By DAVE LIEBER
watchdog@star-telegram.com
Here are three ways I recently saved money. Feel free to borrow.
1. Call your credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate. They’ll often give you one — but only if you ask.
This month, the interest rate on my credit card shot to 23 percent. I called to complain, and here’s what the rep said: "After reviewing that, this is not a correct rate for you, sir."
New rate: 15 percent. Still no great shakes, but I paid off the card in a huff about their so-called error.
2. If you have electronic systems in your house more than a decade old that are analog-based, such as your cable TV hookup or home security system, ask for a free conversion to a newer digital system. Ask also that the company lower your bill. This worked for both my cable and security system. Both are now digital, and both bills dropped because I asked.
3. If you use cable TV, call the cable company and tell them the satellite TV company or the phone company is offering you a better deal. Ask: "Do you have any recession specials for customers like me who are thinking of switching?"
They do — but you have to ask. Play the phone, cable and satellite TV companies off each other for better rates. (And with the savings, you can renew your
Star-Telegram subscription.)
* * *
Scam alert: Watch out for bogus e-mails supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service with the subject line "Notice of Underreported Income," the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team warned this week.
"These messages may contain a link or an attachment," the warning said. "If users click on this link or open the attachment, they may be infected with malicious code, including the Zeus Trojan."
I hadn’t heard about Zeus. MX Logic, a Web security company, reports: "Zeus can then ransack infected computers for financial information which can be used to empty bank accounts. Some estimates place the financial losses from the Zeus Trojan at over $1 million a day."
* * *
A reader writes:
"Dear Watchdog,
"I am a Realtor. I sold a house, and I received a commission. My broker took $365 out of my check for damages on his car. [A gate on her property was pushed by wind and hit the broker’s car, causing damage.] I really don’t see how he has the right to just take money out of my check for whatever he feels. I have called the Texas Association of Realtors, the Texas Real Estate Commission and my local Realtor association board. They can’t help me. I am just looking for the right person to contact. I don’t think anyone should be able to take money out of someone’s check."
Dear Realtor:
Sounds like a perfect case for small claims court. You can sue for the $365, plus court costs, plus any other related expenses for which you can show a receipt or a cost estimate. You don’t need a lawyer.
* * *
On Sept. 18, I described two people who shipped valuable art. In one case, UPS lost the package. In the other, the U.S. Postal Service delivered the package but it was damaged. Neither would pay the insurance claim.
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