Hey all!
I hope you have power. I can’t believe how many people experienced outages from the weekend. I was at DTE on July 18 and they told me, "We've got this." Well, what the heck happened?
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I just met with a DTE vice president, and we asked her the tough questions. That story airs Thursday night. You can find it on our Help Me Hank Facebook page.
Are you still affected by the outages?
This week, we were able to help a group of bridesmaids who were left in the lurch by a local shop. We love helping people, and when these rescues are successful, it’s pretty exciting. Check that story out below.
Facebook will be making some changes in an effort to keep your personal information safe. The company has basically been forced to take this action, but at least we know that, moving forward, your info will have protections in place. I like Facebook, but I don’t like my info being stolen, hacked or sold to advertisers. Come on, Zuckerberg! Keep my info private.
The stress in my life this week involved my daughter. On the full scale of stress, this ranked rather low, but it still breaks my heart. She throws a bit of a fit when I leave for work. I know all parents go through this, but she really can make me feel so sad. I posted a video on Facebook and asked for some tips. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
I hope you all have a great weekend, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Hank
Email: helpmehank@wdiv.com
Twitter: @HelpMeHank
Recall of the week
You all know I can’t stand it when baby products are recalled. Sometimes I wonder how it all works. Don’t they have extra steps in place to evaluate the safety of a baby product?
Parents, especially new parents, already have enough to worry about. They shouldn’t have to worry about something’s design being unsafe.
With that being said, Boppy, a well-known brand to parents, is recalling an infant head and neck support accessory.
The head support might be overstuffed and cause a baby’s head to tilt too far forward, posing a suffocation hazard.
The supports were sold at stores such as Target and Buy Buy Baby from March to May of this year for about $20.
If you have one, contact Boppy for a full refund.
Scam of the week
More than 42 million Americans are paying back student loan debt, which totals up to $1.5 trillion.
So, of course, people are looking for anything that could help them pay that money back. But remember: Not all help is legitimate.
The Federal Trade Commission is warning people about fake companies that offer to forgive loans for a small fee.
Don’t fall for it. Legitimate companies don’t ask for money upfront. Research the company online first.
Remember this, too: There’s nothing a company can do for you that you can’t do yourself for free.
Deal of the week
You might be getting your college student ready to go back to school.
If they need things such as bedding and cookware, Kohl’s is having a home sale with major deals.
You can take an extra 10% off your home purchase.
Stories of the week
This week, we were able to help some bridesmaids without dresses. The owner of the shop moved and didn’t give anyone any warning. David’s Bridal stepped in to help us out big-time, and we were glad things worked out. What’s with the recent high number of local bridal stores closing without warning? A wedding is stressful enough, right?
In the biggest fine for a tech/social media company ever, Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC.
The FTC is also enforcing stricter laws on privacy for Facebook and all the other apps the company owns. Click here to learn what Facebook’s new regulations mean for you.
Are you ready for retirement? If you’re going to actually enjoy the time, you need to be financially ready, too. That’s why tips on saving for retirement are so important.