Senior Traps

[brett]

A number of years ago a friend of my father passed along two good suggestions to eventually stop the telephone and door to door solicitors in their footsteps.

The first was to use call display and not answer any unrecognizable phone calls.

The second was to say to all of those who got through or knocked on the door '...will welfare pay for that'

It drove my mother nuts. In most cases he only got as far as the word welfare before the caller hung up or walked away. After a time he got fewer and fewer calls.

 

[imoldernu]

As most have said... stay away from risk.

My question is soul searching.

have you honestly read though all the fine detail in the agreements you have made, that affect your own life?

Internet
Medicare
Healthcare services
Car and house insurance
HOA rules
Credit Card
Annuity
Bank account
Investment and FA services
Appliance and high value item guarantees/warranties

Our internet provider legalese in point 3 type, is well over ten thousand words, taking over an hour to read, when including the footnotes and other references. Do we have a choice?

Do you understand the meaning of binding arbitration?

Even if you really do read all of this, do your parents or your kids?
So, it's not just a subscription to a magazine, or a telephone scam artist.

Its obvious that most of the major cost items are unavoidable, but even aside from the word "TRAP"... it's important for retirement planning purposes, to understand the limits of cost and liability.

Yes, maybe the risk is low, but as an example, do you know how much your healthcare Plan D supplement will pay if you were prescribed any one of these drugs?
Actimmune
Daraprim
Cinryze

Just sayin'...

 

[CaptTom]

Point being, these offers...hell, ALL OFFERS are nothing more than an organization who is trying to separate you from YOUR money. There are no exceptions, there are no free lunches. So, I think if you can remember this and approach EVERY SINGLE OFFER with serious doubt, it will help keep you a little more safe.

BINGO!

Do you really think someone at the cable company has reviewed your account and discovered a great way to save you money? (That's what many of the 2-3 mailings per week I get from them claim, sometimes with phony handwritten memos tucked into the envelope to make it look legit.)

Many companies will charge you if you want them to send you a paper bill. But they have no problem sending expensive, glossy advertisements to every customer. Do you think they're doing that because it helps YOU

Ever notice how, whenever they want you to spend money, they use the word save? Saving means putting it in the bank. Duh.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

... Sometimes it can be very difficult to get services to quit billing your card even after you cancel.

I have been through that too.

I hate that.

 

[Bir48die]

Nothing to do with "Senior". A good reminder to read all the "little notes".


Again, nothing to do with "Senior". It's important to read and understand all bills and statements carefully.

I pay all my bills electronically using my bank's website. I've never heard of calling a credit card company to pay bills.


Yup. Once again nothing here regarding "Senior".


There's no "trap" here. There is always caveat emptor.

+100 Couldn't have said it any better.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Exactly! ShopSafe is awesome. My BOA card has this feature, and I wish my regular, most frequently used Citi card had it. Honestly it's the only reason I keep the BOA card.

I am a BOA customer with BOA credit cards. I was unaware of this feature, until reading this post. But correct me if I am wrong. Each time I use the card for an online purchase, I would also have to log into the BOA website select the cc and then request a ShopSafe number. Is this correct?

 

[Sunset]

....
There's no "trap" here. There is always caveat emptor.

I think it is a trap. If it were NOT a trap, it would be:
"Try if free for 3 months, and we will then ask if you want to sign up otherwise it ends."

 

[Sunset]

I'll agree and disagree...
Casinos not the best way to spend, but... We do have many people who live in our CCRC, who are alone in their apartments, and really need to be periodically out with other people. The CCRC provides periodic transportation with one of our busses, to the River Casinos. Mostly they put a limit on their losses, at like, $30 or $40. It's a whole day off and into society. The ones that we know, can well afford to spend as much as they want... It's entertainment, not gaming for profit.

BTW... last week, one of the ladies came back giggling, 'cuz she won $1200.

Wow....just Wow...
I really doubt you can spend a whole day at a casino each week only bringing $40 to gamble.
More likely, those gamblers are blowing though quite a few hundred each time, and only admit to winning, after all who wants to brag they lost $200.

The suspicious nature of mine thinks the CCRC person gets a "reward" for bringing in the victims to be fleeced, all under the table of course. Like tour operators bringing tourists to selected shops.

If I'm wrong, perhaps casino goers could chime in as I don't frequent casinos, but have see some, where people sit welded to their chair, feeding the machines and at a 5% loss, it seems like the total loss over hours would be huge.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

One of the "lessons learned" that stuck with me when I was working in the Fraud Section is "always, ALWAYS, read the fine print". And if that fine print goes on for five pages in 4 point print or smaller, the only reason it is there is to hide the meaning and confuse people. That's a good clue that I do not want to be doing business with that company.

Except that these agreements are in place for almost every single service that is out there. It's take it or leave it...and I don't know too many people that would forgo mobile or landline phone service (as an example). Nor would they have a bank account, a credit card, electric service at the house...etc, etc, etc.

As most have said... stay away from risk.

My question is soul searching.


Internet
Medicare
Healthcare services
Car and house insurance
HOA rules
Credit Card
Annuity
Bank account
Investment and FA services
Appliance and high value item guarantees/warranties

Our internet provider legalese in point 3 type, is well over ten thousand words, taking over an hour to read, when including the footnotes and other references. Do we have a choice?

Do you understand the meaning of binding arbitration?

Even if you really do read all of this, do your parents or your kids?
So, it's not just a subscription to a magazine, or a telephone scam artist.

Its obvious that most of the major cost items are unavoidable, but even aside from the word "TRAP"... it's important for retirement planning purposes, to understand the limits of cost and liability.

Yes, maybe the risk is low, but as an example, do you know how much your healthcare Plan D supplement will pay if you were prescribed any one of these drugs?
Actimmune
Daraprim
Cinryze

Just sayin'...

Exactly. If you don't accept these "adhesion" contracts, you will be living in the woods with a blanket looking for berries to eat.

 

[Spock]

My 84yo dad
* gets 2 inches of scam mail a day... and he responds to all of it. 2018 he donated 30% of his income to these "charities".
* calls back every dead-air robo-call.
* signed a paper at Miracle-Ear (hearing aids) not realizing he was signing up for a $7K loan to buy hearing aids (he didn't, but the loan is still in place)
* is getting a $19.95 a month charge from MGZ RWD on his credit card
* moved his IRA into a ING/Voya IRA annuity that pays 0.9%... and now doesn't understand RMDs or that the "pension money" he receives is just his own savings being returned to him.
* started to open a separate bank account to receive his Spanish Lottery winnings



His Drs all say "he is able to make his own decisions, even if they are bad decisions".


While some may say these are all "caveat emptor/buyer beware", there are organizations that most definitely target seniors who have less mental capacity, memory, hearing, and eyesight to "beware" with.

 

[imoldernu]

Wow....just Wow...
I really doubt you can spend a whole day at a casino each week only bringing $40 to gamble.
More likely, those gamblers are blowing though quite a few hundred each time, and only admit to winning, after all who wants to brag they lost $200.

The suspicious nature of mine thinks the CCRC person gets a "reward" for bringing in the victims to be fleeced, all under the table of course. Like tour operators bringing tourists to selected shops.

If I'm wrong, perhaps casino goers could chime in as I don't frequent casinos, but have see some, where people sit welded to their chair, feeding the machines and at a 5% loss, it seems like the total loss over hours would be huge.

I'd also like to hear about this, as I know the people who tell me what they spend, and can't believe they'd lie.

The trips are to a river casio about an hour away, and I believe that our CCRC people make a day of it,,, with a free lunch. I know they use the slots, but have no idea how much that costs.
As for under the table "rewards"... it doesn't work like that here... That kind of thing would last about two minutes. Any inference of that would be an insult to our management and to the people who live and work here.

 

[scrabbler1]

"It's a trap!" (0:14 mark)

 

[ivinsfan]

Wow....just Wow...
I really doubt you can spend a whole day at a casino each week only bringing $40 to gamble.
More likely, those gamblers are blowing though quite a few hundred each time, and only admit to winning, after all who wants to brag they lost $200.

The suspicious nature of mine thinks the CCRC person gets a "reward" for bringing in the victims to be fleeced, all under the table of course. Like tour operators bringing tourists to selected shops.

If I'm wrong, perhaps casino goers could chime in as I don't frequent casinos, but have see some, where people sit welded to their chair, feeding the machines and at a 5% loss, it seems like the total loss over hours would be huge.

Come on now, there is usually some kind of coffee shop where they can sit and visit together. you get bussed back and forth to the casino sit and eat some cheap food, people watch and spend 50 bucks at the machines.Maybe a little free entertainment going on somewhere on the property a lot of them have nice outdoor areas where you can sit and relax in the sun. Just cause they are seniors doesn't mean they are gambling addicts.

 

[MRG]

Wow....just Wow...
I really doubt you can spend a whole day at a casino each week only bringing $40 to gamble.
More likely, those gamblers are blowing though quite a few hundred each time, and only admit to winning, after all who wants to brag they lost $200.

The suspicious nature of mine thinks the CCRC person gets a "reward" for bringing in the victims to be fleeced, all under the table of course. Like tour operators bringing tourists to selected shops.

If I'm wrong, perhaps casino goers could chime in as I don't frequent casinos, but have see some, where people sit welded to their chair, feeding the machines and at a 5% loss, it seems like the total loss over hours would be huge.

Last time DW and I went we dropped $30 combined.

 

[gwraigty]

I don't believe in senior traps. I believe seniors should be allowed to roam free.

 

[kgtest]

BTW... last week, one of the ladies came back giggling, 'cuz she won $1200.

my 87 year old grandmother runs up on the Senior bus and she loves it. Tells me about it everytime I visit as if she just went. I am reminded that she doesn't get out much so when she speaks of it everytime, it's not as if she did just go, but that is really the only excitement she has outside her apartment with no car. We pick her up for all the bdays and mothers day etc. but she loves that Casino trip.


My mom on the otherhand, she drives up to the casino alone, usually around 6 or 7pm at night and doesn't come home until 3am...that is not acceptable considering she is 67 and newly retired lol. So long as dad limits the frequency of losses all is well. With gambling, it's never how much can I win, it's how much can I prevent from losing.

 

[joeea]

I think it is a trap. If it were NOT a trap, it would be:
"Try if free for 3 months, and we will then ask if you want to sign up otherwise it ends."

When you read the agreement, and it tells you that if you don't cancel you will be billed, then it's not a trap. It's just is what it is. You choose to ignore what they tell you at your own peril.

If you aren't able to understand the agreement, then simply don't agree - that way you cannot be trapped.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have canceled items and they just keep charging. Once I had to tell the CC company I lost the card so they would issue me a new one to stop it.

 

[Sunset]

When you read the agreement, and it tells you that if you don't cancel you will be billed, then it's not a trap. It's just is what it is. You choose to ignore what they tell you at your own peril.

If you aren't able to understand the agreement, then simply don't agree - that way you cannot be trapped.

I understand that legally, it's legal, but it is still a trap as they tell you all the good stuff in big letters and they then reduce the point size of the written material and bury the traps in 2-8 pages of small print.

That is why it's called SMALL PRINT. They TRY to discourage/stop people from reading it.

Notice those TV commercials, look at the small print flashed on the screen at the bottom, I'm a fast reader and most times I cannot read all the small print. Yet legally they can state, they showed it to me. Just another TRAP.

 

[Sunset]

I have canceled items and they just keep charging. Once I had to tell the CC company I lost the card so they would issue me a new one to stop it.

How about the ones where they say to cancel you just have to phone customer service at: 888-xxx-xxxx

Then they must hire 1 person as the phone number is always busy.
If you do get though, the quality of call is terrible, since they pay an offshore worker to take the calls.
If your file is lost, or misunderstood, just call back

 

[Winemaker]

About a month ago, I received a Consumer Reports Handbook and so far, 2 magazines. Today I received a bill for my 2 year subscription......that I never ordered.

 

[Amethyst]

What's not acceptable - that she goes alone, or that she stays out late? Actually, being retired is the perfect time to stay out late - no work to go to in the morning.

My mom on the otherhand, she drives up to the casino alone, usually around 6 or 7pm at night and doesn't come home until 3am...that is not acceptable considering she is 67 and newly retired lol.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

When you read the agreement, and it tells you that if you don't cancel you will be billed, then it's not a trap. It's just is what it is. You choose to ignore what they tell you at your own peril.

If you aren't able to understand the agreement, then simply don't agree - that way you cannot be trapped.

Where is the Utopian existence where things are just so simple?

 

[Nemo2]

What's not acceptable - that she goes alone, or that she stays out late? .

I wouldn't touch that question with a 6' croupier and three pool boys.

 

[joeea]

I understand that legally, it's legal, but it is still a trap as they tell you all the good stuff in big letters and they then reduce the point size of the written material and bury the traps in 2-8 pages of small print.

That is why it's called SMALL PRINT. They TRY to discourage/stop people from reading it.

Sure.

Easy solution - don't agree to anything with small print if you aren't going to read it.