Articles Posted in Consumer

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A warranty is essentially a contract between a consumer and a company. A person buys a warranty with the assumption repair services will be provided if the covered product no longer works. It seems pretty cut and dry, but warranties are not always so straightforward. The devil is in the details.

 

What Do You Know about Warranties?

 

Salespeople will apply some pressure to convince a consumer to purchase a warranty. An individual might buy the contract without considering some important questions.

 

*Do You Know What Is Covered? The warranty will specifically note what is covered. Don’t be surprised if inevitable accidents are not included in the coverage. Parts or labor might only be partially covered or not at all. Continue reading

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The market is not perfect. Products and services might be defective or have poor quality. Group legal plans offer benefits to help with many legal issues. It is all well and good, but consumer protection is a pre-paid legal service benefit many Plan members need.

Protected by Paper

We expect good quality in what we purchase, but we do not always get it. Appliances may arrive with defective belts or poor electrical wiring. The same is true for computer equipment. Software might contain glitches and even malware. Products are not the only potential problem area. Service given in health care facilities or offices of financial services can be substandard.

Posting bad reviews on consumer boards is a common practice, but it isn’t always enough to prevent later problems. Complaints filed with consumer protection agencies are more effective. The process can be frustrating. There are forms to be completed and evidence must be furnished to the proper public authority. Continue reading

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Graduation presents are not always gift cards. A smartphone, tablet, car, or another very expensive product might be the reward for getting a diploma. Smart shoppers will get a repair warranty on those big-ticket items. Unfortunately, buying the warranty doesn’t always mean you can use it.

The Murky Wording of the Warranty

Consumers will purchase warranties sight unseen. They buy the protection without understanding the details. A warranty is a contract with specific action required. Warranty language might also specify only certain repair parts may be used. Moreover, only certain repair shops can be used and the warranty is good only for a given period of time.

Retailers will take advantage of a buyer overlooking important details. They, the retailers, might not volunteer the information needed to use a warranty and the buyers are left with a worthless piece of paper. That person feels frustrated because he or she spent money for nothing. Continue reading

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Credit cards are a major part of American commerce. People try to use credit cards as little as possible and some will try to do without credit completely. This is almost impossible. Emergencies arise that require the use of credit and retailers encourage the use of credit cards with special deals. Some of the special deals are traps that will threaten an innocent victim’s financial wellness.

The Nature of the Beast

Retail stores want people to use credit cards for a very simple reason: consumers will purchase more with plastic than if they had cash in their pocket. Some of the deals include offering credit cards at zero interest rate for a specific period. Other deals involve substantially reduced credit costs. Some credit card companies attempt to persuade people to consider a consolidation loan through the credit card. That latter one is deceptive because it permits a person to put a large amount of debt onto a single credit card in return for a significantly reduced rate of interest.

This all sounds attractive, but the devil is in the details. Not everyone is willing to read the fine print of some of the offers. For example, failure to make a payment on a consolidation loan will result in a significant interest charge. Other deals require that a given amount of money must be charged on the card or the lower interest rates will not apply. People get in trouble when they don’t understand the terms and conditions of a credit card. A person can end up in deeper trouble. Continue reading

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Consumer protection is not intended to be a corporate headache. It is a means by which any company, including a service provider, is held accountable for its marketing claims. Promises of high-quality efficiency are used to encourage consumers to purchase goods and services. Consumer protection law guarantees these assurances are kept.

Group legal plans should help with consumer protection. People are often frustrated by inferior products. They are not able to properly file a consumer protection complaint, and this adds fuel to an angry fire. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services wants to help folks with consumer-related issues. We offer consumer protection services as a group legal plan benefit option.

Making the Case

Consumer protection claims require forms to be completed and the right evidence provided. Tantrums will not accomplish anything. Countrywide has a national network of skilled attorneys who practice in the local community. They provide highly professional pre-paid legal services to plan members. Continue reading

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American consumers have a right to good service and top quality. Whatever is purchased should be as it is advertised and offered to the buying public. That doesn’t always happen. Products or services are sometimes less than expected and warranties are not honored. Group legal plans ought to have a benefit that covers consumer protection and warranties. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offers that option in its group legal plan benefit.

Consumer Protection Goes Beyond a Product

Faulty appliances and cheap quality computers are what most people think about when it comes to consumer protection, but there is more. Consumer protection covers services as well. Improper installation of solar panels or a driveway that isn’t properly paved are topics of a consumer protection complaint. Warranties that deal primarily with repair service and deliver poor or incomplete work are not acceptable.

Consumers can file complaints but there is a reluctance to do this. People don’t want to complete all the paperwork required. When they do, they might forget about collecting needed evidence and this results in an incomplete complaint. Continue reading

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There is a little bit of a letdown after the holiday season. There are emotions and expectations that surround the gift giving and people want to be able to enjoy the presents they received. Big-ticket items such as widescreen TVs, personal computers, smartphones, and other electronics should work. Unfortunately, some of these expensive toys are going to break down due to overuse or faulty merchandise. Many shoppers are going to buy a warranty to cover any problems that may arise. However, not everybody knows what their warranty covers. Group legal plans don’t always help with warranties, but Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services does help.

Knowledge Is Power!

People don’t fully appreciate the cost of those little electronic gadgets until one breaks down. It is possible that a repair bill of over one hundred dollars is going to be required to fix things. Consumers will buy warranties as a hedge against the debt but might not know what the warranty covers.

The warranty may only cover labor or certain parts. There may also be a time limit during which the warranty can be exercised. People don’t always understand the wording of the warranty and get frustrated. Countrywide group legal plan members, however, have an opportunity to use the pre-paid legal services of a competent attorney. Continue reading

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We Educate People on House Purchases

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It is only natural for a person to dream of buying a house. It is something every consumer would like to have: a place to set down roots and raise a family. Homeownership is not out of the question but for some people it can be a challenging experience. This is particularly true of Millennials who may be buying their first home. There’s so much to go into the decision and financial wellness can be affected. Anyone would be a little bit nervous.

Buying a House Can Be Confusing

The process of buying a house can be an anxiety minefield for the first-time buyer. There are so many options as far as the financing of a home, and the buyer may not be sure what to look out for in the process. What type of advice is honest and which advisers are ethical? A lot goes to a person’s mind and lack of knowledge hurts. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services appreciates the dilemma a person can be in. One of the options in our financial wellness program is a course on how to buy a house. This is the kind of education many people need. Continue reading

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The Bills Are Controllable

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Folks need to understand deductibles will renew annually. For example, let us suppose that a person has a deductible of $5000 and a medical procedure consisting of a surgery and physical therapy each costing $5000. Let us also suppose that the surgery is performed in 2017 and the physical therapy is scheduled for 2018. Even though the patient has paid $5000 in 2017, this person will need to pay an additional $5000 out of pocket BEFORE the insurance pay anything. It is because meeting the deductible starts all over again with the new year. This scenario is not fiction; it happens all the time. People run into serious deductible debt when medical procedures span more than one year.

The bills can mount up and the providers expect to be paid. Failure to meet the obligations can result in collection agencies knocking on the door. Employers should help their staff with medical bills. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has a financial wellness plan that provides needed assistance. Continue reading

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You Don’t Have to Accept Faulty Merchandisestockfresh_3665498_cost-and-value_sizeS-300x200

 

Your child gets a brand-new toy for Christmas while you get an innovative appliance or perhaps a very interesting computer gaming. It’s all a part of the excitement of Christmas to get something new, and Christmas presents are used quite a bit in the following days. It is when trouble may begin. For no apparent reason, that new gizmo breaks down. You get frustrated and try to find a way to fix things. The present may have a warranty attached to it, and a group legal plan could help you make things right.

They are Guarantees of Repair Service

Warranties are agreements in which a manufacturer guarantees repair work if something breaks down. However, the language of the warranty can be very confusing. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has a nationwide network of attorneys. One of our fundamental benefit options is help with warranties. Our lawyers know the language and can point out what the manufacturer will and will not do as defined in the warranty. Continue reading