Scams, airline tickets, Joe Cramer, author

A national news program I was listening to had a program dealing with a subject I brought up on this blog: Internet coupon deals. It was interesting to hear my own words coming from someone else, word for word! Quite the compliment I think. I don't spend every waking hour promoting "Joe's Story: The Book of a Lifetime." Although that is very important to me I actually do have a life. Part of it is involving myself in gathering information concerning scams and price gouging techniques used to extract money from the most trusting and needy among us. The methods these operations use to circumvent the law are ingenious and we have to approach any good deal with pessimism or very likely face the loss of some of our hard earned cash.

Have you or do you know of anyone who purchased a car from one of those "Buy here, pay here" car lots? They serve a useful purpose to many high risk, otherwise un-financable folks who have gone through hard times, are honestly trying to make a better life for themselves and need transportation to get to a job. They also offer structured payment plans which help develop proper appreciation for maintaining credit. Then comes the dark side of some of those places. They buy a car for $500, sell it for $3000 and collect exorbitant interest rates, often making a profit of 6 to ten times their original cost. Something to think about.

I just received a letter informing me I "have become eligible to be awarded two first class airline tickets to anywhere in the continental United States." Boy! That's sure a mouthful of nothing tangible. Also, given there was no return address on the envelope or on the stationary and the name of the company on the letterhead was false, I'm guessin' this just may be some sort of scam.

I've always had a yearning for one of those tall, wooden, classic grandfather clocks. In my mailbox one day was and offer to purchase a grandfather clock for $60 plus shipping and handling. The picture was beautiful. It was priced so cheap because it was part of a shipment to a bankrupt company and it was cheaper to sell at below cost than to ship them back to the factory. I bit on that one! It wound up like this: $60 money order in advance, checks or credit cards not accepted, they took too long to process and these clocks need to be sold now. When the clock arrived it was shipped to a warehouse and I had to pick it up there, no home delivery. I had to pay the warehouse another $113 money order for shipping and handling. I got it home and assembly was required. This grand old, heirloom quality, grandfather clock with Swiss movement was made from some type of hardboard, similar to what the boxes my shoes come in. It was held together by cheap plastic clips. The genuine Swiss movement clock works had fake cotton draw strings and hollow, plastic, fake weights, a cheap plastic, fake pendulum and a battery operated plastic housing that I had to glue in place. The word "Swis" was stamped on the back, crooked and mispelled as it was. By the time I called the company the next morning the phone was disconnected and they were no where to be found and neither was any of my money. so yo know from where I speak, not from being so smart but from being dumb enough to be taken like that. I just wanted a grandfather clock so badly I forgot to think.

Now I'm going to turn on that national news program and listen to find out if I hear my own words again. I'd appreciate it this time if they'd us my name as part author. Yeah, that'd be kinda cool..........Joe

Groupon, consumer tip and Joe's Story

I am not going to sell "Joe's Story: The Book of a Lifetime" by using coupons any time soon.
I don't want to put it on the best seller list by losing my life savings while doing it.

I blogged a while back about my opinion of groupon and similar sites. I received a slew of comments, over 75% were negative, expressing dissatisfaction and lack of support with issues. The positive comments expressed good experiences and satisfaction. Those were concerning the coupon buyers. I also received several comments from the sellers of the coupons, none of which were totally positive. Mostly they said they didn't do their homework when it came to profitability along with the huge numbers of coupon customers. Sure, they received a good chunk of change, mostly when business was down. However, the huge sum did not come any where near covering expenses, especially when the very unprofitable coupon buyers wanted to use them when they could be dealing with profitable customers instead. One of them said that if they were to honor all the coupons in a short time they would surely have to close before they went into bankruptcy. That's a no-win situation if you ask me.

Being a coupon clipper myself I can understand the desire for a good deal. every time I save a dollar I am giving myself a raise for that moment. We can all use a little of that can't we? But, as a business man I also know first hand the need to make a profit. Nothing would bother me more than to go home at the end of a week of hard work and tell my family I worked all week and have no money for food. And that's exactly what some of those offers represent to businesses. Please let me explain.

It is my understanding the coupon offers go like this: A business offers a product or service for at least 40% off. Lets say, I will cut your lawn for a month. This service usually costs $85, the coupon offer is priced at $45 to the buyer. Good deal so far huh? Now, just in case you didn't know or care, the website receives one half of that money, $22.50 and the lawn maintenance service receives $22.50. If there are 4 weeks in a month that amounts to $5.12 a week to have your grass cut. Would you cut any ones grass for $5.12? Expenses alone would amount to that. Then there is equipment repair, travel costs and the need to make a profit. If you had to make a choice and cut someones grass for $5.12 at one place and received $22 at another place, which one would you choose? No wonder I received so many unsatisfactory comments. I don't say not to buy those wonderful coupons but I do say that you should read all the information you can so you don't wind up buying something you can't use and lose your money or walk away wishing all upset because you didn't get what you wanted. To the buyers: Buy smart! Be happy! Save lots of money! To the sellers: Don't stick your neck out and lose your business or get a black eye from a lot of unhappy customers. Bad news travels ten times as fast as good news.

That's my consumer tip for the day. I don't like to be redundant but it's a very popular subject.

Coupons, they can be misleading.

Beware, sometimes coupons don't save you a dime. In fact, sometimes coupons advertised as a savings are priced at the same or even a little more than if you paid retail. Do your research before paying too much of your hard earned money for a "discount" coupon.

I am a coupon shopper. I cut them out of the local newspaper, magazines or wherever else I can find them. Bulletin boards, store receipts and mailbox promotions are chock full of money saving coupons too. They are an excellent way of stretching my wages and living the good life. I do not however, pay money for any discount coupons. I have found many of these coupons to be unreliable and misleading. I am not saying that there are not any real deals out there, I am only saying that I have not found any and am passing on my opinion to you.

Recently a good friend informed me of a website that sells discount coupons and, knowing I am a coupon clipper felt I may save a bundle of cash. Several of the coupons offered appeared at first to be a considerable savings on a couple of purchases I was considering, that is until I did my research. One service in particular caught my eye. I was considering it as a gift to a friend. The advertisement said that I could purchase the coupon for $79 and it inferred that I would be receiving $208 in services. Wow! That is a savings of $129. however, the ad was totally misleading and the services described could actually often be purchased at the business itself for $69 or less, either there or at comparative businesses. I was very disappointed both for myself and for those people who had already purchased the coupons.

Every time we use a coupon and actually save money we are increasing our purchasing power. The problem I se with these misleading coupons is that, because we feel we are saving so much money we may be purchasing something we ordinarily buy. And, if we are paying the same or more we are just wasting our money. That's not my idea of a good buy. I suggest you do your research before buying a coupon. Don't waste your money. It's too hard to earn these days.