Three for Thursday 05.06.2021
Welcome to TrustDALE's Three For Thursday with Consumer Investigator Dale Cardwell.
I'm fuming a bit about what's happening to Juanita. She had a sewage back up two years ago and called a non-TrustDALE company you would recognize to mitigate the damage. They in turn recommended a second company to clean and store her furniture until her home was repaired. Two years later, the storage company still has her furniture, and is holding it for ransom. The price to get it back? $35,000! That's right, her original $8,000 bill has ballooned to nearly four times the price, because the company verbally promised her homeowners would cover the cost, and they allegedly failed to disclose the exorbitant monthly "storage" fee. Juanita recently learned her insurance would not cover this charge! Thank goodness Juanita, found TrustDALE. And quite frankly, thank goodness TrustDALE found Juanita, hopefully before it's too late! Stay tuned my friends to our Facebook page, this one is going to get interesting!
Watch this Investigation
Brenda signed on the dotted line to get needed surgery but didn't realize a very high interest rate would put her in deep debt. Watch, because This Could Happen to You!
Ask Dale
Today's Real Consumer Question is from Vanessa, who wants to know if the Experian credit score boosting method is worth it...
Todays Lesson on how to be a Savvy Consumer!
Today's seven-point lesson is on determining if you should hire companies based on another company's referral. (This is directly related to Juanita's situation described above).
Fast - Do they want your money NOW? Companies that demand payment in advance when they're not purchasing supplies for a project should be avoided.
Funds - Is the investment required relevant to the promised payoff? In Juanita's case, she claims she was promised her insurance would cover the cost without it being confirmed. This is classic too good to be true!
Found - A person who intends to rip you off will make certain he can't be found after he gets your money. While "findable," the company that has Juanita's furniture is faceless. They want to pressure her over the phone.
Define - Your deal by comparing Product, Offer and Price. Juanita made a terrible mistake by trusting her water mitigation company to recommend a furniture cleaning company WITHOUT comparing product, offer and price.
Ensure - Your deal with an Ethical negotiation, an Equitable contract, and an Effective Guarantee. Juanita's furniture contract is one of the most one-siding agreements I've ever seen.
Authenticate - Your deal by requesting References, checking reviews, and examining government and watchdog reports. If Juanita would have checked reviews, she would have found her mitigation company and their furniture storage company have been reported for doing this to others.
Legitimize - your deal by determining if the company has a business license, liability insurance and is Lawsuit and background checked. Juanita didn't, but is hiring an attorney now.
SCAMMERS BEWARE: SEASONED CONSUMER INVESTIGATOR DALE CARDWELL GIVES READERS A GAME PLAN TO AVOID RIP-OFFS