Current Events in January 2023

What state do you think is the most vulnerable when it comes to people’s digital life?

After a year in which the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received close to 3 million complaints of cyber attacks and malicious cyber activity, Secure Data Recovery polled Americans from all 50 states to find out which residents are most vulnerable to digital threats. What did their analysts discover?

The South rocks, so does R$k35*5ErFhX, and the battle of the sexes is a draw 

On a positive note, the majority of Americans take some steps to protect their devices from hacking. Of those who stay digitally safe, 71% do so by keeping their phone number, email address, and home address off social media. 

People in Kentucky may want to pour themselves a glass of bourbon and toast the fact that the Bluegrass State is the most digitally secure of all 50 – with 54% of Kentuckians checking every permission related to a new app when they download one to their phone, and only 26% of its residents listing their address, email, or phone number on social media.

In fact, Southern states smoked all other regions in the digitally-secure rankings – holding down nine slots in the over-50% range. Louisiana was number two, Tennessee number 5, Mississippi number six, North Carolina number seven, and South Carolina number 10.

If you’re looking for a battle of the sexes, women are more digitally vulnerable than men, overall. However, women get a victory when it comes to backups because they back up their information more frequently than men. Staying with the backup category, just a little more than half of those surveyed back up their devices automatically on a regular basis, and even fewer (39%) keep a copy on the cloud. 

The saddest takeaway is that 79% of Americans leave themselves open to being hacked because they don't use auto-generated passwords, preferring to stay with easy-to-crack things like "Memaw!" which can be hacked inside of 2 seconds. Yes, what we're talking about are the long, multi-character type like “R$k35*5ErFhX” that a good password manager would create.

If you live in the Empire State, sorry, but upon hearing the news, hackers everywhere must be blasting “I Love New York” on their stereos. According to the survey, New York ranks as the most digitally vulnerable. One in three have clicked on suspicious ads, links, or attachments in the past year.

We have our work cut out for us

Yevgeniy Reznik, the Laboratory Operations Manager at Secure Data Recovery Services, said that Americans have five things they need to improve if they want to stay hack-free and digitally secure:

Keep your private information off of social media: That means your email, your phone number, and the address where you live.

Don’t click on anything suspicious: That’s ANYTHING! If you don’t recognize the name, the email address, don’t know why someone is sending you an attachment, or there’s a link in any text message or email from anyone you don’t personally know and trust, keep your hands to yourself.

Install antivirus software on your computer: If your computer gets hit with a virus attack, be prepared to write a check for anywhere from $100-$300 to repair it. Comparatively, dropping $25-$50 a year on antivirus protection seems like a much better investment.

Use unique passwords for each account: That means one for Adobe, another for YouTube, another one for Google, etc.

Keep two or more copies of important information: A backup of your backup? If you’ve ever lost important information to a hard drive crash, you know the pain, so yes, double down.

When it comes time to make a big purchase, it can be hard for consumers to know if they’re making the right choices, if the price is worth it, and perhaps most importantly, which brands they can trust. 

ConsumerAffairs researchers spend a lot of time and effort collecting the experiences of other consumers and have arranged them into a series of "buyers guides," such as the one for homeowners.

J.D. Power conducts regular surveys to measure customer satisfaction with certain industries, specifically the brands within those industries. It recently reported that Capital One leads in the banking category.

In its yearly America’s Most Trusted Survey, Lifestory Research asked thousands of consumers across the country to rank their most trusted brands related to products or services for the home over the course of the entire year. The survey included over 500 brands among more than 50 different product categories. 

“The results provide insight into how America’s best brands are seen by consumers in an economic cycle filled with uncertainty,” said Eric Snider, Lifestory Research president. 

Which brands reigned supreme? 

The survey was broken down into several different categories: home builders, household products, household appliances, HVAC, solar, and power, household design, home services, and outdoor products. 

TempurPedic, Sealy, and Serta topped the list of the best mattresses, while Dyson, Shark, and Bissell were the top three rated vacuums of the year. 

In terms of tech, Apple, HP, and Microsoft were the top three computer brands, Roku topped the list of best streaming devices, while Samsung was crowned the most trusted TV brand. 

When looking at household appliances, Whirlpool came out on top for laundry and Bosch took the top spot for kitchen appliances. 

The survey also asked Americans to rank companies and products related to the homebuying process. In this area, Zillow was the number one site for home searching and HomeSmart was most trusted for real estate agents. 

The complete Lifestyle Research survey covers more products and brands, including: furniture stores, specialty home stores, cooking grills, outdoor decking, cabinets, countertops, flooring, and more. 

Click here to see the full survey results. 

If there ever was a shout-from-the-mountaintops by consumers, all one needs to do is look at the massive fallout from Southwest’s recent meltdown.

That fact is not lost on Delta Air Lines. On Thursday, CEO Ed Bastian said at this year’s CES conference that the airline will follow through with its promise to make in-flight Wi-Fi free for everyone aboard starting this February. 

“It is going to be free, it is going to be fast, and it is going to be available to everyone,” Bastian said. All a traveler has to do to access the service is login to their SkyMiles account -- and they can connect as many devices as they want, too. 

But…

There has to be at least one “but,” doesn’t there? Delta said that the Wi-Fi rollout will only be available on its aircraft that are equipped with a new system built by satellite internet provider Viasat. So far, about 80% of Delta’s domestic fleet is equipped with Viasat and the company’s goal is to have the service installed on 700 aircraft by the end of 2023 and on all of its flights by the end of 2024.

Will others follow suit?

No other airline played their “me, too” card in response to Delta’s announcement. But since Viasat has systems already in place on JetBlue, United, and American, those carriers might consider dropping their internet fee ($14/day on American) so they don’t lose any business to Delta.

If you lost out in your holiday gift exchange and wound up with an unwanted gift card, is there anything you can do?

Consumers have a tendency to set an unwanted gift card aside, chalking it up as an unlucky moment or thinking that they might be able to use it at some point or re-gift it to another person who likes the retailer the card is connected to.

Still, you’re leaving money on the table – a situation that Julie Ramhold at DealNews told ConsumerAffairs is salvageable if the gift card holder puts in just a little effort.

Trade ‘em in!

There are two options here: One that Ramhold suggests is to check with your favorite retailers to see if you can trade in unwanted gift cards for store credit. 

Another is to try to trade the cards you don't want for ones that you do. Ramhold said sites such as CardCash can make this process easy because you don't have to list the card and wait for someone to agree to a trade or sale.

When ConsumerAffairs looked at CardCash, it appeared to be a fairly straightforward deal. It has 1,000-plus retailers it does trade-ins for, and it pays out different amounts for different gift cards, likely depending on how many other people want those gift cards.

For example, a $25 Walmart gift card would get a trade-in value of $21.50 and an eBay gift card would bring $21.25. However, restaurants don’t seem to fare as well. A $25 Macaroni Grill gift card would only get a $13.75 trade-in and a Cheesecake Factory card would produce $16.50.

There are other gift card trading sites that ConsumerAffairs found, too -- ClipKard, GiftCash, and Raise. When we looked at values on similar cards, though, it was apparent that the consumer needs to do some price shopping because the trade-in values are not consistent from site to site.

“Depending on the type of gift card, you may be able to use it to buy other gift cards — ones you'll actually use,” Ramhold said.

“This method is only going to be valid if you have a gift card that's more like a debit or prepaid card, though. That said, this can be a good workaround when you have a prepaid card and must match the exact amount in your transaction in order to use it.”

Don’t sell gift cards on eBay, one expert warns

Even though eBay gift cards may have a good trade-in value, the PennyHoarder’s Adam Hardy says that the platform might be the worst way to sell gift cards.

“First, an eBay buyer isn’t likely to buy your gift card for more than 80% to 90% of its value. For a $100 gift card, you can count on a loss of between $10 and $20 right off the bat,” he warned. “On top of that, you may be responsible for eBay’s insertion fees, a final value fee and a performance fee if your eBay seller account isn’t in good shape. These fees eat further into your earnings.”

“Also with eBay, there’s no built-in way to verify your gift card’s code or balance — making the selling and shipment process much more of a hassle.”

With the start of a  new year, when many people resolve to lose weight, Jenny Craig is tweaking its diet plan. 

Jenny Craig has announced the launch of Jenny Fresh – a meal delivery service that brings fresh meals right to consumers’ homes. Each meal is under 350 calories and includes fresh ingredients, like antibiotic- and hormone-free meat and organic vegetables. 

“Jenny Fresh offers elevated meals with exquisite nutrient-rich ingredients, like wheat berries, tricolor quinoa, Himalayan red rice, lime-roasted sweet potatoes, slow-cooked braised pork, and fresh guacamole,” said Kim Doyle, vice president of nutrition and product development at Jenny Craig. 

Making healthy choices

Jenny Craig will launch the Jenny Fresh delivery meal service by mid-January, and the rollout will include seven entree options: 

• Chicken Chile Verde Bake

• Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

• Zesty Black Bean Quinoa Bowl

• Deconstructed Chicken Sausage Pizza

• Braised Pork Burrito Bowl

• Chicken Penne Parmesan 

• Chicken and Red Rice Power Bowl 

One week of Jenny Fresh meals will run customers $99. Consumers can also choose to get special health or dietary preferences with their meals, such as protein-heavy options, fiber-heavy options, and gluten-free options. 

The rest of the Jenny Craig meal options will remain separate from the Jenny Fresh deliveries, but those following the weight loss/management program will be able to easily incorporate these new meals. 

For more information on Jenny Craig’s plan and the Jenny Fresh delivery service, click here.

State Farm’s website and app are reportedly back up and running after several days of outages that prevented many customers from accessing their accounts and paying bills.

The internet monitoring site, IsItDownRightNow.com, reported Thursday morning that the website is up and reachable. But some customers posting their experiences on the site reported issues as recently as 24 hours earlier.

A customer named Janine posted “Still unable to log in” on Wednesday. In another Wednesday post, Kelly reported “Error with login. Need to pay my bill.” Other users reported getting a “403 error” message when trying to log in.

In a statement to ConsumerAffairs, a State Farm spokesperson said the system experienced interruptions that limited some customer account access, including bill pay. 

“We are taking action and customer access has been restored,” the spokesperson said. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Our State Farm agents and customer care teams are available to assist with customer questions.”

The experts at IsItDownRightNow.com offered some suggestions to State Farm customers who are still unable to access the website. They say the issue may lie in the customer’s web browser.

“Force a full refresh for the site,” they advise. “This can be achieved by pressing CTRL + F5 keys at the same time on your favorite browser. “Try alternative URLs such as online2.statefarm.com.”

Also, it’s a good idea to clear the temporary cache and cookies on your browser to make sure that you have the most recent version of the web page. 

Southwest Airlines faces at least two proposed class-action lawsuits stemming from its cancelation of thousands of flights during the Christmas holiday weekend.

The litigation may not be all that surprising, given how many people were affected. Taking into account the various estimates of flights canceled and average passenger load, ConsumerAffairs estimates as many as 1.8 million travelers could have been left stranded, looking for alternate ways to get where they were headed.

Kent, of The Villages, Fla., told us he and his wife were in New England but were booked on a flight back to Florida in order to board a cruise, when their Southwest flight was canceled. 

“Southwest had no options so we searched the internet and finally found two first-class tickets on Delta out of Boston,” Kent wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “The cost for each ticket was $1300.00. It was either pay the price or miss the cruise. We had to pay the price. Today, SW offered us two vouchers of 25,000 Rewards points (about $300.00 for each voucher). That covers the SW price but nothing covers the price we paid to get home.”

‘Breach of contract’

Eric Capdeville, who said he was a passenger on a canceled Southwest flight, has filed a proposed class-action suit against the airline in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. Capdeville accused the airline of breach of contract.

Southwest has promised to compensate affected passengers but the suit says Capdeville and his daughter were only offered a credit toward a future flight.

The airline faces a second proposed class-action, filed by two residents of San Diego. The plaintiffs, Carla Hill and Cameron Youssef, said the airline’s system meltdown not only interrupted their plans but resulted in financial costs.

Hill said she purchased a ticket on a Southwest flight from Ohio to San Diego for her son but the flight was canceled. Youssef said he and his spouse were stranded for several days in Nashville when their flight to San Diego was canceled and no other flights were available.

The lawsuit says bad weather was no excuse for the extent of Southwest’s holiday problems. The complaint says the airline "knew or should have known it could not perform due to woefully inadequate staffing and complete inability to provide services as promised."

Southwest said it does not comment on litigation. But in a statement, the airline said there are several “high priority” efforts underway to do right by its customers, “including processing refunds from canceled flights and reimbursing customers for expenses incurred as a result of the irregular operations.”

Some aviation experts, as well as union leaders, have blamed the airline’s meltdown on antiquated systems that could not easily recover once weather delays and cancelations began.

Anyone who’s more concerned about their overall data privacy than their short term New Year’s resolutions should be very careful about what exercise, weight loss, or quitting smoking apps they load on their phones.

A new study from Incogni, a data privacy platform, took a hard look at resolution-oriented apps and found privacy risks associated with 344 such apps. Here’s a rundown of what its researchers found:

Way too much TMI: Eighty-four percent of all apps Incogni analyzed requested 10.7 permissions on average. The most-requested dangerous permissions are read (74.4%) and modify or delete (66.3%) the contents of your USB storage.

Let’s play cat and mouse: Almost half the apps want to know exactly where you are. An estimated 40% of all apps request dangerous location-related permissions, with precise location requested slightly more often (38.4% of all apps) than approximate location (37.2%).

“Do I look fat?”: Losing weight apps are the least private and have the worst privacy score. They may argue that they have to analyze and evaluate issues relating to nutrition, etc. so they need a lot of ongoing data to provide that customization.

And the best: Quitting smoking apps perform the best in terms of privacy, with the category’s average score of 23.3 being 38.4% lower than the overall average.

Other resolution-driven apps that scored above the reasonable limit in collecting personal data are:

• Remodeling/renovating home

• Exercising more

• Spending less time on social media

• Traveling more

• Reducing stress

What privacy things you should consider when downloading an app

Incogni’s basic rule of thumb is “the more popular the app, the less private it is.” 

“If you’re planning on downloading an app to help you keep track of your New Year’s resolutions, we recommend caution,” the researchers said, and pointed to three things a consumer should consider:

1. Choose an app with a lower privacy risk score.

2. Stay away from popular apps with 500k or more downloads.

3. Consider the categories. If choosing from a high privacy risk category, check the data safety section of the app in the Google Play or Apple app store. Below are step-by-step instructions for both Android and iPhone.

Apple

Android

With the turn of the calendar, many Americans have their sights set on another annual milestone: tax season. 

While this time of year may leave many taxpayers confused, unsure, or with questions, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a resource that can be helpful during this season – the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

The document was designed to outline taxpayers’ rights – both during tax season and beyond, as well as what it looks like to get refunds, examinations, collections, and appeals. 

What rights do taxpayers have?

The official document from the IRS outlines 10 important rights that taxpayers have when filing their taxes – and throughout the entire year: 

• The Right to Be Informed: This requires clear communication from the IRS to taxpayers in regard to decisions about tax accounts, information on complying with tax laws, as well as clear explanations of all tax laws and IRS procedures on all documentation. 

• The Right to Quality Service: When communicating directly with the IRS, taxpayers are entitled to receive clear, concise communication in a prompt, easy-to-understand manner. Taxpayers are encouraged to reach out to supervisors or higher-ups if this is not the case. 

• The Right to Pay No More Than the Correct Amount of Tax: This includes any accrued interest or penalties. 

• The Right to Challenge the IRS’ Position and Be Heard: Should taxpayers have any objections regarding any actions taken by the IRS, they have the right to object to the agency. Additionally, the IRS is required to respond to such objections. 

• The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum: Should taxpayers have any issues with decisions made by the IRS, they have the right to appeal such decisions – and go to court if necessary. Any appeals must be met with a written response from the IRS’ Office of Appeals. 

• The Right to Finality: When waiting on any communication from the IRS regarding an audit, an appeal, or debt collection, taxpayers have the right to know exactly how long these processes should take. 

• The Right to Privacy: Should the IRS require any additional action – including enforcement action, general inquiries, or examinations, it must adhere to all laws and should not involve any extra force or intrusion. 

• The Right to Confidentiality: All information provided by taxpayers to the IRS must remain confidential to the agency – unless permission is explicitly granted to the agency. Tax preparers and IRS employees who mishandle taxpayers’ personal information are subject to legal action. 

• The Right to Retain Representation: In the event of any legal proceedings with the IRS, taxpayers can retain the representation of their choosing – certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, or an attorney. For taxpayers who may not be able to afford representation, the Low Taxpayer Clinic can help provide assistance. 

• The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System: Under this tenet, the IRS is required to consider outside factors in taxpayers’ lives that can affect how quickly they’re able to provide information or make payments. This also applies to compromises when paying back tax debt. Additionally, lower-income individuals can utilize programs such as the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and the Taxpayer Advocate Service. 

More information on all of these rights is available to consumers here.

With 2022 in the rearview mirror, it’s time for people to reset their goals for 2023. Because of the hit everyone took from inflation last year, the most important one is probably cushioning their bank account.

You won’t be alone if you reevaluate your financial situation, either. According to a new study from Jungle Scout, 79% of the adults in a survey plan on scrutinizing their finances.

If you want to take a cue from your fellow consumers, the number one place where they are reducing their spending is in dining out, followed by impulse purchases, movies/concerts, clothing, leisure travel, getting their nails and hair done, and paying for seldom-used streaming entertainment services.

To find out more about what Americans can do, ConsumerAffairs reached out to personal finance experts to get their take. Here are their thoughts:

Use your bank’s services more effectively. “Use your bank’s bill pay service to send checks to pay your bills. It’s free. Check theft and forgery has been a problem this year,” U.S. PIRG’s consumer protection team suggests. “Checks sent directly from your bank are more difficult to forge or, better yet, the payment may be sent electronically.”

Use your rights under the "No Surprises Act." U.S. PIRG also suggests boning up on your rights under the No Surprises Act – a law that prohibits certain out-of-network providers from sending you a surprise medical bill. Here’s a guide to surprise medical billing protections you can use now.

Ask your insurance agent where you could save money. “Your insurance agent can determine which discounts you may be eligible for. Did you purchase a home security system or put on a new roof recently? You might qualify for a discount,” David Cooley, a COUNTRY Financial Representative and insurance agency owner, based in Overland Park, KS, told ConsumerAffairs, then threw in a bonus tip. “You can also check into other money-saving strategies such as bundling or changing your deductible.”

Prune the monthly obligations you might not be using. Andrea Woroch, a consumer and financial expert, thinks that trimming some of the fat in our monthly bills will save us plenty, too. 

“Trim monthly bills by negotiating rates, cancel unused subscriptions, increase insurance deductible to reduce premiums by up 20%, unplug unused gadgets to save 10% on energy bills and switch to online-only mobile carrier like MintMobile which charges just $15 per month for talk, text, and data or an unlimited data package for just $30 – much cheaper than what the big carriers charge so it could be a huge area of potential savings,” Woroch said.

Find a side hustle. For the 55% of Americans who don’t yet have a side hustle, Woroch thinks it’s worth considering. Not only can the money be good – the average monthly income from a side hustle is only $483 – but it would only take about 13 hours per week.

“You can make up to $1,000 a month by pet sitting via Rover.com or earn $20 to $50 per hour by virtual tutoring through Varsity Tutors,” she said, plus you “turn everyday receipts into extra money in your pocket by snapping pictures of them using a cashback app like Fetch.com.”

There’s one thing you should note about side hustles, though. Josh Richner, marketing director at National Legal Center, said that if you do take on a side hustle, you need to understand the income tax and Social Security implications.

“Be mindful of the changing landscape. Income reporting requirements are changing, and you may need to begin reporting that income in 2023. Side hustle income can be huge, but the IRS has its sights on money coming into Cash App, Venmo, and others,” he said. 

“Be especially careful if you receive social security," Richner said. "If your side hustle income puts you over the earnings limit, you can reduce or entirely lose your social security benefits."

Review utility, phone, and internet bills for “junk” fees.  It's another strong suggestion from U.S. PIRG. Utility companies may include junk fees on their bills – things that you might not even be aware of – sort of like concert tickets or a hotel might! 

Some examples of ones on utility bills include:

• Fees to pay same-day by phone (even if the utility doesn't charge for a same-day credit card payment made online).

• Utility line insurance that you didn't sign up for. 

• Ending a contract early.

As for internet service:

• Fees to increase your speed but your service isn't any faster.

• Fees to rent a router or modem when you're using your own.

• You might also see “internet infrastructure fee,” “technology service fee,” and “network enhancement fee.” U.S. PIRG said these are internal fees that many companies add on so that they can promote their monthly cost as lower than what it actually is.

And on cellphone bills:

Fees or charges called "administrative fees" are portrayed as regulatory fees or even taxes when they're not.

Football fans who tuned into the Monday Night Football game this week between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills were shocked when what appeared to be a routine hit on Bills safety Damar Hamlin caused his heart to stop beating.

After emergency CPR was administered Hamlin was whisked to a Cincinnati hospital where he was listed in critical condition. On Tuesday morning, millions of Americans were left to wonder, “What exactly happened, and could it happen to anyone?”

Dr. Brian Sutterer, a specialist in sports medicine, says what America witnessed on the field at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium is extremely rare. 

“This is almost certainly something called commotio cordis, an extremely rare condition, one of those things we typically believe we are only going to read about in textbooks,” Sutterer said in a YouTube video posted late Monday night.

A blow to the chest at the wrong time

According to Sutterer, people with this condition are vulnerable if they suffer blunt-force trauma to the chest at precisely the wrong time during a heartbeat. In a heartbeat sequence, there is a small “P” wave, followed by the heartbeat, and then a small “T” wave, as the heart prepares to repeat the sequence.

“For commotio cordis to happen, you have to suffer this blunt-force trauma to the chest at exactly the right moment, specifically on the upstroke of the “T” wave in order for the heart to be sent into this arrhythmia and subsequent cardiac arrest,” Sutterer said.

According to the medical website TheHeart.org, unexpected cardiac arrest that occurs in sports is usually associated with previously diagnosed or undiagnosed structural or primary electrical cardiac abnormalities. In nearly every case these events occur in people with no underlying cardiac disease.

“There are about 30 of these cases that occur each year,” Dr. David Agus, CBS News medical expert, told the network. “They predominantly happen in kids. It happens in little league baseball, a ball is thrown by a pitcher and hits the person in the chest. It happens in soccer where something causes that blunt force trauma.” 

Tips for parents of young athletes

Can commotio cordis happen to anyone? Theoretically yes, although it typically occurs in sports. However, even non-athletes might be vulnerable during an accident.

According to the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, the blunt-force impact doesn’t have to be that severe if it occurs at the most vulnerable moment of a heartbeat and is delivered directly over the heart. 

For concerned parents of young athletes, it offers this advice:

• Have an athletic trainer present at practices and games

• Educate coaches, parents, and athletes how to perform CPR and use an AED

• Educate coaches, parents, and athletes of signs of commotio cordis

• Have an AED accessible near playing fields at all times

• Ensure coaches know where to locate the AED

• Ensure there is an Emergency Action Plan in place

• Ensure protective equipment is properly fitted

• Teach athletes how to avoid being hit with a ball/puck

• Avoid strength disparities among participants and coaches

• Use safety baseballs

While many Americans are preparing to file their 2022 taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is announcing new updates for 2023 taxes. 

The agency has released the standard mileage rates that will be eligible for tax deductions for cars, vans, panel trucks, or pickup trucks for charities, moving, business, or medical purposes. These updates will hold up for: diesel-powered cars, gas-powered cars, hybrid vehicles, and electric vehicles. 

What’s new for 2023?

As of January 1, 2023, the following updates will go into effect for the standard mileage rates for the 2023 tax season: 

• 14 cents per mile driven for charities (unchanged from 2022) 

• 65.5 cents per mile driven for businesses (up 3 cents from the second half of 2022)

• 22 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes for active-duty Armed Forces members 

What should taxpayers know?

When deducting the expenses for using a personal vehicle for business, medical, or charitable purposes, taxpayers have the option of either calculating their exact expenses or using the IRS’ standard mileage rate. 

In this announcement, the IRS explained that any leased vehicles must have costs deducted using the standard mileage rate. Additionally, the first year that a vehicle is used for business purposes, taxpayers must utilize the standard mileage rate. After that, taxpayers are free to choose between the standard mileage rate and calculating the exact expenses. 

It’s also important to note that claiming expenses related to moving is now only valid for active members of the Armed Forces who are being stationed at different locations. 

Each year, the IRS utilizes fixed and variable data related to owning and operating a vehicle to set the yearly standard mileage rate. 

To read the full 2023 standard mileage rates report, click here. 

A new year often brings changes, especially when it comes to finances. Consumers who are dissatisfied with their bank – or who think they could get better service somewhere else – may be more inclined to make a change.

But what determines a better financial institution? In its annual survey, J.D. Power found that overall satisfaction among bank customers is declining, especially among younger consumers.

Bank customers under age 40 and who have the highest levels of education, highest income growth potential and are arguably the most desirable customer segment in the banking industry, appear to be the least satisfied. The survey found that overall, satisfaction with banks is down four points from 2021 and has fallen nine points since 2020.

Paul McAdam, senior director of banking services at J.D. Power, says banks appear to be falling short of expectations when it comes to branch service, new customer onboarding and resolving customer complaints.

“As a result, we’re seeing young, well-educated, high-income customers driving a steady decrease in customer satisfaction,” McAdam said. “This is a clear warning sign for banks because key metrics like intent to reuse the brand and customer perception of having a relationship with the brand are also in decline, suggesting a future erosion of new business these customers will bring to their banks.”

While rankings tend to be lower for all banking institutions, three are holding onto customer support. Capital One ranked highest for a third consecutive year with an overall satisfaction score of 694, on a 1,000-point scale. Chase was second with a score of 678 and TD Bank ranked third with a score of 663.

What ConsumerAffairs reviewers say

We decided to find out how ConsumerAffairs reviewers view the service they receive from banks. We not only looked at verified reviews of those three institutions in the J.D. Power survey top three but also included Bank of America and Wells Fargo, two major banks providing consumer banking services.

The results were somewhat surprising. Among ConsumerAffairs reviewers, Capital One, a perennial favorite, finished at the bottom, though not by much. Bank of America, which didn’t show up in J.D. Power’s top three, led the pack.

Here’s how the five banks rank with ConsumerAffairs reviewers, based on a five-star review system:

Bank of America  4-stars

Chase  3.8-stars

TD Bank 3.8-stars

Wells Fargo  3.8-stars

Capital One  3.7-stars

Customer service, credit cards, disputes

Capital One suffered among ConsumerAffairs reviewers who cited different issues, including customer service, problems with credit cards, and the dispute process. Many of the low ratings were posted in recent months.

But David, of New Orleans, is mostly satisfied with Capital One and gave the bank a five-star rating in August.

“I've had no negative experiences and I find that customer service goes above and beyond,” David wrote in a ConsumerAffairs review. “If you're deciding which bank to go with for a checking account, do yourself a favor and pick Capital One.”

The J.D. Power study, now in its sixth year, measures the customer experience with all retail bank product lines for nine national banks in the United States. It evaluates bank customer experience across seven factors: trust; people; account offerings; allowing customers to bank how and when they want; saving time and money; digital channels; and resolving problems or complaints.