Current Events in March 2012

Retirement is, perhaps, like jumping out of an airplane. It's a lot scarier for those who haven't yet tried it than it is for old hands. Or so a recent survey finds.

In fact, the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) and Matthew Greenwald & Associates' 22nd annual Retirement Confidence Survey finds fully 86 percent of not-yet-retired Americans less than confident they'll be able to live comfortably in retirement.

Those already in retirement, however, tend to express higher levels of confidence than current workers about several key financial aspects of retirement, even though current retirees report they are significantly more reliant on Social Security as a major source of their retirement income than current workers expect to be.

The survey doesn't provide much guidance on why this might be so, although retirees often report that their cost of living declines more sharply than they had anticipated once they abandon the daily grind.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a ConsumerAffairs analysis of consumer sentiment about retirement finds generally strong support for the idea of lolling around and not working all day. 

However, lest anyone draw false confidence from these warm and fuzzy feelings, the financial condition of American workers is downright alarming, with 60 percent reporting they have virtually no savings and investments.

In total, 60 percent of workers report that the total value of their household’s savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000.

Job fears

So does this mean today's workers, lacking savings and pension plans and with a net worth of nearly zero, plan to continue working well into their old age?

Apparently not. Twenty-five percent of workers in the 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey say the age at which they expect to retire has changed in the past year. In 1991, 11 percent of workers said they expected to retire after age 65, and by 2012 that has grown to 37 percent. Forty-two percent, meanwhile, say job uncertainty is their most pressing issue.

Regardless of what consumers may plan, fully half of current retirees say they left the work force unexpectedly due to health problems, disability, or changes at their employer, such as downsizing or closure. Planning to work into one's 80s is one thing; actually managing to do so is something else.

No plan

It might come as a shock to Ron Paul and other libertarians who espouse the fervent belief that Americans are rugged individualists who are ready and able to look out for themselves without help from the government, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

For whatever reason, many Americans seem to throw up their hands at the idea of taking their fate into their own hands.

In the ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of comments in social media over the last year, we found a whopping 3.9 million people waxing on about retirement in general, but only 200,000 had much to say about retirement planning, lending credence to EBRI's findings.

 Consider:

• More than half of those surveyed (56%) said they have never bothered to calculate how much money they will need to save for retirement.
• Only a minority of workers and retirees feel very comfortable using online technologies to perform various tasks related to financial management. 
• Relatively few use mobile devices such as a smart phone or tablet to manage their finances.
• Just 10 percent say they are comfortable obtaining advice from financial professionals online.

These findings should scare the socks (or flip-flops) off anyone worried about the solvency of Medicare and Social Security, but before packing up and moving to Costa Rica, pay heed to those current retirees who say they are muddling through somehow and express confidence that they will continue to do so.

Fully 63 percent of current retirees are somewhat or very confident that they'll be able to live comfortably throughout their retirement years. 

Here's hoping they're right.

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Sentiment analysis powered by NetBase

Facebook is all about sharing, but things may be getting out of hand.

Facebook has developed an Open Graph platform for apps, to facilitate "frictionless sharing." That means we can share whatever has captured our attention on the web with our friends.

Social media apps take the multimedia content we access online and publish the information to our Facebook profiles without the need to click on anything, such as the "Like" button.

But many users aren’t even aware what these new social apps are posting to their profiles. These apps are busy broadcasting your content without your ever being aware of it.

The folks at Facebook claim to think they are doing their members a favor. As they claim to see it, they are making it easier to share information, assuming the things you access online were going to be shared anyway. They've just saved you a step.

Privacy

Privacy advocates look at it a little differently. If you are researching "How to find a new job in three weeks or less" or "Five steps to an amicable divorce," you might not want your network of friends to know.

If this sort of things gives you pause, you need to know how to avoid "frictionless sharing." A number of sites now have a social reader function. All you have to do is enable it once. From then on, anything you access on that site gets shared with your network.

But if you aren't keen on the idea of sharing everything in your life, just don't enable the apps.

"Frictionless sharing" has its advocates, however, who suggest it's the wave of the future. If you want to guard your privacy, they say, just be selective about the apps you enable. After all, they say, you are still in control of what gets shared and what stays private.

Multiple year models of Ford E-Series and F-Series pickups and vans have defective fuel tank linings that flake off and clog the fuel system, causing sudden loss of power, according to a federal class action.

The suit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, charges that Ford has known of the problem for at least ten years but has neither recalled the trucks nor offered to repair them for free.

Instead, the suit alleges, Ford issued a technical service bulletin in 2007 advising dealers of the problem.  

The lawsuit says the problem affects fuel tank linings on 10 E- and F-series truck models made between 1999 and 2008 and that "hundreds, if not thousands" of drivers have encountered the problem, Courthouse News Service reported.

The F-series pickup is the best-selling U.S. car or truck. The E-Series is a truck-based full-size van.

• The sleep-deprived group, who slept one hour and 20 minutes less than the control group each day consumed an average 549 additional calories each day.  
• The amount of energy used for activity didn’t significantly change between groups, suggesting that those who slept less didn’t burn additional calories.
• Lack of sleep was associated with increased leptin levels and decreasing ghrelin — changes that were more likely a consequence, rather than a cause, of over-eating.

Ideal neighborhoods

Besides hot flashes, many women entering menopause complain of memory problems, including bouts of forgetfulness and struggles with “brain fog.”

Researchers writing in the journal Menopause says it's not their imagination. The results of the study, by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago who gave women a rigorous battery of cognitive tests, validate their experiences and provide some clues to what is happening in the brain as women hit menopause.

Cognitive changes

“The most important thing to realize is that there really are some cognitive changes that occur during this phase in a woman’s life,” said Miriam Weber, Ph.D., the neuropsychologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who led the study. “If a woman approaching menopause feels she is having memory problems, no one should brush it off or attribute it to a jam-packed schedule. She can find comfort in knowing that there are new research findings that support her experience. She can view her experience as normal.”

The study is one of only a handful to analyze in detail a woman’s brain function during menopause and to compare those findings to the woman’s own reports of memory or cognitive difficulties.

Difficulty in processing new information

In the study, women who had memory complaints were much more likely to do poorly in tests designed to measure what is called “working memory” – the ability to take in new information and manipulate it in their heads. Such tasks in real life might include calculating the amount of a tip after a restaurant meal, adding up a series of numbers in one’s head, or adjusting one’s itinerary on the fly after an unexpected flight change.

Scientists also found that the women’s reports of memory difficulties were associated with a lessened ability to keep and focus attention on a challenging task. That might include doing the taxes, maintaining sharp attention on the road during a long drive, completing a difficult report at work despite boredom, or getting through a particularly challenging book.

Advice

For women who feel they are having memory problems, Weber has some advice.

“When someone gives you a new piece of information, it might be helpful to repeat it out loud, or for you to say it back to the person to confirm it – it will help you hold onto that information longer,” Weber said. “Make sure you have established that memory solidly in the brain.

Also, you need to do a little more work to make sure the information gets into your brain permanently. It may help to realize that you shouldn’t expect to be able to remember everything after hearing it just once.

So let's say you see a car dealer's ad promising to pay off your trade-in no matter ho much you owe on it.

Sound too good to be true?  Of course it does.  And of course it isn't.  True, that is.

The Federal Trade Commission objected to the ads and now five dealers have agreed to stop running them.  They're also barred from running similar deceptive ads in the future.

The dealers are:

• Billion Auto, Inc., in Sioux Falls, South Dakota;
• Frank Myers AutoMaxx, LLC, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
• Key Hyundai of Manchester, LLC and Hyundai of Milford LLC, in Vernon and Milford, Connecticut, respectively, and which advertise jointly; and
• Ramey Motors, Inc., in Princeton, West Virginia.

The FTC charged that the ads, which ran on the dealers' websites and on sites such as YouTube.com, deceived consumers into thinking they would no longer be responsible for paying off the loan balance on their trade-in, even if it exceeded the trade-in's value (i.e., the trade-in had "negative equity"). Instead, the dealers rolled the negative equity into the consumer's new vehicle loan or, in the case of one dealer, required consumers to pay it out of pocket.

Examples of the allegedly deceptive advertisements include:

• "Credit upside down? Need a new car? Go to Billionpayoff.com. We want to pay off your car." The advertisement depicts a car moving, inverts the video to depict it upside down, and then turns it right-side up again. (Billion Auto)
• "Uncle Frank wants to pay [your trade] off in full, no matter how much you owe." (Frank Myers AutoMaxx)
• "I want your trade no matter how much you owe or what you're driving. In fact I'll pay off your trade when you upgrade to a nicer, newer vehicle." (Key Hyundai and Hyundai of Milford)
• "Ramey will pay off your trade no matter what you owe . . . even if you're upside down, Ramey will pay off your trade." (Ramey Motors)

In addition, the complaints in three of the cases allege violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and its implementing Regulation Z for failing to disclose certain credit-related terms, and the complaints in two of the cases allege violations of the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) and its implementing Regulation M for failing to disclose certain lease related terms.

The proposed settlements, reached as part of the FTC's ongoing efforts to protect consumers in financial distress, bar all of the dealers from making similar deceptive representations in the future. The cases are the first of their kind brought by the FTC. The Commission also issued a new consumer education publication titled "Negative Equity Ads and Auto-Trade-ins" to help consumers understand these types of ads.

"Buying a new car or truck is a major financial commitment, and the last thing consumers need is to be tricked into thinking that a dealer will 'pay off' what they owe on their current vehicle, when they really won't," said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "The Federal Trade Commission is constantly on the lookout for potentially deceptive ads, and brings actions to stop them when appropriate."

The newly merged Sirius/XM satellite radio company has found a new audience with a recent deal to partner with auto retail group Asbury Automotive Group; according to a March 12 press release, Asbury has agreed to throw in a 3-month satellite radio subscription for all pre-owned car buyers who sign with its dealerships.

In some ways, the move represents a substantial increase in Sirius/XM’s new business, since Asbury, based in Atlanta, GA, has over 70 retail locations. Some might still say that the new agreement is a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 20 million current subscribers, but many who scrutinize the radio monopoly’s business plan would say that, when it comes to adding Sirius/XM radio to more cars, every bit of new business helps.

Part of the debate around the satellite radio company relates to the fact that, up until recent years, XM and Sirius were competitors. A 2008 merger raised questions about anti-trust issues, as covered by ConsumerAffairs at the time, and according to industry sources, the U.S. government only approved the merger with certain restrictions, which included price caps and other restrictions meant to prevent unfair use of a monopoly on the satellite radio market.

Price caps

After the merger, ConsumerAffairs has continued to track issues related to the company’s ongoing operations, including a class-action suit by consumers alleging that Sirius/XM violated the spirit of its price cap agreement with small incremental new fees and charges.

In addition, it can be hard to cancel the service. Customers report a lot of coercive activity on the part of company reps when they contact Sirius/XM to cancel, and some have also reported bills coming in after they have expressed their desire to quit the service.

New deals with pre-owned auto retailers -- also known as used car dealers -- can help Sirius/XM get more new subscribers to grow its bottom line, though according to other analyses, the company will still have to focus on reducing “churn” by keeping more subscribers for a longer time, and not by blocking attempts to cancel, but through making its services more genuinely appealing to a larger set of customers.

The decreasing quality of some free radio stations can help, along with the Sirius/XM's success in acquiring broadcast rights for high-profile sporting events. Sirius/XM has also rolled out a set of “a la carte” options for subscribers who want just a specific part of what the radio service offers.

Consumer advocates say the continued growth of the company and improvement of its bottom line will depend on whether a company without a lot of direct competition pays attention to feedback from its subscribers and creates a high customer service standard.

Occasionally, a consumer will check their online bank account and find a $1 charge from a company. What's it mean?

It could mean nothing, or it could be a sign of trouble. It all depends on what company placed the charge.

For example, if you just filled your tank with gas and paid at the pump with your debit card, you might find that the gas station has placed a $1 charge on your account.

Explanation

As a customer service representative explains, that $1 amounts to an "authorization" charge, not an actual charge. The gas station validates your card by asking your bank to allow them to charge $1. If the charge is allowed, they know the card is good. Later, the $1 charge should disappear and the gasoline purchase should appear.

But Melony, of Sarasota, Fla., checked her account last week and saw two pending charges of $1 each that looked to her like trouble.

"It showed that they originated from Experian in California, and an 800 number was listed on the transaction line," Melony wrote in a post at ConsumerAffairs. "When I called this phone number to find out what Experian was, they informed me they were a company that provided credit reports upon request, and that in order to find out the basis of the charges, they would need my debit card information to locate said charges. I told them as I did not provide them with this information in the first place, I certainly was not going to do so at this point. They told me that there was nothing they could do unless I provided this information to them."

Making a purchase without knowing it

Many consumers are very familiar with Experian, which offers a "free" credit report but requires you to sign up for a "trial" of their credit monitoring service. The company may also have other products and services that are sold using "negative option marketing," meaning the consumer might not be aware they have made a purchase.

Because these $1 charges were from a company that Melony was not familiar with, she should have contacted her bank immediately to block any further charges. In Melony's case, she didn't act fast enough.

"On Tuesday, March 13 I checked my bank account and there were two posted charges from Experian," Melony said. "One was for $14.95, and the other was for $19.95. On the transaction line, it stated they originated on March 9 and March 11. I called Chase, who confirmed the charges indeed originated with my debit card number, and I filed a claim to dispute said charges. Chase cancelled my debit card and a new one is being issued and sent to me via US mail. In the meantime I have done some online research and found there are countless cases of this exact same scenario happening to people."

Third-party marketing partner

Melony said she had never gone to an Experian site to retrieve her credit report and doesn't know how Experian got her debt card number. Most likely, she made an online purchase with another company that has a third-party marketing relationship with Experian. Experian got her debit card information from the company she was doing business with.

If Experian sold Melony something using the negative option, it is required to make that transaction "clear and conspicuous" to Melony. In Melony's case, it wasn't clear and conspicuous enough for her to notice it.

A $1 charge from an unknown entity can also be a sign of fraud. If a scammer has obtained your card information, they may "ping" the account first, to make sure it's valid, because making a major purchase with it.

When you see a $1 charge on your bank account from a company you are sure you haven't patronized, it's a good idea to contact your bank's fraud department immediately to report it, either as fraud or an unauthorized charge.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic Lexapro (escitalopram tablets) to treat both depression and generalized anxiety disorder in adults.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries/IVAX Pharmaceuticals gained FDA approval to market generic escitalopram in 5 milligram, 10 mg, and 20 mg strengths.

Teva has been granted a 180-day period of generic drug exclusivity, which means that FDA cannot approve another generic version of escitalopram tablets before the end of that period.

Generic drugs approved by FDA have the same high quality and strength as brand-name drugs. The generic manufacturing and packaging sites must pass the same quality standards as those of brand-name drugs.

About depression

Depression is characterized by symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Episodes of depression often recur throughout a person's lifetime.

Signs and symptoms of major depression include: depressed mood, loss of interest in usual activities, significant change in weight or appetite, insomnia or excessive sleeping (hypersomnia), restlessness/pacing (psychomotor agitation), increased fatigue, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, slowed thinking or impaired concentration, and suicide attempts or thoughts of suicide.

People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are filled with exaggerated worry and tension, even though there is little or nothing to provoke it. They anticipate disaster and are overly concerned about health issues, money, family problems, or difficulties at work. GAD is diagnosed when a person worries excessively about a variety of everyday problems for at least six months. People with GAD can’t relax, startle easily, and have difficulty concentrating.

“These psychiatric conditions can be disabling and prevent a person from doing every-day activities,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This medication is widely used by people who must manage their condition over time, so it is important to have affordable treatment options.”

Side effects 

In the clinical trials for Lexapro, the most commonly observed adverse reactions were: sleeplessness (insomnia), ejaculation disorder, nausea, increase in sweating, fatigue and drowsiness, and low sex drive (decreased libido). 

Escitalopram and all other antidepressant drugs have a boxed warning and a patient medication guide describing the increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment.

The warning also says data did not show this increased risk in those older than 24 years and that patients ages 65 and older who take antidepressants have a decreased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior. The warning says depression and other serious psychiatric disorders themselves are the most important causes of suicide and that close monitoring of patients starting these medications is necessary.

Information about the availability of generic escitalopram can be obtained from Teva. 

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court judge has ordered the operators and top promoters of a deceptive pyramid scheme to pay a total of $17 million to refund consumers who were burned by the scam. 

The court order permanently halts marketing methods used by the operation known as BurnLounge, which lured more than 56,000 consumers from around the country by masquerading as a legitimate multi-level marketing program and making misleading claims about earnings to be made.

The FTC filed a complaint against BurnLounge in 2007. BurnLounge had touted itself as a cutting-edge way to sell digital music through multi-level marketing, but music sales accounted for only a small percentage of its sales.

The agency charged that BurnLounge recruited consumers from across the country by telling them that participants earned huge incomes. Investors could buy into the BurnLounge organization for prices ranging from $29.95 to $429.95, plus monthly fees. While participants were compensated for music and album sales, most compensation came from recruiting others into the plan.

The FTC charged the defendants with operating an illegal pyramid scheme, with making deceptive earnings claims, and with failing to disclose that most consumers who participated in pyramid schemes wouldn't receive substantial income, but instead would lose money. The agency charged that the practices violate federal law.

The court's final judgment and order bars the defendants from engaging in pyramid, Ponzi, or chain letter schemes or any schemes in which compensation for recruitment is unrelated to the sale of product to customers who are not participants.

The order bars misrepresentations about multi-level marketing operations or business ventures, including misrepresentations about sales, income, profitability, or legality of the operations. If the defendants make claims about earnings, sales, or profits, the order requires them to disclose the number and percentage of participants in the business venture who have earned, sold or profited that much.

Finally, the court ordered the defendants to pay, collectively, close to $17 million for consumer redress. BurnLounge, Inc., and Juan Alexander Arnold were ordered to pay $16,245,799. John Taylor was ordered to pay $620,138 and Rob DeBoer was ordered to pay $150,000. Standard bookkeeping and record keeping requirements in the order will allow the FTC to monitor compliance.

In June 2007, another defendant in the pyramid scheme, Scott Elliott, settled the FTC's charges against him. The settlement barred him from participating in any pyramid scheme or other prohibited marketing scheme, barred false earning claims, and required him to give up $20,000 in ill-gotten gains.

The Commerce Department reports consumers spent more money in February, a sign many economists suggested showed a steadily improving economy.

However, a closer look at the numbers shows a lot of that increase was spent at gas stations for more expensive fuel.

According to the government's data, retail and food services sales were $407.8 billion, up 1.1 percent from the previous month and up 6.5 percent from one year ago. This was consistent with private-sector forecasts. Excluding autos, retail and food services sales in February exceeded private sector expectations, coming in at $335.3 billion—up 0.9 percent from January and up 6.4 percent from February 2011.

“Retail sales showed continued progress last month, and sales in December and January were higher than previously estimated,” said Commerce Secretary John Bryson. “Gains were seen in virtually all retail categories, but work remains to ensure we’re supporting an economy that’s built to last. The U.S. economy has added private sector jobs for 24 straight months, creating more than 3.9 million payroll jobs. We must redouble our efforts to help American businesses and workers build their goods here and sell them everywhere.”

Despite the unwelcome extra spending for fuel, building materials and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales were up 13.8 percent from February 2011. Sales at gasoline stations were up 10.3 percent from last year.

With credit cards harder to get and keep these days, more consumers are relying on their debit cards for purchases. But consumers should understand the differences between these two forms of plastic and use them appropriately.

The editors at ShopSmart have identified five scenarios that can put consumers at risk when using their debit cards and suggest ways consumers can protect themselves from common debit card dangers.

Sneaky

"Debit cards are sneaky – they are extremely convenient but can get you into a lot of trouble if your information winds up in the wrong hands," said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart, a Consumers Reports publication. "Some simple precautions can save you a lot of trouble and protect you and your account from danger."

First, don't use your debit card for big purchases or when you shop online. Unlike debit cards, credit cards may add a year to manufacturer warranties. What's more, if you buy something online that's defective or damaged during shipping, you can dispute the charge and ask your credit card company to intervene.  You might miss that leverage with debit cards.

Leave debit cards at home

Don't take your debit card on trips. If you have a credit card, it may have some level of travel insurance and auto-rental insurance. It may also come with concierge services that could help you out in sticky situations.

If you are worried about possible risk relating to a purchase, don't use your debit card. Under federal law, your liability for fraudulent charges on a debit card can be greater than it is for a credit card.

With a credit card, you're only responsible for up to $50 in unauthorized purchases. But with a debit card, you can lose up to $500 if you don't report the theft or loss of your card or PIN within two business days of discovering the problem.

Don't rely on a debit card if you want to raise your credit score. When you use debit cards, you're not building a credit history. But well-managed credit cards, with the balances paid off completely on a regular basis, can help boost scores.

No rewards

Don't use your debit card if you want to earn money on purchases. A recent federal law cut the amount that banks can make on debit-card transactions, so they scaled back their rewards. If you have a good cash-back or rewards credit card, use that instead.

The danger of using a credit card, of course, is that balances accumulate to the point that it's hard to pay them off, resulting in a continuing debt cycle. But if you use a credit card the way you would a debit-card, paying the balance down to zero each month, you'll stay out of trouble.

Meanwhile, here are five ways to protect yourself against debit-card dangers:

1. Save receipts and check them against your monthly statement. Make sure all the charges are correct and there are no errors on the statement or any unauthorized charges.
2. Don't use a PIN that is too obvious, like your date of birth, and change it regularly.
3. Sign up for online banking if you haven't yet so that you can check your account often.
4. Reduce your risk of ATM "skimming," in which a device electronically swipes your data and PIN. Use machines at banks rather than in convenience stores, airports, gas stations, or any isolated locations, which can be riskier.
5. Use your debit card to make purchases only with trusted merchants, and don't give your card number to anyone you don't know over the phone or by e-mail.

If you have a collection of movies and TV series on DVD, but find you hardly ever watch them anymore, you might consider converting them to streaming files you can access online.

Walmart has started a new service - with the full cooperation of Hollywood - in which it is giving physical DVD/Blu-ray collections across the country a second life by turning them into digital movies.

Starting April 16th, in more than 3,500 stores, Walmart customers will be able to bring their DVD and Blu-ray collections to Walmart and receive digital access to the content from the partnering studios.

The cost for standard DVDs and Blu-ray discs will be $2. Standard DVDs can be upgraded to High-Def (HD) for $5.

Walmart said it is partnering with the major Hollywood studios: Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros, to provide the new service.

Accessing movies in a different way

“Walmart is helping America get access to their DVD library,” said John Aden, executive vice president for general merchandising, Walmart U.S. “Walmart Entertainment’s new disc-to-digital service will allow our customers to reconnect with the movies they already own on a variety of new devices, while preserving the investments they’ve made in disc purchases over the years. We believe this revolutionary in-store service will unlock new value for already-owned DVDs, and will encourage consumers to continue building physical and digital movie libraries in the future.”

Watching movies on physical media can be slow and cumbersome for some consumers, who have grown accustomed to instant access to content via their smartphones. Walmart says the new service will make it unnecessary to load discs into players to watch a movie.

“Consumers want value and convenience and Walmart’s disc-to-digital service will deliver both while helping consumers realize the benefits of digital ownership,” said Ron Sanders, president, Warner Home Video. “Between the heavy foot traffic in-store and the aggressive educational campaign Walmart is planning, this partnership is the perfect opportunity for us to reach a mainstream audience much sooner than by more traditional means, while making the process as quick and easy for consumers as possible.”

A survey finds that more than two-thirds of identity theft victims responding to the survey were somewhat or very satisfied with the way the national credit reporting agencies handled their situation.

Many complained, however, that it was difficult to reach a live person. And some said they felt pressured to buy identity theft monitoring products when they called the credit agencies.

The survey, conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, also found that fewer than half of the respondents were aware of all their rights under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA).

Congress established several rights under FACTA to help identity theft victims protect themselves from, and recover from, identity theft.

These rights enable victims to place fraud alerts on their credit report with the consumer reporting agencies, request a free credit report from the three national consumer reporting agencies when placing a fraud alert, block fraudulent information from appearing in their credit report, and receive a notice of these and other rights from the consumer reporting agencies.

The FTC's staff report concluded that:

• The consumer reporting agencies may need to make it easier for consumers to reach a live person;
• The FTC and other enforcement agencies should do more to educate the public about their rights under FACTA; and
• The FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should use their respective authorities to address the consumer reporting agencies' practices related to selling identity theft monitoring products or services when they are contacted by identity theft victims.

The full text of the report is available online.

About 2,700 lawn tractors are being recalled. A drive gear in the lawn tractor's hydrostatic transaxle can fail causing brake failure, posing a crash hazard to consumers.

This recall involves Cub Cadet, MTD Gold and Troy-Bilt lawn tractors sold with Hydro-Gear model 618-0319 and 618-04270B transaxles. Cub Cadet and Troy-Bilt tractors included in this recall have dates of manufacture (DOM) ranging from December 2010 through March 2011. The DOM can be found on a label on the underside of the seat. MTD Gold can be identified by serial numbers starting with 1L15 or 1L16. Affected transaxles have serial numbers with the first four digits ranging between 0333 and 0348. Transaxle model and serial numbers are printed on a label on the transaxle.

Cub Cadet lawn tractors with the recalled transaxles are:

MTD Gold brand tractors with the recalled transaxles are:

Troy-Bilt brand tractors with the recalled transaxles are:

Lawn and garden retailers sold the tractors nationwide from January 2011 through January 2012 for about between $1,900 and $2,800. They were made in the U.S.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled lawn tractors and contact the firm for instructions on obtaining a repair from an authorized service provider.

For additional information, please contact the firm's toll-free at (888) 848-6038 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firms' websites at www.cubcadet.com, www.troybilt.com orwww.MTDproducts.com. Consumers can also visit Hydro-Gear's website at www.hydro-gear.com

In recent years, people past the age of 50 have been urged to get a colonoscopy, perhaps the best tool for early detection of colon cancer. Undoubted this new emphasis has saved lives.

But for the gastroenterologists performing this procedure, there are increasing demands that they worry could affect the quality of their work. There's a survey to back that up.

Pressured to increase volume

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that 92 percent of more than 1,000 responding to a survey believed that pressures to increase the volume of colonoscopies adversely impacted how they performed their procedures, which could potentially affect the quality of colon cancer screening.

The findings, based on responses from members of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), are published in the March 2012 issue of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Dramatic increase in numbers

“The number of colonoscopies has risen dramatically over the past fifteen years, but it is imperative that an increase in volume not occur at the expense of quality and safety,” said Lawrence B. Cohen, MD, lead study author and an Associate Clinical Professor of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai. “Balancing quantity and quality is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to ensure the continued success of colon cancer prevention programs.”

Overall, 92.3 percent of survey respondents indicated that production pressures, such as heightened demand for the procedure, rising overhead or shrinking reimbursement rates, resulted in physicians postponing, aborting or reducing the extent of a colonoscopy procedure.

For example, 7.2 percent of participants said production pressures made them reduce the time examining the colon wall, 5.3 percent of participants said these pressures made them abort a difficult colonoscopy, and 69 percent said they performed a colonoscopy on a patient with an unfavorable risk/benefit ratio.

Early detection

A colonoscopy is used to look for early signs of cancer in the colon and rectum. It is also used to diagnose the causes of unexplained changes in bowel habits. Colonoscopy enables the physician to see inflamed tissue, abnormal growths, ulcers, and bleeding.

If a polyp, inflamed tissue, or anything else out of the ordinary turns up in the screening, the physician can remove all or part of it using tiny instruments passed through the scope. This allows the doctor to remove tissue from the colon wall that could eventually become a tumor.

While no one is debating the value of the procedure for patients at risk for colon cancer, some doctors are clearly worried they are not given enough time to examine each patient. Thirteen percent of respondents indicated that they have insufficient time for a pre-procedure assessment, 7.7 percent believed they routinely had inadequate time to complete an examination and 5.5 percent believed that patients were discharged from the unit prematurely. A majority, 77.8 percent, said they believed their caseload was excessive.

Some rental car customers call it the “ding-and-dent scam.” They rent a car and when they return it, the agency goes over it with a fine-tooth comb, locating small dings and scratches that result in an additional bill.

Maybe the blemishes were there before and maybe they weren't. If the consumer didn't notice, she will be on the hook.

Mark, of Corona, Calif., thought he was prepared for that when he rented a car from Enterprise in his home town. He and an Enterprise employee conducted an inspection and Mark pointed out some minor damage to the car's front and rear bumpers.

“Upon my return on March 12 I was questioned about the rear bumper,” Mark wrote in a post at ConsumerAffairs. “I told them that we looked at the damage together before I left with the car. They submitted a claim saying that I am responsible for the damage. I appealed to them as we had acknowledged the damage prior to the trip. They gave me no sympathy or recourse. The bumper was damaged before I took custody of the car, there is no question about that. What is a customer to do at this point?”

It has to be documented

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot Mark can do at this point. It's one thing to point out the pre-existing damage before taking the car, but you must insist that the attendant document that damage on the rental car agreement. Obviously, in this case the attendant did not so Mark is exposed.

Even if the damage is documented on the form, if its description is vague and non-specific, it could result in an argument.

Rental car agencies seem to be more aggressive lately in finding damage after a vehicle has been returned and charging the consumer for it. Consumers must remain on guard against it.

First and foremost, consumers these days should simply refuse to accept a vehicle with existing damage. As in Mark's case, one never knows how that will work out, even if both the consumer and the check-out attendant agree that it's there.

A picture's worth a thousand words

It's also wise to photograph the car from all four sides with a camera that has a time stamp. Make one set of photos when picking it up and another when dropping it off.

Also, avoid dropping off a vehicle without an employee checking it in. We have heard from many consumers who did that and were later socked with a repair bill.

In Mark's case, he should respond in writing to Enterprise, disputing the charge and informing them that he will file a complaint with the California Insurance Commission if the claim is not dropped. Since Mark knows the name of the employee who he says documented the damage, he should include the name in his letter.

If the claim is less than $1000, Mark might also consider suing in small claims court. Large companies normally settle rather defending themselves in court for such a small amount.