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The turbine cost $16,000 to install, the district answered. The payback in electricity savings would come in “roughly 26 years.”

West acknowledges that the money involved is minute in a multimillion-dollar budget but points to a bigger principle.

“When you’re asking your population for a tax rollback election, it’s a bad idea to spend something that sticks above a school and won’t make money for 26 years,” he said.

“It’s going to need maintenance. I bet it needs thousands of dollars in maintenance, which push off the profit.”

The turbine could be looked at as a symbol of government public relations puffery versus reality.

“It’s kind of an example of the overall function of government,” West said. “We spend money on something and say it’s going to help. Yet when examined closely, it costs money and doesn’t save money. That kind of goes against its original purpose. Isn’t the whole idea of being green about saving money?

“It’s going to take 26 years to pay off. I’m questioning whether that wind turbine will still be spinning in 26 years. I doubt it.”

The Watchdog doesn’t bring this up to bash environmental education and the value of teaching students about energy conservation.

As district spokesman Bryce Nieman said: “It’s an instructional tool for students. Students can learn about energy conservation and other ways to generate electricity, alternate energy means.”

He says the turbine helps trim the campus’s energy bills. “It’s better than nothing.”

All true, but the reason for sharing this is to show how one citizen asked questions about a school district’s finances. In Texas and elsehwere, this is an easy thing to do.

The Public Information Act allows anyone in Texas to inquire about the workings of state, county, local and school governments. West took advantage of that and learned the story behind the story. Too often, we forget to do that. Only by asking questions can we get answers.

Research your rights under your state’s open records laws by googling on the Internet for the law.

Dave Lieber shows Americans how to fight back against corporate deceptions in his wonderful national award-winning book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong. Are you tired of losing time, money and aggravation to all the assaults on our wallets? Learn how to fight back with ease — and win. Get the book here.

If 2011 is any indication, 2012 will be worst year for the post office

Dave Lieber — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:07:30 +0000

For years, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation has studied and reported about the U.S. Postal Service.

But this post is not based on reporting. Rather, it’s based on anecdotal evidence. Watchdog Nation has had some terrible experiences with USPS in 2011. As the post office struggles with multi-billion dollar deficits, the threatened closure of more than a thousand postal stations and the possible shutdown of Saturday mail delivery, it’s safe to say that Ben Franklin’s pet project is going to hell.

Example #1

A friend mailed us an Olympus recording device. But when it arrived, there was a thumb drive inside instead. Watchdog Nation complained to the postal service but there was nothing that could be done.

Stolen by a postal employee? Most likely.

Our theory: a postal employee thought it was a lavish electronic device (by feeling the envelope) and opened it. The employee stuffed something else inside and the package went on its merry way. (By the way, we tracked the thumb drive’s owner down at an area church and sent it along — something USPS wasn’t able to do.)

Example #2

Watchdog Nation could kill ourselves for our own stupidity on this one. We know better. We mailed an important check via Priority Mail three days before it was due. But it didn’t arrive in time, and now we face a $53 late charge. Yes, we definitely know better. USPS promises that Priority Mail Delivery will be delivered “within 2 days in most cases.” WITHIN MOST CASES. The fine print. Jeez.

Example #3

Look at this Christmas card we received. Need we say more?

Example #4

Ditto for this envelope that was sent to us. It was perfectly addressed, but it was sent back with “Return to Sender/Not Deliverable As Addressed/Unable to Forward.”

Yet there wasn’t a single mistake on the address.

We complained to the postal service and received this answer:

“We apologize for not responding sooner.

”We were attempting to determine where the problem occurred which is why I asked for the original envelope. It was our thought that the mailpiece did not even get to Keller, but was returned from one of the plants that processed it.

”However, the part of the envelope that you provided didn’t have the barcode where we could check which machine it ran on. I thought I provided that information to you at that time, but evidently I did not.

”In the interim, we did speak to all the employees that distribute mail to the PO Boxes in Keller to reinforce proper processing of all PO Box mail in the event that the mishandling did occur in Keller.

”We do apologize for the mishandling of the mailpiece and any inconvenience that was caused as a result.

”Thanks. Manager, Consumer & Industry Contact”

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And thanks to you. 2012 is going to be a hellish year for the USPS.

And such a shame because in recent years, things seemed to be getting better, not worse.

Utility price increases often start earlier than you think

Dave Lieber — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:49:25 +0000

Dear Watchdog Nation:

We were hoping you could help us with our water bill from the city of Watauga, Texas. They passed a rate increase of 30 percent for water and sewer and 100 percent for drainage fees, effective Oct. 1. We received our bill for September, and they charged us the new rates. We called to complain and they basically said we had to pay it, and if we didn’t like it we could attend the next council meeting.

We also tried to e-mail the city manager, Dr. Scott Neils, but we never heard back from him. It’s like they don’t care at all. We don’t feel we should be charged for usage in September for a rate increase that went into effect Oct. 1. Thank you for any help you can give us and the other residents of Watauga.

– Kathy and Robert Moran

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Dear Mr. and Mrs. Moran:

This is an issue of government transparency. As readers of the Dave Lieber Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned, anytime a government is going to take more money out of your pocket, as the Watauga council voted to do in late September, officials have to be crystal-clear about it. That didn’t happen here.

But while Neils, who has been in office for six months, did not answer you, he more than made up for it after The Watchdog pushed your cause.

Here’s the big news: The city manager tells me that Watauga is postponing all three rate increases until Dec. 1. Plus, 6,000 of the city’s 8,200 customers who were charged the higher rate for their September usage before the effective date will get credits in the November bill. A refund!

Neils told me: “I agree that the information for the customers may have been unclear as to the effective date of the rate increase and when the billing with the new rate would begin.

“When I received the e-mail from the Morans, I began an evaluation of the impact on our consumers given the amount of increase in the rates and the larger consumption patterns we noticed from our customers, even with the water conservation programs in place.

“After this analysis, I have concluded that, given the unusual circumstances, it is appropriate to provide some relief to our customers.”

Credits will show up on the November bill, he said, adding, “We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers and to the Morans in particular. We hope that this solution will be acceptable to all.”

City staffers will manually adjust 6,000 bills to apply the credits. (Note that software used by most cities for water bills cannot adjust when there’s a rate change in the middle of a billing cycle. But electric meters can do that, according to the Texas Public Utility Commission.)

It comes down to this:

Officials should clearly explain to customers that a rate increase doesn’t apply to the time when the water was used, but to the date the bills are issued. That’s a lesson for area cities increasing their water and sewer rates.

North Richland Hills does it correctly on its website by stating an increase in water rates “will go into effect with the October 2011 billing cycle which is primarily water consumed during the month of September.” However, the city states on an insert that went into water bills that the increase “will go into effect Oct. 1.”

City spokeswoman Mary Peters agrees with the need for transparency and said, “It wasn’t as specific as it was on the website. We probably could have done a little better there.”

In Fort Worth, an increase in water and wastewater rates will take effect Jan. 1. Spokeswoman Mary Gugliuzza says that because of the way the city’s billing system is structured, a small number of customers will pay for only a few days of water usage in December at the higher rate.

In Arlington, the city approved a water rate increase that went into effect Oct. 1. As in Watauga, customers were charged for the previous month’s usage at the higher rate because of the billing cycle.

“You just have to pick a date and make it the effective date,” Water Utilities Director Julie Hunt said.

Watauga Finance Director Sandra Morgan explained the thinking behind the city’s decision to postpone the increase. “You have to put yourself in the citizens’ shoes. Certainly, if we haven’t communicated well enough, we have to go back and do it better.”

The Morans’ reaction to the news: “WOW. We fought City Hall and won!”

Dave Lieber shows Americans how to fight back against corporate deceptions in his wonderful book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong. Are you tired of losing time, money and aggravation to all the assaults on our wallets? Learn how to fight back with ease — and win. Get the book here.

Read The Watchdog Nation manifesto here

Avoid telemarketers by getting on state and federal do not call lists

Dave Lieber — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:24:21 +0000

Angela Michau says she keeps getting robocalls from a company promising to lower her credit card interest rates. Yet she’s on both the federal and state do not call lists.

“We’ve been getting these same calls for years,” she says. “Help!”

Paul Lewis says he gets sales calls from a magazine even though he, too, is on the lists. “I am looking for the telephone number to report the company,” he says.

Marjory Hiersch keeps getting calls from charities. “Are there different rules for callers who say they are calling for charities?” she asks.

Rebecca Atwell says: “We are receiving multiple calls from insurance companies and do not want them. We are on the do not call list.”

Bill and Amy Barnett tell me, “We have received calls for months even though we are on the Do Not Call Registry. When we push 1 to talk to a rep, the person hangs up as soon as we ask for any information. Pressing 3 to discontinue the calls obviously doesn’t do a thing. Any thoughts?”

Yes. Everyone should be on two lists: the federal Do Not Call Registry and your own state’s No Call list.

Image courtesy of Watblog

As readers of the Dave Lieber Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned, most states lists are for residential, wireless and business numbers. Often, these lists apply to telemarketers both inside and outside the state. The national list is for residential and wireless numbers, and it applies to calls from other states into your state.

Even then, there’s no guarantee that the calls will stop, but federal and state officials tell Watchdog Nation that once someone gets on the lists and continues to receive calls, it’s easy to complain. Both federal and state officials say they may prosecute.

Breaking news on this: U.S. Department of Justice fines company $500,000 in first-of-its-kind case. Learn more here.

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“File a complaint with the state attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission,” FTC spokesman Mitchell Katz says. “The more complaints we get, the more likely we are to take action.” The Federal Communications Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas also take complaints.

In Watchdog Nation’s home state, Tom Kelley of the Texas attorney general’s office says, “We will surely go after clear and repeat violators of the law.”

There are exceptions to the lists, though. In Texas, for example, permitted callers include companies you have established a business relationship with during the previous year, nonprofits and charities, debt collectors and holders of a state license, such as insurance agents or real estate agents.

If authorities fail to investigate, residents can file a civil or small-claims-court lawsuit.

Exceptions to the national list include callers working for political organizations or candidates, charities, polling companies and survey takers. Also, companies may call consumers who have a business relationship with them. That’s defined as someone who made a purchase within the past 18 months or an inquiry or an application about goods or services within the past three months.

Although some believe the lists don’t work, federal officials point to the many violators that have been punished. In 2011, for example, the FTC shut down a mortgage and debt relief company, a bogus medical discount company and a time share reseller.

The FTC also fined DirecTV $5.3 million for violations, then fined the company again after more violations, Katz says.

About 200 million phone numbers are on the federal list. About 1 million of those get calls anyway, Katz says. “Sounds like a lot, but it’s a half a percent of the people on the registry,” he says.

“We continue to track them down. We’re continuing to prosecute the cases that we have brought against companies that were offering fake extended warranties on cars and deceptively trying to get you to pay to lower your credit card interest rates.

“We continue to be the cop on the beat, and consumers should continue to file complaints and provide us with as much information as they can get.”

Unscrupulous callers use caller ID blocking and spoofing (in which caller ID shows a fake number) to confuse consumers. “And we’re now working on a rule that would beef up enforcement in that area,” Katz says.

In Texas, 900,000 numbers are on the state list. From 2008 to 2010, 6,000 consumers complained about violations, state records show. Also, 121 complaints were received about unwanted faxes, and 55 people complained about telemarketers who blocked caller ID to protect their identities. In Texas, it’s illegal for telemarketers to block caller ID.

The Watchdog filed an open-records request to see some of the complaints in Texas. Better-known companies that consumers complained about include AT&T, Dish Network and Verizon Wireless.

During that same period, the state attorney general opened 18 investigations of companies. Three cases were resolved with judgments against the companies. The attorney general also filed five lawsuits.

WATCHDOG NATION TIPS

Tell the caller you are taping the call and plan to use it as evidence in a complaint to state and federal authorities.

Also, ask to be put on a company’s internal do not call list. If a consumer asks and a company continues to call, file a complaint with the FTC.

Sign up for the national Do Not Call Registry at 888-382-1222. File federal complaints with the FCC at 888-225-5322 or the FTC at 888-382-1222 or donotcall.gov.

Gather information about the caller such as the number the call was made to, what caller ID shows, the name of the company or product, description of the call, any numbers offered to opt out of future calls and whether the caller was given permission to call.

Do an Internet search for your state’s list by typing your state’s name into a search box followed by the words “Do Not Call.”

Michau, who complained about robocalls from a company promising to lower her interest rates, came up with her own tactic. She told me: “The last time I got a call, I talked gibberish very loudly, and I have not been bothered in a while. Maybe that did the trick!”

Hey, whatever works.

Make sure your auto insurance covers you against uninsured drivers

Dave Lieber — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:49:20 +0000

Randy and Donna Smith waited at a stop sign in Fort Worth in August when another motorist rammed into their car from behind. Their car was pushed across North Beach Street. The other driver took off.

A third motorist, Tommy Stover, followed the driver who hit the Smiths’ car. “I was right on his tail. He knew I had his license plate number,” the good Samaritan said.

The hit-and-run driver made a U-turn and doubled back to the scene of the accident.

“The guy gets out of his car and starts screaming at me that there’s nothing wrong with our car,” Randy Smith recalled.

“You could smell liquor on his breath,” Donna Smith said.

Randy Smith shouted at him, “You could have killed us.”

As readers of the Dave Lieber Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned, eventually, four Fort Worth police cars showed up. The offending driver, Kyle Allen Angle, 24, passed a field sobriety test. But he was arrested for public intoxication and taken to jail, police said. Later, he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. He was also cited for driving without a license and failure to control his speed.

Driver Kyle Angle didn't have insurance but drove anyway

The Smiths were in for another shock when they tried to make an insurance claim.

They learned that Angle didn’t have insurance and didn’t own the car he was driving. He had borrowed it from a friend, who told her insurance company that he didn’t have permission to drive her car. Her insurance company said it would not help the Smiths with car repairs or medical costs, which totaled thousands of dollars.

What’s more, the Smiths believed they had full coverage but found they didn’t have the types of protection they needed — uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and personal-injury protection.

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They contacted two lawyers. But when both lawyers found out they lacked those two extra layers of coverage, they declined to help.

Donna and Randy Smith with the car they driving that day.

According to state statistics, 1 in 5 drivers in Texas does not carry the minimum liability insurance required by law. That can leave others with little recourse, unless they have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and personal-injury protection.

Uninsured/underinsured coverage would have helped the Smiths because it pays for accidents caused by hit-and-run drivers if the accident is promptly reported to police. (There’s an automatic $250 deductible.)

That and PIP coverage are relatively inexpensive when considering the costs of going without it. (I checked my policy, and my annual cost for uninsured-motorist coverage is $66 for up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident; PIP coverage is $48 a year for $2,500 for each person.)

When I showed these numbers to Randy Smith, he said, “It makes you sick. All of this could have been avoided by just paying a little more on insurance, but we didn’t know.”

The Smiths’ insurance covered their car repair after they paid a $500 deductible. But the Smiths also face more than $2,000 in medical bills and a $1,600 ambulance bill because Randy Smith was taken to a hospital. He suffered shoulder and back pain after the accident, according to a medical report.

Angle did not respond to The Watchdog’s requests for comment. The Tarrant County district attorney’s office told me that he had been in the county jail two other times this year for unrelated incidents, including driving while intoxicated.

Texas can catch uninsured drivers when a driver’s license or car registration is awarded or renewed and when a car is inspected. Law enforcement officers can also use a statewide database. But with 1 in 5 drivers slipping through the cracks, the system isn’t perfect.

For drivers, that makes those other layers of insurance even more important. “You just can’t assume that you have everything unless it’s on your policy,” said Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Jerry Hagins. “Check your policy.”

Won’t the insurance policy of the owner of the car driven by Angle cover the Smiths’ costs?

“It’s possible,” Hagins said.

The way to find out is to file a complaint with the state insurance department and let staff there contact all insurance companies involved.

“Different companies have different requirements,” he said.

On Hagins’ suggestion, the Smiths filed a complaint last week with the department.

Another question: Should drivers loan their cars to others who aren’t listed on their policy?

Hagins said, “There’s no blanket answer to that. It depends on the policy. Drivers should look at their policy and contact their insurance agent to get an answer for their particular policy.”

For the Smiths and the rest of us, there’s an easy way to shop for auto (and homeowners) insurance, using a state-run website called helpinsure.com. The Smiths can visit that website and do a side-by-side comparison of rates.

”If you want to add more insurance and not spend an arm and a leg, you might find a company that offers it at a lower price,” Hagins said. “Helpinsure.com helps you do that.”

WATCHDOG NATION TIPS

Texans can visit helpinsure.com to compare automobile and homeowners insurance rates.

Liability coverage, required by state law, covers people in the other car in an accident caused by you or someone else covered by your policy. It pays expenses such as medical and funeral costs, low wages, and compensation for pain and suffering, as well as car repair or replacement, car rental (if part of the policy) and punitive damages awarded by a court.

Personal-injury protection provides medical coverage for drivers and passengers in your car, plus 80 percent of lost income. An insurance company must offer a minimum of $2,500 in PIP. If you don’t want PIP, you are supposed to reject it in writing.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage pays for expenses caused by a driver who has no coverage or not enough.

Learn more at tdi.texas.gov. Click on “Types of Insurance,” then “Auto.”

Or visit your home state’s Department of Insurance to learn more by googling your state’s name followed by “Insurance Department.” Then find news and information about automobile coverage.

Grand Prairie, TX auto repair owner Larry Duncan is not BBB accredited. Hardly!

Dave Lieber — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:31:59 +0000

A roofer had his truck towed to a Grand Prairie auto repair shop for a $900 engine diagnosis. But when the truck owner was told that the repairs would cost nearly $9,000, he balked. He wanted his truck back.

Larry Duncan, owner of Einstein Transmission Repair, refused to give it back to him for the $900 diagnosis charge. He said he wanted several thousand dollars for dismantling the engine, towing and storage for a couple of weeks in the shop.

So the roofer hired a lawyer to call the repair shop on his behalf. The lawyer, H. Charles Hamm III of Fort Worth, called Duncan and tried to negotiate a settlement. Things did not go well.

Hamm describes the phone call with Duncan as “20 high-strung minutes.” He recalls that Duncan told him, “Maybe we should have a face-to-face meeting or we could even handle it around the corner in the alley.”

A frustrated customer of Larry Duncan's took this secret photo of him and published it on the Internet.

I called Duncan a few weeks ago. He cursed at me and said, “I don’t care what you write.” Then he hung up. For this report, I sent him an e-mail describing the facts as told to me by the lawyer and his client, roofing company owner Scott McCall. Duncan has not responded.

In September 2011, Watchdog Nation reported how Duncan told another vehicle owner that he had to pay $2,500 in cash or by cashier’s check to get his truck back. Duncan originally promised a $1,500 repair job, the vehicle owner said. (Read “Transmission repair deals too good to be true.”)

In a brief interview in September, Duncan said he sometimes has to face angry customers, but that’s part of doing business.

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Promises and untruths

As readers of the Dave Lieber Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned, in this latest case, McCall has been without his work truck for more than a month. Before going to Duncan, McCall got a repair bid from another shop for $7,000. But McCall’s father found Duncan on the Internet, where Duncan attracts many of his customers, and Duncan promised a $5,000 price for the repair, Scott McCall said. Duncan’s business also goes by the names Transmission 33 and Transmission/Engine Shop.

When Duncan told McCall later that the repairs would cost $9,000, McCall asked Duncan where his shop is so he could deliver the $900 and pick up the truck. But he said Duncan refused to tell him the address, which does not appear on the invoice for the diagnosis. McCall says Duncan told him, “I don’t meet with my customers.”

McCall found the address — the shop is in the 1800 block of South Great Southwest Parkway — on a website that lists numerous complaints against Duncan. He visited the shop, and Duncan told him he could get his unrepaired truck back for $2,700.

Later, Duncan placed a mechanic’s lien against McCall, increasing the cost of returning the vehicle to $3,700.

A week ago, the lawyer and his client sent by courier a letter demanding the return of the truck. The letter included a $900 cashier’s check. But a shop employee told the courier, “We know your tricks,” and refused to sign for it, Hamm said.

When McCall called the shop again, Duncan told him, “Now I’m going to play hardball because your lawyer is involved and you’re wasting my time,” McCall said.

On Duncan’s transmissionshop.biz website, he says his business is accredited by the Better Business Bureau. That’s not true. The BBB website says the business is not accredited and shows that his shop has an “F” rating. The state comptroller’s office also lists the business as “not in good standing” because it is not up to date on a business tax.

Larrry Duncan's website claims his shop is BBB accredited, only it's not.

The fallout

McCall has been borrowing a truck from an employee for his roofing business and driving a rented Toyota Corolla. He went to the Grand Prairie police but says he was told that this is a civil matter and police cannot help him unless there is an argument or a fight on the premises.

McCall says he will never shop again based on price alone. “I’m going to research the heck out of people,” he said. “Anything involving substantial money, I’m researching now.”

If he had, he would have seen Watchdog Nation’s September report on the Internet describing Duncan’s business. These days, it’s not hard to steer clear of business owners who may want to settle expensive matters in a back alley.

Bless 7 and TeachingU2Fish.com sell tickets for non-existent car raffle

Dave Lieber — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:33:33 +0000

A preacher who claims to have attracted thousands of North Texans to a moneymaking investment has been promoting a new plan that he says will bless the poor.

Donald Wilson of Tampa, Fla., founder and CEO of TeachingU2fish, which offers his Bless 7 program, was selling $15 raffle tickets for a Ford Edge that he said was donated by Park Cities Ford. The winner was supposed to be chosen this month.

But he does not have the car, and there has been no drawing.

Donald Wilson, founder and CEO of Bless 7, part of TeachingU2Fish

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As readers of Dave Lieber Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned, this investment program started off with a bang (“The Story of Bless 7 and TeachingU2Fish.com”) and began fizzling out (“Investors in Bless 7 financial program start complaining.”)

Unfulfilled promises seemed the norm in the Bless 7 program, which promised members that they would get paid if they brought others in. Some have been paid, but many say they haven’t.

It costs $25 to join, though some paid much more to enter at higher levels. Then members — including preachers, small businesses and nonprofit organizations — start recruiting others. When they bring in the first seven, they have completed their first mission. That’s where the name comes from.

They get paid — or blessed — for each recruit. Wilson has promised that as members move up levels, they can receive up to $5,000 a day in gold and silver coins. Members get paid when people use the program’s Web browser to search the Internet, and they are supposed to have access to discount shopping.

Some investors have demanded their money back. Wilson has blamed problems on computer glitches, saying the program was in its early stages.

The raffle came about after Wilson ran into Debra Elise Turner at the breakfast bar of a motel, she said.

Turner said Wilson heard her talking on a cellphone to a friend at Ford Motor Co. After her call, he introduced himself and asked about her relationship with Ford.

He explained that he was involved in a ministry that included a program that helped poor people get cars. She said Wilson eventually introduced her to his Bless 7 Fort Worth manager, Pastor Elgin Pringle Jr.

Then, she said, Wilson asked her to organize a car raffle. Turner introduced the two preachers to the managers at Park Cities Ford. The managers said that they could not donate a car because they didn’t want to appear partial to any religious denomination but that they would gladly sell him a car at a reduced price.

Wilson told them that the proceeds would go toward buying more cars for people in need.

Wilson said Turner told her that he would pay her $15,000 to help set up the raffle, though she said she has not received any money.

Raffle ticket

She said she paid for an advertisement in the Dallas Voice newspaper. She said she was careful not to say in the ad that the dealership was donating the car.

Dallas Voice ad

Wilson wasn’t as careful on his website, teachingU2fish.com. He promoted the raffle this way:

“Thank God for Park Cities Ford for donating the 2011 Ford Edge to bless the body of Christ.

“Raffle Tickets $15.

“Last day to purchase tickets is Nov. 15, 2011.

“Raffle will be held Nov. 19, 2011 at Park Cities Ford, Dallas, Texas.”

Turner said she kept asking Wilson to remove the word donating, but he did not.

Bless 7 members sold tickets for three weeks.

But on Nov. 19, there was no drawing. Wilson told his leadership team that it was postponed until early December.

Chad Lower, the Internet sales manager for the dealership, told me: “Park Cities Ford has not donated a car. Wilson inquired about purchasing a Ford Edge from us. It was actually supposed to be purchased Monday, on Nov. 14. That didn’t happen.”

Fortunes O’Neal, the Dallas dealership’s general manager and partner, told me that the dealership agreed to sell the car at a discount because it likes to help worthy charitable endeavors. Wilson called to postpone the purchase, citing “a couple of scheduling issues.” He left a number for the dealership to call, but it didn’t work, O’Neal said.

O’Neal said: “I am absolutely shocked. This is terrible. It’s over. There’s no more. We’re not doing business with him. We won’t be associated with him.”

I called Wilson at his Forest Hill motel to ask about this. He listened to the information I had been told and hung up on me.

State law requires that charities selling raffle tickets be in good standing in Texas for three years. Religious-oriented charities must be in operation for 10 years. Bless 7, which is not registered in Texas, has been operating for less than a year.

The law also states that if a prize is not awarded within 30 days of a drawing, everyone who bought a ticket must get a refund.

State Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, told me that he has complained about Bless 7 to the Texas attorney general. “I am totally offended and upset by this,” he said. “The faster you can get this sort of thing broken up and get people to know it’s not legit, the better.”

An attorney general’s spokesman told me that failure to comply with the state Charitable Raffle Enabling Act could result in a raffle being classified as illegal gambling.

“This is definitely something to take up with local law enforcement,” the spokesman said.

Fort Worth police said they have received no complaints.

After I contacted Wilson about his raffle, he sent an e-mail to his Bless 7 leaders that he wanted all tickets sold immediately.

Then, in another e-mail, he wrote that he wanted to start a new project: “I would like to go meet with a Mercedes dealership and pick out a vehicle for next month … and get the tickets moving as [soon as] possible to give more people a better opportunity to ‘WIN’ this Mercedes!” (He put the word win in quotes.)

On Tuesday, he sent another e-mail to his followers:

“I do want to give notice that I am leaving the Texas area in a day or two and will return next year sometime in February or so to help you. … We have so many places that are pumped! New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, several areas of Florida and Jamaica, and we must make this happen to bless you all.”

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Read previous Watchdog Nation reports about this program:

“The Story of Bless 7 and TeachingU2Fish.com”

“Investors in Bless 7 financial program start complaining.”

Watching pennies in government

Dave Lieber — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:41:15 +0000

In Arlington, Texas, a quiet rebellion in the fall of 2011 stopped the city’s plans to launch a more rigorous recycling program, with mandatory rolling carts and two price increases in the coming year. Residents squawked to their city representatives that they didn’t have anywhere to store the carts, which they believed would get blown over and be difficult to handle.

Instead, city leaders considered a pilot program to begin in January 2012, but that idea was scrapped, too.

Even though a household’s monthly trash bill went up by almost 30 cents Oct. 1, 2011, Arlington residents get to keep — for now — their twice-weekly unlimited trash pickups and their little recycling bins.

Moneywise, that’s good news for Arlington residents, who have one of the least-expensive trash plans in the region. That’s because Arlington didn’t follow suit as some other cities did when they converted to once-a-week pickups, with trash and recycling restricted to the provided bins.

Arlington residents still pay about half of what Fort Worth residents pay for a single weekly pickup, with trash limited to a rolling bin.

But as readers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Dave Lieber Watchdog column first learned, there’s another part of this quiet rebellion that could easily be missed. It’s about a penny on each monthly bill. Doesn’t sound like much, but that penny signifies a whole lot more.

The penny became an obsession for one resident, Richard Weber, a former city employee who is now probably Arlington’s biggest gadfly. To understand why the penny matters, it’s probably best to understand Weber, a 55-year-old part-time postal worker who these days delivers mail in Kennedale.

Until 2005, Weber worked 20 years for the city as a computer programmer. Then he says he complained to management about waste in City Hall. He was facing a demotion, which he appealed. In the end, he resigned and felt “a little bitter,” he says. But even before he left, he started sending newsletters about city problems to a small group of friends.

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After he left, he ran for City Council three times: 2006, 2007 and 2009. Lost all three. But he also started covering City Hall as a gadfly journalist for his expanded newsletter, Arlington Spectator, a weekly that he e-mails to 400 city residents. In three years, he says he has published about 175 issues.

His reports diligently share City Hall happenings in his personal style. His most-remembered line came in one issue when he called a council member a “political prostitute” who “came into the evening session with no manhood, sporting his tightly clad mini and six-inch heels.” No surprise, he says, that council members pay little attention to him.

Here’s where that penny comes in. After City Hall released news of a 28-cent trash increase with Republic Waste Services, from $11.94 to $12.23 a month, Weber went home and did the math. He quickly realized that the increase was 29 cents instead of the 28 cents the city reported.

Weber believed that meant the bill should be $12.22 a month and not $12.23. A penny isn’t much, but multiply 100,000 residential accounts by 12 months a year.

Weber stood up at a council meeting before the vote on the trash increase and complained, but the council approved the increase anyway.

Then he started writing city officials. At first, he didn’t get a complete answer. Then city budget director Mike Finley met with Weber. It all comes down to a rounding problem. This year the increase is actually 28.35 cents, but when sales tax and a franchise fee are added to each bill, the final amount was above the half-a-cent rounding mark. So the bill was rounded up to $12.23. But Arlington residents shouldn’t feel bad. Last year, the final penny was rounded down.

Even though council members may pay no heed to Weber, city officials did. Interim City Manager Bob Byrd wrote to him, “I apologize for any confusion.” Byrd told me, “A penny means a lot to everybody in this day and age. The lesson we took away is we should have provided more information to council, and more information to Richard.”

Budget director Finley said, “Richard’s a pretty smart guy. He’s looking at this stuff. We could have done a better job putting in the details.”

Weber told me, “I just get more and more confident that I’m asking the right questions.”

He now turns his attention to expected increases in recycling fees. He doesn’t question the need for recycling; he questions the costs. As he told council last month, “Please do not try to tell me this is only a little increase. This council continues to add little increases that continue to add up.”

A penny here. A penny there. At least somebody is paying attention.

Are you tired of fighting the bank, the credit card company, the electric company and the phone company? They can be worse than scammers the way they treat customers. A popular book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, shows you how to fight back — and win! The book is available at WatchdogNation.com as a hardcover, CD audio book, e-book and hey, what else do you need? The author is The Watchdog columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Visit our store. Now revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

Transmission repair deals too good to be true

Dave Lieber — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:01:49 +0000

Something about Doug Stouffer’s story sounded all too familiar. He took his truck to a transmission shop because the deal offered by the owner sounded good: a low $1,497 for repairs, a two-day turnaround and the work guaranteed.

But when Stouffer got his truck back five days later, he had to pay $2,500 (cash or cashier’s check only). The original problem wasn’t fixed, he says.

Yes, The Watchdog had heard this story before, but that was about a transmission repair shop in Denton, Texas. This happened at a Grand Prairie, Texas transmission shop.

As readers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Dave Lieber Watchdog column first learned, turns out that the same owner is involved — Larry Duncan. Duncan, 58, moved his Denton business to Grand Prairie. The Transmission and Auto Shop is in the 1800 block of South Great Southwest Parkway.

I first talked to Duncan in 2007 after a 22-year-old woman told me that he promised her a $1,000 repair and a two-day turnaround. Three weeks later, she had to pay $2,600 in cash to get her car back. It still didn’t work, she said.

After her story appeared, Watchdog readers reached out to her. One reader donated money for her repair. Several transmission shop owners offered to repair her car for free.

Duncan’s business has operated under other names, too — and Transmission/Engine Shop.

A frustrated customer took this secret photo of Larry Duncan

When someone calls the Grand Prairie shop, a taped message from Duncan promises, “We have a two-day turnaround on transmission work.” There are no qualifiers.

In a recent phone interview, Duncan told me: “Let me explain something to you briefly. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because this is crazy.

“The $1,497 price is providing everything is rebuildable. The man had things that were not rebuildable. He had to pay for those things. He clearly understood that.

“So for the two-day turnaround, when things are not rebuilt, we have to order those parts. It takes time for the parts to arrive. Of course, he was told that.”

Duncan sometimes faces angry customers, he says, but that’s part of doing business. He denies Stouffer’s claim that the transmission in question wasn’t properly fixed.

Although Duncan doesn’t explain all the details to customers when making his pitch, his paperwork that he asks customers to sign fully explains the rules in 46 lines of fine print beneath the vehicle information.

Stouffer says Duncan assured him that any added costs would increase the bill by a few hundred dollars. Turned out to be a thousand. Duncan says there’s no way he can know what the real price is until his techs take apart the transmission. “I’m not a messiah, so I can’t know what’s wrong with a vehicle.”

When Duncan called Stouffer and said the bill would increase by $800, Stouffer said, “I reluctantly agreed and actually felt like I didn’t have a choice.”

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What to do?

What can a vehicle owner do when facing a major repair?

The Better Business Bureau suggests getting bids from multiple shops. That’s smart advice that I now follow. Twice in the past year, I got bids. For one job, the original quoted price was $1,700, but I found a shop that would do it for $325.

On a second repair, I was given a $1,200 written estimate from a repair shop, but when I took it to a second shop, I was told that nothing was wrong with my car. When I returned to the original shop and explained what happened, I was told that the technician who made the estimate had been fired. So getting estimates for those two jobs saved me $2,600.

When it comes to a transmission repair, two readers shared what to do.

Robert Graves of Fort Worth taught me that a service department at a new-car dealer that specializes in that make of automobile is more likely to make an intelligent diagnosis because the techs know the vehicle. If a quoted repair price is too high, shop around for a better deal.

David Fusco of Arlington told me that if a car needs a transmission repair or other major work, the first stop should be a dealer to learn whether there has been a parts recall by the manufacturer. That might pay for part or all of the bill.

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