Scummy Companies of the Week:
TLG Great Fun & Chase Bank

After being a consumer lawyer for the better part of two decades, I'm surprised that I just received my first complaint about TLG Great Fun, because when I looked them up on the web

TLG Great-Fun (complaint! OR scam)

Google returned 961 hits.

When I added chase to the mix, the hit count was 159, but more on that later

What does TLG do that's so bad? TLG has a business model where it imposes monthly charges on consumer's credit cards, and the consumers repeatedly claim, they don't know how they got on there. The charges are for auto clubs, buyers clubs or something, but nobody seems to know what benefits these clubs really provide. This little enterprise has been going on under a variety of names for years. According to Wikipedia.org, until recently, the official name was Trilegiant Corp, but the current name of TLG is Affinion Corporation. Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry.

This is an operation that generates perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for its owners, while at the same time delivering minuscule goods or services. So who owns this gold mine? I'm not sure, it was related to the Cendant Group, according to Consumeraffairs.org; but Cendant broke up into numerous pieces last year. Also according to Consumeraffairs.org, this enterprise has used an astonishing number of program names or trade names. Here is consumeraffairs' list:

AOL AutoVantage
AOL Credit Alert
AOL Netmarket
AOL Travelers
Advantage
AutoVantage
Buyers Advantage
Citishopper
Clever
Clubhouse
CompleteHome
Credentials Services
Dental Plus Group Plan
Digital ProtectionPlus
Dinner On Us Club
Family FunSaver Club
Great Fun
Great Options
Health Saver
Homeowners Savings Network
Hot-Line
Identity Secure
Just For Me
Macy's Hot-Line
National Card Registry
Netmarket
OurCompleteHome.com
Pet
Privileges
PrivacyGuard
Sears Discount Travel Club
Shoppers
Advantage
Small
Business Central
Today's Homeowner Values
Travel ER
Travelers
Advantage

Incidently, consumeraffairs.org's coverage of this operation is excellent and appears to be frequently updated. One wonders why consumeraffairs can be this on top of things, but yet our taxpayer-funded consumer protection agencies are way behind.

One perpetual buddy of this TLG slimemold has been the Chase group, including Chase Bank and Chase Home Finance. As I indicated at the beginning of this post, a lot, though not all of the complainers are Chase customers. The involvement with Chase goes way back. In 2006, the Maine attorney general announced a 15 state settlement with TLG and Chase for alleged violations going back to 2001. When confronted by consumers concerning mystery charges on their debit and credit card statements, Chase has a practice of claiming ignorance and telling customers that they have to clear it through TLG (or whatever name they are going by at the time). This is a deceptive practice and a misrepresentation of the law. If it is a credit card, the consumer has dispute rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act, and if it is a debit card, the FTC credit practices rule applies. The consumer can dispute it and trigger the bank's duty to obtain verifiable written authorization from the merchant or the charge must be reversed. If you run into one of these charges and complain about it, I'll give you odds that Chase won't tell you that TLG is one of its marketing partners, and Chase has had an ongoing business relationship of AT LEAST providing customer names and address for solicitation by TLG.

Although some (but not all) state attorneys general have taken action on this, where have the federal authorities been? They've been asleep at the switch. As far as I can tell, their has been no action by either the Federal Trade Commission nor the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

If it can be established that Chase (and/or others) has a deal with TLG to sign up customers without their authorization, then this is nothing more than organized crime, and it should be treated as such. People should go to jail. There is obviously big money involved. This is a significant scam that is just one step away from major press coverage. Tune in for more as the story develops.

More Toe Tapping Prosecutions in Minnesota
Hand Jive - Toe Tapping AND Hand Waving

The movie Grease has been banned from showing in Minnesota, as it contains flagrant and vulgar depictions of toe tapping and hand waving. Anyone who participates in such activity in Minnesota is subject to prosecution for disorderly conduct.

Breaking News:
My Three Sons video to lead to indictments in Minnesota

Everyone connected with the television show My Three Sons are officially suspect as members of an alleged "disorderly conduct" gang. Sources say that prosecutorial interest flared after this video of flagrant toe-tapping was made public. Rumors that Senator Larry Craig frequently watched the show could not be confirmed at presstime.

An unnamed prosecutorial attorney had this to say: "That Uncle Charley is suspicious. He was in the navy, knew how to cook, kept a neat house, and jumped at the chance to join a household of men and boys. You figure it out."

Mopar or Less Par?
Chryslerberus might shed two operations

Rumors are circulating that the New Chrysler Corporation might shed its signature Mopar parts operation and its Chrysler Transport division. The transport division hauls parts from facility to facility. If Chrysler sells the Mopar parts operation, it will likely keep the Mopar name and trademark.

All of this is speculation at this point, but if true it contradicts the pre-buyout position of Cerberus that it would not sell the company off piecemeal. Thanks to Steve B. for the tip.

Union Rumblings at Toyota
Georgetown, Kentucky Plant has labor strife


There is talk of a union vote (for the first time) in Toyota's flagship factory in Georgetown, Kentucky. According to an article at Autoblog.com, Toyota management is refusing to meet with worker representatives in the plant. In this case, the worker representatives are part of a group called the Kentucky Workers Right Board. The Autoblog article does not specifically state whether the representatives from the KWRB are Toyota employees. In an editorial at thetruthaboutcars.com, writer Frank Williams asserts the KWRB is a UAW creation. Williams also opines that if the UAW agitates in Georgetown, that Toyota will close its only UAW plant in the US, the NUMMI plant in California.

What's wrong at Georgetown? Workers are complaining about the injury rate and what they deem to be excessive use of low-paid "temporary" workers. It was reported in the news earlier this year that, with bonuses and overtime, workers at Georgetown made more money last year than the average UAW worker. Fringe benefits, however are not comparable. Needless-to-say, Toyota workers don't have full retiree healthcare.

Tata Sticks Out as Jaguar/Land Rover Suiter

Indian giant, Tata is touted as the leading candidate for taking over Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands. According to the Times Online, the only other serious candidate is another Indian company, Mahindra & Mahindra, a maker of four-wheel-drive vehicles. Thanks to Steve B. for the link.

Timewasting Site if the Week: Basicichipdigitalgold.com
How to be Hip

"Steve, how did you get to be so hip?" That's what people always ask me. How to you answer a question like that ?Me, I channel the spirit of Greg Brady, but not everybody can do that. Now YOU can be hip too. I'm linking lesson one of "How to Speak Hip" by Del Close and John Brent. This is just one of the lost LP records collected at www.basicichipdigitalgold.com. If you spend a half hour on this site, you'll think William Shatner is a mainstream singer.

NYT: Almost 1/2 of Lemon Buyback Cars get Laundered Title

Today's New York Times contains an excellent article on lemon law buybacks. The NYT commissioned a study of 1000 cars bought back under Florida's lemon law. Of the 1000, 555 were shipped out of state. Of the 555, an amazing 80% lost the "lemon" designation from their title history.

Dayton, Ohio attorney, Ron Burge, a fellow National Association of Consumer Advocates member, and a Lemon Law expert, is quoted prominently in the article. Ron has a great blog linked here.


UAW CONTRACT RUMORS HEATING UP

A few folks have been sending me articles regarding the pending UAW contract talks with the Detroit Automakers. As you know, the fate of UAW-LSP rests in these talks. Delphi has already canned its legal services benefit. The automakers are claiming that they need a 1/3 reduction in labor costs to survive. At least at GM and Ford, health care is liable to take a partial hit as it is shuffled off into Voluntary Employees Benefit Agreements. (I have a post in draft form on VEBAs. I hope to finish it soon.) When the auto workers are facing serious wage and benefit cuts, why should they keep the legal services benefit. Two reasons. First, we're cheap, a fraction of the cost of health insurance. Second: If you took a 20% wage cut, and had to pay hundreds of dollars a month more for health insurance, would you want to lose your right to a free bankruptcy attorney? In short, the deeper the cuts, the more the UAW members will need us.

It looks like this will not be a contract cycle for pattern bargaining. GM, Ford and Chrysler may end up with very different contracts due to the specific needs of each company. Chrysler, after it's buyout by Cerberus, needs cash more than long-term debt relief; therefore Chryslerberus is unlikely to bargain for a VEBA. Source: Bloomberg, misc.

Ford Verve:
Stylish Subcompact Concept Car

Ford will be showing a new concept car, the Verve, at the Frankfort Auto Show in Germany. This is a world-wide Ford group effort, but it looks very Mazda-like. The concept reminds me of the classic Honda CRX. This is a car that Ford should build. Two thumbs up.

From the "Beep beep, beep beep, the car goes beep beep beep" file:
Woz takes Prius to 105 or 104 MPH

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniac, the "other Steve, was recently issued a speeding ticket for going 105 MPH in his Toyota Prius. Wozniac denied going that fast. He thought he was going 104. You just know that the near-billionaire smiled smugly as he accepted his $700 ticket knowing that he'll get his props for breaking the century speed limit in the Prius, a car that critics call underpowered. Next, stay tune as he breaks a speed record on his Segway.

Oh yeah, what's with the title of the post? Here's a hint.