Posts Tagged With ‘ Services ’

Photo: The Pancake of Heaven! It’s great progress that 40 state attorneys general have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. The Big Four – Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook – have tremendous power over our personal information and more needs to be done to rein them in. Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when Google actually continued to collect their location information, according to the settlement. In addition to paying money, Google has agreed to improve its location... Continue Reading

When I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, it wasn’t a problem to cancel once I finally got the correct information on what to do. However, some consumers have found it difficult or nearly impossible to cancel a service because companies illegally trick or trap people who use their services. An example is Vonage, a phone company that didn’t give customers an easy way to cancel their services. Vonage used hurdles called “dark patterns” that made people: hunt for the cancellation phone number; go from agent to agent with repeated sales pitches when they called; and pay high... Continue Reading

After a loved one dies, going  to a funeral home to make arrangements for a burial or cremation is extremely difficult. Fortunately, in the 1980s I wrote an article on how to pick out funeral goods and services. I learned a lot. I did a survey after funeral directors in the area told me consumers didn’t have any problems picking out funeral goods and services. I found: People who chose the funeral home closest to their home didn’t get the inexpensive funeral they wanted. Funeral homes didn’t tell customers that bodies in airtight caskets can decompose just as quickly as... Continue Reading

For years, I’ve suggested that consumers consider banking with a credit union rather than a bank. Why? Consumers often can’t trust banks not to gouge them with high interest rates and fees. It was great to listen to President Biden speak on the radio and on television about the action his administration is taking on “junk fees.” Junk fees can weaken market competition, raise costs for consumers and businesses, and hit the most vulnerable Americans hardest. Biden is calling on federal agencies to reduce or eliminate hidden fees, charges, and add-ons from banking services,... Continue Reading

Michelle Singletary, financial writer for The Washington Post, has been recommending buying Series I Bonds for months now. Singletary says for investors with money to spare and who are looking for safety, inflation has been good for Series I Bonds, which the Treasury Department announced will be paying 9.62 percent until the end of October. So, I thought I’d try it. I was apprehensive because I’d read so much about how clunky the TreasuryDirect.gov website is. Buyers are advised to have all the needed information at hand when they set up an account: your Social Security number, bank... Continue Reading