“Their representative . . . continues to call . . .  after repeatedly being told we want off their call list.  He calls several times a day and has said that he will have all his friends call also, just to annoy our company.”

If your guess would be that these statements came from a collection agency, you’re absolutely right.  But if your guess is that they came from a collection agency trying to collect a debt, you’re wrong.  They’re taken from a complaint about a debt collector who calls every bit as often as one trying to collect a debt, but in this case is trying to sell its collection services to a business that doesn’t want to buy. 

Commercial Investigations, Inc. (CII), of Van Nuys, telemarkets businesses soliciting debts to collect for them.  Though many of its 64 complaints come from California, others come from...Click to view full post

Here's the catch: Financial Plus Investment snags investors by promising attractive returns.  But payments soon fizzle and investors soon sizzle as their plans, goals and dreams vanish along with their money and the company itself.  Everything about the company seems to be minus; the only plus is the one in its name.

Financial Plus does business in Mission Hills under a variety of names, including Financial Plus Mortgage, Eagle Funding, Phoenix Realty, and Rockwell Financial Network.  Jose de Jesus Lopez, a principal of the companies, also goes by a number of other, in his case similar, names.  The company advertises on Spanish-speaking radio and TV, and our files contain some printed materials in Spanish.  All complaints we’ve received so far are from complainants with Hispanic surnames.

All but one of thes...Click to view full post

In just what credit card transactions may a merchant require personal information of a customer?

Seemingly, some years ago, legislation spelled out the answer.  After some revision over the years, that particular law today provides that, with few exceptions, no one who accepts credit cards for the transaction of business may, as a condition to accepting a credit card as payment, request or require a cardholder to write any personal identification information on the transaction form; write or record such information themselves; or utilize a credit card form containing preprinted spaces designated for the cardholder’s personal information.

Nevertheless, two nearly identical class-action lawsuits were filed, both in 2006 and only recently concluded, in which plaintiffs questioned the defendants’ interpretation of the same provision of that same st...Click to view full post

At a time when health care costs are soaring and so are the costs of health insurance, a faxed offer of low-cost health insurance--especially one that uses the name of a well-known health insurer, such as Blue Cross--might get your attention.  At least, such faxes sent out, unsolicited, by National Alliance of Benefit Services Association (NABSA) (which, according to complainants, also uses the name Consolidated Workers’ Association and others) got the attention of enough people to have generated well over 400 report requests to the Better Business Bureau so far this year.  They’ve also resulted in 45 complaints to date from those who paid attention to the offer, believed what they read about it, and paid to enroll.

“They said it was affordable health insurance, that pre-existing conditions did not matter, and that for $199 a month, how could I go...Click to view full post

Here’s the catch:  MedAesthetica performs LipoZap procedures on clients seeking to shed body bulges. At least some who undergo one or more treatments endure physical pain, swelling, and bruising, and at least as much mental anguish at the hands of the company’s customer service department--even if they can never contact it.  They would have to conclude that treatment wasn’t all for nothing, though, because they’ve certainly lost any bulge they had in their pocketbook.

MedAesthetica’s website claims that LipoZap is a “combination therapy” developed by their clinicians.  One client describes her treatment as the use of a suction machine, then a lot of injections after warming the area.  Other sources add that what is injected is a combination of medications that will cause fat to breakdown, emulsify, and be excreted out of the body.

With gas and diesel prices at record highs and vehicle owners irate about not only those, but also prices of all sorts of goods and services that have shot upward as a result of fuel increases, it was predictable that entrepreneurs would materialize with solutions.

One such solution is offered by 1 Freedom, Inc., whose CEO, Ozzie Freedom, claims, on the company’s website, that you can convert your car or truck to burn water as well as gasoline and double your gas mileage.  At the same time, you’ll be reducing emissions and helping prevent global warming.

As to whether this system will void your warranty, Freedom answers that Water4Gas “does NOT modify your vehicle's engine or computer.  It is an experimental add-on that can be removed in less than 60 seconds.”  They also offer a 27-page report as part of a free 7-day em...Click to view full post

On November 30, back in 2005, Christopher Civitello filed suit against First Credit of America, a collection agency that had originally contacted him on July 20 of that year by leaving a voicemail message telling him it was urgent that he call a toll-free number regarding his account.  When Civitello returned the call, the person who answered demanded that he pay a debt of $109 he supposedly owed to MyPerfectCredit, Inc., for personal, family, and household purposes.  The First Credit employee also cautioned him that not paying would result in a negative entry to his credit report.

That call was the first of what went on to be at least two calls a day thereafter.  Although early in August Civitello explained to First Credit that his account was current, the employee continued to call, pressuring Civitello to give him his credit card number in...Click to view full post