1&1 is a big domain registrar and web hosting service, and they are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2008.To attract attention, they have taken out full page ads in computer magazines offering a “50% off Everything*” sale.

The company has been known for low priced domains, typically $5.99 a year. They just went up to $6.99, but given that they are having a 50% off sale, this would still be a quite a deal.  But the ad says that domains are $6.12 during the half price sale. Huh?

Maybe the answer is that asterisk after the word “everything.” Usually that means that not everything is really on sale. That is not the case here.

*MOUSE PRINT:

They are only giving you 50% off the first three months of the services they sell by the year. With that kind of logic, a supermarket could advertise 50% off eggs, but in the fine print say that the discount only applies to three of the 12 eggs in the carton.

One has to wonder if this company’s real name is 1&1 = 3.

Verizon has been rolling out its FiOS fiber optics service and has touted its benefits in advertising. Like other providers, the company has been offering a “triple play” — telephone, TV, and Internet services in one package for only $99.99 a month.

Last year’s ads typically looked like this:

While in the big print it claimed “fastest Internet, period”, the package they were advertising actually  provided the slowest speed FiOS offered:

*MOUSE PRINT: “blazing-fast 5/2 Mbps.”

A download speed of 5 Mbps is nothing special (except compared to dial-up and slow DSL speeds). In fact, Comcast’s standard download speed is 6 Mbps. So, some people not knowledgeable about comparative speeds could have been misled.

Fast forward to 2008. Sharp-eyed consumers may have been dismayed to see Verizon’s current advertising for the triple play because the price was no longer $99.99 but rather $109.99.

This time, the company made no superiority claims about the “fastest Internet”, but buried the most important fact in the fine print:

*MOUSE PRINT: “20/5 Mbps blazing-fast Internet”

Verizon actually quadrupled the download speed and more than doubled the upload speed for only $10 more a month (plus a “free” HDTV), when you sign a two-year contract.

For once, the mouse print had good news for customers.

Disclosure: Consumer World, the publisher of Mouse Print*, is a member of Verizon’s Consumer Advisory Board, and receives a small contribution from Verizon to carry out its consumer education mission.

Since the beginning of January, owners of Quicken 2005 have been bombarded with reminders (via pop-ups when starting up the software, and by mail) that on April 30, 2008 many important features of the program will stop functioning. Mouse Print* this week will examine the stark contrast between these current elaborate disclosures and how poorly new customers are warned before purchase that the software will become substantially disabled in three years.

In a January mailing to Quicken 2005 customers, the company warns:

When starting up the software in 2008, this pop-up warns of the forthcoming crippling:

For many users, the ability to download statements from their bank and stockbroker monthly, get stock quotes, as well as being able to pay bills and transfer money online, are key reasons to use Quicken.

After presenting the bad news, Intuit, the maker of Quicken, offers the solution: buy an upgrade to Quicken 2008. In the past, for many users this has not been a huge issue because Quicken Basic has always been free after rebate when purchasing the company’s tax preparation software, TurboTax. This year, as noted in last week’s edition of Mouse Print*, the company discontinued Quicken Basic and made its substitute product (Starter Edition) incapable of importing existing Quicken files. That forces customers to buy an upgrade for $59.99 (less during promotions) to Quicken Deluxe.

Incidentally, the company says it is costly to support prior versions of Quicken, and that is why they discontinue these critical functions every three years. They apparently have not changed the technology they use to communicate with banks and brokerage firms, however. That would have been an understandable reason for the nonfunctionality. It appears that the company just deliberately disables the online functions to enable it to generate more income from current owners.

Okay, so Quicken has a three year life for certain important functions. How do they convey that critical limitation to prospective customers?

*MOUSE PRINT: On the spine of the 2008 box, buried within the copyright notice, in type so small the actual notice is less than an inch wide, it says (enlarged below):

The disclosure merely says that online features are subject to change in accordance with the “discontinuation policy” (previously called their “sunset policy”) listed on their website. The “subject to change” language also appears in a tiny footnote on the back of the box. Similar non-specific notices appeared on the 2005 Quicken box.

In no way, shape, or form is this adequate notice that the Quicken product you are about to buy will have key features of the software disabled/crippled in April three years after the date on the box. The essence of consumer protection (and fair dealing) is to provide the customer with all the relevant facts before purchase so they can make a more informed buying decision.

As we approach tax time, many consumers are in the market for new tax prep software and may at the same time upgrade their financial management program such as Quicken. The bad news is that the combination deals of past years where one could get Quicken Basic free after rebate when purchasing TurboTax are all but gone. The replacement offer is less generous than it appears to be because of details in the fine print, and a change of corporate philosophy.

This year, Intuit, the maker of both TurboTax and Quicken, is commonly offering “Quicken Starter Edition” free after rebate when you buy TurboTax. If you think they merely changed the name from “Quicken Basic” to “Quicken Starter Edition”, think again. This free Quicken version is unlike any other Quicken.

MOUSE PRINT*:

Only on the back of the box are potential customers warned, “Starter Edition is for New Quicken users. Does not import existing Quicken data.^{1 1} … Existing Quicken users should not purchase Starter Edition 2008.”

Huh? Intuit has gotten smart (to our detriment), and has discontinued “Quicken Basic,” the product previously offered free that many of us used for upgrading our older Quicken versions. Its replacement cannot import data from other Quicken editions, so for anyone with existing records to preserve, this version is useless.

As a result, current customers must now buy Quicken Deluxe, retailing for $59.99, if they want or need to upgrade. Smart business decision (probably) for Intuit, but expensive policy change for customers.

You might ask, why bother upgrading — just keep using your old Quicken? That would be great but for an even nastier bit of mouse print that will be discussed here next week.

NOTE: Some sellers are offering very limited time deals on Quicken Deluxe free after rebate when TurboTax Deluxe is purchased… so grab them when you see them. Until January 26, for example, Staples is offering TurboTax Deluxe w/State 2007 for $39.99 and Quicken Deluxe is free after two $30 rebates. In-store, save an additional 12% off the top with this coupon.

With so many phishing attacks and incidents of ID theft occurring, many consumers are leery of entering into any financial transactions online.

Where there is fear, however, there is also a business opportunity to allay those concerns. Enter ID Vault. It looks like a thumbdrive that you plug into an available USB port on your computer. It stores your usernames and encyrpted passwords, and automatically transmits them securely when you log into a financial or retail website. It can also determine if you are visiting a real site, or a scammer’s copy. Bottomline: it protects you.

They are so sure of their technology that they offer a “$1,000,000 Guarantee” that promises to cover your losses if your login credentials are stolen and used fraudulently. Quoting from their press release:

Consumers can now bank, shop and invest online with total confidence, knowing that even if their personal information were stolen while using ID Vault, GuardID will reimburse them for any losses up to $1 million.

“We are so confident that ID Vault 2008 will protect consumers from online identity theft and fraud, that we put our money where our mouth is, and will refund any losses consumers incur, up to one million dollars, when using ID Vault,” said Jerry Thompson, CEO of Guard ID Systems.

And on their website, here is the big print of their $1,000,000 Guarantee:

Of course the devil is in the details.

*MOUSE PRINT:  The company may have led you to believe you will have more coverage than they actually will provide (depending on the circumstances). They will only cover you up to $100,000 per account, not $1,000,000 as you might have expected.

“Should we determine that the account was exclusively accessed online using ID Vault prior to the theft of your account credentials, we will reimburse any direct loss, up to $100,000 per individual account and up to a maximum of $1,000,000 over the lifetime of your ID Vault subscription and subsequent renewals.”

In a sense, that is like buying a million dollar fire insurance policy, but only being able to collect $100,000 per fire. Granted, if you are lucky enough to have a millon dollars, and spread it out over 10 different accounts, then you would indeed be qualified to be reimbursed for $1,000,000.

The restrictions in the policy also require you to be 100% faithful to ID Vault as the means of logging into your accounts. You cannot access them on your work computer, or anywhere else, unless there is an ID Vault attached. (And they will compare your financial institution’s records of your accesses with the list of accesses tucked inside your ID Vault. If they don’t match exactly, you lose the coverage.) 

So, what may seem like a simple $1,000,000 guarantee promoted in advertising, is in fact full of strings and loopholes, as any other insurance policy would be.