Live Search cashback - Microsoft pays you to use their search engine!
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Verizon recently earned plaudits on Clark's show for hiring a "Customer Care Czar" named Tom Maguire. It's somewhat odd that there's a job such as Maguire's, but the reality is that as companies get bigger they sometimes lose their customer service skills.

Maguire is the man charged with reversing that trend at Verizon. In a rare interview on the show, Clark gave him some airtime today to tell his story.

The czar said he frequently helps employees deal with bureaucratic obstacles that stand in the way of good customer service. He also helps shepherd disgruntled customers through the escalation process when they call an executive directly.

Maguire points to the implementation of net promoter scores as one of the ways the company is putting the emphasis back on the customer. This is a fancy way of saying that Verizon hires a third-party group to call up customers after they've spoken to a rep and ask them to rate the service they received. The customer's feedback then goes to the rep responsible for helping that person. It's a way to build a "you touch it, you own it" mentality among employees, Maguire says.

Finally, he vowed the company will try to ensure that customers won't get sales pitches for other services when they call up to resolve an issue. He's also working to ensure that outsourced reps located overseas are well-trained and articulate.

Looking to the future, Maguire says he'd like to eliminate the multiple numbers you have to call if you have problems with several different Verizon services.

After years of Clark's prodding, Christa has finally made the switch from bottled water to tap water. What finally made her cross over from the dark side? She got hold of the Watersafe All-In-One Test Kit at Whole Foods.

For just about $20, she was able to test her family's tap water for bacteria, lead, pesticides, nitrates, nitrites, chlorine, pH and hardness. Well, the water passed with flying colors, and her brood has been drinking from the tap ever since.

Bottled water will run you about $1,400/year, not to mention that it's an environmental disaster because of all the plastic. That price alone is about 1,000 times what tap water costs! Meanwhile, 1 in 3 brands are just filtered municipal water, which is essentially glorified tap water. So why pay all the extra dough? Try a home-testing kit if you're still concerned about safety.

If you've ever seen or heard a LifeLock ad, you know that CEO Todd Davis proudly announces his Social Security number – essentially challenging thieves to steal his identity.

Clark is often asked about whether or not Davis' company offers a legitimate service. First off, yes, LifeLock is a legitimate company. However, Clark doesn't believe they're very effective at protecting your identity. Now the CEO is being sued in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia by customers who say his service doesn't work.

LifeLock's business model is based on repeatedly putting fraud alerts on your credit files. These alerts are meant to raise a flag to potential creditors so they carefully verify an applicant's identity. Too often, however, the alerts are ignored and credit is extended anyway to thieves using your name.

The truth is there's no perfect way to prevent ID theft. In the event of a theft, the banks and credit-card companies know it's cheaper to deal with write-offs after the fact than to institute industry-wide practices to end the threat before it begins.

So what's the best available solution? Do a credit freeze. This will shut a criminal down cold when it comes to applying for credit in your name. They can still take a card from your wallet and charge it up, though. But that's the least harmful crime in this arena.

Credit freezes are not a panacea and can be somewhat of hassle to establish. That's why Clark has compiled his credit freeze guide to help you through the process. When you do want to use credit again, "thawing" your records can take from a few minutes to a few days, depending on your state of residence.

Microsoft has long trailed Google in the search market, which explains why they've been trying to buy Yahoo. By the numbers, Microsoft controls about 9% of the market, Yahoo controls around 20% and Google has 55%-60%.

In order to gain more market share, Microsoft will actually pay you to use them for search! Customers who make an online purchase after using their search engine become eligible for a cash back rebate from Microsoft. Clark has no idea how well this idea will pan out.

In related news, Google offers its own suite of free office software. Those same programs are also available in a free web-based version as well. Clark likes to see what Google has available from time to time on their site.

Finally, did you know that Microsoft Office is available outside the United States in select countries for only $3?! That's a huge difference from the $150-$500 we pay!