Three for Thursday 12.16.2021
Welcome to TrustDALE's Three For Thursday with Consumer Investigator Dale Cardwell.
Karma. It's the belief God and/or the universe has a way of evening honorable deeds and evening bad deeds. Today, a tow truck company/impound lot did a genuinely wonderful thing for a TrustDALE community member. We showed the impound lot owner how the consumer's car wound up in his lot through absolutely no fault of the car's owner. When he realized this, he waived more than three-thousand dollars in towing and holding fees. When I asked the owner why, he said "I don't want the bad karma that would come from charging her, besides it's the right thing to do." This will be a TrustDALE TV and Facebook story very soon, so watch for it! (And thanks to our Senior Producer Marnie Zambri for not giving up on this one)!
Watch this Investigation
Today's investigation - House of Horrors, part II. Gaila's home smells like a pig-sty. Can TrustDALE help? Watch, because this could happen to you!
Ask Dale
Today's Ask Dale question comes from Jane, who wants to know the best way to advertise and sell her piano. Click the video for the answer.
Todays Lesson on how to be a Savvy Consumer!
Today's seven-point lesson is how to approach buying a product you haven't seen in person:
Fast - Do they want your money NOW? Never pay more than 25% in advance for a product you haven't personally inspected.
Funds - Is the investment required relevant to the promised payoff? An unusually low advertised price for a seemingly valuable product usually hides a defect you'll eventually discover.
Found - A person who intends to rip you off will make certain he can't be found after he gets your money. Buying products sight-unseen from a person you'll never see again is a recipe for disaster!
Define - Your deal by comparing Product, Offer and Price. Having a person of trust personally inspect a product you can't see in person is a clever idea.
Ensure - Your deal with an Ethical negotiation, an Equitable contract, and an Effective Guarantee. This is when using a reputable third-party payment system that guarantees your happiness and fulfillment is especially important to a successful transaction.
Authenticate - Your deal by requesting References, checking reviews, and examining government and watchdog reports. This is the most crucial step next to Ensure. Bad sellers usually have unbelievably bad online reputations, or no reputation (because they can easily create new aliases to escape bad reviews).
Legitimize - your deal by determining if the company has a business license, liability insurance and is Lawsuit and background checked. This step will further protect you from a set up.
SCAMMERS BEWARE: SEASONED CONSUMER INVESTIGATOR DALE CARDWELL GIVES READERS A GAME PLAN TO AVOID RIP-OFFS