In Europe the EU has just enacted a whole bunch of hefty payments that airlines must pay you when they are late. The EU simply was not satisfied with the self-imposed policies from airlines.

In Europe and the Middle-East cell phones come with mandatory SIM-cards that you can rip out and stick in any other phone as you like. This allows you to take your phone to any provider you wish. It's YOUR phone after all. In the US, only Cingular and T-Mobile allow this.

In the Netherlands, if your train is more than half an hour late, you get a full refund. I think it's self-imposed by the railways as a means to timulate themselves to meet the goverment-required amount of trains that have to be on time (near 90%).

In Japan, bus and train drivers get fired if they're more than 5 minutes late at the end of their line.

I think the issue is that in the US, the economy is let completely, free assuming that the market will figure things out. This is not the case as most markets are not 'free' markets for the consumer. Even ignoring the dominant position of Microsoft, there are only 3 relevant OS you can put on your computer. There are 5 or 6 mobile phone companies that offer nearly identical packages, at prices that are double or triple of what they are in Europe and other places in the world. Airlines competition is claimed to be high, but how come nobody competes on good service? Health care is supposedly the best in the US. But why are prices double or triple of what they are in Canada, Europe and other developed countries?

The government should accept that many markets are not as 'free' as one would want, and should force those markets to be fair to their customers. Generically, in Europe, the threat of the government interfering usually helps. And if it doesn't, usually the governments make sure that they annoy industry so much with their regulations, that other industries are reminded that they really don't want the government to regulate theirs.

Unforutately, with the current do-nothing-Congress in DC, there is little hope for Americans.

Thanks for publishing this. I have to admit it makes me mad. I think most of us don't really read the fine print and have no idea this is going on and has become so common. Even when we do, we often have no choice, unless we want to pay cash for everything and walk everywhere. There definitely needs to be more a push to get rid of mandatory arbitration, or at the very least, give consumers a meaningful choice.

of course contracts of adhesion are lawful, as it is the over-bearing companies that pump big campaign contributions into the pockets of politicians to keep it that way. There hasn't been a serious effort toward conusmer protection in this country in decades.

Jsut to get a jump on all the "I blame W" morons: ALL of this crap got its start under the Rodhamovich-Clinton Regime, and was upheld by Rodhamovich-Clinton-appointed judges, in the early '90's.

Great article!

You don't necessarily have to sign that "won't sue the car dealer" document. I refused point blank to sign and instead signed a document stating that I had refused to sign the "I won't sue" document. I assume that was so the dealership would have proof for corporate ownership that they had asked me to sign. I would have walked out rather than sign the first document and I guess they could tell that.

That was two years ago and I haven't had any reason to want to sue the dealer.

Just Spread the Word the more people that are aware of these facts the harder it is for any Company, Person or Entity that wishes to take Advantage to "Actually take Advantage."

Mandatory arbitration is not necessarily a bad thing IF the company agrees to pay the additional costs and fees associated with the arbitration. Indeed, arbitration may be beneficial in such cases, as it speeds the ultimate resolution of the dispute. The prohibition on class actions, however, has got to go as such prohibition makes it less likely that the company will be haled into court to remedy systamatic abuse.

Ah, yes. The "blame Clinton" crowd. Thanks, Ann. As if the business free for all under Reagan had NOTHING to do with it.

Thank you for taking the time to make people aware of this! I, too, have chaffed as I signed a contract that I knew painted me into a distant corner. Very simply, it seems there is an implicit understanding that an exchange should be reasonable and fair.

When all of the protections go to one side, something is wrong.

An interesting article regarding contracts of adhesion can be found here:
http://lawreview.kentlaw.edu/articles/80-1/CKaiser%20PDF3.pdf

The first 6 pages or so reiterate many of your points about adhesion contracts in general, but the remainder of the article discusses two actual court decisions deciding whether to enforce these types of contracts.

We need more of this kind of information and leaders to guide us back into what our fore-fathers fought and died for, truth, honesty, respect and real freedom to pursue happiness. And less of make the people pay.

What the nation needs is another Teddy Roosevelt, tamer of corporations.

I think the people looking for someone to blame -- ANN -- are missing the point. This "crap" didn't get its start under ANYONE. Contracts of Adhesion are NOT BINDING -- that's the thrust of the article. they are NOT BINDING.

A few years ago a small local cellular company from whom I purchased service was itself purchased by a large national cellular corporation. They arbitrarily raised the rates, and I arbitrarily dropped the service. This large company attempted to enforce the preexisting contract on me, insisting on a large lump sum payment. I promptly got the Attn General (a LIBERAL ANN -- FAR left of Hillary and Bill -- his name is Elliott Spitzer, he's our governor here now) involved -- and almost immediately got an apologetic letter from the assistant to the president of said company, together with a total drop on any claim of money from me.

Odd how that works.

Regards,

Reynolds Jones
Schenectady, NY

Response to Ann (10:42): The problem of contracts of adhesion predates Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Reagan. In fact, no president (regardless of how much you want to blame them) can be blamed for this problem. Contract law is a figment of state law, largely common law that dates to the early days of our nation. The federal government takes the blame for a lot of things, some of which it deserves, but the vagaries of contract law must be blamed elsewhere.

Can't anyone see that america is under assault. This is warfare. Its ok to robb us they think. Thing is I HAVE A KNOW ME SCREW ME CONTRACT IN SMALL PRINT THAT CANT BE READ WITH A TELESCOPE. IT SAYS THAT IF YOU SCREW ME OVER IN ANY WAY, I WILL SLAY YOU ON GODS JUDGEMENT DAY(THEY LAUGH)God lives, Death to small print.

I have worked and traveled in Europe and consumers have a lot more rights than we as Americans do, why is that? Because we have slowly given away our rights by reelecting people. We need term limits for the Senate and House to just 2 terms. That would limit coruption and other thing career politicians do and have fresh voices in goverment that is what we need to push for in this country...

WE got roped into a resort contract 15 years ago. They have ripped us off ever since. If you ever want to read a contract that is scary read one of those. They even can tie up your relatives in court after you die if you owe 'dues'.. They are virtually so tight you can't even get a lawyer to sue over them and the courts uphold them! Think before you ever sign one of them. AND try to find the guy who really owns the place...

I disagree with Ann. I don't think anyone would claim that sneaky unfair contract provisions are Bush's fault, and I am reasonably sure that the problem has been around since long before Clinton or even Bush Sr. for that matter...

I certainly don't like the fine print on credit cards that says the terms may be changed at any time. In the last year, I have had two credit cards raise my rates significantly. One was 16.99% for several years and then they arbitarily raised it to a "standard" rate of 29.99%. I never missed any payments, went over the limit, or even had late payments. The only thing I did was use the card for a medical emergency. Same thing with my other card. The rate had been 16.99% for several years and then got raised up to 26.99%, again for no legitimate reason. The only thing I did was use that card in connection with my medical emergency. Meanwhile, I had been paying down on these credit cards for one full year and not charging a single other thing to them, so the balances were going down significantly. Apparently being aware that I had several thousand dollars that I owed them, the credit card companies decided to significantly increase my interest rates to get as much out of me as they could. When I complained about it, they told me I should read the fine print in my contract with them that says they may change any terms of my account at any time and for any reason at all, or even no reason at all. When I complained about the exhorbitant amount of interest being charged they told me they could legally charge me anything they felt like because the state I live in has no usury laws against excessive interest. I was told if I wanted my rates to go down I should move to another state!!!!! What a load of crap. On top of jacking up my interest significantly, everytime I pay off a substantial portion of the bill, they decrease my credit line by the same amount, thereby continually impacting my credit score negatively. Despite having paid off well over half of the bill, my credit score has plummeted over 100 pounds in the last nine months, which I find very interesting considering I have less and less debt in my name at all times.

I can say I will never use these credit cards again after the balances are paid off unless my interest rate gets lowered down to a humane level. Interestingly, my other credit cards that I don't owe/keep balances on for more than a month or two at a time never raised the interest on me or anything else. I guess the lesson to be learned here is to never use a credit card for anything, even an emergency, or you'll be screwed for a very long time afterward!

Well, Ann..there is plenty enough to blame W about that is uniquely of his devise. Methinks you doth protest too much......clearly you have an identity crisis. Anyway..the article was quite good...and truly , yet again, an example of big business calling all the shots ..

These contracts of adhesion also extend to the notices at the car wash or parking garage that print the disclaimers of responsibility to damage to your car. The business do this because they know that most people work under the impression that if they print it on your ticket or post it on the wall in a sign, that it must be legal and binding.

Recently at my place of employment, my employer started shopping around for a new health care insurance provider. Every employee was prodded (rather strongly by the CFO) to fill out a survey for one of the prospective providers. This survey was mostly a typical survey asking for your medical history and the medical history of any individuals that may eventually be covered, with a release of medical records form to sign. In the small print of this release, it stated that by signing the release, we were allowing them to use our medical records as they see fit. In the middle of this "small print" it said that by signing you also were giving up your federal privacy rights, and if you didn't sign this release you could not be covered by this company.

This to me sounds like it falls under the "unconscionable" term.

These agreements should be limited to one word per dollar spent.

Stellar topic and insights, Bob!

At the dawn of the early 21st century, especially with increased access to virtual festivals of information about nearly everything, people are beginning to start using a bit of common sense when making decisions, in part because the general prices of goods and services are increasing dramatically, often for no logical reasons . . .

One of the greatest aspects of common sense is that using it tends to reward one with the outstanding combination of better quality and lower prices, enhanced by not being required to mess with a lot of extraneous noise . . .

If you learn how to shop for groceries and how to cook, then (a) you can feed yourself gourmet quality meals for several days (if not for the entire week) at approximately the cost of a few fast-food meals and (b) the food is healthier, safer, and tastier . . .

Depending upon the time of year, a 15 lbs. turkey costs about $15 and when combined with some corn meal, eggs, butter, and an apple pie is more than enough food to have Thanksgiving dinner three times each day for a week, for one person--all for $25 plus the electricity required to roast the turkey, bake the cornbread dressing and apple pie, as well as keep everything safely cold in the refrigerator . . .

You can do the same thing by driving an old but well-maintained car, especially if the car was made before all the electronic and computer modules were added, along with all the elaborate emissions and smog control stuff and the assorted sensors that make it impossible for common folk to work on cars . . .

You can plan your shopping expeditions to minimize driving, which makes it possible for you to keep more of your money (rather than sending it to oil companies), and so forth and so on . . .

After a while, smart people begin to realize that when they have money but spend all of it on stuff that appears to be convenient, when the money is gone, so is the apparently "convenient" stuff, which is not a very good strategy over the long run if anyone expects to build wealth . . .

Corporations have no qualms about downsizing people, and it is time that people start exerting their right to downsize corporations by using common sense and spending money only on great values . . .

In the past, the primary way people discovered the rules was to go bankrupt, which is a bit of a rude reality check--but, at the dawn of the early 21st century, discovering the rules before one goes bankrupt is probably the only way to avoid going bankrupt . . .

Put your money in a coffee can and learn how to shop, how to cook, how to maintain a 30-years old car, and you will discover that the amount of money in the coffee can at the end of the year is a lot more than it would have been if you spent all your money on false convenience . . .

And, when you have money in your coffee can, there is no small print . . .

Thanks!

JD

It's the same as most companies "non compete" clause that they have you sign in order to hire on. This can't be enforced, so sign away!

If all consumers in the United States took a stand together we would be one of the most powerful groups in the world. No more activation fees, no more giving our social security numbers to get cable TV etc. I don't have a cell phone because I will not pay an activation fee. I don't have cable because I will not surrender my SSN. Stand together people, and vote with your dollars.

""Jsut to get a jump on all the "I blame W" morons: ALL of this crap got its start under the Rodhamovich-Clinton Regime, and was upheld by Rodhamovich-Clinton-appointed judges, in the early '90's.""
Dear Ann...I believe it was Reagan that de-regulated the airlines as well as much of the communications network in the US. Amazing how moronic Republicans simply stop reading their history books prior to 1992. Seems to forget that cell phones are fairly new---in 2000 est. only 109.5 mil. in use compared to 2007 230 mil. GW could have done something but...as usual...that may actually HELP the general public.
Also, between reagan, bush I and lil bush, they have appointed 7 judges so please, don't make yourself look more uninformed then you already are. It's always better to appear an idiot then open your mouth and remove all doubt.

I had a credit card company raise my rate from maybe 16% to just under 30% for something that had happened five years earlier. You do have recourse... call their customer sevice, explain that you do not accept the new term, and immediately cancel the card. You are then locked into the previous rate, can no longer charge anything, but can pay at the previous rate.

Tiffany, you might want to check your credit report to see if something else has happened. Like, maybe, someone has stolen your identity, or other problems like that. There should not be any reason for credit card companies to adjust your interest rate other than a bad mark on your credit report.

The author is a genius! I would certainly welcome the system, where passengers can be late but airplains and trains not. Some may argue this contradicts Einsteins special theory of relativity, but travel industry could easily use psychokinesis or something similar to transport late passangers to non-late airplains.

I have worked and traveled in Europe and consumers have a lot more rights than we as Americans do, why is that? Because we have slowly given away our rights by reelecting people. We need term limits for the Senate and House to just 2 terms. That would limit coruption and other thing career politicians do and have fresh voices in goverment that is what we need to push for in this country...

What about the "over the telephone" deal with the satellite TV company where no contract is signed. Every time you change your programming with Dish Network or Direct TV, they extend your contract out to the original length without mentioning it. I think you could beat that in court.

Great article. We need to take some action. Perhaps take this to a consumer advercay group to take the lead and pressue the congress to do something about it.

Not only is consumer protection at an all time low, so is real customer service. Some of the new options meant to empower the customer are euphamisms for not providing customer service and putting all the responsibility on the consumer. Although at least one cell phone company seems to be getting smart enough to listen to the groans and frustrations of their customers over all the limitations of their phone contracts. We need to get off our duffs and write and call and complain and bug and bug these companies so that they can't ignore us and they start providing better service and bugging our legistators to enact some protection. If we continue to take it all laying down then we best zip our lips and stop complaining.

This has everything to do with Big corporations!!

They have raped the public for decades and no one has noticed enough to do anything about it.
Americans are just now noticing that this government is in a shambles and have become more vocal than I have seen them in ages.
This is what we need, Americans standing up to these big corporations--the government won't do it, they work for big corporations.
We need a huge--Stand up for America day!!!

Capitalism, people. Our nation is based on the pursuit of profit, and all the laws that pertain to business and commerce focus on profit - particularly for large businesses. This is the foundation of our society, though nobody ever teaches us that outright anymore. You have to infer it from personal experience and observation. The U.S. is a capitalist experiment, and we're seeing the results of that experiment. Cheers!

Believe it or not, contract law precedes either Bush and Reagan. Its pretty old actually.

Beware bad legal advice! Contracts of adhesion are NOT unenforceable. In fact, not withstanding "unconscionable" provisions, they are completely enforceable. Where they differ from other contracts is when there is ambiguity, in which cases courts will usually rule in favor of the party challenging the contract.

But don't let anyone tell you that contracts of adhesion are outright unenforceable. Ever heard of an insurance policy? That's a contract of adhesion. And if the terms are clear and written in plain English, you'll be hard pressed to challenge any provisions that are not specifically prohibited by law.

This isn't the fault of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, etc... it's the fault of Americans themselves!
We seem to believe in democracy forsaking sanity. The only reason European countries have some legislation that is 'saner' than the US is because the citizens are willing to forego some personal rights for the good of all!
After all, that's what a society is... we all live in one so start acting like it!

Last year I was informed by my "Wireless" carrier that it would be necessary to sign a 'new' contract,(for 2 years). I informed them that I was happy with the terms of my 'Old Agreement", and if this was 'really' necessary ,,, and if my monthly phone bill was raised, then I would be signing a new agreement, but,,, with another company.

ALRIGHT! Thanks again for making life easier with these all important facts we consumers need to know! When dealing with a difficult situation, I use the correct terms pretaining to the issue & everything is immediately corrected! THANKS AGAIN! KEEP UP THE WONDERFUL WORK! TJ

Mandatory arbitration would indeed be helpful in the consumer arena, if it were not for the fact that the clauses themselves discriminate against the consumer. Problems include: limitation of venue, usually to places where the consumer is not; limitation of dollar amounts that can be controverted, usually to the amount of the company's claim, eliminating any possibility of counter or cross-claims by the consumer; and invocation of arcane rules of arbitration limiting the types of evidence admitted.
When it comes to contracts of adhesion, my bet is on state attorneys general as a useful means of relief (not redress) for the consumer, as companies fear most Eliot Spitzer-style collective investigation/prosecutions that potentially create huge liabilities.

Wow, some moron managed to make this political! Hey, I'm sure there's politics involved for sure, but I seriously doubt it's divided between dems and reps. More likely, big money and little money (guess which one consumers are!).

I've been ready for this thing to come around for a long time. Late fees? Nobody has ever paid me a late fee but seems I spend half of my days waiting for this that or the other. Cancel your contract fees? I've paid that, but never had any money given back when my service didn't work. It all makes sense, just another piece of evidence in the trial of our leaders. And not just W for you freaks, all of them. Can anyone tell me any Kennedy (besides John!) did anything worth a hoot? And Strom, poor old Strom was like a rag blowin in the breeze. Wherever the cronies went he went. That's how it works. Cronie-ism. The only way to change it is to do what our forefathers did and revolt, form a new government and go from there. I seriously doubt America is ready for another revolution.

Here is my simple solution for the one-sided airline change fees: Pass legislation to regulate not the fees, but the parity of the fees. Each airline choses their own change fee (even for a particular ticket), but the fee cuts both ways. If the passenger is late or just wants to change their schedule, they pay the pre-determined fee. But if the airline is late or changes their schedule, they pay you the pre-determined change fee.

This wouldn't be unfair to either party, and would allow another area in which the airlines can compete.

Everyone has great opinions and feelings on the matters of consumerism her in America. I too am in agreence that we should do something or say something. Another thing is...Yes, all the way around in Government as well as in business we as Americans are getting it stuck to us and we are very quick to point fingers at time rather than doing something about it. So..The real issue is that there is no unified voice amongst us and no staunch means of action or follow through. We have been come too fragmented to pull it together. America has to unite once again as it did many, many years ago.

The "unconscionable" standard for overturning provisions in contracts of adhesion is too stringent.

I can't think of a one word standard to replace, unconscionable," but the standard should be that, "a reasonable person finds the provision to be unfair and one sided." A judge or jury could determine what is reasonable.

Since the courts won't protect consumer because they traditionally use too high a standard for overturning these adhesion provisions, our legislators should act. But then, they are busy giving this country to the wealthiest individuals and corporations, and the average Joe doesn't count.

Everyone has great opinions and feelings on the matters of consumerism her in America. I too am in agreence that we should do something or say something. Another thing is...Yes, all the way around in Government as well as in business we as Americans are getting it stuck to us and we are very quick to point fingers at time rather than doing something about it. So..The real issue is that there is no unified voice amongst us and no staunch means of action or follow through. We have become too fragmented to pull it together. America has to unite once again as it did many, many years ago.

Amazing. How did the Clintons get the blame even for this? Ann you must be a moron. Stop letting the paid for propaganda radio doing your thinking for you

Of course it's all Clinton's fault! When will these talking-points carrying, ditto-head bobbing neo-cons start taking responsibility for their own actions. Answer is probably never because that requires intellectual curiosity, and that train left the station many moons ago.

This has everything to do with Big corporations!!

They have raped the public for decades and no one has noticed enough to do anything about it.
Americans are just now noticing that this government is in a shambles and have become more vocal than I have seen them in ages.
This is what we need, Americans standing up to these big corporations--the government won't do it, they work for big corporations.
We need a huge--Stand up for America day!!!

Remember...Amtrack is owned by the Government...they can do what ever they want.

Its not a private company.

I thought Ann Coulter lived in Florida.

Let's be honest congress and the politicians could give a tinker's damn what the people say. They, the politicians will do what is in their best interest. Show me a poor congressman or woman.

Hi, I recently charged my bank 30$ for their ATM not working when I needed it,they would not hesatate to charge me if I bounced a check, and they paid the charge.

Its all about the Uniform Commercial Code, the UCC made official after the second world war, in order to have set standards for laws between states. There are some exceptions to the fine print, some of this was fough successfully in courts

In response to Tiffany - Something similar happened to me. I had one large purchase to pay off and I was devoting as much money as possible to it each month, but the skyrocketing interest rates were eating up my payments.

The credit card companies can change your interest rates, but they can't keep you from going to another company. If you're at all like me, as soon as you started carrying a balance you probably started receiving tons of credit card offers in the mail. Many of these offer interest-free financing for 6 months to a year. When my credit card company raised my rates again, I transferred my debt to a card that was interest-free for a year and worked out a budget to get it completely paid off before that period was up.

You have to be careful of the fine print on your new card, of course! Make sure you'll be able to pay it off before the interest-free period is up, and see what the penalties are if you don't. Also, DON'T close the other credit card account - this impacts your credit score. Just don't use it.

Companies may be able to screw us, but they can't keep us from choosing to get screwed by their competitors instead. Small comfort, but it can help us sometimes...

Something you said here caught my attention. I didn't realize that cell phone companies had in small print that you can't be included in a class action lawsuit against them.

When I lived in North Carolina, a certain phone company providing cell phone service in the southeast decided that they could start adding features to the "basic" cell phone service without my consent. Then they claimed that if you didn't catch this and correct it during the first billing cycle after they added all this "stuff", you were stuck with it.

Basically the company providing the service said they could basically add as many things as they wanted to the service, even to the point of tripling or quadrupling the bill if they wanted to, and that the customer had "very limited" options to do anything about it.

I had considered contacting all the Attorney's General in states where this company does business to see how they felt about filing suit against the cell phone company for "predatory and dishonest sales practices". Maybe their right to do this is also protected by the "fine print".

Then when the cell phone lost it's programming to the tower, I was told that I had to pay the bill anyway, and would have to go to the closest phone center, about 70 miles away to have the phone reprogrammed. I guess I should check their fine print for this excuse also.

Although this "situation" went on my credit report, I refused to pay the bill and threw the cell phone in the Chattahoochee River. By now the phone is probably in the Gulf of Mexico!

Most times it's more hassle than its worth to back these companies up and, as my mother used to say, "Call them to a point of order." However, when I've had enough of being screwed over, pushed around, and generally misused, I challenge everything and everyone. I save it for when I'm really in a fighting mood. I find if you push back long enough, hard enough, with enough aggression, authority, and confidence, you'll find they will give way. In the meantime, as cumbersome as it can be, read as much of the fine print as you can stand. Be prepared to walk away. If they want your business, they'll call you back: "Wait a minute; let's see what we can work out..."

"It's these kids [sic] of arrangements..."

haha one word per dollar spent is the best idea yet!

We,most Americans and Canadians,Yes,majority of south Americans are also very Educated. Any person can be named ANN.There are MANY people named ANN in third ccountries.When in America They Should go to School to be Educated !!

Ann, don't you understand that by using terms like "Rodhamovich-Clinton Regime" you lose all credibility? You just set yourself up as an extreme partisan, thus negating any point you might have had.

What some proof? Not one person here has spoken up to defend your words, while many have denigrated you.

For goodness sakes Tiffany....pay off those credit cards with high interest rates with the credit cards with low interest rates and then...end your business with that company...and then..tell all of us...who is treating you this way...so we don't borrow from them either...Words do have power...I'm listening... I do not pay interest on credit cards...I have one that charges 10.99% and am fortunate enough to pay it off monthly..other than that, I buy things on 0% and if they threaten me...I dump em and add the amount to my home equity, while I return the "item' sold to me...as long as I have upheld my part of the contract.

Make it known...who is harming you...
I am being harmed by AON insurance company...a worker's compensation company...that is legal bound to pay all my "reasonable and necessary" care...try and find out what that means. I am supposedly protected by the Longshore Harbor Worker's Act...and they decide to 'stop' treatment or payment...every year or so and I end up in federal court...trying to stay well. Go see Michael Moore's film...and see what kind of power huge corporations have over us...and then...go vote. Be informed and vote. Do not complain after the fact...do something now.
I called T-Mobile 42 times for dropped calls...got all kinds of suggestions. All I wanted was what I had paid for...connections and in the areas I signed for. Half my house is Cingular/ATT and the other T-mobile. I gave up calling...lovely people at T-Mobile, who by the way are paid for the minutes they keep you on the phone and stay pleasant and turn you over and over and over from area to area and service to service...I then started emailing...(written words seem to matter more) I wrote over thirty emails...which may or may not have been answered...and still had no connection to dying sister in Florida...until I called FCC and was told how to handle them. I now have great connections...and didn't have to buy the phone they told me...would correct all THEIR errors. I don't stop. I just don't stop. I keep calling and calling and calling and calling...and finally...someone...in their camp, will give you a hint about where to go or how to handle the situation...and in the mean time...keep your tempers in check...it really really is only about who can outlast whom...Don't take it personally or it will take you down.
Now, Tiffany go pay of those creeps with your lowest credit card company...and perhaps if you call them first, they'll do it for you, and increase your credit limit to accommodate your history of good credit. Good luck.

These agreements are easy to get around. While the salesman is running his mouth, just write NO! on the signature line and pass it back. Your refusal is clear that way.

Also, if you pay with cash or check and the retailer wants you to sign something, refuse to sign and just take your stuff (ie prescriptions). You have already paid and completed the transaction and owe the retailer nothing further.

Tiffany from Portland... I am curious as to what credit card companies you had issues with (so I may avoid them). Living paycheck to paycheck I use credit cards for emergencies and Id be in a world of hurt if I (or anyone else for that matter) expereinced that. Not all credit card companies are bad, but the ones that are should be called out so all customers/potential customers can avoid them.

When my kids went on school trips I used to rewrite the permission slips to be more reasonable. Some of these permissions slips were so bad that in signing them I could have been accused of being a neglectful parent.

I also recently purchased a car. At the end of the whole experience I was forced to sign an acknowledgement that my personal information would be shared with all their marketing buddies. I was told that this was only an acknowledgement so they could say I was informed. There was no way to purchase the car without signing as there was no provision allowed to prevent the sharing of the information.

Wow, that Ann has a huge chip on her shoulder, no doubt.

For Tiffany, sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but have you thought of using a balance transfer from a lower priced credit card, or taking out a personal line of credit from a credit union? High 20% interest rates can make a dent in any budget. We used a 0% transfer to our advantage, and saved hundreds of dollars, which we used to eventually pay off all of our credit cards.

And along the way we found out that most cc companies will charge you a full months interest if you don't pay off the entire balance. I.e., $1,000 balance, you pay $900 in a timely manner, they still charge you interest on the $1,000 balance! We were surprised to discover that one.

Anyway, good article.

I am glad there are people who find these things as offensive as I do. When you talk about them in the open, most people simply shrug and say, "That is the way it is." We as consumers and citizens should push back on these ridiculous provisions in the contracts. I have used a cell phone for years. I recently got rid of my land line and opted to use my cell solely. In doing so I noticed a disturbing billing trend within all cell phone companies. From the moment you hit the send button until the moment you stop the call, you are billed. Thats ok except the bill is always rounded to the nearest minute. If there are 15-20 local calls per day made, potentially I could be charged 10 minutes against my account that I really did not use. I know for a fact the companies have access to real time usage, but the consumer only gets the rounded to the minute report. What this equates to is millions of extra dollars in the revenue stream of the cell phone providers. What it is in fact is false advertising.
I and millions of other users are sold x minutes. In my case it is 1000 minutes. What I receive on average is around 800-850. I have proven this over time through normal cell usage. When I ask my provider about it, I am told to upgrade to 2000 minutes. Maybe this is a minor in most peoples eyes, but I do not like to pay for something that I am not really getting. The flood gates are open, and I think its time we start stacking the sand!!!!

Nepkarel,

To answer a couple of your questions:

"Airlines competition is claimed to be high, but how come nobody competes on good service?"

Because consumers would rather save $5 than pay more for good service. People buy airline tickets based on price, period.

"Health care is supposedly the best in the US. But why are prices double or triple of what they are in Canada, Europe and other developed countries?"

Because the tax rates are much higher in other countries. Their citizens are paying just as much for health care as we are, if not more, it's just indirectly rather than directly.

Good point Tim. That also extends to the stickers on the back of most semis that say, "Not responsible for damage to windshields". It's absolutely NOT true. The trucking company/trucker is liable becuase it is their responsibility to secure their loads. (Just as it would be your fault if your skiis fell off the top of your car and hit another car.)

Many people don't complain, or ask for repairs because of this sticker, but it's not true!

My advice to Tiffany regarding the small print in her credit card accounts: contact your "other" credit card company (the one that hasn't raised your interest rates) and ask them if you can transfer your balances from the two other accounts. I suspect they'd be delighted to earn a fair amount of interest while you pay off the balance. Then cancel your cards and dump those other companies who are taking advantage of you and damaging your credit rating at the same time.

It seems to me that we all somewhat came/come and will come accross this one side deal. My question is: How can we do to fix the problem?
We can debate, blame etc... all we want. The problem will still be there if nothing is done. We need Unity and we need to raise our unhappiness about this ONE SIDE CONTRACT (about anything) to our representatives.

My husband and I felt the full force of this on our recent honeymoon trip to Europe. We had a 10-stop itinerary, from Germany to Scotland, that encompassed both rail and airplane. On our last leg of the trip, we had to take a taxi from York to Manchester, England (a 2-hour cab ride, it was the nearest airport) to fly from Manchester to London to connect back to the U.S. Well, our flight just so happened to be on the first day after daylight savings time, so our pre-arranged cab driver who forgot to set her clock back showed up an hour late! We didn't make it to Manchester in time for our flight to London, so we thought we'd catch the next flight out. Unfortunately, that would mean we'd miss our connecting flight from London to Syracuse. We called the airline - and the online travel company that sold us the tickets - to switch us over to the same flight the next day. They told us they would be happy to - for $1200 a person!! My husband asked the representative what would happen to the seats we weren't going to be occupying on the flight we missed, and he said they would be sold to someone on the stand-by list. So, in addition to what we already paid for the tickets, the money the airline would make for re-selling our seats, AND the cost of putting us on the next flight, the airline would make $4800 off of us missing our flight. When we protested, they told us about a "fair-basis" clause in our ticket contract. They would be able to give us seats of equal value on the next flight for only an additional $200 a person, as long as we could make it to London by NOON of the day we missed our flight!! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:55, so if we were able to make it to London by noon we wouldn't be having this problem! What is "fair" about that? As my husband pointed out, we had a 10-stop itinerary for three different countries, and it is unconscionable to think that if we had just missed one of those legs - not too hard to imagine - we would have had to repay for the entire trip! That is just ridiculous. We were lucky it was only the last leg that was affected, and even luckier to find a kind-hearted ticket agent (at the airport) who put on the standby list for free. And on top of all of that, the majority of people we had to deal with were just rude and disrespectful. They know there is nothing we can do, so they're going to treat us however they wish. And yet, you turn on the news and hear about how the airline industry is struggling...no wonder! I don't want to have to fly again for a long time.

Hmmmm......
I see the small print at the end of this article is one sided and ambiguous. I wonder if it could be challenged in court and if the courts would find it unconscionable. In light of the tone of the article, I find the small print unconscionable. Oh well.

Pulte Homes has a contract that is clearly in their favor. The too want you to sign your righst away to a trail by jury. There warranty is very confusing and I have heard many people complain about there strong arm tatics they use to avoid fixing things within the warranty time. They even have some crazy clauses in the contract that say extreme warping of wood, leaks, and other damage is "natural" when it comes to building a new home and these things aren't considered damage under the warranty. It's like you're being bent over to.. welll.. you know...

They even say if you go to arbitration you have to pay all the bills, even theirs. How in the world is this legal is beyond me?!

Fortunatly, I live in New Mexico where the Pulte division is lead by a different guy who seems to bend over backward for homeowners who have problems with their homes. They fire lazy contractors if they get to many complaints and don't try to drag out your warranty time as to avoid fixing things. I wish Pulte would put more people like we have in the New Mexico division in other places of the country. The horror stories I hear are just sad. People spend what could be the most money ever for a home in thier lives. Its sad to see poor workmanship as the standard for a lot of home builders in the country with little to know accountablity because of these "contracts".

I've had the same thing, we had a contract of adhesion on our apartment complex. We moved from one of a large companies complexes to another in a different state, unfortunately sight unseen but we found some pictures and reviews online that seemed very good. However when we got there the complex was run down, terrible, and filled with gang members. We signed a contract of adhesion to sign a new rental agreement when we got there, and we did. Fortunately CO allows you to break a rental contract like that within 30 days (took us 30 minutes). They still went after us for the money they said we owed, but we pointed out the law and said if they keep sending us bills we would find a lawyer. Won't rent from them ever again.

Tiffany, you might want to check your credit report. It sounds as if more is going on than just fine print.

"of course contracts of adhesion are lawful, as it is the over-bearing companies that pump big campaign contributions into the pockets of politicians to keep it that way. There hasn't been a serious effort toward conusmer protection in this country in decades."

--this is why i voted for Nader.

In response to Reyn in Schenectady: Much of Gov. Elliott Spitzer's record as NY State Atty. General shows a high regard for fairness in protecting consumers and citizens. However, I disagree that he is a Far Left Liberal, considering his insistence on violating Federal Treaties with New York's Native American Tribes on Tribal Lands. His policies in that regard encourage impoverishing the First Nation's People -- not the ones with whom the U.S. was at war Out West, nor those who come from Oklahoma to build casinos in New York, but those whose ancestors in what became New York State assisted the Revolutionaries in breaking away from England, for which they were rewarded with Guaranteed Sovereign Lands in Perpetuity (which are still being whittled as the State sees fit) and Guaranteed Commerce on their own Sovereign Lands with people from the surrounding communities. It turns out that the "Guarantee" is similar to the "Contract of Adhesion" -- the fine print grants sole right of adjudication to U.S. State and Federal authorities, in which case, Gov. Spitzer comes out in full support of Unfairness to The Little Guy.

There was a just an article in The Daily Herald (suburban Chicago newspaper) about a local guy that files lawsuits in Small Claims court over just this kind of thing. He apparently believes that he's sending the big corporations a message that "the little guy" just isn't going to take it anymore. I don't know if the corporations really care, but he does get some satisfaction out of taking them to task, even if he's only winning 5 bucks over a coupon that wasn't honored. We might all want to take a little time to learn how to handle a small claims case ourselves and gain a little satisfaction as well.

I really enjoyed your article. I ride Amtrak everyday and just wanted to point out that, you were not paying a late fee, you were paying a higher fair for a train that had more passengers and less seats available. As the train fills the price goes up.

I have a question pursuant to this article.

I purchased an extended warranty for my new vehicle.
The contract came in the mail. I read it and found it to be unacceptable. So I rewrote the contract, put it in the envelope with the first premium check. On my check I put an asterisk (*) next to the amount. On the memo line I put verbiage that said "Presentation of this check is acceptance of modified contract terms and conditions." Needless to say the check was cashed. So is my re-written contract legally enforceable?

What about all the other contracts of adhesion that are entered into? If you park your car in a garage in the city, the back of the ticket says that they are not responsible for loss or theft of vehicle or items therein. Why not? I'm paying them a pretty hefty fee and leaving my vehicle in their care (especially if it is a garage where I have to leave my keys with an attendant, which I hate doing) -- shouldn't they be responsible?

If you go on a Carribean cruise and choose to take an excursion such as a mini-submarine ride or even a fishing boat ride, you sign a piece of paper saying that no one is responsible for your safety during the activity. In the case of the submarine company, they were very specific about denying you the right to sue if you are somehow harmed by malfunctions of their equipment.

Overall, it has gotten to the point that it's impossible to buy anything or receive any service without the service provider or selling agent (not to mention the manufacturer) telling you that they are not responsible and by buying the product or service, you indemnify them.

My take is this: by not agreeing to such quote-unquote contracts, we will limit our consumption as consumers in our market, thereby allowing ourselves to save money and invest more for the future. We will also send a message to the morons that come up with the terms of these contracts that not everyone in this country is a blind sheep.

Would not you agree that these types of contracts are simply disrespectful? Why do we, as a society, tolerate such disrespect?

It is misleading to suggest that this kind of thing is new. These practices originated more than 100 years ago, at least in Great Britain and the United States. It is also misleading to suggest that all one-sided, preprinted form contracts are "contracts of adhesion." While contracts of adhesion may be voidable on the basis of unconscionability, it is extremely rate for a court to find that a particular contract is a contract of adhesion. The best advice is to assume the contract is binding, because it is binding at least 99% of the time.

Please do not portray Europe as some kind of 'consumer paradise'. It is'nt.

What has changed is that Europeans now expect big business and politicians to live up to their promises and are prepared to pursue matters when they feel that they have been stiffed or that their grievances have not been adequately addressed.

A case in point is that the major banks have been forced by the courts to reimbuse account holders for punitives penalties for being overdrawn (in some cases running to three or four thousand dollars).

As with everyone else who has left a message here, I am and also the rest of consumers should be mad as hell that giant untouchable corporations get to pee on our backs and tell us its raining and we have no umbrella to shield us

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QUOTE:
have a question pursuant to this article.

I purchased an extended warranty for my new vehicle.
The contract came in the mail. I read it and found it to be unacceptable. So I rewrote the contract, put it in the envelope with the first premium check. On my check I put an asterisk (*) next to the amount. On the memo line I put verbiage that said "Presentation of this check is acceptance of modified contract terms and conditions." Needless to say the check was cashed. So is my re-written contract legally enforceable?
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Actually, yes it is.

But part of the blame is also on the consumer.
Things like this also happen because of things like idiots spilling hot coffee on themselves, then sueing McD's. for 10MIL.
Some of this is self protection on behalf of retailers. And if you were in that kind of business you would do the same.

But i will agree it has gotten out of hand

having read about adheasion contracts, it brings to mind how much we must suffer to be a get it now society, congress was supposed to settle the misuse of credit cards by banks for excessive fees, have they truly made them change? i do not see it anywhere, like improper contracts, will they be made to change? look at who lobies congress with large funds, and see that your governing bodies have been swayed to react just the way big businesses want them to. as a consumer, you do not stand a chance

Every since the labor unions were killed by Ronald Reagan, the average american citizen's pay, rights and standard of living has gone down hill 10 fold. (it now takes more than $10 dollars to buy the same thing in 1980 for $1 [ONE DOLLAR])!!!
Yet we make the same or less in wages.
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Most people think of Unions as just for its members.. WRONG... The Unions represented all American Citizens Rights in Washington. Now, Only the Corporations are represented in Washington.
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Remember UNITED, WE STAND... DEVIDED, WE FALL
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Fitting that Freddie from Chattanooga closed with DEVIDED we fall. If this moron had gone to school, he wouldn't have to be beholdened to a Union to protect his ass. Protect your OWN ass. GET AN EDUCATION, FEND FOR YOURSELF, quit hiding behind Unions. BTW, it is DIVIDED. Moron