Costco Connection - November 2004

THE CONSUMER CONNECTION DAVID HOROWITZ

Neither a borrower nor lender be?

I_’ve _often _told _people _to _think _twicefrom the store account records, Ms. X cannot _before _loaning _family _and _friends _moneyblame the store for assuming she was still or allowing them to use their credit cards. ^legally ^and ^happily ^linked ^to ^the ^account._In _my _years _of _{problem-solving} _experi-That means it would be Ms. X’s fault for not _ence, _I _have _yet _to _find _any _story _with _areporting the dispute and severing the friend happy ending in such financial deals. ^from ^the ^account.

The borrowers are typically ^Another ^point: ^Did ^the_{responsible for the payments,}friend accept the credit-card yet often pay late or default on ^offer ^using ^Ms. ^X’s ^Socialthe loans. Here is a real and very ^Security ^number ^and/or ^her_sad _case _I _recently _worked _onname? If so, this can mean iden- _that _shows _what _can _go _wrongtity theft, which is a felony. If _{when you try to help out a}that’s the case, I suggested, she

“_trusted” _friend _who _lives ₁_,500should contact her state attorney
_{miles away. I will call the}general and the local police
_victim“_{Ms. X.}” department where the friend
_Ms. _X _was _a _responsiblelives to discuss the matter and
consumer with an excellent ^to ^file ^a ^police ^report.credit rating until she added a ^I ^also ^suggested ^that ^Ms. ^Xfriend’s name to her department ^David ^Horowitz^challenge ^the ^store ^or ^credit-store credit account. Her friend ^card ^issuer ^to ^prove ^who_defaulted _on _her _payments, _butaccepted the card. There should
_the _store _didn’t _notify _Ms. _X. _When _shebe some record to see who responded to the
_found _out, _she _closed _the _account _immedi-offer and where the offer or statements were
_ately—but _too _late _to _recoup _thousandssent. This can help Ms. X prove that she was
of dollars that was lost and had to be paid to ^not ^responsible ^for ^the ^charges._the _store.When the investigation is complete, she
_Now _Ms. _X _has _learned _that _the _friendshould contact all three credit-reporting agen-
_accepted _a _new _credit _card _from _the _samecies and ask them how to dispute the negative
store, using Ms. X’s Social Security number ^mark ^that ^now ^appears ^on ^her ^record. ^Ms. ^Xand positive credit history. The friend soon ^will ^have ^to ^challenge ^all ^three ^reports ⁱⁿdefaulted again, this time leaving Ms. X with a ^writing. ^But ^the ^{documentation} ^she ^collects_$10,000 _debt. _She _came _to _me _asking _who _wasshould help her prove that her identity was
_to _blame, _and _how _she _could _repair _her _dam-stolen and that she was not responsible for the
aged credit record and get her money back. ^charges ^on ^the ^card. ^Also, ^because ^herFirst of all, I instructed her to tell the col- ^address ^was ^not ^on ^the ^billing ^statement, ^shelection agency that the credit report is in error ^should ^be ^able ^to ^prove ^that ^there ^was ^no ^wayand she was officially disputing the matter. ^that ^she ^knew ^about ^the ^account ^or ^that ^theShe also needed to remind them that under ^payments ^were ⁱⁿ ^default._the _law, _they _could _no _longer _contact _herFinally, I told her to write letters of com-
_while _the _case _is _being _challenged. plaint to the owner or CEO of the department
_I _asked _Ms. _X _some _important _questionsstore and to the card issuer to complain about
_that _could _help _her _resolve _this _problem:this situation and how their lack of verifica-
_After _she _closed _the _credit-card _account _thetion ruined her credit. I suggested that she ask
first time, did she remove her friend’s name ^them ^to ^come ^to ^her ^defense ^by ^writing ^anfrom the account? Did she tell the store or ^{acknowledgement} ^of ^their ^error ^and ^helpingcredit-card issuer that the friend was no ^remove ^the ^debt ^from ^her ^credit ^records.longer listed on the account? And most obvi- ^The ^most ^awful ^part ^of ^this ^whole ^decep-ously, did she report that the Social Security ^tion ^is ^that ^Ms. ^X ^will ^have ^learned ^a ^lesson_number _linked _to _the _account _belonged _to _Ms.that might haunt her for the rest of her life. C

AM Y CAN TRELL

Ask David Horowitz

Iuse Web-based Microsoft Network (MSN) Hotmail for e-mail. I recently lost everything in my Inbox—a year’s worth of messages. I thought it was due to a server error and could retrieve it, but they said I’m out of luck. Is it a failure on their part? Should they compensate me for my loss?

C.D.

Westminster, California

C.D., was it a server crash? Or had your account become dormant? MSN instructs Hotmail users to keep their account active by logging in at least once every 30 days or messages will be deleted.

MSN said if the server crashes, messages may not be recoverable. They do not keep backups of old messages. (And remember, no storage system is 100 percent reliable!)

It was not their responsibility to protect a year’s accumulation of your messages. Hotmail actually warns users to save important messages to their PC for safety.

They don’t owe you a refund because you haven’t paid anything. Hotmail is a free service, making money on extras such as additional storage or other MSN-based products and services. In this case, you got what you paid for.