Dear Watchdog Nation: A look back at the trouble we caused in 2016

January 12, 2017 by

Dear Citizens of Watchdog Nation,

You know those annoying holiday letters people send bragging about exotic vacations, their children’s middle school exploits and the sad death of their cat?

My partner Marina Trahan Martinez and I can’t resist. Welcome to The Watchdog family holiday letter, in which we lovingly look back and reflect on one of our life missions: Who’d we tick off in 2016?

Steep price to pay

Start with our definition of happy news. Remember that Denton auto mechanic, Jeff Fleming, who accepted $3,700 from a single mom but for 19 months didn’t fix her car? After our report, an anonymous donor sold the mom a car for $1. Then Denton attorney Curtis M. Loveless volunteered to take the mother’s case to court. Fleming was a no-show. A judge ordered Fleming to pay — sit down for this — $92,000.

Jeff Fleming looks at Toni Brown's Ford Focus, which he kept for a year and a half even though she paid him thousands of dollars. The Denton auto shop owner ended up losing a $92,000 judgment in the case when he failed to show up for court.
Jeff Fleming looks at Toni Brown’s Ford Focus, which he kept for a year and a half even though she paid him thousands of dollars. The Denton auto shop owner ended up losing a $92,000 judgment in the case when he failed to show up for court.

Obvious flop

We don’t celebrate anyone’s marriage breakup, but we weren’t surprised when it was announced that Tarek and Christina El Moussa of HGTV’s Flip or Flop had split. Months back, we showed how the couple had already split from an ethical life when they lent their name to second-rate, get-rich-quick seminars taking advantage of their TV fans. They responded with a YouTube video to me that was as flat as their show.

After we revealed that local investment radio show host James E. Poe was stripped of his financial adviser registration by state regulators yet still hosting a business radio show, he finally was pulled off the air.

Texas Farm Bureau tried to strip their insurance customers of their rights to sue in return for a crummy discount. We shared. The company withdrew its proposal.

Denton County Courthouse leaders are trying to pull a fast one by refusing to order an investigation of the worst Election Day voting mayhem in memory. After we organized a letter-writing protest by taxpayers to county officials, County Judge Mary Horn changed her mind and asked the Texas secretary of state to investigate. Only that office doesn’t do investigations.

We keep warning about Carrollton-based Garage Door Services, a  garage door repair company that goes by so many names it’s hard to avoid them when searching by internet. They keep popping up.

One clue: If their office sounds like a call center, it’s probably them. Prepare to overpay or, even better, find an ethical mom-and-pop company.

School business

We shined light into darker corners of the Texas public school system. How? Showing how Frisco ISD’s lavish spending on administrators’ quarters was an ugly contrast with its plea for voter approval to raise taxes. The measure lost.

Frisco ISD's Administration Building on Ohio Drive. Voters shut down a tax increase in 2016.(Kye R. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)
Frisco ISD’s Administration Building on Ohio Drive. Voters shut down a tax increase in 2016.
(Kye R. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)

Sidney ISD in Central Texas didn’t hold an election for an entire decade. Board members just stayed on. The district was caught and punished by state regulators. But the matter was never covered for Sidney residents in their local press until we brought it to light.

Keeping on it, we showed how a state senator accused the Texas Association of School Boards of brainwashing school board members to put their own adult interests ahead of the children’s, how a former FBI agent found examples of corruption in the state’s worst districts, and how superintendents use marketing and advertising techniques to crush criticsof their political machines.

Don B. Southerland Jr. is a retired FBI agent and current forensics accounting investigator. After spending the last four years investigating Texas public school districts, he comes out and tells The Watchdog about the incompetence and corruption he has uncovered in several districts.<p>(Rex C. Curry/Special Contributor)</p>
Don B. Southerland Jr. is a retired FBI agent and current forensics accounting investigator. After spending the last four years investigating Texas public school districts, he comes out and tells The Watchdog about the incompetence and corruption he has uncovered in several districts.

(Rex C. Curry/Special Contributor)

Dogged determination

The most fascinating person we met in 2016 was Malia Litman of Dallas. She spent $100,000 in legal fees to expose a culture of corruption in the U.S. Secret Service. She filed 89 Freedom of Information Acts and discovered all manner of cover-ups and shenanigans. A judge ruled she had to pay the legal fees even though the government caused delays. After we told her story, the judge changed his mind and the feds paid up.

Malia Litman in her North Dallas home in July. She waged a lonely and expensive battle for public records kept by the U.S. Secret Service. She won in the end.
Malia Litman in her North Dallas home in July. She waged a lonely and expensive battle for public records kept by the U.S. Secret Service. She won in the end.

Runner-up for most fascinating: the Great Man himself, Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman/CEO/president/grand poobah. He invited The Watchdog to our “Chicken Salad Summit” luncheon. He wanted to show me how wrong I was when I wrote — in launching my #shameATT campaign— that he didn’t care about customer service.

In his office, I asked him, “How does it feel to fail?” I presented him with a red binder filled with a torrent of AT&T complaints, typical of what I’ve received for a decade.

“Make it stop,” I pleaded to the man now trying to buy Time Warner and rule the world. (I intend to revisit this on the anniversary of our summit next March.)

Watchdog Dave Lieber and AT&amp;T president and CEO Randall Stephenson in Stephenson's office talking about AT&amp;T's customer service. Stephenson is now trying to buy Time Warner.
Watchdog Dave Lieber and AT&T president and CEO Randall Stephenson in Stephenson’s office talking about AT&T’s customer service. Stephenson is now trying to buy Time Warner.

Marina and I were also quite stunned when Texas Public Utility Commission Chairwoman Donna Nelson followed up within days of our suggestion to clear out scammy (and false) 1-cent per kilowatt hour rate electricity promos. The deceptive prices showed on the front page of search results on the state’s all-important electricity shopping site, powertochoose.org. At least that was fixed. More to come on other problems.

Fail

A previous newspaper publisher of mine, Richard L. Connor, always said we needed to fail at something big at least once every year. Otherwise if you don’t try, you won’t ever succeed.

Those words came true with my satirical #WatchdogForPresident campaignwhich tried to highlight governments’ weak law enforcement against the hordes of scammers operating worldwide. I abandoned the campaign in June. I’m left with a box of unused campaign buttons. What I learned: Nobody was in the mood to laugh about the 2016 presidential race. #fail.

Our campaign to get Texans to protest their property taxes attracted new followers. Even more so, our other campaigns — now gearing up to push for pro-consumer laws in the 2017 Legislature — attracted members who email their support to watchdog@dallasnews.com.

We’re looking for a roofers/contractors license, insurance protections, privacy laws, electricity shopping reforms and property tax relief. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead. We’ll need you.

Best day of the year: our Tornado Town Hall in mid-January at the Plaza Theatre in Garland. We showed area residents how to hire legitimate contractors and not get fooled. I love the cheat sheet to hire the right people we shared.

Oh, and by the way, Dave’s cat died this year, but Marina’s family got a new cat, so we’re kinda even.

Happy New Year from The Watchdog Desk.

Staff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to everything in this report. Our editor is Mede Nix.

Check out The Watchdog Mondays on NBC5 at 11:20 a.m. talking about matters important to you.

The Watchdog Desk at DallasNews.com consists of Dave Lieber and Marina Trahan Martinez. Our editor is Mede Nix.
The Watchdog Desk at DallasNews.com consists of Dave Lieber and Marina Trahan Martinez. Our editor is Mede Nix.

TOP 10 WATCHDOG HEADLINES

These Watchdog columns were read the most in 2016.

1.      Watchdog gets duped when HGTV’s Flip or Flop stars Tarek and Christina disappoint

2.      HGTV’s Flip or Flop hosts risk popularity with high-pressure investment seminars

3.      Watchdog: Dallas woman discovers new Secret Service sex scandals through public information requests

4.      Watchdog: How to stop annoying robocalls, scammers and Do Not Call violators

5.      What happened when our watchdog gave AT&T’s CEO a binder full of customer complaints

6.      Watchdog: Crying poverty from inside Frisco ISD’s Grand Palace

7.      How a Denton auto mechanic took a single mom’s money and held her car hostage for 19 months

8.       How to protest your property taxes in Texas

9.      Watchdog: When will AT&T get the picture?

10.  Watchdog: Think car inspections are stupid? Changes may be coming

Source: Parse.ly

Dave Lieber's manifesto for WatchdogNation.com

You can’t afford to miss The Watchdog. Follow our latest reporting always at The Watchdog page.

Watchdog Dave Lieber of The Dallas Morning News is leader of Watchdog Nation, which shows Americans how to stand up for themselves and become super consumers.

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong

\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun website: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Column, Government Tomfoolery, Introduction to Watchdog Nation Tagged With: ,

WATCH: Look at Watchdog Nation’s unusual 2016 Christmas Village

December 7, 2016 by

After seeing how he exposes corruption and bad practices in business and government, you’ll see why Dallas Morning News Watchdog Dave Lieber happily loses himself in this newspaperman’s Christmas Village fantasy. #LongLiveJournalism

Watch:

Dave Lieber’s fantasy Christmas Village looks more like 1959 from Dave Lieber on Vimeo.

Season greetings from the perfect little newspaper world (otherwise known as 1959) courtesy of Dallas Morning News Watchdog Dave Lieber. 

Follow his investigations at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/watchdog

Remember that you can bring Dave Lieber to your group. He’s an expert on storytelling for business and showing the power of storytelling to increase sales, build support, raise money and attract attention.

He’s a Certified Speaking Professional and a fabulous entertainer offering fun and funny insights to make your life better. He’s The Watchdog columnist at The Dallas Morning News.

Dave Lieber. Authentic. Engaging. Interactive.

WATCH: Dave Lieber’s 2-Minute SIZZLE REEL

WATCH: Dave Lieber TED Talk: THE POWER OF STORYTELLING TO CHANGE THE WORLD

BOOK DAVE NOW. Contact his office here or CALL 1-800-557-8166.

Filed Under: Column Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

In Watchdog Nation, 2015 is our best year ever

December 30, 2015 by

To all Citizens of Watchdog Nation!

Hear ye! Hear ye! Straight from the founder of Watchdog Nation, here is Dave Lieber’s 2015 annual report to you.

Going up against businesses and governments, Watchdog Nation sees more victories than defeats in 2015. Fighting on behalf of Americans for fairness and honesty works. New laws were passed, questionable practices exposed and problems are fixed. Take a look:

Dave-Lieber-watchdog-nation

January

The Watchdog shares a how-to guide on the state’s new one-sticker auto registration system. Some hiccups in the program after that, yeah, but it works more smoothly than most expect.

Colleague Marina Trahan Martinez and I report on a Carrollton Midas shop where the manager took cash payments and money went missing.

We answer why so many streetlights on major roadways are dark: copper wire thieves.

I unveil my Watchdog package of suggested consumer protection bills for the 2015 Texas Legislature. I have five requests, based on complaint letters to me.

They are: create a roofers licensing law; increase fairness in electricity shopping; ban penalties for asking questions about an insurance policy; cease taking full sets of fingerprints for driver’s licenses; and enact tighter penalties for merchants who penalize buyers paying with debit and credit cards.

February

The Texas Department of Public Safety announces it will voluntarily stop taking full sets of fingerprints from driver’s license applicants. DPS returns to the one-thumb standard.

The electric industry argues in industry newsletters against my proposed “Retail Electricity Reform Act of 2015.” My bill is not actually introduced in the Legislature because 1) I’m not a legislator and 2) most of the real lawmakers are chicken.

March

The Watchdog proclaims North Texas to be “Toll Road Capital, USA.”

Dave-Lieber-watchdog-nation

A father is billed $56,000 for his school district’s open records request about his children. (He later negotiates a better price.)

In a tough year for the driver’s license system, Texas DPS acknowledges that 850,000 driver’s licenses mailed by its outside vendor are incorrect. Replacements are shipped.

The city of Dallas approves a partnership with an outside company to sell recommended water and sewer line insurance. After criticism, the City Council ends the agreement.

April

Rookie state District Judge Staci Williams pays a former client $2,500 to settle a complaint with the State Bar of Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline. Williams was accused of abandoning the client to work on her election campaign.

The Watchdog asks readers for help unlocking my legislative proposals in Austin. Readers respond by contacting their lawmakers.

May

My annual look at how to file a property tax protest helps thousands of North Texans understand the simple process.

Some in the real estate community believe Dallas County luxury homes are undertaxed because appraisers fear lawsuits. Dallas Central Appraisal District denies that.

Former Gov. Rick Perry presided over the creation of a secretive statewide surveillance detection network put in place by former FBI agents with assistance from former CIA personnel. DPS says the system — called TrapWire — led to 44 arrests.

Rick-Perry-surveillance-state-of-Texas

Former Gov. Rick Perry (left) and the man he appointed, “Colonel” Steve McCraw, DPS Director

June

Grand Prairie transmission shop owner Larry Duncan is training a national sales team to upsell his transmission repairs around the nation. Duncan’s training manual shows how every customer gets the same bad-news-about-your-car rap, no matter what’s actually wrong with the vehicle.

DPS officials admit they erred when they told The Watchdog that TrapWire led to 44 arrests. Actual number? Zero.

Watchdog Nation celebrates passage into law of three of five suggested bills: insurance inquiries protection, full fingerprint elimination, and plastic card usage protections. Lawmakers who led on these issues are inducted into my new “Watchdog Hall of Fame.”

Dave-Lieber-Watchdog-Hall-of-Fame

Inaugural inductees of The Watchdog Hall of Fame – 2015

My two ideas that didn’t pass? Electricity retail reform and roofer licensing. On that, see you in 2017.

July

The Watchdog wins first prize for best large-newspaper column from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Dave-Lieber-funny-keynote-speaker-wins-award

2015 Winners: Dave Lieber and Marina Trahan Martinez

August

The Watchdog trains 650 North Texans in consumer protection at a Dallas event sponsored by the Senior Source and the Elder Financial Safety Center. All are sworn in as new citizens of Watchdog Nation. They receive membership cards.

dave-lieber-dallas-speaker

Dave-Lieber-Watchdog-Nation

I begin a series on Whirlpool washing machines whose insides explode.

dave-lieber-funny-speaker

September

An AT&T call center rep says working for AT&T is so difficult that “three-quarters of my call center is on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicine just to deal with the company.”

I begin a series showing how vets can untangle red tape when dealing with clogged Department of Veterans Affairs health care appeals.

October

After a national trade magazine calls the North Texas company “the worst garage door company in the nation,” I report how Carrollton-based Garage Door Services overcharges customers. After that, GDS leaders change the company name and sales pitch so potential customers won’t easily recognize them.

November

Marina and I create the first published list of electricity companies that offer plans without minimum usage fees — and rank them by customer service quality.

AT&T charges less for Web users who allow AT&T to sell their private information — including their Internet search history — to outside vendors.

A 79-year-old widower hooked up to an oxygen tank spends $13,000 on a dating service. He’s matched with an aerobics instructor who teaches kick boxing. She’s 30 years younger.

December

A former manager at Garage Door Services shares his guilt because he knew his company engaged in overcharges — but he liked his paycheck too much to do anything about it.

What will 2016 bring? Marina and I say, bring it on!

And remember, you can’t afford to miss The Watchdog.

Staff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to this report.

Check out The Watchdog at 11:20 a.m. Mondays on NBC5, talking about matters important to you.

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun website: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Column Tagged With: , , ,

Watchdog Nation celebrates 3 new consumer laws

December 28, 2015 by

Amazing!

You did it!

Watchdog Nation celebrates the passage of three new laws aimed at helping Texans protect their pocketbooks and their privacy.

As readers of the Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News Watchdog column know, The Watchdog asked for your help to push state lawmakers into solving five of the most annoying consumer problems in Texas.

We promoted five bills in the 2015 Texas Legislature.

Many thought little would come of these proposals, which we called the “Good Deal” platform.

We used as our bully pulpit The Watchdog column in The Dallas Morning News — and, most important, its thousands of readers, some of whom participated in the campaign to help lawmakers who sponsored the bills. These everyday constituents sent letters and emails stating their support.

It worked.

So how did we do in the 2015 Legislature?

Three of our five bills passed. Three for five! The Watchdog rarely uses exclamation points, but that’s a .600 batting average, good enough to get into a hall of fame.

That’s why Watchdog Nation launched The Watchdog Hall of Fame. Six state lawmakers who worked hard on behalf of these five causes are the inaugural 2015 inductees.

We’re proud to tell you their names: Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano; Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin; Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown; Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker; Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake; and Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston.

Dave-Lieber-Watchdog-Hall-of-Fame

Inaugural inductees of The Watchdog Hall of Fame – 2015

 

WATCH THE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY ON NBC5 HERE:

 

Let’s look at what happened in each of the five areas and give lawmakers Good Deal grades.

Insurance policy questions | Grade: A+

A key to my Watchdog Nation consumer rights movement is the idea that we should always ask a bunch of questions before making financial decisions.

But you couldn’t do that in Texas with your homeowners or auto insurance policies without risking a premium increase. Some companies took advantage of a loophole in the law to penalize customers who made inquiries. No more.

Thanks to Watson, it will be illegal in Texas for auto and homeowners insurance companies to penalize customers who only ask questions about their policies, but never seek actual claims.

The insurance industry, in its all-knowing wisdom, decided that simply asking about your policy shows a propensity for accidents. They figure you’ll eventually cost them money.

One man I found considered filing an auto claim but in the end didn’t file and never received any insurance money. His premiums went up for five years anyway.

Watson tried two years ago to get this law passed but didn’t succeed. This time he succeeded.

Support from Watchdog Nation “certainly helped,” Watson spokeswoman Kate Alexander says.

Watson says, “Giving customers the freedom to ask questions about their insurance policies without repercussion is just common sense.”

Learn more: Senate Bills 188 and 189

Kirk Watson Hall of Fame plaque

Roofers’ licensing | Grade: D+

The Watchdog sought a licensing system for roofers to weed out the bad guys.

When two lawmakers — Capriglione and Rep. Kenneth Sheets, R-Dallas — introduced bills that would create a voluntary certification (Capriglione) or registration program (Sheets) that was weaker than licensing. But still, it was an added step of consumer protection.

Unfortunately, neither bill advanced out of House committees to make it to the full House for a vote.

“The countless emails from North Texas readers helped to support the cause of the bill,” Capriglione says. “But it is also important to contact the members of the committee and show them the support for the bill, and more importantly, be at the committee hearing to testify for the bill.”

Live and learn. The Watchdog is paying close attention.

The city of Arlington has taken an extra step to protect its residents from crooked roofers. Last month, the city created a roofers’ registration process that screens roofers who want to work in the city.

Giovanni Capriglione Hall of Fame plaque

Electricity shopping reform | Grade: D-

Priority one for The Watchdog was my idealistic “Retail Electricity Reform Act of 2015.” This proposal had no chance of passage in 2015.

The only reason the grade is not an F is because Turner, who is retiring, did what he always does: fight for electricity customers in Texas.

He authored a bill that would have eliminated the hated penalty fees for customers who don’t use a required minimum amount of power each month. These fees are especially unfair to the elderly and the poor who try to conserve, then get socked with monthly penalties.

These penalties didn’t exist until recently when electricity companies figured out a new way to exploit customers.

Turner’s bill failed. Still, he’ll be missed. No one else in the legislature seems to care about helping consumers navigate the confusing retail electricity market. Rates are advertised with and without added fees. Door-to-door electricity salesmen will say almost anything to make a sale. Annoying fees — unregulated — are tacked on to monthly bills by electricity companies.

Behind the scenes, electricity companies and their lobbying groups convinced lawmakers that there’s nothing major wrong with the system. Public Utility Commission officials also take the attitude that no major changes are needed.

Many Texans disagree.

At least my campaign generated attention. Pros and cons were discussed by me and others on radio, on TV and in two energy newsletters read by industry members across the state and nation.

I’m disappointed that the power industry doesn’t want to clean up its shady marketing practices. Keep it up, and their credibility will match roofers.

The Watchdog is not giving up.

Sylvester Turner Hall of Fame plaque

Debit/credit card surcharges | Grade: A+

Yes, it’s illegal for retailers and others to add a surcharge penalty to customers who pay with a debit or credit card. Governments are excluded and allowed to charge extra.

When somebody complains, merchants get a warning letter from the state. That’s it.

No longer.

Thanks to hard work by Schwertner, anyone who violates the law will get more than a warning letter. They can expect a $500 fine.

Yee-haw!

Learn more: Senate Bill 641

Charles Schwertner Hall of Fame plaque

Fingerprinting for driver’s licenses | Grade: A+

The curtain officially comes down on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s dream of capturing a full set of fingerprints from every Texan with a driver’s license or state ID card in the next decade. The plan was to include us in a state and ultimately, a national database.

The Watchdog first reported the fingerprinting scheme last year. In February, Taylor and Laubenberg met with DPS Director Steven McCraw and DPS’ top lawyer to talk about ending the program.

Laubenberg met with House Speaker Joe Straus. Taylor met with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff. Under fire, McCraw stopped the program.

To make it stick, though, a new law was needed.

Laubenberg, Taylor, Schwertner and rookie Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, tried various maneuvers to place into law that only a thumbprint is required. They also wanted DPS to destroy the hundreds of thousands of fingerprints collected during the one year the unauthorized collection took place.

Taylor, a rookie senator, added a Senate amendment to a bill about commercial driver’s licenses. The amendment enacted the thumbprint rule and also required that fingerprints collected from innocent drivers be destroyed by the end of the year.

When that bill got to the House, its author, Capriglione, agreed to let the added portion of the bill stand. It passed.

Learn more: House Bill 1888

Jodie Laubenberg Hall of Fame plaque

Van Taylor Hall of Fame plaque

I’ll be watching for your ideas about consumer matters you want to see fixed in the 2017 session. We’ll battle together. Onward and upward.

Thanks to Michael Hogue of DallasNews.com for designing our Hall of Fame plaques.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun websites: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Column, Privacy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Amazing story of Larry Duncan the transmission schemer

December 26, 2015 by

Larry Duncan offers cheap transmission repairs. Then he gets your vehicle, takes it apart and tells you it will cost two or three times the promised amount. And he wants you to pay him $2,000 or $3,000 that day. In cash. At his bank. Or he will start charging you $40 a day storage.

Can you believe the chutzpah of this guy?

Larry Duncan in his Grand Prairie, Texas garage.

Larry Duncan in his Grand Prairie, Texas garage.

Exterior of Larry Duncan's transmission shop in Grand Prairie, Texas

Exterior of Larry Duncan’s transmission shop in Grand Prairie, Texas

And he’s been doing it for more than a decade without apparent serious trouble to hundreds of vehicle owners.

Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber first wrote about Larry Duncan in 2007.

But in his latest expose in the Dave Lieber Watchdog column in The Dallas Morning News, he shows how Larry Duncan does it — in his own words, with scripts and audio tapes.

Read the entire piece here:

Watchdog: A car repair upselling playbook goes national

Vehicle repair sales scripts show every car has the same problem, no matter the truth. And yeah, the price is now double.

Watch the video and listen to Larry Duncan, in his own words.

Watch The Watchdog share the latest about Larry Duncan on NBC5.

Check out Larry Duncan’s actual selling scripts:

“How to Get Started” By Larry Duncan

“Upsell Presentation Script” by Larry Duncan

Earlier Watchdog Nation reports on Larry Duncan include:

“Transmission repair deals too good to be true”

“Grand Prairie, TX auto repair owner Larry Duncan is not BBB accredited. Hardly!

Here are The Watchdog’s 12 Ways to Avoid this Kind of Experience

Simple stuff, but when your car breaks, you tend to forget.

Clip and save.

• Don’t shop on price alone.

• Try to avoid shopping by phone and Internet. Visit a garage.

• Ask a car dealership for ballpark prices to get an idea.

• Don’t get lured by a free tow.

• Get estimates in writing.

• Don’t pay a parts deposit.

• Find out if a sales person and the shop are local. Ask for their number and call them back.

• Get multiple bids on big jobs.

• Waiting for a vehicle to be disassembled before getting repair estimates is risky.

• Be suspicious of a business that requires a wire transfer or payment by cash. That means customers can’t cancel their payments.

• Before you make a decision, search names and business names for any online complaints.

• Get complete names of people you deal with. If they hesitate, you should, too.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun websites: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Bad Business, Column, Customer Service Issues Tagged With: , , , , ,

Come to Dave Lieber’s “Tornado Town Hall”

December 25, 2015 by

Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber brings his consumer rights movement to tornado-damaged communities in North Texas on Saturday.

The Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist will host a free event, open to the public – “A Tornado Town Hall: How to Hire the Best People to Help You Put Your Life Back Together.”

The event is sponsored by DallasNews.com and The Dallas Morning News. It’s 1:30-3 pm on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016 at the Plaza Theatre in Garland, 521 W. State St.

Dave-Lieber-Tornado-Town-Hall

The free event will be led by The News’ Watchdog columnist, Dave Lieber. He’ll share the latest strategies anyone can use to find the best contractors, roofers and other service workers.

Families affected by the Dec. 26 tornadoes are invited, as is anyone else in the community interested in learning the latest watchdog survival skills.

Participants will take home a “cheat sheet” filled with ideas and a checklist to research companies and individuals.

“We want to make sure nobody gets hurt twice,” Lieber said. “Let’s spread the word and show how to make smart decisions about people based on a few minutes of research. Plus we’ll have a lot of fun sharing these tips.”

* * *

GO & DO: Free Watchdog session

What: A Tornado Town Hall: How to Hire the Best People to Help You Put Your Life Back Together

Where: Plaza Theatre, 521 W. State St., on the square in downtown Garland

When: 1:30 to 3 p.m. Jan. 16. Doors open at 1.

Admission: Free and open to the public. No ticket needed.

How to get there: A DART rail station is less than one block away. Garland station. Parking available around theater.

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong

Filed Under: Column Tagged With: , , ,

Dave Lieber: No comment yet on presidential run

December 25, 2015 by

Is Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber about to mount a consumer-rights campaign for the U.S. presidency?

As unlikely as that sounds, the answer, according to a Dallas Morning News posting —
“New presidential candidate? Twitter thinks so” — is potentially yes.

Through a series of tweets from others, the writer puts together an outline for a Lieber candidacy.

One potential slogan according to a leaked bumper sticker: “Watchdog 2016 – Take the CON out of consumer.”

Lieber declined to comment, even to his own Watchdog Nation.

He, supposedly, was holed up in his writer’s den working on something special.

“Stay tuned,” Watchdog desk administrator Marina Trahan Martinez tweeted with the #watchdogforpresident hashtag.

Read the full DallasNews.com post here.

 

DMN blog post about leaks

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

 

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

 

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun website: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Column Tagged With: , , , ,

Why AT&T customer service sucks

December 20, 2015 by

For 10 years,  Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation has received a steady flow of complaints about AT&T. Hundreds upon hundreds. More than any other company by far.

Each complaint I forward gets fixed. But in a greater sense, it seems nothing gets fixed. Is the culture of Dallas-based AT&T to accept the trove of complaints but never drill down to the root cause?

I don’t know why this continues to happen, but a recent letter I received may help us understand.

An AT&T call center employee has written The Watchdog. The employee gives me permission to share the letter, but I am not naming her because of her job. After the letter, you’ll read what AT&T has to say about it.

why-is-att-customer-service-so-bad

“Dear Watchdog, I’ve worked 17 years for AT&T. I have never, in all my years, imagined it would become the catastrophe it is now.

“As retention reps, we are told to not only retain existing customers after their promotions expire, but to also sell more to these people.

“In most cases, a customer’s bill will jump up $83 a month after the ‘intro’ pricing ends. We as reps are allotted at the beginning of week 5 ‘limited use’ promotions, giving folks the maximum of $40 off.

“By Monday afternoon, these are generally depleted as we take about 40 calls a day.

“This has created a culture of reps promising promos, but not adding them. Or telling the customer they are disconnecting the service, but just not doing it. Reps do not want to disconnect a customer, as this counts against the rep.

“You are right to request a user ID [of the rep]. However, it does not help, as every account is noted with the ID of the rep, and management does nothing to discourage the reps’ behavior (as the manager’s pay also is negatively affected by each disconnect their rep does).

“This goes all the way up to sales center manager, general manager and VP. None of the higher-ups care or do anything to stop it.

“They also turn a blind eye to ‘cramming’ by reps (mostly nonunion employees overseas) and erroneous misquotes.

“It’s very frustrating to be an ethical rep there anymore, as you are constantly under their scrutiny for not meeting numbers. The only way to meet these numbers is to be a liar and a sleaze. Three-quarters of my call center is on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicine just to deal with the company. It shouldn’t be like that.

“The part in your article [a previous Watchdog report] about us not giving our User ID is really a directive that we had from upper management. A customer’s account was compromised by a fraudster with a real ID. The fraudster called in, changed the address on the account, then called in again and ordered iPhones to be shipped to the address he changed it to.

“The problem with this is none of these general managers communicate. Each state is covered by different laws and regulations. You in Texas may call and get a rep in California. In California, I do not have to let you record the call. You also have the option not to be recorded.

“Now that we are national, you have GMs in charge of call centers in California, Missouri, Texas and Georgia. They don’t train you, don’t care about you, don’t care about the customer as long as they are getting commission off your work.

“They know nothing of government regulations, and frankly, do not care.

“I’ve been through so many GMs and vice presidents. However, this is by far the most inept. We should be helping our customers, not forcing products on them they do not want. … I really don’t think anyone in the government cares.”

What AT&T says

I showed the letter to AT&T — and asked the company for its reaction.

“Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing if this is an employee of our company,” AT&T’s response begins. “But the picture painted is not the experience we create, promote or endorse.

“We have some of the best call center employees in the industry. We set expectations and limit the offers they can use. But we also provide new agents with 12 weeks of intensive training — with a focus on keeping customers with integrity and with offers based on needs determined during the conversation.

“Once out of training, our agents get regular and organized coaching and updates to their initial training with the option of additional coaching always available.”

The statement ends there.

The Watchdog deems it strange because the answer ignores the basic flaws of AT&T’s culture as described by the call center employee.

Perspective

At my request, Daniel Lyons, a Boston College Law School professor with experience in telecommunications, studied the letter.

Lyons said if a company promises a customer incentives to either sign up for service or renew an existing contract and those incentives are not delivered, in many cases, that’s fraud.

Don’t expect help from government regulators, he says. “The more competitive the marketplace has gotten, the less regulators feel like they need to get involved. If customers don’t like the service they get, they can switch elsewhere.”

What’s happening behind the scenes at AT&T is not unlike what occurs at other companies. But AT&T touches the lives of more Americans than most.

At least we have an idea why the company can’t get it right.

[This story originally appeared in The Dallas Morning News Watchdog column.
dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun website: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Column, Customer Service Issues, Technology Issues, Utilities Tagged With: , , ,

In a symbolic campaign, our guy runs for – whaa? – president!

December 20, 2015 by

Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber is taking a stand on behalf of his readers’ number one pet peeve.

His stand is a symbolic run for the U.S. presidency, which he announced Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016 in his Watchdog column in The Dallas Morning News. See it here.

The pet peeve? His readers — citizens of Watchdog Nation, he calls them — are quite surprised when they have phone numbers, email addresses, sometimes even bank account numbers for scammers who try to hurt them. Yet the authorities don’t seem to care.

Dave proposes creating a “junior FBI squad” that would work both here and overseas to take out the thousands of illegal operations that call, mail and email Americans every day with duplicitous schemes.

How can you help? Enjoy the debut campaign video here. And share the link – https://youtu.be/8iKqghi1nzg – with you friends. Let’s have fun.

Read our original story about leaks on Twitter before the official campaign announcement here.

Dave-Lieber-watchdog-for-president-campaign-materials

 

Read Dave Lieber’s Watchdog for President announcement speech here.

dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong

Filed Under: Announcements, Bad Business, Column, Customer Service Issues, Government Tomfoolery, Introduction to Watchdog Nation, Manifesto Tagged With: , , , ,

Deja vu: Texas DPS vows to try again to take full fingerprints of innocent Texans

July 4, 2015 by

KRLD-AM news radio’s Mitch Carr interviews Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber on the surprise news that Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw vows once again to try in 2017 to get all Texas drivers to give full fingerprints for a driver’s license.

Read Tom Benning’s full story www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/h…gerprinting.ece

Here’s the audio interview:


dmnsmalltwitter1small

wdn1smallyoutube2small

fb1smallgplussmall

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun websites: DaveLieber.org

Filed Under: Announcements, Column, Government Tomfoolery, Privacy, Technology Issues Tagged With: , , , , , , ,