Entry bubble Think Local

By: Nancy | June 05, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

As much as the national and world news get splashed across our TV screens, when it comes down to it, what seems to matter most in our lives is what's going on at home, in the neighborhood and around town. We honor our local heroes, passionately discuss local politics and are rediscovering that some of the best food we can get may be right in our own backyard or around the corner.

Keeping it local, USA.gov has a wonderful section to help you locate in-person services near you.

couple walking through neighborhoodIf you're the kind of person, like my mom, who prefers to do business with the government face to face, you can find links to locate local offices of federal agencies like Social Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and passport offices.

Have a consumer complaint? Find your local consumer protection office or check out contractors with your local Better Business Bureau before you hire them.

Looking for a doctor or dentist nearby you can trust? Search the National Institutes of Health's online directory. You can also find other health resources, like mammography facilities, nursing homes and your nearest Red Cross chapter, so you can help counteract the summertime donation shortfall and give blood.

Save time and gas by doing a little research online before you run errands. You can find out which service station in your town has the cheapest gas prices and check the hours of places like your local post office or division of motor vehicles.

From finding the nearest pet rescue and adoption center to locating the closest place to get the installation of your child's car seat checked, you can find some really unexpected and extremely helpful local links in USA.gov's "Locate In-Person Services Near You" section.

Now...what are we missing? What other kinds of local services or resources would you like to see us list and link to on USA.gov?

| Comments [1] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: consumer   doctor   gas   local   nancy   services  

 

Entry bubble ConsumerAction.gov to the Rescue!

By: Colleen | February 20, 2008 | Category: Money

Valentine's Day has a bad rep. for a reason. And despite my best efforts to remain positive this year, the day is now permanently tainted.

Being uncharacteristically nice, I ordered my mom flowers. I specifically indicated that they were being delivered to her office, and paid a few extra bucks to ensure they would be delivered ON Valentine's Day.

By 2:30 p.m. I'd yet to receive a jubilant phone call from Mom. I decided to consult my older, wiser, and much more reliable sister to get her thoughts. She let me know that Mom hadn't mentioned anything to her either, and that I better call the florist.

3 phone calls to the florist later, I was assured the flowers were en route, and due to arrive at Mom's office within 15 minutes. A half hour later (and around the time my mom leaves work) I had to bite the bullet and see if they'd arrived yet.

No dice. I spoiled the surprise by asking if any flowers had come from me that day. I spilled the whole story—Mom decided to take matters into her own hands and call the florist herself. While my Mom was taking care of business (and trust me, you do NOT want to mess with my mother) I called my sister to fill her in on the saga.

"Well, from what you're telling me, it sounds like you didn't get the flowers I sent to you, either."

Double whammy.

My poor sister had spent a good deal of the afternoon trying to contact the customer service representative at the nationally-known flower delivery service she'd paid good money to get my flowers. Turns out, they'd TURNED OFF their customer service lines due to high volumes of calls, on what they are well aware of being their busiest day of the year!

Ticked off and bitter I send both my mom and sister the online link to consumeraction.gov's sample complaint e-mail. It provides a template to be sure you include all necessary info, like:

  • Date of conflict
  • What happened
  • The action you want taken (money back, exchange, repair...)
  • Your contact information

After making our grievances known, we were both (rightfully) refunded our money—but I'm still not sure if that makes up for missing out on what was intended to be a heartfelt surprise.

Cupid better get his act together.

| Comments [1] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: colleen   complaint   consumer   flowers   valentine's  

 

Entry bubble Shopping For A New Hot Rod

By: Sam | November 07, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

Breaking up is hard to do.  And after 10 years, I’m about to call it quits with Charlie, my car.  Though we’ve had some good times and unforgettable road trips, it’s time that we go our separate ways.

But deciding on my new ride has been harder than I thought it would be.  Do I want a coupe or sedan? Or how about a hybrid?  Should it be automatic or manual?  And what about the engine size?  The choices are endless.  To help me narrow my search, I checked out Consumer Reports and Edmunds.com.

These two sites gave me a wealth of information from price and owner satisfaction to ratings and reviews for both new and used cars.  They also helped me prioritize what features were important to me:  reliability, safety, and fuel economy.

I’ve also started to compile a “wish list” of other features that I would like.  These include trunk space, leather interior, moonroof, alloy wheels, and of course, an MP3 player plug-in.  A girl must be able to jam out to her entire John Mayer discography while driving.

After all this shopping around, I think I have finally found a couple of different cars that meet my needs.  And so now I’m ready for the fun part…test driving.  The Better Business Bureau has put together this great test drive checklist that will help me be a little less clueless at the dealership.

I’ll have another post (hopefully soon) about my car buying and financing experience.  Meanwhile, I’ll be reading up on how to maintain control over the sales process starting with this post from The Consumerist.  And I’ll be also be deciding whether Charlie gets donated or traded-in.  Does anyone have some helpful advice they would like to share?

 

| Comments [7] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: better   bureau   business   car   cars   consumer   edmunds.com   john   mayer   reports   shopping  

 

Entry bubble The Boston blues...

By: Colleen | November 05, 2007 | Category: Travel

Nothing good ever came out of Boston, except Tom Brady.

However, my best friend from college was getting married in Beantown, and I was in the wedding. During the six years we've known each other, I've made the trek up north several times for visits and a slew of wedding-related activities. It's never been a good experience.

This has nothing to do with my pal, she's still the best. It has much more to do with delayed flights, horrendous weather, traffic jams... and the fact that gals from Philadelphia and those hailing from Boston speak entirely different derivatives of English.

The big weekend had finally arrived and the time had come for me to venture to New England once again.

Things pretty much went south the second I left my office for the airport. En route to catch my flight, I stopped at the dry cleaners to pick up my dress for the rehersal dinner (a fabulous little black halter number that was the perfect balance of "cute" but not "TRYING to look cute".) On Tuesday when I dropped it off, I specifically asked and was assured that it would be ready and waiting for me on Thursday by 5pm.

It was 5:30pm and there was no dress. I was told to "call this number, it should be here tomorrow." A lot of good that'll do me when I'm 440 miles away. Reacting shockingly like my mother, a few flavorful words flew, fists were clenched, and the door was slammed as I hurried to the airport to hop on my flight. At my gate I was greeted by a big, fat "delayed" sign, much like every...single...other...time I've gone to Boston.

Fast forward through a taxi scam, ending up at the wrong hotel, lost luggage, and lots of rain- Sunday afternoon I found myself back at the airport to head home to DC. After what I will only describe as a "series of events" involving a buffalo chicken calzone and a friend needing emergency wisdom teeth surgery- I missed my plane.

In an occurance as suprising as the Colorado Rockies going to the World Series, the employee behind the counter (who informed me that there was zippy chance of making my flight) was extremely helpful and polite, tippy tapping on his keyboard until he found a way to get me back to the District. Eleven hours, two airports, and another delay later, I was home.

After a full recovery day of sleep, I decided to take action. I whipped out my Consumer Action Handbook and flipped right to the section about complaint letters. No chance I was going to let those dry cleaners get away with denying the public the privilege  of seeing me in all the fabulousness of my black halter dress. I also drafted a second letter to the airline, informing them of their most helpful employee and how much I appreciated all his efforts. The handbook is useful for this and many other situations. It also includes a list of key consumer infomation resources, general buying tips, insurance information, and much more.

Suffice to say, someone is going to need to offer me a heap of cash or a pair of Manolo Blahniks to get me back to Boston anytime soon.

| envelope Email This Entry | Tags: action   airlines   boston   brady   colleen   complaint   consumer   handbook   tom   travel