Wanna go on vacations for half-price? All the time? You like concierge service? 24/7.

What? Oh, all you gotta do is go to a 90-minute travel presentation. That’s it. You game? Come on! It’s great. OK!

That’s how it begins. In the case of one travel club that put on presentations on Bridge Street in Fort Worth, Texas, hundreds of people paid thousands of dollars each. In return, according to the Texas attorney general, they got nothing.

The company operated as SeaLand Travel Club, Royal Palms Travel and All Inclusive Excursions.

Owner Adrian D. Miller, formerly of Grapevine, signed an agreed judgment with the attorney general in August. He agreed to pay $30,000 to the state and $20,000 in attorney fees. He also promised not to engage in any future fraudulent activities. Read the lawsuit here.

Customers may get a little back from the state, but their best bet is to seek a settlement with the company, which continues to work with customers who filed complaints. The company says in the judgment that it has refunded $300,000 and knows it will refund more.

Travel club memberships have been a prime source of consumer complaints for a decade. Companies promise great deals. Often, consumers don’t get them and file complaints. Companies get in trouble with the law and close. Consumers lose their money and learn hard lessons.

It’s repeated over and over. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

WatchdogNation.com has important information that could help put an end to travel club deceptions.

Buried deep in the legal judgment are promises by Miller to no longer engage in certain business practices.

His lawyer, William Lewis Sessions, says both sides worked on the guidelines.

“Candidly, my client feels good about that,” Lewis said. “They want to be a positive model.” He said Miller was out of town and unavailable for an interview.

The guidelines are the attorney general’s latest prohibitions on deceptive practices by travel clubs. They could also help consumers and businesses protect themselves — not only in the travel club business but also in any other area where money is involved.

I’ve rewritten them from the original legal language and added comments:

- Beware of travel clubs that fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose their correct business identity and ownership. (A club hides it name so you can’t easily look it up on the Internet before you visit. But always look up the company before signing any contracts.)

Same goes for any sales presentation in which a company’s name is not clearly displayed and explained. (What else is it hiding?)

- A red flag goes up when a company fails to disclose in documents to consumers that the travel club may not always provide prices that are lower than those published on the Internet or elsewhere. (How can anyone promise the lowest prices all the time?)

- Same applies to any legal contracts that attempt to deceive consumers into believing that their membership entitles them to lower prices than those published elsewhere. (That is a promise that ought to get all kinds of companies in trouble.)

- Sales staff must not promise that the examples of accommodations, cruise lines, carriers, resorts, hotels or amenities shown in sales presentations and sales literature will be available to purchasers of the plan. (In other words, don’t fall for the brand names. In this company’s case, it didn’t have permission to use the name and logo of Carnival Cruise in promotions but did anyway.)

- Written disclosures should be made to potential buyers that what the company offers may not always be available to members. (Promised trips and half-price deals never materialized.)

- All statistics offered in sales materials must clearly and conspicuously give the source and date of the information cited. (A way to stop companies from making stuff up.)

- Beware of these words used in sales presentations to describe relationships with other well-known companies: affiliation, association, authorization, connection, partnership. (They try to imply a close relationship with the better-known company. Just because they say it doesn’t make it so.)

- Don’t let these phrases confuse you: deep discount, deeply discounted, pennies on the dollar, greatly reduced rates or similar phrases. (The first price you’re told is too high. The final price is much lower. But it’s still too much.)

- Look for other warning phrases that are never as good as they sound: gift, promotional gift, prize, incentive, complimentary gift. (The company doesn’t tell you that the “free” trip will cost you hundreds of dollars in taxes and other fees. Or it doesn’t tell you that the gift costs you money.)

- Beware also of promises for trips where the company fails to disclose a restriction on available dates to redeem travel vouchers. (I’m still waiting for that Vegas trip I was promised by a different company in 2005.)

- Be skeptical if you hear promises that someone else can negotiate better deals for you. (Professional travel agents –yes, they still exist — are best suited for that.)

The Texas attorney general’s office asks anyone who did business with Royal Palms Travel, SeaLand Travel Club and All Inclusive Excursions to file a complaint as soon as possible. Two defendants have not settled, so a portion of the case remains open. Call the attorney general at 800-252-8011.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

“This actually makes you physically ill,” she says.

The retired Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy invested in what regulators describe as an alternative investment: life settlements. Her money was used to buy insurance policies of older adults who want to cash out and sell their benefits to investors. When the original policyholder dies, investors, who pay the premiums, reap the death benefits. The quicker the person dies, the greater the payoff.

As I reported in the spring, the company she invested with, Retirement Value LLC. of New Braunfels, has been shut down by the state. Now comes word from the court-appointed receiver that commissions paid to financial advisers and company officials were 30 percent. Read the report here.

Of $77 million raised in a year from 900 investors like Brady, about $10 million went to Retirement Value and $13 million went to sellers of the program. Brady says nobody told her commissions would be that high.

Eduardo Espinosa, the receiver, told me: “Every time I’ve spoken to an investor, they did not realize the commissions were coming off the top, or the extent of the commissions.”

Receiver Eduardo Espinosa

Texas is one of a few states that don’t regulate life settlement investments specifically. The term does not appear in state law.

The Texas State Securities Board, which closed Retirement Value, evaluates each complaint case by case. The agency’s enforcement director says that fraud is growing and that Texas is wide open for abuses.

A lengthy report released last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission recommends that Congress toughen federal laws for life settlements. Texas lawmakers may do the same in the 2011 session.

The state receiver’s report is the first full look at the workings at Retirement Value.

The contents, which Espinosa describes as allegations, portray, in his words, “substantial evidence of fraud.”

Although the company was a little more than a year old, its sellers raised $77 million in the first year. Investors were promised that their money would be placed in third-party escrow accounts. That didn’t happen. The money was kept under the control of Retirement Value, the report alleges.

As the state prepared to seize the company’s assets, CEO Richard Gray moved $1 million from company coffers to another company set up by friends. The receiver found out and seized the money. The receiver has seized $25 million all told.

The company purposefully underestimated the life expectancy of policyholders to lure investors, the report alleges. The estimates used were calculated by a company run by a convicted felon.

The report also alleges that investors were told false information that prevented them from making informed decisions. That’s against state law.

How much Brady and the other investors get back is up to the receiver. He has to decide whether to pay back the 900 investors from that seized $25 million or keep the investments alive by using that money to continue paying insurance premiums.

“I anticipate there will be a loss,” he says. “How big? I don’t know.”

Brady made the investment last year at the Camp Bowie Boulevard office of James E. Poe, owner of Senior Retirement Planners. Poe introduced Brady to Bruce Collins, chief operating officer of Retirement Value.

“They really played it up,” Brady says of the investment, sometimes called “death bets” by critics.

After the state came down on the company, Poe wrote Brady and about 20 other investors that they should be wary when contacted by state investigators.

“You are under no obligation to respond, or even continue the conversation,” Poe advised his clients in a letter.

Poe told me in June that the investments were good and that the company would come out of this. The receiver’s report makes that seem unlikely. (The Retirement Value receiver’s website is www.rvllcreceivership.com.)

Last week, Poe said that the company’s side is not being told. He said his lawyer advised him not to discuss specifics with his clients.

“There’s not enough room in your paper to present a fair and balanced argument on both sides of this, sir,” he said.

Barry Bishop, a lawyer for former CEO Gray, did not respond to a request for an interview.

When I asked about commissions, Poe answered: “Every business in America operates on a profit margin. And a 30 percent profit margin for a company that creates a product can be made to look disgraceful. Or it can be made to look like a reasonable return.”

The receiver says the story of Retirement Value offers a warning to investors: Whenever someone touts an alternative investment that promises low risk and high rewards, be skeptical.

“That should trigger an alarm in your head that something is not right,” Espinosa says. “Dig a little deeper.”

The former sheriff’s deputy knows that now: “It affects your life in all directions. Even though you pick up the pieces and act normal, it’s always there in your mind.”

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Read our previous stories on this subject below:

Life settlements are the wild west of the investment industry

Financial adviser warns clients about investigators

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

A hive began growing two months ago behind the siding of the house next door to Cody Tucker’s. Tucker talked to his neighbor and offered to help pay to have it removed. But the neighbor rebuffed him, saying he could handle it.

The hive grew larger.

The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, tells me he has been working on the hive problem for weeks.

Not fast enough for Tucker. The hive grew to thousands of bees.

A week ago, after his daughter and dog were stung, Tucker called Fort Worth’s code enforcement department. At first, he says, a code officer told him there was nothing the city could do. Tucker insisted on filing a complaint.

Tucker also called the police, who sympathized but couldn’t do much. So Tucker called The Watchdog.

The Fort Worth city code states that a bee infestation is a hazard to the public health and safety. But it’s not considered a nuisance. The difference is that the city can issue a citation for a hazard. If it were a nuisance, the city could also hire someone to solve the problem and bill the homeowner. Not here.

For a hazard such as this, “we generally give citizens a reasonable amount of time to comply,” says Brandon Bennett, the code compliance director. “We could have written a citation on Day One, but that generally does not speed things along. We would rather see the citizen put their time and money into abatement as opposed to court fines.”

And that’s what the neighbor says he is trying to do.

He called in two bee companies for estimates, listened to their free advice and decided to go it alone. Estimates were several thousand dollars — and that didn’t include repairs to the house.

The neighbor says he doesn’t want to remove the siding. He decided to use expanding foam and caulk to lock the bees in and keep the rest out.

A homeowner trapped a bee hive behind his home siding using expanding foam and caulk.

He built himself a bee suit using masking tape and nylon. “They sting you right through the stuff,” he says, adding that he has been stung “multiple times.”

When I asked him about Tucker’s complaints to the city, he answered, “He can see from his property what we’re doing. Short of waving a magic wand, there’s not much he can do.”

Tucker says he is worried about his neighbor’s attempt to seal the bees in. From what he learned through research, sealing a hive inside a house is asking for trouble. “The bees could potentially bore their way through the drywall and into the house,” he says.

I checked that with Tarrant County Extension Agent Steve Chaney. He told me, “You can’t just seal it up with them in there. They will either exit outside or into your house. You’ve got to get rid of them somehow, whether you do it yourself or have someone come out and do it.”

Pete Glasser, an Arlington hive removal specialist, says the bees most likely are in a small area between the first-floor ceiling and second floor.

“They will find another way out,” he predicts. “It may be into the guy’s house. It’s really hard to get rid of a hive in there. You have a queen laying 2,000 eggs a day. There could be 30,000 bees in there.”

Bee removal specialists sometimes must open an interior wall to remove the hive, he says.

That’s why Glasser recommends preventive maintenance. “Seal up openings between the siding and brick. It doesn’t take a big opening for a bee to get in there and decide ‘This is a great place to live.’ Pretty soon, he brings in tens of thousands of his buddies. Then it gets complicated.”

Tucker was also stung by the city’s response. Buzzing like an angry bee, he spent a week making phone calls, pleading with code enforcement to get serious about his problem. At first, he says, he was rebuffed. Then his complaint number wasn’t entered properly. Then nobody got back to him.

Code officials say they didn’t have a callback number for Tucker. (Note: Write a letter.)

The neighbor acknowledges that he has placed a big bet that his sealing measures have curtailed the problem. But he doesn’t know yet.

When I met with the neighbor, I saw less than a dozen bees flying near the house.

Later, leaving the property, I watched as he vacuumed live bees off his window frame.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

That’s how I try to operate my life — free and fast. And I bet you do, too.

Sometimes, though, that can clutter things up.

Do you shred your documents that contain your personal information before throwing them away? I’ve bought three different shredders from office supply stores — and returned them all. They stink.

Instead, I’ve been waiting for a free, local shredding service to take my receipts, bank statements and paper bills and ground them into pulp. Unfortunately, it can cost a homeowner around $100 for such a service to come to your door or for you to bring it to them.

That’s not Watchdog Nation’s way. We want it done free and in just seconds.

My last big shredding was in June 2007 in Addison, Texas. I remember because I attended an anti-fraud conference that day. Free shredding was one of the lures.

In the past three years, I accumulated more than a hundred pounds of paper. I had boxes stacked in the attic marked “To Be Shredded.” Trash bags were piled high in a spare bedroom.

Then yesterday, they all vanished.

I’ve kept searching the Internet and asking about free shredding. Then I heard about Legend Bank in Fort Worth, Texas that was staging a “Free Shred Day.” I’m not a customer, but the event was open to everybody. I told a lot of my friends and many of them showed up, too.

Legend Bank is getting a reputation for offering checking that pays 4 percent in monthly interest if certain conditions are followed. The shred day was a great way to get people to visit the bank.

Mike Monroe, executive vice president and regional president, also passed along shredding guidelines to his customers — a story by Steven Hastert at www.shrednations.com. You can read it here.

Watchdog Nation hopes you are shredding your documents for free and in seconds. No need to wait three years as I did.

Mike Monroe of Legend Bank (left), Dave Lieber (center) and Michael Morris of instantshredding.com -- and the star of the show, all the stuff of Dave's about to get destroyed.

No need for me to repeat the latest identity theft stats here. You know the drill. Suffice it to say that I have written stories in my newspaper about dumpster divers who pull the unshredded stuff out and resell it to drug rings that also engage in identity theft. That’s incentive enough for me to do it right.

Three years of Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber's personal documents waiting to be shredded. Almost filled up a large trash cart.

We advise you to search the Internet regularly for “free shredding” and the name of your community. These events are almost always held on Saturdays. Often, the sponsors are private businesses, law enforcement authorities and neighborhood associations. You can even call your local shredding companies (easy to find on the Internet) and ask if they are scheduled to offer a free service with any community sponsors in the coming months.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

[This review originally appeared on author Lori Kinnard's Winding Roads Books & More website here.]

Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation. 192 pages. Yankee Cowboy Publishing. $20.00

“What are you waiting for? Start Squeaking!” Dave Lieber seems to, like the cover of his book, represent a modern day hero. I’m exaggerating, of course; but he will tell you how to go about bringing your own personal justice to the credit card companies, big box stores and appliance repair people.  Mr. Lieber has had enough of endless hold times and overbilling; he wrote a book to help others avoid suffering the same irritations that he and his fellow “Watchdogs” have endured.

Book reviewer Lori Kinnard

Mr. Lieber is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, where readers can write in with their inquiries: “my contractor took all my money and didn’t finish the job”, “the toaster oven I bought on sale doesn’t work and they won’t give me a replacement”. Mr. Lieber quite often tracks down the offending company or provider and aids the customer in getting their due.

The book itself is broken into individual stories and what actions should be taken to remedy those situations. Helpful quips and even special people to contact (phone numbers included) are enclosed.  It makes for fun reading because most of us have been in at least some of these positions and the advice he offers heads off potential “shopping misadventures”; better arming us for dealing with anyone trying to sell us something.

I especially like his enthusiasm: he seems earnestly thrilled to get the bad customer service representatives out there to do the right thing… or get them fired.  Like most people who love their jobs, his energy is contagious. I’ll approach my next purchase differently having read this book.  The bottom line in this story is that YOU too can do what Dave has done. The book’s static moments are only part of what Mr. Lieber is aiming to achieve; an end to poor service everywhere.  So grab your recorders, take notes as well as a few minutes to think over that salesman’s pitch before buying what he’s selling and be your own “Watchdog.”

Author Lori Kinnard is the owner of Winding Roads Books & More - an independent bookstore in Joshua, Texas. http://windingroadsbooks.com and http://www.windingroadsbookstore.com/

Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

Today, she celebrates her 100th birthday. That officially makes her the oldest citizen of Watchdog Nation in the world today.

I know she’s a citizen of Watchdog Nation because whenever she gets angry at someone trying to rip her off, her first instinct, after calling me, is to demand: “WHO REGULATES YOU? I’M GOING TO FILE A COMPLAINT.”

I met her in 2008 when Cigna, her health insurance company, did her a big bowl of wrong. She wrote a $4.80 check she owed them. But then, at 98 years old, she put the decimal point in the wrong place. She wrote the check for $480. And when she complained later, the company refused to give her the money back. They said it could take a month or more.

Here’s the story I told earlier of how she got her back money.

At the time, she couldn’t remember my name was Watchdog, so she called me “Dogpatch Guy” — and I put that in the story.  For weeks afterward,  people called me “Dogpatch Guy.”

“I put you on the map,” she jokes.

Anyway, she’s been ripped off before, and she doesn’t like it. Somebody cashed out one of her insurance policies years ago (without her knowledge), and the agent involved was fired. She also got angry after she received a free cell phone but later learned she had to pay large bills. She also bought a phone for hard-of-hearing adults that turned out to be a dud, too. So she’s real suspicious.

Maybe that’s why she’s lived to be 100.

In the video box at the top of this post, shot on her birthday, she tells about her latest escapade.

Ruth Wingfield, 100, and the dude she calls "Dogpatch Guy"

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Final note: Wingfield was an outstanding semi-pro women’s basketball player in the 1930s. She played with the legendary Hazel Scott. Last week, Nancy Lieberman, probably the greatest American woman’s basketball player alive today, presented Wingfield with a cake and an autographed basketball.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

> The Jet Blue flight attendant who wouldn’t bandage his head cut and couldn’t wait a few more minutes to visit the airport bar.

> The 19-year-old man, a future movie subject no doubt, who ransacked homes, stole airplanes and eluded police.

> The big national bank ordered last week to pay California customers $203 million in restitution claims because a judge found it had manipulated transactions to boost the overdraft fees it could charge its own customers.

> The iconic techno company that knowingly lied for years about the strength of its signal bars on iPhones.

Every summer has its own personality. The hot summer of 2010 will be remembered for a growing despair among the people, as the economy turned downward, once again.

Amid this, we gasp at the successes (through his life’s failures) of the Barefoot Bandit, aka Colton Harris-Moore. We marvel at the chutzpah of Steven Slater, the airline attendant who now says he wants his old job back.

We give Steve Jobs and Apple a pass on the phone screen that lied to its customers for every day of usage. Well, he put up a slide that acknowledged, “We’re not perfect.”

And we accept the Wells Fargo court finding as business as usual in America, even though, U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote, “The bank’s dominant , indeed sole, motive was to maximize the number of overdrafts and squeeze as much as possible” out of overdrawn customers. This story did not receive the attention it deserved (hence this quick post).

In your mind, how you would rank these poor acts of citizenship during the summer of 2010 in terms of their maximum damage to the American culture? And to you?

For me, the least upsetting is the Barefoot Bandit. My house wasn’t involved, and he didn’t steal my airplane (cause I don’t have one). He’s an amusing distraction. Look for the movie out next fall. Perfect, since he seems like a character out of the 1930s anyway.

#3 in harm is Apple. Any company that takes over the music industry and is about to take over the publishing industry is actually worthy of being a villain in a James Bond movie. Too big for its own good. But I don’t care. I’ve got a Blackberry.

Runner-up for most heinous is the Jet Blue dude. He’s in charge of the safety and well being of those passengers. They come first — or at least they’re supposed to. The only good he did was expose the lax security for those leaving JFK Airport. As one spokesman said, we’re good at watching who enters the airport; we’re not so good at watching them leave.

The winner? For me, founder of Watchdog Nation, it’s a no brainer: Wells Fargo.

You hurt your own customers.  You processed their biggest payments first, which increased your income from overdraft charges. Meanwhile, penalties for smaller charges piled up on customers, causing tremendous harm for them, and now, finally, great shame for you.

The Barefoot Bandit and the others have nothing on you.  They are a distraction. You took money that a judge says doesn’t belong to you. From your own customers!

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

Meet Riley. He doesn't care for smart meters.

From his point of view, it’s easy to see why he might have nipped at the gloved hand that reached over the fence in his back yard in Crowley, Texas.

The hand belonged to a smart-meter installer from Oncor Electric Delivery.

The installer’s other hand reached for his can of HALT! — a dog repellent spray — and fired away.

Riley ran back into his house. His eyes had swollen, and he wiped his head frantically on the carpet. His owners, Carter and Mandy Forbes, didn’t know what had happened. They rushed him to the vet, where the doctor explained that someone had apparently sprayed the dog with repellent. Riley was treated and released. The bill was $90.

Back home after that, Mandy Forbes saw an Oncor installer in the neighborhood. She says she watched him take off his hard hat and butt a neighborhood Chihuahua that was barking at him in the head.

“Did you spray my dog?” she says she asked him.

“I haven’t done it in six months,” he replied.

“Do you have the right to do that?”

“Yes,” he answered. “If we feel threatened.”

She told him what Riley went through. He apologized but said it must have been the other installer working the neighborhood.

The Forbeses contacted Oncor. Days later, the company, which delivers electricity to much of North Texas, agreed to pay the medical bill.

Oncor doesn’t like to pay claims. But it did so in this case because the installer didn’t follow company policy.

“It was really in the spirit of customer service that we decided to pay this claim,” spokeswoman Megan Wright said. “There wasn’t anything legally that would make us pay this claim. But the fact that the meter installer did not knock before he installed the meter, which is not required by law, we felt that we wanted to pay this claim.”

The front-door knock, she said, is “something we like to do as a courtesy.”

When I pressed for more details, she said, “His body was not bit, but he said the dog’s teeth did make contact with his really thick gloves.”

Riley is fine. The installer, however, was reprimanded. “We tell our employees they have to put their safety first,” Wright said. “He had to do what he could to protect himself.”

Previously, I’ve reported how smart-meter installers have the right to climb backyard fences to change out meters and how, during the installation, the power to your home or business will go off for several minutes. I’ve recommended that you install surge protectors on valuable electronics and even consider purchasing a whole-house surge protector, usually best installed by an electrician. Oncor says it doesn’t pay claims on electronics that are ruined by power surges.

As far as dog bites, Oncor says installers have been bitten by dogs 12 times this year and were bitten 22 times last year.

Oncor provided this photo to show what its smart meter installers must endure.

Oncor provided me with photos of installers and the nasty bites they received. The photos are difficult to look at.

Oncor says it trains installers how to handle dogs without spraying them.

“We talk to them about how to spot the danger signs of aggression,” Wright said. “How to walk away. Move slowly and carefully. You don’t look in a dog’s eyes. You do not smile, because you don’t want to show your teeth. The dog will think that’s an aggressive move.

“Never run. You just stay calm and quiet. We also talk to installers about being aware of their surroundings, looking to see if there are any dog toys, dog runs, well-worn paths.

“Our meter readers also carry with them a stick with a little tennis ball on the end of it. The dog will oftentimes attack the tennis ball.

“No one wants to hurt an animal.”

Oncor has almost 2 million smart meters left to install. That’s a lot of back yards to enter — and a lot of watchdogs that have no idea what’s coming.

Oncor provided this photo of a worker's pants to show the perils of going into the backyards of others.

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Dog bite stats

• 2005 – 43 dog bites
• 2006 – 31 dog bites
• 2007 – 32 dog bites
• 2008 – 27 dog bites
• 2009 – 22 dog bites
• As of 8/1/2010 – 12 dog bites

Source: ONCOR

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

At first, I talked to him through the glass. I rarely open the door for anyone except the pizza deliveryman. But he was one persistent son of a gun.

He told me he was from an alarm company. I asked which one, and he pointed to the logo on his sleeve — GE Security.

When I finally opened the door, he moved the notebook that he was holding against his chest, revealing his real company logo on his breast pocket — Pinnacle Security. I wrote about Pinnacle selling 60-month contracts previously.

I told him I already had an alarm system. He said my analog system wasn’t good enough.

“There’s a city ordinance in the works in Tarrant County where they’re going to require everybody to switch over to the new digital system,” he said. “That’s kind of what we’re advertising.”

There’s a lot wrong with that. He confused Fort Worth, where I live, with Tarrant County. Tarrant County doesn’t adopt alarm ordinances. The city does.

But I told him that nothing like what he described was in the works in either the city or the county.

“You can research it online,” he insisted. “I’m telling the truth.”

I told him he wasn’t.

“I promise you!” he said.

No, I repeated. It’s not happening.

“The honest truth,” he said. “I’m not lying.”

But he was wrong.

I asked to see his state license for door-to-door alarm sales.

Instead, he pulled out his company ID card.

I told him state law required that he show a license. He didn’t have one with him.

“You’re in violation,” I said.

“You gotta have it right now?” he asked.

Yeah, man.

“I’ve only been at the company for a month,” he said.

I identified myself as The Watchdog columnist at the Star-Telegram. Told him I wrote about his company in October. Seemed as if I knew more about Pinnacle than he did.

I went inside and fetched a copy. Brought it outside. Started reading excerpts aloud.

“Alarm salesmen and installers must carry a pocket card with their photograph issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau. If they don’t have a card, they are not licensed to work in Texas.”

Hmm, he said. “I didn’t think I was breaking the law.”

He told me he was 23 years old, finishing up college in Arizona. This is a summer job, and he expects to return home in a month with his wife. He wasn’t doing too well in the new job either, he confessed.

No wonder.

Later, I checked with a Fort Worth spokesman, who confirmed that the city is not contemplating forcing burglar alarm users to switch from analog to digital. Why would it?

I looked on the Texas Department of Public Safety website and saw that this salesman did have a license. Perhaps his boss never bothered to give it to him.

Checked also with the agency, which investigates unlicensed alarm salesmen. In this case, I was told, if a complaint were filed, the company would be cited, not the salesman, because management didn’t give him proper credentials.

Looked up the company’s Better Business Bureau rating and saw that Pinnacle has the same F grade it had when I checked in October. But the numbers are worse. In October, there were 800 consumer complaints going back three years. Now there are 1,200.

Checked the Orem, Utah-based company’s record with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, too. In November, the company was fined $6,000 for disobeying state rules. Among the violations cited was “indicating that a replacement or a repair is needed when it is not.”

Called Chris Russell, president of the Fort Worth-based Texas Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, who told me, “It’s very frustrating to hear a story like that because we try to warn homeowners of these types of sales tactics. I guess we haven’t been effective yet to put a stop to it.”

Contacted Pinnacle, where Chief Operating Officer Steve Hafen told me he would contact the Dallas office “to make sure we are not misstating or exaggerating facts.”

He added: “He should have been carrying that license. … There’s no excuse for that. … We’ll follow up with that office to make sure that all the representatives follow the comprehensive code of conduct we have in place.”

As for the salesman, when we said our goodbyes at my front door, I suggested that his best bet was just to boogie on out of my neighborhood. I watched as he stopped knocking on doors, at least on my block.

One down. A zillion more to go.

# # #

After the above Watchdog column first appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a former alarm salesman sent this confessional e-mail to the paper’s comments board:

Burnsengine wrote on 8/6/2010 1:02:19 AM:

When I moved back to D/Fw, I went to work for a major company that sells alarms systems. This kid, though I feel sorry for him, probably has little idea about the law. I didn’t.

This is likely what they trained him to do and say. And, in this working environment today, it was probably the only job he could get. When I left the company (after 6 horrible months), I realized that I too may have been violating the law.
These salesmen are trained to sell. That’s it. They are trained to say whatever it is they have to say to scare, worry, frighten, nag or break you down to make the sale. They are only given a brief summary on what’s legal and what is not at a local seminar. The rookies know very little compared to the veterans.. and the veterans don’t have time to teach anyone. I believed this was purposeful then, and I still do now.

Ignorance is bliss, right? I witnessed lie after lie from my own managers to my customers about their systems OR lack thereof. Leaving this company was one of the best decisions I ever made.

# # #

For Texas alarm customers

– Alarm salesmen and installers must carry a “pocket card” with their photograph issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau. If they don’t have a card, they are not licensed to work in Texas.

–  To check whether a salesperson or installer is licensed in Texas, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/individual/individual_search.aspx.
To check whether an alarm company is licensed in Texas, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/company/company_search.aspx.

–  Texas consumers can complain to the Private Security Bureau at 512-424-7710  or e-mail: privatesecurityboard@txdps.state.tx.us.

–  If you have fallen victim to an unlicensed salesman, complain to the Texas Attorney General at 1-800-621-0508.

–  Alarm system companies in Texas operate under Chapter 1702 of the Occupations Code (the Private Security Act.)

–  Texas customers who have a complaint about a Utah-based alarm sales company may file a complaint with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection Web site at www.consumerprotection.utah.gov. Or call 801-530-6601.

TIPS

Be cautious about purchasing an alarm system from door-to-door salesmen.

Be wary of offers of free systems. Equipment and installation fees may be free, but don’t forget the monthly monitoring fee.

Check the company’s reputation before signing any contract. Get other bids and compare.

Ask for the company’s security procedures when an alarm sounds so you know how it handles your security.

Learn the length of the contract. Get the shortest possible.

The Federal Trade Commission requires a “cooling off period” of three days in which you can cancel any contract you signed with a salesman who came to your door.

Source: BBB

# # #

Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

Can you imagine that happening in China?

Watchdog Nation was founded by Dave Lieber

Ironically, Watchdog Nation is the subject of a Chinese Internet domain registration scam. Someone is asking Watchdog Nation to purchase these Asian-related Internet domains — watchdognation.cn, watchdognation.com.cn and watchdognation.asia.

We think not.

The very idea of Watchdog Nation in China? Well, it ain’t gonna happen.

Here’s how we know this is a scam. The email comes from someone at this domain — ygnetwork.net. But you can’t access this domain in the U.S. Yet notice how it’s equally close in name to an actual domain — http://ygnetwork.cn/.

ygnetwork.cn describes itself as:

YGNETWORK, headquartered in Shanghai, is a leading provider of domain name registration and web hosting services. Since its establishment, we commit to Chinese network system and network technology development. We provide comprehensive network solutions to help our clients reach their business goals and objectives.

Close enough to fool some. Then I found a posting on this Internet scam here titled “Domain Registration Scam in China.”

Here are two notes sent to Watchdog Nation from the scammer:

From: Angela [angela.zhang@ygnetwork.net]
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 12:33 AM
To: WatchDog
Subject: Notice of Intellectual Property-Trademark Name

Dear Manager,

We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On July,13th,2010, We received HUATAI Company’s application that they are registering the name “watchdognation” as their Internet Trademark and “watchdognation.cn”,”watchdognation.com.cn” ,”watchdognation.asia”domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!

Kind regards

Angela Zhang

And this second note from them, after I wrote back that I wasn’t interested:

Re: RE: Notice of Intellectual Property-Trademark Name

Dear Manager:

Thanks for your prompt reply.We knew you have registered the domain name “watchdognation.com” and own the intellectual property, this is why we informed you.But now the Investment company wanted to apply for other cn/asia domain names and Internet trademark Keyword you have not registered yet,like “ www.watchdognation.cn, www.watchdognation.com.cn, www.watchdognation.asia“.  It’s china and asia domain name. You must know Domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle. So the Investment company has right to register them. As a domain name registrar, we have no right to dispute their application.So required by China government to inform your company to protect your interest. But as the company whose trademarks relate to the applied domains, you will get the priority to register these domain names.

Of course, each company has their own idea. If you don’t think their application will affect your company, you can give up, we will finish their registration. The Investment company will become the legal owner of these domain names in the world.

You will be responsible for the loss caused by the matter yourself. But if you think these domain names are useful for your company, we can send an application form and the price list to you and help you register these within dispute period. This is the only way to prevent domain name grab. Pls let us know your decision soon, so that we can handle the next step.

Looking forward to hearing your reply.

Best regards,

Ms Angela

# # #

FINAL NOTE: The Watchdog Nation domain in the U.S. is safe. We own com, biz, info, mobi, net, org and us.

Watchdog Nation TIP: If you ever want to open a business or start a movement, buy your domain with as many extensions as possible to prevent domain squatters from cashing in on your success.

# # #

Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber