Federal Communications Commission,445 12th Street. SW, Washington, DC 20554 ( Telephone # 202-418-
0190 )To Protect Against Bogus Claims For Payments AND Other Fraudlent Claims
• Designate One (1) person, probably not the serviving spouce, to screen claims. (*) If designate resides in spouces home he/she should also monitor telephone calls.
• Take Charge of the conversation by asking follow-up questions
• If a Claim is made demand (*)"Written Proof"
• Confirm that the person truly represents the company or organization cited.
• Do Not make payment immediately, take time to reflect on the problem.
* added by page author
FTC has found that more often than not, Bulk Mail Offers appeared to be fraudulent and could have ripped off unsuspecting consumers of billions of dollars.
FTC Listed the following CatagoriesBusiness Opportunities--Bulk E-Mail Chain Letters--Work -At-Home schemes--Health & Diet Scams--Vacation Giveaways--& the ever present " Effortless Income ". FTC also notes that an increasing number of messages focus on Investments, promising high rates of return with no risk.
Federal Communications Commission,445 12th Street. SW, Washington, DC 20554 ( Telephone # 202-418-0190 )
Telephone Prederence Service,c/o The Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9014 Farmingdale, N.Y.11735-9014 Click To Visit Their Site
Junkbusters Corp., P.O.Box 7034, Green Brook, N.J. 08812 Click To Visit Their Site
AARP
Council Of Better Business Bureaus' Foundation
Departmebnt Of Justice
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
Federal Trade Commission
Nat'l Association Of Attorneys General
Secruities & Exchange Commission
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
The BBB ( Better Business Bureau is inundated with thousands of calls ( compliants ) regarding Contractors and Construction services. The BBB " Strongly " recommends that "Before" you sign any agreements, you Check the company out.The BBB has provided the following "Tips " to assist you in making your final decision, regarding which Contractor/Construction Service to use.
Obtain three bids for any remodeling work you are planning to have done. Make Sure all bids are based on the same set of specifications & Materials that will be used. Insist that any verbal comments that may affect the final result be putin writing and signed by the contractor
Do Not automatically accept the lowest bid ( offer ), Be Sure to ask for references, Inspect the contractors finished projects, talk to the previous customer or customers. Remember, You Usually only get what you pay for
Ask if the contractor is a mamber of BBB or belongs to any professional association that has established "Performance" Standards for it's members.
Make Sure the contractor is in compliance with all the " Local" Licensing, Bonding and Insurance requirements, Ask to see evidence of coverage.
Insure that contractor has acquired all required building permits. Ask who obtains and pays for the building permits and if they are included in the contractor's bid.
Ask contractor "Who Cleans Up The Area( site) during and after all work has been performed."
Usually, a down payment of one third of the total contracted price is made at the time the contract is signed, with additional payments after completrion of each "phase" of work is performed. Final Payment Should Not Be MadeUntil Work Is Completed and Inspected, By You.
If the work to be done requires "Financing", Be sure you understand all of the financial terms, especially if you are required to put a second mortage on your home as security for the work to be done. * Establishing a secondmortage will add to the final costs of what has to be done.
Never Do Business with a door to door sales person or telemarketers "without" throughly, throughly checking them out "Before" you sign a contract.
Beware of contractors who can only be contacted via the use of a Pager, Cell Phone, Answering Service or P.O. Box.
Beware of the statement " I can Only get yoy this price to-day", A professional contractor will offer quality and value without using "Hard Sell" tactics
Ask for the contractors place of business "City"Repair License Number. Many Suburbs issue permits.
If the contract is signed "Outside" the contractors office you have three (3) business days to cancel the contract.
Never sign a contract that has blank or unfilled spaces.
Beware of a (1) one page contract or proposal. Define( outline ) all specifics of the project, the who and what, including materials to be used by their brand names,
The names,address and phone number of all "subcontractors should be included in the contract".
If changes on the job are necessary,...after the work has been started, "Amend" the contract with a change order.
The contractor and all subcontractors should sign waivers of lien upon "final " payment in full and provide (give) them to you upon completion of the work,
A Certificate of complance should not be signed, by you, until all work is satisfactorily completed and only after a though inspection.
As many as one in 25 previously damaged cars may have nonworking air bags, says Christopher Basso of Carfax.
Crooked repair shops steal functional systems, worth as much as $3,500, from customers' cars, replacing them with anything from packing peanuts to rags.
Thieves also lift air bags from parked cars to sell on the black market or to body shops.
Two clues to phony air bags:
The steering wheel "gives" at its center, and its color doesn't match the dashboard If you're shopping for a used car, Carfax offers free air bag deployment histories www.carfax.com/airbag you'll need the vehicle identification nwnber (VIN).
Send your queries to Ask Sid, 601 ESt. N.W., Washington, DC 20049 or go to www.aarp1.org/bulletin/consumer/asksid We regret we can't answer them all.
AARP BULLETIN JULY-AUGUST 2007
You can also obtain the lists by sending a "Post card" with your Name: full Address: and signature (* signed)to:
Direct Marketing Association, Telephone Preference Service, P.O. Box 1559, Carmel, New York 10512
Andy Rooney's... CBS Newsman ...Tips for Handling Telemarketers Three Little Words That Work !!
(1)The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.
These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.
(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.
What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!
(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.
Most of these come with postage paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.
It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage paid return envelopes.
One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.
Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.
You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.
The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!
Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !
If enough people follow these tips, it will work ---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.
To Get Off Mailing Lists Write To: Direct Marketing Association, Telephone Preference Service, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, New York 10512
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