Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 02.21.25 Clark Answers His Critics on Clark Stinks / Amazon Customer No-Service About this episode Friday - Clark Stinks day! Christa shares Clark Stinks posts with Clark. Submit yours at Clark.com/ClarkStinks. Also in this episode, changes at Amazon have impacted customer service. Clark discusses what’s going on and what you need to look for when purchasing. Clark Stinks: Segments 1 & 2 Amazon Customer No-Service: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: How To Get Out of Debt in 7 Steps Credit Card Car Rental Insurance: What You Need To Know The Chase Sapphire® rental car insurance guide 8 Free or Cheap Cybersecurity Tips for Travelers 12 Keys To Keeping Your Home Wi-Fi Network Safe and Secure Introduction to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) 10 Ways To Save on Prescription Drugs How to Buy a New Car in 5 Steps Costco Car Buying Program: 4 Things To Know Before You Sign Up 10 Common Job Search Scams Clark.com resources Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Meet the Simplify Target 15 Distribution ETF, ticker XV, which seeks higher income potential than traditional bonds, reduce downside risk compared with stocks, and a targeted 15% annualized distribution rate paid monthly. Distributions aren't guaranteed and may vary. The distribution rate isn't investment return. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Stop waiting for your nest egg to hatch. See how XV could help put it to work. Carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Visit simplify.us/nestegg to learn more. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. Distributor: Forside Financial Services, LLC.
0:47 Speaker 01 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
1:21 Speaker 02 It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And it's Friday. Time for our Clark Stink segment.
1:39 Speaker 03 Every two weeks, much to the chagrin of...
1:42 Speaker 02 Oh, I know. We've received a lot of feedback. People are not having it, huh?
1:46 Speaker 03 Some people love it and some people hate it.
1:49 Speaker 02 Okay.
1:50 Speaker 03 They want it every week. Some people think it should be less.
1:54 Speaker 02 Less than every other week?
1:56 Speaker 03 If we get enough Clark stinks submitted to, like if we get so many that it makes sense for us to do it weekly, we'll go back to that.
2:04 Speaker 02 Okay. I love that. All right. We're letting the marketplace decide. Speaking of the marketplace, Amazon, we're getting a lot more complaints about Amazon. And it's not like Amazon suddenly decided, woke up one day and said, you know, we're going to be a customer no service organization. But there are some changes behind the curtain at Amazon that have led to a lot of customer no service kind of issues. We're going to talk about that, why that's going on, what you need to know to get that Amazon customer experience you were used to, rather than what a lot of people are having now.
2:44 Speaker 02 But without further ado, it's time to hear where you got customer no service from me.
2:50 Speaker 04 I should have never encouraged you to speak.
2:52 Speaker 05 You must think I'm pretty stupid.
2:53 Speaker 06 You should be ashamed of yourself. Well, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're right, pal.
3:04 Speaker 03 Clark stated that he recommends consumers with Christmas card debt set up a plan for paying off this debt over the next 10 months. What? I think it's time for Clark to embrace tough love. There is no excuse for paying credit card interest for 10 months for Christmas presents. I realize that times are tough for many, but credit card interest will only make tough times even worse for his listeners that make this critical financial mistake. Tell it like it is. There is no benefit to sugarcoating this mistake. Jim?
3:33 Speaker 02 Jim, I appreciate that. And yes, taking out credit card debt or doing instant credit at a store or paying for at a store to load up on Christmas gifts and then end up with debt that goes, gosh, how many people are still paying off Christmas? Not 24, but 23.
3:57 Speaker 02 Tens of millions of people still paying off Christmas prior.
4:02 Speaker 02 So when you hear me talk about, you know, if you've got this, I want you to tackle it and I want you to pay it off. Why would I talk incremental instead of, as you said, tough love? Get this debt out of your life right now. Cause a lot of times it's all about changing somebody's habits. So many people who have credit card debt and particularly the worst is store cards. They're just servicing minimum payments. So I'm trying to create a new thought process in somebody's mind that that's not going to get it done, that you need to have a goal in mind.
4:42 Speaker 02 And with the other expenses you already have, I want you to make whatever changes you have to make so that you set a goal of being on a path to pay off debt within a set period of time. So this is really a behavioral thing I'm talking about is creating a new positive habit, replacing one that is a real problem when debt just goes on and on and on for, dare I say, buying Christmas gifts when you don't have the money and just running them up on cards or paying for or store junk credit is a want. It's not a need.
5:26 Speaker 02 And there are so many other ways you can show your love for somebody at Christmas rather than borrowing money.
5:33 Speaker 03 Your advice stunk worse than a backed up septic system.
5:36 Speaker 02 Ooh, those really smell.
5:38 Speaker 03 Someone asked if he should sell his house and take the money from his retirement account to buy a much larger home for his parents and adult children to live with him. I was surprised you did not suggest he check his zoning laws and build an accessory dwelling unit onto his property. For his adult son, he could build an apartment above the detached garage or current house, or he could build a ground level addition for the in-laws. Both would cost significantly less than selling his home with a three and a half percent mortgage and pulling from retirement. 20 years ago, after my grandfather had a heart attack, my parents built an addition on their home for the grandparents. All four grandparents have cycled through this wise investment that has more than paid for itself with peace of mind for aging parents. Chelsea and Chelsea represents many people who wrote in with same kind of thing, like you should have suggested renovation rather than.
6:24 Speaker 02 Addition, ADU, garage apartment, places where there are basements, basement apartments. Yeah, that was a fail on my part because even though the cost of construction of adding an addition is more expensive than buying something that says you want to have it if you need more space, because of the long-term carry cost of giving up that ultra-low mortgage, it was my fail to not mention that as an alternative strategy.
6:57 Speaker 03 Your vacuous answer left an odor worse than a wet shop vac after cleaning out a sewer drain. Renee left you a perfect opportunity to teach us about a topic that has rarely made it to air, proxy voting, and you dropped the ball. Instead of indulging us with what proxy voting is, why we would or wouldn't want to vote, what the process is and what kind of difference it makes, you chose to instead revel in your utter disinterest in the entire process. And Krista, you let him off the hook. Here's your chance to make it right, Clark. Thank you for all you and your team does, even when the answers don't live up to the Clarky standard, Greg.
7:31 Speaker 02 So Greg, all right, yeah, I was really dismissive about the whole proxy voting thing. And the reason is, is that it's a blind spot for me because how do I invest? I do everything through index funds. So as an index fund investor, the proxies I have are really not worth anything in terms of a proxy fight at an individual company. And so that was a blind spot failure on my part. The idea of proxy fights, proxy battles could be over change of control for an organization, tossing out management, what positions they
8:14 Speaker 02 take on various things at a company that could matter to you. So if you own stock in individual companies, which I don't,
8:24 Speaker 02 That would be a reason for you to check out that proxy and decide whether or not to vote.
8:31 Speaker 03 I would stand downwind next to Clark anytime as he doesn't stink. However, I found his information about the Chase Preferred card stunk, so I researched it. The Chase Sapphire Preferred does have a primary insurance similar to the Reserve, though their coverage differs. I confirmed this at the official Chase Sapphire car rental insurance guide, link below. I was initially worried I had been using the wrong card all this time, but I'm glad I verified it. I hope this hasn't changed in some legal code somewhere and look forward to the Clark stinks on this subject. Colin.
9:01 Speaker 02 Colin, thank you. Let me tell you what we're gonna do, because I can't tell you how confusing this has been. And even reading the coverage for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which is a very, as far as travel cards go, a very reasonable annual fee, $95, $99, something like that. And the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which has a very, very clear, comprehensive car rental coverage. I think we need to have one of our researchers at Clark.com get to the bottom of this and get a clear answer also, unequivocal from Chase, on what are
9:43 Speaker 02 the differences in the car rental coverage with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve?
9:51 Speaker 03 We, yeah, Nick on our team has already contacted them.
9:54 Speaker 02 No, really?
9:54 Speaker 03 But on this guide, it does say, Chase Sapphire Preferred provides coverage up to the actual cash value of the vehicle but excludes certain expensive and exotic vehicles. Chase Sapphire Reserve provides rental coverage up to $75,000 and does not exclude expensive or exotic vehicles. Both cards have additional limitations, and then they go through them.
10:15 Speaker 02 Okay.
10:16 Speaker 03 We'll get an answer.
10:17 Speaker 02 We're gonna get a firm answer on this, because this has been of very high interest to people, obviously.
10:25 Speaker 03 Mr. Howard.
10:26 Speaker 02 Oh, no.
10:28 Speaker 03 Your presence is requested in the principal's office for your failing grade. You've heard that before. All right.
10:34 Speaker 02 Yes, yes. I spent a lot of time on academic probation in high school, if you must know.
10:41 Speaker 03 You've repeatedly told people when traveling abroad to use public Wi-Fi wherever possible. On one of your latest shows, you told people to never use public Wi-Fi. Well, which is it? In fairness, it was because your answer was incomplete that made you stink. It would have been a good idea to spend more time explaining how to protect yourself using public Wi-Fi, for example, installing a VPN, which we did have someone talk about. Please spend a little more time on the topic and explain the difference, Sean.
11:06 Speaker 02 Sean, thank you. Okay. So VPN, and don't just use any old free VPN you find. That can be a recipe for more trouble, but a virtual private network creates a safe environment for using public Wi-Fi. Most people never get a VPN, use public Wi-Fi, and leave themselves wide open. The thing about the public Wi-Fi overseas, and this is where I've talked out of both sides of my mouth, is that most people don't have a decent data plan outside the United
11:46 Speaker 02 States on a cellphone, and you're left having to use public Wi-Fi as a way to protect your wallet. So you need to protect your identity and everything else and your wallet by having a VPN. When you do use public Wi-Fi, there are lots of good tech articles on how to choose a VPN and which ones are the safest and most secure.
12:10 Speaker 03 Clark discussed charities not accepting small donations via credit card. He speculated about the overhead and other possible reasons, but I think he missed the stinkiest reason. Thieves often attempt to make very small credit card donations to charities to see if the card number is valid. They hope the owner will not notice the very small amount. I had this happen to me at least twice. The charities may well refuse these small credit card donations because so many of them wind up being declared as fraud and reversed. And I think there are penalties for merchants if too many charges are challenged. Benjamin.
12:42 Speaker 02 Benjamin, that's diabolical and apparently also true. And thank you for pointing that out, that it's not necessarily about the merchant fees that the charity has to pay. It's that they're being used as part of criminals, seeing if a number still works. The other way that happens, if you notice somebody trying to do pay at the pump at a gas station with your number, and they're getting an approval code there, it's for the same reason to then try to use your card for big purchases somewhere else.
13:19 Speaker 03 You provide excellent information on a wide range of topics that affects nearly everyone's bottom line. However, your "I need to look for a new job because I'm getting underpaid" smells a little off. Agriculturally speaking, I'd say it smells as if bacon is very inexpensive in the immediate area of your answer. A lot of employees, particularly younger employees, seem convinced that if you're not late for work, or you do not skip work very often, one ought to be in the fast lane for raises and promotions. I really think you ought to provide more guidance as to what is typically expected for those that would like to be considered for the best candidate for promotions, et cetera. For example, learn by doing your job and helping your colleagues by assisting them, how to do the jobs of those in parallel positions, as well as those just above and below you,
14:03 Speaker 03 or being the most helpful and valuable team member, et cetera, as another example. Therefore, putting the extra time and effort should make you the preferred candidate for a big raise or a promotion. If not, you're at the wrong company, Bill.
14:16 Speaker 02 Bill, thank you. I hear your frustration, particularly often with younger workers. And a lot of people who came into the workforce during COVID missed a lot of the nonverbal signals and other things about what's involved in not just surviving at a workplace, but advancing at a workplace. And it's not just putting in your time. You made that point with great frustration by what you've seen in other workers who expect just to move on up and get promotions and more pay. And you have to separate yourself from the herd if you want to advance and advance quickly.
15:02 Speaker 03 Series I savings bonds are a lousy deal. Investors are much better off buying TIPS given today's yields. TIPS, for instance, offer an inflation-adjusted yield of about 2.2%. Series I savings bonds fixed rate, which is the comparable rate, is just 1.2%. Clark should stop speaking highly of Series I savings bonds and discuss the solid deal TIPS are today. Mike.
15:24 Speaker 02 Mike, thank you. And for those of you who don't know, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, these are generally more sophisticated things to buy. You have tax planning you have to do with TIPS. You can buy a TIPS fund instead of buying TIPS directly. There's a lot of versatility with them, but they are for a generally a different kind of saver than a Series I savings bond. But you're right on the money. I do own TIPS myself inside a retirement account and a TIPS fund inside a retirement account.
16:05 Speaker 02 So I know the value of them, but they are something that requires more understanding than Series I savings bonds.
16:15 Speaker 03 Hey, Clark. This is not so much a Clark stinks, but it's related to some advice that you provided to your listeners, two of which are my wife and me. You educated us on a scam where a scammer calls you pretending to be a jail or detention center, expressing that you need to agree to pay for a call from someone we know who's in the jail. Funny enough or not, three days later, we both received calls from a local jail requesting that we pay for a call from our son, who was supposedly in jail. Throughout the night, we both received them constantly, to the point that I told my wife, let's turn off our phones. Long story short, something told us to check on our son the next morning. Sure is the world. We could not reach him, and through much effort, we discovered that he was, in fact, in jail.
16:53 Speaker 02 No, no.
16:54 Speaker 03 I won't go into details, other than to say that he made a stupid life-learning type of mistake and enjoyed a night and a half and a day in jail. All is well now. He learned from the mistake, and we often get a chuckle out of the irony that we went through this directly after your advice and information. It just goes to show us all that the scams and evil that goes on in this world does require us to keep our head on a swivel and always try to do our best to do what's right. Thank you for all that you and the team do, Gus.
17:21 Speaker 02 I didn't know this was going that direction. Wow, okay. I hope that the life lesson takes for your son, and I'm really sorry he found himself in that situation.
17:35 Speaker 03 I've read online and listened to your podcast about checking prescription drug prices. You've listed several places, but the one place I don't recall seeing any info about is Amazon Pharmacy. They have a program called RX Pass that costs $5 a month and gets you access to 50-plus common generic drugs, no matter how many of these drugs you buy. It's not available yet in every state, but it is in many. I just switched to it, and I'm one happy pill popper. Michael.
17:58 Speaker 02 Michael, congratulations to you. Amazon bought a prescription drug company and is more and more heavily marketing it, trying to find what are the best ways to get adoption. Because a lot of Amazon members, Prime members, are already in a habit of buying prescriptions this way, that way, the other way. And Amazon is trying to get market share in this field. And so, Amazon is trying to come up with an overall medical strategy. I've talked before about what's now labeled Amazon One Medical for medical care. And as part of that, they're
18:39 Speaker 02 trying to incorporate more and more usage of the Amazon Pharmacy. And Amazon does some very clever things about how the pills come packed for you that make it easier to remember to take your meds and stuff like that. And I love that yet another competitor is coming in, and Walgreens just had to suspend its dividends. The era of the Walgreens CVS thing, charging people to the moon for prescription drugs, is really over. And the marketplace is offering a lot more choices. Amazon, one of those. And speaking of Amazon, we're going
19:23 Speaker 02 to talk about why people are having more customer no-service issues at Amazon now. And it's not that Amazon became a big bad retailer, but you need to understand why and how to look out for potential trouble before it happens to you.
19:42 Speaker 01 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed Sponsored Jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs.
20:12 Speaker 07 Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero Powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors, great tasting hydration no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade: Hydrates Better Than Water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.
20:41 Speaker 05 When you shop pickup at Kroger, you can expect the savings you love and fresh groceries selected just for you. Our associates are committed to getting every detail right, carefully handpicking your items, checking for quality and freshness, and packing your order with care. Because bringing you fresh, quality groceries is what we do best. And right now, enjoy $20 off your first online order of $75 or more. Restrictions apply. See site for details. Kroger: Fresh for Everyone. Afternoon glare totally ruined my watch party for the big game. That's when my buddy recommended Blinds.com.
21:19 Speaker 07 With custom window treatments made to fit your style, space, and budget, customers who shop at Blinds.com experience overwhelming satisfaction. Side effects may include a fuller, deeper night's sleep and a sudden urge to host the watch party again. Blinds.com isn't a medication, but it can improve how you feel about your home. Shop Black Friday all month long at Blinds.com. Check home worries off your list and save up to $5,000 on repairs with Virginia Foundation Solutions. Wet basement, foundation cracks, uneven floors? Leave those to us. Small problems can lead to bigger repairs when left unchecked. Our experts provide waterproofing, foundation repair, and crawl space solutions to help protect your home.
22:04 Speaker 07 You've got enough on your list. Let us handle the repairs. Schedule your free inspection with Virginia Foundation Solutions today.
22:11 Speaker 02 So, Amazon, right in front of us, has dramatically changed what business it's in. Amazon now is becoming a fulfillment house. What's a fulfillment house? It's an old term in delivery. It's where somebody provides delivery for another business. And in Amazon's case, goes way past that. They market through Amazon, they sell through Amazon, they have Amazon store their items in Amazon's warehouse many cases. Amazon has the delivery responsibility, all that.
22:53 Speaker 02 But what is different now is we're pushing 80-plus percent of items being sold on Amazon are not being sold by Amazon. They're just doing all the things I just talked about. And so now, Amazon is doing a little bit better job disclosing to you upfront who the seller is. And there's something else there, too. What's the return policy? The blanket kind of customer-friendly return policy you have been used to as an Amazon loyalist doesn't work that way anymore.
23:31 Speaker 02 Individual sellers on Amazon choose how they're going to deal with you when there's a problem or you wish to return. So it is an inflection point with shopping at Amazon that you've got another step you need to do before you click to buy something. I'll share with you a personal story. I bought a new blanket on Amazon and I knew it was with a third-party seller. It's one that there's like a zillion reviews on. So I did what I do at my eye, till my eyes glaze over, I
24:09 Speaker 02 read reviews, passed on to others, bought this other blanket, and the blanket came incredibly filthy dirty with some kind of chemical dripping out of it. I don't know if it happened in the Amazon warehouse. I don't know if it happened with the Amazon delivery. Have no idea. But what did I have to do? I had to write in why I wanted to replace the item, had to have an approval. There was a form I did. And then I had to take it to a whole paycheck that is Whole Foods and go to the Amazon return thing, wait in line, and return
24:51 Speaker 02 the item. And the smell this thing had was nasty. There's some kind of awful chemical smell that had discolored the blanket.
25:01 Speaker 03 That's disgusting.
25:02 Speaker 02 Oh, I know. And I said to the very nice Amazon person working there, I said, "You need to put gloves on before you take this from me." She said, "What is that smell?" I said, "I have no idea." And so she, she got this thing that she was able to wrap it in without her touching it. She didn't have gloves, but she went through this protocol for hazardous stuff. So it went back and then a new blanket showed up. It's perfectly fine.
25:34 Speaker 03 Okay.
25:35 Speaker 02 But, but you know, in the old days, what would Amazon have said? They would have said, dispose of it. We don't want it back. Right?
25:42 Speaker 03 Yeah.
25:43 Speaker 02 But because we're in this new era. Of things coming from third-party sellers. All bets are off on what the rules are going to be. And with Amazon's discount house we've talked about, that is their way of competing against Shein and Timu. The rules are all over the board on whether you, all sales are final, or you have a right to return an item, or anything like that. So just be more aware of this. And it didn't cost me anything other than my time to return it. I did get some of that chemical on my hands. Did I clean them well afterwards? But who knows what it was and how it got there?
26:23 Speaker 03 Man, yeah, that's, that's pretty gross. Owen in Wisconsin says, Clark, I just wanted to share my horror story using Amazon's delivery day option. The last three times I've used this option when checking out my package has not actually shown up on the specified delivery day. Instead, Amazon provides me empty shipping information in the app's tracking. Every time this has happened, I've called customer service and it truly lives up to the name. It's the same story. My package will be several days late and the customer service rep says, we do not know the location of the package. We handed it off to the carrier. I then asked them who the carrier is. It's Amazon. So they hand the package off to themselves and somehow they can't tell me where it is for days and days. And on the flip side,
27:06 Speaker 03 the Amazon delivery day credits are almost a scam. They make it so hard to find your delivery day credit balance. I found the link after digging on Reddit.
27:14 Speaker 02 It's simple.
27:15 Speaker 03 It's amazon.com/no rush credits. I've been an Amazon customer for 20 years. It was the first store I bought something from online and now I'm likely to cancel my Prime subscription.
27:25 Speaker 02 Okay, so this is so weird. This post ties right into what I was just talking about. Again, Amazon is only operating as fulfillment for over 80% of the stuff being sold on Amazon. So they'll have low-value items or low-margin items where they sell to the seller.
27:47 Speaker 02 An ultra low cost fulfillment of delivery. And so you'll see now more and more people showing up in their own private car delivering for Amazon. You'll see people in an old delivery truck that looks like it's had a long, long, rough life delivering, and they're not in Amazon uniforms or anything like that. So what you're seeing is not necessarily because you did the lower cost delivery day thing. It's happening more and more, even for somebody who does normal delivery. And Amazon really does lose track of what happens to these items and how and when they get to you.
28:32 Speaker 03 Tara in California says, we're getting ready to buy a new car. We have my 2018 Toyota Camry that has a couple of small dings and the mileage is just under 45,500 miles. We want to buy a brand new car, 2025 Camry, which is a hybrid, because it isn't that much more than a used car, which we normally buy. We plan on owning it for at least 10 years. We're paying cash. How can we get the best deal on trading my current car and on the new one?
28:56 Speaker 02 Great question. You like to keep a car 10 years, so it seems to me you've got some more years in this 2018 Camry, if that's your normal pattern. You've got like no miles on it. I mean, that's not even out of elementary school yet for a Toyota at 45,000 miles. They just go and go and go generally. But if you want to ditch it, get a 2025 hybrid Camry. Toyota is having more success selling vehicles generally than just about anybody else. So first of all, buying any brand, when you're getting rid of a vehicle, I've got specific
29:38 Speaker 02 processes I want you to go through, getting the best deal on that 2018 you're getting rid of. That is a highly desired vehicle, is a Toyota Camry with such low miles and the age it has on it. So I want you to get a price from Carvana on it. I want you to get a Price from CarMax, I want you to know what it's worth just selling it separately from trading it in. Then you've got a ballpark on if you are negotiating with the dealer and remember you negotiate online. Read my guide, how to buy a new car, how you do not go to the dealer for anything except to take delivery of your vehicle. Very important.
30:23 Speaker 02 You make the deal on the new vehicle. Then they say, well, do you have a trade-in? Do you have a trade-in? You say, well, we were going to sell it to Carvana because they gave us this great price. Give them a chance because you've already negotiated the price on the new Camry Hybrid you want. You then give them a chance to beat what you're being offered by CarMax, Carvana, or some other place you got a, we buy any vehicle kind of thing. And then you know whether you treat it as a separate transaction, buying one place, selling somewhere else, or you do it all in one, but you must know your price on the new one, so they don't play any weird games with you, inflating that and inflating supposedly
31:07 Speaker 02 the value of your trade-in. With the Camry, the wider you shop for that Camry Hybrid, because of how well Toyota dealers are doing, the more money you'll save. What's your pain point? Going 200 miles for that? 500 miles for it? A thousand? Or is 20 miles the furthest you want to go? The further you're willing to travel for this vehicle you'll own for 10 years to buy it, the cheaper price you'll get. And you can shop online to see what you can get on the model you want, the version of the Camry Hybrid, at various Toyota dealers.
31:46 Speaker 03 And I know in some states, just consideration for the trade-in, you want to calculate too, I don't know if California is one of them, if you trade your vehicle in, it will reduce the taxes on the new one.
31:56 Speaker 02 Pay less sales tax on the purchase. Very good point. One other thing, California equals you're a Costco member.
32:03 Speaker 02 Get the price from the Costco Toyota dealer, whoever Costco has their relationship with. The whole idea that no games, no gimmicks, no cons when you buy a new vehicle through the Costco car buying program.
32:19 Speaker 03 Justin in Georgia says, I want to share an unfortunate story so others can be protected during a vulnerable time. I've been looking into change careers using job websites and recruiters. When that wasn't working, I started getting desperate. Over the holidays, I was enticed into a resume writing service from an email advertisement. I was led to believe this group would help me get my resume fixed and help me apply for jobs. Unfortunately, I paid for their services believing the hype. The results have been so disappointing. I've been attempting to get my money back, but their customer service is non-existent and their terms and conditions have a no refund policy despite not delivering all the promised services. I've been fighting with my credit card company to hear me out, but it's looking like just the company's terms and conditions are going to win over poor results. In gathering
33:04 Speaker 03 evidence for my dispute, I looked at reviews for this company and they are abysmal. An FBBB rating and a one star on most review sites like Yelp. I was desperate and embarrassed that I even have to write this. I hope this gets shared. To not let someone take advantage of your desperation, read reviews first. Thanks for all your team does. Please protect yourselves.
33:24 Speaker 02 Justin, at a time that you really needed that new opportunity, you got scammed. And I'm so very sorry about this. I would say that this also goes and Clark stinks because I did a story about this on television in the markets that people see me on TV, but we never covered this on the podcast about all the scamsters that take advantage of you on job search and with people who say, hey, we're going to teach you tricks. They're going to get your resume just where it's going to shine and you're going to be seen where you wouldn't be seen otherwise.
34:04 Speaker 02 And in many cases, they are, as we discovered on TV, just straight out ripoff artists. Taking your money at a time that you really need that money. Do not beat yourself up, Justin. This is a thing that's happened to a lot of people. You have done a great service to your fellow listener and YouTube viewer by talking about this, and I hope that you will find that next opportunity you're looking for. Get back out there and search and work contacts, network with everybody you can, and I hope that next opportunity does come along.
34:46 Speaker 02 So, this concludes today's episode and this week's podcast lineup. I want to thank you so much for joining us, and I want to tell you how much that my goal is for us all to be part of Team Clark. Sharing things with each other, like you heard over and over again in today's podcast and YouTube show, about ways that we protect each other, we share key information with each other that helps us be better in control of our own wallet. This is all about you learning ways to save more and spend less, and certainly avoid getting ripped off.
35:27 Speaker 02 I hope that your weekend is a wonderful weekend, and if you don't subscribe yet to our newsletters, I am so proud of the content and the editing of our Clark Newsletter and our Clark Deals Newsletter. Both are free. You can see what we've got available to you at Clark.com/newsletters, and we'll see you Monday on the podcast and YouTube show. When you shop pickup at Kroger, you can expect the savings you love and fresh groceries selected just for you. Our associates are committed to getting every detail right, carefully handpicking your items,
36:11 Speaker 02 checking for quality and freshness, and packing your order with care. Because bringing you fresh, quality groceries is what we do best. And right now, enjoy $20 off your first online order of $75 or more. Restrictions apply. See site for details. Kroger, fresh for everyone.
Previous 02.19.25 Your Savings Rate / Running Out Of Money In Retirement Next 02.24.25 Protecting Financial Accounts / TRAVEL: Navigating Rising Airfares Page updated November 7, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated
