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Consumer News & Alerts

February 27, 2006

A TAXING TIME OF YEAR
The Valentine's Day roses have faded and the candy's all gone. It's tax time. Oddly enough, many people look forward to tax time because it means they get a big refund.

Of course, what this really means is those unlucky souls are paying too much all year, finally getting their money back after letting the government use it free of charge all that time.

Even leaving Congress and its wastrel ways aside for a minute, there are lots of other reasons to be wary of taxtime -- for example, tax preparation fees. Most of us pay way too much to have our taxes prepared and then, if we're not careful, we pay truly outrageous fees for "instant" refunds, thinly-disguised but very expensive loans. These are completely unnecessary and no one should fall for the tax-refund-loan pitch.

There are also dangers associated with filing online. Sure, it works fine most of the time if you use Turbo Tax or TaxCut but if you fall for the "free file" sites promoted by the IRS, you may find yourself paying dearly for something you thought was free.

We examine all these quagmires in this week's cover story.

H&R Block Goofs on Its Own Taxes In best Three Stooges fashion, H and R flubbed their own tax return by, oh, about $32 million. This doesn't do much to comfort customers fuming about mistakes in their returns but it gets a few snickers from everyone else.

THE STAMP ACT
MoveOn.org and RightMarch.com don't agree on much but they're unanimous in their opposition to the paid e-mail juggernaut being unleashed by AOL and Yahoo, which sanctimoniously claim they are trying to stop spam. Just about everyone else warns that charging for e-mail is the beginning of the end of the Internet as we have come to know it. Maybe this would be OK with AOL and Yahoo. After all, AOL was doing just fine charging for everything in sight before the Internet came along.

And as for Yahoo? Well, any company that betrays its customers to the Chinese secret police probably doesn't lose much sleep over democracy, free speech and other quaint old notions.

Blackberry Hangs by a Thread If you're reading this on your Blackberry, read quickly. The patent dispute that threatens the Blackberry's e-mail capability is in the hands of a federal judge in Richmond, Va., home of the "rocket docket." Judges there become quite irascible when the parties refuse to settle on cue, so His Honor is not amused and has already warned that his next step isn't likely to win him American Idol status.

Wireless Service Complaints Mixed So are you less irritated with your cell phone? The goofily named "CTIA - The Wireless Association" says you are and so does its handmaiden, the Federal Communications Commission. Both say complaints are down 28%. Complaints filed with our site, however, were up 9% for the same period.

The FCC criminally hordes publicly-owned information, making it hard to get the real answer. The corrupt and foolish agency refuses to release the number of complaints received per company -- processed at taxpayer expense -- while cheerily going along with whatever ridiculous cheerleading spume the cell phone industry chooses to spout.

ALIEN TREASURE
There is endless complaining about undocumented aliens who perform our dirty work at dirt-cheap wages but next to no recognition of how much they contribute to Social Security and other governmental stashes. Fact: Those using phony or stolen Social Security numbers have contributed more than $500 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund in recent years. Since none of them will be able to draw any benefits, this is pure profit anyway you look at it, as our Martin Bosworth explains in a suspenseful unraveling of the Social Security Earnings Suspense File.

LOTS OF LIFT IN AIR FARES
Now that they have used the bankruptcy courts to fleece their stockholders, employees and vendors and put new entrants like Independence Air out of business, the "legacy" airlines are ready to get serious about sticking it to their passengers, raising fares and jamming more seats into any spare space that remains, our Dan Schlossberg reports. Just what "legacy" do these behemoths represent, one might reasonably ask.

Where Is That Exactly? You might think the Chicago/Rockford Airport was near Chicago or that Reno-Tahoe Airport was near both Reno and Lake Tahoe. They're not, of course. For that matter, you might be forgiven for losing interest before reading the entire name of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (which, by the way, is a pretty good hike from Washington). Such wishful thinking in airport naming is on the increase so it pays to keep a map handy.

Other travel notes ...

• Earthquake Centennial San Francisco commemorates the Big One.
• CityPass Coupons Don't overlook these. Most provide admission to top-name attractions at half the usual price.
• New Web Sites A constant stream of specialty sites cater to every travel niche.

REALLY RED MEAT
Consumers don't knowingly purchase old meat but it's not always possible to tell what's what, thanks to the ingenuity of meatpackers and the get-along, go-along attitude of the FDA and USDA. Consumer advocates are currently seeing red over a 2004 FDA decision to permit the use of carbon monoxide to make meat look redder.

The stuff's wrapped in plastic (a term of art in certain Mob circles) so you can't smell it and there's no expiration date on "fresh" meat, so appearance is the only clue. Supermarkets have long used special lighting to give a reddish tinge to objects in the meat case. The injection of carbon monoxide is the latest use of technology to move the merchandise, no matter what.

Kids' Flu Shots New guidelines recommend shots for kids from 6 months to 5 years. The idea is not so much to protect kids, who usually survive the flu quite nicely, but to keep them from infecting their grandparents, teachers and others.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin So do they relieve pain or not? Well, results were better among arthritis patients with moderate to severe pain. Conclusion: They don't hurt, but they might not help.

Cigarette Smoking Leads to Root Canal Study confirms link between cigarettes and root canals. Pipes and cigars aren't so bad, if you don't mind the risk of mouth and throat cancer.

FIRE IN THE FOREST
Karin of Tucson was driving her Ford F-250 through the Saguaro National Park when the rig caught fire. "The insurance company refused to do anything because they said it was Ford's fault. Ford refused to do anything because the truck was too old. I ending up paying $5,200 to have the engine, AC, and everything else under the hood replaced," she told us. It's the most recent of about 150 Ford truck fire reports in our database. Most of the complaints are now available on our site.

After dragging its feet for years, Ford finally recalled 3.8 million pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles but repairs are going slowly. Ford's delays have paid off. Many of the recalled vehicles have already burned to the ground.

By the way, we've added a truckload of new complaints about Ford's trick trucks -- the ones that blow out their spark plugs.

New Car Sales Dip Sales were down 8% in January. GM and Honda outperformed the competition. GM actually gained a little market share. But look out! Toyota has cut the price on its best-selling Camry and Honda is planning a super-economy hybrid that could get up to 85 miles per gallon.

Japan Takes Aim at Gens X and Y It's not just Honda. All the Asian manufacturers are designing little fuel-sippers that they hope will steal the market from U.S. gas guzzlers. Ford is doing all it can to help.

Beware of Ethanol Ethanol sounds good. It burns cleaner and, hey, it helps the farmers who are up to their ears in corn. The only thing wrong is that ethanol costs more and produces less energy than other fuels so think twice before you get too corny.

SCAMS & OUTRAGES
Some of the latest in our ever-growing collection ...

• New Identity Theft Scam Email warns that your identity has been stolen, asks for personal information to "verify" your account.
• Everything's Local "Local" businesses may be anything but.
• Fraudulent Mailings Texas sues three companies that bombard seniors nationwide.
• Book Club Nailed Bookspan to pay $680,000, clean up its act.
• Business Directory Scam A Canadian defendant is permanently banned from selling business directory listings to U.S. consumers.
• Securities Fraud Duo allegedly defrauded elderly investors out of more than $9.1 million.

RECALLS

• Infant Formula Metal particles found in some Mead Johnson formula.
• Flying Saucers Sold by QVC The battery charger can overheat.
• Next Marketing Hooded Fleece Strangulation hazard.
• Audi A3 Sports Sedans The clutch can fail.
• Chicken Limbo Party Games They can collapse.
• Victoria's Secret Silk Kimono Tops They're flammable.
• Barbeques Galore Gas Grills Fire hazard.
• Children's Metal Charms Lead poisoning hazard.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS
While we think the AOL/Yahoo "e-mail stamp" is an outrage, we're not crazy about the constant barrage of spam, hacking, phishing and other assaults that rain down on Web users and the sites they visit. All this vandalism makes it hard to offer legitimate services. For example, we had to take down our "Tell Your Friends" form because it was being compromised and used to send spam. So we have to rely on you. We don't ask for money but we always need more readers. If you find our material worthwhile, please forward this e-mail to someone who might enjoy it. Thanks.

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