Topic: Consumer Watch
The new items published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
OFT credit card default charges– Two years on / ConsumerWatch / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
In April 2006 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) declared that default charges on credit cards were too high and suggested capping these at £12. In the months that followed lenders cut these charges to £12 but in an attempt to recoup lost revenue, they hiked rates and charges elsewhere. Two years on, how much have the rates and charges on credit cards increased?Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Consumers Abused by Default Product Purchase Choices / ConsumerWatch / Purchasing
By: Joel_S_Hirschhorn
At some point the business sector realized the best way to take advantage of consumers was to use default options that make them spend money. A default option works because it creates an automatic decision by the consumer doing nothing. And doing nothing is the path of least resistance for time-poor consumers struggling to balance the many difficult responsibilities associated with work, family, maintaining financial security, and coping with stresses on their health. Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Florida Boiler Room Shares Con Scams 15,000 Elderly Britons / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: Sarah_Jones
More than 15,000 Britons have fallen victim to a "Boiler Room" Shares scam that allegedly netted the father and daughter perpetrators more than £35 million.
Paul Gunter, 58, and his daughter Zibiah, 25, were charged by Florida Police with with multiple counts of fraud and money laundering, which carry penalties of 5 to 25 years in prison. Both suspects are British Citizens but resident in the USA and in the process of obtaining US citizenship.
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Tuesday, January 08, 2008
02031035180 SCAM Calls Or Very Bad Public Relations by the Halifax? / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: Sarah_Jones
Brit's up and down the land are being plagued by calls from 0203 103 5180, whilst most take the form of nuisance silent calls, however many people have been reporting that the caller proports to be calling on the behalf of a major UK Bank, The Halifax (Bank of Scotland) and proceeds to ask for personal banking and circumstance information.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Twelve Consumer Shopping Tips For Christmas / ConsumerWatch / Money Saving
By: Consumer_Direct
With the Christmas shopping season well under way, Consumer Direct has put together 12 top shopping tips for Christmas to help shoppers avoid problems and get the best deal.
1. Presents
When buying presents, always keep receipts just in case there is a problem with the goods and they need to be returned.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
UK Public Sector Incompetence Sinks to New Low - Loss of 25m UK Child Benefit Records / ConsumerWatch / UK Tax & Budget
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK Public sector, renowned for gross incompetence and negligence sinks to a new low today as the government announces that the HMRC (Tax and Customs Department) has lost what tantamount's to ALL of the financial records and personal information of ALL of the UK Child Benefit Claimants. This now puts 25 million people at the potential risk of identity theft.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, October 08, 2007
Asda Supermarket Milk Going Bad Early / ConsumerWatch / Corporate News
By: N_Walayat
In my experience over several weeks, the Milk being sold by Asda at its Sheffield store is consistently going off before the sell by date.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
FSA publishes latest findings on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) / ConsumerWatch / Insurance
By: Submissions
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today published the findings of its latest review of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) selling standards. They show improvements in some areas, but also that many firms are still failing to treat their customers fairly.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Trade War Looming as Made in China Toxic Consumer Goods Removed from Shelves / ConsumerWatch / China
By: Phillipa_Green
Chinese factories start to feel a chill as Wall Mart follows Mattel in removing substandard chinease products from their shelves.
The giant Lee Der toy company that used to employ 5000 workers remains closed after Matels recall of some 18 million toys, likely to cost the company in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Another 10,000 toy factories employing more than a million workers similarly await judgment day in the form of cascading bad consumer press.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Bank and Building Society Mergers Can Spoil Your Savings / ConsumerWatch / UK Banking
By: MoneyFacts
UK bank and building society mergers do not benefit their customers, according to a new study. An analysis of UK bank and building society mergers has found that although these mergers have generated substantial efficiencies for the banks concerned these benefits have not been passed on to customers.
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Saturday, August 04, 2007
Lower Standards - The Downsides to Outsourcing to China / ConsumerWatch / China Economy
By: Andy_Sutton
We were greeted this week again with something that is becoming rather familiar and worrisome; a recall of yet another Chinese-made product. This time it was toys which contained paint with unacceptable lead levels. Most if not all of us remember the recent pet food scandal in which melamine was found in pet food. This substance was responsible for the deaths of an untold number of pets, our own included.
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
How to Avoid Getting Ripped off When Exchanging Your Holiday Foreign Currency Money / ConsumerWatch / UK Banking
By: MoneyFacts
Lisa Taylor from Moneyfacts.co.uk – the money search engine investigates: “With the children’s summer holidays well underway and the UK weather showing little sign of improvement, many of us will be jetting off overseas in the next few weeks. With so many things to get ready, like shopping for your new bikini, sun tan cream and flip flops, no doubt these will all take preference to shopping for the best deal on your foreign money.
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Friday, July 27, 2007
OFT Launches Test Case On Unauthorised Bank Overdraft Charges / ConsumerWatch / UK Banking
By: Submissions
The OFT will today commence proceedings in the High Court for a declaration on the application of the law in respect of unauthorised overdraft charges.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Using Your Credit and Debit Cards Abroad Could Cost You a Small Fortune… / ConsumerWatch / Credit Cards & Scoring
By: MoneyFacts
Lisa Taylor, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk – the money search engine, comments: “With travellers cheques becoming less popular more of us are opting for the convenience of using our plastic when we jet off on our holidays. However many travellers are unaware of the level of costs associated with using debit and credit cards whilst abroad.
“We take it for granted that using our debit cards is free of charge whilst on home soil, so it’s not surprising that some consumers are shocked when they see how the charges stack up after using their card on holiday. With terms such as retail conversion charge, and foreign usage charge, it can be confusing for travellers to know exactly what types of fees they will be liable for, and how much it’s likely to add to the cost of their trip.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
BBC Catalog of Phone Competition Deception's as Director General Demands "We must put our house in order" / ConsumerWatch / Scams
By: Sarah_Jones
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson today announced a package of tough measures to address the discovery of further serious breaches of editorial standards across some areas of BBC programmes and content.
The further emerging breaches, revealed following a BBC-wide search of around one million hours of output since January 2005, were reported today by Mr Thompson to the BBC Trust, and the Director-General announced the new measures in response to demands for action from the Trust.
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