• All stories by Gina Germani

  • Going green with credit: c’mon, it’s a come-on!

    January 16, 2010

    Five credit cards weigh a little more than an ounce. Americans currently carry in their wallets more than 6,200 tons of non-recyclable PVC credit. (…)

    Blogs > The Consumer Corner

  • What’s worse than getting a tooth pulled? Waiting for the dentist to show

    August 24, 2009

    I had a tooth in the farthest reaches of my jawbone that was loose and gushy just a couple weeks ago. From my lay-person perspective, I just figured it needed to be disinfected, drained—whatever—and then a root canal conducted on it.

    Blogs > The Consumer Corner

  • Beware the magazine subscription telemarketers

    August 2, 2009

    Telemarketing scam artists know that old folks are polite and won’t have an easy time hanging up on them, so they use that to their slimy advantage.

    Blogs > The Consumer Corner

  • DirecTV does not carry local Imperial Valley television, but DishNetwork does

    July 23, 2009

    BONG! You’re gone, James! My house needs three receivers, which would be a $150 fee. Add that to the “special equipment,” and I’d be out $350 just to put an ugly little gray dish on top of my house so I can get the same stuff that the cable company offers and eventually pay the same price as the cable company charges.

    Blogs > The Consumer Corner

• About the Author

  Every minute of every day there is someone who gets snagged as a sucker. It happens to average people like waitresses, teachers, bank clerks, politicians, even doctors and lawyers. It’s even happened to me, and I am a seasoned watchdog of consumer rights and consumer knowledge.

  My name is Gina Germani. I am the owner and editor of ivnews.INFO. I am also a veteran newspaper and TV reporter of nearly 30 years. And I am an Imperial Valley native. As a reporter in many parts of the country, I saw some of the most awful, heartless scams against good, trusting, and often desperate people. Sometimes I was able to help them. Sometimes I couldn’t.

  Sometimes the consumer can just get caught up in marketing and sales double-talk. Nothing illegal about that. But it’s unfair, and it’s not right when a business is trying to separate its customer from his or her money for less-than promised products, pricing or services.

  I like telling consumer horror stories and nailing the bad guys. And I hope I’ll be able to do that on these pages. You’ll also be reading a lot about my groans and gripes about customer service. Waiting inordinate periods of time for any Imperial County physician is one of my greatest pet peeves these days. I bet that’s something you wouldn’t mind chiming in on.

  The Consumer Corner is all about not getting cornered as a consumer.

  I hope I can help.

Advertising

• Log in
• About Us
• Advertise
• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service