Sometimes customer service has expiration date

Dear Bruce: My brother once ordered a piston for an older car he was restoring. Due to family problems, the work was never done on the vehicle. Years went by. We decided to take the part back to the store where it was purchased. It was in the original packaging, never opened. The part sold for $75, and they only wanted to give me $50. I think we should receive a full refund. I have complained, but it has fallen on deaf ears. – P.R. in Pennsylvania

Dear P.R.: I agreed with you until you said years went by after the part was originally purchased. How in the world do you expect anybody to accept an item after that length of time? I think they were extraordinarily generous to offer you anything. While the family problems were unfortunate, this is of no concern to the vendor. You should go back and accept the company’s extremely generous offer. In the absence of that, give eBay a try.

Not ready for business

Dear Bruce: I have two jobs – one is part-time employment – and earn about $25,000 a year. I owe $15,000 to creditors. I have defaulted on credit cards, some 10 years old. I owe $15,000 in student loans. Sometime in the future, I’d like to open my own business. How badly would it hurt me if I filed for bankruptcy? Would it matter that 10 accounts are in default but three creditors have been paid? I’m getting married next year, and my wife is graduating from medical school as a surgeon. – Reader, via e-mail

Dear Reader: You’ve got to be kidding! I don’t know how in the world you are going to borrow any kind of money to start a business while having lousy credit and head over heels in debt. While there is the possibility of discharging the credit-card debt, the student loans remain alive and well. They are not subject to bankruptcy discharge. I’d urge your future bride to keep her credit and her finances completely divorced from yours, even to the extent of maintaining her maiden name on all official documents. Until you get a handle on your credit and your obligations, I wouldn’t even consider trying to start a business.

Navigating multilevel marketing

Dear Bruce: My son is 30 years old, and he is about to get involved in a multilevel marketing endeavor. Can you tell me what I can do to convince him that a good many of these are a waste of time and money? – M.B., Providence, R.I.

Dear M.B.: The attrition rate in multilevel marketing is enormous. There are a few people who stick it out and manage to recruit successful people below them, called a down line, and make a great deal of money. The overwhelming majority falls away after they have purchased, in some cases, a very small supply of usable product and, in other cases, a large supply of product that has no value. There are two litmus tests I would apply: No. 1, is the emphasis on recruitment rather then selling? If so, I would opt out. No 2, is a substantial amount of money required? If it’s only a matter of a couple hundred dollars and your son can afford to lose that much, it may be a good lesson. If, however, he is required to invest thousands of dollars, which can be the case, I would do my very best to discourage him, unless there is a reasonable way to recapture this money other than by selling. Company guarantees aren’t worth a whole lot because the company may not be there when it’s time to honor that guarantee.

Bruce Williams is a national radio talk show host and syndicated columnist. He can be reached at bruce@brucewilliams.com.[[In-content Ad]]