Tag: consumer protection
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Buyer protections: how to shop gem shows safely
Gem shows mix legitimate dealers with sophisticated scammers. Here’s how to inspect stones, structure payments, and recover money when something goes wrong.
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Rental car insurance is one of the great consumer scams of our time
Rental counter insurance preys on travel anxiety and confusion. In most cases, you’re already covered three different ways before the agent finishes the pitch.
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SaaS contract auto-renew clauses should be illegal
Silent auto-renewal clauses in SaaS contracts trap businesses in unwanted spending. The practice survives only because customers rarely fight back.
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Financial advisors are mostly salespeople with extra credentials
Most financial advisors aren’t fiduciaries. Their commissions and fee structures often quietly cost clients more than the advice is worth.
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The retainer drain: how some divorce attorneys bleed clients dry with padded hours
A $5,000 divorce retainer can become a $50,000 invoice through billing practices that exploit client distress. Here’s what to watch for in itemized statements.
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The mine direct lie: when vendors falsely claim to sell straight from the source
‘Mine direct’ is the gemstone industry’s favorite marketing phrase. Most of the time it’s just a markup justified by a romanticized supply-chain story.
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For-profit colleges are scams and accreditors enable them
For-profit colleges have been documented to mislead students, saddle them with debt, and produce poor outcomes. Accreditors keep certifying them anyway.
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Free File is sabotaged on purpose and nobody goes to jail
The IRS Free File program exists. Most eligible taxpayers never see it because the major tax prep companies have spent two decades hiding it on purpose.
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Personal finance influencers should be regulated like advisors
When influencers recommend investments to millions, the advice is functionally indistinguishable from financial advising. Regulation hasn’t caught up, and it should.
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Trusts aren’t for rich people anymore — and that’s a problem
Trust marketing now targets middle-class families who often don’t need them. Here’s where trusts genuinely help and where they’re being oversold.