Refunds

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

I had a routine physical exam a couple of weeks ago and paid a $40 co-pay. I thought it was strange, so I called my insurance company. They said I should not have had to pay a co-pay for a routine physical exam. I called the doctor's office and they referred me to their billing department, who refused to refund me the co-pay until my insurer reimburses them for the full amount of the physical. This doesn't sound correct to me. They collected a co-pay that they should not have collected.

The Obama administration's new plan to stimulate refinancings of FHA mortgages is likely to help large numbers of homeowners — even those who are deeply underwater — cut their monthly costs by switching to a loan with a rate below 4%. Here's a quick overview of the "streamline refi" program and what it will take for you to qualify. First, the baseline criteria: Your current home loan must be FHA-insured and must have been put on the Federal Housing Administration's books no later than May 31, 2009.

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

JetBlue Airways Corp. said it would issue full refunds to eligible customers who lose their jobs after buying tickets. Customers who book flights between Feb. 1 and June 1 and lost their jobs Tuesday or later may be eligible for the JetBlue Promise Program. JetBlue fares are generally nonrefundable. Customers must notify JetBlue and request a full refund at least two weeks before the first day of travel.

Four-time boxing champion Roberto Duran received more than $3 million in income-tax refunds last year from the Internal Revenue Service when the agency owed him only $60,000, the government contends. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking a refund from Duran, but his lawyer, Jan Neiman, said the boxer is short of money.

Bob Brickman spent months fighting a ticket he got last fall from a red-light traffic camera at Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards in West Los Angeles. The 61-year-old from Playa Vista eventually decided to give up the fight and fork over the $476 fine. Now he's regretting paying every penny. City officials this week spotlighted a surprising revelation involving red-light camera tickets: Authorities cannot force violators who simply don't respond to pay them. For a variety of reasons, including the way the law was written, Los Angeles officials say the fines for ticketed motorists are essentially "voluntary" and there are virtually no tangible consequences for those who refuse to pay. The disclosure comes as the city is considering whether to drop the controversial photo enforcement program, with the City Council scheduled to vote on the matter Wednesday.

A Los Angeles film school has been ordered by a state agency to shut its doors for operating without a license and pay $80,000 in fines and tuition refunds to two former students. The Los Angeles Feature Film Academy pledged on its website that students would get an opportunity "to train alongside working professionals" and make "real feature films … that are released worldwide. " One student complained that instead, she spent tens of thousands of dollars on a program that was run out of the owner's loft apartment on West 5th Street near downtown Los Angeles.

Michael Jackson's untimely death last week sent fans around the world into paroxysms of mourning. Closer to home, it created a logistical nightmare for AEG Live, the Los Angeles-based concert promoter behind the 50 comeback concerts that had been set to begin July 13 at London's O2 Arena. The company sold more than 750,000 tickets for the performances, scheduled to run through March 2010, which amount to more than $85 million.

While the recent trend among most airlines is to introduce higher-fare seats with extra legroom and no baggage fees, Delta Air Lines is moving in the other direction. The nation's largest carrier announced the addition of “basic economy” seating, the airline's lowest-fare offer. The ultra-low-cost seats started in mid-March and are only offered at select routes, primarily Detroit to the Florida cities of Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. The basic economy seats are about $12 to $20 cheaper than regular economy seats but the tickets are nonrefundable and no cancellations or changes will be allowed once the tickets are purchased.

Clarence Ayers was baffled. At 73, he was raising his great-granddaughter in rural Fresno County. He relied on $334 a month in public assistance to help cover the teenager's expenses: new shoes when she outgrew her old ones, transportation to the after-school activities she enjoyed. But last summer, county officials said they were slicing his CalWorks payment by 10% and for the most perplexing of reasons: Over the years, they had mistakenly sent $10,000 to the girl's mother and grandfather.

Dear Liz: Last year I bought an electric vehicle, motivated in part by the $7,500 federal tax credit. I consulted with my tax preparer, a CPA, to ensure I would generate enough income to fully use the one-time, use-it-or-lose-it credit. In December 2011, I informed her of the exact type of that year's income (earned income, capital gains, dividends, interest and so on) and detailed all my deductions. She assured me that based on those numbers my tax burden was $8,600, more than sufficient to use the credit.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for. 'Free' gas - A federal judge has ordered a company to stop a marketing scheme in which consumers were promised "free gas for life" if they purchased a book online, the Federal Trade Commission said. Consumers who attempted to buy the book ended up being charged a monthly fee for an online magazine and did not receive the promised free gasoline, the FTC said. Under the court order, the Green Millionaire website can no longer offer "free" products and must clearly disclose how much consumers will be charged for its products.

Three California companies offering auto loan modifications were sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which accused them of deceiving consumers with false promises. Hope for Car Owners in Folsom, Kore Services in San Diego and Nafso VLM in Roseville charged clients hundreds of dollars in upfront fees to obtain car loan modifications, according to the FTC. But the firms allegedly did not fulfill their agreements to get the modifications and refused to give full refunds as advertised.

While the recent trend among most airlines is to introduce higher-fare seats with extra legroom and no baggage fees, Delta Air Lines is moving in the other direction. The nation's largest carrier announced the addition of “basic economy” seating, the airline's lowest-fare offer. The ultra-low-cost seats started in mid-March and are only offered at select routes, primarily Detroit to the Florida cities of Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. The basic economy seats are about $12 to $20 cheaper than regular economy seats but the tickets are nonrefundable and no cancellations or changes will be allowed once the tickets are purchased.

Apple is offering refunds for the 4G variation of its third-generation iPad in Australia after a consumer group accused the tech giant of misleading consumers there. The new iPad's 4G variant doesn't run on Australia's 4G LTE network, despite being sold as the "iPad Wi-Fi + 4G" in that country, according to the Sydney Morning Herald . The 4G iPad runs on the 4G LTE networks of AT&T and Verizon in the U.S., and LTE networks in Canada. But in Australia, the iPad Wi-Fi + 4G runs only on 3G networks.

The panic buying of salt that swept China last week amid fears of radiation from Japan has been replaced with a new frenzy: how to get a refund. Many shoppers now reportedly feel buyers' remorse after realizing that there was no shortage of salt in China and that radiation from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan posed little threat to coastal sea salt deposits. The hoarders are now lining up at grocery stores to ask for their money back, especially from shopkeepers who charged as much as 10 times the normal prices for the seasoning, according to Chinese news reports.

JetBlue will give passengers aboard Flight 191 a one-way airfare refund and a voucher for double the amount of their original ticket, the company said online Wednesday. The compensation comes after the pilot of the plane flipped out during the Tuesday flight from New York to Las Vegas and had to be restrained by passengers. "We're extremely grateful to the customers who assisted with onboard security, and to all of the customers for following crew member instructions," the airline posted on its blog and Facebook page.

JetBlue will give passengers aboard Flight 191 a one-way airfare refund and a voucher for double the amount of their original ticket, the company said online Wednesday. The compensation comes after the pilot of the plane flipped out during the Tuesday flight from New York to Las Vegas and had to be restrained by passengers. "We're extremely grateful to the customers who assisted with onboard security, and to all of the customers for following crew member instructions," the airline posted on its blog and Facebook page.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for. Tax refunds - Special agents with the Internal Revenue Service have arrested a former H&R Block Inc. manager who allegedly used tax clients' personal information to file false returns in their names and steal their refunds. Damon Charles Dubose, 38, who worked at the H&R Block in Van Nuys, was arrested Thursday, the IRS said in a news release. The IRS said Dubose used H&R Block “emerald cards,” similar to debit cards, to claim refunds at ATMs.