Current Events in January 2013

If you've been on Southwest Airlines the last year or two, you may have noticed the flight attendants saying that free drink coupons must be "current."

If you've wondered what that's all about, here's the answer: In August 2010, the airline changed its policy and declared that free-drink coupons given to its "business select" passengers would be honored only on the date for which they were issued.

So even though the coupons did not carry an expiration date, passengers who hadn't used their coupons by the time the policy change was announced were out of luck.

In its defense, Southwest said it changed its policy because passengers were making photocopies of the coupons to get free drinks. But that cut no ice with plaintiffs Adam Levitt and Herbert Malone, who charged in a class action lawsuit that the policy change amounted to a breach of contract.

To settle the suit, Southwet has agreed to issue up to 5.8 million new free-drink vouchers to eligible passengers.

If you think you might be eligible, get details here.

King’s Delight of Gainesville, GA, is recalling approximately 1,572 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets labeled as gluten-free because they contain wheat -- a known allergen that is not declared on the label.

The product subject to recall include:

• 8-oz. cartons of “APPLEGATE Naturals Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets."

The establishment number “P-2617” can be found printed on the side of each carton. The products were packaged on Sept. 19, 2012. The lot number “210864” and the best before date “08/28/13” are printed on each carton’s side panel. The UPC code “25317-00556” is printed on the back of each carton. The products were distributed to retail stores in Indiana, Maryland, Oregon and Washington.

Consumers who purchased these products should return them to the store for a full refund.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact Gerry Clarkson, Applegate Consumer Affairs Specialist, at (800) 587-5858.  

LJD Holdings of Boise, ID, doing business as B and D Foods, is recalling approximately 33,500 pounds of fully cooked meat and poultry products.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The following products are subject to recall:

• 10-lb. boxes, containing 2, 5-lb bags of “ROYAL “THE TEMPURA KING” ROYAL TEMPURA CHICKEN, Fully Cooked Tempura Chicken Breast,” bearing an identifying code of “A-4615.” This product was distributed to food service and/or institutional customers in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
• 10-lb. boxes, containing 2, 5-lb bags of “BLINGS! CHICKEN BREAST WITH PARMESAN FLAVORING,” bearing an identifying code of “A-4844.” This product was distributed to food service and/or institutional customers in Idaho and Montana.
• 10-lb. boxes, containing 2, 5-lb bags of “STEAKHOUSE TEMPURA SEASONED BEEF & BINDER STRIPS,” bearing an identifying code of “A-1070-10.” This product was distributed to food service and/or institutional customers in Idaho and Montana.
• 30-lb. boxes of “KETTLE COOKED CHICKEN BREAST PIECES,” bearing an identifying code of “A-3900.” This product was distributed to an industrial customer in Ohio.
• 30-lb. boxes of “FULLY COOKED PORK STRIPS,” bearing an identifying code of “A-3025-30.” This product was distributed to an industrial customer in Arizona and California.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 6266” or “Est. P-6266” inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as an identifying case code of “110622.” The products were produced on Dec. 6, 2012, and distributed to food service and institutional customers, as well as an industrial customer in the distribution areas noted above.

The problem was discovered by the company through microbiological testing and the products are being recalled due to concerns of cross-contamination. There have been no reports of illnesses due to consumption of these products.

Consumers with questions should contact the company’s chief administrative officer, Gary Shaw at (208) 344-1183 ext. 106.  

Lies produced and spread on the Internet have been a staple of online life for years now, but have mostly remained in the background. However, one spectacular hoax burst into full view this week, rocking the collegiate sports world.

Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o, the runner-up for last year's Heisman Trophy, had been cited for his emotional courage by remaining on the gridiron despite the reported early autumn deaths of both his beloved grandmother and girlfriend within 24 hours. The grandmother was real but it turns out, the girlfriend never existed.

In numerous interviews with the sporting press during Notre Dame's undefeated season, Te'o spoke in great detail about the young woman and Stanford grad, who he said had tragically died of leukemia September 12. Now, he says he only engaged with her online, and it was revealed this week she never existed.

Internet's dark side

While this sensational and bizarre story has yet to fully play out, it's a reminder of the Internet's dark side -- its ability to transmit completely erroneous information with a perplexing degree of credibility. One sees it in forwarded emails and Facebook posts. Someone receives a message that is either misinformed or an outright hoax and passes it on as gospel. Soon, people accept it as truth.

"Folks have a real tendency to believe much of the information online as they feel anything published must have some competency as many have thought in the non-digital world," Marcus P. Zillman, an author and expert on Internet hoaxes, told ConsumerAffairs. "Many have never experienced an educational endeavor of learning what misinformation is and how it truly affects society in today's New Economy."

Debunking hoaxes

Internet hoaxes have spawned a number of websites that do nothing but shoot them down. Snopes.com describes itself as a "reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation." In one example, it takes on the Darwin Awards, which were a subject of a popular circular email a decade ago.

The Darwin Awards were a series of news items detailing the death of some person who died as the result of incredibly stupid behavior. Most readers accepted these as fact.

"As is the norm for such Internet circulated lists, Darwin Awards-2006 email is a mixed bag," Snopes editors write. "There are some actual incidents, accurately chronicled, one that we know is an out and out fake, and a handful of others that we can't yet authoritatively prove or disprove. Interestingly, while this compilation purports to be from 2006, all of its entries date from 1995 through 1998."

The emails, the editors concluded, were authored not by a Darwin Awards Committee but by persons unknown.

Brett Christensen, of the Australian website HoaxSlayer.com, says people tend to accpt information they receive online because it comes from someone they trust. But in many cases, he says, it plays on their prejudices.

"Hoaxes often cater to preconceived ideas held by the recipient," Christensen said. "If a hoax message seems to confirm a person's views on religion, politics or general perception of the world, he or she is perhaps more apt to send it on without investigating its claims. In other words, if you really want to believe it, you might tend to overlook or excuse any logical inconsistencies or suspect claims that a hoax message contains."

Romance scams

Perhaps nowhere are Internet hoaxes more devastating than in affairs of the heart. It happens all the time on online dating sites, where a relationship begins without a face to face meeting -- many times with painful consequences.

Over the years ConsumerAffairs has received a large number of reports from dating site users who became emotionally involved with someone online, only to find out they were being scammed. David, of Loveland, Colorado, said he fell for a romance scam when he thought he was helping a young Russian woman stranded in a foreign country.

"Since then I have been approached on every dating site I have joined by supposed women who are stranded in Nigeria or Ghana," David wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. "When the dating sites are notified they are scammers they do nothing about it."

Lately, dating sites have done more to warn users about possible scams, and a reading of the most recent ConsumerAffairs posts suggests users are now more savvy. Patsy, of San Antonio, Tex., writes that she spotted an attempted scam on Match.com right off the bat.

"He said he was from Germany, working on a project in Nigeria," Patsy wrote. "I come from a German family and the accent was definitely not German, another red flag. So, I continued to play along and last night he asked for a loan of $600.00, I declined. He wasn't too happy about that, so I just signed off."

Catfishing

These scams, of course, have a profit motive. The people attempting to fool unsuspecting love-seekers are hoping for a payday. But in recent years there is a new breed of Internet imposter, who may or may not be at the center of the current Manti Te'o firestorm.

These are people who create identities and try to fool people just for fun. There's even a name for it -- "Catfishing," named after an MTV series that outs Catfishers. High profile individuals, such as athletes, appear to be common targets.

A "Catfisher" will fabricate a profile and take someone's picture from their Facebook account to trick their victim into thinking they are someone who desires a relationship with them. Why they do it is anyone's guess. But profit does not seem to be a motive.

Here are three questions to ask yourself if you think you are being Catfished:

• Why won't this person engage in a video chat with me?
• Why won't this person agree to a face-to-face meeting?
• Is this person too good to be true?

If there are not good answers to these questions, chances are you're being played as the victim of an Internet hoax.

As for the media's role in the Manti Te'o hoax, Christensen says it might be excused in this instance for swallowing the fabricated story hook, line and sinker, but in others, he sees it as very culpable.

"For example, a number of media outlets reported on the claims that the Google Street View car killed a donkey in Botswana," he said. "However, even some fairly basic research by journalists writing these stories should have been enough to reveal that the claims were untrue."

For consumers of the Internet, it means maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism, and not believing everything you read.

Tired of hearing about Facebook? Good, because we're tired of writing about it. After all, it's not the only social media site, there are new ones everyday.

And one that's getting lots of attention, not to mention lots of interest from investors, is Keek, a Toronto-based social video sharing startup that says it emphasizes communications over entertainment through 36-second smartphone movie clips.

“We, from the beginning, have looked at video as a form of communication,” CEO Isaac Raichyk said. “It’s a way for people to communicate with their friends, with the followers, with their fans, or whoever, but it’s a way to communicate. We don’t provide any beautification filters, no video editing, just point; shoot; upload; communicate.”

Described by some as "Twitter for video," Keek's growth has been nothing short of explosive, with 6 million users signed up in just the past 30 days and a reported 200,000 new signups per day.

And unlike certain social media sites we could think of, Keek seems to be engaging its users, collecting 8 million monthly comments and likes, with 30 million monthly follows.

OK, but just what is it? Well, it's a place where you can post Keeks -- which are sort of like, you know, tweets, except they're 36-second video bites. See something you like or don't like. Just kick back and press the "Keekback" button to respond.

Do this often enough and you'll build Kred. You can also join Klusters, use Keekmail and so forth.

The combination of slick technology and feel-good, clever branding is kicking Keek into the stratosphere financially. It raised $7 million a few months ago and today announced an $18 million funding round.

Investors have been a little sour on tech startups recently, thanks to Facebook's missteps but that's not holding back Keek's kickstart.

There’s no doubt that romantic vacations are a wonderful thing.

Getting the chance to travel with your significant other, being in a new place and having the opportunity to experience new things together can add a bit of variety to a relationship, and it also allows couples to add more chapters to the story of their union together.

But let’s face it, although being able to watch the sun set on a seaside cliff on a vacation with your mate is wonderful, as individuals we still might need a little time away from our partners on occasion, as a sometimes brief separation can strengthen a relationship just as much as a trip together.

And to get that quick separation, you can either travel by yourself or you can travel with a group of friends.

It seems over the last few years, the idea of taking trips in same-sex groups has become popular among consumers, travel agencies and travel sites. Also in recent years, new terms like “mancations” have been birthed and used to describe the concept of guys going on a trip together without their girlfriends or wives.

And although there isn’t a snazzy name like mancation to describe an all-female excursion, some would say the concept of women grabbing their girlfriends and heading for the airport is even more common than men doing so.

Just to be straight about it, these sites don't cater to gay travel, as far as we could tell. If that's what you have in mind, check out GayTravel.com.

Girls Gotta Go

To help organize these trips for you and your friends, there are a few sites that have seemed to streamline the process, so you don’t have to search all over the Internet to find the best places to vacation with your buddies.

For the ladies, a really helpful website is AGirlsGottaGo.com, which was started by a group of women from management roles at different travel companies. Based on the number of agents on the company’s website, it seems AGirlsGottaGo.com isn’t a big company, and is aiming to provide a more personal brand of service.

This business approach is evident, as the company says  its workers actually travel to the destinations and hotels that they recommend, so they’re able to offer a firsthand review and suggest great places for you and your girlfriends to go.

The site makes it pretty easy to book a girls-only vacation. Consumers can set up trips either digitally or by calling an agent.

Consumers can also go on the website and select where they want to go, as well as choose from places suggested by the staff -- but the cool feature of A Girls Gotta Go is being able to call an individual agent that can set up a vacation package for you.

I mean, any site that’s helpful enough to place the direct phone numbers of its travel reps right on the site and it doesn’t make you call the company blindly for information, is the way all travel sites should work. 

But for those who want to start their travel research digitally, A Girls Gotta Go allows you to choose from different options on the site.

For example, by clicking “Gotta Get Your Dream Vacation” you’re brought to an form that asks you to lists things like where you want to travel, the number of people in your party and what your overall budget is.

Or, by clicking the “Gotta Go Here” link, users are brought to a page that shows photos of popular vacation themes, and lists specific girls getaway packages like the “Grab your Girlfriends and Go” package, which goes to Turks & Caicos, starting at $1,299.

But the company doesn’t only link you up with girl-only vacations, as A Girls Gotta Go also has honeymoon packages, mother and daughter excursions and family trips.

ManTripping

For the guys, a cool site to visit is ManTripping.com, which is a vacation hub for everything associated with mancations and getting away with your male counterparts.

The site contains destination photos, articles, and a bevy of trip ideas from golfing, fishing, sailing and hunting. ManTripping also lets you know about mancation cruises and gives you reviews of vacation spots, so you know what other travelers had to say about each location.

ManTripping.com also provides a host of activity ideas that guys can do together like auto racing, history and culture events and extreme vacations.  The site even lets you write your own mancation stories so others will know where to go and what places to stay away from.

And just like AGirlsGottaGo.com, ManTripping doesn’t only provide mancation ideas, as the site also suggests romantic getaways for you and your loved one, for the times you just can’t travel without them.

ManTripping.com doesn’t do any actual booking for you, as it's more of a resource to begin your travel research, and since there aren’t many sites online that cater solely to the guy’s trip, ManTripping.com is a good place to stay informed about what others guys are doing in the area of activities and travel.

A good example of this benefit is the site’s Top 10 list, which lists favorite guy items and vacation places, put together by the people who read and work at the site.

ManTripping.com will definitely be helpful to the guy who just wants to periodically visit the site for vacation ideas or continually stay in the know inside the world of men’s vacation packages and men’s interests.

Look, whether you choose to get away alone, with your significant other or with your best friends, the important thing is to eventually get away, and with AGirlsGottaGo.com and ManTripping.com, it should be easier to do that.

Many people say their pet is almost like a member of the family, but when it comes time to make out their will, few provide for the care of their pet after they're gone.

A study commissioned by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) polled 1,000 pet owners nationwide and found only 17 percent had taken any legal action to provide for the care for their dog, cat or other pet.

Not legally binding

The survey found that, of people who have made some arrangements for their pets, the most common form is unofficial and outside a legal arrangement. They usually ask a close friend or family member to take responsibility in the event of their death. ASPCA says that may not be adequate.

"Millions of companion animals are surrendered to shelters each year, some because their owners did not establish continuing care for their animals in the event that they were unable to do so," said Kim Bressant-Kibwe, trusts and estates counsel for the ASPCA. "This study offers evidence of the problem that we suspected – pet parents need to begin to plan for their pets' long-term well-being."

How exactly do you accomplish that? A few years ago your attorney might have given you a funny look when you broached the subject of putting your pet in your will. Today, however, they are usually the ones who bring it up.

You can't leave your dog money

Despite stories of rich people dying and leaving a fortune to their poodle, it doesn't work that way. You can't leave money directly to your pet.

In Arrington v. Arrington, a Texas court ruled in 1981 that, "A dog, for all its admirable and unique qualities, is not a human being and is not treated in the law as such."

The law considers pets "property," and one type of property cannot receive other property -- money -- in a will. That means you have to find another solution, and it turns out there are several.

Other solutions

ASPCA said it has collaborated with LegalZoom, the online legal form site, to created a Pet Protection Agreement that can be filed with a last will and testament. It allows pet owners to establish continuing care for all of their animals when they are not able to care for them.

Created by animal law attorney Rachel Hirschfeld, the Pet Protection Agreement allows pet owners to appoint a guardian for their pets, as well as set aside funds to ensure that their pets receive the same standard of care to which they're accustomed.

You can also set up a pet trust, allowing you to legally establish for your pet's care if you die or are incapacitated. It allows you to determine where the pets will go, what food they will eat and even which veterinarian they will see.

Put unofficial agreements in your will

If you have an informal agreement with a friend or family member to care for your pet if you die, Hirschfeld and other pet experts say it is important to make sure it's covered legally. The easiest way to do it is inserting a clause in your will.

The clause will state that you wish your pet to go to a certain person and that an amount of money from your estate will go to this person to pay for the care.

The legal website Nolo.com provides this sample clause for providing for your pet in you will:

"If my dog, Taffy, is alive at my death, I leave her and $3,000 to be used for her care to Brian Smith. If Brian is unable to care for Taffy, I leave her and the $3,000 to be used for her care to Susan McDermott."

Nolo.com points out that the money and dog will go to Brian but there's no guarantee Brian will use it to care for Taffy. Legal experts at the site suggest leaving your pet to someone you trust.

Big mistake

Whatever you do, don't try to leave money directly to your pet. No attorney would allow you to make this mistake but it could be an issue with do-it-yourself wills.

Should you try to leave money directly to a dog or cat, the court will probably void that part of the will and award the money to another beneficiary. Your pet would be on their own.

Legal Zoom's Pet Protection Agreement costs between $39 and $79 and, like a last will and testament, is a legally-binding document. It covers all of your current and future pets, gives you the ability to leave whatever amount of money you choose to care for your pets, and name pet guardians and a shelter of last resort.

Unfortunately, we’ve all seen it, the overbearing parent that gets a little crazed at their kid's sporting event.

Whenever you see a mom or dad yelling at a referee, chastising their kid for missing a ground ball or repeatedly nagging the coach about game strategies, it makes you feel bad for the child and forces you to think -- if the parent is being this tough on their kid in public, how much tougher are they in private?

Of course, most sports parents choose to conduct themselves properly at sporting events and they just want their children to participate in sports for the fun, exercise and camaraderie.

But even well-intentioned parents, who try hard not to be overly competitive, sometimes fall into the trap of wanting success and victory so badly they lose their cool and let their emotions take over.

Key issues

So if you're a sports parent or you're going to be one soon, what are the key things you should remember and take with you at the start of every sports season and at the beginning of every game and practice?

According to Craig Sigl, an expert on youth sports and parenting, before signing a child up for a particular sport, two things need to be done: One, a detailed discussion needs to take place between you and your child about what signing up for a sport will entail.

Sigl, who created a series of sports videos under his company the Mental Toughness Academy, says it’s imperative that your child knows things like how much of their personal time will be occupied by joining a league, how they may have to practice or play when they might not feel like it and also how they’ll have to do certain things to help mom and dad like pack their gym bag, keep track of their equipment and make sure they stay aware of when games and practices are.

Two, Sigl tells parents to make sure the desire for a child to play a sport comes from them, and although you may suggest or give an ever-so-slight nudge to your child, they should show some sort of motivation to continue playing.

Teachable moments

He also says that parents should use each disappointment in a game or practice as a teachable moment and should try to use a story from their own childhood to show their child how to deal with a letdown.

Experts also say that parents should be careful not to treat their child differently after a win or loss. For example, if you and your child stopped for ice cream after the team won or when your child did well, you should also stop for ice cream if he or she made a bunch of mistakes and the team lost.

Also, parents should be cognizant of just how much they’re talking about sports with their child, in terms of their performance, how the team did, what the coach said or what the referee called.

If a child senses a disproportionate amount of conversation about sports compared to the other areas of their life, he or she may believe that your engagement with them hinges on their involvement with sports, say experts.

Moms and dads should also recognize that although they make most of the decisions for their children in everyday life, sports is an area where parents should allow kids to make some key decisions for themselves, in terms of their involvement and continued interest with a sport.

And although the relationship between coach and player should be honored by the parent and they should never run to the sidelines to give their input or to coach their child, Sigl says moms and dads should make sure their child knows that their coaches are human and will not always say or advise the right thing.

“There’s some great coaches out there and a lot of times there are coaches that mean well, but don’t have a clue on how to help kids deal with the emotional side of their sports participation,” said Sigl in a video about being a good sports parent.

“Most of us encourage our kids to play sports to learn focus, confidence, how to be a team player, how to overcome adversity, develop that never give up attitude, the list goes on and on. But sometimes in your child’s playing career they will encounter a coach who says or does something that could have a tremendous impact on your kid good or bad.”

“Unfortunately a lot of young athletes think their coaches are gods and what they say is always the truth. This can be really damage if the feedback is negative,” says Sigl.

Keep it in perspective

Experts also say parents make a common mistake of giving instruction immediately after a game, whether it’s a win or a loss, in hopes that they can provide their child with a quick lesson.

However, this eager approach takes the ability away from your child to learn how to process certain emotions and properly deal with a win or loss on their own. After being able to process those emotions by themselves, parents can then add their thoughts and advice, say experts.

Parents should also remember that to some kids, how they perform in a game shapes how they feel about themselves, so it’s imperative that parents always provide the right amount of perspective to let a child know that their self-worth has nothing to do with their sports performance, says Sigl.

“Sports parents need to understand that a lot of young athletes get their validation as a worthwhile person from performing well and they base their personal value on whether they win or lose."

"This can be devastating when they lose, if they don’t learn early on that this is not true. What you need to do as parents is to always refer them back to the reasons they started playing in the beginning.”

And most important, says Sigl, is that children shouldn’t only show a steady level of motivation to play a sport, they should be way more motivated than you.

Even though there’s a new one seemingly built every day, people can’t get enough of fast-food restaurants.

Despite all of the health warnings about eating too much fried and greasy foods, and new research findings being released regularly, people continue to flock to places like Burger King and Wendy’s in extremely high numbers, and this is confirmed anytime you see a drive-through lane filled to capacity with idling vehicles.

But with all of the fast-food places to choose from, what remains most important to people?

According to a survey from market research company Consumer Edge Insight, the answer is location, location, location, with 57 percent of consumers saying they want a fast-food joint close by.

This may be surprising to some who assume that all of those fast-food ads about new sandwiches and tastier fries are what draw consumers in, but according to the survey, not having to drive all around town to find those sandwiches and fries is what’s really most important to people.

In fact, how well the food tasted wasn’t even among the top factors for consumers when choosing a fast-food place, as 58 percent of respondents  said getting a good value was most important. Also, 57 percent of consumers said low prices trumped how the food tasted and 51 percent said fast service was most vital.

And for this reason, McDonald’s sat at the top of the list when it came to having the strongest perception for offering a good value, according to 57 percent of those surveyed, which has a lot to do with the chain's successful dollar menu, which kind of laid the path for other quick-service restaurants to follow, as getting a small chicken sandwich or one of many desserts for only a buck is heavily expected among consumers these days.

Service issues

But although it seems to be serving consumers well in the area of value, the house that Ronald McDonald built seems to have a few customer service holes somewhere in its structure.

Bambi of Eastvale, Calif., said a simple visit to one of the drive-through windows turned a routine transaction into an annoying pricing issue.

“I went through the drive-thru at our local McDonald’s on Limonite off the 15 Freeway in Eastvale, Calif.” wrote Bambi in her ConsumerAffairs posting.

“I ordered a double cheeseburger, small fries and a large Coke with extra ice. The cashier rang it up separately and it rang in $3.97. She did not say anything and my order disappeared off of the screen. I heard through the speaker, "Ring it up like this, it will cost more." A new order was showing up on the screen and it had the burger and fries as a combo with 70 cents up charge for the large coke. The total for the same meal was $4.19. She said, "Your total is $4.19 at the first window."

After getting to the second window, Barbi questioned why the pricing was inconsistent.

“Why are you charging me more for the meal when I saw it rang in for $3.97? She had no answer and said she would check into it. When I got to the window, a young girl was working with a manager right next to her. She said, ‘That will be $3.97'. I just wonder how many people they rip off just like they tried today?”

Subway second

When it came to offering a good deal on its menu options, Subway came in second with 57 percent of people saying the cold-cut chain gives the proper bang for your hard-earned bucks.

However, this was before just a few days ago, when consumers began to post pictures of their foot-long Subway sandwich online, claiming that it wasn’t really an entire foot in length as advertised.

As photos of foot-long Subway sandwiches began to fall slightly under the length of a 12 inch ruler, they become a viral hit of sorts, so the company issued this response, although it didn’t address the Internet photos specifically:

“Our bread is freshly baked daily in each of the over 38,000 Subway restaurants worldwide.

“We are committed to providing a consistent product, delivering the same amount of bread to the customer with every order. The length, however, may vary slightly when not baked to our exact specifications. We are reinforcing our policies and procedures in an effort to ensure our offerings are always consistent no matter which Subway restaurant you visit.”

Another quick service restaurant that topped the list for providing good value was Taco Bell, according to 48 percent of consumers. And when it came to having the most convenient locations available, McDonald’s (68 percent), Subway (61 percent) Taco Bell (50 percent), and Burger King (50 percent) topped the list.

And the restaurants that gave the fastest service, according to the survey, were McDonald’s (64 percent) and Taco bell (56 percent). In addition, 55 percent of consumers said that Subway, Burger King and Wendy’s offered the fastest service.

But taste wasn’t totally cast out of the voting process, with Subway taking first place in that category.

No. 1 overall

However, David Decker, who is president of Consumer Edge Insight, said McDonald’s is currently doing the best job when it comes to fulfilling consumer expectations across a wide variety of wants.

“For quick-service restaurant patrons the most important factors that drive loyalty to a brand are good value and convenience, with low prices and quick-service being very important as well,” he said.

“McDonald’s has a clear image lead on all of these factors, with Subway consistently being the second best performing brand and Burger King and Wendy’s also performing well.”

“McDonald’s high repeat-purchase intention scores despite their lower satisfaction scores illustrates the strength of their brand on the attributes that matter most to quick-service customers. Smaller brands need to find ways to differentiate themselves to gain share of wallet in this ultra-competitive segment.”

The housing crisis of the last decade didn't happen because consumers knowingly took our mortgages they couldn't pay. Many were led into risky mortgages by loan originators who had financial incentives to sell high-cost loans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is trying to keep that from happening again. It's issuing new rules that ban certain incentives that loan originators had to sell unsafe loans to consumers in the run-up to the financial crisis.

“Before the financial crisis, many mortgage borrowers were steered towards risky and high-cost loans because it meant more money for the loan originator,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “These rules will hold loan originators more accountable by banning the incentives that led so many of them to direct consumers toward disaster."

Mortgage loan originators – loan officers and mortgage brokers – generally present different kinds of loans to consumers depending on the consumer’s needs. Consumers can work with multiple loan originators to compare the offers that the loan originators obtain from creditors.

In the run-up to the housing crisis, unscrupulous mortgage loan originators too often led prospective homebuyers into risky and high-priced loan terms because they would generate higher compensation for themselves. 

The Federal Reserve Board, and then Congress through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, took important steps to limit these unscrupulous loan origination practices. The CFPB is finalizing the regulations governing how loan originators are compensated.

Full details are available on the CFPB site. 

How do appraisers know how much the property you want to buy is worth?

Thanks to a new rule adopted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) you'll soon be able to find out.

The rule requires mortgage lenders to provide applicants with free copies of all appraisals and other home-value estimates. The rule will ensure that consumers can receive information prior to closing about how the property’s value was determined.

“This rule will guarantee consumers can receive important information on how a lender determines the value of the home,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Having this information available promptly makes it easier for loan applicants to make informed decisions.”

Information for your money

Appraisals and other estimates of a home’s value are generally used by mortgage lenders to inform their decisions. Consumers are typically charged for the costs related to conducting an appraisal; however, currently the law does not require that consumers receive a copy of the appraisal unless they request it and does not require that consumers receive a copy of any other estimates of the home’s value.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that lenders give consumers a copy of each appraisal or other estimate free of charge although a lender generally may still charge the consumer a reasonable fee for the cost of conducting the appraisal or other estimate. The new rule implements these requirements.

The rule also requires that creditors inform consumers within three days of receiving an application for a loan of their right to receive copy of all appraisals. Creditors will then be required to provide the copies of appraisal reports and other written home-value estimates to consumers promptly, or three days before closing, whichever is earlier.

The new rule will go into effect in January 2014 and will apply to first-lien mortgages.

Higher-priced mortgages

Separately, six federal financial regulatory agencies have issued the final rule that establishes new appraisal requirements for “higher-priced mortgage loans.”

The rule implements amendments to the Truth in Lending Act made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). Under the Dodd-Frank Act, mortgage loans are higher-priced if they are secured by a consumer's home and have interest rates above certain thresholds.

For higher-priced mortgage loans, the rule requires creditors to use a licensed or certified appraiser who prepares a written appraisal report based on a physical inspection of the interior of the property. The rule also requires creditors to disclose to applicants information about the purpose of the appraisal and provide consumers with a free copy of any appraisal report.

If the seller acquired the property for a lower price during the prior six months and the price difference exceeds certain thresholds, creditors will have to obtain a second appraisal at no cost to the consumer. This requirement for higher-priced home-purchase mortgage loans is intended to address fraudulent property flipping by seeking to ensure that the value of the property legitimately increased.

Exemptions

The rule exempts several types of loans, such as qualified mortgages, temporary bridge loans and construction loans, loans for new manufactured homes, and loans for mobile homes, trailers and boats that are dwellings. It also has exemptions from the second appraisal requirement to facilitate loans in rural areas and other transactions.

The rule is being issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  

American Signature Inc., of Columbus, OH, is recalling about 2,158 Hayward Push Back reclining chairs.

The chair can tip over backwards when used in its fully reclined position, posing a fall hazard to consumers. No incidents or injuries have been reported.

The recalled chairs are Hayward Push Back reclining arm chairs. They are 38 inches high and covered in brown or black faux leather fabric with double-needle baseball stitching. The brown chair is item number HGB-805-1. The black chair is item number HGB-805-2. The item number is on the upper right-hand side of the product tag attached to the bottom side of the chair's footrest.

The chairs, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Value City Furniture stores and American Signature Furniture stores from June 2012 to August 2012 for about $150.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled chairs and contact American Signature to receive free replacement legs. Consumers may also return the chairs for a store credit equal to the full price of the chair. American Signature is contacting its customers directly.

Consumers may contact: American Signature at (800) 743-4577, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Another drop for the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index in December after a year of steady gains. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

"The decrease in the Index,” said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail & distribution sector leader, “is primarily due to Hurricane Sandy -- which induced jobless claims, though that effect appears to have passed,. Paul noted though that consumers benefited from falling gasoline prices through the last quarter, which helped temper declining real wages, adding that “the fiscal cliff debate appears to have impacted consumer confidence late in the year, compounding the adjustment to new tax rates -- all of these factors may lead to more conservative spending in the months ahead."

The Index, which is made up of four components -- tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices -- fell in December to 3.81 from a reading of 3.96 the previous month.

"Faced with a more selective consumer, retailers are likely to experiment with creative marketing, in other words, trying new approaches with social media and shifting spend to their mobile strategy, to differentiate themselves," Paul added. "Whether it's a new shopping app or sales strategy, promotions should both reflect their individual brand identify while offering distinctive value to the shopper. We are already seeing many 'price matching' experiments launched during the holidays being extended into the new year -- an effort to keep customers coming back."

Index highlights

• Tax Burden: The tax burden was at 11.03 percent in the most recent month. A falling tax burden can be a sign of weaker growth in taxable incomes.
• Initial Unemployment Claims: Jobless claims moved much higher in December to 405,750 from 367,250 the previous month, primarily due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
• Real Wages: Real wages continue to fall from a year ago and are down 0.3 percent, although the pace of decline has moderated as gasoline prices fell sharply in November.
• Real Home Prices: The housing market continues to improve, pushing housing prices up nearly 13 percent higher compared with a year ago.   

There's a great line in a 1990s Seinfeld episode in which Elaine, feeling rare self-doubt, asks Jerry, “Is it possible I'm not as attractive as I think I am?”

The joke is based on the self-absorption of the show's characters, but a number of researchers and social critics are concluding it's no joke when it comes to today's generation of young people, particularly college students.

The conclusions drawn from an annual survey of thousands of college freshmen, conducted by UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) has the blogosphere buzzing.

The survey asked participants to rate their own abilities when it comes to basic skills. The number describing themselves as “exceptional” has reached an all-time high. Also at an all-time high -- the number of students who consider themselves “gifted.”

They also consider themselves “above average” on many of the ratings questions and nearly 80 percent are above average in their “drive to succeed.”

Really?

No ideological split

This has prompted bloggers from across the political spectrum to find rare agreement. A Fox News contributor, psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow, cited the survey as evidence “we are raising a generation of deluded narcissists.” The Huffington Post, meanwhile, reported that today's college students “feel super-special about themselves.”

If this is, in fact, a trend it may have been building for a while. In 2006 Florida State University researchers conducted their own survey and found today's students are overly, perhaps unrealistically, ambitious, leading to what the study called “ambition inflation.”

While the “self-esteem” movement in education might be partly responsible, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia Business School are suggesting that Facebook and other social networks may magnify the trend. They found that users who closely follow close friends tend to experience an increase in self-esteem while browsing their social networks. Afterwards, these users display less self-control.

Unpleasant results

Less self-control can manifest itself in several unpleasant ways. The researchers found that greater social network use among this category of users with strong ties to their friends is associated with being overweight and having higher levels of credit-card debt.

"To our knowledge, this is the first research to show that using online social networks can affect self-control," said coauthor Andrew T. Stephen, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "We have demonstrated that using today's most popular social network, Facebook, may have a detrimental effect on people's self-control."

You may have noticed it on your own Facebook page. Someone will post an item about something they feel is an accomplishment. Several of their friends might comment on the post, praising them for the accomplishment. It tends to make the poster feel very good about themselves.

Is the problem too much self-esteem? It might be. The researchers tried to find if there was something about browsing a Facebook page that could cause an increase in self-esteem and perhaps, some negative consequences.

Dividing participants into groups, they found that those who were told to pay attention to the status updates and other information people were sharing with them got a significant self-esteem boost, which may or may not have been justified.

Long-term effects

The study is scheduled for publication in the June 2013 Journal of Consumer Research. The authors are considering a future study of social networks and behavior that would address the long-term effects of Facebook on users.

"It would be interesting," they wrote, "to explore the persistence of the effect of browsing Facebook over time."

It may be possible that the social aspects of an inter-connected world might lead many people to seek, and find, positive feedback. But aside from having access to social networks, that might not necessarily mean that this generation is any more “deluded” than the ones that have gone before it.

In fact, the CIRP survey shows the rate at which students are describing themselves as “above-average” is not increasing quite as fast as it did at another time in recent history – from 1966 to 1985, when baby boomers were the younger generation.

And they didn't have Facebook.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded the fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners operating in the U.S. as it investigates problems with batteries that have plagued the aircraft recently.

United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes in service.

The move follows an in-flight battery incident Wednesday in Japan. Earlier this week, there were incidents involving 787s in the Japan Airlines fleet.

The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment.

Boeing cooperating

Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney said his company is committed to supporting the FAA and finding answers as quickly as possible. "The company is working around the clock with its customers and the various regulatory and investigative authorities," he said in a statement. "We will make available the entire resources of The Boeing Company to assist," adding, "We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity."

Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the FAA that the batteries are safe. The agency says it will work with the manufacturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.

Comprehensive review

Last Friday, the FAA announced a comprehensive review of the 787’s critical systems with the possibility of further action pending new data and information. In addition to the continuing review of the aircraft’s design, manufacture and assembly, the agency also will validate that 787 batteries and the battery system on the aircraft are in compliance with the special condition the agency issued as part of the aircraft’s certification.

The FAA has also alerted the international aviation community to the action so other civil aviation authorities can take parallel action to cover the fleets operating in their own countries.

Who couldn't stand to lose a few pounds? Consumers spend billions on diets, diet food, exercise equipment and gym memberships.

Maybe there is a less expensive way to lose weight and, in the process, become a little more healthy. We're going to pass along two such ideas.

First, if you consume alcohol, consume less of it. Over the years Americans have worked up what seems to be a mighty thirst. After the end of Prohibition in the 1930s per capita consumption of alcohol in the U.S. gradually rose, until it peaked in around 1985.

Empty calories

Drinking a lot of alcohol has health consequences but many drinkers don't stop and consider what it does to your waistline. The National Center for Health Statistics reported late last year that on average, American adults drink in 100 calories daily from beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Men ages 20 to 39 consume the most alcohol, about 175 calories per day, while women in the same age group consume about 60 calories daily. The study also pointed out that almost 20 percent of men and six percent of women consume more than 300 calories daily from alcohol.

That's like eating a candy bar every day, something most people would not do if they were trying to drop a few pounds.

“It is certainly not a good health strategy to have alcohol calories constituting a significant percentage of total calorie consumption,” said Dian Griesel, co-author of the book TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fatburning Metabolism.

The authors say women, especially, would be better off giving up alcohol until their weight goals are met.

Social networks

Another way consumers often seek to lose weight is though support groups. Weight Watchers, in fact, has been an effective program for many since it requires members to attend meetings for support and accountability.

But mobile technology now gives dieters access to some of the same kinds of support through Twitter feeds and other social networks.

A study at the University of South Carolina (USC) found that Twitter use among participants in a weight loss program increased the odds of their success at shedding pounds.

"The results show that those who regularly utilized Twitter as part of a mobile weight loss program lost more weight,” said Brie Turner-McGrievy, a USC researcher.

The study followed 96 overweight and obese men and women living in a metropolitan area over a six-month period. All participants had a smartphone or other mobile device that connected to the Internet.

The participants received regular podcasts on which they received health and nutrition information as well as feedback and encouragement. The study found the podcasts were effective in producing a 2.7 percent decrease in body weight at six months.

Twitter particularly effective

The researchers said they found the Twitter posts particularly effective. Many of the posts were from participants, offering encouragement or a personal success story.

"I avoided eating a pastry this morning at a breakfast meeting! I did have a skim Mocha without whipped cream...not too bad,” one post read.

It was these personal posts by study participants, Turner-McGrievy said, that seemed to be the most helpful.

“Traditional behavioral weight loss interventions generally provide social support through weekly, face-to-face group meetings,” she said. “While we know this is effective, it is costly and can create a high degree of burden on participants.”

But providing group support through online social networks can be a low cost way to reach a large number of people who are interested in achieving a healthy weight.

Struggling homeowners facing foreclosure are about to get some new protections. New rules issued by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are also designed to protect mortgage borrowers from costly surprises and runarounds by their servicers.

“For many borrowers, dealing with mortgage servicers has meant unwelcome surprises and constantly getting the runaround. In too many cases, it has led to unnecessary foreclosures,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Our rules ensure fair treatment for all borrowers and establish strong protections for those struggling to save their homes.”

Mortgage servicers are responsible for collecting payments from borrowers on behalf of loan owners. They also typically handle customer service, escrow accounts, collections, loan modifications and foreclosures. Borrowers generally have no say in choosing their mortgage servicers. Lenders frequently sell loans to investors after the mortgage deal is signed, and the investors -- not the consumers -- often choose the servicers.

Lack of service

Even before the financial meltdown, the mortgage servicing industry at times experienced problems with bad practices and sloppy record-keeping. As millions of borrowers fell behind on their loans, many servicers were unable to provide the level of service necessary to meet homeowners’ needs.

Many simply had not made the investments in resources and infrastructure to service large numbers of delinquent loans. Consumers complained about getting the runaround and being hit with costly surprises. Now, with millions of homeowners in distress, many borrowers are continuing to experience serious problems seeking loan modifications or other alternatives to avoid foreclosure.

Protections for struggling borrowers

The CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules ensure that borrowers in trouble get a fair process to avoid foreclosure. Borrowers shouldn’t have to worry about mortgage servicers cutting corners or losing applications for relief. They should be told about their options and given time to apply and be considered for loan modifications and other alternatives.

Most of all, they shouldn’t be surprised by the start of a foreclosure proceeding until they have had time to explore all available options. If they act diligently to seek alternatives, they should not face a foreclosure sale before their applications have been evaluated.

The new protections for struggling borrowers include:

• Restricted Dual-Tracking: Under the CFPB’s new rules, dual-tracking -- when the servicer moves forward with foreclosure while simultaneously working with the borrower to avoid foreclosure -- is restricted. Servicers cannot start a foreclosure proceeding if a borrower has already submitted a complete application for a loan modification or other alternative to foreclosure, and that application is still pending review. To give borrowers reasonable time to submit such applications, servicers cannot make the first notice or filing required for the foreclosure process until a mortgage loan account is more than 120 days delinquent.
• Notification of Foreclosure Alternatives: Servicers must let borrowers know about their “loss mitigation options” to retain their home after borrowers have missed two consecutive payments. They must provide them a written notice that includes examples of options that might be available to them as alternatives to foreclosure and instructions for how to obtain more information.
• Direct and Continuing Access to Servicing Personnel: Servicers must have policies and procedures in place to provide delinquent borrowers with direct, easy, continuing access to employees responsible for helping them. These personnel are responsible for alerting borrowers to any missing information on their applications, telling borrowers about the status of any loss mitigation application, and making sure documents get to the right servicing personnel for processing.
• Fair Review Process: The servicer must consider all foreclosure alternatives available from the mortgage owners or investors -- those with decision-making power over the loan -- to help the borrower retain the home. These options can range from deferment of payments to loan modifications. And servicers can no longer steer borrowers to those options that are most financially favorable for the servicer.
• No Foreclosure Sale Until All Other Alternatives Considered: Servicers must consider and respond to a borrower’s application for a loan modification if it arrives at least 37 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale. If the servicer offers an alternative to foreclosure, they must give the borrower time to accept the offer before moving for foreclosure judgment or conducting a foreclosure sale. Servicers cannot foreclose on a property if the borrower and servicer have come to a loss mitigation agreement, unless the borrower fails to perform under that agreement.

No surprises

Mortgage borrowers should not be surprised about where their money is going, when interest rates adjust, or when they get charged fees. The CFPB’s rules help every borrower, whether struggling or not, by bringing greater transparency to the market with clear and timely information about mortgages.

These rules include:

• Clear Monthly Mortgage Statements: Servicers must provide regular statements which include the amount and due date of the next payment; a breakdown of payments by principal, interest, fees, and escrow; and recent transaction activity.
• Early Warning Before Interest Rate Adjusts: Servicers must provide a disclosure before the first time the interest rate adjusts for most adjustable-rate mortgages. And they must provide disclosures before interest rate adjustments that result in a different payment amount.
• Options for Avoiding Costly “Force-Placed” Insurance: Servicers typically must make sure borrowers maintain property insurance and if the borrower does not, the servicer generally has the right to purchase it. The CFPB’s rules ensure consumers will not be surprised by this insurance, which often can be more expensive than the insurance borrowers buy on their own. The rules say servicers must provide more transparency in this process, including advance notice and pricing information before charging consumers. Servicers must also have a reasonable basis for concluding that a borrower lacks such insurance before purchasing a new policy. If servicers buy the insurance but receive evidence that it was not needed, they must terminate it within fifteen days and refund the premiums.

No Runarounds

When mortgage servicers make mistakes, records get lost, payments are processed too slowly, or servicer personnel do not have the latest information about a consumer’s account, the consumer suffers the consequences. The CFPB’s rules will require common-sense policies and procedures for handling consumer accounts and preventing runarounds.

These rules include:

• Payments Promptly Credited: Servicers must credit a consumer’s account the date a payment is received. If the servicer places partial payments in a “suspense account,” once the amount in such an account equals a full payment, the servicer must credit it to the borrower’s account.
• Prompt Response to Requests for Payoff Balances: Servicers must generally provide a response to consumer requests for the payoff balances of their mortgage loans within seven business days of receiving a written request.
• Errors Corrected and Information Provided Quickly: Servicers must generally acknowledge receipt of written notices from consumers regarding certain errors or requesting information about their mortgage loans. Generally, within 30 days, the servicer must: correct the error and provide the information requested; conduct a reasonable investigation and inform the borrower why the error did not occur; or inform the borrower that the information requested is unavailable.
• Maintain Accurate and Accessible Documents and Information: Servicers must store borrower information in a way that allows it to be easily accessible. Servicers must also have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they can provide timely and accurate information to borrowers, investors, and in any foreclosure proceeding, the courts.

Recognizing that small servicers approach servicing quite differently, the CFPB made certain exemptions to these new mortgage servicing rules for small servicers that service 5,000 or fewer mortgage loans that they or an affiliate either own or originated. These servicers are mostly community banks and credit unions servicing mortgages for their customers or members.

The mortgage servicing rules take effect in January 2014. As that date approaches, the CFPB will give consumers information about their new rights under these rules.

Sometimes teenagers get a bum rap, and as each generation becomes older, and transitions from adolescents to adulthood, something very interesting starts to happen.

With a lot of adults, as soon as they reach a certain age, they immediately lose their tolerance for the way teenagers and young folks do certain things, and the same behaviors they used to display as youths themselves, are now somehow unacceptable and vastly different from the things they did when they were kids. 

For example, have you ever ridden on a city bus and been extremely annoyed about how loud the students and teenagers were, although you did the exact same thing with your friends when you rode the bus? Or have you scoffed at a kid’s weird hair style or the way he wore his clothes, even though the styles of your era were just as controversial for your time?

Some say the first sign of getting older is when you complain about the exact same behaviors that you exhibited when you were growing up, and by this measure, some of us seem to get old very early on in life.

But don’t get me wrong, some young people are involved in things that past generations weren’t involved in, and unfortunately there are bunch of risky behaviors that justifiably contribute to the sometimes negative rap that young people get.

Too much information

A lot of the reason today’s teens engage in certain behaviors that previous generations didn’t, is that they’re exposed to a technology that provides an infinite amount of information through just one click.

And some of that information is harmful to young eyes and tends to rob teens of their innocence.

But what are the ways to combat some of those negative influences that your child will inevitably face?

Many parents will say that keeping a kid out of trouble is all about providing him or her with options, in terms of having activities to do, positive places to go and being around other kids that want to stay away from trouble.

A good way to accomplish this is by allowing your child to volunteer or to get them  involved with a website or company that creates programs around social change.

DoSomething.org is one of those sites, as the New York-based organization creates a new national campaign just about every week, and provides teenagers with the resources to put together events, drives or anything else that will further the campaign's initiative and bring about positive change.

The different selections of campaigns seem to cover just about every social need in our communities like teen bullying, homelessness, poverty, kids dropping out of school and a host of other projects.

There’s a chance that you might have seen an ad about DoSomething.org  or caught one of their online videos, as a bunch of A-list celebrities including everyone from Nick Cannon to R&B singer Usher have shot commercials for the organization while encouraging young people to get involved.

And to show just how popular Do Something has become in recent years, take a look at these statistics:

In the last year, over 2 million people joined the organization, and its organizers say about 7,000 additional people join each day. And the impact that young people are having in communities across the U.S. is evident in the statistics given by the organization on its website.

Having teenagers involve themselves in places like Do Something, whether they’re well behaved or not, is great not only for teaching responsibility, but it also lets them know that even at their age they can contribute to good causes and make a direct impact at bettering their surroundings.

Also, teens can receive monetary incentives for putting together a campaign in their town and also boost their college resumes and get scholarships through the organization if they volunteer.

Teens volunteering

Another organization that links teenagers up with community service and volunteering is VolunteenNation.com, where users can do a quick search to find out where in their area they can volunteer and help out.

For example, I plugged in my name and zip code and I was immediately linked to over 20 businesses, schools and agencies that need help in a variety of areas. And although all age groups can join Volunteen Nation, the organization encourages young people to get involved, hence the name of the organization and website.

The way the site functions, it makes it easy for people to get in on the front-end of a new campaign, and with Volunteen being spread out all over the United States, it will be extremely hard for a teenager not to find something that they’re interested in and can lend their talents to.

The organization also provides paid internships and scholarships for young people that choose to volunteer, which is yet another reason it’s a good idea to lead your child to volunteerism through a reputable establishment like Volunteen Nation.

And just like Do Something, Volunteen provides the necessary tools for teens to start a campaign in their community and says it has over 1,500 lesson plans that will help train and prepare young people for volunteer work.

Because all in all, there are way more young people who are up to complete good than young people who are up to complete bad, and anyone that has worked with kids knows an adult's influence is tremendous, even if the child doesn’t admit it or chooses not to act like it.

So sometimes all it takes is a little nudge to push teens and young people on to the proper path, and there are few better paths for a young person to be on than the path of volunteering.

For one, it’ll teach them valuable skills for adulthood, and two--it’ll keep them out of trouble, well, at least you hope.