Lemon Alert: 2011-2012 Ford Focus/Fiesta transmission cases are piling up, but Ford is fighting consumers seeking buybacks. The transmissions all seem to exhibit the same problems: a shudder going from 1-2 gear; an grinding/rubbing noise on turns, and just all around poor transmission performance
World’s Largest Debt Collection Operation Settles FTC Charges, Will Pay $3.2 Million Penalty Largest Civil Penalty Ever Obtained by the FTC Against a Third-party Debt Collector The world’s largest debt collection operation, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries, has agreed to stop harassing consumers with allegedly illegal debt collection calls and to pay a $3.2…
Thousands of cars and trucks were damaged by Superstorm Sandy’s flood waters. Just as was seen with Hurricane Katrina, many of these vehicles may soon appear in the market via crooks who purchase the cars after they’ve been declared totaled by insurers, then clean and attempt to resell them. It can be very difficult to…
The nation’s leading method of fraud is identity theft, according to a report CALPIRG has released entitled “Still @ Risk: New Technology & Identity Theft Trends in California”. With the largest number of identity theft complaints coming from California, CALPIRG’s new identity theft resource center is a good place for Californians to bookmark. Found at…
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators (NACPI) recently released findings of an annual survey they conducted based upon information from 38 state, county, and city agencies in 22 states across America. The agencies that provided complaint numbers for the survey received a total of 289,732 complaints last year….
From the National Law Journal: The ads sound enticing – car dealerships that promise to pay off your trade-in, no matter what you owe. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the promotions are also not necessarily true. Five car dealerships around the country have agreed to stop running such ads to settle FTC charges, the…
The FTC has taken steps to help consumers to avoid unwanted “robocalls.” For decades, Congress and the Commission have recognized that consumers should have control over the telemarketing calls that come to their homes and mobile devices, and be able to stop the ones that they don’t want to receive. The Commission and the FTC have…
Extended warranties, extended service contracts, maintenance agreements are a huge profit center for car dealerships. For consumers, however, it is like buying soda and popcorn at the movie theatre to take home: a great way to overpay! (Keep in mind that you can usually buy the same or similar products elsewhere for FAR less.) Now,…
If the dealership says on the purchase contract that you paid money down when you didn’t, the dealership has violated the Truth-in-Lending Act, among other laws. A Connecticut dealership that listed a fictional down payment on a customer’s sales contract has recently been found to owe the consumer damages. Don Mallon Chevrolet Inc. in Norwich,…
Automotive News reports on an alleged scam regarding lease turn-in charges for consumer vehicles and an ongoing court case. The case started with Ford Credit’s assessment of $2,658 for excess wear and use on a Windstar that a consumer leased from 2000 to 2003 through Ford Credit’s Red Carpet program. Ford Dealerships conducted lease-end inspections…
