Sears couldn’t repair Ipswich man’s oven, but still charged him $575

But Sears never followed up, and Tiernan, 91, a retired school principal, was left with a $575 charge on his credit card and an oven still running. (A local repairman later fixed it.)

Tiernan called Sears Home Services and found it impossible to contact anyone helpful. His calls were constantly transferred to another department or to a dead end.

“In all my years, I have never encountered a more elusive company,” he wrote in an email asking for my help.

Tiernan tried to get support from Barclays Bank, which had issued her credit card, but she sided with Sears.

Resolution: When I called, I received the same infuriating treatment as Tiernan. I hung up but finally found the name of a PR firm that represents Sears. I told the company that Tiernan was being charged hundreds of dollars for parts and labor when the oven was not repaired. In its initial charges, Sears even added a $150 charge to clean the oven, even though this was not requested, necessary or done.

The next day, Sears called Tiernan to tell him it was crediting all but $129 of the charges.

Takeaways: You may feel incredibly grateful when a repairman shows up to fix your device that you desperately need, but be careful. It’s a commercial transaction. Ask questions. Do not sign anything without fully understanding it. Get everything in writing. A good mindset is to imagine that you will later have to prove everything that was said and done in the transaction because a dispute arose. Do you have everything you need?

George Mileon, a longtime reader of a wide variety of magazines, is gradually replacing print subscriptions with digital subscriptions: “It’s cheaper and it’s green,” he told me in an email. email.

He uses the digital subscription service Zinio to order and renew his dozen magazines. He’s happy with Zinio’s service, except that for more than a year the company has charged Massachusetts sales tax of 6.25 percent even though, under state law, periodicals are exempt from the tax of sale.

“I sent them a copy of the state law, but it didn’t change anything,” he said.

Mileon, who lives in Duxbury, said the misapplied taxes cost her a few extra dollars a month for renewals. “The amount of money is small, I guess,” he said. “But I guess that’s the principle.”

The resolution: I contacted Zinio, prompting the company to say it had discovered “a bug” in its software causing sales tax to be mistakenly charged on Mileon’s renewals and those of a small number of others customers.

Zinio said it has fixed the bug and made arrangements to provide full refunds to affected customers.

Takeaways: Acting on principle is a good thing. By stepping up, Mileon not only saved a few dollars for himself, but for others as well. A Zinio representative said the company appreciated the opportunity to make the patch.

One of the magazines Mileon enjoys is BBC Sky at Night, popular among amateur astronomers. I like to think that this little solution he instigated helps put the universe in a little better order.

Last week, I spoke with a woman who described losing her life’s savings after being bamboozled on the dating app Bumble.

She had recently suffered a devastating loss after “hooking up” with a man who seemed genuinely nice and easy-going, although they had never met in person. After a few weeks, he suggested she invest in cryptocurrency.

Outside of the Bumble app, he guided her in opening an account that turned out to be fake. He sent her screenshots showing big winnings in her account which turned out to be fake. When she said she wanted to withdraw her money, it disappeared and so did her money.

She blames herself for falling for a scam that she retrospectively suspects was the work of a sophisticated international organized crime group. She asked me not to identify her because she is embarrassed and scared.

She said she thought Bumble and other dating apps should be ever vigilant about monitoring their sites for scammers and warned those who use dating apps to be aware that not everyone online he’s not who they say he is.

I contacted Bumble with a copy of the police report she filed.

“We are deeply sorry to hear about your experience,” Bumble wrote to him. “Situations like this can be incredibly upsetting. We will work with you to investigate this matter and provide you with any assistance necessary.

On its site, Bumble warns of “romance scammers” and says it has a team that investigates suspicious profiles. Anyone who behaves inappropriately is expelled, he said.

The resolution: She doesn’t expect to get her money back.

Takeaways: This is a cautionary tale. Be careful of anyone you meet online who asks you for money or gives you financial advice. Don’t share anything about your finances with people you meet on an app.

Readers reacted to a recent article about Angi’s initial refusal to cover $3,915 in damages caused to a woman’s Jamaica Plain apartment by a contractor Angi hired. The company then relented and paid the entire amount.

A reader gave this succinct advice when hiring a contractor: Never pay a contractor 100% of the cost of the job up front. Get a written contract first and if contractors need to purchase materials to begin with, pay no more than a third up front. And don’t pay in cash. It’s best to have a written record with a check or credit card.

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Do you have a problem? Send your consumer concern to [email protected]. Follow him @spmurphyboston.