Clark gets calls every week from people who want to become mystery shoppers. This is a coveted job that many people would like to have. But the truth is mystery shopping is a very selective business. There are some mystery shopping opportunities out there, but for the most part mystery shopping companies quietly seek out the candidates they want. According to the Detroit News, mystery shoppers who work in the car business are highly trained and usually have backgrounds in private investigation, bounty hunting or some research field. They evaluate how customers are greeted, how the business is run and, of course, they kick the tires on cars. They use codes when talking over the phone, and some even wear disguises and hidden cameras. It’s a very serious business that can provide very valuable information to consumers. More companies need to consider hiring mystery shoppers of their own to make sure their businesses are catering to customers.
Furniture retailing is a very hard market in which to succeed. The housing market has been really strong and people want to fill their big homes with all kinds of furniture. But in spite of that, furniture retailers still are struggling. Huffman Koos, a popular furniture retailer in the Northeast, is liquidating because the company couldn’t find a buyer to take over its ailing business. Sometimes furniture stores just shut down one day, and people who have paid for furniture ahead of time are left holding the bag. When you order custom furniture and there is a deposit you must put down, make sure you pay with a credit card. Do not use a debit card, cash or a check. Once you pay, you should start the clock. If the retailer said the furniture should arrive in four to six weeks, and that time passes with no furniture, you should start to wonder. The furniture may be just a little late. But the company could be in financial trouble, meaning your furniture was never ordered. At seven weeks, call and ask what’s going on. If they stall you some more, get ready to file a dispute with your credit card. At eight weeks, you are in danger. When it reaches 55 days, file the dispute. You only have 60 days to file a dispute, so make sure you get it in a few days early. If it turns out that you eventually get your furniture, you can always remove that dispute claim and release the money to the company. But make sure you are protected regardless.
When Clark answers questions on the air, he often makes a recommendation but he also tells you how he feels about the issue at hand. One of those topics is “no money down” loans. In fact, in 2005 there will be more opportunity to buy a home without paying one cent down, and this is scary. There will be subsidies, such as “The American Dream Down Payment Act.” Income requirements will dictate who is eligible. But the problem is that homes are actually more expense than people imagine, especially if they put no money down. First of all, the foreclosure rate on a no money down purchase is incredibly high. Maybe one in three of the people who buy this way will enter into foreclosure. The alternative takes more time and effort, but it’s worth it. Save something over time, and put some money into the deal. Syndicated financial writer Kenneth Harney writes about something called “The Single File Mortgage.” People with little cash but very high credit ratings often get involved in these mortgages, and they are very expensive homes – up to $650k. If you have the higher score, you can get this kind of loan. The market place is trying to adjust to the risk involved in such loans. In the long run, however, one is almost always better off by saving the cash before getting into the mortgage.
How do you pay our bills? In the year 2004, electronic bill paying makes a lot of sense. In fact, roughly one-third of Americans now pay their bills, or some portion of their bills, online. And that the number is heading up. What is the problem with the old system of check writing? If it gets to the creditor late, you – the consumer - have no proof that the check was sent on time. You may get stuck with a late fee, or even a mark on your credit. Clark has done electronic bill paying since the 90’s. Sometimes, banks and companies make mistakes. But if you pay though online bill pay, there is an electronic paper trail. Then if there is a problem, the service will step up and help. Listeners say that this system has helped them when there is a problem. The payer is protected. Try it.
You’ve probably heard Clark talk about the problems people are having with debt these days. Going back to the ‘80s, debt issues came up from time to time. But it wasn’t something Clark heard about a lot. Even when the country was in a recession about 0 or 12 years ago, he didn’t that many questions. But the volume of calls has intensified greatly over the past few years. The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on the topic, calling it, “King Kong Debt Meets Middle Class Life.” The average credit card debt is more than three times what it was in the early ‘90s. That is huge. If you go back just one generation, most people paid their credit card bills in full every month. Today, about 35 percent pay their cards in full and the rest are carrying balances. In addition, people are saving much less than they did a generation ago. The average a generation ago was about eight percent. Today, we’re saving less than two percent. On top of all that, bankruptcy filings have also ballooned. About 1.6 million families are filing for bankruptcy today, compared to 300,000 a generation ago. And, this has happened over time. It’s not like we just woke up one day and were in much more debt. So, Clark wants you to consider how you use and spend money. Cutting back on the plastics is the first order of business. You must stop using credit cards entirely if you want to get a handle on your debt.
The airline industry incurs much higher costs when a ticket is sold through a travel agent versus when it's sold online. It’s much like what happens in the investment industry. Making a trade with a real broker costs you more than making that trade online. It’s been a dilemma for the nation’s airlines because they want people to buy on the Internet. JetBlue even gives people cheaper fare if they book online. But Northwest is planning to give people a not-so-nice surprise with its latest idea. The airline is going to charge $5 extra for booking over the phone with a human and $10 extra for booking face-to-face with a human. It's the company's way of encouraging people to buy online, but it's just not smart, in Clark’s opinion. Why not offer people a discount for doing something you want them to do instead of punishing them for doing something you don’t want them to do. It’s just common sense.
