| The first Cheapskate rip-off
awards My readers make mail the high point of the day. Your letters and tips are great. When you send in advertisements, credit offers and consumer rip-offs, that tells me you're also paying attention to what I write. It appears you are getting very good at spotting bad deals. Realizing this is the season for awards shows, I thought today I'd hand out a few awards of my own. MOST CONVENIENTLY MISSING INFORMATION AWARD To Richard and Olive W. of Ohio goes this award for their entry of a double-sized, full-cover (a.k.a. pricey) postcard sent by Peoples Savings. Inside the card were 79 words total (impressive brevity) and the complete absence of fine print. The message: "Your Overdraft Privilege on your checking account is available when you need it. With your Overdraft Privilege you can overdraw your account up to the pre-approved limit, and we'll pay your checks. Then, simply bring your account back to a positive balance within 30 days and you'll only be charged our usual NSF fee for each overdrawn check. It's just that easy!" So, you may be asking, what's missing? Well, there's no mention of what this "usual NSF fee" might be (some banks charge as much as $30 per bounced check these days); what the interest rate is on this Overdraft Privilege should reimbursement not be forthcoming (it's got to be in the high double-digits); just how high one can bounce ones account at Peoples Savings; and just how long a check-bouncer can get away with this before Peoples slams the account closed and slaps the customer with a lawsuit. There have got to be some limits, but you'd never know it by looking at this invitation to spend all you've got -- plus all Peoples Savings has, too. MOST CONFUSING USE OF FINE PRINT AWARD Our next award goes to Carl and Bobbie Jo T. of Kentucky, who entered a full-page newspaper ad from Fifth Third Bank's Equity Flexline. Picture, if you will, just 43 very large words filling almost all of the page, with the other eighth of the page devoted to fine print. Now, I've read some fine print in my day, but this really beats all. What I can tell you for sure is that the first sentence says the Annual Percentage Rate on their home equity loan's "'Lo, lo, lo, Looooow payment' is based on an annual percentage rate (APR) of 4 percent." Six lines later I read an amazing turn that nearly gave me a whiplash: "The maximum APR will not exceed 25 percent or the state usury ceiling whichever is less." Oh, it goes on and on, with headache-inducing terms and data, but I'll stop there. MOST CLEVER WAY OF HIDING THE TRUTH AWARD And finally, this award goes to Arvetta S. of Tennessee for finding a $24 rebate check in the mail and discovering it was a trick. Sure enough, after slogging through four long and arduous pages of text, on the very last page she discovered that once she cashed this rebate she'd be accepting a lifetime membership in the Handyman Club of America and agreeing to pay $325 for lifetime dues. Good for you, Arvetta! OK, you folks make my day. Keep those letters and great consumer rip-offs coming. We'll schedule another awards ceremony soon. |
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Did you miss any of the
Great Reader Tips that appeared in this column during 2003? No problem!
Send $5 along with your name and address to "Great Reader Tips Vol. 1" c/o
Cheapskate Monthly, P.O. Box 2076, Paramount, CA 90723. Be sure to include
your name and address. Copyright 2004, Newspaper Enterprise Assn. | ||||||||
Charles Mims
Elwood Blues: Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail us now!
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