
Kids Gone Wild Ordering Online / Rental Car Inspection Warning
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Clark Howard
I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show. You know our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. And today you may have already heard the crazy story about the boy who ordered 70,000 Dum Dums on his mom's Amazon account. Eight years old. We're going to talk about how do you protect yourself from this kind of stuff that kids do, not just on Amazon. And coming up also later, we're going to talk about something you've got to know about what car rental companies are doing to hurt your wallet. If you aren't aware of this, you don't want to find out the hard way, but this is kind of the hard way. Holly LeFevre's son, Holly lives in Lexington, Kentucky, or near Lexington, loves dum dums. So the 8 year old ordered 70,000 of them on Amazon and they show up at the house and there's all these boxes you see in pictures that the media is published of all these dum dums on the front stoop of the house and she calls Amazon customer no service and Amazon says life's tough and then you die. Dumb dumbs can't be returned. You were a dum dum that your kid had access to your Amazon account on your phone. So the media frenzy commences and TV stations are there. I mean, imagine what an easy it's like a easy layup in basketball. I mean a reporter go out and film this stuff and do a story about it. And big ban Amazon sticking the mom with a four two hundred dollar bill saying the dumb dumbs are yours. Tough. Okay, so parents routinely give kids their phone when they're single digits to play games or whatever. And we've had the problems over the years where the kids do in game purchases that suddenly show up on the parents bill. Never had 70,000 lollipops. But there's been a lot of problems with kids taking a parent's phone and just having a field day buying whatever and it shows up. Kid at 8 may not know better by the way the kid was trying to buy. Was it 7 lollipops and didn't realize bought 70,000. Anyway, after all the fuss, a likely story. Would you have ordered 70, 000 dum dums?
Co-host
I mean I might have when I was a kid. Lifetime supply.
Clark Howard
I've never been a dumb dumb fan. Yeah, I was dumb dumb enough myself. Anyway, so Amazon after they got all the just bad publicity says to Holly, yeah, you keep them. So there's a double whammy for Amazon. They get all the bad publicity and they ended up having to comp them. But what was she going to do with 70,000 lollipops? She did something smart. She gave them all to charities that had ways to distribute them one at a time to kids. Says 70,000 to one kid. So I'm making light of this, but with a point because I dealt with some stuff when my son was a single digit where he was buying some stuff that was billing through the Apple store. Did you ever have that?
Co-host
Not through Apple. I had an incident with my son and Roblox.
Clark Howard
Oh. And Roblox now has a procedure that parents have got to know to use that blocks your kid from buying stuff if you don't want them buying stuff.
Co-host
That would have been nice.
Clark Howard
Yeah. How much did that end up costing you?
Co-host
I've blocked it out. I can't remember.
Clark Howard
Was it in the thousands?
Co-host
No, it was in the hundreds.
Clark Howard
Yeah, my son managed to spend hundreds of dollars. I was not happy about that. Apple built Anyway, parents, you got to know that these electronics have a lot of power. Your laptop has a lot of power to spend money. Password protection, a really good idea.
Co-host
Yeah, maybe fingerprint. Yeah, definitely. All right, we'll go to questions now. Donnie in Texas says, my employer provides health insurance through the largest health insurer in the US which is, I'm just going to say UnitedHealthcare I mean it's the largest one. I contribute to an FSA and the plan allows a rollover from year to year up to $500. Last year I had around $200 that I was not able to use and rolled it over this year. Here's the part that annoys me. The FSA doesn't use the rolled over funds first. When an auto redeeming for reimbursements to my bank account, they don't what really.
Clark Howard
Are they trying to cheat people out of their money?
Co-host
They don't even automatically redeem those funds at all. I will have to manually enter medical bills for reimbursement to get those funds back. It seems like they have designed their system so that there's a high likelihood that people will end up losing that money, which I believe is returned to the employer. I'm not that surprised by that. I'm surprised you are. Like, I know that if you use your debit card that comes with it, that's, you know, and usually have to still submit a receipt. But I mean our plan through the company, I have to. It's through. It's not even through our health provider.
Clark Howard
He's talking about that the money that they pull from first is the current year's money, not the rollover prior year.
Co-host
Okay.
Clark Howard
And you're right, I don't know what's in it for United Health Care because the money goes back to your employer. So UnitedHealth Care is doing something that makes them a villain for not any financial benefit to UnitedHealthcare. That's weird.
Co-host
That is weird. You're right.
Clark Howard
Maybe we'll hear from UnitedHealthcare. They could use something positive, say, well, we fix this. Don't you think you could do that?
Co-host
Craig in Texas says, about a decade ago, my wife and I finished school. We entered into an agreement. I would work to support us while she went to medical school, residency and fellowship. And then once she had completed her training and started earning the big bucks, I would take my turn to go back into grad school and get a useless degree in the humanities to pursue my love of teaching. Well, we are nearing the end of residency now and the time is upon us. In the meantime, we've had two kids and I've.
Clark Howard
Congratulations.
Co-host
I've progressed in my career quite a bit to where I. Congratulations again to where I myself am earning the big bucks. And now I'm faced with golden handcuffs. I've become much more fiscally conservative because I'm old enough to know that living is expensive and I have two kids that I want to give the best opportunity I can to. I kind of like my career though I don't love it and I feel like I was kind of brainwashed into liking it because I had to. I'm also world wise enough to know that even dream jobs are jobs. I, I don't expect Clark to resolve all the personal decisions that go into quitting your high paying job to follow your dream. But I wondered if he could at least lay out some ways to judge what's reasonable and not as far as personal finance goes. We have very little student debt left to pay off. We have a high household income already which will go higher once she earns the big bucks. And yet I still don't feel I can afford to take the hit.
Clark Howard
So I kind of stepped over Krista saying golden handcuffs, you're classic golden handcuff situation. First, I want you to think about the next time you see a doctor to appreciate how much time they spend in the grind of school, internships, residency, fellowship, before, I mean, think about somebody they get out of undergraduate school and before they earn a real paycheck. They can be in their mid-30s already. I mean, it's a tough road to be a doctor and people just don't respect that. Okay, enough for the doctors and teachers.
Co-host
And he wants to be a teacher.
Clark Howard
Right, but teachers don't spend.
Co-host
Teachers don't make 10 extra years. But we have to appreciate teachers do.
Clark Howard
Not make big bucks.
Co-host
I mean, he's talking about going to graduate school to teach.
Clark Howard
Okay, so how do you resolve this? There's not an automatic easy answer. You said you don't feel like you can afford the hit, so you can't wait forever to now do what you want to do and at the same time you want to make sure that you're doing a great job as a couple, being able to provide for the household and ultimately for the children. I think you got to sit down and really work on a budget. Normally I talk about budgeting with people that are having financial difficulty paying their bills. What you've got is you've got a large income coming in. You also have probably developed a more expensive lifestyle. Look at where your money's actually going. Dig deep in it. See what would have to be sacrificed from what you're spending money on every month. That would afford the opportunity for you to go into a lower paying profession and have a timeout from earning money for probably two years, one to two years, getting the master's degree so you can do what you'd love to do, which is to teach. I'm such a believer in doing what you love. Your wife is going to be able to provide a very large income after all those years that you provided the support to the family. And I want you to pursue it. So I want you to take that time, figure out the budget, figure out what you can cut and still provide a decent life for the family. And you go get that degree, you go teach. Your wife's doing what is about to do for her career what she loves. You should be able to follow that original agreement and do what you love.
Co-host
I just want to offer some unsolicited advice. I hope this is okay. But I would also say that whether you're thinking of teaching, you know, in elementary, high school or on the college level, I would definitely go meet with several teachers and even see if you can sort of shout a professor if it's college and just like find out what their day to day life is really like and what the hard point, pain points are of the job and what the great things are. Just to make sure that you're fully versed in what it's going to be and hopefully it's still your dream.
Clark Howard
So that is a very good suggestion.
Co-host
Okay, here's a question from Matt in Nebraska. I've heard you talk about the premium travel cards with the high annual fees, but haven't heard you mention that the American Express Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve are offered free to military members and their dependents. This is also true for the American Express Gold card.
Clark Howard
That's fantastic. I, I only knew that recently because gentleman I know who's a colonel in the Air Force was talking about how he got the American Express Platinum for free. And it's something I've never mentioned and never knew till he and I recently were talking about. I'm so glad you reminded me of this and you brought it forward being a true member of Team Clark. And I love that American Express and Chase do this for the wonderful, brave, patriotic men and women who serve in our US Military. Speaking of travel, straight ahead we're going to talk about something you gotta know when you rent a car. It's a new, higher level of stakes in the game of renting a car that you need to thoroughly hear me on or regret it later.
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Clark Howard
Or forgetting sunscreen.
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So now you look like a tomato.
Clark Howard
Ouch.
Co-host
Coulda done better.
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Clark Howard
The rental car wars continue. What's the rental car war? It's not between the rental car companies. It's them versus us. It's probably the most adversarial relationship now in travel with rental cars. And you think about how crazy the business is. You fly somewhere, you hand them a credit card in your driver's license, and they let you drive off for so many dollars a day. Rental car rates have been going down. So let's say you're renting a car for 50 bucks a day or 70 bucks a day or whatever it is with all the junk fees, and they let you drive off in a vehicle that cost them $40,000. I mean, is this a great country or what? That's nuts, right? And it's been hard for companies to make money renting cars. Hertz has been bankrupt. It's been the long time troubled Hertz Rent a Car. Anyway, we now have three companies that the industry is consolidated. We have three companies that control pretty much all the brands. So under one umbrella like Enterprise, Alamo national, all owned by one owner. Hertz, Payless, Thrifty, maybe all one brand. Then you got Avis and Budget together. And then the one outsider in the game is sixth. That's owned by a European family, S I X T. That's huge in Europe, smaller here. But it's an industry that's consolidated from where at one time it had seriously more than 10 players slugging it out. And then you and I were winning the market share wars with crazy low rates. Well, now these three big companies are playing really rough and tumble on the condition you return the car in versus what they say you returned it in. And so that's why if you're a longtime listener or viewer, you've heard me say how important it is to pull out your smartphone and shoot a video of the vehicle before you leave the rental car plaza and shoot a video when you return it. Because the car rental agencies are using technology to your harm at their busy locations and it will spread from there as the technology gets cheaper. They are using what I saw an article about the Hertz system they refer to as the Hertz AI X ray tunnel. And I don't know what it's really called, but I know that Alamo and its brands, Enterprise and National, have this available to them now in more and more busy locations. I've not read anything about Avis using this for Avis and Budget locations yet. But what they do is they use AI to completely analyze every square inch of the vehicle looking for something they can bill you for. And the allegations are they're billing more than one person, more than one rental for the same damage. Who knows? That'll wait for whatever whistleblower and lawsuits follow that. But know that anything that happened to that vehicle before you got in it, you need to document with a video. You don't leave the place without somebody there acknowledging in writing that there's damage to this fender, this bumper, this tail light, whatever. You do it thoroughly. When you return, you thoroughly shoot video with your phone. You hold it for. I was asked recently how long you should hold it. Minimum three months. Because when you get contacted by the loss control or whatever they call it at the car rental agencies, they're treating you as guilty. You have to prove your innocence. And they may even just straight bill your credit card for whatever claim of damage that they say exists.
Co-host
All right. Speaking of such, Sandy in Georgia says, my husband and I rented a car when we were in Colorado for a memorial service. We waited in this huge lobby, and eventually somebody did pull up with the car. Nobody was standing there to have a sign off on the car. So my husband told me to videotape the outside of the car. I took my phone out, videotaped as much as I could. I didn't videotape the inside. We returned the car, and once again, in the rental car's garage at the airport, I videotaped the outside and we went home. Three months later, we received a bill in the mail from them for $700. I called the rental car company and asked what the charge was for. Customer service indicated it was for a broken windshield. I requested a copy of the incident report and a photo of the windshield to be sent to me once it was received. The photo showed a huge crack from one side of the windshield to the other, something we would have surely seen and notated. But my videos of the car the day we returned it clearly showed that the windshield was not broken.
Clark Howard
Aha. The video paid off, huh?
Co-host
I sent all my evidence back to the customer service rep who indicated she would send it to the team and they would be in touch with me. It's been over six months and I have not heard back from them. I've not reached back out to them either. My question is, should I reach back out to them and have them send me some kind of paperwork indicating it's closed and I'm not liable or just leave well enough alone?
Clark Howard
So the operational problems at Hertz have been so well documented, Hertz has been a mess. They have a new CEO who says it's not going to be a mess anymore. But this to me is a perfect example of a mess. Takes them three months to tell you that the windshield was broken and they're billing you for it. You provide documentation you didn't do it and it just disappears. I wouldn't trust it's disappeared and I would get back in touch with Hertz and say I need something in writing saying you're done with me about this. Hertz is not to be trusted and I can tell you that. And I do rent from Hertz, but I don't trust them. And you shouldn't either because there have been all those well documented cases where Hertz was having people arrested for supposedly having stolen a car they turned in. And people rotted in jail had to hire lawyers to clear their name. Inexcusable. Unacceptable. And understand that you have got to protect yourself when you rent a car. Yes, Hertz has been the biggest problem, but it's your money. Follow the procedure that we just heard that Sandy did and I talked about. You protect yourself and hurts. Get your act together.
Co-host
All right, Michael. And Georgia says, I recently got a Chase Sapphire preferred card and I see that they offer primary auto rental coverage. I asked them for a letter of coverage. They have my last name correct as well as the insurance company assurant. The problem is that when they send me a letter showing I have coverage, my last name is spelled wrong. I also on occasion get some solicitations in the mail with the same misspelled last name. All three credit bureaus have my correct spelling, so there must be another company that has my last name spelled wrong. How can I correct this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love, love, love your show and listen every day. It makes my commute to work so much better.
Clark Howard
So, Michael, I'm surprised about something because if you got the long form of your credit file from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, which you can see for free at annualcreditreport.com Remember that website annualcreditreport.com is required by federal law that they have a gateway that the credit bureaus cooperate on to make your report available to you for nothing. If you print out the long form or read the long form of each report, there will be an AKA section, also known as. You'll see the misspellings they have of your name or the various forms they show your name on the AKA part of the report. Somebody, somewhere, and I don't know that you're going to figure out who has your name wrong. And credit bureaus only are parents they're reporting to you and to others what's reported to them by various subscribers to their service. And so I don't think you have to worry too much. But I think you will find that on the extended credit report files from the bureau's again for free. You'll be able to see if you got AKA is there that match up with the misspelling that you are seeing.
Co-host
Okay, this is from Jeff in South Carolina. I hear you talk a lot about easy ways to stay connected with loved ones overseas. Google Fi, WhatsApp, local Sims, Wi Fi, etc. I've never heard you mention these relatively new devices. It's POC Global Walkie Talkies. I recently bought a set and they are amazingly powerful and inexpensive and eliminate some of the down falls of the other methods. I'm in no way affiliated but wanted to pass it along. Keep up the great work.
Clark Howard
Okay, so let me tell you what we're talking about. Do you remember when. Oh yeah, I'm familiar.
Co-host
Okay. I just wanted to see the one he was.
Clark Howard
Yeah. I've never talked about this. Nobody's ever asked me about it. But do you remember how tiny they are? Well, there's various models, right, that you can get of walkie talkies.
Co-host
This guy's got one clipped to his shirt.
Clark Howard
Who remembers long ago Nextel.
Co-host
Yes, remember Nextel.
Clark Howard
And people would be on the walkie talkie of Nextel. It was really big in the construction industry and everybody would have like a Nextel number and you'd be able to talk to them over the walkie talkie. This is back in the era where you paid for every minute, used a cell phone and people would use Nextel. Walkie talkies is a way to communicate with others on the system for free. So this is that modernized and you can buy service for different regions of the world. You can buy worldwide. I don't remember what they cost.
Co-host
These are 140, the one that this.
Clark Howard
I don't care about the devices, okay. I'm talking about the service. Oh, what is the service cost? Because that's the thing that matters is oh, here are the rate plans. So if you get the global plan that allows you to call from most anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world, it's $100. Oh, $79 plus whatever taxes there are annually for an annual plan that allows you to talk back and forth, basically no metering of minutes. You're talking walkie talkie. And so I've never talked about it because nobody's ever asked about it. I don't know how many competitors there are for this, but when I first heard about, I thought, oh, somebody made Nextel son of Nextel to work worldwide. And that's what this is. So I guess there are people who, this would be a great way to save money. But I've never thought about it because the whole idea, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, over Roger.
Co-host
Roger that. I actually have. I remember, I'm not going to name names, but you and I were with a friend of yours and we were going out to dinner, we were traveling, and we met up with your friend and that friend's wife. You drove in the car with his wife. I drove in the car with him and they had Nextel like walkie talkies. And his wife was like, I don't know if she was lost. And he was literally like screaming into the walkie talkie at her the entire car ride. I felt so trapped. It was awful. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Clark Howard
I don't remember that at all.
Co-host
I'll tell you. Okay. It was traumatic for me.
Clark Howard
Really. Gosh, I don't remember that. Well, that's funny.
Co-host
Yeah.
Clark Howard
Okay. So, Jeff, I thank you so much for bringing this up because I never thought that that would be of interest to people. And is that as I think about it, imagine people have relatives living overseas or whatever to have a really affordable way to stay in contact other than all the other ways that we've talked about. That's great. Although a lot of people say car, Clark, what's wrong with using WhatsApp or FaceTime? But again, you're having to be on a plan that you're able to be the one traveling and not getting your wallet clobbered by being able to communicate with people back here. So thank you, Jeff, and I hope you have an absolutely great, great day in front of you. I had a wonderful weekend this past weekend. I hope this whole week is great for you and know that we serve you all week long so many different ways. Clark.com, clarkdeals.com one on one free advice through the Team Clark Consumer Action center on air, on various TV stations around the country, radio stations, on the news each day here to serve you every, every possible way for you to stretch your wallet so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. And see you Wednesday.
The Clark Howard Podcast – Episode Summary: June 16, 2025
Title: Kids Gone Wild Ordering Online / Rental Car Inspection Warning
Host: Clark Howard
Release Date: June 16, 2025
Incident Overview:
Clark Howard opens the episode by recounting a viral story about an eight-year-old boy who ordered 70,000 Dum Dums lollipops using his mother's Amazon account. The incident highlights the vulnerabilities parents face when children gain access to their online shopping platforms.
“I'm so glad you're with us here on the Clark Howard Show... today you may have already heard the crazy story about the boy who ordered 70,000 Dum Dums on his mom's Amazon account.” [01:15]
Discussion Points:
Parental Responsibility: Clark emphasizes the importance of securing online accounts to prevent unauthorized purchases by children. He notes, “parents routinely give kids their phone... your laptop has a lot of power to spend money. Password protection, a really good idea.” [05:36]
Amazon's Response: After the backlash, Amazon decided to let the mother keep the lollipops and contribute to charities, mitigating some of the negative publicity.
Preventative Measures: The hosts discuss strategies such as setting up parental controls, using password protections, and educating children about responsible online behavior.
Co-Host Insights:
The co-host shares personal experiences, including an incident with their son spending hundreds on Roblox purchases, reinforcing the need for vigilant account management. “I had an incident with my son and Roblox.” [05:15]
Listener Concern:
Donnie from Texas raises an issue regarding his employer-provided FSA through UnitedHealthcare. He points out that the rollover funds from the previous year are not being utilized first, leading to potential loss of funds if not manually redeemed.
“The FSA doesn't use the rolled over funds first... designed their system so there's a high likelihood that people will end up losing that money.” [05:59]
Clark's Analysis:
Clark acknowledges the issue, stating, “UnitedHealth Care is doing something that makes them a villain for not any financial benefit to UnitedHealthcare. That's weird.” [07:30] He suggests that listeners review their FSA policies and advocate for more user-friendly processes.
Listener Story:
Craig from Texas shares his dilemma about leaving a high-paying job to pursue a passion for teaching. With minimal student debt and a high household income, he feels constrained by "golden handcuffs."
“...how to judge what's reasonable and not as far as personal finance goes.” [07:39]
Clark's Advice:
Clark encourages Craig to:
Budget Review: “work on a budget... see what you can cut and still provide a decent life for the family.” [10:00]
Long-Term Planning: Emphasizes the benefits of following one's passion, especially when supported by a partner's income.
Research and Preparation: The co-host adds, “meet with several teachers... find out what their day to day life is really like.” [11:59]
Listener Information:
Matt from Nebraska informs listeners that premium travel cards like the American Express Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve are offered free to military members and their dependents, including the American Express Gold card.
“American Express and Chase do this for the wonderful, brave, patriotic men and women who serve in our US Military.” [12:30]
Clark's Response:
Clark expresses appreciation for the benefits provided to military personnel and acknowledges this as valuable information for listeners.
Clark's Warning:
Clark delves into the escalating "rental car wars," where major companies like Enterprise, Alamo, Hertz, Avis, Budget, and SIXT are increasingly scrutinizing returned vehicles for damages using advanced technology.
“Rental car rates have been going down... They are using AI to completely analyze every square inch of the vehicle looking for something they can bill you for.” [16:42]
Key Recommendations:
Document the Vehicle: “pull out your smartphone and shoot a video of the vehicle before you leave the rental car plaza and shoot a video when you return it.” [16:42]
Duration of Evidence Preservation: “hold it for a minimum three months.” [19:02]
Listener Anecdote:
Sandy from Georgia shares her experience of being wrongly billed $700 for a windshield crack, which was disproven by her video evidence.
“My videos of the car the day we returned it clearly showed that the windshield was not broken.” [20:56]
Clark's Advice:
Clark advises listeners to persist in communication with rental companies to obtain written confirmation that disputes are resolved and warns against trusting companies with a history of operational problems.
“Hertz is not to be trusted... you protect yourself and hurts. Get your act together.” [22:16]
Listener Query:
Michael from Georgia reports that his last name is frequently misspelled on official documents and solicitations, despite correct information on his credit reports from all three bureaus.
“My last name is spelled wrong... How can I correct this?” [23:44]
Clark's Guidance:
Clark suggests obtaining the extended credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian to identify where the misspellings occur. He explains that inconsistencies might stem from third-party data sources and recommends addressing discrepancies directly with those sources.
“on the extended credit report files from the bureau's again for free... you can see if you got AKA is there that match up with the misspelling.” [24:20]
Listener Promotion:
Jeff from South Carolina introduces POC Global Walkie Talkies as a cost-effective alternative for staying connected overseas, comparing them to traditional methods like WhatsApp or FaceTime.
“POC Global Walkie Talkies... eliminate some of the down falls of the other methods.” [25:49]
Clark's Take:
While initially unfamiliar, Clark recognizes the potential benefits for listeners needing reliable communication without hefty data plans.
“Imagine people have relatives living overseas or whatever to have a really affordable way to stay in contact...” [26:16]
Clark wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of protecting one's finances and personal information in various aspects of life, from online shopping to renting cars. He encourages listeners to utilize resources like Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com for ongoing financial advice and savings opportunities.
“Clark.com, clarkdeals.com one on one free advice through the Team Clark Consumer Action center...” [29:14]
Notable Quotes:
This episode of The Clark Howard Podcast provides valuable insights into safeguarding your finances from unintended online purchases by children, navigating the complexities of FSAs, making informed career transitions, leveraging credit card benefits for military families, protecting oneself during car rentals, correcting credit report errors, and exploring alternative communication tools for global connectivity.
For more information and personalized financial advice, visit Clark.com or ClarkDeals.com.