Three for Thursday 03.30.2023

Welcome to TrustDALE's Three For Thursday with Consumer Investigator Dale Cardwell.

Dr. King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Tavia Anderson and dozens of others need some convincing. Tavia has been to Gwinnett County Superior Court ten times since early 2021, trying to get someone to hold Angela Hodges accountable for stealing $6,000. Hodges is charged with taking the money in advance for tree cutting and removal never performed. She has been summoned to court more than fifty times for many alleged similar acts and has dozens of civil judgements that she has not paid. Angela knows how to work the system and the system allows it. A clerk for the judge presiding over Hodges' case told us Hodges entered a plea March 24th, and we later received confirmation Angela is getting a six-year probated sentence through pretrial diversion. No jail time. She was also ordered to reimburse seven of her now confirmed victims for a total of $21,000. The challenge is there's often nothing done to the criminal for failing to pay restitution. The true tragedy here is that Tavia Anderson and the dozens of mostly female victims of Hodge's crimes deserve better.

Watch this Investigation

Today's investigation = Part 2 of how you can apparently make a lot of dough selling cars online if you never deliver the car. Watch because This Could Happen To You!

Ask Dale

Today's Ask Dale question comes from Dan, who wants to know what to do when a vendor will not honor its return policy. Watch to find out the answer!

Todays Lesson on how to be a Savvy Consumer!

Today's seven-point lesson is on not giving up.

Fast - Do they want your money NOW? If you lose money up front, if you can't recover it, you can warn others in the form of online reviews. It's embarrassing, but helpful.

Funds - Is the investment required relevant to the promised payoff? The squeaky wheel gets grease, and if you persist in insisting on getting the originally promised value, sometimes you will.

Found - A person who intends to rip you off will make certain he can't be found after he gets your money. Sometimes karma catches up with con artists.

Define - Your deal by comparing product, Offer and Price. Thorough use of this step should prevent situations where you must persist to get what you paid for.

Ensure - Your deal with an Ethical negotiation, an Equitable contract, and an Effective Guarantee. Customer service departments move at a snail's pace. They want you to give up. Don't.

Authenticate - Your deal by requesting References, checking reviews, and examining government and watchdog reports. It's demoralizing when you discover the governing authorities won't hold a bad actor accountable, but again, they will accept a complaint, so you should do your part to warn others.

Legitimize - your deal by determining if the company has a business license, liability insurance and is Lawsuit and background checked. Checking the lawsuit history of a vendor will almost always protect you from intentional harm.