Pay Attention And Read Policies When Buying

Recently I bought my wife some perfume on Amazon as a gift.    Unfortunately shortly after I made the order I noticed that my wife actually still had a nearly full bottle of the same perfume in the other bathroom.  Oops.   I thought she was out but there was a 2nd nearly full bottle I hadn't noticed.    I tried to cancel the order before Amazon shipped it but I was too late.   Also for some reason they didn't ship it via 2 day shipment which we normally got via Amazon Prime.   About a week later the perfume arrived so I went to the Amazon site to check about the return process.

I found the item in my order history and clicked the 'return items' button option.   Only to be hit with this statement :

"For safety reasons, items that are classified as hazardous materials or use flammable liquids or gases cannot be returned to Amazon.com. Customers should dispose of hazardous materials according to Local, State and Federal regulations. Customers should contact their local government or local waste company for directions on how to dispose of Household Hazardous Waste.  "

Dead end.   No button to push to proceed.

That sucks.   OK so I check the page for the item I bought and clearly right under the prices is the following notice that I totally failed to read when I placed the order :

Special Shipping Information: This item is non-returnable and is not available for 2-day shipping due to additional shipping requirements. See details. 

If you follow that 'see details' link then you get a list of all the non-returnable items :

Items that are Not Returnable

Amazon.com does not accept returns of the following items:

• Items that are classified as hazardous materials or use flammable liquids or gases
• Computer laptops, desktops, and Kindles more than 30 days after delivery
• Any product missing the serial number or UPC
• Downloadable software products
• Gift cards
• Pay As You Go (or prepaid) phone cards
• Prepaid game cards (World of Warcraft, Xbox 360 Live, Wii Points, etc.)
• Items purchased from sellers other than Amazon.com
• Some Jewelry orders (Learn more)
• Some Health & Personal Care items (Learn more)
• Grocery products (Learn more)

Clearly I didn't pay attention and I failed to read the notice that the perfume was "non-returnable".   It also clearly explained why they couldn't do 2 day shipping.

I wouldn't have guessed that you couldn't return perfume.  But now I know. 

The lesson of course is simple : Make sure to read policies when ordering items online.



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Best of Blog Posts for Week of June 29th

Every Friday afternoon I share some of the more interesting or notable posts that I have seen in the personal finance blogs and other sources for the past week.

ConsumerismCommentary alerts us to a  Best Mark Interco Mystery Shopping Scam

Just a general rule if anyone you don't know wants you to send money via Western Union its probably a scam.

RetireBy40 took a frugal vacation which he discusses The Cost Of Our Summer Vacation

BadMoneyAdvicce gives his take on The EuroCrisis: An American View

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Two Things to Look for In a Long Term Care insurance provider.

 Long Term Care (LTC) insurance can be a good idea for someone in their 50s or 60's.   This kind of insurance is not as common and may be a little harder to shop for than something like auto or home insurance.   LTC is also an evolving product that insurance companies are still working to figure out how to handle well.   Here are a couple things I'd recommend looking for when shopping for LTC coverage.   


Stick to Big Diversified companies

A.M. Best the company that rates insurance companies published a paper discussing the struggles seen in the LTC insurance industry.   One thing they highlight is how the smaller companies that just specialize in LTC policies have had more problems than larger diversified providers.  Those smaller companies are not as established and diversified and all their eggs may be in the LTC business.      The A.M. Best article has this graph showing the ratings of the smaller companies versus the larger ones :

source : A.M. Best

This is not a good trend for the smaller, specialty LTC insurers.  The rating of the company is a estimate of their financial strength.  You really don't want to be buying insurance from a company that is on shaky financial footing.  You can see the red line representing the small companies is steadily going down and is now in the C's which means they are 'marginal' or 'weak' financially.
For this reason : I would avoid smaller insurance companies or those who specialize in LTC products only.

Look for A Highly Rated Company

Insurance companies are rated by A.M. Best, Moody's, Standard & Poors and Fitch.   You should look for an insurer who has a high rating in the A's.    A rating in the A's will be Excellent, Strong or Good level.   The different rating agencies have different grading systems.   AM Best explains the ratings here.

The American Association for Long Term Care Insurance has a list of highly rated LTC providers.

For 2012 the leading LTC insurers are : 

Genworth = A (excellent)
John Hancock = A+ (superior)
Life Secure Insurance = A- (parent company )
Massachusets Mutual = A++ ( superior)

MedAmerica = B++ (very good)

Mutual of Omaha =  A+ (superior)
Prudential Insurance = A+ (superior)
Transamerica Life = A+ (superior)

Looking at that list I might narrow it down to just the A+ companies.   The B++ one is a few notches below the others in its rating.   The A- Lifesecure is based on its parent company and I can't find out what that company is.  From their website it seems Lifescure specializes in LTC too.   The A rating for Genworth is OK.  I might check them for a quote, but I'd try the A+ companies first.

Ratings change over time so I would make sure to double check the current rating on any insurance company before I investigate the options.

Of course there are other factors you need to look at when shopping for this kind of insurance.   The coverage and price are major factors in the purchase decision.   However sticking to larger diversified insurance companies with solid ratings will give you a safer product.

Entertainment books for $8.25 after Ebates rebate

Entertainment coupon books are on sale for $9.99 right now and standard shipping is free.   Plus you can get get 17.5% cash back from  Ebates.     After rebate your total will end up $8.25.

The Ebates website says that the discount expires July 5th so you've got a few days to act if you're interested.

Make sure to check out the Entertainment website to make sure the coupons are really a good deal for your area and your shopping needs.  A lot of the coupons are buy-one-get-one-free type offers for restaurants I'm not interested in, but there can be some great deals mixed in.

I pointed out late last year that the books go on sale in the summer.  The first sale in April the books were $10.63.   Last sale in May they were $8.88.   Now its $8.25.  


To get the cash back you need to be signed up with Ebates.  Then simply go to Ebates to get the referral to the the store before you do your shopping.  I also get a referral bonus if you use my links to sign up with Ebates.

I heard about this sale on Slickdeals.net

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