Tag Archives | Customer Rip-Off

LifeLock CEO Todd Davis’ Identity Stolen 13 Times

By on May 19, 2010 in News 0

We’ve had this bastard send plenty of spammers to our site … I figured something wasn’t right about this guy. Thanks to WIRED for the investigation.

Lifelock

The hell with you, Todd Davis — some people actually care about personal privacy and you have murdered that trust. Thanks again to Kim Zetter for pointing this guy out on WIRED. Avoid this service at ALL COST:

Apparently, when you publish your Social Security number prominently on your website and billboards, people take it as an invitation to steal your identity.

LifeLock CEO Todd Davis, whose number is displayed in the company’s ubiquitous advertisements, has by now learned that lesson. He’s been a victim of identity theft at least 13 times, according to the Phoenix New Times.

That’s 12 more times than has previously been known.

In June 2007, Threat Level reported that Davis had been the victim of identity theft after someone used his identity to obtain a $500 loan from a check-cashing company.

… Read the rest

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Health Care Reform? If You Have A Preexisting Condition, The Insurance Company Is Only Fined $100/Day NOT To Treat You

By on April 28, 2010 in News 4

Change you can believe in? Think again. Not as long as the insurance companies get to write the bills in Washington. Paul Harwood writes on MichaelMoore.com:
Fine Print

I caught Lawrence O’Donnell interviewing Michael Moore [on Countdown With Keith Olbermann] about health care.

Because I’m unemployed and so have time on my hands, and because there were so many bizarre claims about the contents of the HCR bill being tossed around during the debate, I’d already spent time spelunking through the depths of the bill … and so my ears perked up when I heard him saying this:

MOORE: If the insurance company is caught denying somebody because of a preexisting condition … their fine, according to this new law, is $100 a day. One hundred dollars. Now, do you think they’re going to take the fine, or do you think they’re going to pay thousands of dollars to help you if you have cancer?

… Read the rest

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Credit Reform and My New 703.8% Card

By on January 15, 2010 in News 0

MacysKathy Kristof writes on CBS Moneywatch:

Consumer reporters were all crowing about a 79.99% rate credit card that was launched in response to credit reform a few months ago–collectively horrified that a law designed to cut rates and eliminate sneaky fees was inspiring increasingly abusive bank behavior.

I thought that was about as bad as it gets until I took a close look at the statement for my new Macy’s card, which I had opened with “instant credit” while Christmas shopping. It made that 79% card look like a bargain.

Department Stores National Bank, which issues the card, charges a “minimum interest charge.” On my average daily balance of $3.41, that minimum charge worked out to “an actual annual percentage rate” of 703.80%. (Part of the impact of last year’s credit reform is that the issuer had to disclose that shocker on the statement, while also noting that the card’s normal APR is 24.5%.)

Such are sneaky new fees that are now springing up in response to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act passed last May, said Bill Hardekopf, president of LowCards.com, a rate-shopping web site.

… Read the rest

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The Credit Card’s Newest Trick: 79.9 Percent Interest

By on December 18, 2009 in News 9

PremiereBankCandice Choi writes on the AP via Yahoo News:

It’s no mistake. This credit card’s interest rate is 79.9 percent.

The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It’s a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

Typically, the First Premier card comes with a minimum of $256 in fees in the first year for a credit line of $250. Starting in February, however, a new law will cap such fees at 25 percent of a card’s credit line.

In a recent mailing for a preapproved card, First Premier lowers fees to just that limit — $75 in the first year for a credit line of $300. But the new law doesn’t set a cap on interest rates. Hence the 79.9 APR, up from the previous 9.9 percent.

… Read the rest

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AT&T To Customers: It’s Your Fault We Can’t Build A Network for Your iPhones

By on December 10, 2009 in News 5

ATTiPhoneGreat job there on the consumer services, Ralph de la Vega. I’m sure your customers want to be “educated” on why you can’t build a network to handle the demand. If you’re wondering why, check out this interesting graphic explanation on GigaOM on how AT&T is making its money off of you with the iPhone.

PETER SVENSSON writes on AP via Google News:

Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T Inc. executive said Wednesday.

The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to “reduce or modify their usage.”

De la Vega didn’t say exactly how or when the carrier would change its policies, but he said some form of usage-based pricing for data is inevitable.

… Read the rest

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