• workingamerica.org - poll on bad bosses
• zipcars.com - rentable cars around town
• cnet.com - tech help
• mysimon.com - HDTV antennas
• ingdirect.com - banking options

A union Web site called “WorkingAmerica.com” recently conducted a survey about bad bosses on the country. Employees were asked to send in essays about why their boss should get the “worst boss” award. If people could prove just how horrible their boss really was, they would win a cash prize. Tons of entries came in. Just goes to show what poor management there is out there. When you treat customers with respect and dignity, they will work harder for you and the business will be more successful. It’s common sense.

How many cars do you have in your household? Are any of them sitting there unused. If you’re a three car family and have two drivers, there is usually one car sitting idle. You probably only need a half a car or a fourth of a car, though. That’s why car-sharing programs have become so popular, especially in big cities. You pay a monthly membership fee and you can get a car whenever you want it. The cars are strategically placed around the city, and the companies are usually in cities where people often don’t use cars. Zipcar is one of these companies. It’s been around for several years with operations in New York, Boston and San Francisco among others. But the company is branching out to car-dependent cities as well, such as Chapel Hill, Atlanta and Dallas. Cars cost so much money to maintain and insure these days that it could really be a logical concept. So, how much do these services cost? The average person spends about $70 a month on their “part-time” car. That’s compared to $500 a month for your own car.

You’ve probably seen loyalty cards that stores offer. They help those stores develop a profile on you, which then allows them to target what items they offer you. It’s based on what you’re likely to buy, and often people do buy what stores have targeted for them. But now stores are profiling people based on how they look. Macy’s, for example, can find a “Traditional Catherine” or “Fashion Leader Alex” when they enter the store. WalMart targets “Loyal Carlas,” who visit several times a week. But they would like to get more business from the "Gracie" girls in the store. Best Buy will even ignore people they profile as non-frequent shoppers. So, these stores are literally judging a book by its cover. We’ll see if it works for them. Sometimes how people look on the outside says nothing about the true person inside.

In corporate America, it seems that the bigger businesses get the less customer service they offer. Two new surveys show that people aren’t taking it anymore. In the first - by Accenture - half of the people fired the company if they got crummy service. According to a survey by Discover, the most important thing people want is to talk to someone quickly and get their issue resolved quickly. People get annoyed if they have to wait more than two minutes. If you’re waiting longer than three minutes, things could get ugly. So, who expects better service? Women overwhelmingly demand better service. The most demanding group is women 18 to 34 years old.

Clark’s oldest daughter, Rebecca, was on the show with Clark this afternoon, discussing her spending habits. She has learned to prioritize what she needs versus what she wants, especially now that she has a car for which she must buy gas. She thinks it will give her a better perspective on finances and spending for when she gets older and is on her own. We’ll check back with Rebecca on that a few years from now to see.

The voters of Oregon get to stick it to the insurance industry starting in November and Clark is so excited about it. The insurance industry has decided that forgetting to pay your credit card one month means you are more likely to burn your house down or drive your car into a ditch. So, companies have started basing your insurance premiums on your credit score. About 90 percent of insurance companies are using this practice these days. Clark has thought the idea ridiculous since it started and evidently Oregon does too. The voters of Oregon have the ability to put measures on their ballot and they are including on the next one the chance to ban credit-score initiated insurance rates. Insurance rates should be based on how people drive and the number of tickets they have gotten. That makes much more sense to Clark and hopefully to the voters of Oregon.

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In other insurance news, Travelers Insurance is automatically charging customers for identity theft insurance, unless customers specifically call and tell the company otherwise. That's called a "negative option" and Clark is not a fan of these at all. He thinks Travelers should rethink how it is forcing customers to buy this insurance. It's not fair or smart.