GE Joins Ranks of Auto Repair Referral Firms
Trust me: Consumer suspicions about auto repairs have created an industry of mostly regional companies that make referrals. The latest to jump into the business is a national player, General Electric Credit Corp.
For $49 a year, GE’s CarPro Auto Advisers will provide by telephone second opinions on auto repair costs and make referrals to one of 100,000 repair shops. The information comes from a database developed by GE Capital’s fleet services unit, which finances and manages corporate fleets throughout the country.
Unlike other referral services, GE says it won’t get involved in disputes between consumers and repair shops. CarPro President Randi Redmond says that if a repair is ineffective, the most GE can do is recommend another shop.
It ain’t fare: People who purchased half-price tickets for vacation travel this summer are finding it is not too easy to change reservations.
Under the industry’s new pricing structure, travelers can change reservations for a $25 fee. But there’s a catch: A seat must be available at the price you paid. If not, you have to pay the difference.
Needless to say, not too many half-price seats are available for people who want to change their travel plans. Delta Air Lines, for example, says it is possible to find a seat on off-peak flights. American Airlines says few seats are available at any hour; none on popular routes.
Mail-order tax: Lands’ End and eight other catalogue companies have stopped collecting California state tax. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that states couldn’t force out-of-state mail-order firms to collect it.
The State Board of Equalization says the nine firms accounted for $5 million of the $72 million in sales tax collected by mail-order firms. How many of the remaining firms continue to pay has to do with an undecided lawsuit over a related issue.
California law requires out-of-state mail-order firms to pay state tax if an affiliated company has an office in the state. A suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court last November, challenges 1988 sales taxes assessed on Current Inc., a Colorado-based seller of greeting cards. Current did not have an office in California at the time, but its parent, Deluxe Corp., did.
Similar laws have been overturned in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and it is considered likely that the California law will be struck down too. Win or lose, Current’s mail-order customers won’t notice; the company now has an office in the state and is required to collect the tax.
You can always call collect: Discover cardholders are getting letters telling them about some “great news.” Discover has teamed up with Sprint to allow cardholders to use the credit card to make long-distance telephone calls.
All you have to do is dial Sprint’s access code (11 digits), then O, then the long-distance number (10 digits), then your Discover account number (16 digits), then your personal access code (four digits). That’s a total of 42 digits.
Cindy Anderson, product manager for Sprint, says customers don’t mind. “After a while, your fingers just float across the key pad.”
MCI’s Visaphone requires 42 digits too. AT&T;’s Universal card has a big competitive advantage. It requires only 25 digits.
