught Overcharging, Lying, And Snooping Through Your Personal Files
KNBC did an undercover investigation into tech repair services and found that, yep, they routinely overcharge customers, charge for services not rendered, make shit up, and look through your personal videos and pictures. They tested Circuit City, Fry’s, some local repair places, and Best Buy. Surprisingly enough, Best Buy is the only place that correctly diagnosed the problem and didn’t peek through their pictures (Probably because bossman Robert Stephens had vowed to fry peepers with the giant laser he has hidden on top of the Geek Squad HQ if any more techs got caught).
FBI Starts Investigating The Entire Mortgage Industry
The New York Times says that the FBI has begun an investigation that includes almost the entire mortgage industry—from the lenders to the brokers to the Wall Street banks who packaged the loans as securities. They’re cooperating with the SEC and wouldn’t name which firms they’re targeting, but the Times said that it includes 14 companies.
Dairy Queen Owner Exclaims "Good God Almighty, Where's My Manager?" After Workers Moon Drive-Thru Window
Hey St. John’s Dairy Queen workers, you forgot to make your Facebook group private. Now your hilarious little videos of each other mooning the drive-thru and waging indoor snowball fights are all over Canadian television. They just don’t understand your jokes about “using meat the next day that wasn’t kept overnight in the cooler.” Neither do the health inspectors.
Buyer Beware: The Condo Squeezeplay
CBC Marketplace did an undercover investigation into buying a condo, and found that it’s rife with risk for the buyer, while the sellers completely protect themselves. You get lured in by the model condo they set up, all spacious and with stunning views and stainless steel appliances and breakfast bar and all that jazz, but contractually, there’s no guarantee that you will get that space. The contract pretty much says everything is subject to change, the floorplan included doesn’t have any measurements or square footage, and there’s clauses that say that any sales material or verbal promises made don’t count at all. One contract lawyer says that any relationship between what you’re told you’re buying and what you end up with will be a “coincidence.” Watch the video to learn more about protecting yourself from the condo bait-and-switch squeezeplay.
Dirty Elf Shuts Down Canada's "Write to Santa" Program
You may want to write your own letter from Santa to the kids this year. Canada Post has temporarily shut down their popular “Write to Santa” program, which delivers over a million letters to kids in Canada and elsewhere, while they track down the volunteer who’s been sending out obscene letters to kids.
Q-RAY Bracelet Investigated For False Claims
CBC Marketplace investigated the Q-RAY, a bracelet whose “ionization” is supposed to “balance your chi” and provide chronic pain relief. The FTC sued Q-RAY for false advertising claims and ordered the makers to return $87 million to it customers. Now Q-RAY only says it improves “well being” and “performance” in its infomercials, but stores themselves still market it as a pain relief product. And when Marketplace took the bracelet to a lab, they found the darn thing wasn’t even ionized. [More]
OSHA Agrees To Investigate Wal-Mart Whistleblower Incident
The odds aren’t in her favor—in recent years, only 16% of employees who filed complaints with the Labor Dept.’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration won—but OSHA has agreed to open an investigation into Chalace Lowry’s claims that after she reported suspicious activities at her Wal-Mart headquarters job as she’d been trained to do, she was outed to her boss as the whistleblower, and when she asked to be moved to a new position she was told to look for one herself and that Wal-Mart would make no guarantees about her job security.
Airport Security Lapses Revealed On PBS Exposé
The latest episode of PBS’s Exposé shows local new investigators uncovering three different chasms in airport security. At one airport, a graveyard shift security guard lets in employees and delivery guys without doing a security screening, how easy it is to walk up to a regional commercial jet, and a woman with a IED taped to her leg getting past the TSA. The full show is available for free online.
Hiring Unlicensed Contractor Like Inviting Devil Into Your Parlor
You might think you’re saving a buck by going with their advertised cheap services, but they’re bidding without insurance, worker’s compensation, or training. MSNBC’s new investigative series “Home Wreckers” tapes a police sting operation aimed at snatching up sketchy contractors. One of the guys is accused by several homeowners of low-balling bids, which then end shoot up in price over the course of the project. He also takes customer’s money and then never finishes the repairs. The police search his car and find ecstasy hidden in it. The police show off pictures of other contractors who were found to be convicted child molesters, on probation for attempted murder, registered sex offenders, on a state’s 10 most wanted list, and on Megan’s List. They advise to only hire licensed and bonded contractors, as they have to go through background checks and drug tests. You wouldn’t want to let some ex-con in your house, or around your kids.
