01.13.25 Booking Spring & Summer Travel / Amazon Brushing Scams

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast: Episode Summary Booking Spring & Summer Travel / Amazon Brushing Scams
Release Date: January 13, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, host Clark Howard delves into savvy travel booking strategies for the upcoming spring and summer seasons and exposes the rising threat of Amazon brushing scams. Throughout the episode, Clark provides listeners with actionable advice, answers pressing questions from callers, and highlights essential consumer protections.

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Booking Smart Travel in January

Clark begins by discussing why January is an optimal month for booking spring and summer travel. He explains that post-holiday financial constraints lead to fewer bookings, allowing financially prepared travelers to secure exceptional deals that are often unavailable later in the year.

“[02:15] Clark Howard: January is a bargain month in travel for people who can travel this month. They just can't believe their eyes, the prices they're getting on travel.”

Key Points:

• Wave Season Deals: Clark highlights that travel providers offer some of their best deals during January’s wave season, especially for cruises.
• Hidden Fees: He cautions listeners about additional costs that often accompany travel bookings, such as airline fees and cruise add-ons, which can significantly inflate the total expense.
• Hotel Bookings: Emphasizing transparency, Clark advises using hotel booking platforms that include all taxes and mandatory fees upfront. He shares an experiment where different websites presented varying prices due to hidden fees, underscoring the importance of selecting the right filters when booking hotels.

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Caller Q&A: Travel and Financial Advice

1. Travel Planning to Scotland

Caller: Krista Billy from Florida
Timestamp: [06:43] – [09:32]

Krista and her husband are planning a trip to Scotland and seek advice on renting a vehicle, particularly concerning the availability and practicality of electric or hybrid cars in the Scottish Highlands. Clark shares his skepticism about the reliability of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in rural Scotland and recommends standard or hybrid vehicles instead.

“[07:13] Clark Howard: I wouldn’t bet on it. I drive electric when I rent a car, I never rent an electric because the last thing I want to do in a strange city or foreign country is try to figure out where in the world I’m going to charge the thing.”

Advice Provided:

• Vehicle Selection: Opt for hybrid rentals over electric ones due to charging challenges in rural areas.
• Booking Strategy: Clark advises against booking non-refundable rental rates far in advance. Instead, he suggests reselling closer to the rental date to secure better deals and more flexible options.

2. Transitioning to a Higher Income and Tax Filing

Caller: Anonymous from Massachusetts
Timestamp: [09:32] – [13:16]

The caller is transitioning from an average salary to a six-figure income and seeks guidance on tax filing, especially concerning multiple state filings and integrating financial advising with tax preparation.

“[10:28] Clark Howard: You’re going to have two state tax filings. All the rest, it’s a great time for you to meet with an enrolled agent that’s someone who is registered to do taxes with the IRS or to hire a CPA who does tax.”

Advice Provided:

• Tax Professionals: Hire specialized tax professionals like CPAs or enrolled agents for handling complex tax situations.
• Financial Planning: Separate the need for financial advisors from tax filing. Utilize resources like robo-advisors or fiduciary financial planners for investment advice.
• Retirement Savings: Maximize contributions to retirement accounts, such as a Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA, to optimize tax benefits.

3. Medical Billing Discrepancies

Caller: Sherry from Virginia
Timestamp: [13:16] – [24:21]

Sherry experienced inconsistent medical billing after simultaneous dermatology appointments with her husband. Her bill was $30 higher due to longer wait times, raising concerns about potential double billing.

“[13:52] Clark Howard: Medicine is the only business that we do business with as Americans that we don’t know what the price is going to be till after. And it’s part of what has to be reformed in medicine.”

Advice Provided:

• Billing Transparency: Clark underscores the complexity and opacity of medical billing, advocating for reforms to ensure patients know costs upfront.
• Proactive Monitoring: He praises Sherry for scrutinizing her bills and encourages listeners to diligently review medical charges to identify and contest discrepancies.

4. Issues with Bank Bill Pay Services

Caller: Robert from Hawaii
Timestamp: [21:17] – [28:10]

Robert shared frustrations with his bank’s electronic bill pay service, which debited his account prematurely, leading to overdraft fees and payment denials.

“[25:29] Clark Howard: I guess so, Robert, changing the bank would be a good idea. And the other thing is bank bill pay service.”

Advice Provided:

• Alternative Payment Methods: Clark recommends avoiding bank bill pay services due to their unreliability. Instead, pay bills directly through the service providers' websites to ensure timely and accurate transactions.
• Specific Bill Payments: He advises against using bill pay services for critical payments like property taxes, suggesting direct payments to minimize errors and delays.

5. Understanding Executive Deferred Compensation Accounts

Caller: Scott from Texas
Timestamp: [28:10] – [33:00]

Scott inquires about executive deferred compensation (EDC) accounts, seeking to understand their benefits alongside his existing Roth 401(k) contributions.

“[28:32] Clark Howard: You want to do some kind of filing thing when you sell a vehicle that you have the proof that you sold it, that will normally be adequate. The bill of sale.”

Advice Provided:

• Plan Evaluation: Clark advises Scott to determine whether his EDC is a qualified or non-qualified plan, highlighting the importance of understanding the plan's terms and the company's financial stability.
• Risk Assessment: Emphasizes assessing the security of deferred compensation, especially since non-qualified plans often rely on the company's solvency without FDIC insurance.
• Long-Term Planning: Encourages thorough review of plan documents and understanding the conditions under which deferred compensation can be accessed, ensuring alignment with long-term financial goals.

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Exposing Amazon Brushing Scams

Timestamp: [17:27] – [24:21]

Clark shifts focus to the malicious practice of Amazon brushing, where third-party sellers manipulate product reviews and inflate their ratings by sending unsolicited packages to consumers. He explains how these seemingly innocuous tactics can lead to deceptive consumer experiences and potential financial losses.

“[21:17] Clark Howard: Amazon is so important in online selling and overwhelmingly, I don’t know if it’s 80, 85%, whatever the percent is now of stuff being sold on Amazon.com is not actually stuff that Amazon.com is acting as the merchant.”

Key Points:

• Review Manipulation: Sellers send free products to consumers with requests for positive reviews, artificially boosting their ratings.
• Package Surprises: Recipients may receive items they never ordered, leading to confusion and potential security risks.
• Financial Risks: The scam becomes severe when high-value items are misrepresented, leading to financial loss when consumers unknowingly purchase from untrustworthy sellers.
• Consumer Vigilance: Clark urges listeners to report unsolicited packages to Amazon, aiding in the platform's efforts to identify and remove fraudulent sellers.

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Conclusion

Throughout this episode, Clark Howard provides valuable insights into smart travel booking, highlights the complexities of medical billing, addresses financial planning concerns, and warns against online scams. His practical advice empowers listeners to make informed decisions, safeguard their finances, and navigate consumer challenges effectively.

For more detailed advice and resources, listeners are encouraged to visit clark.com and explore the tools offered by Team Clark.

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Saving more, spending less, and avoiding rip-offs with The Clark Howard Podcast.

Transcript

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[Clark Howard]

It'S my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. You know, now that the holidays are over, we're mid January, many people are doing what I want them to do. They're thinking about travel for spring or summer. And I got some tips for you as you dream about those longer, brighter, potentially warmer days and later. Do you know what Amazon brushing is? It's a scam. You need to know, and you need to know that this is a gift you don't want is. I'll explain the riddle later. So January is a bargain month in travel for people who can travel this month. They just can't believe their eyes, the prices they're getting on travel. But also there are a lot of deals that are present right now for spring travel and a lesser extent, summer travel that you're not going to find as the calendar moves forward. And the reason that January is a bargain month is that a lot of people, well, after Christmas, they're a little short of funds. And so it means that people who are okay in the wallet are going to pick up these really good deals. But when you go shopping for deals, things are not always like they appear. So I want to give you an example of this because everybody knows you buy a ticket from an airline that once you buy that ticket, they're gonna get in your wallet for this thing and that thing and the other thing. And by the way, we forgot this other thing as well and we're gonna fee you. And they learned it from the deep discount airlines like Spirit, that's in bankruptcy and Frontier that hates its customers and all that. But the airlines are like hey, this is pretty good idea here. So you're going to find this no matter who you fly, except really Southwest, that they're going to have fee after fee after you buy the ticket. Oh, and on deals for I forget wave season is a real deal is not hype. The cruise lines offer some of their best deals each year in January on cruises and they're really good at coming up after you buy your cruise fare to charging all kinds of other things. I I saw in an industry publication that what you pay for a cruise is only the beginning, that the average person will spend 50% more than their cruise fare on other stuff for the cruise. So it seems all inclusive, but it's really not. So I talk hotels for a second. The hotel industry is really great at inventing new made up charges for who knows what. Amenities fee, resort fee, urban fee. That's a new one I've seen. And so when I shop for hotels, at most hotel sites, if you go to filters or settings, there's a button you can click that will show you the price of that hotel, including taxes and fees. And it won't show you every possible fee you might voluntarily choose to add on when you're at the hotel, but everything you must pay for that room you're booking. And I want you so badly to take the time to find that setting on the second menu that adds in all the fees. And I did an experiment recently for TV where I took one hotel, five different websites and there was no relationship between what price per night was stated up front and then what add on fees there were at the five different websites and ultimately what the highest price was and lowest price was. The one that started off as the lowest price didn't end up as the lowest price. The one that started off as the highest price was nowhere near the highest price in the end because of where they buried the junk fees and when they were presented to you. So that's why so much with hotels. You want to check that box in that hidden menu, that second menu that shows you including fees and taxes on car rentals, do you know that the cost when you shop for a car rental will be in many cases only a little more than half of what the total final rental bill will be? And that's even if you decline all the pseudo insurance things they try to Sell just all the various add ons they have. And congratulations to Costco Travel that their rental car rates that they quote from the companies when you shop with them always include all the junk fees in the quote so you really see what is the best total cost, real cost for that car rental.

[Caller]

Krista Billy in Florida says my wife and I are planning a trip to Scotland in mid May.

[Clark Howard]

I love going to Scotland.

[Caller]

Never been. We are planning to fly into Glasgow and then take the train to Edinburgh. After we were planning to rent a car to drive up to the Scottish Highlands. When looking at car rentals I noticed the only options I saw were electric or hybrid with the hybrid being much more expensive. How easy do you think it would be to charge an electric vehicle in that part of Scotland?

[Clark Howard]

I wouldn't bet on it. I so I drive an electric car as I've done now for 14 years. I drive electric when I rent a car I never rent an electric because the last thing I want to do in a strange city or foreign country is try to figure out where in the world I'm going to charge the thing. So the car rental industry got all excited about electric cars as a rental. Now they're trying to get rid of them as quick as they can and so the ones they're stuck with they're renting at very, very low costs per day. I wouldn't do it now. Why you're not seeing regular vehicles in addition to hybrids. I'm puzzled by that. Don't know what search sites you're using. Some of the ones I like. When you're looking for rentals in Europe. Auto Europe, I like that one for you to look at. I think rentalcars.com is a good starting point to see what's available. But telling you I'm. I see those prices, I'm tempted. I don't do it. So you're looking at a site that shows you the national.

[Caller]

Scotland's national charging. They, they have their own site for fine charging stations. It's called chargeplacescotland.org and you can see where all the electric chargers are all over the country.

[Clark Howard]

The computer is not touchscreen.

[Caller]

It's not.

[Clark Howard]

Sorry Clark, I can't use a computer that's not touchscreen.

[Caller]

So you can go in and look at where you're going to be and what chargers are there.

[Clark Howard]

It's funny because a lot of Scotland has a zillion chargers and then you get to more rural areas and you go a good distance with chargers not available. I just maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't do the electric vehicle. Maybe a hybrid, but Billy said the hybrids were much more money but also with a rental car. Know my rule Billy. Reshop your car rental in Europe. Very important because people tend to book their car rentals way in advance. Do not book any non refundable car rental rate. Reshop the rate a month out and reshap it a week out.

[Caller]

Anonymous in Massachusetts says I'm transitioning from making an average salary to making over three figures now.

[Clark Howard]

Congratulations to you.

[Caller]

However, I don't know who to reach out to when it comes to taxes and knowing how to file my taxes with this switch in income at the end of the year. Basically I would like advice on who to reach out to in order to receive advice on what to claim on my taxes, exemptions, etc. And and someone who knows how to file in a way that benefits me more than hurts me now that I'm making more money. I moved from a different state around the same time I started making more money too. So there's an issue of knowing how to file for two different states and two different salaries for this year as well. For last year. Really. I think at this point I need a financial advisor of some sort, but I'm not sure if this is a two for one individual who can handle both this and filing my taxes. I read your article on fiduciary fee only financial advisors but want to know if there's one person that can do both or if I need to pay two separate people for these things.

[Clark Howard]

You bring up a great point. You're going to have two state tax filings. All the rest, it's a great time for you to meet with an enrolled agent that's someone who is registered to do taxes with the IRS or to hire a CPA who does tax. Treat that totally separately from your question about investing and I think it's fantastic that you are going to be making more money. Before I get to talking about picking somebody to help you with being a financial advisor where you're working almost certainly at a career kind of job, you're going to have access to a 401k. You want to be in it, you want to put in as much as you possibly can. You're making more money so you're not used to making more money. Put in all the way up to the max you can in that 401k, you'll pick up the company match. You'll be saving enormous amounts of money for your future. And if it's low 6 figures I want you in the Roth 401k version, not the traditional. And in that I want you in the target retirement fund for the year closest to when you anticipate you're going to retire. And that will take a lot of that extra money you're making and will get it invested, grow, grows tax free and is spent tax free down the road. If you want to do more investing and you're not quite sure how to do it, you can go with a robo investing kind of thing, betterment wealth front, something like that. You can go with one of the discount brokers Vanguard has fiduciary financial planners. You can go with a fiduciary at Schwab Fidelity. You got to be careful you're getting a fiduciary fiduciary as you know because you asked in your question is somebody who is there for you and legally they're bound to do what's best for you, not what's best for them. Early investing is really all about putting your money away in retirement accounts and all the rest. And as long as you remain income eligible, in addition to saving the maximum you can in that 401k where you work, you'll be up to a certain income limit. You'll still be eligible to do your own Roth ira. And again in it you would mimic the same and put the money in a target retirement fund. We also have a guide to choosing a fee only fiduciary financial planner on clark.com you can use the tools we have there.

[Caller]

Sherry in Virginia says my husband and I recently had our annual dermatology appointments one month apart. We both had straightforward visit, no issues.

[Clark Howard]

That's fantastic.

[Caller]

However, our bills were not the same. Mine was $30 more. The only difference was that once the nurse checked me into the exam room, I waited longer than usual, which was noted by the PA when he entered found I was sitting in the chair with my eyes closed taking a short nap. When I called my insurance company to see why the charges were different, I discovered that my husband's visit was coded for 10 to 18 minutes and mine was coded for 19 to 29.

[Clark Howard]

So they were charging you for the time you were sleeping in the chair?

[Caller]

Yep. This would imply the doctor was double billing, first being the patient he was seeing in another room and the second being me waiting for him in another room. I honestly would not have caught this had my appointment not been so close to my husband's. I did call in protest and they are promising to rewrite the bill. Clark, how can we avoid these kinds of charges in the future. It seems unethical. I know it was only $30, but I felt it was not justified and therefore worth pursuing on a matter of principle.

[Clark Howard]

Well, good for you Ann. With as confusing as medical billing is, you discovered this by happenstance. And so I've talked about over and over again. Medicine is the only business that we do business with as Americans that we don't know what the price is going to be till after. And it's part of what has to be reformed in medicine. And it's crazy that you both had just a straight wellness check and you got the different bills. Welcome to the wonders of medical coding. And I don't know that anybody at that dermatology practice was trying to scam you or scam insurance, but the effect feels the same. And that's why we need, as part of what needs to be an entire reform of how we do medicine. One of the things that has to happen is we got to know up front what it's going to cost. Nothing. Not after the fact. Coming up ahead, I need to talk about an Amazon scam that I've talked about for years but now is more and more common. And you got to know it's not innocent.

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[Clark Howard]

There's a long time ugly scam that Amazon cannot seem to put the genie back in the bottle. Amazon is not creating this scam. But Amazon is so important in online selling and overwhelmingly, I don't know if it's 80, 85%, whatever the percent is now of stuff being sold on Amazon.com is not actually stuff that Amazon.com is acting as the merchant. They are only acting as the sales platform and maybe delivery platform. It's being sold by third parties. And for third parties it's very difficult to stand out from the crowd. And so a lot of sellers on Amazon engage in a dishonest practice and it's convoluted. But you will start potentially having packages show up at your house that you didn't order and there'll be something in there saying this is a complimentary item you're receiving. All we request is that you leave a review. And that's how what's known as brushing used to work. Now it's become even more sophisticated and without going into all the deep dive of how it's done, the sellers are now manipulating the system where they don't even ask you to write a review, they just say keep this item with their compliments. And then they have figured out a vulnerability in Amazon's system where they are posting these glowing reviews. So this manipulation of reviews is so important because so many people go on Amazon.com buying an item, decide which one they're going to buy or who they're going to buy from based on the ratings that are there. So people are sending you free product and may send you a lot of free product and some of it will be more expensive items, but usually it's going to be really cheap items because they're just trying to boost their buyer ratings. This seems like a victimless crime, but it's not because people are then under false pretenses buying from a seller who may or may not be okay. Now let's talk when brushing gets really ugly. It's when a seller manipulates the ratings shows a great rating, selling a bunch of cheapo items or sending people for free a bunch of cheapo items. They get that nice seller rating and then they switch to selling really expensive items that then are misrepresented or never delivered and they've run off with all your money. So it's not a victimless crime. It's something Amazon really did nothing about forever. And now Amazon has a procedure where you can report that you're getting these free items you didn't order because it helps them then to track that particular seller if they are in fact engaging with in a manipulation of their seller rating. And they will be warned first and then they'll be kicked off the platform supposedly. But just know that's why you or a friend or somebody at work suddenly is receiving packages for free. It's all about manipulating the seller rating.

[Caller]

Krista Charles in California says not a question, but a PSA. In 2021, we sold a car to Carvana. In the spring of 24, we received a letter from a towing company in Northern California. We live in Southern California trying to collect towing and impound fees. Maybe the vehicle was stolen and never claimed. In the letter it said if we no longer have an interest in the vehicle or release of liability was on file with the dmv, no further action was required. Of course we ignored the letter because we did file a release of liability with the DMV a few months later. In the fall of 24, we received a lien collection company letter from Florida trying to collect fees from the towing and impound company because the vehicle was sold through an auction after it was impounded, but it was less than the impound in towing fees and they are trying to collect the difference of about seventeen hundred dollars.

[Clark Howard]

My goodness.

[Caller]

My mistake was misplacing the paperwork from Carvana and not keeping the receipt of release of liability. I was able to get another copy of the bill of sale from Carvana but was not able to get a copy of the release of liability from the dmv. I sent a copy of the bill of sale to the lien collection company but have not heard from them yet. I'm not sure what legal grounds they have to come after us for the fees, but I'm ready to fight. My advice is to keep all records of sale and release of liability forever. Years after a sale, this situation can arise again.

[Clark Howard]

Now, thank you for this because Charles, what's different is California has this release of lien liability process. To my knowledge, that is not a normal practice. It may be available in some other states. But it's not routine. What is normal is that you were able to get another copy of the bill of sale from Carvana. And I've sold a car on Carvana before. I got a toll violation letter on a vehicle I had sold to them. I was able to sign into my Carvana account and I was able to print out the information. I was able to deal with that toll violation. These things will happen. You've got vehicles moving across the country. You've got title work that may be improperly done along the way. And it would have been better if I could have gone straight to a file and found the sale to Carvana, but I couldn't. So I was able, thank goodness, in that case, to pull it up. But what if you sell a vehicle or trade one into a dealer who goes out of business or a dealer that doesn't keep good records? You want to do some kind of filing thing when you sell a vehicle that you have the proof that you sold it, that will normally be adequate. The bill of sale. Obviously, California has this additional step that is news to me, and that's one of the things I love about this podcast and our YouTube show. And we may hear from others now that, yeah, in the state of blah, blah, blah, we also have this additional procedure you need to do.

[Caller]

Robert in Hawaii says I use my bank's free electronic bill pay service. And per Clark's advice, by doing so, I avoid paper checks with my account number on them. I found out that when I have a bill due on the 31st of the month, for example, I instruct the bank to send it on the 26th as they indicate that it should be received electronically three days later on the 29th. Well, it turns out they debit my account on the 26th. So if I happen to have a low balance and make a deposit the 27th, they tell me my account is overdrawn and charge me $30. And worse yet, they deny payment on the check that they debited even before it arrives. Of course, then the payee also charges me a fee for a canceled check, as happened recently when I paid my property taxes. Oh, I'm writing this as I'm on the phone with the bank. And they tell me the money is debited immediately, as if it were a cashier's check, even though they state that the recipient may not receive the electronic money for three days. If that isn't bad enough, in another instance, a different payee never received a check, but the bank debited in my account three weeks prior and couldn't tell me if the check cleared, only that they debited my account and sent it. Time to change banks.

[Clark Howard]

I guess so, Robert, changing the bank would be a good idea. And the other thing is bank bill pay service. And this was something we addressed last year, that the unreliability of the bank bill pay services has reached a point that you don't want to use them except as a last resort. And there was something I used to say don't do. Now I find is the best option. I'm not even going to call it. Least bad is that you pay on the website of whoever it is you're paying so that your relationship is with them. You pay there instead of paying through the bank bill pay. And by the way, the bank bill pay service is usually a contracted out service to a third party that does this. And the customer knows service with these third party operations is terrible. If you pay through the company itself that you're paying, you pay on their website. You don't have to worry about this thing. Bills on the 26th, 31st, you paid on the 26th, they took the money immediately. Then you're hoping the money gets there in time and all that. You wouldn't have to worry about the balance check. And you never want to pay taxes, property taxes through a bank bill pay service. They and their terms of service take no responsibility if the check goes missing, doesn't get posted in time or all that you want to pay directly on the county. If it's done, collected by a county, you want to pay on the county website. You pay your taxes due. And there you'll put in information from the bottom of your check. It's not passing through any third party. It's called ACH and the money is paid. Credit cards should be paid this way. Just about any bill last year in 24, because I have it for tax reasons. How many bills over the whole year did I pay through bill pay?

[Caller]

I'm gonna guess three.

[Clark Howard]

14.

[Caller]

Oh, okay.

[Clark Howard]

14 times. That was my last resort. Was I paid through bill pay? Gosh, just too many stories we hear from people like you getting hit with fees and all that and then payments that don't arrive and the rest.

[Caller]

Scott in Texas says my question is around executive deferred compensation accounts. I feel dumb asking, but what are they and how do they benefit me? I fully contribute already to our Roth 401k with the company match. Should I also consider an EDC account? Pros and cons. And if needed, irrelevant. I work for a hotel chain, always appreciate Your input.

[Clark Howard]

Okay, so Scott, this is an interesting scenario. So you're obviously making really good money working for this hotel chain because you're in the small pool of people that are eligible for deferred comp. So first thing I want you to check in the documents for this deferred comp is is it a qualified plan or unqualified plan? Normally it will be a non qualified plan. What that means is you take some of the pay you would have received. Now don't receive it because you're earning so much money, you're in a high tax bracket and you defer it till later in life. The big company then pays you some kind of earnings. Every year you get a statement showing how much your deferred comp is earning. It'll usually be a very generous rate because it's going to high level people at the company. And it's an additional way to give them an additional benefit of giving them the ability to defer out of a high tax rate and earn a great amount of money on that. And then much later in life, depending on the rules of the plan, starting as early as 65, 60, it depends on the plan, you then can elect different ways to receive the money. Generally you have to take an election where you receive the money over a five year period from the deferred comp. Now, in most of these deferred comp plans they are non qualified, which means there's an imaginary statement you get that talks about how much money is in your account, Scott. But it's based on the company being solvent and being in a position to pay that money. In other words, there is no like FDIC insured account or something like that with your deferred comp money in it. So it's up to the company being strong enough to pay that money. If you're working for a hotel chain that you have good reason to believe is in great financial shape and all that, then you could be fine in the deferred comp and it'll work out great for you later in life. But take the time as Dullesville is, the deferred comp plan documents are work. Read them, understand what protection, if any, you have. Is it totally based on the assets the company has at the time you elect to receive your deferred comp? And under what conditions can you receive that deferred comp? I know that's a lot. So you got some serious homework, Scott. But worth doing that homework up front because a deferred comp plan for a highly paid person can be a life changing event way down the road as long as the company is still around. And thank you so much for joining us today. I hope that you're having a wonderful day today and know that we are here to serve you all week long with one on one free advice from our Team Clark Consumer Action center serving you now about to start our 33rd year of providing free one on one advice. You want to see how to reach a member of Team Clark? What kind of things we can help with? Go to clark.com cac and have an absolutely wonderful day. Saving more, spending less and avoiding getting ripped off.