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Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection: Advice from The Bucks County Consumer Advocates

December 2008

Q. I purchased a used car with 46,000 miles on the odometer.  At the time I also purchased a service contract for the car that covered it for 48 months or 50,000 miles.  I only had the car for a year and put 20,000 miles on it when I started having problems.  I immediately had it towed to the place I bought it and they said my transmission went.  At that time they advised me that my service contract had been voided and I would have to pay to have it repaired.  They said that the car should have had the transmission serviced at 60,000 miles.  Since this was not done, my service contract is voided.  If I only had the car for 20,000 miles, why should I be responsible for that maintenance?  W.P., Levittown

A. Your service contract states under “Your Responsibilities” that to keep your contract valid, you must have your vehicle serviced as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.  You were also required to show proof of required service including verifiable receipts showing date and mileage of the vehicle at the time of service.  The manufacturer of your vehicle recommends that a transmission service be performed every 30,000 miles.  Since your vehicle had 66,000 miles when you took it in to be repaired and you did not have the service done at 60,000 miles, the company voided your contract.  It is important to read and understand the terms and condition of any contract before you sign.  You will be held to those terms.         

Q.  My wife entered a contest to win a gas card.  When she entered it she asked if there was any catch and was told no.  Famous last words.  Anyway she received a call telling her she won and to claim her prize all she needed to do was to come and listen to a presentation.  The presentation is for a travel club and when she went to collect her prize they tried to strong arm her into buying a membership.  It is a complete scam job, how can they get away with this? K.M., Bensalem

A.  Contests and chances should always be viewed skeptically.  The old saying that nothing is for free is correct.  The lure of winning a car, vacation or gas card is used as the bait.  Whether you fill out a paper card and drop it in a box or fill out a form and send it via email, the trap has been set.  Somewhere in the print, albeit so tiny, is the catch that allows them to contact you and gives them permission to sell or use your information.  Time share and vacation club sales are always incredibly hard sell and forever lengthy.  Those tactics are commonly used to wear people down.  If you just get up and try to leave someone will usually ask you to wait one minute.  That is when the manager or supervisor speaks to you and offers you an incredible deal, all with the purpose of getting your signature on the dotted line.  Most of these offers are legal and when you sign the paperwork you are obligated to the deal.  Our advice is for consumers to ignore such offers because they never benefit the consumer and in some instances may not allow you to cancel the contract.  Also, consumers should be extremely cautious when offers are made by telephone.  Many businesses will record the call and if you accept the terms, you have just entered into a contract. 

Q.  I was interested in having my kitchen remodeled for the holidays.  I had a contractor come out to my home to give me a written estimate.  He talked me into getting a loan through a finance company that he has worked with in the past.  He told me that I needed to sign the written estimate before this finance company could check to see if I was even able to get financing.  I explained to him that I wanted to get two more estimates and he said that made sense and he would wait to hear from me.  Now I am being hounded by him to get measurements for my kitchen cabinets.  I told him that I wasn’t sure who I was going with.  He told me that I got the loan and that they were ready to start the job.  He is not making any sense. Can you help?  T.P., Langhorne         

A.  Bucks County Consumer Protection spoke with the business while the consumer was in the office.  To the surprise of the consumer the business is holding the paper that was signed as the contract.  He stated that what was written up was the contract and that is why he had the consumer sign it.  Apparently he sneaked the contract past you by telling you it was just a written estimate.  Consumer should never sign any papers when getting a written estimate.  If any signature is to be on a written estimate, it should be the contractor’s, not the consumer’s.  Another thing that got past you was the three-day right to cancel that has to be in all contracts when signed in your home.  This should be clearly written out at the end of a contract.  Also, if you want to get financing for home improvements you should always get your own financing through your bank or your credit union.  Don’t rely on your contractor for your financing.   

Credit Card Precaution

Our office had some holiday tips a couple of weeks ago.  We also wanted to advise shoppers to follow a few simple steps to help protect yourself from credit and charge card fraud.  Although it is not always possible to prevent fraud from happening, you can make it more difficult for a scam artist to capture your card or card numbers by following these steps:

Things to Do:

• Sign your credit cards as soon as they arrive.
• Carry your cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment, or another small pouch.
• Keep a record of your account numbers, expiration dates, and the toll-free phone number and address of each credit card company in a secure place.
• Keep an eye on your card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.
• Void incorrect receipts, destroy carbons (if still used), shred documents whenever possible.
• Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
• Open bills promptly and reconcile accounts monthly, just as you would your checking account.
• Notify card companies in advance of a change in address.

Do Not:

• Lend your card(s) to anyone or leave cards / receipts lying around.
• Sign a blank receipt.  When you sign a receipt, draw a line through any blank spaces above the total.
• Write your account number on a postcard, payment envelope or keep pin numbers in your wallet.
• Give out your account number over the phone unless you made the call to a reputable company.  If you have questions about a company, check it out with your local consumer protection office.

Reporting Losses and Fraud:
Report any questionable charges or lost cards promptly to the card issuer (you may also have to send a certified letter).  Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with such emergencies. By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges.  In any event, your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card.

Credit Card Protection Fraud:
The Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Consumer and Business Education has developed specific tips to help consumers recognize and avoid credit card protection fraud by being wary of promoters who:

• tell you that you are liable for more than $50 of unauthorized charges on your credit card account;
• tell you that you need credit card loss protection because computer hackers can access your credit card number and make charges to your account;
• tell you that a computer bug could make it easy for thieves to place unauthorized charges on your card;
• tell you (or imply) that they are calling from "the security department" and want to activate the protection features on your new card.

Department of Consumer Protection /
Weights and Measures
Michael D. Bannon
Director
50 North Main Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-348-7442
Fax: 215-348-4570
Canny Consumer Hotline 1-800-942-2669