Archive for Online Business
Rating the consumer complaint websites
Posted by: | CommentsOver the last decade, consumer-gripe websites have become an Internet mainstay, a place for customers to share opinions on what works and, mostly, what doesn’t.
But how well do the leading complaint websites themselves work? On Monday, an old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar organization, the Consumer Federation of America, delivered a mixed verdict: The best sites are great for helping consumers voice irritation, but not so great for helping them address it.
Stephen Brobeck, the federation’s executive director, said the group decided to examine more than a dozen complaint websites, in part because they show up so frequently in Web searches.
Not very long ago, aggrieved consumers had few options beyond griping to friends or relatives, filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or state attorney general, or suing, Brobeck said. Now, sites such as My3cents, Complaints Board, and Ripoff Report, offer an alternative.
Though some sites, such as My3cents, offer consumers the chance to post positive comments, the sites have special appeal to the disgruntled.
“They’re unhappy, and they want to vent,” Brobeck said. “And this is a very low-cost way to vent, with potentially high impact.”
Susan Grant, the federation’s director of consumer protection, said the best sites could help potential customers of the large, national companies most likely to appear in the sites’ databases.
She said a lack of complaints should not be seen as any sort of guarantee. “But if there are lots of complaints, and lots of complaints about particular kinds of problems, that’s a good indicator to consumers that they may want to look elsewhere for their purchases,” Grant said.
Grant said the sites could also prove useful because consumers sometimes shared stories about how they ultimately solved a problem.
Internet property scam draws complaints
Posted by: | CommentsA Gibsonville woman thought she was renting a three-bedroom house she found through an online ad.
But it wasn’t until after she wired money to rent the property that she discovered she actually was involved in a scam.
Now, the woman won’t be moving into the house, and she is out $900.
Gibsonville police Chief Mike Woznick was alerted to the scam via an e-mail from the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.
The woman lives in Guilford County and has a Gibsonville address, but she doesn’t live within his police department’s jurisdiction so Woznick wasn’t involved with her case. However, he thought her experience was one that should be shared so people would be careful when using the Internet to buy or rent real estate
“People just need to slow down,” Woznick said. “I feel sorry for the people who are getting scammed. There is no question they are looking for the best possible scenario for their resources. But if they don’t slow down, they might as well drop that money along the interstate somewhere. It’s the same loss.”
The Internet Crime Complaint Center has received 23 similar complaints, Woznick said.
In the Gibsonville woman’s case, she was using oodle.com, a website where people can post and scan classified advertisements. She received an e-mail alert from oodle.com about a three-bedroom house that was available on Elderbush Court in Greensboro.
While oodle.com is a legitimate website, the e-mail the woman received was not from the owner of the property. After receiving the e-mail, she contacted Remax in Greensboro. She was told that it was being rented directly from the owner so she responded to the e-mail and filled out an online application, Woznick said.
After a few days, the woman made arrangements to wire the money to the owner. She wired $900 on May 14 to Eric Cooper in Battersea, London. Shortly after, she received an e-mail from DHL about where she could pick up the keys to the house. A week later, she received an e-mail from oodle.com informing her she was a victim of a scam, Woznick said.
Typically, the imposters claim they are doing missionary work in a foreign country and need to rent their home while they are away. Usually, the imposter asks to have the rental money sent to another country, according to the website.
Woznick said the perpetrators of this type of Internet scam are difficult to catch and costly to prosecute. Federal agents typically won’t pursue scams if they don’t involve thousands of dollars.
As a result, Woznick recommends that people use caution when making deals online.
While the house was real and for rent, the person posing as the owner was an imposter.
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s website, scammers duplicate postings from legitimate real estate websites and repost the ads after altering them. Sometimes the scammers use the broker’s real name to create a fake e-mail address. When the victim sends an e-mail through the classified ad’s website inquiring about the rental, the victim will receive an e-mail from the imposter.
ITC complaints against Apple
Posted by: | CommentsThe U.S. International Trade Commission on Monday said it will investigate a patent infringement complaint filed by Elan Microelectronics in Taiwan regarding Apple’s multitouch devices including the iPhone and iPad.
Elan on March 29 filed a complaint with the ITC asserting that Apple had violated a patent relating to the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of multiple fingers on touch devices. The technology involved is used in the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse products.
Elan asked the ITC to issue an order barring importation of those products into the U.S. Elan also asked the ITC to bar Apple from selling any of these products it had already imported into the U.S.
Elan is alleging that Apple infringed patent number 5,825,352, which is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Elan is a semiconductor design company, which also develops products focused on touch technology.
An Apple spokeswoman declined comment on ITC’s initiation of an investigation into its products.
what it means to be a true leader in arbonne listen closely
Posted by: | CommentsI recently joined Arbonne which is a mlm business the product is great but the greed is horrible. I believe in helping people not taking advantage of them to make my life better. When i complained to my up line about the greedy behavior of my upline right above me I was told no big deal. I now have to quit the business for 6 months before I can rejoin under someone else who is less selfish and less greedy. Why do I have to be punished for my upline having No integrity? It is a very dishonest business and I would advise people to NOT get into it.
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Network Marketing allows people to have the lifestyle they want, work from home on their own time, and be their own boss. I have been a consultant since spring of 2005. The Arbonne products sell themselves. I would not be in this business if I did not believe in these products. My goal is to share with others and teach others how to get the same discount that I get as a consultant. If someone wants to be a business builder, then that is great. If someone wants to be a consultant to get products at a discount, then that is fine too. This business is not for everyone, but these products are!!! If you are interested in learning more about Arbonne I would be glad to talk to you.
Having problems with free tax software and e-file
Posted by: | CommentsFor the second year in a row, the Internal Revenue Service is offering its own version of electronic tax forms tool, Free File Fillable Forms. It’s more primitive than commercial tax software, but it’s workable.
For the first time in years I ditched commercial tax software to give Free File Fillable Forms a try. It allowed me to file Schedule Cs and other forms of mid-level complexity with no more guidance than the IRS instructions and my 2008 return. It made me wonder if I really needed a $20 or $50 tax program.
Then I hit a weird glitch. The IRS rejected my e-filed tax forms. Twice.
This is surprising because e-file is supposed to be the IRS’s forte. A big reason it went to the trouble of creating Free File Fillable Forms was to help taxpayers file electronically.
What made things worse is that the error message didn’t help solve the problem. It said I could only file two Schedule SEs. (I had only filed two) and referred me to the online help documents. They didn’t help either, so I called IRS media relations.
An IRS official said the agency would update the error code with additional information to make that point clear. But the episode got me to wondering: Are other taxpayers having trouble with e-filing?
The government says no. “The IRS is not aware of any problems or issues with Free File Fillable Forms,” the IRS said in a statement.
A spokesman for H&R Block, the nationwide tax preparer, concurs, saying his company is not seeing any difference this year in the number of rejects after e-filing.
So maybe it’s just me.
But in case you, too, are having trouble e-filing with Free File Fillable Forms, here are some tips from the IRS:
1. Check out the IRS FAQs for help.
2. Make your computer system as compatible as possible: Disable pop-up blockers, allow for cookies, and have an updated Adobe reader so you can print.
3. If you hit a snag not addressed by the FAQs above, try clearing your cookies, closing your browser, and then reopening it. (Also, if you are using an office computer, there also can be some firewall issues.)
4. If these steps don’t work, contact the IRS support desk at irs.gov.website.helpdesk@speedymail.com
Why the Google antitrust complaint is not about Microsoft
Posted by: | CommentsGoogle should spend an afternoon with Shivaun and Adam Raff, the two very real people behind a recent EU antitrust complaint against its web search monopoly. To meet the pair – co-founders of the British price comparison site Foundem – is to know you would never describe them as Microsoft mouthpieces. They’re computer scientists by training and search engineers by trade, and with their European complaint – echoed stateside with an FCC filing – they’ve made a case that deserves a level of attention denied by Google’s remarkably successful efforts to paint them as Redmondian sockpuppets.
In their complaint, the Raffs make a pair of arguments. One concerns penalties and whitelists on the world’s largest search engine, issues we examined at length in a feature story late last year. But the other details an issue the media has largely ignored. The Raffs also argue that with its so-called Universal Search setup, Google is using its search engine monopoly – which controls an estimated 85 per cent of the global market – to unfairly favor its own services over those of its competitors.
“[It] allows Google to leverage its search engine monopoly into virtually any field it chooses. Wherever it does so, competitors will be harmed, new entrants will be discouraged, and innovation will inevitably be suppressed.”
With help from data compiled by market-research outfits HitWise and comScore, the filing makes the case that in the three years since the debut of Universal Search Google has used it to harm competitors in two separate markets: online mapping and price comparisons. In providing Google Maps and Google Product Search (formerly Froogle) with prime placement on its own search engine, the Raffs argue, Mountain View has exerted discriminatory market power to squeeze out the likes of MapQuest and Pricegrabber.
Tiger Woods Scandal The Truth Behind
Posted by: | CommentsThe Truth Behind The Tiger Woods Brand –
Everyone knows that Tiger knows that he has built a golf empire over past few the years. Golf has given him the ability to generate revenue from endorsements such as apparel, books, games and etc. He has strategically positioned himself in such a way that these revenues function as derivatives to pay him and his family over and over again. In essence the Tiger Woods brand/image is an icon to golfers across the globe, because there is no one that can deny he is one of the best at his business. THAT WAS UNTIL THE 2010 SCANDAL!
Basically what has changed –
Too bad for the Tiger Woods brand/image (and unfortunately for his immediate family), his personal set backs may negatively impact on his business in 2010. Unless he can remain focused and somehow restore his image in the public eye, the Tiger Woods brand/image and business will ultimately suffer in the short term. It does not have to suffer? But it does not have to be that way for his business. Nor does it have to be that way for internet marketing or online businesses. In fact, because of social media sites like FaceBook, YouTube and Twitter, the online marketing business is thriving in 2010 and well beyond. And yes they are free advertising platforms for all types of opportunities. But only if they are used correctly.
The correlation between Tiger and Branding –
So exactly what does Tiger Woods and internet marketing have to do with a home based business opportunity? In a one word answer, they correlate with branding an image that is recognizable. The Tiger Woods association with golf is synonymous, because he has branded his image to represent one of golfs elite players. Successful internet marketers have learned this and have built their home based business empires by replicating the process. The brilliance behind the Tiger Woods model is that he figured out this one simple strategy. Once the dust settles, he will continue building the Tiger Woods name in association with golfs elite again. This will once again provide him with derivatives that will pay him and his family over a lifetime. But knowing how competitive Tiger is, the setback will only be temporary. Tiger will be back and his image will be bigger than it was before.
What Woods is now undertaking is on a scale unlike anything that he or any other athlete has attempted before. Uncharacteristically, his timing is terrible. He is entering the real estate business just as the economy seems moribund—and if anything, the golf business is in a worse state. The National Golf Foundation, an industry trade group, reported that 2008 was the worst year in two decades for opening new golf courses, with the sluggish real estate market as the leading negative factor. It also noted that 2008 was the third year in a row with “zero to slightly negative net growth in supply”—meaning that more courses went out of business than opened.
Consumer complaints about Cash4Gold
Posted by: | CommentsFor “money” Monday, let’s look at that Cash4Gold Company you’ve seen on television. They claim you can make extra money with your spare gold, but many consumers are complaining it simply isn’t true.
According to a number of people who’ve contacted the consumer-focused website CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM, Cash4Gold makes a big promise it doesn’t keep.
Cash4Gold bills itself as the “world’s #1 gold buyer.” The company claims it’ll pay top dollar if you send them your old gold to be melted down. But according to the complaints, the company pays far less than what customers think their gold is really worth.
Is there any merit to that charge? A study conducted by another consumer-oriented website, CONSUMERIST.COM found that Cash4Gold offered as little as 11% of the value of gold necklaces that were submitted for appraisal. Consumerist.com (which is owned by Consumers Union– the same organization that owns Consumer Reports) says Cash4Gold has not responded to this study, but Cash4Gold has filed a lawsuit against Consumerist.com for defamation.
Consumeraffairs.com says it’s received a steady stream of complaints from people who say Cash4Gold refused to pay them the full worth of their goods or that the company claimed to have never received their goods at all.
The lawsuit Cash4Gold has filed is also against two of its former workers. The ex-employees are accused of defamation and disclosing confidential information about the company in public statements and through postings on consumer-complaint websites.
Beware Special Offers
A company advertises a “special offer” or a “free trial” of its product or service, such as a fitness club membership, a weight loss product, a credit card protection plan, and more. The offer may come to the consumer, by mail, telephone, or e-mail.
To participate and receive the trial offer, the consumer agrees to make a small purchase or pay just the shipping cost for the product. The consumer must supply his or her bank account information, and the company uses this information to do a “demand draft” on the account.
Multiple Withdrawals
However, many people are surprised to find that what they thought was a one-time purchase turns out to be monthly withdrawals by the company. The consumers either didn’t agree to this, or they signed up for such a payment agreement without having read the fine print. This is especially true of online purchases, where it’s all too easy to click on the “I accept” button without reading all the boring legalese about “terms and conditions” of that special/trial offer.
Sometimes the agreement allows for a cancellation by the customer, but it often has to be done within a rather short time, such as 14 days after the agreement was made (which is too short to catch, since the bank demand drafts don’t occur that soon).
Difficult to Stop
Many consumers have told the AG that it’s been impossible to get the company to stop taking the payments from their accounts, and that it’s impossible to reach a human being at the company to complain to. Others have noted that even when they send written notice that they are canceling the offer, the demand drafts keep being performed. Legal help is often necessary.
The Nevada AG’s office advises consumers to not provide their financial information to Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division should review it with a high amount of skepticism. What looks like a one-time purchase for a small amount can turn out to be a recurring charge.