How to Deal With Flight Cancellations

Rights you don't know about are as good as nonexistant

With the stark increase in flight cancellations this year, it's in your best interests to have some idea of how to fight back.

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Connecticut Sues Countrywide For Deceptive Lending

Dirty bank, dirty deals
(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

Now here's a state with a Attorney General worth his salt! Richard Blumenthal is suing Countrywide and Bank of America for deceptive lending and is looking for some serious monetary damages to be paid out to the victims. This single move could save thousands of people from forclosures and distress. That's some serious protecting of the innocent. Way to go!

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US Airways Becomes The Leading Nickel-and-Dime Airline

No more free drinks for you.

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Judge Rules that Cellphone Early Termination Fees are Illegal

Judge protects people from dirty traps
(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

Just to prove once again that California is one of the most progressive states for protecting consumers, a judge there has ruled against Sprint in a class-action lawsuit involving Early Termination Fees.

The lawsuit claimed that the fees did not offset the cost of phones and were instead used only to lock people into a contract. The judge agreed.

Go California!

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Lifelock Steals Competitor Corporate Identity

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I've written about Lifelock's morally dubious advertising techniques before, but this is certainly new. Lifelock has been accused of paying for sponsored links to their competitor NAMESAFE which, when clicked, take you not to NAME SAFE, but Lifelock.

I would be very surprised if this wasn't considered fraud and I'm interested to see what happens as a result.

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RIAA Tries to Fine People for Defending Themselves in Court

RIAA
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The RIAA likes to send people settlement letters whether they've done anything wrong or not which leads many people to pay up just to end the issue (much like traffic tickets which, even if you're right, it's often cheaper to just pay). Now, if someone tries to defend themselves in court, the fee will more than double thus providing stiff motivation to avoid using our own justice system.

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Beware Buying Used Electronics Online

eBay
(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])

If you buy an item that typically is involved with a contract like cell phones or, in this case, a TiVO unit, you may end up getting screwed.

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AT&T Burns Military Families With Phone Card Scam

AT&T
(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

AT&T has an exclusive contract with the Department of Defense and is therefore the "cheapest" provider military families can use to contact loved ones in the Middle East. But using the phone cards is more than just a hassle. Though AT&T advertises a very low rate, the actual charges are far more than nearly any other option available since the calls rarely go through and minutes are charged whether they do or not.

At least one military wife found that spending $3 per minute with her cell-phone was cheaper in the long run.

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An Open Challenge to Todd Davis of Lifelock

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I have been challenging the value of Lifelock for a while based on the fact that they claim to prevent ID theft, but can't. It looks like several other people have come to that conclusion and are busy suing him for as much of his millions that they can get.

The problem is that even with CNN, Wired, and Yahoo finally getting around to spreading the word, Lifelock is still going very strong.

Even though I've been chasing lifelock postings around on the net and posting comments letting people know the truth, I don't think my efforts are going to amount to much in the long-run. That's why I've decided to challenge Todd Davis directly. He's obviously a showy type that feels comfortable challenging others so now it's time to turn the tables. I've looked into Lifelock's features and found them useful, but far from worth the money spent. But with only one feature addition, that could all change. So let's get to it:

Dear Todd Davis,

You appear at first glance to be quite the swift talker. You've promised to prevent ID Theft, but for some reason, you ignore the one and only tool that can actually do that: credit freezes.

I don't know why, perhaps you didn't know about them. But leaving your motivations and ID Theft experience aside, you can and should include credit freezes into your service immediately. Not only would you actually be able to prevent ID theft as you originally claimed, but you'd be able to help your customers in a very real way.

If you were to include both the freezing and as-needed thawing of freezes into your service, even I will agree that Lifelock has value.

Sure, I won't recommend it to everyone I know and I won't use it myself, but I would be able to honestly recommend it to people who would otherwise never get or use a freeze if they didn't have your service's help.

So pay attention Mr. Davis: If you want to turn public opinion toward your company and prevent the inevitable tide of negativity that threatens to drown you, perhaps you should consider making good on your word and actually prevent identity theft.

Sincerely,

-Jeremy Duffy Awareness Advocate

P.S. If you don't know what credit freezes are, click here.

So there you have it. What are the odds that he'll actually respond? We shall see…

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Chrysler’s 2.99 Gas Deal is No Deal

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Simply put, you get a special credit card when you buy a new Dodge (not every new Dodge, but most). You can use this credit card to buy fuel for $2.99 a gallon at any service station for three years following your date of purchase, regardless of the actual market price. Sounds great right?

Well it's not. Check out this article explaining why it's actually WORSE to take advantage of this deal than to buy a car normally.

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