1 week ago
47 – Guide to Buying New Windows
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Kevin Brasler - Checkbook's Executive Editor
Today’s windows are technological marvels. They provide better insulation, reduce drafts, are easier to clean, and help lower home energy bills. But all these benefits come with very high price tags.
Window companies generate numerous complaints about high-pressure sales tactics and substandard installation. Checkbook cautions that some companies greatly over-promise the energy savings that will result from their windows.
In this episode, Kevin Brasler, Checkbook’s executive editor, cuts through the marketing hype, compares the pros and cons of various types of windows, and explains how to find a reliable contractor.
Additional Resources:
Buying & Installing New Windows
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
3 weeks ago
46 – Health Apps & Websites Often Share Your Data
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Pam Dixon - Executive Director, World Privacy Forum; Jen Caltrider - a privacy researcher at the Mozilla Foundation
Wearable devices, health apps, and online medical resources can help us stay fit and healthy. They also collect highly personal information that you might assume is confidential. In most cases, this data can be—and often is—shared and sold without your knowledge or permission.
In this episode, how to tell if your health information is protected by the federal privacy law known as HIPAA, and what to do before you use medical apps, smart devices, or go online for medical advice. We talk with Pam Dixon, executive director of World Privacy Forum, and Jen Caltrider, a privacy researcher at the Mozilla Foundation.
Additional Resource:
Health Tracking Apps and Other Tech Might Be Invading Your Privacy
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
2 months ago
45 – Even ‘Good’ Companies Often Treat Their Customers Poorly
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Adam Levin - Consumer advocate, digital privacy expert, and host of the “What the Hack?” podcast
“Buyer beware!” It’s more important than ever for you to heed this warning when buying goods and services. Consumers’ Checkbook regularly reports on scams and shameful selling practices that continue to become more rampant. Unfortunately, even “reputable” businesses treat consumers unfairly, often by using new technologies.
In this episode, we discuss how many companies prioritize profits ahead of their customers—and what you can do to fight back.
Special Guest: Adam Levin, consumer advocate, digital privacy expert, and host of the “What the Hack?” podcast
Additional Resources:
FTC Accuses Amazon of Tricking Millions into Joining Prime
Amazon and Microsoft Charged with Violating Children’s Privacy Law
FTC Rule Would Make it Easier to Cancel Unwanted Subscriptions
30 Tricks Sellers Use to Make You Pay Up
Consumerpedia, Episode 43: How the CFPB Protects You
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
2 months ago
44 – Should You Repair or Replace a Broken Appliance?
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Kevin Brasler - Checkbook's Executive Editor
Sooner or later all appliances will need to be repaired or replaced. But when the fridge is on the fritz or the oven is burnt out, how do you decide what to do? New home appliances are expensive, but it’s not always easy to know how much repair work will cost.
In this episode, how to decide whether to fix what you have or buy something new. When it’s time to go shopping we have advice on how to avoid the misleading sales hype to get a real deal.
Read Checkbook’s full reports on appliance repair services and appliance stores.
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
3 months ago
43 – The CFPB: Protecting Consumers in the Financial Marketplace
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Brian Shearer - Senior Advisor to the CFPB Director
The Consumer Financial Bureau (CFPB) is one of the newest federal regulatory agencies. Its prime directive is to ensure that financial products offered to you are fair, transparent, and competitive. The CFPB’s jurisdiction includes mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit cards, credit reporting, and debt collection.
In this episode, a look at the initiatives and proposed rules in the pipeline that you should know about and may want to comment on. Also, how the CFPB is working to eliminate junk fees and how it might be able to help if you feel cheated or deceived by a company it regulates.
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
3 months ago
42 – An Electric Vehicle Update
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Paul Eisenstein - Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The DetroitBureau.com; Alex Knizek - Manager, Auto Testing & Insights, Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center; Ronald Montoya - Senior Consumer Advice Editor, Edmunds
In the last year or so, we’re finally beginning to see a robust market for electric vehicles. More manufacturers are now in the game, which provides buyers with more choices. So, should you go electric now, or wait, or maybe split the difference and go hybrid?
In this episode, find out about the latest EV options, how federal tax credits might help lower prices, and why leasing may be a smart move right now. Also, how reliable are the new EVs, and what’s happening to increase the number of charging stations?
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
4 months ago
41 – Hotel Intel: Finding the Best Rates
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Kevin Brasler - Checkbook's Executive Editor
There’s a lot to consider when booking a hotel room: location, amenities, and quality. But for most of us, the deciding factor is price. In many cases, your room will cost significantly more than your flights. So, how do you find the best deal? Consumers’ Checkbook did nearly 2,000 searches looking for the best hotel rates.
In this episode, find out what our researchers discovered when shopping for hotel rooms. Does it make sense to book with the hotel or an online travel agency, like Expedia or Travelocity? What sorts of tricks do travel websites use to get you to book now? Does it pay to call the hotel directly? And what do you have to do to get an honest-to-goodness lower price? The lessons we learned should help you the next time you plan a trip.
Read Checkbook’s full report on how to find the best hotel room rates.
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
4 months ago
40 – Insuring Your Home
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Kevin Brasler - Checkbook's Executive Editor
Most homeowners pay too much to insure their houses. They waste money on worthless optional coverage—or worse—stick with the same insurers year after year without checking if lower premiums are available from other companies.
The potential savings from making a switch are dramatic, and you don’t have to sign up with a poorly rated company or get a bare-bones policy to get a better deal. Checkbook finds that some homeowners will save more than $1,500 a year by switching companies.
Yes, shopping for insurance is a bit of a pain, but the potential savings make it well worth your time to request pricing information and evaluate potentially wasteful coverage.
In this episode: How much coverage do you need, and how do insurance companies set their rates? Also, why Checkbook believes insurance companies should be prohibited from using credit scores to set premium prices.
Read Checkbook’s full report on homeowners insurance.
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
4 months ago
39 – Got a Gripe?
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Jamie Lettis and Dani Dredger - Checkbook.org; Edgar Dworsky - Consumerworld.org; and Checkbook subscribers
Companies always say their top priority is customer service, but all too often they fall short of that goal. What bugs you as a consumer? Is it the fine print in advertisements? Fake discounts? Maybe problems making returns or repair people who can’t make the fix?
Something a little different in this episode. We’ll hear from a few members of the Checkbook team and several subscribers who have gripes they want to share.
Do you have a gripe about something in the marketplace? Tell us about it. Be advised: We can’t solve individual problems, but we may ask you to join us on a future episode.
Additional Resources:
How to Complain and Get Results
Support our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/consumerpedia/support
5 months ago
38 – Travel Tips from a Travel Expert
Host: Herb Weisbaum /
Guest(s): Christopher Elliott - Syndicated Travel Columnist
Demand for plane tickets, hotel rooms, vacation rentals, and other travel services is up—way up. If your summer getaway involves flights, brace yourself for problems; like last year, planes will be packed, and the system will be stretched to its limits.
In this episode, advice from someone who loves to travel—and makes his living doing it. Christopher Elliott writes the syndicated “On Travel” and “The Travel Troubleshooter” columns. We caught up with him in New Zealand.
Additional Resources:
60 Strategies for Finding the Best Travel Deals and Avoiding Trouble
Do You Need Travel Insurance? (Spoiler: For Most Trips, Probably Not)
Meet The Host
Herb Weisbaum
Herb Weisbaum is one of America’s top consumer experts. He’s been protecting people across the country for more than 40 years.
Herb is a contributing editor at Checkbook.org, and publisher of ConsumerMan.com.
During his distinguished career, Herb has covered the consumer beat for NBC News Digital, NBC’s TODAY Show and CBS News.
A five-time Emmy-award winner, Herb’s dedication to protecting consumers has been honored by the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumers League, United Press International, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Herb is a graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.