Ed Mierzwinski Quotations

Money talks and the phone companies know that.

Gift cards are popular because you don't have to buy a gift, ... You just have to know where they like to shop.

If it's worth some peace of mind for some people, for $25 a year, I'm not going to tell you not to do it.

The purpose of the report and the survey ... is to make it clear to the FCC that the cell-phone industry is not competitive, that consumers are locked in a cell and they need greater protection,

States and consumer advocates think that gift card fees, such as deductions every month if you don't use the card, are unfair to consumers. Many states, led by California, have enacted legislation severely limiting or even banning such fees.

It doesn't hurt to overreact, but it's not worth it to obsess.

It doesn't sound like it will help very many people. And that's the bottom line.

You can complain to a small bank, but you can't always complain to a big bank. When you talk to people at a small bank, they actually have the authority to make decisions.

Understand that the credit-card company is trying to trick you into running up a bigger balance or paying late. Don't fall for their tricks. Pay on time, as early as possible. And don't just make the minimum payment.

We've seen some slight improvement ... but we are finding too many playgrounds that are unsafe.

You don't need to spend $79 or more to monitor your credit. It's a gimmick designed to inflate the revenue at the bureaus. It's not going to prevent ID theft. It may give you a little bit of early warning. But it doesn't matter enough for you to pay that amount of money.

Credit cards offer convenience. Credit cards offer emergency life preservers. If you start to use your credit card for daily expenses, and you start paying for pizza at 18 percent interest -- do the math.

Early termination penalties prevent consumers from voting with their feet when their cell phone company treats them wrong,

Be prepared for a long battle to clear your name

Rather than voting to protect consumers, the Committee made things worse. All consumers should have the right to sleep at night without worrying about identity theft -- this bill takes us in the exact wrong direction.

Bank mergers take away competitors and create bigger banks. The studies that we have done show that bigger banks have bigger fees.

As for the consumer, I think the savings is diminished compared to how much more the bank will make in these transactions. They are trying to increase the use of debit cards to increase their profits.

If you have someone doing the paper shuffle -- sign here, sign here, sign here -- there is tremendous opportunity for mischief.

I'm encouraged that some issuers are doing this. I think penalty fees are a disingenuous way of making money, ... I'm encouraged the marketplace is responding to pressure from lawsuits and consumer complaints.

Their score is based on their sloppy credit reports and doesn't fix the underlying problem with the reports.

By increasing minimum payments, people will pay off credit cards, won't pay so much in interest and will have money left over to buy things.

They are trying to increase the use of debit cards to increase their profits.

A rate is something everybody pays for their service. This is a penalty that is designed to prevent you from shopping around.

It wasn't the largest breach, but it showed a stunningly sloppy business model.

The law allows credit card companies to change your rates and terms at any time, for any reason.