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By Times Staff
Published September 30, 2007

Selling at Home, Working section Sept. 23

Tupperware is a great company

Shame on Ms. Rexrode for pooh-poohing Tupperware! Tupperware is a great company that provides a fabulous product with a lifetime guarantee. She obviously hasn't been to a Tupperware demonstration lately or she'd know that it is fun to see what's new. This ain't your grandma's Tupperware!

Cyndi Schmitt, Dunedin

Independent Tupperware consultant

What's up with electric bills?

Something must be wrong here

What have our legislators done or not done to permit our electric bills to more than double in the past several months? My bill has risen 30 percent.

I'm not complaining too much. However, many poor people who I know are on fixed incomes have bills approaching $300. Something is radically wrong in Tallahassee. Utility costs have not gone up 50 percent.

Our newspapers freedom of the press is our last bastion of recourse. Let the Times' front page seek out why the people are getting the shock of their lives.

Roy L. Schand, Pinellas Park

Economics and common sense

No fix is needed on taxes

I never had a class in economics but I was brought up to use common sense. Common sense tells me that taxes contributed to the greatness of our country. What would we look like if it wasn't for taxes? Common sense tells me if the price of my existence keeps going up every year, then the price to operate a city, a county, a state, and a country is going to cost more also.

Common sense tells me if you cut taxes, those funds have to be replaced or lose something that made our country great. Common sense tells me that by cutting taxes for the rich, the middle class and the poor have to make up those funds by rising property taxes. I believe it was Ann Landers that taught me, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Bushes tried to fix something that wasn't broke. Look at us now!

Donald F. Kelly, St. Petersburg

About PIP (Personal Injury Protection), auto coverage

How can issue go down to wire?

I have a great concern about recent information stating that the Legislature is thinking of extending PIP until January. As a small business owner and insurance agent, I don't know if Gov. Charlie Crist is aware of the impact such a decision would have at our working level. I have angry and confused customers calling me every day wanting to know the future of PIP. I don't have a good answer for them other than that it is in the hands of the state government at this point - to which the reply is often not amicable.

Our company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars sending notifications to all our customers of the pending PIP changes. We have spent countless hours on the phone with our customers trying to provide clear answers to a situation which has none. Our company has reprogrammed computers, reprinted forms and spent countless manhours trying to train more than 1,000 agents statewide, not to mention the countless hours agents have spent in training their staffs to prepare for the changes in PIP. Customers have received new renewals for October without PIP, and future effective policies have been written without PIP.

I can't understand how our government can wait until the last minute to take action on a subject that it has known for a long time will affect millions of people in the state, including 9-million insured drivers. How can they change their minds at the last minute and expect people to look at them in a favorable light?

Let PIP sunset. Let people make up their minds on what insurance coverage is best for them. If the governor is concerned about the 20 percent of drivers in the state who have no major medical insurance and rely on PIP, then make bodily injury a mandatory coverage as it is in many other states. But don't force me to pay more for a coverage that I don't need.

Gus Espinosa, St. Petersburg

Allstate agent

Builder Centex tops with homebuyers Sept. 13

Pay attention to survey rankings

Kudos to James Thorner for his portrayal of the homebuilder customer satisfaction survey conducted by J.D. Power. The numbers are quite revealing and could provide prospective buyers with valuable insights when assessing a potential builder. Could there be any better source than the testimony of a customer who has been through the building process?

Unfortunately and unaware that customer satisfaction scores existed, we selected a local builder in the Rainbow Springs vicinity who was active in the community. To our chagrin, we became victims of an exploitation process that included price gouging, deception and a total disregard of our interests. Profit and greed were the predominant objectives and respect for the individual was nonexistent.

Prior to building commencement, we became residents of the community, enabling us to glean valuable information from previous buyers and neighbors. From their perspective and experiences, the problems were not limited to the sales staff and the design center, but became magnified when dealing with construction management and warranties accordingly. We forfeited our deposit, which is a rather commonplace occurrence, and sought another builder.

God directed us to a builder who focused on custom homes and whose primary objective was a satisfied customer. The house is under construction and, thus far, we are 100 percent satisfied with the quality of workmanship.

In today's homebuilding environment, we are besieged with mortgage, tax and insurance issues. Adding an unscrupulous builder to that mix can truly turn the American dream into a nightmare. There is a meaningful message in the numbers derived in the J.D. Power survey and a conscientious homebuyer should heed these statistics as guidelines in the builder selection process. Let the buyer beware.

Bill Pawlin, Dunnellon

How junk mailers find you Sept. 14

Marketers hardly use 'direct' route

The most abundant junk mail I get is from car dealers and companies selling car insurance. I have wondered what source was used to determine my needs.

I'm offered huge amounts (those "checks" that are not checks) to trade in a car I don't own and car insurance at "excellent rates" from companies that don't seem to know I don't have a car and haven't driven for more than 10 years.

Curious to find out the source of my name, I once called one of the car dealerships and asked them what kind of list they got my name from. I was told the source was the Department of Motor Vehicles. Is the DMV so far behind that they still show me having a driver's license even though I haven't renewed it for more than 10 years? So I guess the car insurance companies get my name from the car dealerships. Is there a title to a car I don't have somewhere out there?

Direct marketing is very convoluted. Surely not "direct."

Bobbye Blackburn, Clearwater

A week of too many economic headaches, column Sept. 23

Greenspan is right about Bush

In his book, former Fed chief Alan Greenspan stated, "The Bush team is a lousy steward of the economy and irresponsible in handling the nation's spending." Greenspan's commentary nails the case because he is an experienced expert. Bush and his cohorts have spent money like drunken sailors, which has resulted in ever higher American debt. The Bush administration has augured the worst possible financial straits for this country. We now have huge imbalances and disequilibrium risks. Label them what you will.

As things are now, this financial crisis can only be solved by policy foresight, which will force change. What is sad is that a man who campaigned on the lofty principles of "responsibility and accountability" has evaded both. Even his tax cuts were a handout for the rich.

Had he truly cared about low-income workers, he could have structured a tax package that would aid them, like a payroll tax.

Robert B. Fleming, St. Petersburg

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[Last modified September 28, 2007, 19:33:22]