Top 10 Consumer Complaints in Wisconsin for 2009
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) recently released a list of the most common consumer complaints filed with their department in 2009. Here’s a list of the top ten complaints, along with some helpful information that we’ve included. If you have additional tips that would be useful to our readers, please leave a comment below or contact us.
1. Violations of the No-Call Law List
Adding your phone number to the Wisconsin No-Call List should prevent most telemarketers from calling. However, judging by the 2,187 complaints from this year, violations of the law are fairly common. Under current law, non-profit organizations, political candidates, and elected officials are all allowed to solicit you even if you are on the No-Call List.
To sign up for the list, visit the Wisconsin No Call List website or call (866)-9NO-CALL.
To file a No-Call complaint, fill out this form on the DATCP website.
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Milwaukee Furnace Tune-Up Coupons
Have you changed your furnace for your air filter lately? Energy Star recommends checking the filter every month. If the filter looks dirty after a month, change it, and at a minimum, be sure to change the filter every 3 months.
If you don’t change your air filter on a regular basis, the air flow will slow down and your HVAC system will need to run harder, leading to wasted energy. In addition, a dirty filter may lead to dust and dirt accumulating in the HVAC system which could lead to expensive repairs.
If you are in need of repairs or an annual tune-up, we found several furnace tune-up coupons from Milwaukee area furnace experts that might be useful to you. If you are aware of any other quality HVAC contractors in the Milwaukee area offering a deal, please contact us and we’ll add the information to our post.
NOW Heating and Cooling has a coupon on their website for $59 Winter furnace maintenance check-up. The coupon shows an expiration of 1/31/10 but we confirmed with them that the coupon’s expiration has been extended to 3/31/10.
1st Choice Heating and Cooling has a coupon on their website for a $69.95 heating or cooling clean and check (regularly priced at $99.95 less the $30 coupon.) The coupon shows an expiration date of 12/31/09 but we confirmed with 1st Choice Heating and Cooling that they will honor the coupon and their website will soon be updated with the same coupon valid through 12/31/10.
Burant Heating and Air Conditioning LLC has a coupon on their website for $10 off a regularly priced $85 performance tune-up.
You can also use a free service called Service Magic to search for contractors. After filling out a little information on the Service Magic website, they will match you up with up to four contractors. Contractors can compete for your business and you have the opportunity to review comments from past customers in order to help you find the best match for your needs.
Each Wednesday we highlight an energy savings tip to help Milwaukee area consumers try to reduce their utility bill. Follow this link to see all of our previous energy savings tips.
Resources for Tree Damage Services in Milwaukee
The recent snowstorm we had in the Milwaukee area on December 8th and 9th led to a lot of tree damage, especially evergreens. In an article on JSOnline reporter Joe Taschler wrote that experts state that it is not a good idea to knock snow and ice off trees that are bent to the ground, as it could cause even more damage.
If you are in need of an arborist or a service to clean up damaged trees, there are several resources you can consult to find the contractor that is right for your situation. Here are a few ideas:
Angie’s List – If you subscribe to Angie’s List
you’ll receive access to local reviews and live support from their company. If you have a bad experience with a contractor, you might be able to utilize their free Complaint Resolution Team to help resolve your issue. An advantage of Angie’s List
is that all reviews are checked in order to prevent businesses that try to submit reviews on themselves or negative reviews on competitors. This is a big advantage over free sites on the internet where fabricated reviews can easily be submitted.
Craigslist – Consult the Milwaukee Skilled Trades page on Craigslist. Advantages of using Craigslist is it is free and it’s easy to navigate the website to find services for tree removal, tree pruning, etc… However, the downside is that there aren’t any pre-screened reviews and you may need to take extra care in how you select your contractor. At the top of the page on Craigslist there are links to articles such as “When does your contractor need a license?”, a reminder to ask for references, and articles on personal safety tips and avoiding scams and fraud. Be sure to read these if you are selecting contractors using Craigslist.
Service Magic – Service Magic
is a website that provides free matches to pre-screened service professionals, such as arborists. The Service Magic
website also has articles on tree trimming advice, including the best time to trim, basic trimming suggestions, and trimming safety (most important – you should never trim trees on a ladder. Instead, you should secure yourself to the tree from at least two points using a harness and ropes).
We also recently asked our Readers Panel for their advice in selecting contractors.
Suzette said “When my husband and I need services around our home, our first line of resources are recommendations from friends, co-workers, or friends of friends. Many times this is through conversations but I have also sent out emails asking for recommendations.” She finds that on websites one can usually find good and bad information about each contractor, and prefers to dig deeper to ask about contractors, including their personality. Suzette also wisely states “It just isn’t about price and doing the job. It is about price, time, and quality. They are interelated and usually effect each other.”
Renee responded stating when she needed some work done around the house such as landscaping, she used a free group on Yahoo! called Milwaukee Cafe. The group is fashioned after the Milwaukee Freecyle group. Renee stated “I found a great handyman who charges me $8/hour and has done a fabulous job helping me out.”
Do you have any suggestions on where our readers can turn if they need a contractor to help them cleanup tree damage from the storm? If so, please feel free to leave a comment.