Events Calendar
Most Read Stories
Blogs:
Akrocentric:
Will Akron Lose its Marbles? America's Oldest Still-Standing Toy Factory is in Akron
Akron Aeros:
Newsom saves ninth in as many tries as Aeros top Thunder
Akron Zips:
Zeke Marshall commits with Zips
All Da King's Men:
Obama's Shocking Ignorance
Balanced Ledger:
Spring football
Blog of Mass Destruction:
For Mothers Before They Were Against Mothers
BokBluster:
Willie Horton of Gitmo
Browns Bulletin:
Taped signals saga involved the Browns
Cleveland Browns:
McGinest's farewell tour
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Big Ben gets well, so do Cavs
Kent State Sports:
Sonnanstine wins four in April
Ohio Politics:
McCain Is In A Tough Spot
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Ron asks about bike events.
Olympic Dreams - Running:
Oregon Twilight
Patrick McManamon:
The key to game 4 isn't real complex …
Sound Check:
Black Keys play "secret" Myspace Show at Beachland
Tia's Trends:
Whitehall Jewelers CEO to Retire
The Heldenfiles:
Catching Up: The "CSI" Writing Crossover
The Sports Blitz:
Cleveland Browns - They Love Them! They Really, Really Love Them!
Varsity Letters:
North, Firestone win Auten track and field titles
Betty Lin-Fisher
Agencies must go by rules to collect
Regulations prohibit contacting the debtor while in the hospital
Carol Dickson acknowledges that she has had outstanding debt and has previously received calls from collection agencies.
TAX REBATE SCHEDULE
If you are receiving a federal tax rebate by direct deposit, here is the schedule for returns processed by April 15. (Returns filed on or after April 15 will generally take two weeks to process — paper checks will take longer.) Dates are based on the last two digits of a person's Social Security number.
Ohio law will make it easier to protect credit
Consumers will be able to freeze access to reports for $5
There's good news for consumers.
Solicitors calling deceased parents
Canton man has a novel reply, but you can ask instead to be placed on marketing no call lists
I guess you could say that at least Harold Friedman has a sense of humor.
Tips to help with tax returns
Households qualifying for rebates must file if they want to get them
April 15 is almost upon us — tax day is Tuesday. As you most likely know, there are two reasons this year to look to the IRS — normal tax day stuff, like your annual income tax refund or payment and also the special rebates that many will be receiving, thanks to the economic stimulus package passed by Congress in February.
Tax rebate schedule
If you receive the federal tax rebate by direct deposit, here is the schedule of the deposit date for tax returns processed by April 15. Returns filed on or after April 15 will generally take two weeks to process the rebate (paper checks will take longer). Dates are based on the last two digits of the Social Security number:
NUMBER — DATE
REFUND DETAILS
• High Point Furniture Customers who paid for but never received their furniture can file a complaint with the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs by June 19 to receive a refund.
News is good; stress still there
Consumers get refunds but not without worry
As the Beacon Journal consumer reporter, more often than not, I find myself writing about how people have lost their money in a scam, a deal gone bad or after a business suddenly closes.
Here's what keeps your savings safe
FDIC protects money that's in savings, checking, money market and CDs to a limit
You've most likely seen the initials ''FDIC'' at your local bank, but do you know much about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or how it protects your hard-earned money?
Packets from IRS to go out this week
Information will explain how to get rebate check
Here is important information that has come across my desk recently:
Credit firm pays back one client
More complaints filed against Akron agency
At least one consumer whose payments to creditors were not made by a consumer credit agency that was raided by police in late December has received a check from the agency.
Natural gas suppliers: Betty's picks (PDF file from Sept. 23)
Natural gas plans change again (Sept. 23)
Falling prices might mean consumers should reconsider options to save winter costs
In this volatile world of natural gas price ups and downs, a week can make a difference. Just last week, I wrote about how many municipalities and area governments that had created aggregations, or buying groups to negotiate natural gas prices in bulk for residents, were locking in decent prices below the cheapest one-year fixed rates available to shoppers in the Dominion East Ohio territory.
Aggregation saves aggravation, but what about cash?
Local programs make it easy to get natural gas contract, but in some years price is high
Local government natural gas aggregation groups, or buying groups, have had mixed success in recent years. Some years, they've had competitive prices compared with public rates that you and I have been able to shop for on our own.
Natural gas usage up; rates down
February's cold triggers jump in bills, but costs over winter a bit lower
Choose natural gas rate that works for you (Aug. 19)
Market offers something for everyone; customers just need to determine their tolerance for risk
I apologize if I sound a bit like a broken record, but your decision about natural gas rates will again have to do with your tolerance for risk.
Tips on natural gas supply contracts (Aug. 19)
Here are some tips on natural gas supply contracts: Check prices. Company officials confirmed all of these prices as of Friday, but rates change often, so you'll have to double-check. Also, you can check pricing year round through two state agencies that both put together charts of current offers. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, at http://www.puco.ohio.gov or 800-686-7826, updates its chart every Thursday, and the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, at http://www.pickocc.org or 877-742-5622, updates its chart every Monday. Prices published today will probably be slightly different from those charts since I had prices as of Friday.
Natural gas price follow-up (Aug. 26)
Many communities negotiate good rate
A few follow-up items from last week's column where I analyzed natural gas offers (if you missed it, you can find it and my previous columns at www.ohio.com/business/lin-fisher):
Cold weather could affect gas budget
How to read a dial meter and consumer gas links
