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The many things a Watchdog is grateful for [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas]
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 27--The Watchdog is grateful this Thanksgiving season for so many people who stood up and fought back in 2009.
Looking back, The Watchdog is thankful that:
Consumers such as Linda May of Hurst used small-claims court to their advantage. A moving company May hired broke some of her furniture and then ignored her complaints. She hauled the owner into court, where a justice of the peace awarded her nearly $1,000.
That neighbors can work out their problems by talking. After learning that Marion Blackburn of Johnson County was distraught about her new neighbors' shooting range beside her house (Her oldest son was killed years before in a shooting accident.), I introduced her to the neighbor, a caring minister who quickly promised to remove the target range. They became friends.
Companies offering cable TV, Internet access, telephone services and satellite TV are locked in price wars that can only benefit consumers. Play one off the other for even better deals than advertised.
Electricity rates for residential customers in North Texas dropped to their lowest levels in years.
The North Texas Tollway Authority is feeling well-deserved heat for its confusing and unfair billing practices. Revisions are scheduled for the authority to discuss next month.
One man stood up against a city to preserve his English-style flower garden. After a mower hired by the city of Fort Worth used a big riding lawn mower to destroy a cottagelike flower garden in his front yard, Mark D'Amico sued the city. His case lingered on until D'Amico hit a dead end, but he did grow back his English garden.
It's better to keep battling and learn what you need to know than quit. Ask Anita Chapman of Haltom City, who took on the biggest problem of her life after her husband died and she had to fight Medicare over a $1,400 medical bill. She studied the law, followed the appeals process and won.
State lawmakers put the lame Texas Residential Construction Commission out of business. Predictably, lawmakers didn't replace it with anything.
A disturbing medical study conducted in Fort Worth, Dallas and elsewhere in which some accident victims were given an experimental saline solution substitute they never consented to receive was shut down.
The federal government raised the interest on I Bonds this month from zero to 3.36 percent.
The postman who delivers mail at an Arlington retirement community where 98-year-old Ruth Wingfield lives recommended that she contact me. Wingfield wrote a check for $480 to her health insurance company, Cigna, when she meant to write it for $4.80. Cigna was slow repaying her, until . . .
Suddenly we have a common goal in our lives. Get rid of credit cards.
The Watchdog pipeline to companies that generate the most complaints is going strong. Note to you: Every month I send your written complaints about the following companies to their top staffers for VIP treatment. The companies are TXU Energy, Oncor, Atmos Energy, Reliant Energy, AT&T, Verizon, the U.S. Postal Service, DirecTV, Dell Computer, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications. Keep that in mind. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Speaking of which, I'm glad that halfway through 2009, Dell started taking Watchdog reader complaints seriously. (A few readers were given new computer parts, no questions asked.)
Federal agents and prosecutors continue to charge former employees of National PreArranged Services, the pre-need funeral giant that folded, causing the biggest scandal in the funeral industry in more than a decade, with crimes. Tens of millions of dollars are missing. The firm had ties to two Texas insurance companies, now closed, that wrote the policies.
Community volunteers such as Justin McMurry of Keller donate their time and knowledge to give free technical support to customers who can't get help from the companies. McMurry helps at this Web site: forums. verizon.com/vrzn.
People like Paul Thompson of Keller are interested in learning more about the secretive inner workings of Texas electricity co-ops.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas actually fined a few electricity companies. Not many, and not much. But hey, at least it's something.
All who wrote and asked for my free electricity guide to save money by switching electricity companies. Do an Internet search for "Dave Lieber electricity guide." Or send an e-mail to watchdog@star-telegram.com or write to me by U.S. mail at the Star-Telegram for your copy. I've given away thousands.
Finally, I'm thankful that the Star-Telegram continues to support The Watchdog. And I'm gratified that the best stories come from you, the readers, as we continue to sort out changes in our world and learn how to protect ourselves.
Need a Watchdog? E-mail watchdog@star-telegram.com or write to P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, 76101.
The Watchdog column appears Fridays and Sundays. Dave Lieber, 817-685-3830 Twitter @DaveLieber
To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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