Ben Stein, Predatory Bait-and-Switch Merchant 31 comments
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How far has Ben Stein sunk? Far enough that I feel compelled to resuscitate the Ben Stein Watch, just to share this unfunny and positively harmful TV ad which is now being aired:
“I went to freescore.com and found out my score for free”, says Ben, while an annoying squirrel holds up a sign with the word “FREE” in some horrible brush-script font.
A few points are worth noting here. First, the score itself is not very useful to consumers. What’s useful is the report — if there’s an error on the report, then the consumer can try to rectify it. Secondly, and much more importantly, if you want a free credit report, there’s only one place to go: annualcreditreport.com. That’s the place where the big three credit-rating agencies will give you a genuinely free copy of your credit report once a year, as required by federal law.
You won’t be surprised to hear that freescore.com is not free: in order to get any information out of them at all, you have to authorize them to charge you a $29.95 monthly fee. They even extract a dollar out of you up front, just to make sure that money is there.
Stein, here, has become a predatory bait-and-switch merchant, dangling a “free” credit report in front of people so that he can sock them with a massive monthly fee for, essentially, doing nothing at all. Naturally, the people who take him up on this offer will be those who can least afford it.
The level to which Stein has now sunk is more than enough reason — as if the case for the prosecution weren’t damning enough already — for the NYT to cancel Stein’s contract forthwith. It’s simply unconscionable for a newspaper of record to employ as its “Everybody’s Business” columnist someone who is surely making a vast amount of money by luring the unsuspecting into overpaying for a financial product they should under no circumstances buy.
It’ll also be interesting to see whether the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the authority to regulate this kind of advertising. If it doesn’t, that’s a significant hole in its mandate.
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This article has 31 comments:
He's also shilling something or other with Shaq O'Neil. Sounds to me like Mr. Stein's got a little cash flow problem himself - perhaps he took his own financial advice last year?
I've been using the government's FREE credit report source at annualcreditreport.com for years now, keep it on my favorites bookmark... I spread it out so that I take one free report every 4 months, so I can keep pretty well up to date throughout the year. (One disclaimer - you get the full report in all its details for free, but you DO have to pay $7 or so for your actual score, if you want it - not a big deal and its optional).
This report Stein is shilling is, as you said, just a cheap stunt to trap the unwary into another expensive monthly hit to their credit card - that works out to $360 a year... not chump change. Its actually just a free 7 TRIAL that converts automatically to the monthly - they use the scare tactic that you need to go for the monthly plan so you'll KNOW IMMEDIATELY whenever your credit score changes. Its simply pandering to paranoia, Madison Avenue - style.
Freecreditreport.com is another free trial come-on just like Stein's freescore.com - they've advertised heavily on TV for years - again, it is a free 7 day TRIAL that automatically converts to a $14.95 monthly annuity plan for THEM, also scaring people into thinking that they MUST HAVE instantaneous notification every time their score changes.
The government may not do much right, but it put together a nice easy freebie for consumers with its report site.
(ain't no fortunate son, formerly picked out of the lineup as wpdragon)
Anybody who shills for the credit report companies has no ethical compass at all. It is hard to find a slimier industry that operates legally.
I am surprised I did not see him on a Countrywide Sub-prime commercial.
It's a crazy world!
Stein's "success" over the years can be attributed to his looking and sounding the part, and not much else. That half dignified/half disheveled appearance and monotone delivery is a caricature of what the American public envisions when they hear the word "economist".
Newspaper of record - was that 100 years ago? How about Krugman the Enron consultant. How about Walter Duranty who pyblished Stalin's propaganda when he was murdering millions? That's your newspaper of record.
There are all sorts of companies that do the same, like "freecreditreport.com" that give you your credit score, you then have a pay service that charges you for detailed information beyond that.
I agree it's a waste when you can find this info for free, but doesn't that also apply to all sorts of services that are being sold today?
On Jul 16 05:21 PM ain't no fortunate son wrote:
> This is nickels and dimes stuff for Stein. As i recall he spent most
> of 2008 bulling the equities markets, in total denial about the possibility
> that there could be any type of recession, much less the economic
> and financial meltdown, getting into well publicized pissing matches
> with anybody who suggested the economy was in trouble.
>
> He's also shilling something or other with Shaq O'Neil. Sounds to
> me like Mr. Stein's got a little cash flow problem himself - perhaps
> he took his own financial advice last year?
>
> I've been using the government's FREE credit report source at annualcreditreport.com
> for years now, keep it on my favorites bookmark... I spread it out
> so that I take one free report every 4 months, so I can keep pretty
> well up to date throughout the year. (One disclaimer - you get the
> full report in all its details for free, but you DO have to pay $7
> or so for your actual score, if you want it - not a big deal and
> its optional).
>
> This report Stein is shilling is, as you said, just a cheap stunt
> to trap the unwary into another expensive monthly hit to their credit
> card - that works out to $360 a year... not chump change. Its actually
> just a free 7 TRIAL that converts automatically to the monthly -
> they use the scare tactic that you need to go for the monthly plan
> so you'll KNOW IMMEDIATELY whenever your credit score changes. Its
> simply pandering to paranoia, Madison Avenue - style.
>
> Freecreditreport.com is another free trial come-on just like Stein's
> freescore.com - they've advertised heavily on TV for years - again,
> it is a free 7 day TRIAL that automatically converts to a $14.95
> monthly annuity plan for THEM, also scaring people into thinking
> that they MUST HAVE instantaneous notification every time their score
> changes.
>
> The government may not do much right, but it put together a nice
> easy freebie for consumers with its report site.
>
> (ain't no fortunate son, formerly picked out of the lineup as wpdragon)
I'll be sure to check with Mr Salmon before I embark on anything that smacks of commercialism in the future.
So let me see all the spiteful posters: would you do the ad for $100 - probably not, but if I upped the ante a bit - say $10 million - would you then reconsider? Or better still $100 million do I hear some of the sanctimonious wavering....... perhaps even the upright poster who is -finally- losing respect for the NY Times because Ben is still associated with them. Are you serious?
Good God man, have you not heard of caveat emptor? Let Stein shill for this shaky outfit - that is his prerogative - and move on to more important things.
On Jul 18 01:57 PM dcb wrote:
> I have lost a lot of respect for the NY times in keeping him on staff.
> You'd think that being so wrong the paper would decide his voice
> was not valid.
It has absolutely nothing to do with him being in a commercial for freescore.com.
You cannot get your credit score for free from annualfreecreditreport... just the credit report itself. Too see your credit score, you have to pay about $8 each agency, which amounts to about $24 in total. Something you conveniently forget to mention in your article.
Freescore.com provides you with a credit score, which may or may not be valuable to you and you have freedom to cancel after the trial period. I do not see any bait-and-switch - I used a similar service for free during a trial period to get my credit scores for free.
There is nothing sleazy or uncommon about celebrities pitching products on TV for money. However, it is very sleazy for a supposedly honest journalist like yourself to engage in ad hominem hit job on Ben Stein for earning money from his celebrity status, probably just because you don't like his political views.
Shame on you, Felix!
For a solid five years Stein uncovered one bad player after another just as he took apart one deal after another. One only need review countless articles in Barron's files under titles including names like Drexel, Exectutive Life, Milliken, Triangle Industies to see the quality of his work.
Fiduciaries who read Stein learned from him before anyone else that the so-called new research about default rates was a complete crock. He was without peer in blowing the whistle on one of the first of many scams promulgated by an ethically challenged financial industry.
The man has long ago proven his value. The personal attacks and claims of bait and switch reflect much more poorly on the writers than on Stein.
Salmon evidently covets Stein's NYT gig, but Salmon works for Reuters.On their site they solicit money to "fight global warming". Felix, do they cut you in on some of the swag from your gullible lefty readers?
On Jul 18 02:20 PM Mafeking wrote:
> Wow certainly a hit job on Stein with comments to match. I see free
> enterprise is only free if people follow Felix's definition of acceptability
>
>
> I'll be sure to check with Mr Salmon before I embark on anything
> that smacks of commercialism in the future.
>
> So let me see all the spiteful posters: would you do the ad for
> $100 - probably not, but if I upped the ante a bit - say $10 million
> - would you then reconsider? Or better still $100 million do I hear
> some of the sanctimonious wavering....... perhaps even the upright
> poster who is -finally- losing respect for the NY Times because Ben
> is still associated with them. Are you serious?
>
> Good God man, have you not heard of caveat emptor? Let Stein shill
> for this shaky outfit - that is his prerogative - and move on to
> more important things.
I'll be sure to check with Mr Salmon before I embark on anything that smacks of commercialism in the future.
So let me see all the spiteful posters: would you do the ad for $100 - probably not, but if I upped the ante a bit - say $10 million - would you then reconsider? Or better still $100 million do I hear some of the sanctimonious wavering....... perhaps even the upright poster who is -finally- losing respect for the NY Times because Ben is still associated with them. Are you serious? [Mafeking]>>
What you're contending is that at a certain price, everyone is a whore. Perhaps so, but speak for yourself only. At what price would you sleep with Michael Jackson, were he still around?
Is it possible that someone else would not sully his/her reputation, regardless of the financial enticement?
What we have established for sure is that Ben Stein is a whore. The unanswered question is the price at which he got down on his knees.
<<Futhermore, Stein's movie doesn't promote creationism, it debunks the way the theory of evolution is presented and the pollution of science with politics.>>
How about the pollution of science with religion, i.e., the promotion of creationism as an "equal partner" as part of the science curriculum in our schools?
More:
<<Salmon evidently covets Stein's NYT gig, but Salmon works for Reuters.On their site they solicit money to "fight global warming". Felix, do they cut you in on some of the swag from your gullible lefty readers?>>
We "lefties" who find ourselves in accord with the vast majority of science on the subject of global warming are afflicted with the same "gullibility" that causes us to view the Earth is a sphere, from which one will not fall off the edge if one sails too far into the ocean. As to the notion that Salmon covets Stein's NYT gig or somehow might receive "swag" from Reuters via the global warming issue: another characteristic of "lefties" and other common-sense folk is the view that the primary motivating factors in this world of ours are not necessarily power and money. I think many of these people might also be referred to as "Christians."
I guess his video with Peter Schiff should be enlightening and entertaining:
www.videosift.com/vide...
.
On Jul 19 11:44 AM User21284 wrote:
> from Kount ...
>
> <<Futhermore, Stein's movie doesn't promote creationism, it debunks
> the way the theory of evolution is presented and the pollution of
> science with politics.>>
>
> How about the pollution of science with religion, i.e., the promotion
> of creationism as an "equal partner" as part of the science curriculum
> in our schools?
>
> More:
>
> <<Salmon evidently covets Stein's NYT gig, but Salmon works for Reuters.On
> their site they solicit money to "fight global warming". Felix, do
> they cut you in on some of the swag from your gullible lefty readers?>>
>
>
> We "lefties" who find ourselves in accord with the vast majority
> of science on the subject of global warming are afflicted with the
> same "gullibility" that causes us to view the Earth is a sphere,
> from which one will not fall off the edge if one sails too far into
> the ocean. As to the notion that Salmon covets Stein's NYT gig or
> somehow might receive "swag" from Reuters via the global warming
> issue: another characteristic of "lefties" and other common-sense
> folk is the view that the primary motivating factors in this world
> of ours are not necessarily power and money. I think many of these
> people might also be referred to as "Christians."
On Jul 20 02:33 AM scorp99cam wrote:
> WTF are you talking about swashbuckler? An expanding universe means
> God did it? If it was contracting, I am sure God did that too, right?
A few weeks ago I saw an infomercial on cnbc and looked up the merchant. There were numerous complaints about the vendor on a blog. I pointed this out to CNBC (I asked if this was hurting their efforts to restore credibility after having to hide out on msnbc a few yeas after the tech meltdown - and got no response from CNBC) . Do not know if the vendor is still on as I seldom watch those anyway.