Social networking sites: (dis)advantages

Nowadays social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter,… are important sources of information and means of communication to consumers, coworkers, managers, banks, competitors, …These sites offer a lot of advantages for all of us. We can socialize, meet people, get free publicity for events, find information,… But unfortunately social networking sites may be damaging your financial future without you knowing.

Firstly managers and coworkers can use these sites. In the past, companies dismissed employees because they made sensitive information public or because they had posted negatives remarks about their job. Companies do everything to save their reputation and protect themselves against competitors.

Also banks are using networking sites to determine whether they lend money to you or not and on which conditions. If you post things like “I can hardly pay my bills”, banks will rather refuse credit or you will pay higher interest rates.

In my opinion social networking sites can be very useful. I have my own Facebook account and use it every day. For me Facebook has 3 big advantages:

1. I can find friends back I haven’t seen for a long time;
2. I can exchange photos
3. Our class has his own “group”. Only members of our class can see these conversations.
For example: if we organize a trip with the class, we can announce and discuss it there.

But of course I must look out for what I post. I will never post something that can hurt someone or can have a bad influence on my career or my future life.

My conclusion: you may use social networking sites, but be careful of what you put on it and reflect about the consequences.

By Liesbeth Alliet

http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2010/02/are-social-networking-sites-hurting-your-credit.html

Home Affordable Modification Program

Due to the recession and a declining economy, lots of American homeowners can't afford their mortgage anymore. They need assistance fast, otherwise their home could go into foreclosure.

The "Home Affordable Modification Program" is here to help those people. It's an initiative created by president Obama and went into effect March 4, 2009.
In essence it modifies the loan they have to pay for their homes, so it becomes more affordable for them.

This is a good initiative because a lot of Americans are in financial problems today. The crisis started in America, with the banks lending money to the wrong people, and America is one of the countries that's been hit the hardest by it.

The number of people that got a Home Affordable Modification increased from 3,200 to 12,700 in just a couple of months. There are also over 14,000 loan modifications pending.
Looking at those numbers it becomes clear a lot of people need financial support.

Obama's administration also contacted the Bank of America to help the people in need through the program. But already there are a lot of complaints about it.
The major complaints are about the bad customer service and the amount of documents needed to continue with the program.

I think this gives the people mixed feelings about the initiative.
Obama's administration wants to help the people in need by offering assistance and they even contact a big bank to help out. But on the other hand, the program requires so many different documents, that most people don't even know what to do or how to initiate it.

There is also the complaint about the bad customer service.
I think Obama should pressure the Bank of America in improving that service. Since Obama is linking his program (and his name) to that bank. If that bank gets a lot of complaints about something, Obama will inevitably be mentioned there, which might affect his reputation.

We can conclude by saying it's good that Obama tries to help the people in financial needs.
But there are still a few details that need to be sorted out before the program is fully operational.

By Dieter De Smet

Source: http://americanconsumernews.com/2010/02/homeowners-frustrated-with-bank-of-american-loan-modifications.html

Infected salmon is safe to eat

The Chilean farmed salmon is of no harm to humans reports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For many years the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) has killed thousands of (other) fish.

The virus has been found in Chile, The United States, Norway and Scotland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 30% of United States’ imported salmon comes from Chile. So if the salmon was harmfully to humans, it would have had a great impact on the American’s fish consumption.

The Pew Environment Group, the nonprofit organization monitoring and signalizing environmental problems, also warns for the use of antibiotics by the salmon producers. The Group stresses the importance of the government’s role in this case.

I’m glad to know that there exists organizations such as Pew Environment Group. Thanks to these groups the food scandals stay limited. But there is still a lot of work to do. Now it’s up to the governments of the involved countries to take the right measures. Certainly the FDA must raise the amount of controls and the authorities must take severe action. Not a single offence should be left unpunished nor ignored.

The question is: will you still eat Chilean farmed salmon after this news? I don’t think so. Consumers will likely choose for the wild salmon. Above all, many experts are convinced that the wild one is healthier.

So I can conclude that the salmon affected by this virus is safe to eat but it’s recommended to choose for the uninfected wild salmon. After all, the involved governments must take their responsibility in this case.

By Liesbeth Alliet

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/18/salmon.disease/index.html?iref=allsearch

Top 10 consumer gripes revealed

Top 10 consumer gripes revealed

The service ‘Consumer Direct’ has had 50.790 calls and e-mails for complaints about second-hand cars bought from independent traders. They’re top listed in the top 5 complaints.

Second are the complaints about televisions and third mobile phone complaints.

 

Computer and laptop complaints rose the most.

In total the service has answered about 1 500 000 calls and e-mails since May 2009.

The calls Consumer Direct are getting, are not always with complaints but also with questions about their rights.

From the 50.790 calls and e-mails about complaints about second hand cars the most came from young drivers, drivers between 17 and 34 year published the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).


Most of the complaints are complaints about mechanical problems such as problems with the brakes, engine,....



The OFT also discovered that most of the problems come about 3 months after the purchase. Approximately 50% of the problems are fixed by the dealer. The average cost for the repair is about £ 465. Almost 30% of the problems weren’t fixed.



People has to go to dealers with a good reputation, who’re member of a trade association. Most of the time the problems are caused by bad communication or a misunderstanding between the persons.

We also see a movement. Television is now on the second place with 22.184 calls and e-mails. The mobile phone service complaints loses about 29%.

 Most of the goods with complaints are bought in a shop, 13% came from the internet and good 10% were bought on the internet.


Also in the top 10 complaints are : car repairs and service from independent garages, women’s clothing and upholstered furniture.



It’s a good idea to do a research to the complaints of consumers. I thought that complaints about laptops would be higher in the rank, because a lot of people have troubles with their computer.


Also the fact that most of complaints for second-hand cars came from young drivers is normal. They don’t know what to do with their problem. They bought a car for the first time and then after 3 month there’s a problem with it. I think they’re scared to go to their parents and that’s the reason why they call or send an e-mail.






When people call the consumer direct or send an e-mail they it’s because they believe that they could help them. When consumer direct get 1.5 million calls and e-mails it’s because people believe they really help.


It’s always good to know as a consumer that you can call to a person who says what you should do and what you shouldn’t do.


It’s some kind of a trust.



A lot of stores have phone numbers you can call with problems or complaints about the price of the quality. I think that’s important that you help your consumers even after the purchase. People need that! They need to have the feeling that they’re special, and not kind of a number.

Writen by Sofie Lamon

I’ve got this Story from BBC NEWS:

link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/8483788.stm
published: 2010/01/28 00:01:21 GMT

Mc Donald’s sales increase globally.

In the month of January, Mc Donald’s announced that their sales have increased 2,6 percent globally. But in the United States, Mc Donald’s lost 0,7 percent off their sales. Locations that have been open for less than 13 months are not included in these figures.

For many people dining at Mc Donald’s is cheaper and easier then cooking a meal at home, definitely in this time of economic crisis. To anticipate on this, Mc Donald’s has introduced new items on their menus, depending on what country you live in. These items are overall a perfect alternative to pricier and fancier restaurants.

At the Olympic media center in Vancouver, Mc Donald’s launched the strawberry banana and wild berry smoothie. After the Olympics, Mc Donald’s is planning to add the smoothies to their normal menu.

In Mc Donald’s restaurants all over the world changes are carried out. For example in Japan, Mc Donald’s is going to close 430 restaurants, but 90 new restaurants will open and 200 other restaurants will be refurnished. In Germany, their fourth largest market, Mc Donald’s introduced the veggie burger and beers with their menus. In Italy, Mc Donald’s is offering strategically the McItaly with Italian beef.

Mc Donald’s is the world’s largest fast-food chain on the planet with approximately 31.000 restaurants worldwide, established in 120 countries and serves over 50 million people.

I think that it’s not a surprise that Mc Donald’s is growing all over the world. Definitely now they are adapting their products on people who experience problems because of the crisis. Otherwise they are introducing typical products (McItaly, beer, …) to expand. Their strategy is very good and with the innovations and prices they keep convincing their customers although it not healthy. They have to keep up the good work!

By Karen Mechelinck
2 FV 4

Source: http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2010/02/mcdonald’s-sales-increase-globally-decrease-in-the-u-s.html

February 12th, 2010

Remarkable complaints against commercials.

Everybody has seen the commercial of Belgacom about a little mouse, Stuart Little, who burps soap bells. There are people who think it's funny, but on the other hand, there are some who think it isn't appropriate. Even more, some people are getting irritated by the fact that commercials are becoming deceptive and bald.

About 170 complaints are investigated by the 'Jury voor Ethische Praktijken inzake Reclame'. JEP investigates the commercials and add some advices about how they can improve them. However some complaints aren't that obvious. There's one about the commercial of Gillet ( Woods and Federer run in a shop and they try to be first to catch a Gillet-raser). The complaint about this one is that it increases the violent behavior.

We can conclude that there's a kind of 'grey zone'. It's a zone where some people think that something is funny, but some others think that it isn't. The line between what is funny and what is inapropriated isn't the same for everyone.

I think it's ridiculous that people have complaints about commercials. Some of them are really far-fetched, for example the commercial of Gillet. The purpose of them is to entertain and to sell products. When we watch them and we can remember them when we see the product in a shop, it's more likely that we buy them. Companies need the commercials, because sometimes it makes the difference between winning and losing.

This blog is based on the article ' Opmerkelijke klachten tegen reclame' in 'Het Laatste Nieuws', p. 83, Saturday 30th of January.

by yorick stroobant

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