Free Financial Today

Question: I bought a cell phone from Alltel with a $100 mail-in rebate. I sent in all the paperwork but never got the money. When I called Alltel months later, the company told me it never got my form – and I could no longer submit it because the rebate had expired. Help! – Geert Audiens, Cary, N.C.

Answer: Businesses lure consumers with billions of dollars in rebate offers every MORE

Qustion: Our rental car was sideswiped by a tour bus when my wife and I were on vacation. We rented the car from Dollar, but we declined insurance because we have an auto policy with Safeco and a rep said we’d be covered if we had an accident. Safeco paid most of the $4,000 claim but refused to cover charges for what Dollar said was the car’s diminished value, loss MORE

Question: My wife was contacted by a firm called Keane Tracers that told her my mother-in-law, who passed away in 2001, has a mutual fund worth $14,000. For 25% of that amount, Keane will do the paperwork to get us the money; for 15% it will tell us where the money is so we can recover it ourselves. Then the company sent us a contract quoting 35% for full recovery MORE

Question: I signed a two-year contract with Sprint for my cell phone. A year and a half later, I moved to a new home a few miles away in the same city. I can’t seem to get a signal inside my house, which is a problem since I don’t have a landline. Sprint told me to upgrade the software on my phone, but that didn’t help. So I switched to MORE

Question: I saw an interesting health book advertised on TV and bought it over the phone. When I got my credit-card bill, I noticed a mystery charge of $5.95 for an e-newsletter from the same company, Natural Cures. When I called to cancel, the lines were always busy or I was put on hold and never helped. I’ve been charged for six months for a newsletter I never wanted! MORE