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You'd Better Look Closely At Junk Mail Before You Toss It! Avoid Getting Hosed On Those Rebate Bucks You Deserve!! Why You'd Might Not Wanna Ship From Private Postal Center!!! And How To In$ure Your Place In Your Parent'$ Will!!!
May 29, 2003
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Dear Ben: I've got a rip off alert for you. I received a small throw away postcard announcing my membership renewal in a service I did not order. The card announced that the $84 annual fee would be conveniently charged-at $7 a month-to my credit card. Since I neither ordered or authorized this service, I called and raised hell and was told my membership would be canceled. It would've been easy to ignore and throw away the card.
H.C. via e-mail
Dear H.C.: Thanks for the heads-up; schemes like this seem to be propagating like cockroaches because the perpetrators know the vast majority of victims are asleep at the switch and aren't checking their bills as closely as they should.
Dear Ben: I have two pending rebates, one for a purchase made in December, 2002-the other in January, 2003. So far, I've received neither. I've called both places more than once, each promising "the rebate's on the way." (Ha!) What should I do now?
Shirley B., via e-mail
Dear Shirley: I hate rebate offers, but it's the deceptive nature of the beast. Retailers frequently make receiving rebates even more onerous by loading them with incredibly short windows of opportunity, or sending rebate checks that are already past their expiration date the day you receive them! Keep in mind how difficult cashing in a rebate offer really is...and re-consider your motivation to buy a specific product if your decision's dependent on a rebate offer. I've created a special section to help you in your quest to get the rebate bucks you're entitled to: www.bendover.com/rebates.asp.
Dose of Dover For The Week, Part One: Okay, so you blew it on Mother's Day. You've got a second chance to secure your place in your parent's Will by coming through on-time for dear old Dad (Father's Day is 17 days away). To help you get Dad's gift to him on time, it's worth knowing what your shipping and mailing options are, and time to focus on some changes in this competitive field.
A major retail "re-branding" has been going on right under your nose: The franchised 3,000-plus neighborhood Mailboxes, Etc. postal centers around the nation have morphed over the last few months into "The UPS Store." So why should you care? Because a major piece of the new UPS Store strategy-hoping to gain a competitive edge over courier service rival Federal Express-is to lock FedEx out of these re-branded stores. If you've got a mail box at what a newly-christened UPS Store, you can still receive packages shipped to you via FedEx. But if you want to ship something via FedEx, you're out of luck.
Your choices are (surprise!) UPS or U.S. Mail from the UPS Stores, or nothing...which spotlights what I've been telling you (much to the chagrin of the industry) for years: If you ship anything from one of these private postal centers-The UPS Store or otherwise-you're going to be spending a premium for this service...as much as 70-100% higher price difference.
My advice? All of the major mailing/courier services have done a great job over the last few years of developing amazingly consumer-friendly websites. Before you throw your money away in the name of convenience, find out what all of your overnight shipping options are by checking out the "Big Three" in this field. U.S. Post Office's website: www.usps.com, Federal Express at: www.fedex.com and UPS: www.ups.com.
Dose of Dover For The Week, Part Two: Just a reminder that you've got until (this) Saturday, May 31 to get your protest letter mailed in time to challenge the recent property tax increase notices that shocked many of you earlier this month. If you don't challenge these increases, you're leaving money on the table, since at more than half of these challenges result in some sort of economic relief. You'll want to send your protest letters via Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested (save some money and mail 'em from the Post Office or prepare to pay a premium for the convenience discussed in the previous paragraph). All of my time-tested tips that'll help you in your quest for lessening the (property) tax man's bite are posted right here: www.bendover.com/2003taxes.asp.
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