When you go on vacation, there’s a good chance you’ll see an art auction pop up on a cruise or at a resort. They’re advertised as auctions for regular folks. But beware before you bid. Some viewers had ugly brush-ups that required our intervention. 

Downtime, Paddles Up

On YouTube, Park West Gallery features a thumping video called “Art for Everyone.” The video paints a picture of Park West’s open-door art auctions on cruise ships and at resorts. 

“The champagne’s flowing, and next thing you know your [paddle] is up and you’re buying art,” said Jonathan Castaing in South San Francisco. He’s previously bought artwork from Park West on a cruise. And he was happy. 

Recently, Park West invited him to a local auction at a Half Moon Bay Resort. They would even put him up for the night. Jonathan accepted the invitation. 

He snapped a photo that day, after latching onto Salvador Dalí’s “Purgatory 25.” Jonathan said he paid about $9,000 for it, with shipping and fees. 

His new Dalí was embossed and numbered in the lower-left corner. “Nine of 25,” he noted. 

But, when Park West delivered, Jonathan immediately knew it wasn’t the same piece.

A Switcheroo

“Zero number on it, zero stamp,” he said. “It was a copy. Flat out. It was not the exact same art.” The barcode on the art also did not match Jonathan’s receipt. 

So, he complained to Park West. And asked where his Dalí was. Castaing said a rep explained it this way: “‘Oh, that art is lost, so we sent you this one.’” Castaing wanted a refund. “She said, ‘We can offer you store credit.’ And I said, ‘That’s not an option for me.’”

Stuck in limbo with “Purgatory 25,” Jonathan asked us to help him get his refund. Our team emailed Park West about the switcheroo. The gallery then took back the replacement piece and refunded Jonathan’s $9,000. 

“It wouldn’t have happened without you,” he said. 

A ‘Simple Mistake‘

A Park West rep said cases like Castaing’s are “rare” and offered this explanation: “A simple mistake by the person filling the order caused the wrong artwork to be shipped, so we simply refunded our customer to ensure their satisfaction.”  

We asked why it took our intervention for Jonathan to get his money back. Park West did not reply. We wondered if Park West ever found the correct Dalí. Also, no reply.

“How many other people are in this situation,” Castaing asked. 

We can tell you about one other case: in 2018, two Rembrandt etchings were key to a case we handled. A Sacramento viewer said he paid Park West $7,000 for them on a cruise. He later tried to sell the pair. Appraisers told him the etchings had zero market value. We stepped in. Park West then gave him his money back. Park West said it, “fully and finally resolved this dispute.”

The viewer told us he signed a non-disclosure agreement, so we could not interview him.

How to Protect Yourself

“More often than not, your viewers would be doing this as an impulse purchase,” said Lance Fung, a former art gallery owner who now teaches art classes at San Jose State University.

We asked him about buying art on a cruise or at a resort. Fung says if you have an empty wall, a stuffed wallet, and you’re comfortable, go ahead. But if you’re new to art and not sure who’s who or what’s what –maybe downing free champagne and feeling pressure — he has a one-word recommendation: “Pause,” Fung said.

“There is absolutely no urgency in buying art on a cruise ship or on holiday,” he said.   

If you think you’re investing in art, do some research online before you bid. Find out who the artist is and how their pieces are priced outside the auction. Fact check the auctioneer. 

“The cruise is like a week or two weeks. You have plenty of time to do your research,” Fung said. 

Look Locally, Minus the Pressure

Fung says you’ll find art for sale locally – no auction required. Ideally, you can take home what you buy that day. If an art dealer has to ship it, Fung says to demand a detailed receipt that proves you will get what you bought, not a copy. 

Also: have your camera ready.

“The picture was one of the biggest things that saved me,” Castaing said. He recommends immediately snapping photos of the paperwork and the art itself as he did. Also: flip the artwork over. 

“You want to look at the back,” he said. Look for a tag or barcode. Snap a photo of that, too.

“Protect yourself,” Castaing said. 

You can also pay with your credit card to protect yourself. If something goes south, open a dispute with the credit card company to get your money back. Here’s a video showing you how.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

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McVoy said he’s been without electricity, “just under 20 twenty-four-hour days” since Jan. 1. 

You might logically assume that with the power going out so much, McVoy’s electric bill would be much lower. 

“You would think so, but not so much,” he said, with a laugh. “They charged us the full amount in January when we have 16 days of no power.”

He’s not alone. The NBC Bay Area Responds team is hearing from others with confusing electric bills. Our Telemundo Responde team is logging similar complaints. 

So, we asked PG&E: What is going on? A rep declined a request to speak on camera. 

By email, they said, “When PG&E is unable to collect an actual read for any reason (Example: Non-communicating meter, power outage), the system will estimate based off of historical usage.”

PG&E told us when it can’t read a meter at the end of a billing cycle, that’s when people like McVoy might get a monthly bill demanding payment for “historical” electricity they never actually used. 

So, what happens to fix that bad estimate? PG&E said two things. First, “once power is restored and a read is obtained, the system then uses the read.” 

Second, PG&E said it automatically adjusts your next bill to charge you only for your actual electricity use. McVoy said his recent bill was lower, though he’s unsure of the math.

“I got maybe $150 bucks back,” he said. 

PG&E declined to discuss McVoy’s account with us, but recommended he contact them so a billing specialist can take a look. PG&E offered the same advice for anyone else who’s puzzled. 

We asked the state’s utility watchdog, The Public Advocate’s Office at The Public Utilities Commission, about people’s billing confusion. “At this point, the Public Advocate’s Office does not yet have any insights on this,” a rep said.

If you want to see how much electric PG&E’s billing you for in real time, log into the PG&E website, pge.com. Once in your account, click the link that reads “Energy Usage Details.” 

A daily bar graph should load. Solid blue lines are days where PG&E got a reading; shaded blue lines are those “historical” estimates. 

Want to dig deeper? Click a bar. It’ll break down your electricity use — real or estimated — hour by hour.

Back in the mountains, McVoy’s generator is finally off. And his power’s back on. He recommends double checking your electricity the old-fashioned way.

“If I could do things over again, what I would do is figure out what their billing cycle is, and at least go out and look at the meter,” he said. Read it yourself. Write down the numbers or snap a picture– to later compare to your bill.  

“Keeping records is a good thing,” McVoy said.     

If you want to challenge your bill, PG&E said you can call them. The number is 1-800-743-5000. Press three, then four. When we called around noon one Friday, the wait to speak with someone was nine minutes.

The incidents, including close calls at New York/JFK, Burbank, and Austin, have gained Washington’s attention.   

“From our standpoint there are too many incidents that have occurred in too short of a time,” said Jennifer Homendy, Chair of The National Transportation Safety Board on NBC News. “Which is why we’re looking into these.” 

Congress has started asking questions, too. On Capitol Hill, the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting chief vowed action. “In light of some of these recent events… I have convened a safety summit and a safety review,” said Billy Nolen, the FAA’s acting administrator.   

That summit is next week, close to six years after a similar – and pivotal – SFO incident. 

Local Case; National Call for Upgrades

A landing Air Canada jet nearly touched down on a row of airliners waiting to take off. The SFO close call exposed a gap back in 2017 that can still hinder investigators today: audio recordings from inside the cockpit are often lost.

“They can be absolutely critical,” said Anthony Brickhouse Professor of Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “In a lot of accidents that we’ve seen, without the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder, it would have been really hard or almost impossible to piece together what was happening.” 

Professor Brickhouse says he used to work at the NTSB, investigating crashes and close calls. 

“I’ve been investigating 25 years,” he said. “The best way I can describe it is, it’s like putting a puzzle back together.”

Cockpit audio is often a missing piece. 

Brickhouse says the so-called “black box” that tapes airline pilots voice and other noises in the cockpit records over itself every two hours. The recorder can be stopped after an incident to save audio, but they often aren’t. In most, if not all of the recent close calls, the NTSB says it has no cockpit audio to analyze.

After pilot audio was lost in the SFO case in 2017, the NTSB recommended in 2018 that cockpit recorders be expanded to tape at least 25 hours

A ‘Game Changer’

But almost five years later, the norm is still two hours. In many other countries, 25 hours is the standard.

“To have a 25-hour recording would really be a game-changer,” Brickhouse said.  

So, why are U.S. recorders still only taping for two hours? Former airline spokesman Ross Feinstein pointed to airline pilots.

“There’s some concern from the unions that the [airline] companies will use the cockpit voice recorders to spy on their employees – on the pilots in the cockpit of aircraft … which, ultimately, is not true,” he said. “They’re only used for safety issues.”

Pilots’ Union Targets ‘Abuse’

We contacted two major pilots’ unions. The Allied Pilots Association declined to comment. The Airline Pilots Association, or APLP, did not respond to us. In a flier for members, ALSA says recorders “are in airline cockpits because of ALPA — which also continues to fight to prevent their abuse.”

What about the airlines? We contacted the major carriers. Only Southwest Airlines responded. It referred us to the airlines lobbying group, Airlines For America. A4A said its members support 25-hour recordings. It noted, many details “need to be addressed,” and it is “committed to working through those issues.”

In many recent close calls, the jets involved just flew on. The pilots’ audio was erased before safety investigators were even told the planes had nearly crashed. Some say regulators should start requiring an immediate stop for all planes involved in any close call. 

“Maybe it’s time for the FAA to say these aircraft should not take off,” Feinstein said.

For passengers like you, flying remains the safest form of travel. Still, those missing recordings are likely to make more news soon. The FAA is planning its safety summit in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday. The FAA has the authority to order longer recordings – to, perhaps, help ensure your future flights are safer.

We’ll let you know what happens.

“When I got that bill I was a little alarmed,” he said. “So, I tried turning down the thermostat, using less gas.”

December’s PG&E bill was $575; of that, $400 was for gas. So, Zinman’s furnace got a new setting. 

“I was setting it at 68 or 69 degrees,” he said. “When that bill came in for $575, I set it back to 66… or 65 when we sleep at night.” He expected that conservation to pay off in January. It didn’t.

“The next bill came, and we used less, but it was still $575. And it was still a $400 gas bill portion,” he said. “You feel a little out of control.” 

You’re likely in the same boat. Perhaps you’ve heard PG&E and its counterparts’ explanation: demand was up and wholesale gas prices spiked.

San Diego Gas spoke with our sister station, NBC 7 Responds.“This increase is much larger than we ever could have anticipated,” said Candace Hadley, a utility spokesperson.

Wholesale prices 4 times, 5 times in California

We dug in. And discovered a disconnect. 

Wholesale natural gas prices are regional and change daily. We looked at a stretch in January. California’s gas prices were four, five, and almost six times higher than much of the U.S. for days. 

In some other parts of the country, there was extra natural gas — so much that some producers were paying others to take it off their hands.

“In January and February for most of the United States the weather has been warmer than normal, said Chris Higginbotham with the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “And that has meant natural gas demand has gone down, it’s below average right now.” 

Three culprits so far

So, why did prices shoot so high in California? Several analysts pointed to three issues: reduced storage, pipeline problems, and chilly weather. 

The weather explanation checks out. It’s been frosty here. “Our high temperatures will only reach the 40s,” said NBC Bay Area Meteorologist Kari Hall in a recent forecast. 

We needed gas, fast. But there was an issue.

“In California, the natural gas storage levels were lower than normal,” Higginbotham said.   

Generally speaking, the state’s tanks were only about two thirds full. Why? We asked one gas storage company, Rocketpoint. A representative said, “gas storage levels fluctuate throughout the year” and exact storage levels are “proprietary information.” 

So, what about piping in more gas? After all, there was excess to the east. Analysts say California gets most of its gas through just three main pipelines. Some parts were down when the state needed maximum flow.

Old accident equals new price spike?

Several experts noted a pipeline called “Line 2000.” It made headlines in Arizona when it exploded and destroyed a nearby home. Two people inside died. The pipeline has been offline since then. 

But it blew up in August 2021.Why is it blamed for a price surge in 2023? 

In a letter, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the federal government’s energy watchdog, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to investigate the recent price spike. PG&E told us it “supports the governor’s call.”

Culprit four: manipulation?

To some, low tanks and slow pipelines resemble the state’s 2000 and 2001 energy crisis. Back then, secretly-recorded phone calls exposed insiders’ scheme to intentionally take power plants down to push prices up in California.  

“We want you guys to get a little creative and come up with a reason to go down,” a trader told a plant manager in one of the calls, released by a Washington utility regulator.  

“These are hard cases to investigate,” said Severin Borenstein, Ph.D., faculty director of the Energy Institute at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas Business School. We asked Borenstein if he sees any parallels between the power crisis in 2000 and natural gas today.

“I do see parallels in the setup at least,” he said.  

Borenstein said federal investigators should be looking for signs someone manipulated the gas market — at your expense. Why were pipelines reduced and storage tanks low right when California clearly needed gas? 

“Did that put some players in the market in a position to make it even worse, as we saw happen back in 2000, 2001,” he asked.

Federal inquiry timeline

Borenstein says connecting the dots will take time. “I suspect it will be many months or into 2024 before we actually hear some sort of real judgment in this,” he said.  

Back in Moraga, Zinman welcomes an investigation. “I’m sure there are situations of manipulation,” he said “And yes, I lived through Enron as well.” 

He’s still adjusting the thermostat, and “plugging holes,” as he says. But Zinman’s not exactly optimistic. 

“They got you,” he said. “You’re probably not going to be able to plug any holes. You’re either gonna have to use less or just keep paying.” 

Fair warning: your next gas bill might be another shocker. Analysts told us that’s because utilities are usually about a month behind passing wholesale prices on to you.

Three hopeful signs

Here are three pieces of good news for your gas bill.

• Natural gas prices have stabilized
• The government forecasts a 47% price drop this year and next
• The Line 2000 pipeline we talked about just got a green light to go back online. That should bring more gas to the west.

Caltrans spokesman Hector Chinchilla said the agency had recorded approximately 7,325 potholes since the start of 2023.

“Statewide, 44,293 potholes,” he said.  

And that’s just on state roads. There are even more on city streets and county roads.

“Busy, busy, busy,” said Christopher Brown of San Francisco Public Works in a January interview. 

No matter where they appear, potholes can do damage: rims ruined, tires tattered, shocks shot.

“[It] destroyed my left front tire,” said Highway101 driver Greg Sereno.  

State’s Invitation: Apply for Reimbursement

Where the rubber meets the road, government has maintenance responsibility, plus possible liability when potholes damage cars. For example, Caltrans invites you to apply for reimbursement if a pothole damages your car on a state road.

“If you do feel that a negligent pothole by Caltrans caused damage to your vehicle, please submit a form,” Chinchilla said. 

That’s what Mike O’Rourke in Morgan Hill did.

“It was a big pothole,” he said. “It really was.” 

He was driving his convertible, a 2021 Chevy Corvette hardtop, north on Highway101 south of Gilroy. Suddenly, a drop. 

“It made a lot of noise. We heard the suspension bottom out,” O’Rourke said.

The pothole damaged the front left tire, which cost a pretty penny to replace: a little more than $400.

An Admission and a Denial All in One

Mike applied for reimbursement. Soon, an envelope arrived.

“I just assumed I had a check in there,” he said. “I didn’t have a check. I had this letter telling me that they were aware there had been a pothole there and were not going to honor my claim on it.” 

Denied. 

So, who decides whether Caltrans is negligent? Caltrans. In Mike’s letter, Caltrans acknowledges it knew about the Highway 101 pothole and later fixed it. But Caltrans ruled Caltrans was not negligent. 

“I don’t see how they’re not negligent,” Mike said. “If it’s not them, who is it?”  

He wanted answers. 

“I wasn’t happy,” he said. “Which is why I reached out to [NBC Bay Area Responds].”   

Rain Comes Down; Claims Go Up

We wanted to know how many others are in Mike’s shoes. Caltrans told us it gets about 1,000 pothole damage claims each year.

2023 has not been a good year. When the winter rain came down, pothole claims shot up. Caltrans says it’s already received 459 claims between just January and early February. 

We wanted to know how often Caltrans pays — or doesn’t pay — claims like Mike’s. 

Caltrans did not provide us numbers in time for this story. 

“Everything is case by case,” is all Chinchilla would say.  

We filed a formal request to get Caltrans’ payment rate for a follow-up story. 

Caltrans’ Chinchilla told us two main factors determine Caltrans’ liability — and whether it pays out tax dollars to repair your car. First: awareness. Caltrans is not liable if it’s not aware of a pothole. 

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” Chinchilla said.

But even if Caltrans knows about a pothole, it might not be on the hook.

“There is a reasonable time that we are allocated to go and fix the pothole,” Chinchilla said. 

bay area storm Jan 16

Potholes From Bay Area Storms Cause Major Problems for Drivers

San Francisco Jan 12

Crews Work to Fill Hundreds of New Potholes in San Francisco

Officially, state law says Caltrans gets “sufficient time” to respond. But the 1963 law doesn’t define what “sufficient” is. That’s murky. 

Mike insists his case is not.

“It’s so clear cut and dry in my mind,” he said.  

But here’s the thing: his rejection letter doesn’t include any specifics about what Caltrans knew or when, so no way to know if it filled the pothole in “sufficient time.” Mike sees room for improvement with the pothole process.

Claims, for sure. Prevention, too. 

“Maybe we can do a better job,” he said. “I think they have something like a $17 billion budget each year.” 

It’s actually now more than $20 billion dollars. That’s overall, though, not just for potholes.

Car Insurance Can Help – If You Have the Right Coverage

If you hit a pothole, you can file a claim with your own insurance company. 

If you have collision coverage, your insurance might pay for repairs now.

The insurance company can then try to get reimbursed by the government later. If that happens, you can ask for your deductible back.

Maximize Your Chances Government Pays (No Guarantees)

If you file a government claim yourself, you’ll maximize the chances you get paid if you take a few key steps.

Take photos of the damage.

Get an itemized repair estimate or receipt.

And pinpoint the pothole’s exact location.

When you file a claim, keep a copy of the form for yourself.

Don’t wait. State law only gives you six months to file.

Finally: if you see a pothole, Caltrans says report it ASAP. Their reps say the best reports include an exact location. 

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So, should we expect a sequel for the holidays?  We found some signs of airline improvement. But there’s also some drama, and good reason to buckle up in case it gets bumpy again. 

Now boarding? Nonstop trepidation. 

“I think there’s some hesitation going into this holiday season,”  said Emily Thornton of Insuranks.com.

Insurance comparison site Insuranks.com recently surveyed 1,000 people about flights. 

“71%, nearly three in four people are worried about delays and cancellations for upcoming trips,”  Thornton said. 

And justifiably so!

Rewind back to summer. 

Airlines delayed or cancelled thousands of flights. 

Business Oct 5, 2022

High Inflation Has Many Americans Tweaking Their Holiday Travel Plans

holiday travel Nov 10, 2022

Watch: Google Has New Tool to Help Holiday Travel Planning

Passengers saw long delays and found themselves waiting at the airport and on hold with customer service for hours. 

So is flying any better now for the winter holidays? We turned to flight tracking company FlightAware.

“There’s just tens of thousands of aircraft we’re tracking around the globe every day,” said Kathleen Bangs of FlightAware.

Over the summer, Uncle Sam found upwards of 30% of all flights arrived late. 

Recently, FlightAware found 17% delayed and the amount of time passengers are stuck has shortened. 

“This summer, delays were reaching about one hour on average,” Bangs said. 

“Now, that’s winding down to about 45 minutes, which we like to see,” she continued. 

Best on-time record between September and November: Delta.

Worst? Frontier and JetBlue. 

Frontier did not respond to us. 

JetBlue said 70% of its flights go to or through “the congested weather-prone northeast [U.S.] corridor, [so] JetBlue in particular feels these impacts and downline delays.”

JetBlue noted that it’s recently cancelled zero San Francisco International Airport flights. 

That’s way better than the summer. 

In June: airlines overall cancelled 3% of all flights. 

Now: FlightAware data show one 1.2% are getting grounded. 

“Some days, less than one percent of flights are cancelled in the U.S.,” Bangs said, “Actually, we’ve seen it get down to half a percent”

The wait for help has improved too. 

Our intern Amelia and Consumer Investigator Chris Chmura made test calls over the summer. It took them hours to get an agent to call them back.  More recently, they were able to reach a human within five or six minutes. 

Over the summer, passengers paid the price for an airline staffing shortage. Since May, airlines have hired eleven thousand additional workers. But some personnel problems persist.

Picketing pilots say airlines are overscheduling with too much reliance on overtime. 

“We’re not striking,” one pilot said, “we’re just doing an informational picket.”

Right, no strike. But some pilots are refusing overtime shifts. That can cause delays and cancellations with less wiggle room than legroom. 

“There are fewer airline routes, in terms of options, than there once were,” said Kevin Brasler, editor of Consumers’ Checkbook.

“And the planes are a lot fuller,” Brasler continued. “So, when there’s even a small disruption there’s a ripple effect for days.”

Consumers’ Checkbook recently published 60 travel tips. 

Here are a few:

• Pack some essentials in your carry on just in case your trip takes longer.
• Hunt down information in advance about the next few flights to your destination — in case your flight gets grounded. 
• Download the airline app and subscribe to alerts. Be first to know if there’s trouble. 
• If there’s a problem, react immediately because you’ll be competing with everyone else on your flight to rebook a seat. 

“Those passengers get spread out across several flights, and there are just no empty seats to accommodate them,” Brasler explained. “That’s really been the big problem, and I don’t know when that’s going to go away.”

Kathleen Bangs at FlightAware recommends everyone check the forecast before flying. 

“Have an idea a few days in advance: What are the big weather fronts?” Bangs suggested. 

When there’s trouble on the radar, airlines often issue fee waivers in advance. They might let you go earlier, later, or to a different city at no extra cost. 

“If they see there’s a weather impact to your flight, they’ll actually want you to proactively contact them,” Bangs said. 

Do that on the phone. Or try social media. 

Over the summer airlines answered our direct messages on social media faster than they answered our phone calls. 

What about lost luggage? Uncle Sam says 99.3% of bags made it in August. 

Still, more than 200 thousand bags are lost or mishandled each month. 

To track your luggage, consider a WiFi tracker like an AirTag.  You drop it in your bag, and if it’s close to WiFi wherever it goes, you might be able to pinpoint its location on your smartphone wherever you are. 

If you need a co-pilot to navigate a consumer issue, get in touch with our team. 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

It did. And the winner is?

San Francisco. 

“San Francisco tops the list, really both per density and per capita,” said Apartment Guide Senior Managing Editor Brian Carberry, “It really had the perfect score.”  

San Francisco needs that perfect coffee score because a different dataset shows the city is getting imperfect sleep.

More coffee, less sleep in SF

The CDC asked adults around the country a bunch of health questions, including this: “Do you get fewer than seven hours of sleep each night?”

Our team pulled answers for the Bay Area. First, by county. The most people are sleepless in San Francisco, where 33.3% of people told the CDC they get fewer than seven hours of sleep per night. Alameda was next, and almost a tie at 33.2%. Sleep improves a bit in Contra Costa (32.5%), Santa Clara (31.5%), San Mateo (29.8%), and Napa (29.2%) counties. The best resting Bay Area counties are Sonoma (29.1%) and Marin (27.3%).

We also zeroed in by ZIP code. We found the fewest winks in the Bay Area on Treasure Island, 94130; around Bayview-Hunters Point, 94124; and Oakland’s 94621, near the Coliseum. 40% of people in those ZIP codes told the CDC than seven hours of sleep nightly. 

“Most of us need seven to nine hours every single night,” said Terry Cralle, R.N., with the Better Sleep Council. “We really have to give sleep a chance.” 

We also spoke with Dr. Emerson Wickmire, Ph.D. at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he heads the Sleep Medicine section. 

“Sleep is a nutrient,” Wickmire said, “And our bodies and brains just need it.” 

Best rest: Rural Sonoma

The CDC data show the people who sleep the most around the Bay Area live in rural Sonoma, 96497; Lafayette 94595; and Portola Valley, 94028.

The survey didn’t determine why. But, no matter where you slumber, we asked the experts how to get more – or better – sleep. First, they said: schedule seven to nine hours. 

“Rule number one to optimize our sleep experience is to allocate — or set aside — enough hours to get the sleep we need,” Wickmire said.  

Consistency= more sleep

Next, set a nighttime routine. “Bedtime routines are not just for children,” Cralle said.  

Empty the trash. 

Do the dishes. 

Check the door locks.

Whatever. 

Just repeat it, nightly. 

“Complete those activities in the same order,” Wickmire said. “This will prepare our bodies and minds for sleep to follow.”  

Change your toothpaste?

And when you’re doing your routine, get a relaxed vibe going. “Keep things calm, keep things quiet,” Cralle said. To keep really calm, Cralle said she even avoids “minty” and “extra refreshing” toothpaste.

“I literally have a different brand of toothpaste that I use at night,” she said. 

Cralle and Wickmire both said proper lighting is key around bedtime, especially in the bedroom. If you have light bulbs that can change color, shift them. Move away from blueish daylight hues; choose dusky orange and yellow hues, instead.

“The sun gives a pretty good example,” Wickmire said. 

Also: go minimal in the bedroom. “Physical clutter equals mental clutter,” Wickmire said. 

Declutter your room + your mind

If your mind races about tasks in the day ahead, don’t fear. Cralle says to write down tomorrow’s “To-Do” list. “Just put it on paper, the old-fashioned way,” she said. “And then, you’d be surprised… how things look manageable.” 

Consistent exercise is helpful for snoozing, too. 

Yes, it’s all work: the routine, the lights, the list. But the experts say better sleep pays off when you’re awake, with productivity you can only dream of.

Now, let’s get back to where we started: coffee. What’s its connection to sleep?

“It’s like a cat chasing its tail,” Wickmire said.  

Caffeine Crutch? Consult a physician

Wickmire and Cralle agreed that some caffeine is OK. Just don’t let a morning craving for a jumpstart of Joe morph into a daylong caffeine crutch.

“If you need caffeine to get you through the day — all day — something’s not right,” Cralle ssid.  

If you’re still not sleeping well, ask your doctor. 

Saturday is 2022 Shred Day. The Better Business Bureau is the host. It’s offering to shred up to five big bags or banker’s boxes full of papers, CD’s, and even old hard drives. BBB will destroy them all for you, for free.

You can watch while they do it. 

• When: Saturday October 22, 2002
• Time: 10 a.m. to Noon (or until the shredder truck is full)
• Where: 1112 S. Bascom Avenue, San Jose

BBB’s Steve McFarland says parting with sensitive documents you no longer need is a proactive approach to prevent identity theft.

”Identity theft and data breaches are at an all-time high in the U.S.,” he said. There are “3.2 million cases reported annually, and 23% of victims reported a financial loss.” 

Old files might be useless to you, but they likely still hold clues that could help an ID thief impersonate you. They can open loans or credit cards and create financial havoc.

The BBB says bring those old files to its office in San Jose on Saturday. 

Again, it’s at 1112 South Bascom Avenue, about a mile south of Interstate 280  The shredder will be open from 10 a.m. to noon, or until the truck is full. You get up to five big bags or banker’s boxes to shred free of charge. 

“It’s the most ridiculous thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ve been around pro wrestling and that’s about as ridiculous as it gets,” he said.

Dr. Lano’s day job in the 90s was dentistry, with a small practice near Sutter and Stockton. Each year, the city billed him a business equipment tax called “unsecured property tax.” In 2021, Lano got a collection notice for his 1993 tax bill.

“After 28 years, they’re claiming I was late by X number of days,” he said. “I’m not paying a dime because I don’t owe it.” 

SURPRISE LETTER ARRIVES

The bill shows the city charged him a $36 penalty in 1993.

Then, through the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden years, that $36 has mushroomed with interest and fees to more than $450. Here’s the hitch: Lano insists he paid his bill on time, in person, in 1993 (and 1994 and 1995).

He says he’s heard zilch from the city for 28 years.

“No emails, no calls,” he said. “Nothing.”

Until now.

40K+ OLD DEBTS ON THE BOOKS

The city told us it has 47,753 unpaid tax accounts, totaling $146 million due. The oldest accounts are from 1993, including Lano’s. So, why’s the city contacting him now, 28 years later, after he’d retired and moved to Southern California? 

The city told us his account was part of, “some concerted effort to try and clean up / resolve older delinquencies.”

Lano asked NBC Bay Area Responds for help.

“When you started investigating, Chris, someone said they had filed a lien without my knowledge,” he said.

LIENS, BUT WHO KNEW?

San Francisco court records show the city did file a lien in 1993; re-filed in 2003 and 2013. The city says it sends people notices. But Lano says he received no written notices in roughly 28 years.

“Zero,” he said. 

Lano listed his business address and phone number in the Yellow Pages in the 1990s. We know because we checked old phone books at the library. 

We asked the San Francisco treasurer for copies of notices it sent Lano. The city sent us a statement saying, “we have millions of debts we are collecting over decades. So it’s not feasible / practical to maintain copies of everything sent.”

The city went on to say, “we would certainly review any proof that he paid this bill timely (by 8/31/1993).”

That would be ideal. But Lano says his cancelled check is long gone, and the bank can’t help. He shredded old files years ago, never imagining in 2022 he’d need 1993 papers.  

“This feels like a total rip off,” Lano said.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: JUST WAIT IT OUT

It’s an impasse.

Lano told us he was weighing his legal options. Or, he could just wait it out. After we started asking questions, the city told us there’s a 30-year statute of limitations on its debts.

It can discharge Lano’s disputed 1993 debt next year.  

RECORD KEEPING LESSONS

“San Francisco has all sorts of weird rules,” said CPA Larry Pon.

We ran Lano’s case by Pon for a recordkeeping lesson. First, we agreed you should keep your bank records digitally, because your bank might not.

“The banks don’t guarantee they’ll have copies of all your records,” Pon said. 

And second, pay special attention to any proof you paid your taxes: local, state, federal — all of the above.

“It’s a good idea to keep copies of those statements, or copies of those cancelled checks to prove that you made payments,” Pon said.    

So, how long should you keep a tax record? The state says four years. The IRS says three to seven years. Lano goes farther.

“Retain it for life,” Lano said. “Have it in the cloud… have lots of backup recordkeeping. Not one source, but many.”

With paper files, that was a pain. But now, it’s easier with digital files and cheap storage. 

Two more pieces of advice: when you pay a tax bill, check back a month or two later. Make sure your payment actually posted. Also, search court records every once in a while — for yourself. Look for surprises, like liens. See something? Say something.

Millions of employers share payroll info about millions of workers with data brokers, who then sell access to your information. 

Privacy advocates have expressed concern, and so has Certree, a San Mateo-based data privacy company. On Tuesday, Certree sent the Federal Trade Commission a 12-page letter. Certree CEO Pavan Kochar warned the FTC that what’s happening is “anti-competitive” and “anti-consumer.” 

LINK: Read the letter

Kochar spoke with NBC Bay Area.

“We believe the FTC really should investigate the practices of these data brokers,” she said. “Because they’re now depriving American consumers of owning and controlling their own personal information.”

The Federal Trade Commission confirmed it received Certree’s letter. The agency did not comment. 

HOW-TO VIDEO: See if the brokers have your data (and see who’s looked at it)

Data brokers don’t dispute that access to payroll data is for sale and has been for sale for years. They’ve told us they’re selective about who can buy in. 

In response to Ccertree’s letter, data broker Equifax said on Tuesday, “Few companies have invested more time and resources than equifax in the last few years to ensure that consumers’ information is protected.“

Experian, another big data broker, did not respond to us. We also requested comment from the Consumer Data Industry Association. It did not reply.

Responds Sep 25, 2022

Warning: Google's Call Button Might Dial Trouble

Responds Feb 9, 2022

How to See If Data Brokers Have Your Paystub Info

“I wanted to take my family to Israel,” she said.  

Googled ‘United,’ Got A $3,000+ Mystery

So, Klein logged onto the United Airlines website and booked six tickets. She got a receipt in minutes, but found she made a name typo. No problem, though: Airlines mostly allow ticket changes in the first 24 hours with no fees.

“I did a search on my phone for United Airlines,” Klein said. “And I called the number that came up.” 

Buckle up. This is where it gets bumpy. The agent cancelled Klein’s reservation and booked a new one. But, they also made changes she didn’t request. Then, they charged extra.  

“It was $2,000 or $3,000 more,” she said. “And, I didn’t realize until later that I had not been speaking to United Airlines.”

Nope. Klein unknowingly connected to a travel agency. 

How Impostors Can Buy Consumer Confusion

Here’s how: when she Googled “United Airlines” on her phone, she clicked the “call” link. But, that “call” button can be bought. When a company pays Google for an ad at the top of a search page, it can also put its phone number in the “call” button. 

Google said that’s what the travel agency, Virago Travels, did. Virago paid so its phone number appeared first when folks searched for “United Airlines.”

“When I say, ‘Call United Airlines, I want them to call United Airlines,” Klein said.

She is not alone in feeling fooled.

“They lied on Google. They lied to us on the phone,” said Ed Slanina, who lives near Chicago.

Slanina said that he had booked United and needed to call. He said he then Googled “United Airlines,” clicked “call,” and got the same travel agency, Virago Travels.

“We asked, ‘Do you work for United?’ He goes, ‘Yes, we work for United,’” Slanina said.  

Slanina said a real United representative later told him the impostor made changes that didn’t warrant a service fee. And yet, Virago Travels charged him a $450 service fee.

“The fee was ridiculous,” he said.

Tracking Down The Travel Agency

NBC Bay Area dialed Virago Travels a few times. A computerized voice answered first, with no company name. Then, when a human picked up, they only said “reservations.”

Slanina said, “It’s not like he goes, ‘Virago Travels, can I help you?’”

Many Google reviews of Virago Travels involve Delta Air Lines, too. One said Virago was “someone posing to be Delta reservations.” Another reviewer said Virgo “fraudulently represents itself as Delta.”

Most reviews included the words “scam” or “scammers.”

Google Takes Action, But You’re Still On The Hook

We asked Google about Virago Travels’ “call” button advertisement. Google investigated, then said, “Upon review, we found that the ads in question violate our misrepresentation policies.”

It also said that “these ads have been removed.”

Our “call” button warning goes beyond airlines.

NBC Bay Area Googled other big-name businesses, such as a national carpet cleaner, a huge insurance company, and so on. Often, what turned up was a “call” button for a small-time competitor instead of the household name we had searched for. 

Google puts the onus on you to avoid being fooled. Google said, “Consumers should clearly read all information on the listing before clicking on a call button.”

United Calls Security

NBC Bay Area also alerted both Delta and United about Virago Travels. 

Delta did not respond. United did. A rep said, “We escalated this to our corporate security team.” United explained that Virago Travels never should have modified Alice’s or Ed’s bookings. Virago Travels only should have referred them to the real United — and hung up.  

After our calls, Slanina said his credit card refunded the $450 fee Virago Travels charged. While United fixed Klein’s typo and rebooked her for free, that wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. 

United also found $3,900 dollars in Virago Travels’ charges for her to dispute and get back.

Our NBC Bay Area Responds team first shared this story in April. Some Hertz customers, including a Sunnyvale man, complained that even though they had a contract or had returned their rental car, Hertz reported their cars stolen.

Some customers sued. East Coast attorney Francis Malofiy told NBC Bay Area back in April that more than two hundred people got caught up in it. NBC Bay Area has reached out to Malofiy for comment on these latest settlement offers and we have not received a response.

Wednesday, Hertz told NBC Bay Area it’s sent settlement offers to three dozen customers.

A statement from a Hertz spokesperson reads, in part: “This is the first set of offers and is not exhaustive. We are moving through all the claims to ensure that each unique situation is reviewed and considered on its individual merits.”

Hertz did not disclose the amount it’s offering people. It has also not fully explained why it reported the cars stolen.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

“It’s the sale of our own personal data that really needs to be questioned and protected,” said Pavan Kochar, CEO of the company Certree in San Mateo. 

Outsourcing & Automation

Let’s look at how all those pay stubs get uploaded. 

The way it was, any time you’d apply for a car loan or mortgage, you would have to fork over paystubs on paper or by fax. Then, the bank would call your boss to verify your income. Not anymore. 

Today, payroll and data companies automated those steps, online. All your boss has to do is share every worker’s pay stub… every pay period. Millions of companies do.

“This is all a very hidden process that has not really been talked about,” Kochar said.  

Zero Loans; 150+ Paystubs in Cloud

So, what does this invisible exchange mean for you? Look at me. I haven’t applied for a loan in years — and I don’t plan to. Yet, every two weeks my paystub gets saved on a third-party server — where I have zero control to opt out or delete my data. As of last check, there were more than 150 in my file. (More about how to see it later.)

Several Bay Area companies are now challenging the current pay stub cloud. Certree is one of those disruptors. “We’re proud to be a Silicon Valley company,” Kochar said. One of her main concerns is ID theft. “The reason for that is because the individual is not in the loop,” she said. 

The biggest pay data service is called The Work Number. Its owner, the credit report company Equifax, says only people like loan officers are supposed to look at your pay data. However, it also lets debt collectors in. Equifax said it does audits to catch imposters. Kochar sees a weakness. She says the solution is giving you control of your pay data.

“Really, should be issued to you directly,” she said. “And now, it can be.”

Disruptors Develop Digital ‘Vault’

Certree says it’s reinventing the pay stub cloud. Here’s how: a service that puts each worker’s pay info (and more, if you wish) into a ‘personal vault.’ Kochar said, iIt’s like a bank safety deposit box at a bank. Where the bank has a key, you have the other key, and without your key the bank could never open the lock box. It’s a very similar construct.”

Certree’s says its secure ‘vault’ gives you total control. Its user agreement even lets you opt out and delete your pay stubs from the cloud. 

Equifax, which says it has pay data on more than half the U.S. workforce, says it offers some control. You can view your file online and see who’s accessed your pay stubs. (See our How-To video step-by-step instructions.) But Equifax told us it will not opt you out. 

Some companies are switching away.

Why One Employer Switched

“We partnered with Certree to provide that extra level of protection,” said Chantel Byrd, Vice President of Shared Services at Manpower Group — the large staffing company.

Manpower used to share pay stubs with a big data company. But now, its workers’ info goes into those safe-deposit-box-style data vaults at Certree.

“Private data and just your P.I.I. is just so critical these days. So, that really was the primary underlying reason,” she explained.  

Certree says it’s signed up 36,000 employers. Other start-ups, with different ideas to give workers pay data control, told us they’ve enrolled tens of thousands of other companies.

But millions more employers are still sharing pay stubs in bulk. Kochar says workers must speak up.

CEO to You: Tell Your CEO

“This is something they should and can be vocal about,” Kochar said. “Let your CEO know. Let your HR organization know.” 

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“It’s the first time that the law has been changed since 1881,” said Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola.  

Since 1881, the United States added 12 states, had 26 presidents, and fought two world wars. And yet, in the 141 years since 1881, Sola said there were no changes to The Passenger Vessel Act, which covers cruises. There were no tweaks, Sola said, until COVID-19. That’s when upset passengers virtually stormed the federal maritime commission.

“We got flooded with complaints,” Sola said. 

So did NBC Responds and Telemundo Responde. Folks all over the country said cruise lines cancelled their trips, then basically offered “store credit.” Not a refund.

“We felt like we were kinda being held hostage there,” said Chicago cruise passenger Joshua Smith.

Locally, Teresa in Menlo Park was out $7,147; Stephen in Morgan Hill, $6,338; and Bonnie in Palo Alto, $10,155. “I was not happy with that,” Bonnie said. 

The NBC Bay Area Responds team got Bonnie her money back. She called for change — for everyone else in the same boat. “I think there needs to be great transparency,” she said.

Well, Washington listened. 

“This is actually very exciting for a federal regulator like myself,” Sola said. 

Sola says the Federal Maritime Commission analyzed the wave of complaints and found a frustrating patchwork. “Almost every single cruise line had a different refund policy,” he said.  

So now, the commission is setting an industry-wide standard. New federal rules require a refund whenever a cruise that starts in the U.S. is cancelled or delayed at least three days. You can voluntarily agree to a credit. Otherwise, you get your money back. You also get back any ancillary fees you pre-paid. 

“So it doesn’t matter which cruise line you buy your ticket from,” Sola said. “You’re going to get treated the same across the board, you’re going to have the rights to get a refund.”

The new rules also require cruise lines to clearly post how to get a refund online. Seemingly obvious stuff. But, genuinely historic. 

We asked the cruise line industry association for its take. We did not receive a response. 

“I have a repo man knocking on the door saying, ‘I want the keys or I’m just going to take the car and charge you for the keys,’” Calhoun said. “So, I thought, ‘OK. Here are the keys.’”

Surprise Tow, Surprise Bill

How did Pat get here? He says his personal car needed dealer service for 40 days. The manufacturer arranged a Hertz rental with an open-ended contract. “They were putting a hold on my credit card every day,” Calhoun said “So, they had a valid credit card, as well.”  

Nonetheless, Hertz towed the car. Then, Hertz sent Pat a bill.

“It was a charge of $1,000 for the repo man,” he said. $1,070, to be exact. “They basically let me know that I am on the hook for paying. There is nothing they can do.”

Pat’s case pales compared to some other Hertz customers – who say their rental car got them arrested. “It’s about as shocking as it can be,” said attorney Francis Malofiy. 

Malofiy says he represents more than 200 Hertz customers.

His law firm has posted several testimonials online, including people like Bakersfield resident Howard Junious. “I was in jail 60 days,” Junious said in his testimonial.

‘Stolen’ Rentals Trigger Arrests

Court records show Junious was arrested and accused of “embezzling” a Hertz rental that he says his car insurance company had arranged. “I did not steal the vehicle. The vehicle was fully paid for,” Junious explained in the video.

Court records show Kern County prosecutors eventually dropped the charge against Junious.

Malofiy says his clients’ cases show that when Hertz lost track of a vehicle, it would sometimes just report it stolen – rather than look for it.

Malofiy said Hertz sometimes reported stolen cars that were parked on their own lots. “Often,” he said.  

Hertz CEO Responds

Appearing on CNBC to talk about something else, Hertz’s new CEO, Stephen Scherr, recently took a question about all this. 

“Hertz is going to deal, properly, with people who were affected,” Scherr said. He did not share specifics, but noted: “We have changed our policies to avoid the possibility of this happening,” he said.

Scherr continued, “I think, to put context to it, if you look at the several hundred people impacted, we engage in 15 million transactions a year. This is one one-hundredth of a percent of those transactions.”  

Malofiy, the attorney, rejected Sherr’s math.

“One is too many. And it’s probably thousands,” Malofiy said.  

A federal inquiry?

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal recently wrote Hertz a letter, calling its recordkeeping “abysmal.”

“We are demanding Hertz do the right thing here,” Blumenthal said in an interview with NBC Washington’s Responds team. If Hertz does not deliver on its own, Blumenthal signaled a broad federal inquiry. “The magnitude of incompetence here is eye-popping. It is nationwide,” the Connecticut senator said.   

Back in Sunnyvale, Pat just took an extraordinary step after a simple car rental.

“I did call the police department to see if there was an arrest warrant against my name,” he said. “They couldn’t find anything. And I hope it continues that way.” 

We asked Hertz headquarters about Pat’s situation and the $1,070 he owes. It responded right away. A rep said his rental car was not reported stolen. However, Hertz acknowledged it did a “recovery” of the car because there was “some miscommunication” with the auto shop that flagged the car “overdue.”

Pat’s Case: (To Be) Closed

Hertz told us it would “resolve and refund” Pat’s $1,070 towing fee.

“Well, I appreciate your help,” Calhoun said. 

Hertz says it’s making changes. Still, we want to help you protect yourself. Here’s what we recommend:

How to Protect Yourself

First, whenever you pick up, extend, or return a rental car, get your contract on paper and by email. snap photos of the paper contract as a backup. Then keep everything.

Then, when you return a rental car, do not leave until you have something from the agency that clearly states what car you returned, where, and when.

I’ve also just made an archive folder in my email and saved every old rental receipt I could find in my inbox. You should too, just in case you ever have to prove you did not steal a rental car.

That’s right. There’s a good chance a private data company is getting your paystub, too. What we’re about to explain is likely surprising and new to you. But it’s probably not at all new to execs in your company. It’s profitable and it’s growing fast.

If you look online, we share a ton: who we love, what we eat, where we travel. But most of us draw a line at sharing how much money we make at work.

“Talking about one’s salary is not common practice,” said San Francisco etiquette expert Lisa Mizra Grotts. “And never has been.” Grotts says it’s proper to keep your paycheck private. “Your salary is between you, your boss, and your family. Period.”

Well, not anymore.

2M+ Companies Handing Over Paystubs

“It’s mind-blowing. And people have no idea,” said Jon Weinberg, Wayne State University law professor. “One of the things I pay attention to is privacy and databases.” Professor Weinberg discussed The Work Number, a company that says it has payroll records on more than half the country’s workforce.

So, where does The Work Number get all those paystubs? It says more than two million employers hand over their workers’ payroll data every pay period, as a way to outsource the headache of verifying employment and pay.

Responds Feb 7, 2022

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Responds Feb 3, 2022

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The credit report company Equifax owns The Work Number. According to The Work Number’s website, for $54.95 it will verify a person’s employment and provide their pay history. Equifax says the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates who’s authorized for access. Equifax says it only lets in people who say they are “verifiers” — people like landlords, bank officers, H.R. and such who want to check your employment or income. But folks like debt collectors can buy a report, too.

Weinberg sees trouble.

“Equifax has not, historically, been real good about data security,” he said. “About making sure only the people who are supposed to see the information actually see it.” The FBI said Chinese Intelligence breached Equifax in 2017 and compromised more than 150 million Americans’ credit reports.

We asked Equifax about The Work Number’s security. It declined an interview, but sent us a statement saying it “takes data stewardship very seriously.” And, random audits weed out people who might lie to access its trove of half-a-billion pay records.

Security & Privacy Concerns

“I really question the usefulness of having all this data,” said Hayley Tsukayama of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for civil liberties, including privacy. Tsukayama has concerns about employers forking over employees’ private pay data. She wonders whether workers have any idea what’s going on.

“If employers are doing this without employee consent, then I think it shouldn’t be happening,” Tsukayama said.

The Work Number is not alone in offering access to employees’ payroll data. 

In San Francisco, there’s the company Truework. Its website tells prospective users — like loan officers — that payroll data is “returned in less than one second for over 35 million employees.” 

But TrueWork says it’s different from the Work Number. In a statement to NBC Bay Area, Truework said workers have control over who accesses their salary info, “most often in the form of notification emails whenever a third party requests their information.” Truework said some of its payroll partners require that workers provide permission before any of their data is shared. As for debt collectors, Truework said “we do not accept verification requests from debt collectors.”

Truework said its access to the 35 million workers’ payroll info comes from payroll partners and “hundreds of thousands of employers.”

Why are so many companies forking over employees’ paystubs? We asked the country’s largest employer, Walmart. Its website shows it uses The Work Number. Walmart did not respond. We also asked three big business lobbying groups — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The National Federation of Independent Business, and The Society for Human Resource Management.

Again, no response.

“That really calls into question why they believed it was a good idea at all,” Tsukayama said. “Or if they even thought through it.”

Who Wins?

Equifax says the two million companies that share payroll data win because sharing it saves them time and money outsourcing employment verification. Then, employees win getting quicker loan decisions.

We asked Tsukayama: Is getting a decision a minute, an hour, or a day faster than before worth having all this payroll information stored in one place? “I definitely, as a privacy advocate, I would say no,” Tsukayama replied.

Tsukayama says your boss should let you decide whether to give your paystubs to data brokers. “Employees should be able to make the individual choice,” she said.

So, what about opting yourself out? Equifax and Truework told us they don’t opt people out. But, they recommended that workers contact their company’s HR office, payroll department, or payroll provider. They might opt you out.

You Can Take Action

If you ask your company to let you opt out, Lisa Mizra Grotts has some etiquette for your conversation. “I would be very upfront and frank with my boss,” she said, “Say, ‘I really don’t feel comfortable about this. Could you please remove me from the list?’”

You are not powerless here.

Right now, you can see if the data brokers have your payroll data. You can read through it yourself, see who else has accessed it, dispute errors, and even lock down your data with a “freeze.” Use the link at the top of The Work Number website that says “My Personal Data.” It took us just a few minutes to download a report. 

If your employer uses TrueWork, the company’s website offers its own portal to get a copy of your report. Freezing a report — to prevent others from seeing your payroll info — requires a phone call or an email, Equifax said.

Bear in mind: if you freeze your pay report then apply for a loan, you might not be approved until you unfreeze it. How long will that take? We asked. Equifax said after you make contact and it verifies your identity, the typical wait to unfreeze is one business day.