Buyers beware - a guide on how to avoid being cheated. A $50,000 bank robbery grabs the headlines, but it is more than likely that you have been "relieved" of this amount, and often a lot more, during your working life. You could be paying too much for goods and services, and be the victim of exorbitant interest charges,
Read and understand everything before you sign!
Is the guarantee specific?
Are all the blank spaces filled in?
Are all the charges itemized?
Are all the promises in writing? "Read all the small print".
Beware of "legal double talk". Remember "as is" means no warranty.
Do you have a copy of the document?
Be skeptical,
pay cash if you can also buy from legitimate merchants.
Do not pay until you are sure, do not sign anything until you have "slept on it", and do not buy without comparing prices.
Watch out for high interest rates.
The cost of credit can more than double the total cost of the things you buy. Compare the "Cash" price and the "Total" cost.
Pay the highest deposit you can afford.
Know the nominal annual interest rate.
Shop around for financing.
Vanity can cost you money and health
No known product, or service, can restore hair, make you taller, remove wrinkles, or lower your weight by massages, creams, belts, girdles or sweat baths.
Avoid "bait and switch" advertisements
Such deals are often known as "come ons".
Salesmen may try to get you to switch to overpriced items. Also watch out for fake measurements and inferior grades of merchandise.
Avoid "unclaimed" or "repossessed" goods.
Unless you personally know the dealer.
There is no easy way to earn money.
Most schemes, ask you to buy something in order to earn. You later find there is no market for what you have made, or your all your efforts are "not up to standards".
Be careful with "freezer food" plans.
Beware those that promise a "free freezer", "wholesale" food, or to "pay for itself" out of savings.
If you should win a prize, it should never cost you money to collect.
A store credit "good for $50" is often "good for nothing", because you may have to buy $200 worth of overpriced goods to collect your $50.
Obituary ghouls.
Swindlers sometimes read obituary notices and send widows bills for non - existent debts such as a gift that the "dearly departed" ordered just before he died. Do not pay until you have 110% comfort that such a debt exists
Suspect cheap mail goods. Such as, radios, cameras, watches and magazines. Remember, you are paying before seeing what you are buying. When you receive the product and find the quality poor, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get your money back.
Suspect those offers of "free inspection".
Stoves, chimneys, roofs, trees - are all subject to "cons" - "free inspection" deals that cost you money.
Do not pay for a neighbor's package, unless the neighbor asks you.
Because the package you have just signed for could possibly turn out to be a package of "junk" that was never ordered.
Carefully watch "selling" sales.
Some stores have fake "selling out" sales just to get you into the store. Be sure the merchant is really selling out.
Be wary of some "private" sales.
Such advertisements are often run by "dealers". They "at home" selling furs, jewellery and furniture. The prices are often high. The goods are often misrepresented.
Resist tempting "deals for your car".
The salesman's boss may change the offer after you are "hooked". The price of a used car is often inflated so that the dealer appears to give you a "real good deal" on your car.
Don't fail for the sympathy approach.
It is often a "sales line" put across to get you to sign up. Organized sales teams have been trained to tell such sob stories.
Beware of false economy devices.
Fuel-saving devices for your car care; they are often fakes, similarly with "radar" warning devices and other gadgets.
Beware of leads to unexpected inheritance.
Swindlers have collected millions of dollars of fake "expenses" by leading people to believe they can inherit money from estates of distant relatives.
These are only some of the more than hundreds of known confidence tricks. "Learn to protect yourself by recognizing these signs".
An offer of something for nothing.
A salesperson who runs down his own an oppositions product.
Any contract with vague or tricky wording.
Pressure to sign - right now.
The offer of a kickback payment to you for referring friends to the salesperson.
If you think you have been "ripped-off", it is possible that it is too late to do something about it; but in most countries you are able to get free advice from their "Consumer affairs ministry".
