Current Events in August 2011

The Porsche Cayenne, a hulking brute of an SUV, was about as welcome as the proverbial fly in the punch bowl when it was introduced.  Owners of the angry little Porsche 911s and Boxsters scowled at the very notion of their beloved marque being plastered on a glorified German farm wagon.  (P.S., it's now the company's biggest seller).

But it's likely that storm of discontent was a mere spring shower compared to the reaction of Prius purists when confronted with the new seven-seat Prius+, set to be introduced at the Frankfurt auto show next month.

Yes, like other crossovers, the Prius+ has three rows of seats, one of which can be folded down to make room for large dogs, lawn furniture and what have you.  A family hauler, in other words.

It's what marketing types do all the time and is generally called a brand extension.  You have a little car that's fun, economical and appeals to young buyers?

Aging buyers

Great, but what happens as those buyers age, have children and maybe even get married?  Much as they loved their little Volkswagen, Mini or Porsche, they'll wind up in a Buick or other Hupmobile unless the love of their youth grows with them.

Thus we have VW Tiguans, Mini Clubmen and, now the Prius+.  You loved your Prius when you lived in that loft in Chelsea?  You'll love the Prius+ even more when you make the move to White Plains.

We have a press release here that has all the salient Prius+ details and measurements but it is, unfortunately, in metrics.  Suffice to say, it's pretty big, at least as far as Priuses go.

It is still a hybrid at least.  It sports a new compact lithium ion battery pack, stored between the front seats within the center console.  So don't let little Mason spill his box drink in there.

It has a 1.8-liter gasoline engine and an electric motor and is the first non-plug-in Toyota full hybrid to use the new compact lithium ion battery. Previous Toyota hybrids have used nickel-metal hydride batteries.

It used to be said that if tourists visiting New York looked at the local TV news their first night in town, they would spend the rest of their visit huddled behind the locked doors of their hotel room.

The same situation applies today to the 60 million or so Americans who are in the expected path of Hurricane Irene, a huge storm closing in on the East Coast and likely to leave a path of destruction from the Carolinas to New England.

There will be massive property damage and probably major loss of life.  And not only that, our cell phones may not work.  No one will be able to find the nearest Starbucks on their iPhone as they run for their lives before the approaching storm.

It used to be that landlines failed in times of emergency.  The most classic breakdown occurred when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas back in 1963.

No dial tone

So many denizens of Washington, D.C. raced for the phone that for hours after the event, it was nearly impossible to get a dial tone in and around Washington.

These days, everyone reaches constantly for their cell phones, fully expecting them to work regardless of whether the nation is under attack, flooded or being swept away by a massive dust storm. 

But the truth of the matter is that cell phones are, if anything, a bit less reliable than the old landline system.  The towers that run the system rely on electricity, after all, and while some have back-up generators, not all do.

Further, the cell phone antennas are mostly mounted on towers -- you know, things that stick up in the air.  They tend to blow down when the wind blows, fall over when the earth quakes and melt when surrounded by wild fires. Likewise, the fiber optic cables that tie the system together are vulnerable to floods, fire and wind damage.

But the most destructive factor of all is the avalanche of eager callers who grab their phones at the first sign of trouble and begin calling everyone on their "friends" list.  No telephone system is capable of handling 100% of its customers at any given time and the cell phone system is no exception.

Night and day

The major cell phone companies -- AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel -- all say they have been working night and day to prepare for Irene.  They're installed additional generators, ordered extra fuel and set up portable cell towers on wheels that can be deployed to replace permanent towers that have been knocked out of service.

So does this mean that everything will be OK?  

Not likely.  Things are seldom OK on the country's most overloaded cell phone networks.  New York City is infamous for having some of the most overloaded frequencies anywhere.  D.C., where everyone basically talks (and talks and talks) for a living, is not much better.

What's a consumer to do?  The short answer is to make contact with friends and family before the storm hits.  Say what you have to say: arrange a meeting place, devise a plan, say your last good-byes, whatever seems appropriate.  Then stay off the phone until the storm passes so that truly important calls can get through. 

The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that marijuana dispensaries conducting patient-to-patient sales of the drug are illegal and can be shut down under the state's public nuisance law.

The case arose from a legal challenge to a for-profit system of marijuana sales among patients at a Mount Pleasant, Mich., marijuana dispensary, Compassionate Apothecary. The ruling now stands as precedent for all other lower court cases in Michigan and carries immediate effect, according to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

"This ruling is a huge victory for public safety and Michigan communities struggling with an invasion of pot shops near their schools, homes and churches," said Schuette. "The Court echoed the concerns of law enforcement, clarifying that this law is narrowly focused to help the seriously ill, not the creation of a marijuana free-for-all."

Impact to be quickly felt statewide

Schuette said he will send a letter to Michigan's 83 county prosecutors explaining that the ruling clearly empowers them to close dispensaries and provide instructions on how to file similar nuisance actions to close dispensaries in their own counties.

A three judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Compassionate Apothecary is in violation of the state Public Health Code and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) in State of Michigan v. Brandon McQueen and Matthew Taylor, d/b/a Compassionate Apothecary, LLC. The Court concluded that:

• The MMMA does not legalize marijuana;
• The MMMA authorizes marijuana use only in "very limited circumstances;
• The "medical use" of marijuana does not include the sale of marihuana;
• The MMMA does not authorize marijuana dispensaries; and
• The courts can infer that a dispensary's purpose is not to alleviate a debilitating medical condition. 

In March, Schuette joined Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick in his appeal of the case, The Isabella County prosecutor's office sought to have Compassionate Apothecary, a medical marijuana club owned by two Mt. Pleasant residents, declared a public nuisance and closed on the grounds its activities violated the MMMA.  

The club allows patient-to-patient sales of marijuana, with the club profiting by taking a 20 percent commission.

American Laser Skincare – formerly American Laser Center – has agreed to pay refunds to consumers in Pennsylvania, where it once  operated six clinics.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said the company has paid more than $19,000 in consumer restitution and will pay restitution to any consumer who files a legitimate complaint within 60 days. The agreement stems from the state's action against the company's no refund policy.

The agreement with the state resolves allegations that the company withheld the entirety of pre-paid services plan funds when consumers discontinued services, and had ambiguous language regarding result guarantees.

Changes cancellation policy

The agreement also requires American Laser Skincare to change specific language regarding its Cancellation Policy, Appearance Plan, and Disclaimer. The company agreed to only retain a pro-rated service fee for written cancellations. These changes will be made in consumer contracts and promotional materials used within Pennsylvania.

While the agreement resolves complaints against the company in Pennsylvania, consumers in other states are unhappy as well.

“I paid them $4000 of the $2000 for a skincare and bikini laser,” Almeda, of Tempe, Ariz., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I made several calls and no return calls was made. I finally talked to Fay and she was still unable to convince the regional office to send me back my money. I am not happy with their customer service and I guess I have to contact my lawyer to initiate a lawsuit.”

According to their website, American Laser Skincare is the nation's largest and leading provider of laser based skincare services. The company provides treatments such as laser hair removal, body shaping, microdermabrasion, skin tightening, Botox, cellulite treatment and skin rejuvenation.

Last week’s earthquake on the East Coast may have been a preview of what to expect when Hurricane Irene roars up the East Coast this weekend.

When the ground unexpectedly started shaking from Virginia to Boston, panicked people overloaded cell phone circuits, and even some landlines couldn't handle the crush of calls. As a result, many people turned to Facebook and Twitter to communicate with friends and loved ones.

Jennifer Regina, a Rowan University adjunct professor of marketing and CEO of The Marketing of Everything, Washington Township, N.J., says social media can be an effective tool in a natural disaster.

“The best thing to do is also have an action plan in place for communicating with your loved ones during a natural disaster,” Regina said.

She suggests:

• Have an agreed-upon plan of communicating. Make sure your family knows if you are going to be tweeting your condition or will be communicating via texting or Facebook.
• Make sure you have your communication devices fully charged. Charge your laptop and cell phone to their full capacity every night. Even consider purchasing an extended or backup battery for your devices.
• Pay attention to government and news agencies’ social media posts. Subscribe to their posts so they will be sent directly to your phone via text. Many state and local agencies are aggressively using their social media profiles to communicate quickly about disasters. Already hurricane evacuation information is spreading quickly through Twitter.
• Establish agreed-upon times for your loved ones to post updates. For example, every hour update your health or the status of your location. Social networks also can be used to warn others of impending disasters. Many in New York City saw tweets from their friends in Washington, D.C. about an earthquake and seconds later felt it themselves. Many people stay glued to social networks to see how others are handling storms that are approaching and gleaning valuable tips.

“This weekend’s hurricane will be another example of how social media networks will help families communicate and governments issue warnings and updates,” Regina said.

When a problem develops with a product, consumers sometimes discover it before the company's safety engineers. 

“I brought to the attention of Homelite that the gas lines on their Vac Attack 11 leaf blower, model ut08544, must be defective,” Mike, of Knoxville, Tenn., told ConsumerAffairs.com. “Both lines that run from the carburetor and push bulb lead into the tank. At least one has a filter on it. When the lines deteriorated gas splashed out of the tank and got all over me and the blower. Fortunately there was no fire. I simply wanted the lines replaced with better material and would expect the company to take this situation more serious. I felt they did not!”

Mike was correct in reporting what he saw as a problem to the company. We suggest he also file a report with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Mike might want to note that some of the Vac Attack blowers have already been recalled for a different problem.

Kind of insulting

We're recounted some of the stories from rental car customers who say the companies have been quick to charge fees for damage to the vehicle, even though the customers swear there was none when they dropped it off. Now Hatti, of Staten Island, N.Y., writes to tell us of a new fee she encountered at Enterprise.

“I noticed an additional $100 on my bill when it came through on American Express, Hattie said. “I called and they said the car smelled so I was charged an extra cleaning fee. THIS WAS NOT TRUE.”

We can tell Hattie is not just upset about the fee, but also being accused of stinking up the car. Interestingly, she said she disputed the charge with American Express, which removed it from her bill because Enterprise failed to respond to their inquiries. Now, Hattie says, Enterprise has turned the disallowed charge over to collections.

Watch what you say

Remember that we've told you in the past you can't go by what a company sales person says, you have to see it in writing? That's true, but apparently companies like AT&T can hold you to a “verbal contract,” as Angela, of Santee, Calif., recently discovered.

“I was wrongly told I 'verbally' agreed to a an 11 month contract when this never happened,” Angela told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I had both Internet and mobile services with them and called to terminate my Internet services back on May 13th of 2011. I requested to speak with a manager because I did not agree with the final billing charges. I felt that since I was terminating half way through the month I did not think I should be charged for the whole month. The manager told me that was their billing policy but she understood my complaint and she informed me she would credit me $34 on my next phone bill. I thanked her and that is all she said, no further explanation, or talks about being in any long term contract with penalty fees.”

On Aug 23, when Angela called to terminate her phone she was told there would be a $135 early termination fee.

“I explained I was not under contract with them,” Angela said. “She then stated that I verbally agreed to contract with them for 11 months in order to get my $34.00 credit. This conversation never happened. I was never told that by getting this $34.00 credit that I would then be in verbal contract.”

Angela should ask to hear the recording of her accepting the terms and agreeing to a contract. It sounds like the customer service rep suckered Angela into taking an action that entered her into a contract. If so, that was pretty sneaky.

Hoping to get a mortgage modification?  Think back to how much paperwork was needed when you bought your house or condo.  Nearly that much will be needed to successfully complete the modification process, but you won't have Realtors, mortgage brokers and closing attorneys to help.

In many cases, the approval process takes longer than many homeowners can afford. But one expert believes it doesn’t have to be that way, and that there are solutions for homeowners whose applications seem stuck in the mud.

“Applying for a loan modification can be an extremely stressful process,” said Stephfan Nurse, CEO of Consumer Education, makers of mortgage reduction software designed to help people through the modification process.

“Even if you send in your documents and your lender tells you everything is okay, you may still have a great amount of anxiety because you have no idea what the lender is doing with your file. You may not know what the next step is and how long it takes to move through each step in the process. Your lender may tell you what the next step is, but you may not understand why it will take so long. There are reasons, however, why the process can get stuck, and there are ways to move that process along, if you understand what goes on behind the scenes,” Nurse said.

Nurse's software promises to help smooth out the process by keeping track of the myriad details that so often derail modifications, even when both parties are eager to complete the deal and move on.

Tips to smooth the process

Nurse’s tips for making the process smoother include:

• Account Numbers – It often happens that when you fax your paperwork to your lender, the lender either says they lost your paperwork or they just didn’t receive it all. This isn’t because they are incompetent. It’s because they receive thousands of faxes each day, and they use an image scanning technology to capture them all and place them in the appropriate file. In that system, a cover sheet that has your account number on it will get placed correctly, but the following sheets that lack your account number can be easily misplaced.
  The solution is to put your account number on every page of your paperwork, so they have a better chance of placing all your paperwork in your file.
  
• Complete the Paperwork – When your file gets assigned to a document manager, typically about 30 days after you first applied for the modification, the document manager’s job is to check to make sure all your required documents are ready to be submitted to the negotiator/specialist for review. If you have an incomplete file, even if you’re missing just one single required document, the document manager will note your account as having an incomplete file and move on to the next file to review.
  At this point, a generic letter is automatically mailed to your home requesting the additional information your file lacks. This letter can take up to two weeks to get to you, and then another two to four weeks before they look at your updated information. The key is to never send an incomplete package to your lender. It can lead to a delay or even a flat-out denial.
  
• Follow Up – Finally, follow up every week with your lender to make sure all the documents they have are up to date. Don’t worry about being a pest. After all, it’s your house on the line if things get stuck in neutral. If you do this consistently, you will avoid getting caught in the delay cycle.

“The process is like any other, and it can be rife with mistakes and bureaucratic snafus,” Nurse added. “But if you take the steps to reduce the opportunities for error, your application can move through the process much faster and you’ll have a much better chance at being approved.”

Nurse said his software uses the same algorithms as those used by lenders, so it is designed to help homeowners understand what it will take for them to be approved for a loan modification by their lenders or through HAMP, the federal program that's intended to help troubled homeowners.

The Federal Trade Commission, along with four state attorneys general, has shut down a fraudulent operation that allegedly took advantage of financially distressed consumers by falsely promising them a “guaranteed” $25,000 grant from the federal government.

Several defendants have agreed to court orders settling the FTC and state charges, which bar all of them from the alleged deceptive conduct, ban some of them from certain types of marketing, and will result in judgments requiring them to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in consumer refunds.

In its July 2009 complaint, the FTC, jointly with the Attorneys General of Kansas, Minnesota, and North Carolina, charged that Grant Writers Institute, LLC and several related entities and individuals falsely told consumers that they were eligible for grants from the federal government.

The complaint alleged that the defendants’ false and deceptive claims that consumers are guaranteed or highly likely to receive grants violated federal law, state consumer protection laws, and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. The Attorney General of Illinois subsequently joined the action.

Since at least 2007, Grant Writers Institute made its phony pitch using postcards that it mass mailed to consumers across the country, the complaint charged. Consumers were told they were entitled to $25,000 in free government grant money, guaranteed.

Consumers who called a phone number on the card were pitched a $59 book titled “Professional Grant Writer ‘The Definitive Guide to Grant Writing Success.’”

The complaint charged that the defendants then called consumers who bought the book, trying to get them to pay hundreds of dollars or more for grant research, writing, or coaching services, falsely claiming a 70 percent success rate in securing grant funding for individuals.

Settlement details

The FTC and the states reached five settlement orders resolving charges against defendants James Rulison, Jordan Sevy, Brett Blackman, Justin Ely, Alicia Nossov, Wealth Power Systems, and Aria Financial Services. Under the settlement orders:

• Rulison and Sevy are banned from marketing money-making opportunities; and prohibited from misleading consumers, making unsubstantiated claims, or failing to make material disclosures in connection with the sale of any goods or services. They also are prohibited from violating relevant state laws and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, and subject to a judgment of $27 million, which will be suspended due to their inability to pay.
• Blackman and Ely are subject to the same prohibitions as Rulison and Sevy. In addition, under the settlement orders, they are permanently banned from telemarketing. Blackman is subject to a judgment of $27 million, and Ely to a judgment of $3.4 million; both judgments are suspended due to their inability to pay.
• Alicia Nossov is barred from making misrepresentations related to the marketing and sale of any goods or services, and from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule. She is subject to a judgment of $5.5 million, which will be suspended upon payment of $126,894.
• Wealth Power Systems and Aria Financial Services are banned from marketing grant-related products and using grant leads, prohibited from making misrepresentations, and required to substantiate any claims related to the sale of any goods or services. They also are prohibited from violating the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and related state consumer protection laws. The order imposes a $3.4 million monetary judgment, which will be suspended if they pay $265,000.

The suspended judgments against Rulison, Sevy, Blackman, Ely, Wealth Power Systems, and Aria Financial Services will become immediately due if any of them is found to have materially misrepresented any financial assets.

In addition, in late July 2011 the court entered default judgments against the following six defendants in the case: Apex Holdings International, L.L.C.; Affiliate Strategies, Inc.; Landmark Publishing Group L.L.C. (d/b/a G.F. Institute and Grant Funding Institute); Grant Writers Institute, L.L.C.; Answer Customers, L.L.C.; and Direct Marketing Systems, Inc.

Each of these corporations is banned from marketing money-making opportunities, and from telemarketing. They also are prohibited from making misrepresentations when offering products for sale, and required to substantiate claims and disclose information such as fees, costs, and terms and conditions related to any cancellation or refund policy.

The court also imposed a $27.2 million judgment against the first five default defendants and a $3.4 million judgment against Direct Marketing Systems to pay refunds to defrauded consumers, but the companies have no funds and the judgment was suspended. 

As it looks for ways to stimulate the economy, the Obama Administration is finding fewer options at its disposal, given the climate against spending in Washington.

But the White House is reportedly now considering long-standing proposals to boost housing, seeing it as the cheapest way to jump-start the economy. The New York Times reports one proposal under consideration would allow millions of “underwater” homeowners to refinance their mortgages at today's near-record low rates.

In addition to what it might mean for the economy, it's becoming increasingly clear that housing isn't recovering from the three-year downturn. The latest report from RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed homes, shows that 31 percent of all homes sold in the third quarter were in some phase of foreclosure. That's a slight improvement from the first quarter.

Good news, if you're a buyer with cash

“With average prices on distressed real estate trending down and average discounts trending up, this report is clearly good news for well-positioned buyers and investors looking for bargain real estate that will build them wealth in the long term and often cash flow as rental real estate in the short term,” said James Saccacio chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Maybe less evident, however, is the good news in this report for distressed homeowners looking to sell, and even lenders saddled with large portfolios of delinquent loans.

Saccacio says the real estate market is beginning to focus on more efficiently clearing distressed homes. It's important for them to sell, he says, to provide more space for homes being offered at their market price. People buying distressed properties are saving, on average, 40 percent.

$85 billion in homeowner savings

A government plan to allow homeowners with government-guaranteed mortgages to refinance could save these homeowners an estimated $85 billion a year – a stimulus to the economy that wouldn't come from a direct government outlay. The challenge, of course, is figuring out how to actually do it.

The administration is reportedly also considering a plan to promote converting foreclosures to rental properties, to keep them from flooding the market. With a damper on supply, the reasoning goes, prices should stabilize.

Should prices stalilize, mortgage lenders might loosen their now very tight mortgage requirements, making more loans to credit-worthy buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), this would be the greatest housing stimulus of all, perhaps leading to the long-awaited recovery in the housing market.

Worker productivity has risen consistently in recent years as employees spend more hours on the job. Increasingly, that means many workers eat meals at their desk or cubicle. But that might not be the healthiest of habits.

According to a new survey by the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods’ Home Food Safety program, 62 percent of Americans continue to eat lunch and snack throughout the day at their desks, while 27 percent typically find breakfast the first thing on their desktop to-do list. Late nights at the office even leave a small percentage - four percent - dining at their desktop for dinner.

Multitasking

“For many people, multitasking through lunch is part of the average workday,” said registered dietitian and ADA spokesperson Toby Smithson. “While shorter lunch hours may result in getting more accomplished, they could also be causing workers to log additional sick days, as desktops hide bacteria that can lead to foodborne illness.”

Companies tend to encourage employees to eat at their desks rather than leave the office. Someone eating a sandwich at their desk can still take calls and maybe even read a report or two. But this added productivity could come at the cost of more employee illness and added sick days.

Top of the Workplace To-Do List – Washing Hands and Surfaces

An office is not the cleanest of places. Adding food to that environment can be problematic.

According to the Home Food Safety survey, only 36 percent of respondents clean their work areas—desktop, keyboard, mouse—weekly and 64 percent do so only once a month or less. A study updated in 2007 by the University of Arizona found the average desktop has 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table and 400 times more than the average toilet seat.

“Treat your desktop like you would your kitchen table and counters at home,” said Smithson. “Clean all surfaces, whether at home or work, before you prepare or eat food on them.”

Only half of all Americans say they always wash their hands before eating lunch. In order to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, Smithson recommends washing your hands before and after handling food with soap and warm water, and keeping your desk stocked with moist towelettes or hand sanitizer for those times you can’t get to the sink.  

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has  put an end to three schemes that claimed they would help consumers with their mortgage and debt problems.  The agency reached settlements with defendants who allegedly claimed a bogus affiliation with government assistance programs.

Under the settlements, which are part of the agency’s ongoing effort to stop scams that prey on consumers in financial distress, the defendants are:

• banned from marketing or helping others to market any mortgage assistance relief product or service;
• prohibited from misrepresenting the available terms or rates for financial products and the potential to improve a consumer’s credit history or ability to obtain credit;
• prohibited from representing the benefits of financial products without competent and reliable evidence to substantiate their claims; and
• prohibited from making misrepresentations about any good or service, including claims of an affiliation with any government entity or program.  

They also are required to protect and properly dispose of customer personal information.

Truman Foreclosure Assistance, LLC.  The FTC alleged that the defendants bilked consumers out of thousands of dollars for phony mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue services. Settlement orders with two of the men behind the operation require them to pay $1.8 million, and ban them from marketing or helping others to market any mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue service.

Fedmortgageloans.com.  In this case, the defendants marketed debt relief services as well as mortgage assistance relief services, and the settlement bans them from marketing or helping others to market both mortgage assistance relief and debt relief products or services.

Making Home Affordable.  In its May 2009 complaint, the FTC alleged that the defendants impersonated MakingHomeAffordable.gov, a federal government website that helps eligible homeowners refinance or modify their mortgages.  The FTC previously settled with six other defendants and has now reached a settlement with the final defendant, Scott Lady.

A major annoyance of modern life is reaching for your smartphone, only to discover the battery is low. Two engineers at the University of Wisconsin (UW) have created a solution – technology that recharges the battery while you walk.

Tom Krupenkin and Ashley Taylor call it “in-shoe technology,” which they say consists of a shoe insert that generates electricity from the wearer's footsteps.

In a paper appearing this week in the journal Nature Communications, Krupenkin and Taylor describe a new energy-harvesting technology that promises to dramatically reduce our dependence on batteries and instead capture the energy of human motion to power portable electronics.

"Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines," said Krupenkin, a UW-Madison professor of mechanical engineering. "While sprinting, a person can produce as much as a kilowatt of power."

Foot power

Grabbing even a small fraction of that energy, Krupenkin points out, is enough to power a host of mobile electronic devices — everything from laptop computers to cell phones to flashlights.

"What has been lacking is a mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion technology that would work well for this type of application," he said.

As consumers well know, energy harvesting technologies are aimed at either high-power applications such as wind or solar power, or very low-power applications such as calculators, watches or sensors. There has been no solution for those vital, mid-level power needs.

"What's been missing," said Taylor, "is the power in the watts range. That's the power range needed for portable electronics."

Wearing an energy harvester

How would it work? A consumer would wear a special footwear-embedded energy harvester that captures energy produced by humans during walking, which is normally lost as heat. The shoe devicce would capture that energy and convert it into up to 20 watts of electrical power that can be used to power mobile electronic devices.

Unlike a traditional battery, the energy harvester never needs to be recharged, as the new energy is constantly generated during the normal walking process. And it gets better.

The energy generated by the footwear-embedded harvester can be used to directly power a broad range of devices, from smartphones and laptops to radios, GPS units, night-vision goggles and flashlights. Alternatively, the energy harvester can be integrated with a Wi-Fi hot spot that acts as a "middleman" between mobile devices and a wireless network.

Recharge wirelessly

This allows users to seamlessly utilize the energy generated by the harvester without having to physically connect their mobile devices to the footwear. The researchers says this dramatically reduces power consumption of wireless mobile devices and allows them to operate for much longer time without battery recharge.

"You cut the power requirements of your cellphone dramatically by doing this," saod Krupenkin. "Your cellphone battery will last 10 times longer."

Krupenkin and Taylor are hoping to commercialize the technology through a company they've established, InStep NanoPower. They say they hope to have their “foot power” battery charger perfected and on the market within two years.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is warning investors about investment scams that promote gold stocks.

With the price of gold bullion recently at record levels, there has been a proliferation of blogs, websites, YouTube videos and Tweets centered on investing in gold. And while there are legitimate gold investments discussed online, FINRA is concerned that some investors may fall prey to gold-related investment scams.

These gold scams may center on inflated claims regarding the stocks of gold mining companies whose stock value is often based on gold reserves that are difficult to estimate, much less verify.

For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took legal action against a mining company based in Florida for issuing false press releases claiming that a mining project in Ecuador contained gold reserves worth more than $1 billion.

Free lunch 

Gold investments may also be touted in free lunch seminars and pushed by boiler room operations.

The SEC charged six individuals for running a recent Ponzi scheme that used investment seminars to bilk 3,000 investors across the United States and Canada out of $300 million.

Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took three actions against precious metals firms, including charging a boiler room telemarketing firm that purportedly purchased more than $23 million of precious metals for their customers.

"Con artists are using the run-up in the price of gold as a hook to part investors from their money. Investors should think twice before investing in any gold investment promising exponential returns, or any company that claims it is a buyout target for other mining companies," said Gerri Walsh, FINRA's Vice President for Investor Education.

FINRA's Investor Alert cautions investors to be on the lookout for any pitch for a gold investment that:

• claims to tie stock performance to the general rise in gold prices – a rise in gold prices does not guarantee a rise in the price of a gold company's stock;
• uses scare tactics such as the threat of inflation or an economic meltdown;
• makes speculative claims based on a new reserve's proximity to an existing reserve; or
• centers on a company that has changed its name or trading symbol to align it more closely with gold – for example, one company that currently purports to engage in gold mining was originally incorporated to provide golfing opportunities on private courses to nonmembers.

FINRA also advises investors that while legitimate gold and ETF investments may be an acceptable diversification strategy, these investments can be quite volatile. A heavy concentration of gold investments can leave investors overly exposed and at risk of losing a substantial percentage of their money.

Cystoscopy

Manufacturers of laundry soap sometimes add chemicals to produce a pleasant scent, but new research suggests this aroma could have some serious negative effects.

Researchers writing in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health say air vented from machines using the top-selling scented liquid laundry detergent and scented dryer sheet contains hazardous chemicals, including two that are classified as carcinogens.

“This is an interesting source of pollution because emissions from dryer vents are essentially unregulated and unmonitored,” said lead author Anne Steinemann, a University of Washington (UW) professor of civil and environmental engineering and of public affairs. “If they’re coming out of a smokestack or tail pipe, they’re regulated, but if they’re coming out of a dryer vent, they’re not.”

Steinemann is the same researcher who used chemical sleuthing to deduce what’s in fragranced consumer products. Her latest effort has focused on the air wafting from household laundry vents. Her findings build on earlier work that looked at what chemicals are released by laundry products, air fresheners, cleaners, lotions and other fragranced consumer products.

Manufacturers, it turns out, are not required to disclose the ingredients used in fragrances, or in laundry products.

The test

For the new study, researchers first purchased and pre-rinsed new, organic cotton towels. They asked two homeowners to volunteer their washers and dryers, cleaned the inside of the machines with vinegar, and ran full cycles using only water to eliminate as much residue as possible.

At the first home, they ran a regular laundry cycle and analyzed the vent fumes for three cases: once with no products, once with the leading brand of scented liquid laundry detergent, and finally with both the detergent and a leading brand of scented dryer sheets.

A canister placed inside the dryer vent opening captured the exhaust 15 minutes into each drying cycle. Researchers then repeated the procedure with a different washer and dryer at a second home.

Analysis of the captured gases found more than 25 volatile organic compounds, including seven hazardous air pollutants, coming out of the vents. Of those, two chemicals – acetaldehyde and benzene – are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as carcinogens, for which the agency has established no safe exposure level.

Can affect public health

“These products can affect not only personal health, but also public and environmental health. The chemicals can go into the air, down the drain and into water bodies,” Steinemann said.

The researchers estimate that in the Seattle area, where the study was conducted, acetaldehyde emissions from this brand of laundry detergent would be equivalent to three percent of the total acetaldehyde emissions coming from automobiles. Emissions from the top five brands, they estimate, would constitute about six percent of automobiles’ acetaldehyde emissions.

“We focus a lot of attention on how to reduce emissions of pollutants from automobiles,” Steinemann said. “And here’s one source of pollutants that could be reduced.”

It may come as no surprise, but Steinemann recommends using laundry products without any fragrance or scent.

Who do you trust when it comes to online reviews? If you trust the reviews posted on Expedia and other travel-booking sites, Rose, of Bayone, N.J., says you might be disappointed.

“I decided to book through Expedia for a vacation to Virginia Beach with my family, as I am not too familiar with some of the more 'local' hotels or resorts,” Irene told ConsumerAffairs.com. “The hotel I chose had a great price and on Expedia had good reviews. It wasn't until afterwards when my husband decided to root around the web to check other comments/complaints on the hotel when we realized not one other site had anything positive to say about this resort.”

Irene said her husband called Expedia to cancel the reservation and book another hotel, but discovered that wasn't allowed to do so. He could only do that in person, at the hotel. Irene isn't happy about paying the $200 cancellation fee, but also feels like she was misled.

“I would not have had to cancel had they been remotely honest about the hotel reviews,” she said.

High cost of living

Everyone knows that the cost of health care, and the insurance to pay for it, keep going up. Perhaps no one knows this more than Richard, of Alphretta, Ga.

"I just received a letter from Golden Rule, A United Healthcare Company increasing my annual healthcare premium by 25 percent,” Richard said. “This is on top of a 15 percent increase 10 months ago. I can't afford to be alive!”

We don't know that Golden Rule is different from any other health care provider. Some, however, will lock in rates for up to two years. Since it can sometimes be expensive to change policies, it's best to do a lot of research before making a change.

Hey, what happened to my money?

Here's a fairly common consumer complaint: a debit card purchase is made, usually at a gas pump, and the transaction places a hold on the consumer's account for much more than the purchase, causing overdrafts. It happened to Jean, of Greensboro, N.C., who said she had $82.61 in her SunTrust bank account with three pending items totalling $76.71. One of those was a $7 gas charge.

“The bank put a hold on the account for an amount that was not shown anywhere to me as the consumer,” Jean told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I was not aware of the hold and then they took $108.00 fees from the account for overdraft.”

Why did that happen? It has to do with the way some debit purchases – gasoline in particular – are structured. The purchase is a two-step process. There's the authorization, to make sure the card is valid, and the settlement, where the merchant gets paid.

To make sure there is still enough money in the consumer's account to pay for the purchase when settlement time comes, the merchant places a hold of a larger amount – usually $100 – on the consumer's account. That's money the consumer cannot use until the hold is released.

It's a problem for Jean and other consumers who keep a very small balance in their checking accounts. Putting a hold on $100 will almost certainly throw them into an overdraft situation. When your account falls below $100, it's best to pay for things with cash, especially when buying gas.

Financial advisers and market watchers have been warning for months that the run-up in gold prices was a bubble.  And today the bubble is showing signs of leaking.

Gold hit a record high of $1,917 per ounce earlier this week, a 16% gain.  In an economy where almost nothing is doing much of anything, that's almost too good to be true.

And you know what they say about things that are too good to be true. 

Well, today, gold was at $1,773 per ounce last time we checked, down 7% in just two days.  Market watchers are looking for it to sink to $1,450 to $1,550 or so over the next few months, or maybe sooner.

Panic or profit-taking

So is it panic selling or is the smart money cashing in its chips and walking away from the table?  You get different answers from different analysts.

It doesn't really matter, since the net effect is the same: those who thought they could make money in a dismal bear market are finding out that they may just be on the end of the ship that is currently sticking out of the water but is soon to follow the bow in a dive to the bottom.

Or as Leo Larkin, equity metals analyst at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, “We think gold got very, very overbought and we don’t think the correction is over,” according to Investment News.  “Long-term, we’re still bullish, but short-term, it has gotten frothy.”

Concerns over that frothiness has led many financial advisers to counsel to trim their exposure to gold, cutting future risk and taking a bit of sorely-needed profit in the meantime.  

Strong heart

Advisers have always warned that gold is not for the faint-of-heart. To do well long-term in gold, investors have to be willing to put up with 20% to 30% spikes and dips.  More importantly, they have to put emotion aside and be ready to jump ship when she starts to list. 

“Generally, gold and silver are too volatile for most investors to own in any size for long periods of time and through the natural declines. They would like to think they can handle it, but I know they cannot,” said Sam Jones, president of All Season Financial Advisors Inc., speaking with Investment News.

On the other hand -- there's always another hand, isn't there -- if you've been dying to buy gold but fearful of buying too close to the top, it may soon be time to jump on board. But keep that life preserver handy.

Google has agreed to forfeit $500 million for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place advertisements through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States, resulting in the unlawful importation of controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States.

The forfeiture, one of the largest ever in the United States, represents the gross revenue received by Google as a result of Canadian pharmacies advertising through Google’s AdWords program, plus gross revenue made by  Canadian pharmacies from their sales to U.S. consumers.

Consumer Watchdog said the problem of predatory and deceptive advertising on the Internet giant's services continues. Further enforcement action by regulators is needed, the group said.

"Google is highly motivated to turn a blind eye to all sorts of dubious advertising on its search engine because AdWords is such a cash cow," said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project. "For example, our study earlier this year found Google has become a leading purveyor of ads by scammers who prey on struggling homeowners."

The shipment of prescription drugs from pharmacies outside the United States to customers in the United States typically violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and in the case of controlled prescription drugs , the Controlled Substances Act.  

Google was aware as early as 2003, that generally, it was illegal for pharmacies to ship controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States from Canada.

Almost always ... 

The importation of prescription drugs to consumers in the United States is almost always unlawful because the FDA cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of foreign prescription drugs that are not FDA-approved because the drugs may not meet FDA’s labeling requirements; may not have been manufactured, stored and distributed under proper conditions; and may not have been dispensed in accordance with a valid prescription. 

While Canada has its own regulatory rules for prescription drugs, Canadian pharmacies that ship prescription drugs to U.S. residents are not subject to Canadian regulatory authority, and many sell drugs obtained from countries other than Canada which lack adequate pharmacy regulations.

“The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable companies who in their bid for profits violate federal law and put at risk the health and safety of American consumers,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney General James M. Cole.  “This settlement ensures that Google will reform its improper advertising practices with regard to these pharmacies while paying one of the largest financial forfeiture penalties in history.” 

“This investigation is about the patently unsafe, unlawful, importation of prescription drugs by Canadian on-line pharmacies, with Google’s knowledge and assistance, into the United States, directly to U.S. consumers,” said Peter F. Neronha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island.

Significant step

“It is about taking a significant step forward in limiting the ability of rogue on-line pharmacies from reaching U.S. consumers, by compelling Google to change its behavior.   It is about  holding Google responsible for its conduct by imposing a $500 million forfeiture, the kind of forfeiture that will not only get Google’s attention, but the attention of all those who contribute to America’s pill problem.”

An investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Rhode Island and the FDA/OCI Rhode Island Task Force revealed that as early as 2003, Google was on notice that online Canadian pharmacies were advertising prescription drugs to Google users in the United States through Google’s AdWords advertising program.  

Although Google took steps to block pharmacies in countries other than Canada from advertising in the U.S. through AdWords, they continued to allow Canadian pharmacy advertisers to target consumers in the United States.  

Google was aware that U.S. consumers were making online purchases of prescription drugs from these Canadian online pharmacies, and that many of the pharmacies distributed prescription drugs, including controlled prescription drugs, based on an online consultation rather than a valid prescription from a treating medical practitioner.  

Google was also on notice that many pharmacies accepting an online consultation rather than a prescription charged a premium for doing so because individuals seeking to obtain prescription drugs without a valid prescription were willing to pay higher prices for the drugs.

Further, from 2003 through 2009, Google provided customer support to some of these Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to assist them in placing and optimizing their AdWords advertisements, and in improving the effectiveness of their websites.  

In 2009, after Google became aware of the investigation by the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FDA/OCI Rhode Island Task Force of its advertising practices in the online pharmacy area, and as a result of that investigation, Google took a number of steps to prevent the unlawful sale of prescription drugs by online pharmacies to U.S. consumers.  

Among other things, Google began requiring online pharmacy advertisers to be certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s Verified Internet Pharmacy Practices Sites program, which conducts site visits; has a stringent standard against the issuance of prescriptions based on online consultations; and, most significantly, does not certify Canadian online pharmacies.  

In addition, Google retained an independent company to enhance detection of pharmacy advertisers exploiting flaws in the Google’s screening systems.

Under the terms of an agreement signed by Google and the government, Google acknowledges that it improperly assisted Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to run advertisements that targeted the United States through AdWords, and the company accepts responsibility for this conduct. In addition to requiring Google to forfeit $500 million, the agreement also sets forth a number of compliance and reporting measures which must be taken by Google in order to insure that the conduct described in the agreement does not occur in the future.

Mexican fugitive

The investigation of Google had its origins in a separate, multimillion dollar financial fraud investigation unrelated to Google, the main target of which fled to Mexico.  While a fugitive, he began to advertise the unlawful sale of drugs through Google’s AdWords program. After being apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States by the U.S. Secret Service, he began cooperating with law enforcement and provided information about his use of the AdWords program. During the ensuing investigation of Google, the government established a number of undercover websites for the purpose of advertising the unlawful sale of controlled and non-controlled substances through Google’s AdWords program.