Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com

Published - Thursday, March 06, 2008

Pesky calls top consumer gripes

By JO ANNE KILLEEN | Staff writer

Everyone thought registering on the Do Not Call list would put an end to the pestering phone calls from telemarketers, but that hasn’t happened, according to state officials.

Violations of the Do Not Call list are the No. 1 consumer complaint, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection agency.

In 2007, 14,876 Wisconsinites filed written complaints with the state, and 3,194, or 21 percent, of those complaints were about telemarketers.

The department recently released its top-10 list of consumer complaints for 2007. DATCP reported that last year the agency got back $9 million for state residents. While the number of people complaining was the highest in the telemarketing category, the most expensive complaints were in the home improvement category.

Telemarketers

“Unfortunately, even if you’re on the no call list, there’s really no way to avoid the calls,” said Janet Jenkins, DATCP administrator in charge of consumer protection. “The best thing to do is file a complaint because we’ll get on those telemarketers right away.”

She also described how telemarketers are evading detection by spoofing, a computer process that allows callers to mask the number showing up on caller ID, making it look like a local number, or even masking the name or changing the voice to sound male or female.

Another way to avoid telemarketers is to let the call go into voice mail or just don’t answer.

According to the Federal Trade commission, consumers have put 145 million phone numbers on the National Do Not Call List. In January, the FTC settled a lawsuit against a company that had made more than 46 million unlawful phone calls. The company, Voice Mail Broadcasting Company, has used automated dialers to “blast” consumers with prerecorded telemarketing pitches for everything from debt consolidation to mortgage brokerage and other financial and retail services.

In late November 2007, the FTC also filed a complaint with the Department of Justice against Craftmatic Industries, alarm monitoring provider ADT Security Services and lender Ameriquest. In addition to placing unwanted phone calls, Craftmatic placed millions of abandoned calls, leaving dead air and giving consumers no opportunity to ask to be placed on the company’s no call list.

According to law, the caller must connect consumers to a live representative within two seconds of when consumers say “hello.”

The FTC also alleges the company ignored consumers’ requests to be placed on the company’s entity-specific do not call list.

Telephone service

The second highest complaint received by Wisconsin’s DATCP was about telephone company billings and contracts. There were 1,583 such complaints last year. According to Jenkins, the complaints center around billing issues, unauthorized charges (mostly buried in the fees) and failure to cancel when you want to switch from one provider to another.

In addition, contract terms such as duration and complaints about the cost of canceling are popular complaints. Jenkins said there isn’t much the DATCP can do about contracts except to warn people to read the fine print and examine your monthly bill closely.

Landlord/tenant problems

Landlord/tenant issues are No. 3 with 1,352 complaints. Jenkins said most of these have to do with the return of security deposits. To avoid problems when you move out, she said, you can prevent them when you move in.

“When you enter into the lease, make sure you go through the home carefully noting all existing damage and note it on the lease,” Jenkins said.

Home improvement

While home improvement complaints are ranked fourth, they are the most costly for consumers. “Home improvement is the big ticket item,” Jenkins said. “It can be very expensive and people get cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars at once.”

Most of the home improvement complaints are about contract misrepresentations, according to Jenkins. Issues such as start dates, end dates, costs, workmanship, failure to honor the contract, overcharges not agreed to are all expensive conflicts.

In order to avoid these problems, Jenkins advised consumers to “know with whom they are contracting.” Since there are no requirements or licensing for contractors, anyone can say they can do the work.

“Really check around with friends and family about the contractor,” Jenkins said. “Consumers can call consumer protection to see if there have been complaints about a prospective contractor. Also, insist on a written contract and make sure you read it before you sign it.”

Investment schemes

Investment schemes rank fifth on the top-10 list. These almost always involve some type of cash transfer and much of it is international, according to Jenkins.

“It’s always about some deposed prince from Nigeria or some other country,” she said. “The only way to avoid it is just don’t get into it.”

Mail order and online shopping complaints

Mail order complaints, including online shopping, are ranked sixth. Most of these complaints are about failure to deliver the product or provide a refund if the product is returned.

Jenkins said a lot of the problems can be with purchases on eBay or companies that are not well known. “Check with consumer protection,” Jenkins said. “Or call the Better Business Bureau for a rating.”

Credit card/identity theft

Despite the frequent headlines, credit card fraud is ranked at seventh on the top-10 list. “These are becoming more serious as time goes on and as people learn about identity theft,” Jenkins said. She said even she had a fraudulent charge on her account around Christmas time even though the card was still in her wallet.

Jenkins said it is hard to avoid because so much information is out there, and there are so many ways to get that information. Her advice is to study the billing on your charge card carefully and do it online frequently, even daily. “The sooner you catch the problem, the better off you are.”

According to the FTC, 8.3 million adults nationally were victims of identity theft (2005). The report said that 3.2 million experienced misuse of their existing credit card accounts; 3.3 million experienced misuse of non-credit card accounts; and 1.8 million found that new accounts were opened or other frauds were committed using their personal identifying information.

Jenkins said people should also opt out of receiving unwanted credit cards by going online to www.optoutprescreen.com. She also said if you receive unwanted credit cards in the mail, don’t just throw them out, shred them.

“Someone could take it and pose as you on the phone, put a new address on the account and all the charges will find their way back to you.”

It all shows up on your credit report and Jenkins recommends every adult get one credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies. “That’s three times a year you can keep tabs on what is happening,” she said.

Business fraud

Complaints about business opportunities and franchise misrepresentation rank eighth on the list. Jenkins said they are usually pyramid schemes and should be avoided by investigating thoroughly before entering into any agreements.

Cable companies

A new complaint recently showing up on the top-10 list is about cable companies, placing ninth on the list. Most of the complaints center on the inability to get the NFL or BigTen Networks on Charter Cable. “There is no law in the state that has anything to do with this issue,” Jenkins said. “Nevertheless, people are calling to complain and see if there is anything that can be done.”

Contests, sweepstakes

The 10th ranked complaint is about contests and sweepstakes. “Mostly these center on foreign lotteries,” Jenkins said. “People get e-mails saying they’ve just won $30 million. It also says if you send $30,000, we’ll send you the $30 million,” Jenkins said. “Don’t do it! Just delete the e-mail.”

Most of the problems can be avoided, Jenkins said, by remembering the old adage: “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.”

Contact Jo Anne Killeen at joanne.killeen@lee.net or

(608) 786-6816.

CONSUMER TIPS