clarkhoward.com - Clark's recommended investments
stolenidsearch.com - find out if your SSN has been compromised
charitywatch.org - help with donating to charity
guidestar.org - donating help
give.org - charity research and donation help
redbox.com - rent movies for a buck

Today's topics are "Best Of Clark" repeats from recent shows

Have you continued to get telemarketing calls even though you’re on the federal “Do Not Call” list? Clark found out why. Internet phone calling is not included in the scope of the law. So, American companies have been hiring telemarketers outside the States and using them to call you with their sales pitches. Clark plans to contact the Federal Trade Commission to ask if this is legal. When the Do Not Call list was created, no one thought about the possibility of calls coming from overseas. So, we’ll let you know what we find out. Also, keep in mind that you must re-register on the list every couple of years to keep telemarketers away. There are a few exceptions. If you did business with a bank for 18 months after your last account activity, the bank can legally call you and any marketing partner of the bank can call you. Also, politicians and charities are allowed to call.

A couple months ago, Clark shared the story of Shirley Tias. She had received checks in the mail from scam artists. They conned her into thinking she’d won a lottery. She deposits the checks thinking they’re legitimate. But they bounce and she ends up getting charged with fraud. She spent a night in jail and was facing more time behind bars if prosecuted. Thankfully, the charges were dropped once it got to court. But the process is ridiculous. How many times is law enforcement going to get this wrong? They go after the victim instead of the criminals, who in this case were in Canada. The reality is that we could stop this if banks updated their systems to verify checks electronically. There is no reason why a check that someone deposits can’t be checked on the spot to determine if it’s a fake. But banks don’t want to spend the money to upgrade. If nothing else, post signs warning people about phony cashier’s checks. Basically, the banks don’t care. As a result, about 50 innocent people get taken and end up in jail each year. They will continue to get taken unless the financial industry takes an interest.

Clark has never liked Ticketmaster. The company has always engaged in underhanded practices, locking up exclusive arrangements with promoters and gouging the public with huge add-on fees. In addition, the company has horrible customer service. Ticketmaster has had some trouble in recent years, however. Alternative companies have been able to put a chink in Ticketmaster’s armor with the help of the Internet, and Clark's been extremely happy about that. Well, Ticketmaster is playing poor sport once again and has filed suit against every other ticket sales company in existence. If the company wins, the customer service is sure to get worse and the fees will certainly go up. Clark thinks there should at least be a direct ticket window, where people can buy tickets in person. The way it looks now, it’s either Ticketmaster or nothing. And that is simply wrong.

Clark used to get tons of complaints against Blockbuster on the show. Today, he rarely gets any. Over the years, the company had gotten used to being the only large movie rental company in the country. Its customer service suffered as a result and people started calling into the show. But once Netflix and other movie subscription companies moved into the market, Blockbuster had to shape up. The company eliminated late fees and started its own mail subscription service. The great thing about the program is that you can return movies through mail or to the actual stores. It’s up to you. Even better, competition between the companies has lowered prices among all of them.