But will the scam penalty go far enough? Wells Fargo has been fined $185 million for creation of a whopper of a scam: Installation of 1.5 to 2 million phony deposit and credit card accounts for “new products” for existing account holders without their knowledge. WF also charged fees. It’s been going on for five years. […]
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Why Did United “Premier” Luggage Not Arrive?
United tries to explain, then pays up For checked luggage to show up when the plane lands, it must be loaded before the plane takes off. So far United does not have a firm grip on the implementation of its Premier luggage promise: Your bags will always be among the first delivered at baggage […]
“Near Monopolies” Send Outsourcing Offshore
Consumers lose when telecoms go offshore Pulitzer winner David Jay Johnston’s “Bad Connections” editorial in Wednesday’s New York Times is a must read for consumers whose bills keep increasing for phones, TV and cable. He explains why, even when we pay more, we get less from the telecoms, now a small group of “near” monopolies. […]
Consumerist Ideas For President Obama
Dare consumers hope for real change this time? The President recently asked CEOs of top American corporations for new ideas for his second term. Will they include moving jobs back to America? Or ways to help consumers? If the CEOs let him down, here are new ideas 1. Change the Department of Agriculture’s mission from […]
Citibank Gets My Help
Will Citi compensate me for helping? FAX to Kendall Stork, Head of Citibank Customer Care (June 7): You have my sympathy. Citibank’s top management in New York exiled Citi Customer Care and you to the Dakotas. Do they ever visit in the winter? Or keep you up to date on their changes to credit […]
As For the Next President…
Which One Will Stick Up for Consumers? Two weeks ago I mailed letters to the top ten presidential candidates asking what, if anything, they would do for consumers. Because all have a “differentiation” problem, I thought a few would respond. Not one (including President Obama) sounds or dresses much different from the others, except of […]
I AM MY OWN METER READER
Will PSE&G Certify Me? Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G ) sent me a letter-size sheet with 6 sets of 4 pictures of dials without hands. It says to “draw the hands on the dials” and “then place this card [there is no card] in a window where it can be seen by the meter […]
HELPFUL DEFINITIONS OF FRESH
15-20 Days Is Fresher Than 180 Greenline Foods of Perrysburg Ohio usually gets its beans right. It told me its beans are harvested ready to eat, quickly processed (within 24 hours), “trimmed and washed” and bagged into one and two pound bags. Two words on the front of the package promise FRESH GREEN BEANS And […]
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Gary Nelson: I just wonder what will be taking place on these "...
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Joseph Ting: e: Fleeced by fees when you travel by Stephanie Ro...
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Nadia K. Faulkner: http://www.johnythegame78r2.com...
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Josh Saintperle: Hmmm -- last time I called Comcast for a problem, ...
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E.A. Blair: If I claimed to be in a constant conversation with...
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Charles Selden: Hope my post was helpful....
Why This Blog?
My name is Charles Selden. I write this blog for consumers who have been abused by corporations. Like you.
Me?…abused?
That’s right. Abuse is not confined to children, spouses, the elderly, or baseball umpires. The most regularly abused person is the American consumer. It has gone on so long that most people accept it as “just the way things are” and are sure nothing can be done about it. You have been abused as a consumer--unless within the last 12 months you have not shopped for food, called a toll-free number for technical assistance, tried to find “your question” in a list of FAQs, bought an appliance or computer, eaten out, booked a flight, watched cable TV, taken a vacation, used a credit card, paid a medical bill, bought an item on the Internet or purchased a cashmere sweater. If all of your purchases and calls for help ended happily, you are either exceptionally lucky or a wee bit delusional. The fact is abuse of consumers is profitable for corporations, although abuse is not a word they would use.
There’s no shame in being a consumer abused by a corporation. The shame is that more consumers do not fight back when abused. That’s where this blog comes in.
I’ve been a consumerist for more than four decades. I look forward to corporate abuses, especially the compensation and fun parts. The corporations do their part and I do mine. This blog chooses a few of the “better” episodes to amuse and instruct consumers. The blog will not urge you to join a movement or contribute to a cause. Indeed, it is absolutely not about trying to change what corporations do to consumers. Why spoil a good thing?
As for my Manifesto, it owes a lot to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. He used the word abuses to describe what King George and his cohorts were doing: “a long train of abuses…to reduce them under absolute Despotism.” Corporations treat consumers that way.
To see how I fight back, try my blog for a while. Laughter is good for your spirit and getting compensation for abuses is good for your bottom line.
Portraits by Mike Peters
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