As you read today’s article, imagine yourself in the shoes of my reader, Dr. Tom, who, like millions of us, has seen customer service vanish at just about every large bank in the country.

We begin with a question: When was the last time that you turned on the evening news and did not see a story about the problem of dangerous narcotics? Now, for a moment, imagine, instead of a warning not to use drugs, you see a commercial encouraging their use.

“Not happening,” you’re thinking. But that is exactly what we all are exposed to when we are urged to use powerful drugs that can ruin families if they’re not managed properly — credit cards.

Many of us have received a preapproved credit card in the mail with literature that says, “To activate, make a purchase of up to X dollars.”

Credit card issuers want us to take vacations we can’t afford and buy things we do not need and cannot pay for with cash.

And, ironically, the more credit card debt we have, the easier it is sometimes to get more credit cards.

Planning a trip and responded to a promotion

But what if you have no credit card debt? Perhaps you pay off monthly charges in full and have no other debt because long ago you said “no!” to taking on debt of any kind?

Dr. Tom has lived within his means and stays out of debt. Through no fault of his own, he created a problem for himself.

“Our family was planning a trip to England and Italy,” wrote retired West Coast dentist Dr. Tom in his email to me. “For over 30 years, I have had a credit card with a big bank and pay all charges in full every month. I applied for their airline-branded card that advertises 75,000 miles for signing up — that I could use for airfare — but was turned down!”

No credit history with the reporting bureaus

He related how he spoke with a customer service rep, who had his payment history on her computer screen but told him the credit bureaus had no record of him or his payments to the credit card company. “‘That’s why you were declined,’” he said she told him.

He escalated the issue to a supervisor and said, “Just look at my 30 years with you. I’ve never been late. You can see that. Besides, you could have reported my payment activity all these years to the credit bureaus, but obviously you didn’t. Come on, someone has to have an ounce of common sense. Please speak with the department that issues the airlines card, explain the mistake and send me the card.”

Dr. Tom took this as high as he could but was turned down each time. He concluded, “Nobody cares. Common sense is not a job requirement at this bank.”

A solution but not at all timely

But it was not over, not yet, because after receiving his email, I got him on the line and called the unit of the bank that handles customer complaints at the highest level and explained the problem. The customer service rep asked Dr. Tom, “Why don’t you have more credit?”

Translation: We can’t make money off of you with interest charges because you pay in full, so why should I help you?

However, he finally agreed to send Dr. Tom’s payment history to Experian. “They will send his credit rating back to us, which will allow us to issue the new credit card, but it will take a month or so.”

“A month or so?” I blurted. “Are you kidding? His European trip is in three weeks. You have the ability to pick up the phone, call your department that issues the airlines cards and tell them that Dr. Tom has a perfect payment history and to send him a new card. Come on, he is a 30-year customer. Do the right thing — fix the problem you guys created by not reporting his payment history to Experian.”

And then, exhibiting his utmost concern for the bank’s loyal customer, the customer service rep hung up.

When faced with arrogant, uncaring people who refuse to act reasonably and solve a problem their organization created, my next step is to contact their media department, because those are the people who can pull strings.

Please help my reader, your longtime customer

In early March, I emailed the media contact at the bank, summarized Dr. Tom’s situation, gave the names of the bank employees we had spoken with and concluded by saying: “Dr. Tom needs someone with common sense to speak with the issuing department and tell them, ‘Look at his history with us. He has been a good customer. Please give him that card in time to use it on the family’s trip to Europe.’”

A week later, Dr. Tom’s new credit card arrived in the mail.

The moral to this story: While most credit card companies report their customers’ payment histories to the credit bureaus, they are not legally required to do so.

How can you check to make sure your payment history is being fairly reported? You can get free copies of your credit reports from all three credit-reporting bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Here’s When a Lack of Credit Card Debt Can Cause You Problems appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

“Mr. Beaver, I am the victim of a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) scam.”

Vagus nerve scam?

Most of us know about vagus nerves from high school biology — that they are the longest in our bodies, but not much more.

However, for the past few years, vagus nerves have been the subject of a great deal of investigation in bioelectronic medicine for their ability to reverse inflammation, which is a major factor in a number of life-altering diseases — and, as my caller discovered, fraud.

“While the existence of the vagus nerve has been known for centuries, its potential to treat a variety of serious health conditions has only been seriously studied the past few years by the medical profession,” neurosurgeon Dr. Kevin J. Tracey writes in the just-published, compelling read, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes.

During our interview, Tracey said, “Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) involves delivering electrical impulses to the vagus nerves to regulate various bodily functions and potentially improve conditions like epilepsy and depression. It can be achieved through medical devices like implanted stimulators the size of a jelly bean.

“Part of my motivation in writing The Great Nerve was to warn the public about the many false claims that are being made about bioelectronic medicine and, specifically, devices that claim to influence functioning of the vagus nerves but in reality do nothing at all except separate you from your money.”

My caller “Sharon” was one example.

Wanted to help her employees

She owns a demolition company “that tears down small buildings, which requires employees to do a fair amount of heavy lifting, and they often complain of back and muscle aches requiring them to take some time off and swallow (over-the-counter pain relievers) as if they were candy to reduce swelling and inflammation.

“A few months ago, I saw an internet advertisement for a vagus nerve stimulator that stated, ‘Is ideal for people who work in construction and often experience muscle aches and pain resulting from inflammation.’ I ordered four of the $500 devices — which had a 100% money-back guarantee — put the purchase on my bank’s credit card and gave them to our employees.

“These things look like earphones, only you attach them to your neck, flip a switch, they start to buzz, and your pain is supposed to vanish. But what vanished was my money!

“My employees all tried the device, and we emailed the company to complain that the devices did not work. They wrote back suggesting that we were not placing them correctly, to try them for at least a few months, and then they would refund us if we asked.

“It has been six months. The devices do not work, and the company refuses to issue a refund. My credit card company says that we are too late to contest the charge. Is there anything I can do?”

These scammers know what they are doing

Each credit card issuer has its own time limit to contest a charge. U.S. law sets a minimum time limit of 60 days. Most banks give cardholders 120 days to dispute a charge.

However, if a customer can establish actual fraud by the seller, this usually opens up the time frame in which to challenge the charge.

With Sharon on the phone, I researched the seller and found a pattern of similar complaints about the device not working and the seller’s refusal to agree to a refund after dragging out the matter for months and then claiming the customer had waited too long.

With that information, I got a supervisor on the line at Sharon’s credit card company, and he agreed to accept her claim.

Had she looked at the seller’s online reputation, it is clear she never would have ordered the device.

We will be hearing a lot more about vagus nerves

I do not recommend that you begin reading The Great Nerve too late in the evening — you could stay up for hours past your bedtime. It is that interesting and reads like a historical novel, only this is real science. Tracey writes in the style of another gifted physician/author we also read in high school English — William Carlos Williams.

He takes us on trips around the world where tiny devices are surgically implanted in patients to treat patients’ rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, obesity, stroke, depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, in addition to other inflammatory-based conditions.

Tracey’s research into vagus nerve stimulation, along with his colleagues’ has led to treatments for the most difficult medical conditions, such as stroke, drug-resistant epilepsy, PTSD and depression. And there is evidence that long COVID may be helped by VNS.

Today, at major hospitals and medical centers, VNS is used routinely to give patients, in many instances, a second chance at living lives that are close to what they knew before falling ill or suffering a stroke. And just think of the applications for work-related, painful injuries.

As Tracey makes clear in The Great Nerve, VNS places medicine at the threshold of what was science fiction. His book is testimony to what dedicated physicians bring to humanity.

If you are interested in trying VNS, to avoid being scammed, consult with your doctor for a referral to a recognized medical facility that uses these procedures.

Given that VNS is fairly new, I personally would be leery of anything offered online unless it’s prescribed or recommended by a physician.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Scam Alert: Bioelectronic Medicine Is Both Promising and Ripe for Fraud appeared first on Dennis Beaver.