US Fidelis, the beleaguered Wentzville-based seller of extended auto service contracts, has stopped paying refunds to consumers who cancel such protection plans, according to executives at two companies that administer the contracts. The change means tens of thousands of consumers could find it much more difficult to get hundreds of dollars in refunds that are supposed to be guaranteed in Missouri, Illinois and most other states. US Fidelis spokesman Ken Fields, of the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm, would not say whether the company has stopped contributing to cancellation refunds. When consumers want to cancel coverage, US Fidelis "will work with the customer and the relevant administration company to address that customer's situation," according to a company statement. If regulators force those administration companies to cover US Fidelis' portion of the refunds, the consequences would be "unprecedented" and could threaten to bring down some of those firms, said Paul Stratch, chief financial officer of American Auto Shield, a service contract administrator based in the Denver area that did business with US Fidelis. Extended service contracts are canceled for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, consumers are unhappy with the coverage. Other times, the plans are dropped because the vehicle is about to be sold, gets repossessed or is simply no longer usable. When that happens, consumers get one check for the unused portion of the coverage. But that payment usually comes from two different companies that had made money on the sale of the contract. Most comes from the contract's marketer — companies like US Fidelis that sell the coverage — and the rest comes from the service contract administrator, which pays out claims. Stratch said US Fidelis recently told his company that it would no longer contribute to customer refunds and that it would refer canceling customers to administration firms like American Auto Shield, which was formerly known as Warranty America. Service contract marketers have failed in the past, and when they have, administration firms have often picked up the full cost of cancellation refunds. But US Fidelis' inability to pay refunds is different from those cases, Stratch said, because there never has been a service contract seller as big as US Fidelis. "Nobody else came close to their kind of volume," he said. In its heyday, US Fidelis employed more than 1,100 people and claimed to be the nation's leading seller of the auto service contracts, which were often marketed as "extended warranties." But over the last two years, the company has suffered a stunning collapse. Watchdog groups have said US Fidelis sells coverage that is virtually useless for many of its customers. Automakers accused the company of misusing their trademarks; class-action lawsuits have been filed, claiming deceptive trade practices. And an investigation of the company continues, involving 43 states. Late last year, US Fidelis laid off several hundred workers before announcing it would no longer sell the contracts. The company said it would keep a skeleton crew at its sprawling call center, at Interstate 70 and Highway 40, to provide customer service to the approximately 300,000 vehicle owners who had bought coverage from the firm. Those consumers bought service contracts that typically range in price from $2,000 to $4,000 — depending on the age of the vehicle and the level of coverage. The contract's cost usually is financed over 18 to 24 months, but the coverage period often lasts four years or more. That means many customers canceling a contract are entitled to a pro-rated refund for the unused part of the service contract. Customers who have driven only half the maximum miles over half of the calendar life of the protection, for instance, are entitled to a refund of half the cost of the contract. Stratch said American Auto Shield will pay both its share of refunds and US Fidelis' portion. He said his firm won't take a big financial hit because US Fidelis sold fewer than 1,000 service contracts from American Auto Shield. "But this is going to be a huge liability for other companies," Stratch said. "They could try not to pay (US Fidelis' portion), but the states are going to make sure customers get their refunds one way or another." Tim Schuur, president of Houston-based Tier One Warranty Services, said US Fidelis also told his company it would stop paying into customer refunds. Schuur said that his company would continue to pay its portion of refunds owed to canceling US Fidelis consumers but that Tier One alone shouldn't have to cover US Fidelis' obligations to canceling customers. "The lender needs to get involved," he said. "Mepco needs to get involved." That's Chicago-based Mepco Finance Corp., a subsidiary of Independent Bank, of Ionia, Mich., that financed most of the auto service contracts sold by US Fidelis. It's also the company's biggest creditor, and last month it became US Fidelis' landlord. Executives at Mepco did not respond to a request for comment. Travis Ford, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Insurance, said consumers who cancel their service contracts and can't get the pro-rated refund owed to them should file complaints with the agency. |
Saturday, 27 February 2010
US Fidelis quits paying refunds
Friday, 26 February 2010
WSOP Circuit Tournaments
Thursday, 25 February 2010
IrinaMitrovici-Viral Marketing Campaigns Drive Targeted Traffic
Viral marketing is a great way to use the power and nature of the Internet to reach a large number of people quickly and drive a continually growing flood of targeted web traffic to your website. With a successful viral marketing campaign, your website traffic could go from almost nothing to thousands of hits or even hundreds of thousands of hits per day almost overnight. Viral marketing is a term used for marketing campaigns that grow and spread like a human or computer virus. In a successful viral campaign, people pass the marketing material on socially so that the marketing campaign grows like a snowball rolling down hill. The basic idea of viral marketing is that you can increase your sales by increasing your targeted website traffic and you can increase your targeted web traffic by giving away or spreading something for free that people will pass on to their friends, family, or business associates like a virus. Viral campaigns may spread through emails or eBooks that people pass on or through articles or viral videos that people pass on. Microsoft's Hotmail service was probably one of the biggest early successes of viral marketing. Free web-based email is common today, but it was a new concept in 1996 when Microsoft first promoted Hotmail by adding a short advertising teaser at the end of its users' email messages. Who would have ever expected how big the results of this marketing campaign could be? But as huge as the success of Microsoft's viral marketing campaign was for Hotmail, it only set the stage for what was to come during the 2004 American presidential campaign. Who can forget JibJab's flash animation political parody of George Bush and John Kerry singing, "This Land Is Your Land?" By marrying the concept of flash video on the Web to viral marketing, JibJab took the Internet by storm. According to Internet statistician ComScore Media Metrix, the viral video received over 10.4 million unique hits in July 2004 - more than three times as many visitors as the official campaign websites of the two presidential candidates! Now you may never experience the phenomenal success that JibJab did with one of your viral marketing campaigns, but the concept is simple and easily implemented. It works on the idea that if people like something or can profit from something, they will pass it on to their friends, family, and associates. Viral marketing can be as simple as writing an article and having it published in article directories where newsletter publishers and webmasters may pick it up and republish it. Be sure to include an author bio or resource box at the bottom of every article that includes your name, your website link, and a call to action that entices people to click on your link. Webmasters and publishers are always looking for great content, so be sure to provide value. Alternatively, you could send a funny, informative, or controversial newsletter to your subscriber list. Be sure to encourage people to pass your newsletter on with a short note at the bottom of your newsletter. When people click through to your website, you would like to capture their email address and get their permission to contact them. Otherwise, they will often surf away, never to be seen again on your website. Squeeze pages (pages primarily designed to get subscribers) are one proven way to do this, and offering people a free eBook or free report is a great way to get people to subscribe to your newsletter. Want to kick your viral marketing campaign into even higher gear? Grant people the rights to give away the free eBook or report to their own customers or contacts. Be sure to brand the eBook or report with links to your website, so that anyone who receives it from others will find their way back to your website. Also, if you let your customers rebrand some of the links with their affiliate links or other links, they will really be motivated to pass the eBook or report on! The Internet is perfect for viral marketing. This is one of the most powerful marketing techniques you can use on the Internet. Because many distribution channels are free (e.g., email and article directories) or relatively low cost (web hosting), viral marketing can be an incredibly cost-effective marketing technique. Once you have launched your marketing campaign, it can potentially grow and spread for years all by itself, making viral marketing possibly the most effective Internet marketing technique of all. |
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Fetiţa lui Mostenescu, operată la inimă, la cinci luni
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Monday, 22 February 2010
Dependenţa de sex şi lenea sunt explicate ştiinţific
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A Motorcyclist's Mid-Winter Frustration
One Christmas in the early 70's, I received a dazzling Huffy bicycle that continues to rank as one of my favorite presents of all time. This speed demon had a purple metallic-flake frame with shiny chrome fenders, ape hanger handle bars, and a special edition banana seat. I couldn't wait to get outside to ride that beast! Only one problem; that Christmas day there was so much snow and ice covering the landscape that it was impossible to ride. For seven straight days I woke up, looked out the window and wondered if this would be the day, and for seven straight days the answer was NO! I was so freakin' frustrated! Fast forward some 30 years… Today I find myself dealing with that same frustration all over again.I have been unable to use any of my nifty stuff. For seven days I have awakened, looked out the window and wondered if today would be the day, and for seven straight days the answer has been NO! My frustration is accumulating like the 3 foot snow drift outside my window. So what's a guy to do? How should I deal with all of this pent up frustration? Perhaps I should…
My wife suggested I gear up, go to the garage and close all the doors, then start my bike and pretend I am riding for a half hour or how ever long it takes! :) Any other ideas? |
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Most Popular Toys For Boys Ever
• G.I. Joe G.I. Joe, the popular action figures are unarguably one of the bestselling toys for boys. They had a good start as they took the toys market by storm on their arrival. They are basically simple action figures with heads, legs and hands designed for movement. They can be set up to take different action poses complete with different weapons. The G.I. Joe action figures include a lot of options like cobra commander, the Baroness, Snake eyes and many more. The G.I. Joe proved to be revolutionary and paved the way for a number of other popular action figures like Spiderman, Batman and Indiana Jones. • Laser Tag Guns The laser tag guns are the perfect big boys toys. They are designed for fun filled shoot-outs and gun combats. The players have to strap on the chest plates that come with the guns and then try to hit the opponents' chest plates with the laser. When a player is hit he/she experiences a shock through the gun's handle. • Lego Lego is certainly one of the toys that will always be popular. It is a simple combination of 'bricks' which are used to build things like planes, cars and buildings. Also available are little Lego men and women to live in the building, drive the cards and fly the planes. • Rubik's Cube Rubik's Cube, launched in 1980s was a favorite with every kid and all the kids used to sit together trying to solve them. A lot of successors came in the market but none could repeat its success. It is still one of the bestselling items in the toy market. In fact, it is actually one of the only few educational toys that have achieved the dizzying heights of popularity. • Hot Wheels One of the most popular toys from 'Mattel', the 'Hot Wheels' cars have a name which defines their popularity. These cars actually have been the hottest toys for a long time. Since 1968, when it was launched, Hot Wheels have been really up on the sales charts. The cars can be played with on the floor or can be driven on the various race tracks made by 'Mattel'. All of these big boys toys are still very popular and are still among the bestselling toys for boys. |
2010 Worldwide Office Equipment Wholesales Industry Report
The Office Equipment Wholesales Industry report, published annually by Barnes Reports, contains timely and accurate industry statistics, forecasts and demographics. The report features 2010 current and 2011 forecast estimates on the size of the industry (sales, establishments, employment) for the 47 largest world countries, such as Japan, China, India, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Italy and U.S.. The report also includes industry definition, 5-year historical trends on industry sales, establishments and employment and estimates on up to 10 sub-industries, including cash registers, calculators, duplicators and copiers Paypal is best for online payment The Office Equipment Wholesales Industry report, published annually by Barnes Reports, contains timely and accurate industry statistics, forecasts and demographics. The report features 2010 current and 2011 forecast estimates on the size of the industry (sales, establishments, employment) for the 47 largest world countries, such as Japan, China, India, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Italy and U.S.. The report also includes industry definition, 5-year historical trends on industry sales, establishments and employment and estimates on up to 10 sub-industries, including cash registers, calculators, duplicators and copiers HTML clipboard Table of Contents : |
Bad Credit Car Loan and Guaranteed Car Loan Regardless of Any Credit History
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E-commerce has made a profound impact on society
Friday, 19 February 2010
Oana Zăvoranu: «Mi-am stropit maşina cu urină ca să scap de blestem!»
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Iulia Albu vrea să fie din nou piele şi os. Află cum slabeste !
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Monica Anghel va fi mămică!
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Thursday, 18 February 2010
Mihai Morar, terorizat şi el de «femeia cu faţă de hipopotam»!
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